Just another day in the yard...

Life in the garden has been good.  The hummingbirds have come back a little, but not enough for me to get some shots.  I saw a fledgling Robin out yesterday.  This is a buddy of his resting on a garden hoe on my hill.

Pumpkin loves to scratch on my raised beds.  I think it's great.  I'd hate to have her trying this in the house.  Sometimes she's even coordinated enough to balance on that one inch to sharpen the claws.

 

 Thanks, I feel better now.

 Goofy Sofie and Penny after a romp around the yard.

Kermit found this toad out front, so brought him to the pond.  He immediately started climbing up the pond plant.



Something about this looks likes it is out of a fairytale.

 Hollyhock from the garden at full bloom.  First one I've ever been able to see.  The deer would always get them before the blooms 

Challenges and Joys...

Having a new young dog is awesome and a little tiring at times.  She is a counter surfer, even bolder than Farro if those of you who knew how Farro was can imagine.

So, I set up a Sofie Defense System.  Those cans have pennies in them.  In theory, when they knock them over, it will frighten them and they'll stop putting their paws up there and stealing things.  OH, like two servings of fresh Cherry Cobbler.  

I see two problems with this and Sofie.  One, she isn't phased by many noises now that she's acclimated.  Two, no more than a few minutes after this shot, I was sitting at the dining room table.  Sofie went over to these cans, daintily put her paws inbetween them and sniffed the cans.  Did not even wobble them.

So we'll see.  I'm sure she'll try to get up there at some point in time today.

Out in the garden today:

Sofie with her Koi

Penny being a flat dog.

Penny by a garden box of Basil, Sweet Peppers, Sunflowers, Cucumbers and Beans.

Bean Sprouts

Cucumber Seedlings

Sofie's big paw and my white foot.

How to tell that it's early and that I haven't had coffee yet.

A Rainy Sunday Morning

Perfect for lazing about.


Luey and I pitted a lot of cherries yesterday.  Kermit is making Cherry Cordials from part of them.


I still need to pick the other half of the tree with a tallish.


Here's half of the cherries.  Sofie thinks they are OK, but not great.  Snow Peas, those are great.

I decided that I am not going to let Sofie up on the sofas.  One, she's big.  Two, she needs better manners first.  So for cuddling, I sit on the floor.

I have a Hollyhock plant that is blooming this year.  I have never witnessed a Hollyhock bloom here, because the deer love them.  I got one in my garden, it made me happy!

Made some cherry tarts this morning, came out meh.  The dough is too salty.  Store bought.  Won't do that again.  Waiting for the menfolk to get up.  Then they are going to cook breakfast for us.

Busy as a Bee!

But, no Bee pictures. We had some rain, and then some great sunny days, so I've been really busy in the garden. Took out the Snow Peas and the Lettuce. Put in Basil, beans, and cucumbers. Planted some more peppers, and freshened up the planters. Put out carrot seed too.  Tidied up the walkways and did some general maintenance.

Peppers and Strawberries

Basil transplants, Cucumber and Beans are from seed.

A Pumpkin!

I'm going to kidnap my youngest from Moscow today to meet the new pooch.  Everyone have a great weekend!

Fabulous Lillies

I had some time to go through Sofie's vet records and discovered that her 1st Birthday was yesterday!   It seems that when she was 9 weeks old, she weighed 10lbs.  At 5months, she weighed 35lbs.  Big Puppy!


She's a smart dog, but very shy and fearful right now.  I'm waiting for her to become comfortable with all the changes, then I'm sure the Rottweiler adolescent BRAT will appear.


She loves running around the garden, and is very aware of walking/running areas vs garden space.


My Lillies came into bloom!  I gathered all of them up from the garden here and there, and planted them together.  The smell is wonderful when you walk by, or have the breeze blow it by you as we sit by the pond.

Lillies

 New Fish - the small one.

Sofie

Nice Day All the Way Around.

Sofie and Penny are getting along great.  Sofie met two of our neighbors and one of their dogs.  She just loves everyone.


I like getting up early, but Sofie is ridiculous.  4:30am today.  I waited until 6:30 to feed them.  Sofie kept staring at me, and even barked at me once.


Did some training, took a nap, then went out to the garden.  The lettuce needed to be pulled (sniff), and some weeding.  There's actually a lot that needs to be done out there, but I don't feel like it.  I need to decide what I'm going to put in that bed when the snow peas get pulled up.  Penny is trying to pull them up daily, but has failed.  That dog just loves snow peas.


My Lillies have bloomed!  It smells wonderful when you walk by them.  I'll get some pictures tonight and put them in here.  Probably some pics of Sofie and Penny too.  Imagine that.


Changed out the hummingbird feeders.  I read up on it, and I need to be changing them way more often.  When it's hot, every day.  So I'm going to not fill them, and just replace every day.


Sofie had her first FRAP!  Zoom, zoom around the gardens.  She caught on where the areas are that she can't go really quickly.  Penny chased her around, they wrestled a little.  Now they are both crashed in the living room.


Pumpkin actually came in today and hung around in the same vicinity as Sofie.  I keep letting Sofie know that the cat is "Mine."  The cat has the whole upstairs as a safe area, so I'm not too worried.  Sofie did not chase her when they met up in the yard last night.  Sofie sat and stayed very nicely while the cat was crossing the yard.


We're still working on "Down."  Sit is good.  Stay?  Uh, that needs a lot of work.  I'm also going to teach "Place" in the kitchen because she likes to lay in the MIDDLE of the kitchen when I'm in there.  Not so convenient.  

Jaw Jousting at the Fleuron's