Monday

My herb garden that I've been working on is slowly coming along. It probably won't look good until next year, but I'm enjoying the planning. I'm also keeping a list of the herbs that I still want to plant, as well as other flowers. Right now, I have some black-eyed Susan and Rose Campion added to the garden.



Above is my pineapple sage. I've never grown it before and I'm not sure what I'll be using it for, but it certainly smells great. It is supposed to have red blooms in the fall. Sadly, it is only an annual.

I'm still trying to get some basil to come up in a few pots. If it's not up by early next week~I guess I'll start over.



This little angel is in a cage to shield her from all the hail we seem to be getting this year. Those storms may be over for this season, but it's been a little bit freaky this year, so I'm not letting her take any chances!
Hope your gardening is going well!

Summer

I think that summer has settled in to stay. We've had several hot and humid days, along with some rain. I'm loving the sunshine when we do have it. April and May were months of mostly rain. Rain that we needed for the water table, but it became a little depressing after a while. I'm sure we'll be wanting more of it by mid-summer!

I had a nice gardening/herb surprise this year. My chicory is blooming!

I planted it last year and it never came up~at least not for months and then I assumed that it was nothing but weeds. We probably mowed it down a time or two. I figured that the rain had washed away the seeds that I planted and had given up. What a happy surprise to see it this year. I love the color of the flowers.

Did you know that you can eat the chicory leaves either raw or cooked? I knew that the flowers were beautiful and the roots could be used for a coffee substitute, but I've never known anyone to eat the leaves. I read that you can also eat the flowers in salads. Well, I think they are too pretty to eat!

Our garden is growing well. Our tomatoes are getting tall and have several tomatoes on them. We will have them much earlier this year than last! Our pepper plants look good, as do the squash and pumpkins, but no blooms on them, yet. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon.

The strawberries are loving their raised bed and I think they are doing well for their first year.

We want to add some more raised beds in time for a fall garden.

How are your gardens doing? Are you doing any special projects this summer?

Sunday

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!! I hope all of you have enjoyed your special day.

I was reading about the history of Mother's Day and was surprised to read that wearing carnations is a of Mother's Day tradition. When I was growing up, we always wore roses on our Sunday dress. A red rose if your mother was living, white if she had passed away.

I've noticed the last few years that no one wears roses or any flowers anymore. Is it the same where you live?

Sunday

I hope that all of you have had a wonderful Sunday. It was very rainy here today and church attendance was down, but we had a beautiful service and enjoyed the time to worship with our church family.

I have been meaning to share some pictures with you from last Sunday afternoon. After church, we ate a fast lunch and then headed up to Fort Smith for Tales of the Crypt at Oak Cemetery. This is an event that is held twice a year, but this is the first time we've managed to make it, as it is quite a long drive.

Oak Cemetery is a beautiful place and we hope to go back one day to walk around it and study some of the beautiful tombstones, like the one above.

There were eleven characters brought from the past for us to 'meet'. This fellow below was Deputy Marshall Ed Armorer, known, as most of Judge Isaac Parker's Marshall's were, for capturing murderers and thieves. He was quite an entertaining fellow! (He was looking for stories about himself in those books!)

One of my favorites was Sophie Kannady. She had quite an exciting life, including being captured with her husband by jay hawkers during the Civil War. Sophie Kannady was quite a woman in her day and I've enjoyed reading about her life.I have quite a few more pictures to share with you at another time.

Have a great week!