A few completely random points I want to make before I dive into the photos I took over the weekend:
- The mosquitos are awful. Beyond awful. As in, we can’t even be outside at any time of the day or evening without getting rudely assaulted – unless we wear bug spray. Which is all good and everything, but sometimes I’ve just showered and gotten myself to look presentable so the last thing I want to do is put on bug spray because then I’d eventually have to take another shower and who has the energy or time for that?
- I quite nearly ran 4 miles today! (Okay, it was 3.9 miles. And I walked perhaps two blocks total of that amount, which I’m entirely okay with.) Here is why this makes me happy: a few years ago I was more consistently running 4-5 miles at a time. This has been hard for me to keep up with, however, because winter in Minnesota always gets in the way and I have a very difficult time running at all on a treadmill. (Evil.) So, in other words, it’s been a while since I’ve increased my mileage beyond about 3 miles, but today I decided I should push myself and see what happens. I know it’s not much to those who are workout fiends but to me it equals success and I can’t wait to get out there again.
- I feel like in another life, I would be living in Europe (probably Paris) and enjoying a month-long holiday in August. There is something I dislike quite a bit about working in August. Being stuck in an office with no windows while the last few weeks of summer melt away from me. While Teacher Man and Joe are still on their break. It’s mentally challenging, let me tell you. Anyone else have this problem?
- I can’t stop buying new lip colors. Case in point: Teacher Man was cleaning the house last week (I know, right? I mean, lucky me!) and he found a plastic baggie with 3-4 lipsticks in it. I have no idea where these were, but he left them in our bathroom so I could do something with them. Which I did – I put them in my lipstick basket, which has something like 12 other lipsticks in it. Ha! And then I turn around at Target on Saturday and spend $3 on an ELF-brand lipstick in a pretty wine color. Because why, exactly? Clearly I do not need any more lipstick. Also just as clearly, I don’t even wear lip color everyday. Hence, my whole confusing problem.
So now that I got my randomness out of the way, here are a few photos from the weekend – mostly of my gardens with a few other fun ones thrown in. (It’s that whole random thing again. Guys, sometimes I just don’t want to be all that coherently organized. It can be exhausting.)
My Rudbeckia laciniata – or VERY TALL coneflower. Haha! I always try to capture how vibrant this plant looks against the blue sky but my photos never seem to do it justice. It really is stunning in my back landscape, as it is probably 10 feet tall.
Here’s a close-up.
Also in its prime right now – my Joe Pye Weed. The butterflies and bees love this plant and I saw a couple of monarchs checking it out this morning.
This is my Strawberry Sundae hydrangea. I’m pretty sure. (I can sometimes get it confused with Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea.) The blooms start out as a creamy white and turn a bright strawberry-pink as summer wears on.
This should be named “Golden Gopher” daylily because it reminds me of the University of Minnesota’s school colors. But alas, it is officially Daylily ‘Sigudilla’. Isn’t it stunning?
This is my tiny little Pentas lanceolata (“Graffiti White”) annual. It’s tiny because the bunnies munched it within 24 hours of putting in the ground. However, it must have a strong will to survive as I covered it with a wire basket and slowly (but surely) it came back and is now giving me these dainty white-pinkish blooms. So take that, bunnies!
Here’s a look at part of my zinnia garden bed. It’s not the greatest photo – it was too sunny out when I took it, but you get the idea. I have three more rows of zinnias besides what you see here, but they have been slower to bloom. I love, love, love the “Dancing Girls” variety on the far right – really a nice grower with a multitude of tiny zinnia blooms in shades of pink and white.
The classic Gerbera daisy in red, which is funny. I don’t have much for red in any of my gardens, although I love the color enough to paint all of my kitchen cabinets red. So go figure.
I post photos of my Little Lime hydrangeas A LOT. (But can you blame me?) The blooms are starting to turn antique-pink now.
And here’s my niece, Miss Morgan, who stopped by for a fun visit this weekend. 🙂
This girls LOVES to have her nails painted. And by painted, I mean a rainbow of colors so that each nail is different.
Like this!
Which also makes riding a tricycle that much more fun! (And yes, my sister will be so “happy” that her legs are photobombing this picture. LOL)
And finally … proof that I do, upon occasion, wear lipstick when I am so inclined.
I should have a new Turkey Tuesday recipe post coming at you this week so watch for it. See you soon!
Lara