My First Crop

How does it happen that kids go back to school and the sun begins to set earlier? And this year the temps are below average. Is summer gone? Vanessa's first sunflower crop tells me that the transition might continue to happen quickly. I swear it seems like we just planted her seeds . . . (and we have counted a good number of spent blooms already.) Vanessa was a big helper when we did plant the seeds. The idea was to plant a particular variety that averages between 3 and 4 feet tall so she could actually reach up to the blooms and enjoy them independently. (I envisioned taking photos of her playing in the sunflowers.) So much for that. The plants grew to 8 feet or so. She's still been able to enjoy them in ways I didn't necessarily intend.

Check out her perspective . . . perhaps this is a hint to the color of her thumb (hint: the tomato stakes are about 3 and 1/2 feet tall):

And this isn't the best photo since it was cloudy, but we have visitors for meals of seeds. It's interesting -- their timing is predictable and Vanessa and I enjoy being able to see them each day. We have a perfect view from the kitchen window, which can make it hard to take a picture because I'm taking it through the screen. There's another bright yellow finch that comes. We've never seen all three at one time though.