Now I’m a fan Fall as much as the next guy… what with its pumpkins, gourds & mums. But c’mon… I just stopped off at the grocery store on my way to Summer Camp and they have a full-on display already happening!!! It’s September 2nd!!! I’m still in Summer-mode!!!!

Sure, my purple hyacinth bean vines have nice flowers & seed pods. But the also have great leaves with some very striking veining. Perfect for another “natural” Texture Tuesday!

You’ve seen snippets of my little back porch from the other side… but here’s the “front” side as seen from my kitchen window. Sure, I might have a bit of a rusty metal addiction… but the climbing purple hyacinth bean vine sure seems to be happy with it. Loving the colors & textures of the coleus plants… and a little bit of a gourd plant working its way through!

We’ve been so dry lately, but yesterday’s rain really made some flowers happy! Like this beautiful new dahlia that is looking so radiant today! Pretty excited as this is the first dahlia I’ve ever grown… and there are some more blossoms coming in behind this one! Methinks I might need to add more to my garden next year?!!!

So I decided to go for a bike ride today… seemingly through the hottest & most humid part of the day! Why?… who knows?!

I was a big sweaty mess… but so happy to find this secluded “rock beach” down on the far South Side… as I had the entire place to myself?!!! No one else to be seen!!! It was such a welcome respite as I took some time to play on the beach & take a dip in the lake to cool off before pedaling home!

Tiny little textures…
tiny little acorns just getting started on a big oak tree.
A cute little way to celebrate Texture Tuesday!

Sweet little black-eyed susan vine flowers climbing their way up some weathered wood. Such a wonderful contrast of the fresh & vibrant flowers intertwined with the old & paint-flaking barn board.

Another amazing hydrangea bush in full bloom… with these wonderful cascading “cones” of white flowers. Not really sure what kind of hydrangea this is?… but I’m pretty sure I “need” one! Perfect for a natural TEXTURE TUESDAY!

More raindrops. More happy lilies. I’m getting a little tired of all this rain… but the plants outside sure are loving it!!!

Greeting the day with some orange day lilies…
excited to see the sun again after several days of gray & rain.