Labor Day Sunday

The long Labor Day weekend offered perfect weather here in Indianapolis. We had spectacular fireworks, set to music, on Saturday night. Downtown was bustling with activity.

My friends, John and Sara, had their annual party at the farm on Sunday. So I headed west to Cloverdale with my fishing poles and my bathing suit. It was so wonderfully comfortable in the shade that I never felt the need to jump in the water. I enjoyed sitting in the shade and catching up on everyone's news. It was a fun day! Sara made a big clam bake (more like a shrimp boil, with mussels and clams) and everyone brought goodies to share.

I, of course, shared some things from my garden - tomatoes, beans, okra. And I took along a couple of my cucuzzi squash. They proved to be so entertaining as table decorations that we never ate them. At home, I'm still working on eating the first squash I harvested. They're HUGE!


That's the lake you can see through the trees behind me and the remarkable cucuzzi squash.


Later, that same day . . . me and my stringer of fish! They started biting right after we ate dinner. The sun was falling and the trees cast shadows on the water. I found a shady spot just off the west shore line where they were biting like crazy! So I stayed out in the little rowboat until I ran out of bait. I'm standing by the water in this shot, but darkness fell quickly, so you can't see the lake. I didn't want to clean fish in the dark, so they're on ice in my fridge.

Back at home, here are the two cucuzzi plants that have taken over the flower bed. Really, there are flowers under those big leaves and vines! That's my back door at the top of the shot. Vines continue across my sidewalk and are heading for the steps and my house. I think I hear the shark music from Jaws! Eeek!


This is an okra bloom. It reminds me of hibiscus. Like the tropical flowers, each okra bloom lasts only one day. When the bloom falls, there is a baby okra that looks line a tiny green acorn.


My pole beans don't know that school has started, and I have to spend time away from the garden. They show no signs of slowing down.



The bumble bees are happy that I have some new blooms for them to taste. This is a frilly pink sedum. Around here, we call them "live forevers."

That reminds me! At John and Sara's party, I ordered some honey. A friend's brother has added more hives to his collection and has honey to share. I'm excited to be on his customer list.

I think I'll clean my fish while I watch tv coverage of Gustav hitting the Gulf coast. I'm glad New Orleans had a good evacuation plan this time. I'm reading James Lee Burke's latest offering in the the Dave Robicheaux series. Robicheaux (and Burke) live in New Iberia, Louisiana. The Weather Channel has a reporter posted there, which is never good news.