Phlox at sunset

August 16, 2020gardeningsusanmanzke

Colors change in the landscape when the sky turns orange. You can see the reflection of the sky on the siding of my white house.

These phlox are a light lavender.

The scent of the phlox is the strongest in the morning. I breathe it in deeply to start my day.

There’s only one thing wrong with this flower. Its spelling!!!!

I forget how to spell Phlox. I want it to be Flocks. It’s a good thing when I googled it that the internet understood my poor spelling and led me to the correct flower. (Mom had a lot of this kind of flower growing in her yard, but she had their name all wrong. She called them Sweet Williams.)

Phlox, no matter how they are spelled, add to the beauty of our world.

Car-E’s new toy

August 15, 2020Car-E, cats, funsusanmanzke

My kitten will play with anything and I do mean anything.

There are a few purchased cat toys around but Car-E looses interest in them quickly. This new toy he found had him very active for at least 30 minutes.

He was playing with a potato. I had washed my harvested small spuds and I was sure he had one of them.

He scooted after it all over the kitchen, down the basement stairs, and into the laundry room.

I was afraid he’d leave it forgotten in a corner or under a piece of furniture. Just what I needed a lost potato, rotting away and stinking up the place.

Even after I picked it up, I was sure it was a potato, and then I looked closer.

His toy is an avocado pit! Found by him on the counter where I placed it before trying to sprout it.

Car-E had a lot of fun chasing this pit. I never saw him so excited about the toy.

I’ll let him play as long as he likes with this pit. At least if it gets lost, it won’t be rotting away like a potato.

And since I eat avocados, other pit-toys will follow.

An argument

August 14, 2020catssusanmanzke

Here is a photo of Squinty and Willy. They are tomcats and are having an argument.

I had a video, too, but Google photos won’t finish downloading it. It’s been days.

I searched the internet for solutions but only found people with the same problem….for years.

Ugh.

No one to complain to.

Anyway, imagine you hear loud yowling from these two.

No fights ocurred, but they were loud until they finally saw me and then they took off.

I’m still ticked off that I can’t download the video. I’ve done it so many times before taking videos of Car-E the kitten. Right now, Google photos is still a pain.

I guess I’ll have to use my camera and not my cell to take videos if I want to use it.

Today, I join those barn cats and do some of my yowling about Google Photos.

Hollyhocks

August 13, 2020gardeningsusanmanzke

I do love holly hocks. I didn’t expect to have any this year.

Lucky for me this is another flower that surprised me and grew.

I’ve tried to grow them many times before, but they never seem to take.

Last year I had none that I remember, but I guess one hid out and then blossomed this year. They are biennials, flowering every their second year of growth.

They could be found growing almost like a weed on some farms, but I couldn’t keep mine going.

I was jealous when they just seemed to pop up along buildings without anyone tending to them.

Happily I have a few blooming yellow hollyhocks this year.

Another gift that will keep me going.

Mystery flower

August 12, 2020gardeningsusanmanzke

I don’t remember ever seeing this lily in my garden. Never. Ever.

Any ideas what this lily is?

I don’t remember planting any kind of lily this year.

It’s pretty in pink.

It came up in a weedy patch of overgrown poppies, right next to the house.

I’m happy to see it, but I have no idea what kind of lily it is. Ideas are welcome.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person

Phlox at sunset

Car-E’s new toy

An argument

Hollyhocks

Mystery flower