Life Away From Sugar Hollow

A nice surprise upon my return home - zinnias and cosmos revisit our garden.

So, Willa has experienced the following modes of transportation in just the past three weeks - a prop plane, a jet plane, a rowboat, a ferry and her new jogging stroller. Six hour stints in her car seat. She is a trooper - actually, a-trooper-beyond-a-trooper.

We flew up to Traverse City, Michigan to see Corey's family earlier this month. Crisp lakefront living, a reunion with his cousins and their growing families, tall pines with mounds of ferns growing underneath. The biggest morning question being - an adventure in the kayak or the rowboat?

And, last week, time with my family. In Cape May. Long walks gaping at the Painted Ladies and the surrounding cottage gardens. Chewing on saltwater taffy while staring at the shoreline. Ice cream for dinner. Beach bikes that made making trails on the wide, loping streets easy peasy. The trip back included a visit to the Chesapeake Bay's St. Michaels.

It is cooling off here in the Piedmont. I returned from the beach last weekend to surprises in the garden - late-comer zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos. And morning glories and flowering tobacco in the container garden. As well as, a second showing of the mint plants.

Our land is getting a face lift. Earth-rattling machinery is moving our driveway - so we can have a long expanse for gardens and play areas for kids. Yipee-kick.

Coming up in the next few weeks: Garden photos from Cape May; a recipe for baked apples; DIY freezing herbs (the ultra-simple way); and I consider my first fruit tree - a fig tree. I'm back and I'm feeling domestic again. Yay, autumn.