SATURDAY COLLAGE III

                               Discovered I have so many pics. From morning to dusk. And this is how it goes on any given day.Usually starts out with  sun.  And sometimes Cordelia. Sitting on the fence.......

                                                My favourite place. (Well, one of many, I guess)

                                                        Moai on the Hill. Silent folk.

                                                 And the sweet peas. Larger than life.

                                               Rhodochiton

                                Pots. Stuffed with petunias.

                                               And fish fertilizer  for all.

                                                 Cordelia can smell the fertilizer.

                                               Everything goes BOOM with the stuff.

                                  Verbascum is huge this year. Considered a weed, of all things.

                                   And the last of the Campanula Takesana. Slowing winding down.

                                              Smokey winding up at mid day.

                                               Foxgloves, begonias,  fuschias

                                            Pots and pots of  things.  Sweet peas growing out of chair.

                                               Moai buried deep in the Takesana.

                                                     Overgrown creeping jenny.

                                         Strawberries, that we do NOT eat,
                                                 since the creepy crawlies have already got to them.

                           Sink full of lobelia and begonias by variegated hosta and bleeding heart.

                                             And a terrace waiting to be weeded .

                                              Later in the day. Cape Fushia  reaching above the steps.

                                                Spencer ON the porch. On one of his chairs.
                                                        I even put a towel down for him.

                                                Neighbourhood cats everywhere. So it seems.

                                                      Roses in barrels.

                                    Spencer off the porch. Late afternoon sun. Having a look at the hill.

                                                 Cordelia having a look at Spencer.

                                               Roses  petering out after a quick rain. And plums. In the evening.                                                        Ripening underneath the boughs of their tree.
                                                    Waiting to ripen and turn into wine.

LAST DAY of AUGUST

 I'm afraid the last day of August was filled with cats. Cats lounging. Cats watching. Looking. Staring. All the neighbours cats. Waiting for something. Cordelia watches from her lookout.

  Last day of August, and already it's started. The take down of old flowers that have bit the dust. Thornless blackberries, having never produced berries before, have decided to  show their stuff. Not a lot of berries, but enough for the birds to steal.

             And it rained. Wonderful rain. At last. The drought has gone. For now. The Hibiscus, huge this year, bigger than it's ever been, was pounded with rain. And survived.

                Spencer, visiting as he does every day,  slept through it all..............
                             
                       On my porch. In his chair. No one sits in his chair. Not even his brother Smokey. And  he's welcome to that chair. I even turned the cushion over so it would be more cushy for him. He doesn't seem to notice the fading begonias and fuschias. I  can see them slowly turning rusty. But I just can't make myself  yank them out of the dirt.

    Smokey has taken to the gate. To stare. When Spencer is fully awake, he has taken to hanging off the bench. To stare. To purr in the still muggy sun. To just hang out.

              I left his yellow cup for him. He likes his yellow cup. I'm saving the two ivy geraniums beside him to over-winter. Did that last year, and they came back with a vengeance.  I'll have to save Spencer's yellow cup as well.
           
  Then in the morning and the evening it is a staring match . A battle of wills between outdoors and indoors.  Weather's changing. They sense it.
               
  The stellar jays sense it. They steal apples. They taunt  cats. And the cats respond by flopping down in the grass and staring at the fence. But I think they're watching the flowers droop ever so slightly, or possibly more than slightly. I also think they are still hunting snakes up there. It's been snake heaven for Smokey this year. I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. I don't think he is either.....

THE PORCH

 I just couldn't wait any longer. The weather's stable. The flowers are  sitting patiently in their flats. More patient than I am.  I lined them up  to have a look.Checked the dirt in the pots. Lovely, it even has worms squiggling about in the grainy depths.  Counted the begonias. It was time......

 The porch. A gathering place. A place to sit. And write. Or have a snooze. If you are a cat. Penguin was there before the flowers went in. He didn't stay to see the dirt fly.

 The flats were ready. Waiting.

 Even Cordelia sat in her window in the greenhouse. The anticipation mounting. The dirt will be flying.  She knew.

 Spencer and Smokey also knew to stay well away from the hub and bub.   They watched Cordelia, watching them, watching Penguin on the Porch.

 Up till today, the greenhouse has been a collecting point for as many flats as I could cram inside. I bought them one by one, little by little. And now it's time. Knee pads, trowel, hat, gloves, buckets, fertilizer.......

 Baskets stuffed with Tuber Begonias. They will get big and lovely and last and last till October in the shade. The porch will look friendly again. Not empty , like it does all winter, as if it were a black and white photograph. Now it will be in colour.And Lobelia, with Impatiens added; not one of my favourites. But  inexpensive and they spread. And I loved the name of the variety I found: "Super Elfin Lipstick". How could anyone pass that by? The dirt loved it.

The little pots from the flats were flying around, as they were tossed into the recycling bucket. Smokey was wary of all the flying plastic pots. They weren't birds, he thought, I'm sure. The posts were stuffed  not only Begonias, but sweet peas. Sounds crazy, I know. Sweet peas are meant for sun, but I've found  they grow REALLY well on the porch, or in other shady areas, as long as it is warm, and protected.

 And Fuschias. So many varieties: Display,La Campanella,Dollar Princess,Millenium,Dark Eyes,Miss California, Blue Eyes, Swing Time, and Ringwood Market. Who would think that fuschias have so many names. So easy to grow in a  moist, partial shady spot. 

 And then the bench was empty . Till tomorrow. Till the next batch will be placed out to plant. But not on the porch. There are other pots to plant. Other places where dirt is bare and just scream for flowers . I must have dirt. More and more of it to plant. The porch is ready. The stage is set. The Dirt is calling......