I was near a back window around noon today when some slight movement caught my eye. Standing perfectly still for a couple of minutes, I saw a half-grown fawn leave the grove of pine trees and slowly move into the recently cleared space under the power lines which run behind my house. The fawn still had all the white spots that dot the back of young deer. A minute later a doe stepped out of the trees and followed her fawn but stayed some distance behind. It must have been a training session of some sort for usually the mother stays closer to her fawn. They grazed as they slowly crossed the clearing and then entered another stand of pine trees which separate a neighbor's house from mine. It seemed early in the day for the deer to be up and about and early in the season. Usually they appear in the late afternoon and I've never seen them linger in the clearing under the power lines. Perhaps they are out looking for water.

Here it is mid-September and my moon flowers have just started to blossom. If you are not familiar with these wonderful annual vines, they climb and/ or wander around for a good distance and look spectacular growing up fences or twining around a lamppost. They produce saucer-size pure white, very fragrant blossoms which open in the early evening and stay open all night. Each blossom lasts only one night and usually will fall off by noon the following day. They truly are a sensory delight!

Thanks to outdoor Windex and a long hose, I now have the cleanest windows in Amelia. Now if I could just force myself to haul out the extension ladder and clean those eves ... I keep moaning about doing it but then manage to continue putting it off.

And that's the news from my little corner of Virginia.

Love,