Day #151 - Passion for purple

My clematis started opening yesterday and is in all stages of bloom - from buds, to creeping open, to fully open. I hope to get a shot of it in full bloom in a couple more days.

Day #150 - End Product...

The new bed that Lew worked so hard on is flourishing and got some finishing touches today with a few pieces of garden 'art' - birdie bath, sundial, frog house - tucked in here and there.

A favorite that my sister bought me years ago, this one gets a bit more worn each year.

Day #149 - Guard cat on desk duty...

This little guy stands (sits) guard on my desk and oversees my doings. Given half a chance, my real-life kitties would be doing the same as this guy, but for now we keep it down to simply stretching out on the desk or curled up in my lap when they're around the computer.

Southern Girl...

I posted the sweet dill recipe over on my kitchen blog for you. :) Enjoy!

Day #148 - Sweet & sour?...

Sweet dill pickles - how's that for an oxymoron? LOL. Not quite as sour as dill, and not quite as sweet as bread & butter, these sweet dills are one of my favorites. Just drain a jar of dill pickles, slice and return to the jar. Then pour a boiled mixture of sugar, water, mustard and celery seed over them and let sit for 2-3 days in the fridge. Good stuff!

Day #147 - Sunday shower...

After a 90-some degree day, a much-needed thunderstorm blew through, cooling things down to 68 and watering the grass and plants for us. No dinner on the deck tonight!

Day #146 - Saturday night bath...

A nice, fresh 'tub' of water for our feathered friends to cool off in.

Day #145 - Just a trim...

He's been busy, busy, busy in the yard recently and today was no exception. After mowing the lawn and edging around the walks and patio, a little trimming was in order too.

Day #144 - Shrimp on the barbie...

We've been grilling all week and enjoying every bite. Along with what you see, tonight's menu included some of Lew's signature cole slaw. Good, healthy eating! (sshhh...we won't talk about the fruit dip with dessert...)

Day #143 - Man at Work...

Poor lonely little empty!! light fixture...

The Man getting it ready...

The Man getting it done...

Ta dah!! We have light!!

Don't know why this one presented such reluctance in The Man - there's one on the other back corner of the house and one on the side of the garage - but finally the entire back of the house will light up like a Christmas tree should we have any unwanted, late night visitors... of the two-legged variety.

Day #142 - Time's up...

Lew climbing up into the attic crawl space to connect wiring for an outside house light (that's been waiting to be connected since last year at this time!) I finally lost patience. ;)

Day #141 - Grill Season...

Lew cleaning and getting ready to fire up the grill to start the season. We grilled some teriyaki salmon and pineapple spears w/lime and honey. Yummy stuff!

Day #140 - Mending fences...

Seems like there's always something needs doing when you own a house. And then, of course, while you're in the process of doing one thing, something else always comes up that needs doing as well. So, Lew worked hard again today replacing a rotting fence post where he was putting in the rock border.

Day #139 - Border line...

The gardening saga continues. Instead of the wood beams or black plastic we have bordering other beds, we decided to go with a rock border on the bed Lew made last week. They'll last forever and I won't be worrying about rotting and wood-loving critters.

Day #138 - $$$$$

You know it's a slow day when the most exciting picture you can come up with is paying the bills... even if it is with a cute little pen.

Day #137 - Garden Goodies...

The impatiens we bought last night went into the ground today. Little by little we're getting everything planted and should be pretty much finished with everything this weekend. Unless, of course, I see something else I like. :)

Day #136 - Polly want a cracker?...

Ta da! I finally got a good picture of a bird, Stacy! LOL! ;) This noisy little guy is one of several who live at one of the nurseries we frequent. He posed pretty for me - in between screeching like a siren for his dinner! - this evening while we were picking up more annuals for the garden.

Day #135 - Operation Iraqi Freedom...

In 2004, Dr. Daughter, who is a vascular surgeon in the U.S. Army, served a year in Iraq. She kept a journal of her experiences while she was there, and gave us a copy when she returned. Extremely powerful reading. Today we got a CD of the photographic version, along with a warning regarding its graphic content. She also sent photos of a recent cruise she treated the family to. I'm looking forward to the cruise photos, since we weren't able to make it, but I'm thinking I might hold off a bit on the Iraqi photos... at least until my dinner digests.

Day #134 - Still digging...

