Paul and Amanda's wedding

Our friends Paul and Amanda got married Saterday. It was at Mapleside Farms. The view is magnificant. We are on the last foothill of the Appalachias. It's down hill till you get to the Mississippi. Just like settlers from the turn of the 19th century Paul and Amanda looked out into their future. It was blue skies as far as they could see. Me, I saw the prison at Grafton.

Oktoberfest

It's Labor Day and what better way to celebrate than at Oktoberfest. The national dachshund races and fashion show was there. German wine and beer vendors were situated perfectly. Just as you were done with something a vendor appeared. Local German restaurants had booths. There were guys walking around in lederhosen and I got this funny looking glass that looks like a boot. And the sounds of oom-pah-pah bands permeated the air.

Dachshund races, puppy division.

Ya gotta kinda wonder how these people came so close to ruling the world, twice no less. After an afternoon of eating and drinking food last experienced 30 years ago, all I wanted to do was take a nap.

No matter where we go, we're always on the look out for flowers.

On the way home through the Metro Parks guess what we saw?

what's up doc

Pat and I spent a wonderful evening with our friends Bill and Sarah Gann at Blossom. Blossom is smack dab in the middle of the Cuyahoga National Forest and one of North-east Ohio's greatest gems. Bill and Sarah introduced us to the place. The concert we saw this weekend was the perfect mix of classical music and Looney Tunes cartoons. Who didn't grow up with "kill the rabbit?" You can take a week and listen to Wagner's ring cycle or get all the Wagner you'll ever need in one cartoon. I'll tell you every time Elmer Fudd laughed every guy over 40 in the crowd did too. What a gas.

sedum

Sedum and bees seem to go together. The sedum are full of bees all day long.Since it evidently grows pretty well where we have it, we decided to move it around in the fall. Thus is the life of a gardener.

kill the rabbit

Nothing makes me break out in an aria more than rabbits eating my plants. Problem is the tune isn't about how much I like the furry little guys. it's more like "kill the rabbit" lisp included.

This was a good sized hosta 3 days ago and we feed the rabbits. You'd think they would leave our plants alone.

I think this was a butterfly weed. Every time it grows a little, rabbits snack on it.

This hosta should be about 3 ft. by 3 ft. by now. I gotta move it in the fall and maybe put a fence around it.

general back yard pics

Every day I wander around the yard and take pictures. I used to pull weeds also, but gave up about half way through the summer. If you let your plants grow big enough, the weeds get choked out and only grow on the edges. The green thing in the center of the first picture started life the size of your fist. We tried three different places before it took where it is now. I'm going to have to move some of the plants next to it because it should grow to 5 ft. wide and 3-4 ft. high. It's some kind of astilbe. This year the hydrangea have exploded. All summer long we've had great blooms. It's supposed to bloom till the first frost. The small pink things are flox I think. The goldenrod and sedum are full of bees. You can hear them when you're close to the plants.

Our little friend.

Everytime I see these guys I have this urge to break out in that famous operatic song "Kill the Wabbit".

nothing cooler than this

This is why I spent all summer sitting outside in the backyard.

The last of the Hosta

Funny that the first hosta to pop up in the spring is the last to bloom, heralding the end of summer.Somewhere in all this mass of hosta is momma and papa hosta which we got from the mother-in-law, Shirley. So if anyone wants to know the what or how of my gardening bug, blame Shirley. Who knew that after I planted my first hosta I wouldn't know when to quit. Well, ya know , I don't have it quite right yet, so I have to keep planting. If you look close, you'll see open spots for more hosta.