Cucumbers!

The garden is exploding.  I have cucumbers coming out of my ears- well, not literally, but there are a lot of cukes and my house now smells like the Gedney factor.  I think that 6 cucumber plants was 5 too many.  I have stocked up on vinegar and pickling spice and I have pickled myself into a frenzy.

I hope everyone likes pickles, because I can't eat these all by myself!

Sunflowers

It is funny how you can be so meticulous and intentional about something, to then be completely surprised by how easy it actually should have been, with just a little luck and sunshine.

I really wanted sunflowers in my garden.  I tried to plant some last year and the squirrels decimated them, even the seedlings that were nearly 8 inches tall.  I was determined to have some, so I babied a bunch of organic sunflower seeds indoors for over a month, finally planting them in my garden when they were big enough to survive the ravaging squirrels.

After all my work and efforts, I discovered pockets of sunflowers around the yard that were haphazardly planted by none other than the squirrels and the birds of the neighborhood.  Without my efforts to detour the squirrels, I found the most beautiful sunflowers ever!  It was such a nice surprise!

Corner Patio Project

So instead of a duck pond (although I still really want a duck) we devoted our energy to building a new corner patio for our bonfires and gatherings with our friends and family.  After the world's hottest summer and losing about ten pounds after moving bricks and laboring in the 100 degree heat, Nick completed the patio right before the 4th of July.  Sadly, it was a million degrees, so we could only sit in the shade and look at the beauty of the patio instead of enjoying all the hard work that went into it.  We never really paid attention to the fact that it is the sunniest spot in the yard- which will be great in the Spring and Fall.  The Summer, eh- not so much.  At least it is done now!  We are going to try to construct a pergola over part of it, but need to be careful because the bonfire pit is going to be housed there.  It makes the yard look spectacular!

Finished patio, sans firepit