My Pal Joe

Today's post seems to be all pink, with the star of the show, the Joe Pye Weed, which is just about to burst forth in spectacular bloom. The bees and butterflies are hovering around the garden in anticipation! I planted this guy about three years ago and it has just taken over the center planting bed. The poor miscanthus in front of it can hardly be noticed so I guess I'll have to move it next spring.

Here is a close up of the buds.....


Just to give you some perspective on Joe's size, here is a shot of H standing in front of it. The garden slopes down, so H is actually standing about a foot higher than Joe. H is about 6 ft tall, so by the time Joe is in full bloom, it will be about 8 feet tall.

Freddie the Frog is thrilled to have the first Zinnia blooming right next to him.


The pink phlox has reseeded all over the garden, but it sure looks pretty.

The pink dahlias are beginning their beautiful bloom, as well.

I have a few impatiens and they all seem to be pink too!

There are a few splotches of yellow in the garden! These sunflowers were "planted" by our numerous chipmunks.

Yep! Despite the soggy weather lately, the garden seems to be "in the pink"! Sorry, couldn't help that one.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Low Country Boil '08

This year, our friends put on their Fourth Annual Low Country Boil, a tradition from their days living in South Carolina. It's a veritable feast, boiling all ingredients - onions, potatoes, corn on the cob, smoked sausage and shrimp in a single pot, with a large bag of Zataran's Crab Boil for additional flavor. When finished, the entire contents of the pots are placed on a newspaper draped picnic table and the guests are then called to the table to help themselves to heaping helpings of the goodies.

There were a few unexpected guests, who wandered among the blueberry patch, helping themselves to a free meal. These ducks live in the lake and make themselves right at home.


Despite the deluge of rain we've had every day for what seems like forever, the garden is producing quite nicely. Here is one day's bounty from my very small veggie garden........


The morning glories are about to cover the fountain arbor completely!

No post to this blog is complete without mentioning the antics of Sluggo. This boy absolutely loves H and will not leave him alone while he's trying to do his daily crossword puzzle.

H gets a kiss from Sluggo. I think he likes his mustache!

Time for the belly rub!
And so ends another day up north!

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Oh, My!

What am I going to do with all this yellow squash?!!!

We've had several days of rain and thunderstorms and I hadn't been able to get out to the garden to check on things. When I finally was able to take a look - here's what I saw:

The neighbors are already hiding when they see me coming, so I went on line to find some interesting squash recipes and I found a really good one for Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake. I just substituted the zukes for yellow squash. H has declared it a winner and said he would never have believed it had squash in it. I think I'll slice, blanch and freeze the rest of it, as I also found several really yummy sounding casserole recipes.

The plants continue to look frighteningly healthy and full of more baby squashes. I think I'd better not wait to check anymore, even if I need an umbrella!

It was still too wet to mow the lawn, so I took my trusty camera out to see what was blooming, and to my delight, the dahlias have begun their summer show.

I saved this little beauty from the Clinic. A sweet, elderly patient had brought it in for the staff to enjoy, and before they could throw it out, I snatched it and brought it home. That was three years ago, and every year, I faithfully dig it up and store it until the next spring. It's a nice remembrance of that dear, little lady.

I'm surprised I could get a good photo of this one - it's an almost black, burgundy. The blooms are smaller than most of my other dahlias, but the plant itself is very tall.

I think Sluggo missed this grasshopper as he spends every nice afternoon in the yard pouncing on every insect he can find.

The Gloriosa Daisies have reseeded themselves everywhere. The rock garden in the back of the house is overrun with them, but the blooming carpet is so beautiful I can't bring myself to thin them out. The dooryard garden, however, has seen me brutally yanking out the seedlings. This was one of the exceptions as it looked so healthy and thick.

The daylilies are putting on quite a show, as well......

This one is Xia Xiang

Miss Apricot Ruffles is much more tangerine in color than this photo shows

And, of course, Ruby Spider is magnificent. This bloom is huge! Almost the size of a dinner plate.

And so ends another day enjoying the sweet days of summer. I was so dismayed to find that we have now lost 40 minutes of our daylight. Summer days are so fleeting. Sigh.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged, but then, we've been very busy every single day with gardening, visiting with friends, kayaking and various and sundry other projects.

