Sumer?

 

 Summer has been so busy!  I did not realize it had been so long since I posted anything!  We have had house guests the past two weekends.  It has been great to have family and friends. Of course, Frontier Days, the Daddy of them All, was here for 10 days and that was a huge event and now with Sturgis just north of us, the celebrating continues with the onset of bikes traveling through.  Above is the finished quiver that the Mr. finished and the intended niece and her husband came to pick it up this past weekend.  It fit well as she is a tiny little thing and she seemed to love it.  I moved into this home with no knowledge of the plantings in the back yard and after what seemed like a long winter, this spring brought pleasant surprises.  However, this plant was unknown to me and I waited to see if it was friend or foe. My gardening guru was here last week and correctly identified it as Hollyhock Mallow or miniature hollyhocks.  (I did some research after I had an idea of the name of the plant).  The plants, and they are several, were no doubt planted by the birds as they all are directly below the fence line. My neighbor has them I discovered and I love them!  

 As you can see, they grow quite tall and have tiny blooms which look like Hollyhocks. They will be allowed to grow here in abundance.  Below, the pot, which experienced a disastrous hailstorm, stripping the leaves and blooms early in the summer, now flourishes and the little bunnies which frolic below are all garage sale purchases.

 Also surprising me was this beautiful Clematis.  The blooms are fading now but it has bloomed almost constantly all summer.

We have been hitting a lot of garage sales (and have scored some great deals), walking the dogs through the neighborhood and parks, and spending time in retirement doing what we like.  Life is good!

"Think of the world YOU carry within YOU". ~ Ranier Maria Rilke