A Tribute #WordlessWednesday

A friend's sister, N, passed away Friday, after a years long battle with various medical issues.  

I had only seen her in person a few times (the last time, I think, was 2020), but years before that, she had become my go-to for wildflower ID and she shared my love of history.  We emailed each other on and off when I traveled.  

Years ago, I did a Wildflower Wednesday feature on my blog, and N was a great help to me.  I will miss her knowledge.

I know N wouldn't want any fuss over her due to her passing, so, instead, I will post some pictures of wildflowers in and around my yard.   Unfortunately, I have to depend on my iPhone camera app for wildflower ID and it doesn't always get it right.  Unlike N, who was so knowledgeable.

Several years I bought some plants from a wildflower nursery and they gave me a wild aster as a thank you gift.  This may be a calico aster but it isn't in the place where I planted that gift aster.  I apologize for the blur.

White snakeroot.  I definitely did not plant this, which I found the other day on the side of my house, and I'm thinking of removing it as I understand it is an aggressive grower.  I don't need anymore aggressive growers in my small yards.

Last year I had one of these woodland sunflowers pop up in my back yard.  This year there's a bunch of them.  I hate to get rid of native plants, but...aggressive. They spread via underground rhizomes.

Finally, a mystery I know N would have solved easily.  We planted a lilac bush several years ago. It didn't bloom until this spring.  What we thought was a lilac had small flowers this year that died after only a couple of days.  These berries have now appeared.  Lilac berries?  Didn't know they made berries but the iPhone camera plant ID says this is a lilac.  I'd love to know more.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2026

It's the 15th of September, and time to join other flower lovers for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

It's a beautiful, sunny day, and crisp. 

We are getting an early taste of fall in my zone 6a garden in the Southern Tier of New York.  Yesterday, it never got out of the 60'sF (20 C).  Last night they were even warning of isolated frosts. But soon fall will be here officially.  So, I have to get out and enjoy my outdoor flowers while I still can.

My front yard:

A fuchsia plant that my son gave me for Mother's Day.

Garlic chives in my overgrown front garden.

Sedum.

Sunpatiens.

Pink tall phlox.

Whitish tall phlox.

Last of the sweet peas.  They've reseeded so much that they are going to have to go. 

Let's go around the back now to my shady back yard:

Zig Zag goldenrod really took off this year.  I'm going to have to thin it out.

Japanese anemone.

Heuchera.

Cuphea "Torpedo"  I bought it due to its unusual shape but I think next year, I will stick to "Vermillionaire" or one of the other varieties that hummingbirds like.

Fuchsia "Pink Galore".

Pink turtlehead.  I like seeing bumblebees feed on it.  

I had toad lilies once, but they seem to have vanished, along with an aster.  My back yard has gotten so choked that I have hired a landscaper to thin it out - neither my husband or I, due to physical issues, can manage it anymore. Ditto for my front yard.  

As my garden approaches fall, I am also in the season some call the autumn of life.  If I need help with my gardens in this season, so be it.  As long as I can have it, I will be grateful.  Life is too short.   

Joining Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her 15th of the month Garden Bloggers Bloom Day meme, as it approaches its December, 2026 end date. 

 

Meow #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

 

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie (Xmas Dolly), and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Our theme this week is: Unbeknown to me, September is National Happy Cat month. You don’t have a cat or any animal to share some songs about these adorable four-legged creatures!

These are songs that have "cat" in their title; they may or may not include lyrics about cats. 

Sit back and enjoy the imagery this first song paints for you.

Year of the Cat - Al Stewart, from 1976, refers to the Vietnamese year of the Cat (one of their zodiac signs.)  It brings back a lot of memories for me in a year that brought a lot of changes to my life. This was recorded at Abby Road studios by engineer Alan Parsons during the Vietnamese year of the cat (but released afterwards). I am bringing you an extended version, although there are longer ones on You Tube, which includes some instrumental passages.

Here's a live performance of Honky Cat - Elton John, released in 1972.

From the Broadway play Cats,  "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats”  The Jellicles are a tribe of cats which meet up once a year in a junkyard for their Jellicle Ball, dancing to show their stories and personalities to be picked for a rebirth.  The play is based on a 1939 poetry collection written by T.S. Elliot.  

