Cat tricks

The face of an angel. Today Snoodly jumped on my lap and simultaneously put his paw on my lunch. I almost thought it was an accident. But now I remember he's done it before! He's got some moves, that's for sure. It doesn't get him the food, but it does get him a tasty paw to lick. Snoodly casts a long shadow

Woolly thyme

Rusty's favorite log

It's 44 degrees and sunny today with 35% humidity at 1:20 pm.

Harvest Time

The past week has been wet and cool, with highs only reaching 70 degrees, and lots of thunderstorms. I decided to enclose the greenhouse again, just in case. Wheat farmers are none too happy about the rain, but it was a joy and great relief to me. I'm concentrating on sending it down south to where they really need it now.

The harvest includes some nice yellow potatoes, swiss chard, carrots, beans, onions and zucchini and lo and behold, a bit of lettuce that survived the heat. The fenced garden is much cooler, and better for crops like lettuce, I must remember that next year. Tomatoes in the greenhouse are still green. Having a bit of trouble with the soaker hose watering in the greenhouse. It seems to be bypassing the beans and a few others, leaving them thirsty, while flooding other areas. Very tricky business, watering. No wonder farmers flood their fields, it's the only way to ensure everything gets a good drink.

The sunflowers are about 5 ft. tall in the garden. A few volunteers came up elsewhere, but the deer beheaded them. They must be salivating over those ones behind the fence. I don't know if they'll have time to bloom, we only have a couple of weeks left before the first frost.

The chillier nights have turned some leaves already.

The Echinacea and Rudbeckia are becoming more cone like as summer winds down.

But some of the flowers still look fresh as a daisy:

Calendula

Poppy

Nasturtium

Prairie Mallow (I ordered this from Guerneys and it was supposed to be bright red).

Moje Hammarberg Rose and Heliopsis

This rose is "a more compact and flowerful version of Hansa" and has a strong spicy scent which is heavenly. It's a Rugosa grown on its own root, so it's practically indestructible. My favorite rose, so far. I also love the Heliopsis and picked up a couple more this year. It looks sunflowery but the deer leave it alone.

The hunting party. They followed me around as I took pictures.

Snoodly managed to catch a hummingbird on the bee balm one day, which is now done flowering and cut down. We'll have no more of that, Snoodly.

Safe, up in the hanging baskets.

Grasshoppers are one of Snoodly's favorite snacks, though he seems tired of them now. There are thousands of them. The plants move as you walk by.

The squirrels are getting fat on pine nuts. Another sign that winter approaches. This little lady was nibbling away until the cats approached me, then she became still as a statue. She knows who not to trust.

Beware the panther.

It's 69 degrees and cloudy at 11:45 am.

August

A good scratch.

Yes, the mosquitoes are still here. They like Rusty.

Late summer flowers

The new bed is done.

Had some time on my hands...

Rusty's checking out mom's old knot garden, which I planted with moss and herbs. Boy did that bring back memories. Mom, searching for the perfect little plants that were just the right scale...hunting down the best moss, collecting it wherever she went. Remember the little round ones she got from the wall at Whittington Court, T?

I have a lot of "steppables" and plenty of moss to play with. Mom would love all the mosses we have! She'd also love that little silvery thing, (Scabwort), in the center, it has tiny leaves and looks like it could be santolina or sage. I'm not worried about scale, I really like the texture of that hairy moss in the hearts, though it's far too coarse for mom's standards. It's fun to play with, if the transplants don't take, I won't mind starting over.
Next I need to clean out the Oxford garden and replant it with moss. I wonder how the rest of the little gardens are doing?

Veg News

The tomatoes will make it, fingers crossed!
Beans and zucchini are coming out of our ears, yay! Where's that little vegetarian now? She needs to hurry and get home to help us eat all this good green stuff. I harvested the first kohlrabi, it was nice and crisp, despite the hot weather.
The raspberries are growing tall, and have started to flower!
This is an exciting year, gardenwise; everything has fallen into place and works well, finally! The leaves we put on in the fall made a difference, but it also just comes down to time, in two respects. First, we've been here long enough to make it work and figure it out. And second, this summer, unlike other years where I leave for a few weeks, I've spent most of my time devoted to the garden: watering, weeding, fertilizing and covering the greenhouse every night. At this very moment I feel a pull to go out there and check on things. See ya later!

It's 86 degrees, 35% humidity, sunny with a breeze at 1:00 pm.

So pritty

Hi y'all, Snoodly here, long time no see! I've grown, and I just keep gettin' better looking, don't you think? I've got the natural eye liner, cute little rose nose pad, and gorgeous green eyes. The markings on my forehead mean something in cat language, but I can't tell you what they say, 'cause then I'd have to kill you. Well, I'll see ya later, I gotta go catch some crickets.

Boom!
July is here! The weather is great, the mosquitoes are terrible, and the garden is bloomin'! We watched the fireworks at J's coaster, and Jr. took these Outstanding photos.

Most of the flowers are bigger and better this year, the garden has finally filled in and looks so much prettier! It's a mix of wild stuff and things planted from seed, bulb or small plants. It takes a few years for the tiny plants to get established, but all the waiting has finally paid off. The mosquitoes make me want to abandon all of this though, they are driving me crazy!

It will help to mow all the tall grass, if we could get a lawnmower.

Ox-eye daisies

Snapdragons. These are doing so well this year, the plants are much bigger and somehow survived the winter.

Yarrow and bachelor buttons

Coreopsis

Gaillardia. I love this flower! It was grown from seed last year, and this year it's big and beautiful.The wild version, blanket flower.

This is my new project, another flower bed. It's so much fun working in the dirt, I have been in no hurry to finish getting all the grass and rocks out in preparation. Honey has been niggling me, trying to hurry me up, but why? Is it that pile of topsoil waiting on the lawn that the cats are using as a cat box, or could it be that he can't stand to see a project go on and on unfinished, with no seeming progress taking place? I don't know. All I do know is that I love working out in the sun, playing with rocks and dirt.

The cats love it too, when Snoodly hears the rake he comes running over to play. Here's Rusty, taking a little nap in a cool spot.J and Jr. collected some nice big rocks and I got them in place today. Next job is putting on the topsoil, then planting, then I may put on a rock mulch.

We took the plastic off the greenhouse and replaced it with row cover fabric. It breathes better.

The beans are doing great, looks like they're nearly ready to harvest. We've been eating peas, lettuce and lots of herbs. The zucchini are almost ready, but the maters are very slow. Hurry up maters!

It's 77 in the greenhouse, clouds and sun at 6 pm.

Spring Arrives

Grass!

55 degrees!  

And, oh yes...we have a new darling.
He doesn't have a name yet.  William, Jinxy, Scotty and Tito have been considered.  How about Camo?
Or maybe Destructo.
On mommy's lap.
He's Slammy's baby, so she gets to name him.  And clean up after him.  Unless she's at school...
Luckily, he sleeps a lot.

Mini rose at the kitchen window.
The guys covered the greenhouse.  I may plant some peas in there today if the ground has thawed.

The Juncos are plentiful this year.  
And well fed!

This Spring's Fashions

A grey coat with tails, trimmed in black.

An eye-catching vest in burnt orange completes the look.

Distinguished in any setting.

It's 42 degrees, sunny at 9:30 am.