I haven't seen any hummingbirds for a few days now.  I am not going to take down
the feeders for a week or so...but I think we are at the end of this season.  I will miss
my friends, but I look forward to moving the wind chimes back to their place of
prominence on the porch.  I love to listen to them in the fall and winter just as much
as I love to watch the hummingbirds at the feeders in the spring and summer.

In my spare time, those few seconds that I can snatch out of my very full day,
I have been working with my plants.  I started several basil plants, and I am trying
to root several of each of the scented geraniums that I have.  Scented geraniums
are my newest fetish.  Really it is an old fetish that is being rehashed.  We grew
scented geraniums in the greenhouse that I worked in while I was at Mizzou.  I
loved them then, but I forgot about them until last summer when we were at the
Ozark Folk Center with Opa and Oma in Mountain View Arkansas.  That is a
place worth visiting.  And on top of the wonderful people, the fun music, and the
old ways that they are preserving, they had scented geraniums.  So this summer, I
just had to get me some.  They have been a thing of joy for me, and I want to try
to keep some for next year.  I am hoping to add more scents to my collection
next summer.  Now I have Lime Scented, Nutmeg Scented (which I think smells
like sage), and Orange Scented (which is my favorite of the three.)

One of the treasures I found at the garage sales Stacey, Natalie and I went to
was a crock pot.  I already have three crock pots, and I use them all very
regularly, but I wanted one to make soap in.  I have the lard; I have the
lye; I have dried lavender, but I had no extra crock pot to make the soap in,
so when I saw one for two dollars, I snatched it up.  Now we can see how long
it takes me to actually make the soap...or if I ever do make it.

I have also been collecting seeds from my cypress vines just in case they don't
reseed on their own next year.  Today I took a needle and thread and hung
sever cayenne peppers up to dry.  I want to collect their seed also.  After
running my fingers down to tie a knot in the thread and licking my finger to
help tie the knot, I had a burst of heat in my mouth.  It caught me off guard!
I will remember that the next time I am stringing up cayenne pepper.