Augustus~is ..on our heels~

 

Our Oli 11..  painted with me last week..such a highlight..I once had a friend I painted with..she moved..

I HAVE a friend who paints..she moved..

So having Oli was a gift.

Like 3 hrs..together on the deck painting away..

He painted a Paris People♥

I hope we do it again.

My heart was bursting lol.

A few days later he was at Costco w/ his mom getting holiday/vacay food and asked if he could buy Nana flowers w/ his own money.

Those gorgeous white chrysanthemums.

♥

Be still my heart.

Every day..weather permitting I kind of hard garden..some days less hard than others..

Friday..the butterfly came.♥

And I watched and maybe took 40 pics.

And more will come..

Next yr..MORE  Verbena Bonariensis..NO Cleome..

More Cosmos.

I re~arranged a front bed and took out all the Miss and Mr Finickys.

And plopped hostas in there.

Time will tell.

I don't do much w/ my hair anymore..no streaks..nothing..but after 1 yr plus I needed a trim.

I love my hairdresser..he's all of ours..Justin.. and he eats out and lives la belle vie..

To be truthful he fought his way back for more than 1 yr after a terrible injury.

Anyway he loves eating out..good food and takes pics..thus the shrimp dish.

OHMY heavens.

Keeper.

I finagled my way around what he told me..

Gazpacho is a gastronomical delight but until I have 2 lbs of tomatoes to make soup..

I make Sarah and Monnie's.. Just spice up our Canadian tomato juice.. lol..We have spicy Clamato..but not their tomato juice.

Easy peasy we both love it.

Tilly my friend on IG and fellow Québécoise sent me that Chicken/Mushroom/Crepe recipe..I mean once in a while a creamyish dish is ok right?:)

Now for the pickles..Please do not contact me saying ....

OHMY ITS NOT A CORRECT CANNING RECIPE

She suffered enough slack lol  for sharing her tried and true recipe.

So be it.I got it on Gardenweb from Sharon 20 yrs ago and have made it ever since.

And we're all fine.

Fine..Fine ...Fine..

I see some have amended it..the recipe almost does not look the same.

I did add more vinegar.

Google away.

Chase's Dill Pickles.

I have 9 beautiful jars waiting for us.. 6-8 weeks.

Looking good dear gardens of mine.

Thank you.

~Un peu de tout~

 

Ask me why I garden.  and now something is eating my gorgeous lettuce.

Because..I guess there is still enough pulling me in..

There's almost no time to write~Well there is really..  I'm just scattered..

I know it's not of the utmost importance..but I like to look back and remember.That's why I do this:)

I'm still cooking and baking and gardening..pressing flowers and painting..

We all know traditional tabbouleh but perhaps you didn't know the French one..I didn't..Google and try..mine is w/ couscous..The traditonal middle eastern one is mainly parsley..not so w/ the French one.

I loved it..I'll share a few more new and delicious salads soon:)

A friend from IG sent me seeds from her garden..so cute..the fairies love them...

I harvested my garlic July 20th.It looks beautiful and it is now hung to cure in The Little House Of Garlic♥

Here's an idea of what to do w/ pressed flowers..

Easy peasy..the ones at top of this post.. not yet pressed are from a lovely lady's garden..I just met her..an old flower press..as well as this one..from clients over 25 yrs ago..these pansies..all pressed..maybe 4 yrs old?

I honestly forget..:)

Maybe less..

Make gift tags! Make an arrangement under a glass tray or frame..It's honestly a soothing beautiful hobby!..

Hobbies are great! One of my daughters just took two pottery sessions and loved them..a sampling of what she made:)

She'll always have them and years from now look back and love the moments she spent making them.

♥

I find time is flying faster than ever~

 

 I mean look at that face pretending to drive my white Cabriolet♥

He doesn't read my blog so he won't see this.. but in less than one month he will be 16.

This is the front of the card I am having made for him..he starts Driver's Ed soon..ohmy gosh.

His mom drives my car ..it's hers..this car is a 1986 white volks cab convertible..built like a tank.

It may have been my midlife crisis car lol..

My girls learned to drive in it..

Caroline married with it..it was the bride's car on a gorgeous day!

As you can see the Littles were in it early..

So happy they kept it and love it.

This boy..

our first..

This birdhouse needs revamping...

Many plants doing beautifully..

Others suffering from rust and Japanese Beetles..

The garlic's coming along well..all herbs too..I'll never buy a dill plant.. seed is the way to go..by this time  my dill is done and gone to seed..not seeded..but seeded..lush and fresh and new.

I am going to sound like a broken record but it is one of my middle names..

I love..chopping spring green onions and freezing..on the spot ready and fresh! Who knew?

And here I go again with washing your berries carefully..drying and glass jarring them.

The difference is unbelievable.Glass jars..clean produce..a match made in heaven.

What I mean by time flies..the poppies are long gone tulips and lilacs preceeded them,perennial geraniums..many roses..and now poppies etc..

Another little car tidbit of info...

For the last 10 yrs..I've driven a Fiat.

When I was forced to retire..I let go of an acceptable client car and bought small and cute.

Like wine labels I'm not into wine apart from the label..I'm not into cars apart from cute.

I kid you not when I needed this new not working anymore car I Googled cute cars.

All over Italy I had seen them.

I bought it.

10 yrs now..some issues..

I overlooked them..

but there was an annoying issue..

I took it to my garage.. and while it was there..someone backed into it.

So the garage called me and said I have bad news..  the accident ..and we  are not responsible so call your insurance..we have witnesses etc,and the repair of the other thing is major.

OY.

They don't make or sell those cars here anymore..

So I had the body repaired..insurance did cover it..not my fault..no kidding..

but I wasn't sure re their diagnosis re the car problem.

Took it somewhere else because I wanted it SAVED..

That mechanic might just have been a bit more knowledgeable and took his time..found the issue and fixed it.Not major.

So I can keep it for a while lol until I find another cute car..

I gave them a stunning review:)

So like anything..if your intuition is telling you something..

Listen:)

Have a good week~

Julyish...

 

July is different than June as we all know..

It is fuller..too full at spots and different diseases and insects can surface.

In my case my beautiful hollyhocks have rust..the seeds I wanted to share..I should not as seeds from rust borne plants carry the disease..:(

And just a word of caution check your plants..see?  Those are a type of aphids I spray them off on these particular rigid plants w/ a jet stream of water or rub them off..on nasturtiums and such..rub..

I had ordered Shirley Grey poppies online..and lo and behold two showed up..all the rest are these.SO MANY.I was thrilled with the germination ..lol..the outcome..I mean I love them but have these.In real life they are a darker coral.

I had designated one special area for these greys..where no poppies had grown.

I LOVE Debbie's Darlings..LOVE and hope to gather my seeds and always have♥I have know Debbie since Gardenbuddy Days..It's been a pleasure:)Her eldes grandson starts kindergarten this Sept..Time flies..with my eldest..having one last yr of high school then college..driver's ed this summer.

We had some rain which plumped up the grass:)

I LOVE rain after a drought.

Pluviophile.

My blue hydrangeas have never been so pretty♥

The Japanese Beetles have arrived:(

Turns out microgreens are fun to grow!

Our bee house is beezy..so beezy..I circled a pale circle..I doubt you can see the small bee variety going in:) But it's abuzz with activity always.

Noah..becomes a teen..one left Oli..

I made Noah a No-Knead..he will get a kick out of it.

He'll be far happier with his other gifts lol but he will like this;)

Have a nice weekend~

Happy 4th of July to my American friends~