Rain...

We have had a ton of rain lately. In Michigan, the joke is that there are two seasons: winter & construction. I feel the same about Cologne -- except the two seasons are summer & rain. This disgusting crop of mushrooms in our backyard popped up OVERNIGHT!

On the other hand, our driveway looks incredible with all the bright green moss in between the brick pavers. I actually think that this is frowned upon by the Germans. There is not another driveway in our small neighborhood with moss growing in it. If I were a proper German, I would be outside bright and early (but not on a Sunday) scraping the moss out from between the pavers.

Of course there are a slew of other signs that we are not German:  our lawn that is desperately overdue for a mow, the dead leaves in the street in front of our house, the weeds in the garden, and plants in need of "dead-heading."

What about you?  What are you neglecting in your yard?

As a reminder, leave your comments.  Every comment in the month of October earns $0.50 for Breast Cancer Research.

A Few Things From our Backyard

These are just a few of the nasturtiums that are growing in our garden. I didn't plant any of them and not sure about the previous owner. They are popping up everywhere. I even found some pushing up through the lawn. I wish I had captured a better picture of the green leaves. They are the flattest, smoothest leaves ever...despite all the veining. Apparently these are edible but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I'm not sure what this next one is. It's a vine that is growing on the fence between our yard and the neighbor's. The leaves are large, about 6 inches long, and are all perfect hearts.

I just love our Japanese Lanterns. This is a fun plant as it gives little white flowers in the spring and early summer and then these beautiful orange-red papery "lanterns" in the early fall. The poor plant is struggling due to neglect. I simply didn't water it enough during our hot spells. All the green leaves have turned yellow and have fallen from the plant. Fortunately, there are about 15 of these precious lanterns still hanging on.

Sorry to gross you out with this last picture. There must be hundreds of these huge spiders in our yard. Within ten feet from our front door, I was able to count a dozen webs with these ladies on them. It's not the best quality picture as I just couldn't bring myself to get quite close enough (or hold my hand steady enough) for the macro mode to function properly. 

At one point as I was snapping pictures, the spider moved and I screamed and jumped back. Both Ben and Carter laughed at me. It's amazing how brave they can be standing 6 feet away. Try being 6 inches away. Ick. I find spiders soooo disgusting and I'm sure I'll be having some nightmares about these tonight.