Fertilizer Friday, October 1

 

October, already??  Where did the time go?  I'm certainly doing my best to hang on to summer here, but I can see it's not going to work.  We are supposed to have one more nice day on Friday and then look out for the weekend--it's going to freeze.  I took as many pictures as I could tonight because who knows how many flowers will be left even if I get around to covering absolutely everything, which right now, ain't looking too good.  I'm also trying to learn how to use this mosaic/picture collage thingie, so far, well....ok, I promise to work on my technique.


I took some pictures on Thursday night as some cloud cover was rolling in and was amazed to see the difference in how the plants looked, especially the ornamental grasses, in varying light conditions.  The camera angles aren't exact--wish I had thought of that, but here goes.  First the cloudy sky:

And then 24 hours later, in bright sunshine:

Above, the Miscanthus purpurascens looks interesting on a cloudy day.

The same plant, in the sunshine, it just comes alive, doesn't it?

I still have volunteer rudbeckias strutting their stuff here and there, though there's less and less blooming now and a whole lot of powdery mildew.

Quick update on what's going on with my health............ ok, I'd tell you what's going on with it, but I don't really know.  I'm sitting up late again tonight because my heart is beating like I just ran a marathon, I sure hope we find out something soon.   I had the appointment with the new endocrinologist this past Tuesday and it went fairly well, but at this point, there's more questions than answers.  He is a very brisk, efficient, 'let's not waste time on chit chat doctor', which is ok, he seems very proficient.  And can he ask questions, wow, he's got that down.

Do you remember the old TV show, 'Dragnet', where Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner would ask suspects questions at a rapid fire pace?  I felt like a suspect.  The doctor sat down at a table in the exam room and rattled off a list of symptoms I was supposed to say Yes or No to. 

"Do you have any chest pain? Nausea? Dizziness?  Vertigo? Heart racing? Skipping any beats? Swollen ankles? Headaches? Tremors? Rashes? Hair thinning? Personality changes? Weight gain/loss? Gums bleed?  Double/blurred vision? Shortness of breath?  Pet Elephants? Fishnet stockings?"

What?  No, he didn't ask the last two questions, I was just checking to see if you were following along.
 

Aw, let's look at another picture:

Quarry pond, waterlilies and late afternoon sunshine.

So, after all the questions and a physical exam, I was sent to the lab to donate another five vials of blood and to pick up my '24 Hour Urine Collection Bottle'--yes, this doctor did order the test, thank goodness.  I had to stifle a guffaw though, when the lab technician told me to wait right here, "I'm going to go and get you a hat for the collection process."  A hat, hmmmm....maybe a boot would be better?  Less chance of leakage?  Then when she brought the white plastic 'hat' out, I said, "Gee, it's not very becoming."  She dutifully smiled, but I could tell she's heard all those lame jokes before.

At least the doctor hasn't told me I need to take Castor Oil for what ails me:

This is 'Carmencita' castor bean, which has a beautiful, young maroon leaf and spiky red seed pods.  Caution: No eating of the seeds, very poisonous.

On Wednesday night we received a call from a young lady who is to be married today and wants to come here for photography since she saw pictures of the wedding photos done here last week.  She did a walk-through of the gardens on Thursday afternoon and was pleased, so they will be coming at 4PM tomorrow afternoon.   The bridesmaids will be wearing pink and the bride's favorite color is pink, so I set up the dome in the formal garden with my Supertunia Bubblegum Pink flower pots instead of the red impatiens from last week's wedding. If she likes the flowers, they can stay or go, it's her decision.  I aim to please.

We walked over to the Pachyberm and both thought it might be a possibility for pictures there, too, with all the pink petunias.

Not sure of the variety of this aster, but it is very pretty, despite flopping:

Now I'm heading over to Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday.  Hope you do too!

Karen