The Broadway show ran for a little over 18 years.  Not bad!

One last song: Love Cats - The Cure

Meow!

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.  And join me again tomorrow afternoon for the last September Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. 

Staircase #ShadowshotSunday

 A staircase, taken September 11, 2026.

Yesterday and this morning, the sky is so gloomy.  That angle of the sun reminds us that fall is on its way. 

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.
 

The Sky Was So Blue

Permit me to concentrate today on a 25th anniversary.  So, if you are looking for my Skywatch Friday post, please click here.

25 years ago today I woke up and prepared to go to work.  My spouse was at home - he would be going to work around 12:30 pm.

It was supposed to be a beautiful mid September day with clear blue skies.

Now, 25 years later, I remember that day.  Everyone of my generation remembers that day. Residents of New York City and its surrounding communities remember.  Residents of the area around the Pentagon remember.  Residents of the area around Shanksville, Pennsylvania remember September 11, 2001.  The people of Gander, Newfoundland, remember that day, the day we've called "9/11" since that beautiful blue sky late summer morning.  Until it wasn't. 

Other countries remember dates of tragedy.  Here in the United States, we remember, even after 25 years.

According to the World Trade Center Health Program, some 9000 people have died from 9/11 related illnesses.

9/11 is still claiming victims from related illnesses today.

I've blogged about 9/11 every year since I've started to blog in 2009, and I will continue to do so as long as I continue to blog.

Here are some of my posts:

September 11 Reaches Adulthood

Yes, One Day We Will Forget

In New York City's 9/11 Memorial and Museum there is an art installation called Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on that September Morning".  How can I not forget that blue sky?  

Finally, we are also called to remember the generosity of the people of Gander, Newfoundland (Canada) on September 11, 2001 after United States closed its airspace and airlines grounded their planes.  Some 7000 passengers and crew on 200 planes ended up landing in Gander International Airport, near a city of (then) about 10,000. people.  

The people of Gander quickly mobilized  to make the people stranded there when airlines grounded their flights feel welcome. 

 Food and clothing was donated. Schools were turned into dormitories.  A hockey rink provided refrigeration for donated food.  The people of the planes became known as the Plane People.

The people of Gander never asked for payment but the passengers and crew of one of the flights set up a scholarship fund for students in the Gander area.  The fund has grown to over one million dollars.

Tonight, the City of Binghamton, New York will host the LUMA festival, which features light projections onto buildings.  I won't be there in person, but I will be there in spirit, as light chases away the darkness.

25 years.

One of the alumni lost from my high school. 

If you read some of my more recent 9/11 posts you can see my concern that the generations unborn on 9/11 will not understand the significance of that day in U.S. and world history or the kindness of 9/12.

Let us never forget those affected.

Seen Around Town #SkywatchFriday

I am posting early for Yogi's Skywatch Friday with some scenes from the Southern Tier of New York,  taken on two consecutive days.  Tomorrow, my blog will be devoted to commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11.

Downtown Binghamton, Court Street bridge over Chenango River, September 9.
 

Mural, downtown Johnson City, New York, September 10.

Finally, today's mystery.  This diner used to be the Red Robin diner, situated in a 75 plus year old building in downtown Johnson City, New York. The diner closed in 2021 and a halal restaurant, part of a New York City chain called 8-Bit Bites, opened there in 2023.  8-Bit Bites closed this location around June of 2026.

I wonder what is happening with the building.  I hope it is just being fixed up and will continue as a diner.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Cuddly Corn #WordlessWednesday

 At this time of year, I eat corn on the cob several times a week.  I can't get enough of it.  That sweet goodness is so fleeting.  I am fortunate that I live in an area where I can get fresh sweet corn at farm markets or even in a local supermarket chain that buys local when they can.

So, the other day, I peeled the husk off a corn.  Seemed like the corn was a bit thicker than normal.

Before cooking.

After cooking.

Cuddly corn.  

I don't know if this was one corn that split in two while developing, or two separate corns. 

Either way, it was delicious.

If you enjoy sweet corn on the cob, have you ever run into this?

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.