Monday, June 16, 2025

T Stands for Gardening, Mostly

     Hi everyone. Happy new week to you. And I'm also joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth  for T Stands for Tuesday so hello to everyone who only visit on Tuesdays.

    Last week besides getting together with a college friend and working at the lake 2 morning a week, I spent quite a bit of time in the garden. We had some nice but breezy weather which made it comfortable to work outside. I hope you're not sick of seeing my garden adventures.😏

     This first photo is what I call my bee garden, mainly because it is down near my beehives. Most of the plants in here are self-seeded or are ones that I split off of plants from elsewhere in my yard.  This year I haven't been able to do any cleaning in here because of the bluebirds. You can see the bluebird house, and now Mama and Papa bluebird are back with their second brood of the season.


      Because this area gets full sun, and because I love irises, every year for the past 2 or 3 I've added a couple of Iris bulbs. Right now my solid purple variety is really looking beautiful. 




Here's a couple of other blooms I'm enjoying now from that garden.



    The other day our lovely host Elizabeth posted about some thyme she bought. I thought I'd share some of mine that I planted underneath my climbing rosebush a couple of years ago.  


      If you wonder about the dog statue, it's my memory statue of our last dog Harley. I planted some of my rose bushes the day we had to put him down because he was having pulmonary blood clots. I needed something to do to deal with my sadness.  Harley was a big German Shepard mix (he weighed 90 pounds/ 40.8 kg) and he lived for 14 1/2 years, so he had a good long,  and until this issue came up, healthy life.

     This week's garden project is to work on weeding my big flower garden which is a mess right now, even though it doesn't look too bad from this angle. 😉


       My other recent garden project was to make a base for my big bird feeder pole. Between the bear that pulled on it at the end of March and the chipmunks that bury under it, it needed a bit of TLC. Here's the before.


    And here's the after.


I love having stone leftover from my raised bed garden because I’m using it to finish off some small projects around  the yard.  😀

     I had hoped to be able to attend one of the No Kings rallies in my state this past weekend, but my daughter couldn't make it over on Father's Day to see her dad. She and my husband decided to meet in Manchester for some chicken tenders at one of our favorite restaurants, The Puritan, on Saturday instead. I was invited along. and since I had a chance to spend some time with my daughter, I decided to join them.


    They decided to meet at 11:30 for an early lunch, which was good because the waitress told us that all 3 high schools is Manchester (our states largest city and the location of the restaurant) were graduating that morning. She told us the restaurant would be filled once they let out. And yes, when we left we saw many families waiting for a table because by then all those empty tables were filled.

     Here's my ticket for T Day this week. Besides water we all had one of their signature mud slides, full sized for the hubby (because he didn't have to drive) and half size  for my daughter and myself.  Plus my other drink was water. 


     I tried their peanut butter mud slide and so for dessert I had those mini peanut butter cups on the top of my drink. 😀 And for dinner the last 2 nights, I've been finishing my left over chicken tenders. 

     Have a wonderful T day and week ahead.
















    




21 comments:

Tom said...

...Erika, happy gardening to you!

Mae Travels said...

Irises are beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing yours. The base you built for the feeder looks great.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

kathyinozarks said...

I loved seeing your garden-it's lush and beautiful and how special are those blue birds-I love that you have them close by
Hugs Kathy

Angie's Recipes said...

I totally love iris! Your garden is doing so well, Erika.

Iris Flavia said...

You have a beautiful garden! Here, no one cares about ours (we are 14 parties And fluctuation is high).
Love your dog-statue! Our German Shepard died of cancer at age 14, too... Oh, I spot your boat!
Family first, I´d say - luckily there were so many people protesting, it was on the German TV-news!
Have a happy T-day and week ahead, hugs

Anonymous said...

Glad you made a statue memory of your dog -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I was by earlier, but got called away. Your garden is truly gorgeous. Love the irises. Thanks for sharing your thyme. Mine doesn't flower, or at least the batch I killed from last year didn't. That angel dog is precious.

You really changed the base of that bird feeder. It looks like it might actually withstand a bear!

Looks like your husband was enjoying his time at The Puritan. Those mud slides look so rich. They make great drinks to share for T this Tuesday, dear friend.

Gillena Cox said...

Luv your purple irises
Happy Tuesday

Much♡love

Gillena Cox said...

i am inviting you to join my Tuesday Link Party

much💛love

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Your garden is looking great. Hopefully, the bears will stay away and leave your feeders alone; the base looks great. Do you plant a pollinator garden with the bees in mind? In our yard they go crazy for Lupines and Wild Geraniums.

Jeanie said...

THere will be many more rallies, I think. Daughter time is important. I love your garden so keep those posts coming! I hope the new feeder base is effective; it looks terrific!

Anonymous said...

Love the garden and family time.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

*Vicki* said...

Gorgeous flowers and garden my friend! Love your post today!

Let's Art Journal said...

Your yard/garden looks so beautiful! The bee garden is so pretty and so lovely to have the bluebirds nesting again, we have Goldfinch nesting in our front garden at the moment too 😊. That blue iris is stunning, you photographed it perfectly. Those mud slides look just the thing for a hot summer's day,nor any time of the year really ...lol! Happy T Day wishes ❤️. Hugs, Jo x

Empire of the Cat said...

Your garden is looking lovely, nice to see the birdhouse and those beautiful purple iris. I have yellow ones from my neighbour when she divided them but I really prefer the purple ones. I don't know what a mud slide is but it looks delicious, I will google. Happy T Day!

Lowcarb team member said...

Your garden is looking lovely.
Happy T Day.

All the best Jan

Lisca said...

Your garden is stunning. Your bees will have plenty of nectar to collect. I love the irises. Beautiful colour.
How wonderful that the bluebirds are so happy that they are having their second family.
Oh those mudslides look so yummy. I have never had one and I looked it up on the Internet and I would def love one!
Happy T-Day,
Lisca

Hels said...

The restaurant looks lovely, but in summer can you sit outside and enjoy yourself while watching the gardens?

CJ Kennedy said...

Your gardens are beautiful and I like the stone bed you created for the bird feeder pole. I didn't get to the No King's protest either. It was held in Oxford and you had to register. It was at a church so I think it had to do with capacity. Anywho by the time I tried to register, it was full. I watched the live stream of the NoKings.org flagship event from Philadelphia. Stay cool tomorrow!

CJ Kennedy said...

Oops, sounds like you had a nice celebration for Father's Day especially beating the graduation crowds! Happy T Day

Neet said...

I never tire of your gardening pictures, especially when you tell us about Mr & Mrs Bluebird, and when you show us flowers such as those purple iris, what magnificent flowers they are. By the way, how are your bees?
Love the look of those mudslides, not a clue what goes in one but I am going to have a look on the internet. Looks as if the whole family enjoy them.
Hugs, Neet xx