Wednesday

 The day started after a good night of sleep.  I am grateful.  There was the usual yogurt, blue berries and almonds for breakfast.  

                          A bran new sweet pea as my dad would say.  Things were never just new.

I moved to the garden to have another get acquainted meeting. A mental list of what to do was made. On the list was clearing room for the keeper flowers.  I picked cucumbers.  The more one picks the more one gets, they say.  Now I am hoping for pollinators. 

       Surprise, surprise.  The packet of seeds was marked as being orange.  I find bright red to be reality.

Then it was back to the patio for a cup of coffee and the morning paper.  And who should drop in but a neighbor taking a walk around the block.  We talked and took a walk around all the gardens.  She has not made it yet to becoming a obsessed gardener serious about pulling weeds daily.  I would say she was impressed about everything she saw.  When one lives in one place for a long-time, gardens have a chance of becoming something very good.  That's my garden, very good but certainly there are better.  

            One of these days there will be one beautiful Hydrangea on this plant.  It will be a while.

Doug pulled the B B garbage cans up from the street empty and already one was half full of all the morning clippings. I was thinking about China's celebrating the year of the rat or chicken or something like that.  I think this garden is celebrating the year of the clover or rabbit or deer. Deer and clover might be new to the Chinese. But not to ME!  

                                    Doug started this rose from a cutting almost 60 years ago.                                                                 It never has many flowers, but I do enjoy what it gives each year. 

I spent some serious time looking at all the big zinnias now little zinnias with the job of trimming back ALL the stems the bunny had split off.  That took some time.  Tonight, I'll fertilize all the bunny injured zinnias.  Speaking of bunny...while I was sitting with my coffee here comes Peter hopping across the lawn right up to the patio garden when he had eaten from the food truck about 6 ft away from me.  His nose right next to the Marigold. Oh dear, something new!  After about what seemed to be 5 minutes of him staring at me and me at him, he attempted a bit of Marigold which brought out the Mrs. McGregor in me chasing him right out of the garden.

                                        One whopper of a tomato.  Another one was eaten.                                                         I suspect a raccoon climbed the fence around the plant. One medium size tomato was half eaten.                                      One slice of this tomato when ripe would fill a BLT

So by 11, I called it over for the gardening world.  I had transplanted, weeded, clipped, watered and it was time for the chair.  Lunch came and I mentioned to Doug that our Finch food bag was empty.  Now all the other bird food is gone for the summer, but I would like to continue feeding the finch.  So, we made a stop at Wild Birds for seeds and Walgreens for Doug's meds.  Life is pretty simple. and even simpler when the neighbor leaves super tomatoes and cucumbers on the patio table.  There will be another salad tonight. I love surprises. 

Zinnia's packed closely together grown from seeds just dumped on the ground.  Face book zinnia members in the south pack their zinnias together just like this.  It's just another way to plant.  I'm not sure if I like this look.  This year I have zinnias planted both ways. When small the packed zinnias provided transplants to go other places.

In another garden spot, each plant has their own space.  

Life will be pretty quiet tonight.  The Fever lost last night, playing New York again.  CC is hurt and not playing.  Let's hope healing doesn't take forever.  The next few days should bring some heat.  I think the garden is ready for it. I'm seeing tiny little red beets.  Still looking for marigolds.  It must take more than two days after planting for them to pop out of the ground.  

 I'm receiving pictures every day from the Michigan campers.  It sort of, but not quite the same as being there.  I love getting pictures and messages daily. It's just what I need. 

                      Three boys having a blast in Lake Fanny Hoe, a stone's throw from their tents.                     

This morning Kimmy sent a video from inside their tent.  A really big rainstorm was in progress.  There is nothing better than that sound of rain on the tent.  And of course, Adam was outside running around in the rain!  That's a true Adam thing to do.  Sometimes my big grandsons are little grandsons.  What a gift to remember for all folks!  

                                     That's not a very good hand, Kimmy if you are playing 3/13.                                                                                                      You need some luck.

What do you do on a rainy day while camping?  Play cards.  I can't tell if Jared is winning or losing.  Luck hasn't been with him lately. The Michigan Russell's have an awesome dining fly that doesn't allow any rain in.  And that's the truth!