BEGINNING THE GARDEN

Hello, friends!  I hope you are having a great day today and keeping cool.  It is so hot here.  Like the weather people on TV say, it's sizzling!

Yesterday I got out in the yard later than I really wanted to.  It was warm.  Very warm.  But I soldiered along and got SOMETHING done.  I always think something is better than nothing.  I pulled one of the chairs from the patio table over because I can no longer stand for more than a few minutes or bend over very well.  I could have sat on the cement floor of the patio but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up.

Joe had put the tomatoes and marigolds on the patio table for me.  I'm glad I looked at them today because they were in bad shape.  The first thing I did was clean out my earth box.  My sister bought this for me years ago and I just love it.  It was very overgrown with weeds and other plants that seeded themselves in there.  I should have taken a picture before I began, but I forgot.  When I remembered, I was halfway through.  So it was much worse than what you are seeing.  The good part is that it was so easy to do.

I planted the tomatoes in there and watered them in really well.  Then I added my fairy garden back in.  My poor fairies and mushrooms had been buried in the weeds.  There is enough room so that when they get bigger and I want to add the cages, I can.

Next I moved on to the two flower pots I had there.  Last year I bought a hibiscus, but it didn't make it.  I ended up throwing the entire pink plastic pot out.  I guess I could have saved it and used it for another plant, but I am really working on not hoarding stuff.  The large pot was full of weeds too but again I forgot to take a picture.  Just know that both of them were in pretty bad shape.

It looks as if there are two little marigolds growing in the pot.  I kept them to see what they turn out to be.  Of all the pansies I got from church, only three survived the heat.  I added them and the three marigold plants I bought on Monday.  You can see the one that I dropped is in bad shape, but I think it will recover.  I watered them in really well also.  I found my little bird statue and put that in the pot for decoration.

Along the fence was a bunch of weeds and dead grass.  That got all pulled up and I changed out the garden flag.  The one I had was a bird house with the words "Welcome Friends" on it.  It had been used for so long that it was very faded and torn.  Into the trash it went and I put up this pretty one that I just got from Amazon.  It is burlap and two sided.  The other side will be used in August and September.

See the little cat statue peeking around the fence post?  I got that when my first cat, Fluffy, passed away.  Fluffy was the cat I loved the most.  She was my constant companion when I lived alone and she had many tears shed in her fur when my dad died.  I still miss her and this is my tribute to her.

Although I have eight rosebushes in the yard, they are mostly in need of pruning and so aren't blooming.  I did find these pretty ones though.

Way in the back I found the tiniest little red rose on one of the bushes.  It's about an inch across.  So cute but still so perfect.

I will end with a short little video that I took of the yard.  Hope you enjoy it.

Have a good day everyone!  See you all soon.

Kathy