New Ideas

Darling Husband and I went to a wonderful place today.  We found Four Seasons Farms to be a special place to spend an hour or so.  We learned how to prune our espalier apple trees.  They will be planted along the horse pasture fence pictured here.  We also learned that there is no reason in the world why we can't grow boxwood plants. They just elude us, but we will continue to plant and replant them. We were assured that "you just can't kill them". Today we left inspired to do great things in our newest garden.  This is one of the things that I live for.

Vacation Baby

Baby went on her first vacation.  She spent the week at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.
Baby enjoyed having smores on the beach one evening with her parents.  Never before had she tasted such a wonderful thing as a marshmallow.  She enjoyed the killer whale show at Marine World and slept through Toy Story 3. (We don't need to let the Academy know that though.)  Everyone had a great time but were equally glad to be home.  Now Mom and Dad get to do laundry for days.  Oh, vacation......
Nonni is thrilled to have baby back in her arms again.

Garden Cart

An old garden cart filled with flowers ready to be planted in a dear friend's garden.  What a surprise when she returns home from her vacation. A precious friend who means the world to me.  This is what I can offer her right now at her time of loss. A gift of a garden.

Sorrow and Joy

Today is full of looking ahead and behind as well.  The next few days hold much.  A dear friend's father's funeral, family leaving for vacation, family leaving for the race track. Time to spend in the garden, which is a good place to be. We are just a mist, I know.  Today it seems even more important to love the ones I love.

Pumpkin Patch

A pumpkin patch is a must.  I realize that it is very early to be thinking about pumpkins but after last Fall,  I decided to bury each pumpkin that we had decorated with.  The orchard is now full of all different types of pumpkins growing at full speed. Grandbaby will have her own patch in the Fall.  I can't wait to see her sitting there. This is the good part.

Good Things

These are good things to see in a new garden area.
There has been much work done the last few days.
I am getting so excited to see when "my part" begins.  It has been in my mind for so long now that the thought of making it happen is a real thrill. Summer is now here.  Everyone is done with school and we are starting to think vacation thoughts. A peace comes over the household when the tests are over and life can take on a slower pace for a few short weeks.  Time to pull out some summer reads and make some iced tea.....perfect!

New Babies

Here is one of the new baby chickens. We have yet to figure out what type of chickens the new nine are. They are happily out of the dog crate and roaming with the other hens. One of the hens thinks that they are her babies, so all is well.

It is a bit of a challenge to get all nine under her but she does her best. I am just sure that there are many roosters in the mix. They will go to a new home as soon as they are identified!! They went from being held everyday by lst graders to being very difficult to catch by this grandmother.

Waiting to be planted....

These darling Espalier trees are waiting to be planted in the new garden. Each tree has six different apples on it. We will enjoy Gala, Fuji, Braeburn, Yellow Delicious, Red Delicious and Red Gravenstein apples. I think these trees will look great on the side of the old Red Barn. Waiting, waiting, waiting.....

American Baby

This baby is ready for July 4th! She went to the city for the weekend with her Mommy and Nonni. Only six and one/half months old and she has spent the night in a hotel, had a lovely dinner out and spent two glorious days shopping. She couldn't wait to get home to model her new summer outfit. I think she looks grand.

There is something about chickens

There is something about having chickens that makes me smile. They band together like the best of friends and pick at each other like the best of friends! The five old girls who live in our coop have just had their world turned upside down. Nine new chicks have come to live here. The nine new are in a dog crate to protect them from five very curious ladies. As soon as they are big enough to fend for themselves in the cruel pecking order of hens, they will be released. I can imagine that it will be soon the way that they are eating. One of daughter's daycare moms is a school teacher. These nine chicks were hatched in her classroom and on the last day of school they came to live here. We are not sure what type of bird they are. I am told...."some sort of brown something". This was not enough information to look them up in my book! We shall see as they mature.

The Project Begins.....

What joy! Heavy equipment at our house first thing this morning. It's always a good thing. So, my mind races with ideas for the garden. White Iceburg roses on the fence, lavender in front of the roses and maybe a crabapple tree and oh, a tulip tree too. The rock path is in place. Good for us that there were too many rocks ordered, so the path is set as well. The north driveway got fluffed up too! I must wait to plant until the water system is in place. Just when, I wonder, can we rent a trencher??? Darling Husband will be so busy the next month, that I dare not think how long it will be until he has the time. For now, happy am I who gets to put in yet another garden. Dreaming, dreaming.......