Thursday.

 A beautiful morning with a tricky but easy crossword.  Wordle still is to solve.  I've tried 4 different words and still have only two letters.  I've got to do more thinking tonight.  

This morning I found another place that needed some work.  It once was only ivy.  I cleaned that out and added some plants. I think there is nothing harder than taking out ivy by pulling it.  But it works. I gave it a haircut this morning and piled all the old off with a trip to the g. can.  Doug and I are full of mite bits.  They itch like crazy.  Mites are found in all the grassy stuff we eliminated the last few days.  Cream used for poison ivy helps a whole lot.  Getting rid of stuff that needs to be pulled is just one of those nasty summer garden jobs. The mits are horrible.  

                        Another liberated area with all the not needed growth of early spring gone.                                                                              It's breathing a sigh of relief.

I made a run to the drugstore for another bottle of medicine.  I've had difficulty sleeping which I shared with my cpap PA.  After testing we found a big iron deficiency.  Iron with vitamin C and Gabapentin has been the solution for a better night of sleep.  Gabapentin is used for many things.  It's working for me at night!  No more three-hour nights with a big hole from 2 to 4 Iron should give me more energy eventually. I'm loving the new sleep pattern already. 

I repurposed this birdhouse this morning.  A gift from my sister, it once had a base that allowed it to sit anywhere independently of anything else.  It's been many places in the garden.  The base rotted away with age.  This morning I dug it out of the garage and found a new place for it jabbed into the flower pot sitting on the patio.  It works.  The Xmas Cactus is looking for renewal also.  It needs its summertime fix. 

Patio sitting and sending texts took care of most of the afternoon.  I seemed to have shot my wad of energy with all the morning work. I need to give the iron more time to come alongside. 

                               Peppers will soon be part of the summer salad. More are not far off.

                                Another keeper for the salad.  There are more coming along.

Supper on the patio with another great garden salad brought the day closer to an end.  I'll add that Doug made two runs today to the woods with our garden chipmunks.  We're keeping up with them but today was a first with two little creatures caught.  It's been a while since we made a run.  Yesterday I spotted a baby squirrel. racing across the yard and up our maple tree.  So cute and so tiny.  We've caught them in the past honoring them with a ride to the park.  It might happen this year again. 

The best year ever for Hollyhocks.  A little bland in color.  

                                   

  There are five swallowtails waiting to be swallowtails in the cage.                                                           Three are close.  Two are still eating.  This is an old picture!