fur baby

so, this week i'm cat/house sitting for some friends of friends.

hi, i'm tess.

it's always interesting to get to know a new cat. this one is giving me a run for my money.

mostly, she treats me like this.

every once in awhile, i get a bit of this.

she's adorable. she's 14 and in the midst of deciding that she doesn't want to eat, drink or move much. but every once in awhile, she gets a burst of energy and she reminds me of a kitten. i am texting these photos to her owner who is very worried.

i kind of love her. she reminds me of somebody i used to know :)

another night, another gathering

'hi nice lady'

'you're kind of amusing'

'in fact, i think i like you'

'oh wait. there's a bird'

'nope, not as good. how YOU doin'?'

Obviously this one is a lover.

candid

well, there is a reason I don't take many people pics (THESE were taken by friend rachelle, btw). those little buggers move FAST.

and ps. most of the above are not really into 'fancy' ice cream. but love hard-boiled eggs and rice :)))

ha ha. blessed beyond measure.

cute peeps

okay, so at least i remembered to snap a couple of pics. bad pics, but with such cute subject matter, it's still kind of good :)

if i had to describe this summer in one word, it would be 'relationship.' that's kind of a new one for me, eh? but as much as i've gone into the new, more social 'me' kind of kicking and screaming, i've really really been enjoying it.

last night was gardening night at the church garden. these are some of my helpers up above! we met this family thru our summer outreach - kid's camp - and my friend rachelle has continued the relationship. they have never gardened, and let me tell you, those two little girls are THE BOMB! they weeded more than the big people :)

afterward, we had frozen yogurt and conversation. mom is married, hubby works at night. she is going to start classes next week to learn more english. her 2 daughters speak VERY well, and she said they are actually 'teaching' her, too.

her mother and sisters live in her home country (um, i forgot to ask exactly what country that is) and so she is kind of lonely. rachelle and i are like 'aunts' and a small touch of family for her since hers is so far away.

on sunday, we'll be going over for a ramadan feast with them. very excited!!!! she is hungry to share her culture with us, and we are hungry to learn. muslims fast during ramadan from sunrise to sunset, so we'll meet later in the evening to eat.

i'm starting to wonder if maybe relationship trumps hermit-ness, you think?


:)

ready, set, not quite ready?

okay, it's monday and i have to go back to work today.

i hope with all my heart that i can do it. seriously you guys, it's getting harder and harder and harder. thank goodness i love my work, i cannot even imagine being in this state if i didn't.

sigh.

i love summertime, don't you? i had the perfect mix of work, play and rest. i read 1 1/2 books INSTEAD of tv. i have a ways to go in that area, which will play out later this month when i take some time off from media.

i wore a headband some of the time. sigh. that's what you do when the tiny bit of hair you have is bugging the crap out of you, i guess.

i went dumpster diving at the ACTUAL dump. i was dropping off a load of branches, when lo and behold i saw a perfect stump. it was hard to be inconspicuous about hauling it to the truck when i could barely lift it. but it was worth the effort.

speaking of effort, here are my lilac bushes after i gave them a little 'trim' which turned into nearly cutting them completely down! i'm getting the rest of my fence put up this month, so i needed to get them in shape.

that 2nd photo is to show cher how parts of my yard actually look. there's a reason why i take alot of close up shots :) ha.

well...no sense delaying. i need to get to work, i guess. here's to a happy, productive Monday y'all!

for cher

so my friend cher has a gardening space to fill....here are some random thoughts:

if you have a lot of shade, i find that it's harder to grow things that flower alot. my fave prairie plants like coneflowers and black eyed susans just like LOTS of sun.

so maybe think about mixing textures and shapes i like the purple/lime green/burgundy combos, so these are along those lines :)

i will add more as i think of them :))))))

false spirea - these go crazy, but they are lacy and a nice shape. i think you could 'underplant' with shorter stuff for variety. they do spread, so you'd have to pull 'suckers' but otherwise, no maintenance.

this is my FAVORITE hosta ever. Fire Island. it's small, so get a few and tuck em in around other things.

this is another possibility for a bush to add some height and texture - black lace elderberry. some think it looks like a japanese maple. it also gets wiley and wonkey, but that is what makes it good.

this is the ligularia...it only blooms at the very end of summer, the leaves are FAB. it likes shade, so tuck it in the back. make sure you get 'othello' or the round leaf, much prettier than other varieties.

another fave hosta, guacomole. lime green and a medium size.

these are heuchera. they come in a zillion colors. sometimes they grow, sometimes they die. when they grow, they are terrific and colorful.

 

 

 

 

blue giant hosta. common, but big and adds a nice touch of cool color.

day 6 (otherwise known as 4th of July)

whew. day 6 of vaca, and I finally had a whole day with no plans! kind of backwards, i guess, but it works for me. i have been careful not to plan the final 3 days coming up, either, so that i get filled up with plenty of solitary confinement. it's what i really, really needed.

so, here is some of what i've been up to...i should note that mostly i have been socializing A LOT. it's been good, but i never take people pics. i might have to think about changing that if i keep being outgoing :)

okay. but back to the hermit stuff. i showed you the beginning of the strawberry bed, but here it is finished. i ordered the strawberries bare root (ie dead looking) and VERY quickly they started to grow. all 25 of em!

 

check out the teeny weeny blossoms. almost all of the teeny weeny plants are starting to get BERRIES already! that is a farmer-dream-come-true right there! i hope they continue to do well.

then i went to a class and learned how to make a rhubarb leaf birdbath. it looks better in the pics than it actually is in person, but it's kinda cool. it is wonky shaped and does not really hold water. not sure a bird would be interested, but the process was fun. i started to take process photos, then somewhere in the middle got distracted and forgot. you kind of missed the step that involved peeling the !@#$% leaf off the cement. not really the most exciting part. but working with the cement was okay. it helped that the ladies at the outdoor campus mixed it and did most of the work :)

then today i made a little collage for my basement bedroom that i have been wanting to do for AGES. since that basement room is my little sanctuary (pics to come after i finish up just a COUPLE more finishing touches) the saying seems so fitting. it's made of seed catalogs and paint. i kind of love it :)

so that's it from the back forty. i hope you have a great 4th holiday, and i hope you remember that america is only beautiful because of God :)