a giveaway!!

i was thinking this morning about recruiting naphtali for a giveaway when i ran across this: they are giving away a bike each week. click on the picture and follow their directions.
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talk about getting to work in style!!

wrapping up

this picture was taken this morning:
i still have daisies blooming!! here they are sandwiched between one of my lavendars and anemone in the background.



and here's charlie never-too-far-from-my-side keeping me company, waiting for his bath.



thursday night, friday and saturday our local garden club hosted a symposium. when i returned home saturday night i found my kitchen scattered across 2 rooms and a new window!! tim spent his time replacing our least favorite window bringing the total since june to 6!! it has become a fairly standard project by this time. he'll get the inside finished in the course of this next week. normally i've moved furniture and un-hung pictures and curtains to allow him to just waltz in and do his thing so this was a complete surprise!! a very welcome surprise.

for those preparing to be a flower show judge there are several hoops to jump and symposium is one of them. students are gathered, instructors provided and designs built and displayed for instruction (and testing) on how to judge them. i'm not working towards 'judgeship' but found the time well spent. if i know what they're looking for i'm better equipped to enter a prize-winning design or horticulture specimen. right??
of course, i find it fascinating to see the behind-the-scenes scenes too. the amount of stuff they accumulate and haul is mind boggling!!
our club provided 2 lunches and an amazing amount of snacks considering there were 30 or so little old ladies.....we had a delicious lasagne friday and a variety of salads on saturday. we each brought a batch of muffins (i made pumpkin) and a batch of cookies or bars. the kitchen work is always fun.
being away from the house for those 2 days means that my standard weekend routine is compressed to fit today..... so , of course, let's add extras like weeding several flower beds, potting a couple planters, cleaning the shower head, a bath for charlie.
all i have left is my ironing and i'm headed that way right now.

last week

we had the most delightful hint of fall in the air. outside projects became possible. baking was not only acceptable but irresistible. getting dressed became interesting again. (i hate the heat-driven dressing for survival mode)
one of the projects involved -one of my personal favorites- the removal of grass. neither tim nor i enjoy mowing. in fact, we hate it. but it has to be done. in previous years we've found ways to share the task: front yard/backyard, every other time, trade for cooking. this year (bless his heart)he's doing it all. i contribute by occasionally digging up grass to create a new flower bed thus reducing the amount of mowing that has to be done. the maple tree in the back yard has some protruding roots that i decided to protect from the mower with a four foot circle of mulch.


the tree








the tools(impressed by the high tech gear??)











the first cut











yes, all my sod has been cut by hand. and on this job, at the end it was both of us on hands and knees, fistful by fingerfuls as we pulled it from between roots.

fini

some day i'll figure out how to chronicle the in-between steps but for now once i'm in the midst of the work with dirty hands, wanting nothing more than to finish, 'photo op' just doesn't spring to mind. i'm lucky if i remember to take before and after shots.....

happy anniversary

two

four


six










eight



ten

twelve











lovely roses from a lovely man. for all you do for me, all you are to me - my thanks and love always.

wild flowers

if 'untended' and 'unnurtured' (see the previous post) define wild flowers then this year's garden should be reclassified.