Summer Mornings

Some mornings are amazing! I've never been a natural early riser, but the past several years I've had no choice because of my job schedule. To be honest, I am glad that I've changed (slightly) in this way...otherwise I'd miss things happening in my own garden that take my breath away.

Glads and Dahlias are Blooming

This is what has been showing up in my flower garden in the last couple of weeks...beautiful! I always say I'm going to cut them to bring in as bouquets and occasionally I do, but more often I leave them growing so I have something extra to look forward to when I go outside. Every year I get more and more, so maybe one of these years I'll feel like I have more than enough outside and I'll fill up the house with these beautiful blooms.

There will be about 50 members (maybe more!) of my husband's extended family at our house this weekend for a family reunion. So we've been spending time straightening up things outside. Those beautiful blooms pictured above had to be staked so they wouldn't fall to their ground from their own weight.I also needed to clean up the mess that had been the flower bed around my garden oblisque. Once the weeds had been pulled out and hauled away, it was actually pretty fun to spend some time training the sweet pea vines onto the oblisque. The sweet peas are a perinneal variety, they didn't come in too well last summer, but this summer they're flourishing! I moved my favorite mosaic garden bench in front of this trellis, which is also home to beautiful sweet peas, to create an additional seating area for this weekend...I thought it turned out nice, I may just keep it there for the summer and move it back to the entry way when it is cold again in the fall.

Can I say again how much I love summer??

Cute Little Pumpkins

I don't know what I love more about these cute little pumpkin vines, the tiny fruit that are about the size of my thumbnail or the curled little vines. I tried to grow pumpkins last year, but three weeks away during the middle of the summer did them in. We're obviously having more success this year. The pumpkins are a baking variety. I can't wait to see how they turn out, I feel like the proudest pumpkin mama around.

Figaro's Garden Antics

My sweet kitty keeps me entertained out in the garden, always has. He is still very curious about the chickens, but has found out that they are now too big to be anything other than interesting to him. It has been just short of two years since we brought him home, he has become a wonderful and sweet member of our family.

Bambino Likes Broccoli!

From time to time the husband refers to Bambino as our "junk food dog", well he's not completely right about that. Lately Bam has been enjoying snacking on broccoli. It started one evening about a week ago when I was munching on some raw broccoli while watching tv. I noticed that Bam kept watching it go from my hand to my mouth. So I offered him a piece and he ate it like it was candy. So I gave him some more and the same thing happened. Now when he's outside in the garden with me I give him little bits to snack on. I've experimented with giving him carrots (he only sort of likes them) and snow peas (only mild interest)...but the broccoli is the winner, he'll eat it every time. Interestingly though, he won't eat the leaves on the broccoli, everything else is yummy to him except those leaves. So now I pick them off before giving him a floret, that way I don't have to go back later and pick slobbery leaves up off the floor.

My Dream Orchard Has Become A Reality

We planted the first trees in our fruit orchard about 3 and a half years ago. It was before I married the husband and I was still living in California at the time. We were talking on the phone one night and he asked me if there was anything that I would want for my home in the future. Immediately an orchard came to mind. A few years prior to that I had drawn basic plans for my "dream home"...I was still working in engineering at the time and was using AutoCAD all of the time. When I drew the home there was lots of detail...some of the things I included on the plans were admittedly a little bit impractical, ie: bowling alley in the basement, did I think I was going to be on an episode of MTV's Cribs? But some things I had on the plans were actually great ideas.

Among those good ideas was an orchard. I've always wanted to be able to go outside and gather fresh food for myself. The vegetable garden has really met that dream of mine. Our orchard is just beginning to do the same. This year will be the first that we'll have more than maybe two pieces of fruit. I'm told that after your first summer of getting a little bit of fruit, the next summer the trees explode with fruit. So I'm hoping that next summer I'll have more than I know what to do with. Of course I am grateful for what I'll have this year, it is exciting to see my dream coming true.

At some point I'll have to pull out those old plans and do a post all about them. It is actually kind of cool to me to see just how many of the things that I had put on those plans are now part of my life. I never would have guessed that my life would go in the direction it has. About seven years have passed since I made those plans for my dream home...what a difference seven years makes! It will always be interesting to me to reflect back over time and see how things develop and change. I love my life. There are things that are stressful at times, and I definately deal with my share of anxiety. But, I do feel blessed, fortunate. Walking around and taking pictures in my orchard is a normal evening for me, but what a luxury!

Up and Running on Etsy!

I've been busy lately...sewing, sewing and sewing some more. Pot holders, eye masks, applique'd onesies, and....PILLOWS!

Some exciting news to share: I have finally added items to my etsy shop! A few of the pillows pictured below are now in the shop. Rather than telling you which ones are there, I will give you the link so you can take a gander.

I am still incredibly new to this venture...there's lots for me to learn! More than anything, it feels good to be trying.

In an unrelated note, I have two job interviews this week. I don't want to jinx the possibilities, so I am going to wait to see how everything goes and whether I end up with any offers before I share all of the details. I'll just say that one of the two is a particularly exciting opportunity...