Congrats on the new gig,
@igorsMistress! Sorry to hear about the runaway fender bender, though. Ugh.
Very glad to hear your mom is doing better,
@karenerwin. Those calls are scary to get. Garden looks great!
@NewBoots YOUR ROSES ARE GORGEOUS! *melts into puddle* Especially those peachy ones. Beautiful wildflower gardens, too...that wire over the beds is genius. Sorry to hear you have unpleasant things to handle in the coming week. Maybe get/make/plan yourself a little treat of some sort to take the edge off?
Cute new icon,
@penny1960!
Nice to see your birds,
@TropicalBabies. Since the police refuse to do their job, maybe it is time for a citizen-run type thing. Just a group of neighbors will to go out and tell folks what the rules are and ensure they adhere. We have a loose version of that on our road, for instance, when the new (city) folks were roaring up and down the main road in a four-wheeler, popping wheelies with a helmetless eleven-year-old on the back. (They stopped.) Actually...I think that is just old-fashioned neighborhood life, not an organization at all, but...
The canning cabinet looks really good,
@WthrLady. The accessories on the side are smart!
So many beautiful daylilies.
@BigBlueHen53 @NewBoots
Fun new neighbors,
@Sueby. A friend lives in BC and bears regularly wander down the street, being caught on people's doorbell cams. Keep those garbage lids on tight!
Does the onion really work,
@Wee Farmer Sarah? They and the bunnies have taken out my fenced-in radishes three times now!
Darling babies,
@Acre4Me! Sorry to hear some died. :/ Maybe someone will have a possible answer... Your garden looks wonderful. Last year some of my bush beans did the same thing; one was almost 5' high. Some days, all you can do is roll your eyes at the disobedient plants.
Welcome,
@Kelly Owl! Sounds like you have a wonderful garden going. What kind of lettuce is that frilly, light green stuff in your pictures?
SO many cherry tomatoes,
@reddogmaster2! That marinara looks delish.
Gooood morning gardeners! She says at four.
(PM!) It has been humid, in the low-to-mid 90s, with a toasty heat index and many air quality alerts for us here. That said, our little family gathering for Independence Day yesterday went really well! Everyone had a wonderful time! We set up a sprinkler for all of the kids to run in, which they loved, as well as horseshoes and a game of flamingo toss. As in you toss rings 'round the lawn flamingos...no *actual* flamingos were tossed (though maybe next year we can do a stuffed-animal flamingo toss...). This game, btw, is harder than it looks, and with so many wee ones around, there was no adult beverage consumption. It's still set up, maybe I'll run out and get a picture.
Such fun, especially after all of the...well, all of the 2020. Even the garden got into the act:
View attachment 2228428
Then Hubby added on:
View attachment 2228432
Everybody liked it.
Oh, we also bought bubble wands for the kids. I had visions of the girls running around, beautiful bubbles trailing behind them.
Real life: All the boys went into full light sabre mode.
The new neighbors (the city folk) set off fireworks, but only a few, and they were done by maybe ten. It was not too bad, especially compared to what some of you apparently had happening (my goodness,
@WthrLady, your neighbors need a serious talking-to).
Unfortunately, despite my carefully spraying myself, yours truly has unwillingly contributed to another generation of mosquitoes. Must have gotten splashed on by one of the kiddos and lost some of my protection! I've become rather allergic to mosquito bites in the past ten or so years, despite having grown up in Michigan, where the mosquito is in fact our state bird and is also required to have landing lights, lest they interfere with road traffic. (This is only a half-joke.) Anyhow. The bites get ugly and uncomfortable and nothing touches them, it seems. Would rather not see an allergist, all they are going to do is put me on steroids; no thanks.
I *will* say that a mini-compress (cotton square) of witch hazel takes the edge off, anyhow. Even so, they got the tops of my feet (!) and by this AM it was so bad I couldn't go to church, because loving as the congregation is, a barefoot adult is probably unacceptable.
Couple big bites on the back of my thigh, too, so sitting still is also a bit difficult. Oh well. Very thankful for witch hazel today, anyhow! And the BBQ was such a fun time it is worth it.
As you can imagine, with so many people here, not much got done in the garden. New seeds arrived Friday, though, and there was a lot of happy garden chat yesterday.
My volunteer nasturtium burst into bloom just in time, as did my Flanders Field (apropos) and Shirley poppies, as well as a bunch of the nigella The bachelor's buttons and daylilies still looked great, too.
Since it is so hot and I can't get shoes on (indeed, I am more waddling than walking today, ha!) I kind of have to wait 'til early tomorrow morning or evening to do a whole lot. The tomatoes seem to have grown a foot since last Saturday and need to be trained back to the trellis again! I really want to plant the seeds, too—new cuke and pole bean seeds. Should I soak them first? Usually I don't have trouble, but since it is kind of late and I have had such issues this year, I would like them to get going!
Have a restful day, all, and stay cool!
). I added lemon juice like the recipe said to and it totally overpowered the strawberry flavor and made it very tart. Anyway, I think I can fix it by adding more sugar and cooking it again. 
