As August Winds Down...

 In my entire life, I cannot remember an August so cool.  And yes, I know it's not over yet - and September has a sneaky way of slipping in some hot days as well.  It's just been so lovely here with comfortable temperatures and low humidity.  As a result, my garden is still looking beautiful - cool mornings are perfect for keeping after weeds (a task that is typically forgone during the typical dog-days of August).  

We're still getting a random tomato here and there, but nothing like most summers.  It seems we are over the end-rot situation of a couple weeks ago.  However, cooler temperatures have slowed ripening down to almost a halt.  The sweet potatoes, that were previously nibbled by a rogue rabbit, have regrown their leaves.  We may have a sweet potato harvest yet!  Peppers continue to ripen slowly.  And the second planting of sugar peas is vining up their trellis.  This morning I will be picking a lot of purple green beans and sticking them in the crockpot with some smoked ham - Mmmmm, ham and beans!  Interestingly, the purple beans turn green when cooked!

It's been cool enough in the mornings that no one has had to get up early to take the horses out.  The past week they have enjoyed cool, fly-free grazing after sun-up.  Earlier this summer, that would have been impossible!  I had to chuckle yesterday morning.  I had just called the horses and donkeys to come back to the barn for their chow.  Moonie made a pit-stop by a tree to do a little neck scratching.

These cool mornings have been perfect for soap making.  I made another two batches yesterday - a sea salt soap scented with mint, eucalyptus and lemon grass for dry skin.  Yesterday's batch included some sea clay for oily skin.  I also made a batch of my normal recipe scented with pine/sweetgrass/and clove.

I have so many ideas for future batches - I am definitely going to have to go into the soap business!  Next week, I am going to make a gardener's hand soap.  And yes, I am still knitting - Christmas presents on the needles at the moment.

We are having overnight guests this weekend.  As such, I was in need of some meat.  Our meat source is just a few miles away - a tiny farm store with pastured meats.  It seemed silly to drive there when we could ride our bikes - so we rode to the meat store and then continued on our way for several more miles...   enjoying the breathtaking country vistas on this glorious day.

We happened upon this flock of wild turkeys at the edge of a tree line.  I stopped to get a photo, but they kept darting into the trees.  Back and forth I walked from one side of the tree line to the other - and as I walked, the turkeys ran the other way.  It wasn't until Hubbs stood on one side of the trees, that they ran out into the field and I could get their picture.

The roadsides are populated by old friends - late summer friends, such as jewelweed, Queen Anne's lace,

 

yellow toad flax (its name is as interesting as its snap-dragon-style blossom),

prairie fleabane,

and one of my favorites - thistle.  

We found a new-to-us wildflower - swamp milkweed - new to us, but apparently not to the bees!  There were lots of bumblebees visiting these blossoms.

Very soon my favorite combination of purple asters and goldenrod will begin showing up together as they always do - the perfect, beautiful color combination.  I've read that bees are as drawn to these two colors in combination, as we humans are!  What an amazing place this world is.

We wish you a lovely weekend - we'll be back on Monday for another chat.