Gallery 10 - My (New) Indiana Home in the Good Ol' Summertime

Just a half mile down the road and a hundred years into the past - We spent the first summer 2005 painting and remodeling and putting up some finishing touches such as new curtains here and there. The previous owner was THE curtain guru, so I saved as much as I could of her curtains, but where they were coming apart I had to replace them.. As we do more work on the inside and out, our new Indiana home continues to be a work in progress

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"Summer 2011"

Summer number 6 came like a flash of lightening - the weather pattern has been weird this year - mostly cool and rainy with spans of 90 degree days in June. I started substitute teaching in the spring and am doing an internship this summer - last summer I was going to Ivy Tech. Struggling to keep up with the flowers - seems like everything exploded!

Bumper year for fireflies!

Virgin Mary in a Snap Dragon - my childhood playmates in Chile showed me this. Plus they snap like a dragon!

More fan flags, courtesy of our friend Lowell! We're ready for the 4th!

Our fussy little wren neighbor.

This little wren is telling me and my kitty to get the hell out of Dodge. :)

Finally this lilly bloomed - bought it last year from Walmart - definitely worth the wait! And it made lots more over the winter!

Finally some color after that long spell of green!

Love these red lilies - fished them out of a load of dirt from a neighbor's dirtwork project. They came from a 150 year farm house, so i'm thinking they must be old.

Solved the mailbox problem - my ditch lilies are taking over my mail box so I cut myself a bouquet. These lilies will keep opening up in the vase for several days. :)

Found the plate in the center at Good Will - Royal Winton!

Wow. Tomorrow's the first day of August. We'e just been through the hottest (and dryest) July on record. For the past five years, we've barely had our air conditioner on more than a day all summer. This summer, it's been on forever, or so it seems. 17 days of temps in the 90's and almost no rain. Just got back from the annual Alward Reunion at Bobcat Park today. I think the heat kept the attendance down. We're in the dog days of summer. After the 4th of July, we participated in the 4_H Fair, Ben with his 1947 Allis Chalmers tractor, and Bonnie and I in the Home and Family Arts Photography display. I got a Sweepstakes in the animals category, a reserve Sweepstakes in the manipulated photos category, and a first place in the people category. So I was happy.

After substitute teaching this spring, I started working as a database editor at the Purdue Research Park this summer. So it's been a challenge keeping up with the flower beds and other things. Hence the boat load of pix waiting to be uploaded. Things are much dryer and yellower now than they were in these early July pix. The vegetable garden has been doing well - but Ben and Bon have been watering. We've had zucchini, peppers, squash, cucumbers, onions, and early corn. The vote on whether we'll have many green beans is still out - but the tomatoes are now getting ripe. Bonnie's been picking, cooking, and canning, and Ben's sister Jenny has come to stay with us twice this summer to help with the garden.

July Flowers coming on!

Jenny Comes to Visit

Jenny comes to visit - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Jenny on Katet - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Jenny on Kate - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Sierra on Kate - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Summer Morning Hayride - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Summer Morning Hayridet - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Summer Morning Hayride - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Summer Morning Hayridet - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Jenny comes to visit - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Sierra on Kate - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Jenny comes to visit - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Sierra, Ella, and Betty - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Annie's Kiss - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Jenny comes to visit - Bonnie Winstead, guest photographer

Another Family Summer Hayride

Matthew on Kate

Bareback riding Kate

Blue Morning Glory from Meijer

Hazelhound guards her dinner bowl

What a bumper year for the Annabelle Hydrangeas

Annabelle Hydrangeas

More of Nature's Fireworks. The Ditch Lilies outdid themselves this year and timed it just right for the 4th.

Tangerine or peach colored day lily

Zinneas, strawberries, candy corn vine from Meijer, wild geranium, butterfly bush

Yellow butterfly bush from Bennett's sale last fall.

Front flower bed

Front porch

Vintage dish finds on shelf

The rainy beginning to summer put a damper on my outdoor work so I finally got a few shelves put up!

