Summer Garden & Horse Show News

All the plants that we started from seed are really blooming now -- the sunflowers "summertime mix" and "ruby eclipse" have begun to bloom --

  I'm very proud of my basil that you see Sammy surveying: 

 

 The crepe myrtles are in full bloom:

 

Sammy still runs through here but it looks okay:

The trumpet vine is beautiful this year, but we haven't seen any hummingbirds at all.  The bees really like it.

 BB and Beau went to a small horse show this morning -- it was really hot & no covered arena!  They competed in the western classes and had some good placings.  But really it was just for fun and practice & they had plenty of both!

  

Sedona

 I always enjoy looking at the travel posts of blog friends-- it is vicarious travel for me & so interesting to see places people visit.  So I thought I would post some of my recent past travels.   Last February BB and I visited our friends in AZ.  Our friends drove us north to Sedona to see the rock formations.  It is always sunny in AZ -- except the day we went to Sedona! It was rainy and cold when we got there so we decided to take the shorter of the jeep tours down into one of the valleys.  Luckily, it cleared as we were out so we had some good views.  Sedona is known for its beautiful red rock formations and the crystals embedded in the rock.  Many old western movies were made in Sedona and in Monument Valley because the landscape is so dramatic and the colors are so vibrant. I didn't get as may pictures as I would have liked because the weather cooperated only at the end!

 

 

Below are the naturally occurring crystals in the rock -- Sedona used to be a big New Age hangout, but that seems to have waned somewhat.  

 

 Our guide pointed out the agave plants -- these are the plants that provide us with margaritas!  So they are obviously very important.   They only bloom once in their lives, and after they bloom they die.

 

 

Here we are -- you can see it's cold as we are all bundled up!  Our friends are on the left and we are on the right. 

 

Several years ago BB and I traveled to Monument Valley with Nana and Daddy Bill -  I'll have to post some of those pictures some time.  

Spring Gardening with Sammy, Part II

Sammy and I got busy with planting seedlings during the last couple weeks, but we had to "Sammy-proof" them so he wouldn't stomp all over them before they had a chance to establish.  Sammy has to keep the fence perimeter free of squirrel intruders and sometimes doesn't look where he is going.

He's only gotten tangled up once! 
One of the Summertime Mix plants has already bloomed:

 I bought some flowers to plant yesterday and I thought I had it all solved to keep Sam out  -- a little stepping stone path that would cut through to the pool decking under the tree.

 

 

 

If you look left of the stones you will see the actual path that Sam likes to take; I know this now.  He stomped through my gerber daisies and I ended up having to move two of them this morning!

Sunday at the Barn Plus Farm Fresh Eggs!

Friends, we have more than our fair share of horse trouble over the past year.  But finally, we have found perfect situations for both our horses, Beau and Whiskey River.  Beau is at a wonderful new barn and we have the best trainer in the world -- Miss Jeannie --  working with he and BB.  BB is having a great time on Beau and is starting to show again -- they are both doing great.  Whiskey is at another barn and has several little girls who ride him hunter/jumper and just love him!  Both horses are very happy and healthy.

Here is Beau in the cross-ties with BB ready to groom:

 Working the curry comb!

This is Beau's stall:

Looking through the west wing of the barn:

The barn has some new babies :

Miss Jeannie also keeps chickens so I bought a dozen eggs from her and had my first taste of farm fresh eggs this weekend.   

Becky at Becky's Barnyard told me that the yolks would be much brighter and she was right -- they were a bright orange color when cooked!

Yum!

Mouse Hunt

Horrid Mousies have discovered the bird feeder under the window overhang & they have been frequenting the area under the windows looking for seeds to eat.  Yesterday, one even climbed up the brick on the side of the window & looked in!!!  Brave Hunter Sammy has been on the alert!

 

 LET ME OUT!!!!

Where did he go???

Our brave hunter did not best the mousies this time.  But we did move the bird feeder away from the house!

 

Spring Garden, Part I

Dear Friends,
Almost a year ago, but just a few posts back, I posted a bit about my backyard garden which Alice and Sammy helped me assess.  It has been kind of sad to reflect that my dear little Alice is not here to help garden anymore, but Sammy is still an avid gardener.  Here are some photos we took of the backyard in April when the peonies & mermaid rose were in full bloom:

 This is the hybrid tea, Mr. Lincoln:

Over Spring Break, BB and I planted some various types of sunflower seeds plus some herbs and ganzia. The sunflower seedlings have done well, & so have the basil and catnip, but I only got one ganzia to sprout from 12 seeds!

We had a big bird feeding operation going this winter; Sam spent hours bird watching!  You can see the two big windows where he would sit and watch, mesmerized.  We recently took down the other winter feeders to wash and put away and will soon get out our hummingbird and butterfly feeders.  I left the feeder up under the overhang; these silly morning doves still try to squeeze into it.

In our next garden post, Sammy will demonstrate how NOT to step on seedlings!

Wordless Wednesday