this was the garden when I planted the seeds on May 14…
and here are photos from today…
the black planters are coming along very nicely… the tomatoes at each end have started to flower, the peas and beans are thinking about climbing the trellis, and the cucumbers have popped through the ground…
the vegetables in the gray planter are coming along, although the squash seed has not sprouted yet…
this is rather amazing, considering all the rain we’ve had…
Sunday morning I saw a deer in the field across the creek… I pointed it out to my neighbours so a couple of them went over to watch it…
apparently it had been eating their hostas…
later in the day we had a visitor at the bird feeder…
I had wondered why the seeds in one feeder had gone down so quickly, lol… eventually I opened the door and it headed across to the lane and out of sight…
today I was looking out the window only to see it back again…
as it came to the feeder I knocked on the window but it didn’t care… finally I opened the door to encourage it to leave the birdseed alone… and off it went…
I’m happy to see wildlife but don’t want to encourage eating of sunflower seeds… I may have to bring the feeders in for a few days to discourage the snacking…
yesterday we moved the table on the deck to the middle of the space and this morning I put on the tablecloth and runner that I picked up on Saturday…
then my housemate put the umbrella back in its hole and we opened it up…
I folded silverware into napkins and brought out pretty, but unmatched, plates to put around… glasses and mugs followed… everything was upside down so they wouldn’t get dirty…
found bowls, covers, and spoons for the two salads – ham and German potato, as well as the coleslaw…
crackers went onto a wooden tray and the salt and pepper shaker made it onto the table, alongside some lily of the valley flowers from under the deck…
chair covers and cushions went out and umbrellas went up…
friends arrived with other food offerings… there were fresh veggies and hummus, devilled eggs, fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate, and custard…
there were flowers for the birthday woman…
we gathered at the table and enjoyed everyone’s delicious offerings… of course there was our usual coffee and tea to go with the fruit, custard and whipped cream, topped with a piece of chocolate and a pistachio, lol…
the bubble machine came out and was on until bubbles started to land on plates… the weather was beautiful as the sun shone with a slight breeze every now and then… conversations were free flowing and stories made us laugh…
we took a group photo, as we always do when we gather for special times;-)…
as everyone began to leave the clouds filled the sky and the temperature went down, but no rain fell…
I had a relaxing time as I cleaned up, filled the dishwasher, put away the cushions, and got the table back into its original location…
read my book as the last of the bubbles flew around the deck…
Friday, we spent some time finishing the bottom deck area…
in a section under the main deck there had been boards to hold the box of soil that was there for any planting requirements…
when the deck reconstruction was completed, it was decided we would finish this piece…
Friday afternoon a bit of shovelling took place to remove the dirt on the blocks and then the new saw was put to work cutting cross boards and then the pieces to fill in the deck area…
it looks great and the big dirt box can slide in and out easily… it sits back there to keep the soil from getting wet when it rains…
looks great and has finished off the deck build;-)…
yay, always happy when a project is completed without any niggly little bits left unfinished;-)…
this morning I started my day with a wander around the gardens…
I started with the vegetable garden and checked on the two tomatoes, miriad of peas, beans, and the couple of cucumbers that appear to have made a go of it…
the cucumber and butternut squash seeds have yet to reach the surface…
the columbines are getting ready to flower and it appears that the ones with double petals are happy in their new location along the house…
the dahlias are growing taller every day and the ivy slips from the house are holding their own…
next I checked out the pond garden, where the irises are blooming and the poppies are raising their heads slowly to get set to open… I had to detour back around the deck so that I didn’t brush against any of them… the hanging baskets are filling with flowers as they recover from the hail storm…
the petunias around the deck look good, but I need to find a way to raise up the new planter boxes as they are just a tiny bit too narrow…
the begonia and orchid in the back shady area seem to be doing well and the pansies by the bathtub pond are growing nicely…
the hibiscus is still in the shade since coming outside recently and the begonias and verbena are happy… sadly the pansies in between them are not doing well…the strawberry pot and dahlia next to the back door look excellent as do the morning glories as they come up…
on the deck the mandevilla seems content in its new location and the clematis continues to wind its way up the obelisk… the lobelia and alyssum on the table are doing very well…
after that lovely stroll, I brought out all the cushions, uncovered the deck chairs, and sat with my tea and read some of my book as the birds sang their morning welcome;-)…
this morning a memory came up from our night at Free Spirit Spheres on Vancouver Island…
it was the cherry on top of our trip that took us on a cruise to Alaska; visiting Chihuly Gardens and Glass, and blowing glass in Seattle; tea and a carriage ride at the Empress Hotel in Victoria; and a morning taking photographs in Butchart Gardens in Brentwood, BC…
it was delightful and we enjoyed every minute… delightful times…
for whatever reason (that I can’t figure out) the pump at the end seems to keep tipping up… I decided to put a fair-sized rock in to hold the edge of the pump down and give the fish somewhere to hide under, other than the bridge, lol…
and I removed the two dead water lilies which were clearly not coming back…
we will see if it works… well, look…
it seems as though the fish have finally decided that they can swim around the entire pond…
herbiggirlpants 