IN Carmel

 It was a pretty simple day starting with breakfast and the usual garden walk.  I took care of the day lilies and with a careful look I cut some to add to the altar arrangements that were going to have their last bloom.   We were off to church and the flowers were added to the arrangements.  I forgot to take pictures but adding a touch of color was a good thing.   Our Duke intern for the summer preached this morning.  It was an excellent sermon and one that said this lady is ready for moving on to better things although she still has one year of seminary.  I met a new to me couple although they are North members.  She is yet another cancer patient with brain cancer still under treatment.  We had a lot to talk about almost being the one to lock the church doors.    It was home with an easy lunch and a little TV before tackling a problem in the garden.  Yesterday's storm included some wind which did some damage in the g...

 Today Jared and Kimmy sent a lot of pictures of their gardens.  The starter plants came from our garden but they certainly have expanded from that beginning three years ago.  I'm sharing pictures we received this morning.   The famous drift wood piece that made it home last summer when the car returned with only Adam and Jared.  Adam's soccer commitment demanded that trip mid-way through the vacation. The butterfly is metal.  Stunning Kimmy. A little pond can barely be seen.  More rocks from Superior's shore line the pond. There is a solar pump keeping the pond happy.             I would say that Kimmy has me beaten when it comes to Holly Hocks.  Just wait till next year! The Hosta's that were around the H H's have been removed by the free range chickens.  The chickens hunting for bird seed that had fallen from the feeders attached to the deck resulted in Hosta's being eaten alive.  Some thin...

 Woo...what a day or maybe I should say morning.  It was all the usual stuff and the garden walk gave me a whole lot of ideas which lead to a whole lot of work.                            Another Benary Zinnia.  It's getting exciting.  I am guessing the next one is white. It was apparent that the common milkweed was taking advantage of space.  In fact, I would say they were covering half of the garden.  That needed correcting.  Milkweed just keeps looking the same once it starts to grow.  Nothing much changes.  And I've heard that butterflies like to lay their eggs on fresh green leaves of common milkweed.  The facebook Monarch group says this summer butterflies are few and far between right now.  Who knows what will happen in a month or so.  So, I moved on to getting fresh green leaves by topping off the milkweed.        ...

 As the summer days go by, they seem to go faster as each week comes to an end.  It's Thursday already.                                                               The marigolds are beginning to shine. Today was finish the green runner for the Chapel altar day.  So the sewing machine was busy early doing its thing.  And with a good pressing I can say done even though I didn't bake it.  Doug's mother taught me to say finished.  Done is when you bake something.  It's done.  Ready to eat.   Saturday morning I'll get this to church along with something for the sanctuary altar area.  I love it when I can share garden things with the church family, honoring the God who makes it all possible.  Done was the salad tonight with garden tomatoes, lots...

 This is sewing day.  And that's what I did.  To be more specific, hand sewing day.  But as usual the day started with a little TV news, an egg and some coffee.  I walked the garden and had a look again at all the plants.  Every one was looking their best.  That is everyone but the trio of hummingbird feeders.  I would guess a racoon decided to climb the pole with one of the feeds on the ground, another one missing the bottom part and the third one a little bent.  Thank goodness the other pole has a baffle making the pole unclimbable. The peanuts and suet were in the house.                                                      I didn't clean up the lily's this morning.  Not hard to tell. I feed the birds once again moving the food trucks into place.  I believe the Starlings kn...

 Nice quiet morning watching the entertainment.  There wasn't very much.  The lilies got their fix and a little dead heading went on.  Some of the milkweed got trimmed back.  I read that Monarch like to lay their eggs on young leaves.  I would say ours are old having appeared in early May. When trimmed back new leaves will emerge.  The number of caterpillars has been zero with the exception of the one that died.  Another good think about trimming is that I can see everything that's there.  Nothing is covered up.                 These little dianthuses  have been around for a long time this year.  They just keep on giving. I filled some vases with fresh flowers knowing that if I cut, more will be forced to appear.   `````Becky Daisy, Benary Zinnias, Oats Grass in a Dennis vase with matching Lake Superior rocks.   I got started with altar cloth making which meant th...

 Last night was one of those crazy nights with 3 hrs. of sleep.  It was just not enough as you all can guess. But some nights that just is the case.  It's been a day of dragging.  Breakfast and a walk in the garden at some point snapping off day lilies.  I enjoy doing that.  The new Benary Zinnias were doing find and received a well-deserved drink.  The rest of the sprinkling can water went to two container plants that also are looking fine and dandy.   By 9:30 Doug and I were on the way to church meeting Heidi and talking over some scheduling dates for changes in the sanctuary.  Darren is planning to use the chapel during July and August for the first service each Sunday morning.  The altar needed some paraments, so we measured for a communion cloth along with a green altar cloth.  We hung new banners in the chapel and met with Jennifer discussing altar flower needs for the coming months.  I'll be taking something from th...