Summer's beauty.

 Well, there went another five weeks without blogging but I seem to be busier than ever now that gardens need work, friends are dropping by again and the property always needs cleaning up. I have never in my life seen so many weeds with all the sun and rain these days. But the plants are loving it all and looking great. I, on the other hand, am covered in mosquito bites.

Something ate our sunflowers so I won't have any this year.

Turkeys ate our cucs so I had to plant a second time. 

The tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, herbs and pumpkins are doing great.

My dahlias are keeping me happy with all their glorious blooms. Honestly, why didn't I grow them years ago. They are such fun to have in the garden. There are always blooms from July through to late fall. And I have favorites I'm hoping will have tubers the size of a minivan.

We had a break in the heat of late but its back again so the A/C will go on tomorrow. I hate air-conditioning but I know it's impossible to work outside and not have the relief of it when you come in. Plus the cats need it, too. Wilson and Cora are doing great...such good friends.

Always washing up from a snack.

snooze-head

                                                                      Mr. Wonderful

Post groom session

Almost asleep

Now I have to gush on my dahlias...

Sylvia

                                                                        Robann Regal

                                                                        Triple Lee Dee

                                                               Eveline in the foreground

                                                                             Esli in pink

                                                                              Eveline

                                                                    

                                                                   Lavender Perfection

                                                                   Louise and My Love

                                                                          Seattle

I'm picking dahlias everyday and if any one sets foot on my property they go home with a bouquet. lol

                                                           "Mom...he's in my basket."

Okay then...back to the garden...

Our pumpkin patch is doing well.

and we used old scaffolding to hang our peas on.

This photo taken awhile back. 

It's loaded now with sugar snap peas.

And our beans are being enjoyed.

But our tomatoes have yet to turn red. I'm not sure why.

My plan was to clean the house today and vacuum but seeing this made me decide to bake instead.

                                                                         Do Not Disturb

So I'll close up wishing you all a great week ahead and a muffin or two.

Be well everyone.

hugs, Deb

Just checking in...

 Boy, it's been busy here and I really had planned a post long before now.

Everything is growing fast in the gardens; a little rain helped that. We have lots of veggies, blueberry bushes and dahlias new to our gardens this year. I'm a bit obsessed with the dahlias.

My latest dahlia blossom is a beautiful red and I can't wait to see her in full bloom.

This one is called Lavender Perfection.

We had a dead tree taken down last week. Thankfully, because it was caught up in some hydro lines we didn't have to pay a cent to have it taken care of. The crows miss it, though. They loved sitting in it and observing their world. We have them so spoiled.

And here's our latest visitor. Here one moment...gone the next. "Thanks for not eating my flowers."😁

Then there's Flo. She will never leave. Her life is too good here. She sits in my shed and fills her face all day long.

My honeysuckle plant is growing over the arbor that sits at the entrance to our woodlot.

I absolutely love it.

More dahlias...lol

And a male bluebird that has stayed this year and he and his mate are nesting nearby. Isn't he gorgeous.💙

More dahlias in my shed.

I moved St. Francis from the front of the property to my new garden area.

And look at these two watching a chip dine on peanuts. It rained for hours last night and they stayed at the screen door licking the water off the door and watching cat tv.

They are truly the best of friends.

Our veggie garden is growing quite well although I keep getting cuc sprouts stolen by the local turkeys. Turkeys can be such jerks. Our lone turkey Kia found herself a friend a month or so ago and left. She does show up once in awhile but she is finally living a turkey life again. "Have a good life, dear Kia. Just stay out of my garden...please!"

I hope everyone is doing well. We are out of our third lockdown here, things are opening up again and life is getting a little closer to normal. 

Summer is here tomorrow night. Yah!

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there. Enjoy your special day.

Be kind,

Deb

 

Spring you seed...

 Hi everyone. We have had a busy spring and the gardens are in and the weather is fantastic. We could use some rain but have been enjoying the sun and high temperatures.

