Rain at last

A good rain last night as the cold front came through. We have had little rain during the last month as fall moved in. As the temperatures dropped, the butterflies have slowed down. I had become so accustomed to their gyrations around the passionflower vines that the lack of movement outside the windows seemed unnatural.

At the beginning of the summer, when the small oak tree fell on the mirabilis rose and the oak leaf hydrangeas, I thought the birdbath had escaped unhurt, but several weeks later the pedestal broke in half. It must have been cracked when the tree fell and the crack took a while to make its way across the concrete column. I hope there is some kind of glue that I can find to repair it. Meanwhile the birds are enjoying the bowl of the birdbath on the ground, held level by a branch from the tree that fell on it. The ground is where they expect a puddle of water to be anyway.