Deja Vu Weather?

A local planting tip is to not plant until the snow is off the mountain. I always adhere to this tip and have not been disappointed. This year, I was able to plant on May 19 – about 2.5 weeks ago.

But it seems as if we are going back in time weather-wise. It was downright cold at my house this morning (42F); cold and wet! It’s been raining for a few days and windy too. Here is today’s view of the afore-mentioned mountain that was snowless 2.5 weeks ago.

Does this mean I have to unplant my flowers? ARG! And they were all doing quite well. Hope this cold spell ends before the flowers freeze to death. But the forecast is lows in low-40s and highs in the mid-60s until next week.

In an earlier post about my gorgeous irises (Love my Irises), I had mentioned a black iris. Well, guess what showed up today?

The photo makes it look dark dark purple, but it indeed looks black in the yard. Guess I need to remember which one it is so I can possibly split it up later this summer. Wish me luck with that remembering part. (Remembering what?)

Grilling Harry

Last night I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 in preparation for today’s adventure to watch Part 2. Daughter is obsessed with all things Harry (sounds a bit kinky, don’t ya think?). She was accepted through the Quill Challenge and gets to visit Pottermore before its official opening in October. So that has her in a frenzy absorbing the Harry Potter books again, and, of course, the requisite dragging of mother off to the movies.  Thank you Binks!!!

If you have not seen the movie yet, go–go now! It wraps up the entire Harry Potter series in a nice big bow. The special effects are indeed spectacular as always. The make-up for the creatures (including Kreacher – pun!) is unbelievable.  It was wonderful.  I have been grilled (questioned) to the nth degree but I don’t remember the details.  When I was in high school/college, Lord of the Rings was the books everyone read. We use to have trivia contests. Daughter’s generation is Harry Potter. Wish I could get her to read Lord of the Rings though.

After the movie we decided to grill all these fresh veggies we had. I bought a grilling basket and a corn on the cob griller to try out. The grilling basket was OK, but thinking that kabob style would work better for many of the veggies. Next time I will try putting veggies in the basket that will cook at the same time. The corn was quite delicious in the cob holder. Daughter didn’t like some of the parts that got a tad brown, but I thought it was all perfecto.

Here are some before and after pictures of the flowers I planted at my mom’s house at the end of May. She has a green thumb, as is obvious by the pictures. My thumb is not as green as my mom’s, but I must admit my tomatoes are going strong!

May

August

May

August

Tomatoes on the grow

Cherry Gold cheery tomatoes

Progress and Plants

It is July 3 and I still have one more day to finish my list from July 1. Here’s my progress.

• Complete the boxing/storage of Daughter’s housewares – DONE
• Declutter the computer desk – PARTIALLY DONE
• Pay bills – PARTIALLY DONE
• Dust
• Vacuum
• Laundry – DONE
• Place new table cloth on dining room table
• Put up canopy on deck and enjoy fresh air (while reading of course) – Too Windy to Put Up
• Find place to temporarily store items for August garage sale – PARTIALLY DONE
• Grocery shopping – DONE
• Prepare goodies to take to 4th of July party – PARTIALLY DONE

Planters on deck railing

On front steps

Cherry tomatoes still growing

Here are some updated pixs.

The first picture is on one side of my upper deck. I have planters on the deck rails and they are gorgeous when all in bloom. Wave petunias (some of them) and regular petunias in many different colors.

The second photo is on my front steps. I like these planters as they add a little color when entering the house.

The third photo is my precious cherry tomatoes. Am getting a lot more blossoms and one of the little tommy-toes is even turning yellow!