Off the top of my head

• Long-distance grandparenting is not for sissies.  I live 175 miles from our kids and from my grandbaby but it feels like it might as well be 17500.  How I miss this little one. (I do get photos and/or videos pretty much every day, which is more than I can say for my mom when her grandbabies were little and far away!)
  
  
• Often while you are basking in the glow of being a grandparent you also find yourself making tough decisions for your granddaughter’s great-grandfather.
  
  
• This weekend we have my nieces and I am scrambling for ideas to do with a 9 and a 10 year old.  Legos aren’t going to cut it much longer!  I sure am thankful for Pinterest boards titled ‘Crafts for Ten Year Olds’.
  
  
• There are a lot more options on the ‘Things to Do With Kids in Portland Before They Grow Up’ list than I would have guessed! 
  
  
• The last time these girls spent the night they planted 3 pumpkin seeds.  Only one sprouted and grew.  This is what it looks like today:

• I’m afraid it may wind its way up the sides of the house and into our windows if we’re not careful.  So far there is only one actual pumpkin but the girls counted over 60 blossoms so I’ll be bringing in a hay wagon and making cider if you want to bring your kindergarten class for a field trip to the pumpkin patch next month!
  
  
• I planted my porch pots in 97° heat yesterday.  I am a true Oregonian.  I wilt right along with the asters and mums.
  
  
• In other garden news, my impatiens were beautiful this year, planted in two pots under a tree.
  
  

• But I have a few mysteries you might be able to help me solve.  Anyone know what those pale purple crocus are that pop up every fall then die back almost immediately?  They remind me of ghost flowers.  There is no green on the stems or leaves – all white-ish lavender.  Ugly.

• And why did this rhododendron wilt and look like this all summer?  It was perfect last year.  It’s in the shade most of the day.  (Ignore the peonies that are planted too close to the shrub – those will be moved in October.)
  
  

• Now go and have a pumpkin spice latte if you haven’t had your first one of the season!  Might need to get it iced!