“I’ll be cold and lonely without you.”

“Oh, little one,” the Sun replied with tenderness. “You’ll be asleep and won’t even know I’m gone.” A warm ray shined down upon the small flower’s petals. “And when you wake, I’ll be here waiting for you. Now go to sleep and dream of growing into a big, beautiful flower.”

The gardens seem to know it’s time to close-up shop. The flowers are fading and the leaves are turning brown, which is making the bumblebees, butterflies and a hummingbird moth, scramble for the last bits of pollen and nectar.

Here’s a little toast to those wonders of the summer, 2015.

Dazzling zinnia!

Striking delphinium!

Pretty in pink tall phlox.

My English garden at the back of the driveway is still evolving. This is what it looked like by July.

Last August it was mainly used as a feeding pen for the ducks, so it’s come a long way.

By next year, it’ll rock!

The garden colors may be fading but the ducks are dressing up! It’s molting season and they’re putting on a fine show as hunter green and bronze replace the golden browns.

A blog post about Mallards wouldn’t be complete without addressing a few missing legs.

You can see her stump …

… that belongs to the missing leg.

Isis recently added some color of her own. This heron is probably a different heron from the one who frequented the banks last summer but I still call her Isis. How do I know she’s different?. The abundance of striking blue plumage, more than most herons possess.

My neighbor told me he watched a documentary on herons. Seems they’re endangered! Nooooo! These birds are truly distant cousins to pteranodons and the earth would be a sad place without them (herons, not pteranodons). Thank goodness she’s never attacked me like the pteranodons in Jurassic Park III. Though it might be cool if she did.

Listen to the call of a great blue and tell me you don’t think of a dinosaur.

Here’s a nod to the birds, and one turtle, and one hot guy, of summer.

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I found this quote on the internet: Summer is like the ultimate one night stand: hot as hell, totally thrilling, and gone before you know it. Although the author is unknown, he/she has a complete grasp on the season.

Sadly, those of us in New England must bid farewell to summer and, happily, give a hearty hello to autumn. May you bring warm sunshine without humidity, restored health for all who read this post, and a hot guy into my life 🙂

Here’s a little taste of what’s lurking in the wings.

Blessed be :}