Yard Art

Fabulous performance art

starring our own Betsy and Kyle 

and 

featuring Bootsie, the neighbor cat.

 

Okay, they've got a plan. . . 

And it's working!

 

For this art project, you need a very willing cat.

. . . a very willing and patient cat . 

We need a little more

for his hat!

Our Work is done :)

I wish I had gotten them to take a bow, 

'cause we gave them a standing ovation :)

IFY!

 

If you've been reading lately, you'll know that my heart melted when Kyle brought me that bucket of rocks and proudly exclaimed, "It's for YoU!"  

So here's a new wreath for Rachel & Judson & Kyle & Betsy to hang on their new front door.  "It's for YoU!"

Book Report

Okay, okay.  I confess.  I read all three Fifty Shades books.  Yes.  All three.  I couldn't let everyone else on earth read it and not know what all the fuss is about!  Again, yes.  I understand what all the fuss is about. 

Have you read Jaycee Dugard's A Stolen Life?  She's the woman who was kidnapped as a child and held hostage for 18 years by a madman and his madwoman wife.  I was hesitant to read it because it's such a horrible story.  I'm glad I read it.  Hers is a remarkable story of survival.

Summerland:  A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand.   From Amazon's book description:  "A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. But what begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver of the car, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming, and questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel."

Weight Loss Boss by David Kirchhoff:  David Kirchhoff is the CEO of Weight Watchers.  He tells his story of battling his food addiction and recovery through WW.  I have joined WW so many times.  It works. . . when you follow their directions!

Canada by Richard Ford:  I was really looking forward to this one.  What would you do if you were a young boy and your parents robbed a bank?  Really interesting at the beginning, but I got a little bored with the last half of the book.

Gone Girl:  A Novel by Gillian Flynn.  Very very good story.  When the wife goes missing, it's always the husband, right?  Maybe.  Maybe not. . .

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler.  One of my favorite authors, and this time she shines.    The first sentence will make you stay for the rest of the story:   "The strangest thing about my wife’s return from the dead was how other people reacted."

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian.  I almost didn't finish this one, but I'm so glad I did.  Much of the story is set amidst civil war in Alleppo, Syria in 1915.  There is civil war there even today.  Strange to read a story set a hundred years ago and to  hear NPR reporting on the same fight happening now.  Reading this story inspired me to go back and re-read The Double Bind, my favorite CB book.

A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary.  Great story about a mother who is determined to help her children through the turmoil of growing up without falling apart in the modern day world.  She moves to an island with no electricity!  That's one way to do it :)

When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald.  Molly can write!

Golden Therapy

My G Dog boy.  He's our big strong brave boy who also helps keep us sane around here. 

Lilla will be mad if I don't post her picture too.  The forecast is for beautiful weather this weekend, so I'll ask her to pose for a new photo :)

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 :)

Weekend Visit

We had a wonderful visit with Judson and Rachel and the kids.  I love this picture that Rachel took of our patio dining experience.  Next time we will have more than enough corn to go around.  With no grill marks for Betsy :)  And don't overlook Lilla in this picture!

Judson and Rachel are such good parents--

we are so proud of them.

 The next generation of Connect Four at V's.

I have never heard V laugh so much as she does when Betsy & Kyle come to visit. It was a bittersweet visit because Warren is sick.  But we had precious time together and loved every minute.

And another shot of Kyle with his bucket of rocks.  He was so proud of himself.  

So good to know that they are just four little hours away now and we can have weekend visits more often.  Love love from Springfield to Madisonville.

It's For You!

Tomato Picking

Yesterday's tomato  pick.    Betsy kept saying, "I'm so excited to come to see you!".  And when she left she said, "I'm so excited to come to see you and now I'm sad  we're leaving."   We all feel that way.  But thank goodness they now live just a few little hours away instead of a whole day's drive.  We'll see them again soon. 

My father in law is sick, so we're all pretty  sad right now.  Thank you to Judson and Rachel for bringing  Betsy and Kyle--they're the best medicine.

Heirlooms

Pineapple and Cherokee Purple

We grow Whoppers and Better Boys too, but these taste better :)

Monday Flowers

You might think I haven't been up to much 

by the number of posts lately.  

And you'd be mostly right :)

Sandy's beautiful blue bowl 

with a few flowers for her new office.

Hallelujah Sunday

It was an absolutely glorious Sunday.  An inch of rain last night.  An early morning bike ride.  A walk through the garden, which is breathing a sigh of relief. . .

I sat here reading on the kindle under the umbrella almost all day with afternoon temperatures in the 80s.

And this evening, blackberry peach crisp with Breyers vanilla.  It was a Hallelujah Sunday :)

Very simple recipe:  Toss fruit with lemon juice and a little almond flavoring.  Crisp topping:  1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup sugar & 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used 1 cup of light brown), 1 cup flour whisked together til crumbly.  Top the fruit with the crisp, bake 15 minutes at 350 covered with foil, then 20 minutes uncovered til browned & bubbly.  You know what to do next.

Look on the Bright Side

 

I could swear I hear this little chick telling me to stop whining about the drought and be happy with the blessings I have.  Thanks to the miracle to hoses and sprinklers and CWLP and enough money to pay the water bill, Mark has kept the tomatoes going and we have a good harvest.  The zinnias are close by, so they're blooming too :)

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 :)

Happy Fourth of July

No red white & blue flowers today, but Happy Fourth anyway!  This was another Sunday practice bouquet from this past weekend.  Zinnias, phlox, buddlia, amaranthus, and foliages. . .

Back view of the foliages--caladium, bleeding heart, japanese forest grass, sedum. . .

Michigan 2012

Such a great time in Michigan last weekend.  This was taken at the Proven Winners garden near PJ's house.  Isaac and Jordan flew in to visit too!

Mama, Kynda, Rebecca, and PJ

Isaac, Jordan, mama, Rebecca

Mark & Ike

Sky Fire Coleus