best of times

I am in the midst of a weekend devoted to gardening. It has been so long since I really took time to get grubby and sweaty from pulling weeds and digging in the dirt. This is the best of times – bright, not too hot, few bugs. Everything is fresh, green, and blooming beautifully.

The kitchen garden's inhabitants are growing rampantly. The peas that were only a couple of inches tall a few weeks ago, are climbing over their fence. Once budding roses and clematises along the parameter are in full bloom, and tiny lettuce seedlings are becoming vigorous heads.

We installed a fountain in the kitchen garden using an old soapstone sink we bought from the university's surplus sale some years ago and a found rusty old pipe. It is quite magical. Therefore our old adirondack chairs are now moved to the center circle to be on hand for quiet celebrations.

garden tidbits

surprise iris along the kitchen garden fence

these buds...

...turned into these blooms...

the matron of the kitchen garden. she seems so content.

freja, our labrador is helping with the pea harvest

delicious snap peas

swallowtail butterfly feasting on oakleaf hydrangea flowers

killer cat

Hoppsan is 19 years old and the garden is still her domain. She's had a happy life and is famous for her feistiness (notice the jagged ears), but lately we have worried about her health. Her hearing is ailing, she is very skinny, and definitely has some renal issues. Yesterday, we found her proudly prancing around the kitchen with a recently deceased chipmunk in her mouth. Not that I want to promote violence in any way, but I could tell that this particular kill did wonders for her self esteem. She had singularly stalked out the hole to the burrows, waited for the innocent victim, and pounced when the time was just right. Not too bad for an ancient cat lady...