These shamrocks have been enjoying the summer on my back porch. But they say the temperatures are going to drop quickly overnight… so their stay outside might end soon! I’m thinking I need to find a new home for them inside today before they “freeze” to death tomorrow!

Some cute white flowers blooming in the garden. Not really sure what they are… but they’re pretty sweet little flowers blooming this late in the Summer… errr, I guess it’s technically Fall.

I keep forgetting…

The weather this week has been AMAZING!
So who could “blame me” for taking another day off to play hooky?!

I decided today to check out another one of our beautiful Illinois State Parks… by heading up to Moraine Hills State Park pretty far up in the north-eastern-most corner of Illinois. The Fall colors were pretty great, an incredible blue sky, perfect temps… and practically no one was there!!!

I did all three loops of the park and maybe passed a dozen people all day. I saw more sandhill cranes, snowy egrets & great blue herons than people… oh yeah, and two snakes!!!

Beautiful blue skies made for the perfect “excuse” to get outside to play hooky this afternoon.

It’s been so cold lately, that this little bit of a warm spell is a welcome surprise! And it looks like it might stay around all week?! WHOO-HOO!!! Take advantage of it… go outside to play!!!

Okay, so you know how much I love a good coleus plant… the colors, the textures, the shapes! But these might be the HUGEST coleus plants I’ve ever seen… and this is just gonna kill my gardening pals in Peoria!!! Challenge on Rosene & Gerry… here’s your “goal” for next summer’s crop of coleus!!! Step it up my friends!!!

Looks like Jan is enjoying her morning with a mug of coffee & houseplants in some fine stamped & soda-fired pottery! What a nice way to start the day! Thanks for sharing your morning Jan… and one of the “special” textured slab mugs in the bottom left corner.

Reminder to self… gotta make more of these!!!

And for those of you following my flowering houseplants… apparently this has been identified as a “Christmas Carol” aloe plant… and the flowers don’t really do much more than open up at the end of each tube, and then wither away?! Still pretty cool plant… love the red spiky edges on the leaves!

Still blooming. Still fragrant. Still a wonderfully exotic floral show just down the street in a neighbor’s front yard garden!

Well, I don’t think THIS happens too often?… it’s the first time for me!

One of my cactus has decided to shoot up a long stalk of a flowering stem! Kinda cool… not sure what will happen next. Do they open more like flowers or is this it? Cool enough either way!!!

Enjoying some of the wild “sunflowers” blooming along the lakefront. Not quite sure, but I’m guessing they’re somewhere between sunflowers & black-eyed susans?! Either way… BEAUTIFUL!!! And apparently the bees like them too!!!