Fabulous Flowers

Smitty was so excited about the break in the rain yesterday, he sat with his nose pressed against the glass waiting for the doors to open. Surely there are more squirrels for hunting...or gophers. Anything small with fur makes his day.

It was a busy day for everyone yesterday. Mike and Matthew were busy setting up new cabinets for Mike's shop. When we moved in here more than 18 years ago, Mike installed cabinets in his shop. They weren't cheap, but they were cheaply made, if you catch the difference. They didn't hold up well to moisture, and over time, they've crumbled and fallen apart, sending their contents to the floor. As you might imagine, it's been quite a mess for a long time. Now that Mike is permanently retired, he's made it his mission to clean up his shop. He recently purchased some "plastic" cabinets. There's probably some fancier name for the material than "plastic," but whatever. It'll hold up to the moisture, and it won't rust. Yesterday the two Stanbro Men set about putting them together. Over the next week or so, they'll be unloading and reloading Man Things onto the shelves, and Mike will have a sparkling new and tidy shop to work in.

While they were at that, I spent some time weeding the vegetable garden. I'm still having to be very careful since it's hard to tell weeds from seeds. Things are looking pretty promising though. Of the 24 beans seeds I planted, I counted 14 that have sprouted. Some are even opening up their true leaves. I expect more are coming, but even if no more sprout, 14 plants should give us plenty of beans.

A couple of them looked a little chewed, and so I spread some slug candy around. It appears to be slug chewing and not anything I'd expect to see from mammals. A mammal (read that, deer, rabbit, or squirrel) would have eaten the whole thing.

And check out this sunflower. It's one of the American Giants, and it has a veritable trunk for a stem now. 

The beets have sprouted in abundance. I'm going to have to thin them out.

Elsewhere, I noticed the first flowers appearing on the cherry tomato plant.

Checking in on the greenhouse tomatoes, they've grown tall enough that I'm going to repot them into their largest pots of the season. Mike will get the drip irrigation set up, and the tomatoes will be on their way. Pictures to follow.

In other areas of the garden, the rose is covered in blossoms. It just needs a little warmth, and this is going to be a stunner...although I haven't checked it this morning. The deer may have come in and cleaned it over night. Let's hope not.

The peonies delighted me yesterday. Their flowers opened wide. Maybe they like a good rain. Here's the Fairy Princess peony.

It has three flowers.

This is the Coral Sunset peony.

It has four flowers, although one on the right is kind of hidden by another.

Several of you have asked about the Rosy Prospects peony. It continues to grow larger every day. It's hard to see in the image below, but some of the center "nodules" have grown longer and turned a brighter red. The one where the arrow is pointing is most notably larger. I still think it's going to do something.

It's sister flower on the same plant looks much the same, although not as large.

I can't resist a good raindrop shot.

And, oh my gosh, the clematis really knows its way into my heart. This is how it looked at the end of the day yesterday. Isn't that color amazing?

Back inside, Sadie kept me company while I sewed a hanging sleeve to Hearts A-Plenty.

I had barely enough of the conversation hearts fabric to piece together a sleeve for it.

We ran a dowel rod through it and hung it on the wall near my ironing board. Now I can enjoy it whenever I'm in the sewing room.

In other sewing, I traced and fused Block 7 for Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs. Today, I'll do the top-stitching, and it will be ready for hand embroidery.

It was Matthew's day to cook yesterday. He made the most delicious chicken cacciatore. We all enjoyed this.

Matthew has been outfitting his van for boondocking. He has installed solar panels and a battery system so that his Dodge Caravan has electricity. He can run what amounts to an electric ice chest for refrigeration, and he can run an Instant Pot. Yesterday's dinner was cooked on a small induction burner with some appropriate induction cookware, and this opens up the possibility for "one pot" cooking for him. He's having fun outfitting his van. We're having fun watching him. He has camping in his plans for summer, and he's getting ready for some good weather, just like the rest of us.

So today will be spent in the greenhouse. It shouldn't take all day to repot the tomatoes, and then I'll have some time to work on top-stitching the quilt block. Mike is getting a haircut today for the first time in months. The weather is looking a little iffy, but it shouldn't get in the way of our plans for the day.

Before I stop, I want to say something about the new Blogger platform. The picture thing is the most annoying part of this, if you want my opinion. And if you don't, then move along to the next blog because I'm just about to complain about the "picture thing." I've found the easiest way to upload pictures in batches is to use Google Photos. (By the way, don't be afraid of losing your pictures with Google Photos. I checked my "Test Blog" with my experiment about posting a picture and then deleting it from Google Photos. Several weeks on, it's still there on the blog.) So back to what I was saying...not that I'm tangential or anything. If you try to upload pictures in batches, be aware that it can take several minutes for them to appear on the blog after you click "insert." You'll be sure nothing is happening, but use that delay to get another cup of coffee, visit the bathroom, or heck, take a trip to Paris. When you get back from your journey, your pictures will be there. I promise. Don't give up. (Raises fist in solidarity with other bloggers who hate change they didn't ask for.)