What a calm, beautiful evening.  I just came in from touring the yard.  As I wandered around, the pileated woodpeckers were playing a game of tag in the tall poplars.  Their calls echoed through the tree tops.  The chickadees sang their sweet songs as they flew in to the tray feeder for a night time snack.  One of the horses from the farm behind my yard stopped by for carrot.

As I watched and listened to Mother Nature's creatures, I marveled at the growth in my yard this year.  The shrubs and trees that were just little 'sticks' three years ago, are now three to five feet tall.  Everything is still in full bloom and the next batch of strawberries are ripe for the picking.  

My one lonely pumpkin is beginning to turn orange.  The scarlet runner beans overflowed a garden bed and are still producing flowers.  I think I'll leave them for awhile yet even though the hummingbirds appear to have left.

I've found some old stand-byes that I plant year after year.  They don't disappoint.  Each season my yard is filled with amazing colors and prolific growth. 

My favorite 'Bubblegum' petunias continue to grow and bloom, adding a burst of pink to the backyard.  

 



The pots of Million Bells are overflowing. 

 



The purple coneflowers are providing lots of nourishment for the bees and butterflies. 






 
The extra warm summer temperatures were perfect for the ground covering petunias.  They formed a carpet of bright pink and continue to thrive.  If the first killing frost holds off for awhile, I'm sure they will overflow the flowerbed. 



My favorite flowers of the summer were planted late and they are just beginning to bloom.  I snipped off all the stems with blossoms and brought them inside this evening.  The kitchen is now filled with the sweet scent of sweetpeas.

I'm hoping to get to the trails over the next couple of days.  The leaves are beginning to change color.  The animals have been more visible.  On the way to work this morning I was blessed with the sight of a beautiful moose that crossed the road in front of me and a doe that looked up from her tall grass smorgasbord as I drove by.  I've been watching for the fox but think it may have moved on as the cattle have been let into the pasture that I used to see the fox in.

The weather is supposed to be great.  The temperature should be bearable for me and my camera batteries are charged.  I should be cleaning my house but instead I'm going to take full advantage of some free time to enjoy the great outdoors.