She fed all day at the zinnias.
The cloudless sulphers were also feeding.
I took breaks from decorating to watch butterflies. The kitchen is finished. All the October dishes are washed, dried and in the cabinets. Will add the gourds as soon as I have all the bins unpacked. Did do the flowers and candles.
The living room is finished. Tomorrow I hope to finish the dining room and the basement and the stairwell. Part of October decorating is bringing in the plants that will winter over inside. I love the one on one time with each of the plants. Kumquat is in her winter home now. Four of the Scented Geraniums are in. They make up part of the inside Haunted Forest. This year I added scent to the Forest. Not only do I have the scented geraniums but the living room and dining room windows are hung with herbs. I took the curtains down last year and they never went back up. After Halloween I will take the dried herbs down for Winter use.The outside Haunted Forest received it's lights tonight; flicker light bulbs in the outside lanterns and orange light bulbs in the soffit lights. Our lighting ceremony will be October First. I have work to do on the forest to be ready.
1 comment:
Hi Sprite!
The Monarch was extraordinary. I think many of the Monarchs that have been in the gardens lately are brand new ones. They seem to be so rich in color. The older ones are faded and somewhat tattered. I too loved the photo where the light shone on the wings and she appeared to be coral. Sometimes I can get an upshot and the light shines down through the wings, reflecting the color of the flower.
I love decorating for October. Everything about it pleases me. I do it up all over the house and gardens. Every year I add a new theme and a new motif. I have been collecting October for 34 years!
Some things even survived my childhood. I do mostly Halloween. Lots of old things. Many memory pieces. Last year I started the Haunted Forest theme. This year I am adding to it.
Our outdoor lights are subtle. I use lots of candles outside too. I encourage Mother Nature to show her decorating off too. We will gather some of the fallen leaves but I like a few on the yard and on the porch. Never before had I seen the pink and green Mapel leaves! I did take the cue from Mother and added a wee bit of pink into the decorating.
When the plants come in I know it is jacket time again. I am not bringing in as many as I did last year. I was spending two-three hours every day managing the inside forest! The gardinias are huge bushes now and I have very little room.
As the season changes to Winter my inside Haunted Forest tranforms into The Enchanted Forest. Come December I do inside gardens. I also have grown the red geraniums in the Winter. My Husband enjoyed them so very much one year. We did a French Country look in our bedroom for December that year.
It does take lots of planning to get the plants in. They are cleaned up and in spots they will grow okay in for seven months. I find I need all sorts of support for each plant. We have a small house and each window ends up full of plants. I do some suplemental lighting for them too. The large pots I have on bamboo lazy susans. That way I can turn them easily so they get all around sunshine. I love them and am happy to take care of them. Having herbs and plants and flowers keeps me alive!
If I have to I will buy cut flowers. I do forced bulbs in the Winter so I usually do have flowers come January and February.
Soon it will be the Season of the Ancients. Soon we will be making wonderful magic! Thank you Sprite for making magic with me.
Hugs,
~Q~
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