Royal Winton ebay find on dish shelf

Goodwill Fun, Goodwill finds.

Goodwill shelves and needlework and china.

Lace curtains lighten the room window

Living room view

Adding to the photo display along the stair case with a hummingbird and the shelf shaped like a staircase photo

Stair case photo display shelf

Living Room Shot

Shelf in Study

Oval table cloth find from Goodwill

New shelf in study

Rearranging the back porch

Painting from Goodwill

Plate rack in bedroom

Dish shelf in Dining Room

Hummingbird Moth

Big Black Swallowtail Butterfly on pink zinneas. Also saw two little preying mantises. The butterflies and moths are out in full force. The locusts are so loud you can't hear yourself think. The fireflies are waning. And lots of little toads in the flowerbeds furtively enjoying August's crop of insects.

Big Black Swallowtail Butterfly on pink zinneas

Big Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly on yellow Butterfly bush

Jet discovers Butterball's Bowl

Steve's lovely old Shaker or Shaker-Style chair refinished and with a new cane seat - he and Cindy gave it to us years ago. The heat has kept Ben and the mules off the road so he's taken to some long awaited refinishing projects.

Steve's lovely old chair refinished and with a new cane seat - he and Cindy gave it to us years ago. The heat has kept Ben and the mules off the road so he's taken to some long awaited refinishing projects.

More summer refinishing projects - Aunt Sissy's old chair sat in a barn for years. The top and the tips of the arms had been chopped off for some reason - but it still had lots of character with it's styling and lovely quartersawn oak. Ben thought it was worth a rework - so he framed it, added tips to the arms, and put a new stuffed seat in it - I'm pretty sure I have an old picture of it in it's before stage somewhere - if I can find it, I'll post it.

Sissy's Chair - After

Sissy's Chair - AfterI found it - here's the before picture of Sissy's rocker!

Sissy's Chair - Before

Wooster back home again - he went on loan this spring to help a 4-H project. Look how he's grown! You'll see it better in the ensuing pix!

And eleven little white leghorns from Dan Altepeter - cute as they can be, but what am I going to do with all these chickens!

Wooster back home after helping out for 4-H! He's really grown!

Wooster - he's getting tired of being pursued by the papparazzi - His 4-H people called him Rudy so his name is Rudy Wooster.

Wooster back home

Jet's new cozy

Benny looking for Chiclet's eggs in the haystack

Dew Drops on Spider Web on Pasture Gate

Pink Zinneas, Butterfly Bush, and Candy Corn Vine

Benny looking for Chiclet's eggs in the haystack

Resting Cheek to Cheek - Jet and his dolly

Now that we're in September ... some leftover pictures of summer ...

Cloud Drama

Moon

Sunset

iAnd in September the morning glory blooms and the mums start to open ... and finally some cool weather and a couple of days of rain after a very hot, very dry summer. Time for soccer for the granddaughters, and a class reunion for Ben ...

Morning Glory from Meijer - this one is a very pale blue - I think it was called a Blue Star or something like that. I planted it in July.

I kept trying to discourage it from growing around the windmill blades, but finally I gave up and let nature have its course.

Morning Glory growing on Windmill

This Cosmos is very happy - this is the second year for these to come up volunteer. I think the secret is to water them!

Morning Glory growing on Windmill with house in the background

Morning Glory growing on Windmill with workshop in the background

Close up of Morning Glories

The final days of summer are on us with the equinox occurring this Friday ...

Shot of my Candy Corn vine through our kitchen picture window.

My Meijers Candy Corn Vine has grown tall and full of blooms just as the season of Candy Corn is upon us ....

Benny and the girls are on the road almost every day in this cooler weather and sunnier days - here they both are taking a break in the pasture - I don't usually see them both laying down.

The mules taking a break as the season for fall hayrides approaches

A really beautiful sunset with a special lighting effect (Mother Nature's, not mine). There's just a wisp of a cloud in front of the larger cloud.

Sunset, last week of summer 2011

Rainbow at sunset, last week of summer 2011

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