Well, okay, it’s not technically summer yet but this weekend we made our preparations as best we could. It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise for doing things in the yard.

We put the screens and curtains up on the poolside cabana, brought out the umbrella and the deck lounges and chairs. (Pool not open yet, but hopefully this week!)

I planted some pots.

I did a lot of weeding of the back flower beds. In doing so I discovered two very different columbines. At least I think they are a variety of columbine since the leaf is the same. They are both in different flower beds and very far apart. Here is the double one.

And this one doesn’t open any more than this but has many layers. Anyone have any ideas? They were not there last year and I certainly didn’t plant them. ? Maybe I pulled them up last year in a fit of zealous weeding but they had dropped seeds the year before?

We planted marigolds in the front flower bed. We planted our kitchen herbs in the old dry sink which join the already planted and potted tomatoes on the deck. I am hoping for a great harvest of patio and cherry tomatoes this year.

Last year we didn’t plant tomatoes because we got such a late start with our trip back to Colorado in mid June. This year we decided to stay home for June since it’s such a lovely time of year here and the pool really suffered while we were gone. Plus, we missed some quality pool time, not to mention firefly season! So, this year we’ll do our cabin trip in September instead.

Water dog Bella had fun with her wading pool this weekend too. She is always sticking her feet and head in the water bucket, so we thought she’d enjoy having a bigger water feature.

...testing, testing ....

hey, this is fun ...

i think there’s a bone in here somewhere ...

I have no idea what’s going to happen once the pool is open. I know she’s going to end up in it at least once. Oh boy.

We went to the Warwick farmer’s market and bought fresh baby lettuces, scallions, radishes, bread, cheese, and a mini quiche for our Sunday lunch. Yum. I’m glad the market has started back up again. It’s a summer tradition for us and one that we love.

So, we had a busy weekend but it felt good to get things done. We ended the weekend with one of our favorite meals last night: grilled artichokes and lamb chops “scotta dita” (or burned fingers because they sell them on the streets of Italy and you just hold them by the bone and eat them quick while they are hot!) while listening to the cool vibe of Bossa ‘n Stones, (the Rolling Stones hits done with a bossa nova beat) which we discovered while eating in a restaurant in San Miguel.

I hope you all had a great kick-off weekend to the beginning of summer!

Tomorrow I’m taking you back to San Miguel again. I certainly hope you’re not getting bored with your armchair vacation ...

Free to patient home:

one over-exuberant

pant-leg-grabbing

hole-digging

truffle-hunting

flower-bud-eating

bog-trolling

Bella.

P.S. Just kidding ya know. With all her faults charms we love her dearly.

Sigh. It turns out that Bella likes gardening just as much as she likes knitting. Becky, be warned, you might not want to read any further.

My heirloom iris from Becky that I planted back in October have been happily and cozily snoozing away under their blanket of autumn leaves and winter snow. Several weeks ago when the snow finally left I noticed that several of them seemed to be heaving out of the ground with their roots showing. I tucked more dirt around them and reseated a few of them and didn’t think too much of it. I asked Becky’s advice and she said it was pretty normal.

I was outside this afternoon raking leftover leaves and debris out of the flower bed and when I turned around I saw this. My gardening help had decided to pull up and relocate my precious iris!

While I was putting the camera back down before picking them up to plant them again, she grabbed iris #1 and started off with it. See the roots sticking out of her mouth?

[me] BELLA,  nooooooo, drop it!

[bella] uh oh. mom sounds mad. did I do something wrong?
[me] PUT THAT DOWN .... NOW!!!

[bella] geez, okay. like this?

[me] Good girl!

[bella] gee mom, i was just trying to help ...

Just in case you are wondering, no, I did not stage this. I didn’t have to. Bella was just being Bella and my camera goes everywhere with me. She has done this a couple of times and I haven’t caught her in the act. Each time she did it I was convinced after strict scoldings that it would be her last. I was wrong. She doesn’t chew them, just carries them around. I think because their flags are sticking up and they are not rooted yet they are easy targets. Problem is, my nice little map (see above heirloom iris link) of which iris was planted where is of no use anymore. I think I need a fence.

Did I mention she starts obedience class tonight? She’s a naughty girl.

Sunday morning we woke up to more new snow. The predicted “coating to a an inch” turned into three inches. It coated the trees and branches perfectly with its fluffy whiteness. Such a pretty snow!

Anyone up for an al fresco meal by the pool?

Okay, so maybe we didn’t have our usual poolside Sunday lunch. We took the dogs for a walk since it’s really been too cold to take them this past week. Bella preferred the snow to the road.

When we got back she was still a bundle of energy, so I took them in the back yard for a proper snow romp.

Snow really sticks to soft, downy puppy coats!

Heck, this kind of snow sticks to most anything!

And now for a few more serious shots.

Here is Alex, deep in thought.

And Hailey with snow nose.

And Bella.

Who you can’t expect to be serious for very long.

But I need to buckle down and get serious. I have five interview questions from Reya to answer which I have been giving much thought to over the past few days. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little taste of winter!

Just look at my feet and tell me what you see. Anything wrong? Uhm, I didn’t realize I had put on two unmatched shoes this morning until I got to the grocery store and looked down. Good grief. One old Merrill yard shoe (complete with hole) and one newer Merrill. One grey and one brown. Such a class act. I hope no one noticed.

Even though my day started off on the wrong foot, it’s not going badly. I just got back from taking the two big dogs for a walk in the wintry white greyness that is hanging around outside today. It looks like winter and if feels like winter. The snowfall from the other day is staying solidly in place, probably because of the coating of ice on top that is like a layer of shellac. Crunchy stuff, that. It’s just above freezing and that’s a heat wave compared to the frigid cold moving our way. Friday’s high temperature is supposed to be 10 F. brrrrrrrrrrr. Even some snow here and there over the next few days. But we all know how well the weather can be predicted, especially snowfall. I am sceptically optimistic.

Even though it’s white and grey outside, look what I get to look at inside to brighten up my day.

Gorgeous, isn’t it? Neighbor Aileen gave me this lovely amaryllis bulb for Christmas and it’s just now starting to bloom. I took it outside for a photo shoot because I liked the contrast of winter and spring.

And, look what I kept alive since last year and managed to force it to bloom again this year! What green fingers I am acquiring here on the East Coast! I am thrilled!

All summer long it lived outside and thrived. I brought it in before the first hard frost and stopped watering it. About three weeks ago I started watering it again. The growth you see here has all taken place in about one week. Here is a link to what it looked like last year blooming.

Bringing in a little sunshine with its warm color, here is the first half of my scarf completed. I’ve now started on the other half. I am just loving this pattern!

and even more sunshine for the soul ...

I hope you find a little sunshine in your day today too!