No Excuses

 Monday, June 20.  The weather is so fabulous today -- sunny and in the 70s -- that I have no excuses for not working in the yard. [I looked back on a previous post and on May 21, it got to 94 F.] I hacked down enough thorns and weeds to fill 2/3 of a large trash container, toted 6 gallons of water to water plants, put the plant shelf back on the deck, and unrolled my loooong extension cord to the back yard.

How do I know it was 6 gallons? I used my shiny new watering can with the copper stripe and it's a two gallon can. I'm either going to do some mowing and/or rototilling in the back yard or I'm going to roll up the cord on the nifty plastic holder. 

In the meantime, I've got one load of laundry in the dryer and one load in the washer. One load of towels to go. I had forgotten that laundry does not do itself.  

This is in response to my doing not one blessed thing yesterday. Well, that's not exactly true. I did make Chinese chicken with green beans. I hadn't made it in so long that it really tasted good. 

Pink or no pink? I enjoy a juicy hamburger so I ask for medium pink. Invariably it is served to me one scootch away from being well done. So why do they ask???

Mid Calf Rubber Boots are my usual yardwork attire. So how did I manage to get poison ivy on both legs above the boots? You got me. I figured I'd treat you to only one leg -- it looks even grosser with the calamine lotion on it. Sigh.

Tuesday, June 14th. I decided to treat myself to a latte at Amherst Coffee. How can you not have a nice day when someone gives you love in a cup?

Sitting outside in the lovely sun, I not only got to look at their streetside flower boxes, but I looked up to see Frank Hugus having his coffee al fresco as well. We had a nice chat.

On Saturday, June 11. Emily and I had a great time going to a nursery in Worcester. That's where I saw Midnight Sky purple with white polka dots petunias. They are spectacular but I wasn't going to pay $45 for the hanging pot they were selling.

Emily's newly planted urn

Allergy Valley. This picture of the pollen on my car is from June 9th. It has abated a bit, however, I am keeping CVS in business buying allergy medicine.

Where have all the flowers gone? Everything seems to bloom at different times. The climbing red rose in the front is all done blooming and the leaves are lacy from the bugs. I'm contemplating getting some bug spray to see if I can get the bush to bloom again. The peonies are done. What follows are some of my flowers.

The pinks seem to be doing all right. I have deadheaded quite a few blooms, but there are still some. The 'watering can' lights up at night, including a lit stream of 'water.'

The pot at the top of this photo has my starter tomato plant (with flowers!).

I have two clumps of these lilies in different places. They are very cheery.

The daisies at the top really went wild. It would have been nice if they hadn't spilled onto the grass where they will get mowed.

It's tomorrow. Of course it's today. You know what I mean.

A thousand thanks to Jon McCabe who put together my new planter.

Phyllis' friend called it a trug.

trug

/trəɡ/

Learn to pronounce

noun

BRITISH

1. a shallow oblong basket made of strips of wood, traditionally used for carrying garden flowers and produce.

I bought stain and polyurethane but might have to wait until the weekend to put it on since it's supposed to rain tonight and possibly other days. There is a black liner that goes inside before the soil.

Cheers! Be good to yourself.