So, today's picture was a toss-up between these flowers we just planted or the beautiful bouquet I got from my son for Mother's Day. I thought my tacky pink flamingo added a bit more interest. lol I bought the whirligig a few years ago as a joke and surprisingly have grown rather attached to the little beast. It kind of 'whimsifies' the bed - I like a little whimsy here and there.

Day #133 - Digging in the dirt...

My traditional favorite way to spend Mother's Day is digging in the dirt. It's usually safe to plant in our zone then, so the goodies we got before finally made their way into their new home today. I'm anxious to see how this mailbox bed fills in.

Day #132 - Fruits of his labor...

After a day of hard work for Lew, (more pics on my blog) the new bed is ready to receive its euonymous bushes.

Day #131 - Still more blooms...

(without flash)

(with flash)

Our rhododendron are all suffering from some kind of leaf damage this year, probably due to the irregular weather, but they're still presenting us with some beautiful flowers. Still waiting on two others to show their stuff, but this second one has burst into bloom in the last few days.

(If you enlarge the photos, the stamens look like they're painted with gold paint! Isn't that wild?)

Day #130 - Tinkle bells...

I'm a huge fan of wind chimes and usually have several hanging 'round and about outside. It's a beautiful sunny and breezy day here and I've been pleasantly serenaded all day by the gentle tinkling of this one by the patio door.

Day #129 - Dinner doings...

If you like peas, you might like this Pea Salad recipe I came across and made today. We've decided we liked it well enough to make again and add to our summer salad list.

Day #128 - Beauty in bloom...

At the risk of y'all getting sick to death of my flower/yard photos, I just couldn't resist our first rhododendron bloom of the season. And this is from a bush I thought was dying years ago. It's all scraggly and spindly and only gets a few blooms a year, but the flower is so unique and pretty I just hate to dig it up.

Day #127 - Welcome home...

Yay! Our re-covered chairs came back today!

I also posted this on my regular blog so won't repeat it all here but suffice it to say, I am soooooo pleased! Let's hope The Man feels the same way. Whaddaya think?

Day #126 - Cozy corner...

Lew got the replacement azalea (second from left) in the ground today, and the front corner of the yard is looking much better now without the dead bush or the gaping hole it left.

Day #125 - Plant zone...

We went to another nursery today and finally got the shrubs (euonymous) for alongside the garage that we've been talking about forever. Also picked up a hosta and bleeding hearts for the mailbox garden, along with ...

... a hanging verbena for the deck, and some New Guinea impatiens for an existing bed of sedum and lilies.

Still have more annuals to get, but these will give us a start-up with this season's planting.


And, the answer to yesterday's "what is it" - you all were so close!...




keep scrolling...





a little bit more...




One of our kitties' scratching toys... they scratch them to pieces!

Well done, ladies! Thanks for playing! :)

Day #124 - What is it??

Well, I've drawn a total blank for a picture today and we haven't done one of these in awhile, soooooo... wanna guess what it is??

Answer tomorrow!

Day #123 - Dainty daisies and friends...

Stopped at our local nursery on the way home from the dentist and picked up the beginnings of a mailbox garden I'm planning to plant...

... some sweet little daisies, black-eyed susans, a couple of coleus varieties, and forget-me-nots.

And a bonus photo, Lew took a picture of me getting up close and personal with my new plants.

Day #122 - Cat eyes...

I often take my glasses off when I'm scrapping so I can "see" better when doing close work. Rather than lay them down in the mess of paper, photos, and stuff that usually covers my desk, I put them in this so they don't get lost. My sweet daughter-in-law gave me the pink quartz heart, I bought the other piece.

Day #121 - Spring Surprise...

We pruned the lilacs pretty severely last season, so I'm delighted and surprised with the number of blooms they're putting out this year - usually it takes a couple of seasons for them to return to their pre-pruning prolificness. And, oh boy, they smell absolutely scrumptious! The real surprise, though is the next photo...

Talk about bonus shots! Whoa! As you can see, it's a white dogwood. It's growing in among the lilacs (if you look close, you can see some blurred lilac/dogwood blooms to the left.) The bonus part? We never planted a white dogwood! We have two pink dogwoods on the other side of the yard. Isn't that too cool?

What's really weird is the lilacs have been there for years and started out as cuttings from my original three bushes. So, the dogwood can't be a mistake from the nursery or anything like that, not to mention the umpteen years it's taken for it to bloom.

Verrrry strange, but hey, who am I to question things? If Mother Nature wants a white dogwood growing in my lilacs... fine by me!