Apparently I was blind last night because I couldn't find anything to harvest from the garden when I got home from work. But look what greeted me this morning! I see a bowl full of nummyness in my future. I did harvest zucchini yesterday which was then shared with Neighbor Karen and Co-Worker, Kelly. Plus I had some for lunch. (I was afraid to even look at the squash plants this morning.) the pumpkin vine is now growing at an alarming rate but the gourds are rather ho-hum about this entire growing thing. They are maybe 7" tall. There will be peppers soon, and corn. The corn was really only planted for fall decorating with the dry stalks but darned if all six plants don't sport cobs. (99 cent store..2 to a pot)

Got a wee bit of mowing done this morning... still a little bit of very dry grass in the orchard... mostly dust. I will attempt more mowing this evening and again early tomorrow morning. With the 4th of July coming up and local idiots with illegal fireworks its rather a scary time of the year. I have found spent bottle rockets back there in the past... luckily they were dead before hitting the ground. Much as I like firemen, having a grass fire in my back 40 is NOT how I want to meet them. (though, of course, they would be invited!)

This is Jasmine and her 3 week old twins. They are only tame enough not to panic when they see me and to know that this 2.5 acres is a safe haven for them. Since people keep building houses and then walling them off from the world, the deer have been moving into the suburbs. All the acres near the river, except for the parkway and the golf course, have been taken over by humans so, the deer move. There were no deer on this property until about 14 or 15 years ago.  Jasmine's mama, Doereen, had quite a few babies here but then got hit by a car when Jasmine was a yearling and shortly before she (Doereen) was going to deliver probably another set of twins. Jasmine had a buck baby last year. He was her first. She finally chased him off last week but now I see a spike (2 yr old) buck hanging around. She doesn't seem to mind his presence. 

Deer herd

Twins have arrived! Actually, they arrived on the 5th. the littlest one was the size of a scrawny cat, with crooked legs and a bushel of cuteness. It is straightening up on all fours now and galloping around with its sibling at meal times. They are still bedded down in separate places but I see one or the other not minding mom and doing little dash-abouts when she isn't looking. This is the 2nd baby. It was very hard for me not to reach down and pick it up! I am a firm believer in letting wild animals BE wild animals and I don't think its fair to them to "tame" them. That being said, I do work at living in harmony with them. Mama will stand within feet of me and chew her cud and that's as tame as she and I will subscribe to. Anyhow, I had to make myself stand very still until the fawn wandered off, and then I wandered off, muttering lines from Dr Seuss's book Are You My Mama?

Here are the twins with mama 9 days later. (note; that is not an odd horn sticking our of the doe's head but a stick in the background.) Yesterday I found chunks of what looked like liver where Mama had been resting. 9 days seems like a long time to hold on to a placenta! They're all doing fine, the doe is still trying to chase her yearling son out of the yard but he refuses to go. I have to let Mother Nature deal with it but its sure hard not to interfere. Calling him Venison" means not a thing to him. (he's safe, I never cared for the taste of venison)

I might be back.....

Can't remember how to do this.. sort of flying by the seat of my gardening pants.. the ones with the holes in both hind pockets due to never remembering to use the holster for my pruning shears. My buddy, Angela, has awakened this blog.... now its up to me to remember how to add photos and such gibberish as this. This entire thing looks so much different than it did 3 years ago! Well then, I suppose I do too.

Well, well! Lookie here! In real life this artichoke bloom is absolutely electric, neon, BLUE. I much prefer to feast on the flowers with my eyes than on the buds with my mouth. They're okay, but I get a bigger thrill out of the flower show. Tomatoes, on the other hand... much better to eat the fruit than the flowers. My brother has ripe tomatoes already. I may not speak to him for a month. Ha! He did give me 6 baby Vitex trees today. He complains about the one I gave him years ago.. it now shades his house, but its beautiful in bright blue plumage. Mine, planted at the same time but in less sunshine (until recently) blooms a pale pink with a few bracts of blue here and there. The babies will be planted to screen my property from the neighbors. (They do grow quickly)

Must get some sleep... tomorrow is a work day. I wonder if this will actually post? G'night all.

Well now. I haven't posted anything since March and everything has changed! I used to be able to select photos while in Picasa and then blog from there. Can't do that anymore. Don't have time to figure it out right now. These changes ought to come with written instructions for those of us who are computer-challenged. Grrrr.

another project in progress

 The cottage garden looked a bit (bit?) bleak this winter so after some consultation on consolidating, I went a bit crazy. First a load of topsoil for a mound on which to plant a rainbow phormium,
 Naturally the hens were quite excited about a fresh pile of dirt so I had to fence it.. hopefully temporarily. They are leaving last year's perennials alone, and I am excited to see that all those lovely plants are coming back to life. The "blah" area will be quite colorful in another month or so!

 Then came the pea gravel. This is called "salt & pepper" and it is what I used for the path by the hen's pen. I love it. Leaves blow off and the gravel stays put.
 Pathways are not yet completed but I figure a few days of rest are in order. I unloaded two 1/2 cubic yard loads of this on Friday. According to the internet, 1/2 cubic yard of pea gravel weighs 1.3 tons.
 My empty pot collection is growing. Thank you, Taylor, for insisting I do this. I'll think of something to do with the pots.. perhaps succulents in the dog's yard where the deer won't dine on them.

blue fish planters

I couldn't help myself. One fish came home with me last Wednesday. Friday morning found me picking up its pal as well. Couldn't have just one! Besides, they had been in the same display at the nursery. I love happy reunions. They've both been planted with Mexican feather grass and string-of-pearls. (Photos soon) I'm so happy to have them because I've recently (since then) been admonished to un-pot most everything else and plant it in the ground. Guess I'll have to have a "Garden of Empty Pots" somewhere.

Bloom Day