Herbs and Vases

The oregano and sage in my June garden recently looked like this:

They were seriously overgrown, and were taking over my poor parsley plants you probably can't see in the above image.  That was a good thing for a while, since the birds were sharpening their beaks on the parsley, and the oregano and sage hid them for a while so they could get established.  But I really needed to cut them back.  Problem--I don't use a lot of sage and already have some from last year, and I wasn't ready yet to dry another bunch of oregano.  My friend Lori gave me a suggestion--herbs as centerpieces!

Now, I'm not a natural flower arranger.  I got some Mason jars--also Lori's suggestion--and stuffed some sage and oregano in them.  One jar ended up on our fireplace mantel:

And the other jar ended up on our spacious kitchen/breakfast counter:

 
They're free, and I don't have to store them when I'm done--just throw them away when they wilt.  And I can simply go pick some more.  And they're pretty to boot!  I'll take that any time.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Bathroom Hooks

I bought some towel hooks for our main bathroom, which I envisioned being decorated in a nautical theme.  I can't tell you when I bought those hooks.  The store is out of business, and needless to say, the hooks were gathering dust in a corner of my master bedroom closet.  But, finally, the walls were ready for the hooks to go in, and there was much rejoicing from the male cheering section of the family to finally have hooks for their towels.  :)

The seashell shower curtain is rather old and slightly yellowed, but the hooks look darling on the wall, don't you think?

I bought the four hooks for $1.99 each.  But that was long ago!  I'm so happy to have them grace our bathroom wall.

There are still a few things left to do in this bathroom, so I'll have to post more when we actually get around to doing them--say, in another year or two, LOL!  For now, I'm enjoying my seaside hooks.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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June Garden Update

Well, the vegetable garden is really coming along!  Below are my bean plants:

June 1

June 20

And my lettuces in early June.  These were promptly picked:

Insects love gardens, and we found this little guy (below) on the railing of our pool.  He's a baby, less than one inch long.  Cool, huh?

Back to the garden, where tomato plants are gloriously abloom:

The carrots have made their appearance and survived their first thinning.  I tried re-seeding the bare areas of the carrot bed, but those seeds didn't germinate, either.  I'm going to be researching soil adjustment to see what can be done.

The garlic scapes have also emerged, and have started to flower since the below images were taken.

Here's another insect who likes to flit around the garden.  I see him all the time, and he doesn't stay still for long.

The cilantro has started to bloom.  The blooming part turns into coriander (seed), so I usually pick off the blooms.  Hopefully I'll get some cilantro leaf out of this plant.

Can anyone say yum?  I planted my pea seeds late, but they came in nicely anyway.  I'll have a nice harvest over the next few days, and then we'll see if the plants can survive the 100+ degree heat that is predicted for later this week.

Below is Lori's garden bed, in the foreground:

June 20

She already has this awesome green pepper on one of her plants!

Aaaand, here is the "aerial" view of the entire garden area, as of June 20:

And that completes the June Garden Tour.  How is your garden growing?


Back to life,
Christine

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Saved for Future Use

I wanted to be careful how much compost we were going to purchase.  I visited our landscaper's website, and I used their square-yardage calculator and everything.   It was still too much!

Since the compost was piled on our patio, and we wanted to use said patio throughout the summer, Fernando decided the compost must be moved.  He indicated the spot, and the guys went to work.

Meanwhile, Fernando laid out the pool cover and folded it up to store for next winter's use.

Once the guys moved all the compost, Danny hosed off the patio.

The compost is stored, and our patio is "good to go" for summer!


Back to life,
Christine

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Our Late-May Garden

Time to share my late-May garden with you!  Here's what's going on in my harvest garden...

Strawberry blossoms!

 The sage is blooming; I've since trimmed the blossoms off.

The green bean plants have made their appearance!

A few carrots have decided to appear.

Time to pick the lettuce!

Danny picked (and weeded) for me.

Here's the big picture from the pool deck, May 26.

Back to life,
Christine

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How Much Wood Would A...

Now that school's out (except for Thomas), the guys have been pretty busy with special chores.   One chore was loading firewood from Grandpa's and Grandma's house (they'll be closing on its sale and /moving pretty soon) and stacking it in our back yard for the coming winter.  I love fires in the fireplace!

Done with Phase I

Then, the guys made a second trip to their grandparents' home to get more!

Phase II is complete!

When I look out back and see this lovely pile, I dream of our winter fireplace.  But I'm not done enjoying summer yet, either!!


Back to life,
Christine

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