Scratch n Sniff...

If there's one thing I do right...

it's flowers.

The southern exposure on our house is remarkable for growing things!

I simply love how these multiply and burst every August!

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Northern Beauty - Hummingbirds in Minnesota

I could sit and watch these little fellas all day long ~ 

They are everywhere at Grandma's Lake Retreat...sometimes whipping past your head like a flash of lightning...

I snapped a couple of pictures through the screen and sliding glass doors on the camper...

But then decided to just sit on the deck and see what I could get - 

They are such magical little creatures!

I know we have them here in our backyards because I've seen them a few times -but nothing like this - all day, all night, a whole big group of them fluttering from feeder to feeder to tree to feeder...

Do you have hummingbirds visit your yard?

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Monarch Caterpillars - Generation 1?

 Let's see...now where did we leave off?

I last left you with little cats that had grown substantially in size...
And they were getting ready to move on to the next stage in their lives ~
(hmmm, doesn't THAT sound familiar!)

 After chomping on all the milkweed they could possibly feast on - our little friends hung themselves in their trademark 'J' shape...
And low and behold, we had ourselves some chrysalides!

 The kids were blessed enough to see two of the caterpillars spinning themselves into cocoons. Certainly a sight to see - and I am soo thrilled that they were able to witness this awesome event! I happened to be outside and Hailey started screaming - GET THE CAMERA! GET THE CAMERA! I of course, didn't capture any of the transformation on film - but I do have the satisfaction that the kids were able to see it first hand. It happens pretty fast, and is certainly fun to witness!

10 Chrysalides in all - one lil caterpillar guy left to do his thing - 

 When you see them turn black - you know it's time. Except, it's not really black at all ~

Turns out, it's clear, and what you are seeing is the butterfly itself inside of the clear cocoon!

 And then, just as quickly as they grew and transformed ~

 It's time to let them free ~ so that the next cycle can begin...

We are so happy to be a part of this experience every summer ~ I hope they always have this sense of wonderment about them!

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar ~

It was only a week ago that we found many little friends in our garden...

They were soo teeny tiny...

and very very hungry...

Chompin' on the Milkweed ~

Every morning and every night we would give them a fresh stalk of milkweed leaves.

And they grew and they grew and they grew...

Last night they were devouring every leaf in sight as fast as we could put it in their habitat, leaving only the stem of the milkweeds...(and there ARE 11 of them!)

And today, they ate barely anything...

it turns out, in preparation for making their chrysalis!

(See that green chrysalis in the center of the picture underneath the striped monarch Caterpillar that is folding himself in half to make HIS own chrysalis?

Here's a close up...

Yep...the very hungry caterpillars are getting ready for the big transformation!

Now we watch for them to turn black...

And I only know this because of the research we did LAST year when we first stumbled upon this super fun nature experience....

And then we will have a family of 11 Monarchs hanging around our backyard garden...(at least we hope they'll stick around!)

The simple things that bring me peace...

Too bad everything isn't this simple & easy & fun ...

The gift for someone who has it all...

We really struggle with what to get some members of our family -
We are all really so far beyond blessed with stuff...it's hard to know what 'stuff' to give each other during the holidays...

One of those people we have a hard time buying for is my Mother in Law -
the kids' Grandma Betty...

But...even in the dead of winter - with summer on our brains, we came up with an idea...

A create your own garden stone!

We thought this could be a nice gift for her home or her lake camper - whichever she sees fit...

And the kids had a great time designing and putting the letters in -

'We love you Grandma Betty'

It turned out so adorable I was tempted to cement over the Grandma Betty part and keep it for my own garden!

But...we knew that Grandma Betty would also love and treasure it - So we gifted it to her -

Thankfully the kids got their own garden stone kits for Christmas so we can get busy on stones for our own yard!

YAY!

I'm not sure who is more excited - me or them!

If you haven't done this before - it really is a pretty quick and easy project - and if you are having trouble figuring out what to get someone -this might just be the answer!

totally tubular....

I have been loving figuring out how to garden - what grows well, what blooms when, what works and what just doesn't...

Early in the spring I bought some tubers from the girl next door - a fundraiser...
$20 got me 3 Dahlia tubers, or bulbs, or whatever it is you might call them....

I'll admit - I was convinced I was just donating the $20 - I did not think they would bloom, much less bloom so beautifully and overtake the entire front of my garden...some of them were 5 & 6 feet tall!


But now, even though we've had a remarkable fall with awesomesauce weather...
It's time to prepare the gardens for snow...

And that means...well, that means that if you don't dig up the Dahlia tubers...they most likely won't come back here in Zone 4...

Yikes.
I'm brand new to this...
I did over winter my geraniums last year with success...so how hard can this be right?
I got a lot of varying information via the internet but found what seemed somewhat simple and ran with it...

I can tell you one thing...
What you see below is NOT what I planted...I planted three average to large sized bulby things...

These things have gone hog wild...

And quite frankly, look a little...

disturbing and gross...

But...I've packed them in some peat moss and will tuck them away in our crawl space...

AKA, a cool dark space...

And we'll see what new life we can find in the springtime...