So far in the garden....

I have been trying to get a gardening post done for a very long time.  For some reason, it gets put off every time.  So I'm giving up.  Here are some scenes from the gardens this year.....

Along the walkway in mid-May. It's a constant battle for supremacy between the ajuga and the dead nettles!

The Candytuft is creeping out into the walkway again.

Apparently it wants to be creeping phlox.

The bumbles love the ajuga.

The Solomon's seal is getting kind of crowded again.

The houseplants moved outside early this year.

Just a few days after I had been weeding in this very spot, we discovered baby bunnies.  They were nice enough to pose for a picture!

See the wire thing in the picture above?  It's just above the pink flowers to the left of the steps below.  We use that door every day- many times. 

I added a new poppy to the garden this year.  I've wanted one thos color for years.

My favorites, the lupines, did very well this spring!

The front walkway in early June. The pink is a dianthus I am going to have to try and get control over somehow.  (let me know if you want some!)

I have finally gotten the foxglove to spread!

Scottish moss in bloom. 

I spend most of my gardening time trying to keep up with the weeds!  But if not for the gardens, I would probably not spend much time outside.  We wait for the warm weather so long, it would be a shame  not to enjoy it!

I found some good news, related to climate change!  Maybe there IS hope.....

I am grateful for....
Baby cuddling time!
Cool nights so I can sleep with the windows open rather than the rumble of the air conditioner.
The opportunity to give Marigold a chance.
Working together to make something beautiful.
The music of James Horner- now gone too soon.

Do it yourself!

 At the Genesee ValleyQuilt Club "Quiltfest" a couple of weeks ago- which I have still not edited the pictures for a post!- There was a guy selling magnetic quilt hangers for wall/ art quilts.  I was instantly interested, having just rearranged the quilts in my "gallery" for the month of June.  It is always frustrating trying to make the quilts I think match the season/ month fit on the wall where the nails are. 

So I listened to the whole pitch for the "Magnificent" hangers- essentially super strong magnets on apiece of metal mounted to the wall with a command adhesive strip- You insert a metal rod or flat piece of metal into the sleeve of your quilt and voila- straight and flat, and secure!  So I asked how much.  That was when my excitement died.  $55 for five hangers?  Now don't get me wrong, I do not plan to move the hooks every month, but this sounded like a wonderful alternative to the too easily warped wooden dowels for all but the smallest pieces.  Most of them hang on a single nail, so they don't hang nicely once the dowels bend from the weight of the quilts.  But that is a LOT of money. 

So I headed to what I refer to as the toy aisle at Home Depot.  It's where you find magnets, masonry line (which I knit with, and use for various things in the garden)
A couple of aisle over I found the "mending plates"- the exact same size as the adhesive strips.  For just over $20 I got enough stuff for 6 of the hangers! 

 This is how it looks on the wall. 

I think the magnets they had are a little stronger, as I ended up using three of the hooks for a wall quilt about 34 inches wide.  The magnet has slid to the bottom of the plate, so it shows a little above the top of the quilt.  I wonder if the "magnificent" ones also do.  That could be solved by either turning the plate sideways, or painting it.  I'll let you know.  :-)


The Pope is issuing something called an encyclical, dealing with climate change.  I obviously know little about the Pope, but I couldn't agree more with him:

The Earth, he says, “is protesting for the wrong that we are doing to her, because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has placed on her. We have grown up thinking that we were her owners and dominators, authorized to loot her. The violence that exists in the human heart, wounded by sin, is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the Earth, the water, the air and in living things.”

I am grateful for:
Cait putting up with me.
Oma time with Jonathan.
Some time in the sewing room.
Taking a few minutes to relax when I need to.
Air conditioning

I'm officially "Oma" now!!!

Jonathan kept us waiting, but made his grand entrance last Thursday!! 
It happened in the wee hours of the morning, so I woke up to find this picture waiting for me in a text message (Isn't modern technology a wonderful things?!!!)

Every time I look at this picture of MY baby holding HIS baby, I get tears in my eyes.


Big sister, Kiara, had spent the night with us.  So before she went to school, we went to meet her baby brother.  When we got there, the doctor and nurses were looking him over. So we had to wait a little while longer. 

 He picked his head up and tried to see where the heck he is!

Every moment was worth recording!












Kiara won the "who gets to hold the baby first" contest.














 And finally it was my turn!!!













Grampa got a little mushy, too, when he got a turn.  :-)

Mom had brought the little hat I made him in her hospital bag, so when we realized he was near the AC vent, on it went!

 

Now the hard part is not going to see him every day!!! (I've joked about being Marie Barone, but don't want it to become true!)

I am grateful for:
Jonathan, and his mommy! (she has sent me a picture every day so far!)