A little sun

 and a little rain and we get this:

 Tomato plants, several of which now have outgrown their cages.  Now if we'd see more fruit set, we'll be much happier with them.

 The flower boxes are full.

 Game Boy's melon plants are much bigger even since I took these pictures.

 Wiz's strawberries have berries on them.  Now the plants have filled in his entire earth box.

 Adorable baby tomatoes, although we'll all like it better when they are not baby tomatoes and are nice and yellow little pear-shaped tomatoes.

 Rainbow Chard, a family favorite.

 Salad greens:  many and multiple types.

I thought maybe some would like to see how Wiz's incisions look.  He now has his summer cut so we can get an idea of how he'll look even next year.  They are still pink, but very flat.  He has a bald spot on the top incision, but the way his skull is shaped, the bottom one seems to be covered with hair all the time.

The bottom scar has a bit that will always peek out of his hair line.  That's where they removed the outside part of his C1 vertebra.  He thinks that they make him look cool.

Growing Things

besides the boys, of course.  (Game Boy is growing like crazy.  His feet are officially bigger than mine now.)  Knitting is sort of growing.  I'm about 1/2 way through a bath mat and I'm half way through the lily pattern on the second sock.

All of these pictures are from a week ago.  It's finally warmed up and the sun is out, and now there has been a ton of growth. 

 Roses and weeds make a fine bouquet.

 The tomatoes are blooming.

 This tomato plant was broken off at the ground by stupid fuzzy tailed rodents.  I rooted the stem end and left the other part.  Both parts are doing pretty well.

 Greens!

 Another tomato

 Game Boy's earth box with watermelon and canteloupe.

 Wiz's strawberries

 Cilantro

My flower boxes are filling in nicely.  These were all started with seeds and I'm starting to see flower buds.

Lazy Summer?

Hardly.

We've been growing vegetables and fruit:(Oh, I love chard. I'm going to grow more next year.)
I finished another pair of mittens. These are Annemor #5 (aka the raven mittens) for the Collar. It's a kid sized pattern, but with bulky yarn and size 6 needles they sized up nicely for him.

Soon we're going to Office Depot because the most wonderful time of the year is soon approaching. (School starts Tuesday for the boys. For me, it started on Monday. Not fair.)

Back Garden

We have no grass, but we have a lot of potential.We have grapes (and an apple tree), chokecherries, and crab apples. The grapes are doing surprisingly well for a neglected vine. There are a few apples on the tree. There are a lot of chokecherries, and we'll have a lot of crab apples for the birds.

There are also roses, lavender, and a really huge butterfly bush.

We will need to seriously prune things, though. We shall see how things look next year.

Peonies!

The boys gave me peony plants two years ago for my birthday or mother's day. Last year, they didn't bloom, because they were nipped when we had our late freeze. This year, they started a bit late, but really took off. We have flowers on them! I love peonies, those big bright ostentatious flowers. Have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend. My brother is getting married Saturday, so we'll be in Pittsburgh this weekend. The boys are pleased, because we are taking them out of class early so we can drive up there.
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About the ADHD medication: I'm pretty much okay with it. It's so simple compared to SDS! He seems to be doing better this week (we adjusted the dose) and he thinks he's doing better. I've had enough students with it who work hard and do well. My only worry about it is the weight loss side effect. So far, it hasn't affected his appetite at all, so we shall see.

Before, During, and After

Before: (South bed)
During: (North Bed)After:

North Bed
South Bed

We'll be adding a few annuals to those beds, and adding similar perennials to the north flower bed that are already in the south one, but, we have finished one task.

We're also working on the garage. It's about 2/3 finished at this point, I think. I have a ton of stuff to go to the Salvation Army and to just generally give away. When that's finished, I'll start on the rooms in the house.

I hate getting a house ready to sell.

First Roots

Pulled 5 minutes before dinner tonight:

The View from My Window

I think spring is here.One of our apple trees.

Close up of the blossoms on one tree.
Close up of the blossoms on the other tree.Violets and wild strawberry amid the apple blossom petals.

Pretty Posies

We leave early, early tomorrow morning. (Like 4:15 am early.) I thought I'd leave you some pictures of the flowers that are blooming around here. Our pear tree is pretty much finished, and the apple trees haven't bloomed yet. But right now we have
tulips
violetsforsythia
and dandelions (I don't care, they are cheerful).

It is supposed to be cool while we're gone, but not too cold. Our apple trees should be blooming when we get back.

Random Pictures

I don't have much to say right now, but I do have some pictures to post.Veggies from our garden. We've had tomatoes and peppers for almost every meal since we've been back from vacation. Friends of ours gave us some squash, so tonight we'll have squash, tomatoes, green beans, and peppers with our steaks (I love sales).
And here's a finished project. I made this yesterday. It's from Last Minute Knitted Gifts Joelle Hoverson. I knit this sweater in sock yarn left over from the Pawleys Island Blues Socks.
It's the miniature sweater and it took me about 2 hours from start to finish. The boys want each want one. It was fun to knit and I have lots of dribs and drabs of yarn so I can make more. I'll probably add their initials to the little sweaters too. This way the Wiz can have his pink sweater and no one has to know!

Oh, and I did change the sweater that I knit for me. I added two rows of single crochet to the bottom hem, because a rolled hem on a sweater that hits you at the hip is NOT FLATTERING. I realize that I have hips and apparently most women don't (otherwise I'd find pants that fit, right?), so I fixed the hem by adding two rows of single crochet. I like the more finished hem, any way. Here's a view of that:
I think that it really finishes up the shell/vest. I'm so glad that I decided to teach myself how to crochet a little in May when I was bored out of my mind (hint: bright pink cast!).

Tomorrow we have an adventure planned. Stay tuned!

Morning Garden

The garden is growing. Yesterday we finished up the lettuce (I have more seeds--I'll plant them in late August), but the other vegetables are coming along too.

We have green beans! They'll be ready for harvest sometime this week. I can't wait. I love fresh, steamed green beans.I have some very nice peppers coming along, too.Finally, the tomatoes are getting bigger and bigger. However, I am puzzled. The grape tomato plant is definitely not producing grape tomatoes! Oh well.

Something old, and some things new

First of all, guess what made a reappearance yesterday? I'll give you a hint: we had it for dinner.
Second, the garden is growing and growing. Here is the proof:Today we were busy. The boys and I needed new flipflops, we needed to get rid of the recycling, I've weeded one flower bed, we needed groceries, we went to the bank, and we cleaned one corner of the play room. There's another flower bed to weed and the rest of the play room, but it's getting there. We are using this as a way to purge some stuff. I try to do it every three years, whether we are moving or not! (We'll probably be moving in the next year at some point, but why wait until I know?) Tomorrow's also going to be busy, but in a good way, I believe. Happy July!