July 2020

I can't remember the last time we went to see fireworks on the 4th but we went out this year and it was beautiful.  CNN had a big drone!  We were sitting out in the distance on the left.

My pictures not nearly as good as CNN's!  The full moon was amazing.

That cute little Oceanna!

and my garden piggy collection, all from my sister :)

Zinnias With Basil

Front Door Garden

Our new full-view storm door, with the sweet potato vine doing it's crazy thing this summer.  Last year's color scheme was pink, yellow, blue.  This year's blue and green.  Next year's plan is blue & purple.

It was a lovely June...

Betsy & Kyle went to the beach.

We got to visit Betsy & Kyle at their house.  Mark said if he had had any more fun, he would have had to take something for it :)

We had MelloCream donuts one Sunday morning.

Betsy's orange report from her kindergarten year.  She's reading so well!

And the garden is beautiful, as always. 

We're ready for July now :)

June Birdcage

PJ's birdcage with mini cyclamens, mama's hens&chicks, and mammy's birdhouse. 

Recycling

My mama grew these little pumpkins this year and I've enjoyed them so much that I just wasn't ready to give them up yet.  So they got a little coat of Olive Bright by Design Master and a few bits of decoration a la The Farm.  They make me happy, so I took one to work for my desk :)

Lilies of the Garden

Mark and I did quite a bit of clean-up in the garden this weekend.  Lots of branches to cut back, lots of spent plants & flowers, lots of weeds.  These white lilies had fallen over and were almost touching the ground so I whacked them all back.  Which resulted in a great pitcher of white lilies for the back porch.  These are a cross between asiatic and oriental, so they don't have the overpowering smell of the orientals.  But still,  fifty blooms or so  would be a little much inside.

Planting bulbs in the fall isn't one of my favorite garden chores.  But this pitcher had me wondering where I put the bulb catalog.  Maybe digging just a few holes wouldn't be too much trouble. . .

Tuesday Thanks

Last year, there was a grand total of three blooms on these shrubs.  We were in the middle of that hot July drought when I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever have rain again.  It reminds me of the Psalm--joy comes in the morning.

The beautiful bench came from The Farm.   Yesterday had lunch at LaPeep, catching up on family news, gardening, and even plans for ChRiStMaS with my sweet friend Gail!  It was the highlight of my Monday :)

Today V has major plumbing work done.  I'm making chicken salad,  going to the dry cleaners and then dropping off some things at Goodwill.  Thankful for plumbers, for dry cleaners, and that we have Goodwill to pass along things that we don't need anymore so that someone somewhere will  find a good use for them.

I'm also thankful this morning for my work and the staff.  Bless the hospital, those who work there, and the people we serve.

Hope it's a good Tuesday for you  in your world too.

Sunday Scenes

Yesterday was an absolutely glorious day in the garden.  Mark and I pruned back tree limbs that have been over-shading the beds.  V and I watched the first two episodes of Downton Abbey and now understand what the fuss is all about.  Mark went ghost hunting last night and just got home a little while ago.  We bought a food processor at Bed Bath Beyond yesterday, so now I can make Paleo breakfast cookies like PJ.  Hope they will be as good as hers!   Isaac had poison ivy this week, went to the doc to get meds, so he's on the mend.  Betsy & Kyle are having a great summer visit with their cousin Carly. I'm up early on this Sunday morning, looking forward to another glorious day in the garden.  Leave a comment--I'd love to hear your news too :)

Good Weekend

The Perfect Spot

This has been my spot for the last few weekends. 

Chocolate + coffee + kindle + umbrella-covered patio set 

 = the perfect spot.

 

And this is G dog's spot.  

Shade from a walking stick shrub + freshly dug hole

 + sunny afternoon = a dog's life :)

Home Again Home Again

Just got back from Judson and Rachel's in their new hometown of Madisonville.  Going to see them now is like going home!  Thanks to Sharon, they have very very nice temporary housing while they are waiting to close on their new home.  We loved visiting with Laura, doughnuts on Sunday morning, and best of all--watching the BK big wheel speedway races :)

 Meanwhile, here in Central Illinois. . . Really nice volunteer combo of amaranthus and cleome.

Sunflowers and zinnias.  Most of the zinnias are being dried in silica for The Farm.  The sunflowers didn't dry very well--too big, too heavy, and they by the time they dried they had lost most of their color.   They do look cute with the zinnias though.  A second crop of sunflowers is in bud, so we'll see how they turn out.

 These are bright lights cosmos.  I've always loved these around the vegetable garden.  Back when the boys were little little and we lived in Nicholasville, we had orange cosmos growing around the whole garden.  Mark has been watering the garden, so it's doing pretty well.  And I've kept the containers pretty well watered, so they are okay too.

We cleaned out closets the other day and found a couple of bowling balls.  The cladium look happy here with the cyclamen.  The lakeside kaleidoscope hosta is not happy at all with the lack of rainfall.

This is little henry sweetspire, just one of the shrubs that is also unhappy in this blistering dry heat.

Mark cut these day lilies back the other day.  They had turned to straw. . .

Not sure the rhododendrons will make it. We lost one last year, and the remaining two are really stressed.  The big daddy hosta is giving up.  Lots of the beauty berries are drying up--so disappointing because the spring bloom was spectacular and it's loaded with little green berries that are turning brown instead of that pretty bright purple :(

We had a great weekend with everyone in Madisonville.  It's good to be back home safely in only four hours!  And so now it's back to watering what we can and waiting for the rain. . . Have a good week :)

Big Blue

This big blue pot was a big blue SpLuRgE! this season :)   Mark gave it to me at Mother's Day.  My promotion at work had just become permanent so he went all out. 

Mark spoils me that way.  I mentioned that I'd like to have a pick machine the other day.  And now there's one on the way through the mail to this big blue pot garden!

 Lori gave me the blue bird bath several years ago.  And while you can't see them very well in this picture, Kathy's daylilies are still going strong all across the front of the house. 

We are watering watering watering to keep the ground plants going in this hundred-degree-no-rain heat.  I am thankful that we can still water.  And thankful for a beautiful garden that reminds me of people I love.  And of course, most thankful for the BHITWWW :)

My old friends are back :)

September

It was a dry month, but I had lots of good watering help!

It was one of the best Augusts of all time with Betsy & Kyle & Rachel here for a nice long visit.  And Judson too for the last couple of days.  But now it's September and this morning I heard Betsy call, "Grannie K, we have to go home to 'Tucky!"  Sigh. . . so we helped them load the car and waved goodbye.

It's a quiet house on this our 23rd anniversary.  Mark is cleaning, I'm paying bills and blogging.  Country music on the radio.

But it's the first beautiful fall day of the season too, and we're already looking forward to the next time we get to visit with our babies :)

Saturday Garden

Kyle has been helping me water and weed in the garden.  It was a beautiful morning!

Zinnia Time!

The zinnias are back!  They don't mind hundred-degree temps as long as they have enough water.  These little guys are called Swizzle scarlet & yellow from Parks.  They're really short, but so cute.

And meet Zowie!Yellow Flame, again from Park's.

Queen Red Lime from Park's.  This is the third season that I've had these, and I still love them.  I usually sow Envy, but this year I tried Queen Limes instead.  Several plants haven't bloomed yet, so hopefully they're on the way.