An Iowa Garden

When we first moved into our little valley, it seemed like we should have a name for it; a large red cedar tree right on the point of land sticking out into the pond that you see on the above satellite photo, suggested the name Cedar Point... not quite on the chi-chi level of 'Red Fox Run' or something like that, but it would do. Well, after fourteen years we haven't quite got around to putting up a Cedar Point sign (it's still in the preliminary conceptual phase, I like to say), so our place is just plain LiznDon's.
Whatever it's called, things have been buzzing along here; our major kitchen renovation (one in a series of Liz's perpetual construction projects) is just about complete... over the years I have learned that when she is standing in the middle of a room with her hands on her hips, that either a remodeling job or re-arranging furniture is in the works; either way it's time to run for the hills. The fall bird migration has begun, with a variety of vireos and warblers stopping off in our woodland the last few days. In the garden, I'm working on about six projects, with the major one being the building of a retaining wall using railroad ties that were saved after being replaced at our front entryway this summer by a block wall (that was Liz's last project). Hauling heavy railroad ties up and down hill through the woods is a job that I'll not disturb your tranquility by describing in detail. Lots of stuff is still blooming in the garden; perhaps thirty varieties of toad lilies, and odd things like leucoseptrum.
Finally, I'm pleased to see that Sweetheart the deer is doing well; she is a motherless fawn that showed up at our back door one day, all alone. Well, Sweetheart has grown, and has now been picked up by one of the does who already had two older fawns of her own, and so they are a little family group, scheming together how to get into our garden. So, life goes on at Cedar Point (LiznDon's place).