Due to the lack of rain for over three weeks, I've been having to water the garden just about every day. Two days ago, we had about 3/4 of an inch and the plants rejoiced by springing into action and making remarkable growth. The yellow squash was particularly grateful and is now gracing us with copious amounts of veggies every day.

Every summer, the Eastbrook Grange hosts Sunday morning breakfasts. A few hearty souls from the Franklin Veteran's Club arrive precisely at 6 a.m. in order to be first in line for the feast. It's always a fun time, and we usually get back home in time to spend a few leisurely hours reading the Saturday paper which we didn't have time to read Saturday morning.

Most afternoons are spent enjoying a couple of pleasant hours in the dooryard garden with the "boys". While Spike enjoys a quiet time watching for the errant chipmunk, Sluggo goes chasing after any grasshopper, fly or butterfly crossing his path.


After coming back inside, Sluggo settles down in his favorite spot atop my recliner with his tail hanging down low enough to provide me with a fashionable mustache.

We had great fun at our friend's camp on George's Pond, including a fun filled sail aboard their pontoon boat. Oscar, the Golden Doodle was a perfect host and made a point of visiting with all the party attendees. He took a shining to H.

In honor of election year, I've planted a lot of red, white and blue flowers in the planters.

On a peaceful walk in Acadia, we came across this sea of green ferns...

Another stop at the small Charlotte Rhoades Garden in Southwest Harbor, which is maintained by volunteers.


And so, another blog post ends with the endless antics of the cats. Both Spike and Sluggo were filled with curiosity about the contents of the top drawer of the bathroom cabinet. While Spike merely peered in, Sluggo seemed to be taking inventory!



Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Beauty in the Fog

A week or so ago, we awoke to find a fog bank hanging over the bay. Not to be deterred in our plans for a walk at Schoodic, we hopped in the car and headed out despite the fog slowly creeping our way.
Much to our surprise, the fog was beautiful! The quiet serenity of walking in the park, surrounded by the cool mist was quite a calming experience.

Things that we would not have normally noticed, stood out starkly against the veiled curtain.


Even the flowers seemed to enjoy the warm mist. These oxeye daisies were happy.

As were these rugosa roses among the rocks......

and the beach peas........

and the irises.

In the quiet, muted fog, one's senses tend to take notice of things we may normally pass by and take for granted. It's good to slow down and smell the salty sea.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Tidying Up

Yesterday was a yard clean up day. We've had rain for most of the week and I was unable to get out to mow what little lawn we have so it was beginning to look like a mini hay field.

While waiting for the grass to dry out a bit, I decided to launch in to weeding the front planting beds. Everything has gotten really lush with all the fog and rain, including the trees, which desperately needed limbing up.

Here is the "before" shot

The after shot is a bit difficult to see that I had limbed up the small birch tree and the willow tree. I ran out of black mulch so will have to get more on my next trip in to town.

It's always a day of celebration when the Oriental poppies bloom! The camera just cannot capture the absolute fluorescence of these beauties.

This is Mother Nature in all her glory. The vivid reddish orange and bright purple are just stunning. Sadly, they will only last for a few short days, leaving us anticipating their return next spring.

Not to be outdone, perhaps not in vibrant color, but the heady scent of Miss Kim lilac in full bloom keeps me wandering to the other side of the house just to close my eyes and breathe deeply. She is another of my spring favorites, bringing me fond memories of my Grandmother, whose apartment building in Germany was surrounded by huge lilacs.


The rain and fog of the past week have created ideal conditions for the planting bed by the front porch. The hostas have grown so much that one can no longer see the beautiful Japanese Painted Ferns behind them. Guess it's time to do a bit of dividing!

This spring we seem to have attracted lots of Eastern Phoebes. They can be heard singing in the trees, their song announcing their name to the world: Feebee, feebee.

We have one nesting under our deck. She built her nest on a tool that I use to hack stubborn weeds. I caught this photo just in time as it looks like the nestlings are just about ready to fledge. What a cute family Ms. Phoebe has.

And speaking of cute families, here's a photo of my favorite boys.

Life is Good!

Hugs,

Giddy