The Last Rose Of Summer #MyPostMonday

 Here we are at Labor Day, and it just feels right to start to bid good-bye to summer. What a summer. 

Some crazy things happened in the world in general. We are still reeling from the madness of Afghanistan. Who would ever believe that craziness unless they lived through it? Americans still stranded in that madness, trying to get out.

But as much as this is weighing on my mind, (don't even let me start about the woman trying to get her 4 children out and a US state official doing everything he could to get her out, including giving money to Taliban. Nothing worked. Permission denied from the U.S. State Department. Taliban said they would shoot her and her kids. She was vomiting she was so frightened. Finally, she ran away with her children into the darkness, who knows where she is now....please update me if you know.) I try not to watch the news too much, because I would be a total wreck.

As much as this is weighing on my mind, I did have a summer. This is a brief re-cap of what happened!

We did some really great hikes--hikes that took me to verdant green mountains and to the rockiest of the Rocky's. But never did I get into the water. We subsequently started talking about maybe starting kayaking next year. 

 The garden went alright. There were some weather issues that made it not as productive as in previous years. We had extreme heat starting in June and no precipitation. But then all of a sudden we had some real deluges. Our poor plants didn't know what hit them, especially the tomatoes. As a result a lot of them were cracked. But the grape tomatoes were so good! Our zucchini was not very plentiful either, which is surprising. But the lemon zucchini bread made with almond flour was so delicious!

I finally got to meet a blogger friend who I had known since I started A GAL NEEDS...back in 2010 or soon thereafter! I had always been aware of her and her cute newly-wed adventures with her hubbie. But then she kind of went missing for awhile. When she came back, I learned all of what she had been through with her mother suffering from dementia and her own stroke, which was devastating because she was so young. I felt such sorrow at what she had gone through. On top of that, she and her husband became primary caregivers to her mother. Imagine how hard that must have been. Then on top of that, they were told the chances of them having a child were very very slim. 

After a very hard few years, right before her mother passed away, they learned that they were going to have a baby! It was the best news ever! Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was so excited!!! I had still never met her, even though we communicated quite a bit during all of that time.

Finally, the chance to meet her came. We met at a very special place, 'This Is The Place Heritage Park' and baby T. got to experience his first train ride (He was experiencing a lot of firsts!) Meeting Natalie and her little family was so fun and I will count that as one of the most special times of this past summer!

Later on in the summer, I was able to attend Baby T's first birthday party! It was a joyous occasion for sure!

Aren't they such a cute mom and baby?

My dog Evee has been getting a little weaker these days. I was so sad that the dog treats I used to give her for her arthritis were discontinued. It seemed that after I stopped giving those to her, her back legs got worse and worse. But she still loves to go on walks, even though she uses the allotted time to sniff things. She perks up when I give her the dog ibuprofen we get at the vet.

We've had 13 great years together and I just hope and pray that we can have a couple more good years. She is so cute, and always the perpetual photo bomber!

On a recent walk. She was having a great day!

 I'm always in love with the beautiful flowers that are around during our summers. This summer was no different. We put in a few new perennial blooms especially to attract honey bees. 

Above are a few mountain flowers seen along our hikes.

 Below are the flowers we added to attract a few more bees!

It really did work! There were plenty of bees to get the job of pollinating done!!!  

We have 5 really nice fruit trees, but this year only the peach tree did a good job of producing fruit. Again, I say it was the crazy weather. The trees just didn't know what to do.  As you can see, the birds are also looking forward to when they get ripe.

I went back to work fairly early this year - August 13th, which in my books is still summer. I like work as it keeps me humble, dealing with tweeners in all their rambunctiousness and brutal honesty. Compare my school work photo with one of my blog photos. Quite the difference, eh? I'm comfortable that there are two roles that need to be played, my work life and my blogging life. We need to realize that bloggers are just regular people who happen to like to document more than others and live in the public eye occasionally. It's not for everyone! That's OK!

Work photo

Blogging Photo

And finally, here is a picture of our little rose bush that we trimmed back so hard that I didn't think it would bloom at all this year. But last week, it managed to pop out 2 beautiful blooms. It just goes to show that roses, and plants in general, are resilient. And so are we! 

 

I hope that you have a wonderful fall season and that your summer will be one for the books! Mine sure was.

Chocolate Dipped Fruits by Edible Arrangements

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 It's the peak of summer and the fruits are all at full maturation! Check out our overflowing nectarine tree--it's so full that we are resorting to holding up the branches with rakes and shovels, anything we can get our hands on to prevent the branches from breaking under the weight of the fruit! 

 
















And I have such fond memories of growing up in the San Joaquin Valley in sunny California. During the peak fruit season, I was able to eat my fill of apples, apricots, berries, strawberries and so much more! It was all for free, since it either grew at my grandma's home or in my own backyard, 5 short blocks away! Those were the days!

And with all of that fruit ready to harvest, there are so many ways one can use it! 'Edible Arrangements', a company that makes beautiful fruit bouquets and other creations, is fully aware of all that bounty right now. They are celebrating 'National Dipped Fruit Month' in a big way! Through August 31st you can get any size of Chocolate Dipped Mixed Fruit Box for 50% off! That's starting at $9.50! Order online, call or visit your local store to take advantage of these steals!

This is a special I can certainly get behind because, as my profile accurately states, I love chocolate! I can't help it! I've tried so many tempting and luscious flavors, but I can't seem to get around chocolate. I always go back to chocolate. It's my lifelong temptation.

When I received my box of 12 dipped chocolate fruits, I was really impressed! The fruit was so tasty and the dipped chocolate was delicious! It made my day sparkle and I felt so spoiled!

The box contained 4 dipped apples, 4 dipped bananas, and 4 dipped strawberries! So much fruit, so little time! But don't worry, I managed to take care of it all before it went to waste and I even shared one with my husband. (Am I sweet or what? ...Must be because of all the dipped fruit I ate!)  Summer bouquets are the sweetest! 

Visit your locally owned and operated Edible Arrangements to cool off with a creation of your choice (they even have smoothies)! Send a sweet summer surprise to say thanks, or congrats!  What fruit would you love to eat dipped in chocolate?

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