Here's what's happening at Fox Grove right now. I'm a bit obsessed with dahlias this year and have planted a row in the veggie garden to enjoy. They bring in the pollinators which will help grow the vegetables and add colour to the plot.

Our birdhouses are filling up with house wrens and phoebes. We have no swallows at the moment but hope they pick a house or two to raise their families soon.

Dahlias

Finally out of pots and into the ground.

The dahlias were grown from tubers and kept in the potting shed for six weeks or so.

Now the fun begins. 

Beautiful Cora

Dahlias

Planning a mischievous day.

The 125 year old outhouse

(moved three times since in use) lol

There is still lots to do before the heat hits. We are building a small water feature in the garden and planning to add blueberry bushes along our fence-line.

And, of course, there's always grass to reseed.

It's hard to find time for the house right now but living in Ontario only means "blink and the weather changes" so we will carry on outside as long as we can.

Cora is doing very well now after a year of fighting allergies.

The photos I am showing you were taken this last week. She is back to her old self and I am so thankful to my vet and her care.

Wilson is over-the-moon having her companionship again.

He truly loves her as do we.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday with family and friends today in the United States.

It's so good to see covid rules loosening up now.

Have a lovely day everyone.

&

be kind, Deb

Bits and bobs and bluebirds

 If you love bluebirds like I do, you can imagine that seeing this outside my window yesterday was a welcomed surprise. I actually screamed and scared the life out of the cats. 

                                                                           "PLEASE STAY"

Now, if only she will stay. The last few years have been disappointing because the tree swallows chased them off and they never returned that spring. The only positive thing was that the swallows stayed and filled three of our houses with families. It was fabulous to have them around all summer. They can eat hundreds of mosquitoes in a day and that's fine with us. Plus if you haven't watched swallows swooping through the air you've really missed something. They are exciting to watch.

We had rain and snow but it's already disappeared. Thank Goodness! The temperatures are to warm up again tomorrow and that's good because I have lots to do outside. Once you start your spring cleanup it's hard to stop abruptly for a snowstorm. I still have a couple of million leaves to compost and a new garden to build.

Here's a few photos of what's been going on at Fox Grove this spring. It's been like summer weather and I've been potting up dahlias, sunflowers, daisies, zinnias, cat grass and pansies. Out go the pots on the warm days and then back in the shed at dusk. It's a bit like work but no complaints here. I enjoy every second spent with plants.💚 It's been a very long winter.

The shed is bursting at the seams with plants and potted tubers and bulbs.

It was hot enough last week that a sun hat was needed and this one from my son and family was the ticket. :-)

My big handsome boy, Wilson.💙

Meet KIA

This is the lone wild turkey that lives in our woodlot, roams all day and sleeps in a maple tree on our property.

I read that they can be shunned by their flock for numerous reasons. Last summer she had a friend with her and now she's alone again. 

Seriously, I think she needs to do a 'personality check' on herself.

But you know me...I'll feed her, I've named her and I'll try to keep her out of harms way.

Gold finches are plentiful here. Aren't they pretty.

Wilson has staring contests with the many black squirrels around here. This went on for ten minutes.

 Then the squirrel remembered that it hadn't chewed and pulled apart the wreath on my shed door today so off it went. :(

I get a few visitors throughout the day in the potting shed. No humans...just chipmunks. 

I'm obsessed with dahlias this year. I want to learn everything about them and ordered tubers from a local dahlia farm. Imagine living on a dahlia farm...wow!

The tubers are hilarious. 

I'm so impressed with the order I got from The Dahlia Experts. Beautiful, big and healthy tubers with growth starting on them. 

I potted half of them up and will finish tomorrow since the weather sounds promising.

Today...not so much.

I hope everyone is keeping well. We are still in lockdown#3 and miss seeing our family and friends. 

Fingers crossed this will be the last one.

Get out and enjoy your spring.

Be kind,

Deb