BURD!

This little guy was hopping around on one of the trees in the front yard, confirming our suspicions that the tree is, indeed, dying (not that we needed a confirmation!). He was very shy and would hop around the other side of the tree every time I tried to open the storm door. I wish I could have gotten closer or, at least, gotten a snap of him without the branch in front of his head. Didn't happen.

I made it out alive!

I'm back home and comfy after my heart surgery. Sadly, the procedure wasn't as successful as we'd have liked, but we'll know better what the course of action will be in a month or so.

For now, I'm thrilled to be home, and I've been pretty busy. I've redone a couple of listings, added a few new listings, and have been getting together more promos to send out for the next big rush.

I spent some time before I went into the hospital cutting and finishing a bunch of glass bottles, so I've been taking pictures and introducing these 'pinch' garden kits. The containers are small, so I've chosen seeds that do well in tight quarters for several months. Spicy Globe Basil, Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart, and Jewels of Opar are some of the selections I've made.

Summer is over.

Summer is obviously over. The nights and days are getting cooler, which I love, but it breaks my heart to see the bees that I spend all summer watching and cultivating a habitat for start to slow down.

That's how it goes, though. They'll be back next year, but I hate finding their fat, formerly busy bodies clinging to my flowers. :(

Just because it says 'mist'...

I got a new hose nozzle a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving it! It's very heavy duty, has great heft, and all of the settings are different and work like as they should. Even better, it was rather inexpensive!

Today, I went out to check on my flats of winter veggies and found that they needed a bit of moisture. I dragged over my hose, knocked my handy-dandy nozzle to mist, and went at it.

Just because it says 'mist', I learned, doesn't mean that it's a gentle mist. Yes, it mists, but I'm short and being only a couple feet away with the nozzle is a bit too much for tender little seedlings. I've been working on my technique and found that aiming the nozzle over, rather than at, the flats works much better and the little seedlings maintain their heads.

So far, arugula, some spinach, broccoli raab, buttercrunch lettuce, swiss chard, kohl rabi, and kale are all making an appearance. I wish the fennel was showing, but the seeds I found were old and hadn't been properly stored. I may go get some fresh seeds for this winter, if I'm feeling motivated!

Garden photography

I don't fool myself into thinking that I'm a spectacular photographer, but I do, on occasion, take a nice picture. My etsy listings and blog are peppered with photographs ranging anywhere from awful to great, but I've had several questions over the past few months about whether or not I'd considered printing them for sale.

I was motivated today and was getting some of the pictures from my father's wedding printed, and I decided to add a few pictures that I've taken outside to my order. I'll be adding them to my etsy shop, hopefully, in the next couple of days, and we'll see what happens.

Here's a series that we be part of this experiment. I took these pictures on my catmint plant that seems to be an absolute playground for bumblebees. There were close to sixty when I was taking these pictures.