Mystery Solved!

Well, that last post certainly generated some strong feelings regarding the snake eggs....Pam was not happy with me for sending them to the landfill, Lisa was jealous that I'd found them and not she, whereas Sylvie finds snakes scary. Me, I have no problem with the snakes we already have, but ten more--not so much!

I'm no Nancy Drew, but I did discover who sent the mystery pillow covers. It was my sister Lisa who saw them on Amazon, and just thought I might like them. Problem was, in spite of three thorough searches of the box, no card proclaiming the sender was to be found. As she sat down in the afternoon to read this here blog, she discovered the error, and quickly called the house to lay claim to the gift. Whatever gave her the idea I like owls???

She did not find me at home, instead I was driving home from a plant buying spree. I know--who plants on a summer afternoon, right? I'd seen a plant that I fell in love with--a hosta, purchasing one the other day. When Cheryle saw it she said it is mighty hard to grow in Florida, however, I decided to chance it, and went back for more. It gave me the idea to color theme the bed, with green, white and purple. Ta da!

I know, it doesn't look great at the moment but perhaps in a few weeks time it will look super. Or, so I hope. The hostas are a variety with sun attached to their name, so that is a hopeful sign. Another thing Lisa and I were chatting about was getting cuttings from friend's gardens to plant  in our own as a constant reminder of that friend. Her friend Greta, who, long ago, when I was deathly ill, did not bring cuttings, but she did plant the purple, cream, and green plants you see on the left while she was here as a nursemaid one day. That would be about nine years or so ago, when Stromanthe were just making their way into our garden centers. Before being hospitalized, I had purchased about ten of them for this same bed, and hadn't got around to planting them. Greta, never one to just sit around, went out there and did it herself while I slept! Over the years they not only got fatter and fatter, they burned in the sun more readily, such that, I had to finally remove them from the front border, instead clumping them into a slightly more shady location. We shall see how the transplants do.

Furthermore, out front, I had seen the walkway getting messy and wondered how it was so. Well, now I know! Watching through the kitchen window, this Brown Thrasher kept digging in the mulch and tossing it out of the way.

The nerve.

Finally, while we are still out front, I'm leaving the plants alone, growing in front of the bird feeder, as I think they must be sunflowers; a first here, in spite of the fact that I've been feeding birds for years now.

As you can see, the bird feeder is filled up, but with the hungry birds around here, it will last about four days! Good thing Costco sells feed in 40 pound bags.

Finches, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Grackle, Tit Mouse, and Woodpeckers are on it day and night. What I've yet to see this year is a Gold Finch, and I hope that drought ends soon, as I think they are so cute.

Adding to the mix in the front is the purple plant that I have plenty of. I mentioned I'd made a little hedge in the side garden and here you can see how big it has gotten in no time.

I added them along the front house line to get some quick height which is sorely needed what with all the low plants. You just can't kill those things, and if you need some, you know where you can find them.

Baxter was due for his shots so we made our annual trip for that. On the drive over, I stopped in front of a house where I'd photographed a sunflower last year; they did not disappoint me!

The little peacocks are growing...

And then there is this silly thing. The package containing my batteries has a warning that it is not a toy...well, duh!! What child would want to play with it anyway????

If you need this reminder, you should not have become a parent in the first place!!!

Good news in this morning from across the Atlantic--the sale of Matt's flat in London has gone through, just in time for his birthday! Last year, about this very time, he and Tom purchased a new flat together, and put this one on the market. For various reasons, most of which are too lengthy to describe, it took this long for the sale to close. Happy days! My firstborn turns 39 on Sunday--oh my gosh!! Never will the 4th of July come around when I don't think of going into labor in the evening of July 4, 1976. Waking up from an afternoon nap, wherein we were lying on the wrong end of the bed in order for our big box fan to cool us off, I did not immediately recognize what was happening, in spite of being five days overdue! No Florida woman these days can imagine being pregnant without air conditioning, but that's just the way it was. I can't imagine being pregnant without air conditioning and I did it! Anyway, his birth held off until 1:30 on the 5th, but we still called him our Bicentennial baby. :)

 Once upon a time there were a lot of these around the house, not this house, but wherever the Pecks lived. By the time we moved to this house, almost 20 years ago, they were all too old for this kind of toy, so it was quite the surprise to find this when I was digging in the front bed.

Aside from the absence of one wheel, it is in mighty good shape. I think I'll keep it as a relic.

Well, time to get into the kitchen for some salad making for a pool party. My friend Bev teased me the other day saying we were always going somewhere, however, I beg to differ. I'm a pretty serious homebody most days..

Here's what I'm going to make, and hope it is good!

Happy Fourth to all of my American friends,

Gail