What's New In The Garden! :)

I had fun adding three new clematis vines inside the veggie garden, that in around 5 years time should cover this section of fence and add a lot of beauty to the garden! :)
It's been awhile since you visited the garden, so come on in, and I'll show you around! :)
I planted the vines according to height, with the shortest 8' clematis closest to the gate; the 10' vine in the middle, and the 18' one closest to the corner where it can have the added growing room to spread out! When in bloom they will invite the pollinators! :)
I added new lobelia for a little instant color between the vines, for now! :)
Something else that's new in the garden is the Caraflex Cabbage, that I'm growing for the first time! :)
We've already eaten one, and it was wonderful! :)
The Stonehead Cabbage looks good too! I'm hoping to let it get a little bit bigger before we cut into one! :)
This is what I call our "winter row", as these are the cool weather crops, and this is the first time I've grown them. It's also the first time I've used the row fabric. (to keep the white butterfly from laying her eggs that eat the crop.) :)
The Juliet salsa tomato plants continue to impress me! I'm glad she's new in the garden this year! :)
Big Beef is finally showing some new fruit coming along! :)
The blueberries are not new in the garden but ...
being so laden with fruit that the limbs are bowing, is new! I suspect the soil treatment I added for the cranberries, below, has given the blueberries a real boost! Time to start picking! :)
There's new squash finally growing! :)
Both winter squash ...
and summer squash! These patty pan are scrumptious fried with a little olive oil and cashews! :)
The thing that's new with the Walla Walla's is that they're finally getting big enough to start eating! As you can see, we used one last night with dinner! :)
We even used one of these red Torpedo onions, last night! They're new in our garden this year, and are tasty! :)
Now that I think of it, we have other things that are new to our garden, too, like the yellow German Butterball Potato! I can hardly wait for them to be ready to dig and try! There are other types of onions and leeks that I'm trying for the first time, too! Some of these first will be grown again, for sure! I tend to think of our garden as a testing ground, where we try new seeds and plants, and see how they do for us! If they grow well and we like the produce, they can become regulars, like the Walla Walla Onions, and the Kandy Korn! We've tried other corn in our garden, but keep coming back to this one! It's a winner for us! :)

So that's some of the things that are new to our garden this year! :)

Please come back again, for another look at our ever changing garden! :)

Cloud Candy! :)

For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with the sky! Sunsets; rainbows; sunrises; storms; and cloud formations all have an affect on me, and remind me that we have an all-powerful, caring Heavenly Father Who is aware of us, wants us to be mindful of Him and include Him in our lives, and loves us perfectly! :)

Yesterday evening I decided to capture some of His love in my lens, in the form of clouds! :)

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This last cloud formation reminds me of cotton candy! Just like cotton candy is candy to our tongue, clouds can be candy for our eyes! :) Hope you enjoy them as I do! :)

Have a great day everyone! :)

Will This Stray Stay!? :)

We have a stray cat that's been coming to our garage to have her kittens! The first time, she had four and they all died. This time she arrived around a week before they were born so she was able to have better nutrition since I've been giving her food and fresh water every day!

Yesterday I stopped hearing their voices and thought she lost her litter again. (They're a week old today.) This morning I was surprised to hear at least three voices mewing! She'd moved her kittens to another location, and so far they are fine! :)

She still doesn't trust me to be near her babies, but the trust is growing between the two of us!
She's been allowing, even encouraging me to pet her, and today followed me out of the garage as if she didn't want me to leave her yet! I squatted down and she laid by me and happily took in all the affection I gave her! :)
I hope as the trust grows, she will eventually allow me to see and handle her little ones. She left after her kittens died, last time, and I'm hoping she will decide to stay this time. I want to get her fixed when she's done nursing, and have her continue on as our cat. If the kittens make it, I will either try to find them good homes or will have them fixed and keep them, too! So far my Honey's leaving the decisions up to me. :)

I call her Cali, since she reminds me a bit of a calico cat. She's been working her way into my heart, to the point that I'd like to see her stay with us and call us home!

Will this stray stay? ... I guess that will depend on if I'm working my way into her heart too! :) Here's hoping! :)

Tomato Talk! :)

The little seedlings are growing up and today Cal took a minute to assist me with my idea for getting them staked! :) Since this is the first time I've ever grown this many plants, and didn't have enough cages to go around, I needed to come up with an inexpensive way to give them support! Each has a tall bamboo stake, and today we put fence posts at either end of the two rows, and wound string around the rows, all the way up the posts! As they grow I will continue to check the plants, to keep them growing within the support of the string. This is an experiment that looks like it may work! We're feeling hopeful! :)
Since they are all indeterminate plants, and will continue to grow until it freezes, we staked them with continued growth in mind! :)
As well as being inexpensive, we think it actually ended up looking kind of nice, too! :)
Fruit is starting to appear now! :) Here are some Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes, growing within the row! :)
The "seedlings" growing inside the greenhouse are doing amazingly well, so far!! (Do you remember the photos I posted when I first planted them in the greenhouse, where they were so tiny they difficult to see?) They are exceeding the height of the tall cages now, and I hope the tall bamboo stakes will be enough to guide their growth to the end of the season! :)
There's fruit growing inside the greenhouse, as well! :) Here's the Sweet Million cherry tomato I'm anxious to try! :)
This is Moskvich, an heirloom tomato that's supposed to be very tasty! I'm more than willing to give up form for flavor! :)
The Juliet salsa tomato is proving to be a real winner, so far! If the fruit tastes as good as this plant grows, and produces, I'll be growing her every year her seeds are available for purchase! :)

... Who knows, maybe I'll even get brave enough to try my hand at saving my own seeds! I've come this far, learning how to grow tomato plants from seed successfully in western WA, so why stop here!? Maybe the saying is true, ... "The sky's the limit!" :)

Happy gardening everyone!! :)

Moth Magic! :)

If you would like to see what moths are in your area, try leaving a porch light on overnight, and take a look at the lit area the following morning! :)
You may be amazed at the variety you see! :)




Look closely or you may miss the ones who seem to magically blend in to their surroundings! :)
Pretty amazing! I wonder what it would be like to be able to do that! :)

Happy moth viewing! :)

Life's Meant To Be Enjoyed! :)

As a proud "Nom" (gram), please allow me to share a little about our grandson, Brennan! He knows the art the enjoying life! He loves animals, and especially dogs, like the rest of the family! Since we have a new canine family member that especially loves kids, their last visit was interesting! :) Coal couldn't resist licking Brennan's head and Brennan enjoyed the canine affection, and I even overheard Brennan thanking Coal a time or two! :) Poor Mommy and Daddy had to give Brennan a shower, once or twice, after these two had finished playing! :)
It was impossible to keep the two of them apart, especially when they took so much joy in each other! :)

The fact that he also loves spending time with his "Papa B" made his joy that much sweeter! :)
Brennan has a laugh that is contagious! The other day he asked to call me and when he got on, instead of talking, began fake laughing on the phone to me! I couldn't help giggling, which made him laugh for real, which made me laugh harder, so before long we were both laughing on the phone without a reason or a care!! :)

He is such a delight! :)

When I was a young mother, I remember hearing grandparents say how much they loved their grandkids! One grandmother even said she never thought she could ever love anyone more than her kids until their grandchildren came along! I couldn't fathom that and, when she saw the disbelief in my eyes, she assured me the day would come when I'd have grandchildren of my own, and then I'd understand! :)

Well, ... they were right that I love my grandsons as much as I love our kids!!! :)

Life is an amazing journey! ... It's meant to be enjoyed!! :)