Tuesday, August 21, 2012

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It is true, time does fly when you are having fun!  Our summer started at the beginning of July, when the warm weather stayed to visit and here it is, past the middle of August.

Yesterday was a serious planting day .. one in which I devoted hours to installing some of the many perennials that I’ve been buying on sale!

First thing though, as I went outside, mug of Yorkshire Tea in hand, ready to take a little walk around the yard.  To check on the differences since the latest application of EM, last Friday.

Walking past the garlic drying area beneath the sundeck, I remembered that my friend D had mentioned that she was going to leave a surprise for me there.  So I looked in and there was a magnificent picnic basket!  I’d always wanted one of these, but it just never happened.   And here was one for me!

I quickly picked up the basket and took it over to one of my outside working tables and opened the top latch, to see how much space there was in the interior.

Wow .. imagine my surprise when I lifted back the folding lids and saw treasures inside!  It felt like opening a surprise Christmas present, only on a warm sunny morning!

Inside there were such beautiful things .. a magnificent book on Hummingbirds, with exquisite colour plates and information on their habitat, how they live their daily lives.  Included was an article on the loss of hummingbirds in Cuba, that is terrible and I plan to find out more information.

I’m also inspired to plant more Hummingbird plants after seeing some of the beautiful photos.

Oh, more and more treasures, a book on lavender & one on craft printing (I’ve always wanted to learn how to write those curly cue little sayings and this books shows exactly how to do it).

And more and more .. I put the basket on the grass and then just sat down, lifting each item out, admiring the beauty of the candle holders, the bright colours of the mugs (now these will be my gardening mugs, easy to spot and not lose in the grass!)

I had fun, lifting out each item!  And happy when I saw the note about the tomatoes.  The story behind this is that my friend & her son grew 5 tomato plants last year, they were small little plants and they had a few tomatoes from each plant.
This year, they grew the same type of tomatoes, but, this year, they added EM on a weekly basis.  The results?  Over 400 tomatoes on 5 plants.  And the plants were not small this year, they were like little trees!  Ah, the magic of EM (effective microorganisms).

After playing for a while, I tucked everything away in my new picnic basket … time to get serious now!

I wandered over to the hanging bird bath and saw some tiny little feathers in the water .. and shortly after, I saw a little Chickadee perch on the edge of the bath .. another special moment to enjoy in the garden!

Spent some time admiring the busy activity of the bees as they visited the prolific flowers of a plant that was given to me by my gardening neighbour.  It grew from seed (see how tall this plant is!!) and I think it is part of the daisy family.  This is the second year.

Late in the day, I was furiously planting lots of perennial grasses and a mixture of other hardy perennials in one part of the side yard.   Looking good.  I’ll take photos in a few days.

Thankfully the weather is a little milder and not so hot .. making it more pleasant to play outside.

And now I’m off to start my day.  Lots more plants for the other side of the yard.   Oh, plants are my life,  and I just can’t seem to have enough.

🙂