Plenty of Gardening

We had a beautiful day of weather yesterday, sandwiched between some days of gloom. It's supposed to get cooler as the week wears on, and so I'm happy to say most of my work in the garden is done for the time being. I'll want to get some seeds started in the greenhouse, but that can wait a bit longer. I'm still waiting for sunflower seeds to arrive from my previous order. I wasn't able to find tomato starts when I looked, and so I've also ordered them to arrive via mail...something I've never done before. I hope they come well-packed.

So, let's just see what happened yesterday, shall we? My goal was to get the herb garden cleaned up. It's a small area. My legs and back seem to think it was a much larger area, giving how they're creaking and complaining this morning. When I stuck this sign in the ground so many years ago, I didn't fully appreciate how prescient it would be.

After about three hours, it was pretty well cleaned up. The sage plant...kind of in the middle...was about three times the size you see here. The herbs in the garden have thinned out since I planted it originally. There were roses lining this bed, but the deer wouldn't leave them alone, and I got tired of the fight. The deer don't bother the herbs at all. There were lots of things planted here, but now it's slimmed down to thyme, sorrel (which I've never used, but it comes back every year), sage, rosemary, and chives.

I was able to find a few tufts of chives too. I believe they'll come back now that they've been exposed to the sunlight, but not in the numbers I've seen in previous years. Next year will be better for them.

There are also three large lavender plants. I love the fragrance, and we use the flowers to garnish our Bees Knees cocktails in the summer. I also dry some of the flowers to make the lavender tea, also for the Bees Knees. The one thing missing that I need to replant each year is fresh oregano. I don't use fresh oregano often, but it makes a pretty flower when it blooms and the bees like it. I'll plant sunflowers in some of the open areas. Last year, I tried planting them in the whiskey barrels, and that was an utter failure.

Many years ago, I used the heel of my boot to dig up some wild strawberries from our field. They make a nice ground cover, but they are constantly trying to take over the garden. We leave a few for snacking, but I've marked them appropriately. This is as much to warn them of their lowly status as it is to remind us to keep them under control.

So that was a big job, done once per year. I'm always glad when it's finished.

Taking a walk around the garden, I noticed the Lithodora is blooming. And if you're impressed that I know their snotty botanical name, you should know that my friend Marei is my best source for all things snotty and botanical. I asked her every year for about five years to remind me of the name for these. Finally, I came up with a memory hook for it: Dora the Explorer uses a lithograph to find her way. And if that makes no sense to you, then don't worry. It doesn't to me either, but I did remember the name this year. (She said, while polishing her fingernails on her shirt.)

The yellow tulips have opened.

And more red ones.

This is the black tartarian cherry tree in full bloom now.

The bing cherry tree was first to bloom, and its blossoms are fading already.

The first rhododendrons are opening.

Also, the first of the azaleas.

Smitty thought he'd do his doody in one of the whiskey barrels, but I chased him out. I'm sure that dirt felt good to his paws, but he found another soft spot to the right and outside the frame.

Sadie spent her time outside harassing the squirrels.

I tapped on the window to get her to look in my direction.

Oh yes, and I wanted to show you the relocated Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden.

Also, we caught the violet-green swallows flying all around the bird houses. I'm really hoping they've moved into at least one of the houses.

And right here...this is "bird boffing" going on here. I really hope that's a good sign.

Okay, so I went back inside, iced my knee, and moaned about the aches and pains already starting to emerge. Later I went into the sewing room and got back to work on the Poppy mosaic. I'm just barely getting started on this, but yesterday, I started using some of the reds. The reds are so hard to choose five grades of value. I may decide there's too much design on some of those fabrics and switch them out, but for now, I think they're okay. As long as they read mostly red, they should work.

Only two sections were added, but it's better than nothing.

I'll have a lot more time for sewing today, and so I hope to get quite a bit done on this. For now, I'm off to do my slow-stitching Matthew and Mike will be working outside getting the fencing for our vegetable garden repaired. It's been neglected for quite some time. It's deer fencing, similar to what we have on the catio, and it's fallen down from the wires that keep it strung from pole to pole. (I hope that makes sense.) Weeds have grown up through it, and while the fencing itself is in good shape, it's going to be a bit of work to disentangle it from the weeds. But that's their problem to solve for the day. As for me, I'll stay inside and nurse my aching bones.