THINGS ARE GROWING!

Hello dear friends!   Busy, busy week here, as the weather warms we are spending more and more time outside.  There's so much to do during the few short summer months.  This week Ran and Jamie built this little picket fence to separate the front garden from the back:

Isn't it cute?  Very Beatrix Potter-y, don't you think?  A few years ago I was looking for real wood pickets and couldn't find them anywhere.  Then, as things usually happen,  I found enough for the front yard fence plus extras all for $30 at a garage sale.  The wonderful hinges were  a freebie when a company sent us the wrong ones and told us to keep these because they were so heavy the postage was too much bother to send them back.  Even the copper post caps came from a garage sale at $1 a piece.  We were wondering what color to paint the fence, when we came across a mistint at the local hardware store.  And the lumber was more of the Christmas Day bounty.  All in all, it costs about $50 for the posts and the gate latch to build.  I think we got our $50's worth, don't you?

This weekend we traveled downstate for our granddaughter Violet's first birthday. 

As you can see, she was very excited about cake.  Takes after her grandma! Ha!  But she's such a sweetie, she was happy to share it with her daddy.

After that she crashed with her uncle Scott.

Our garden is also growing!  The vegetables are starting to ripen and we picked lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, arugula, kale and herbs this week.

We had a Farmer MacGregor moment yesterday when Ran spotted a rabbit inside the garden gate and chased it around and around the garden as he couldn't find the hole in the fence where he entered.  I know I should have been angry at the poor animal, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for him, after all, if I were a rabbit, our garden would be where I would want to hang out.

The flower garden is flourishing also.  Roses are beginning to bloom.

Alchemist by the side door.

Zepharine Dhurine , the only rose that I know that grows well in the shade.

An unknown red rose that I bought last year and the end-of-the-season sale.
But my favorite flowers of the moment are the foxgloves and columbine that I started from seed.

Foxgloves don't do well around here, guess the winters are too harsh.  The only ones that grow here are the perennial  types that don't have the height or the color or the wow factor of the biennials.  But they have a quiet beauty.  Here's the columbine:

Don't they remind you of fairy wings?


DID you know that tonight is the summer solstice?  The longest day of the year, then we will make the long turn back to winter.  It also the first full moon of June, called the Strawberry Moon.  Rarely does the Strawberry Moon and the summer solstice occur at the same time.  The last time was 1948.  So if you have a chance the evening, look up! You'll see something rare.  Isn't life wonderful that way? Rich or poor, we all can enjoy the same moon and stars.  The government hasn't figured out a way to tax us on that at least!  Although, I wouldn't doubt if they were trying!

Well, not a terribly informative post, I'm sorry, but here's the thrifty things we did this week:

Built a picket fence from found wood and garage sale goodies.

Harvested cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, kale, arugula, and herbs fro the garden.

Made lemon balm wine from our lemon balm.

Painted more furniture from the many cans of paint we are trying to use up.

Ate the entire week off of one quart bag of frozen cooked chicken from the freezer.  We had balsamic strawberry pizza, chicken salad sandwiches,  chicken pot pie and a improvised chicken casserole.

I worked on a crewel embroidery pillow kit that I purchased at a garage sale.

So that's it for this week!  I  wish you all a wonderful first day of summer!

Hugs
Jane


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