Early Morning

It was a beautiful sunny morning

so I grabbed my camera

and snapped a few

pictures.

 

 

Starting on the back porch.

 

I'm still patiently waiting

for the screened porch

to be built.

 

It will happen one day...

too many other things

need tending too

before the porch reaches

the top of the priority list.

:)

 

 

Now on around the corner

to the Annabelle hydrangeas

along the front of the house.

They're struggling where they are

but I'll keep working on them

and hopefully one day they'll

be happy there. 

 

The wagon is near the arbor

and front gate. 

We have to do a bit of work 

in that area yet but it will

get done when the porch 

and new sidewalk go in.

One day 

;)

 

 

Now we're over to the veggie

garden. I've been waiting

for free mulch for a couple

of months but I got an email

this morning that they have some

...now they just need to let me

know where it is!! 

 

One day I hope to have most 

of the garden area covered with mulch

to help keep the grass and 

weeds out.

Right beside the veggie garden

 is the chicken coop/garden shed.

My favorite building

here on the farm.

 

It's a neat old building.

 

 

Now we're over to the little 

orchard. We have two pear trees

an apple a cherry and two 

plums. We had two peach

tree's and another cherry 

but they died. All the 

fruit trees are old.

I don't know what I was doing

when I took this top photo...

I sure wasn't thinking of focusing!

 

This is the other pear tree above,

it's a different kind of pear.

These get a brownish

skin on them. 

We've never been able to enjoy

our fruit trees 

because the trees were let

to grow too tall over the years

(not by us)

and just when the fruit is

ripening...the birds come!

They seem to know when 

we're not home because we've

never seen them do it

but we know it's them

because before the fruit is ripe

they'll come in flocks as if to 

test how ripe the fruit is.

Then I think they send out scouts

to see when we leave the farm

for the day.

Then they fly in for the 'kill'.

I'm sure of it.

 

More shots of the coop/garden shed

along with one of our other 

old buildings.

 

Finally we're back to the porch

and the Trumpet Vine

that you just can't kill.

This old vine was growing up a

dead tree right in that spot

when we moved here 3

years ago.

We cut the tree down

(it had termites)

and dug up the vine....or

so we thought.

Now it grows up 

the eagle weather vane

and is taking over the 

old porch.

 

I don't really mind...

I may just let it grow along the

new porch...one day.

I hope your week is a good one

so far.

Simon & Garfunkel In My Garden

Well ok maybe Simon and Garfunkel
aren't in my garden
but
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are!

I used a few sprigs of rosemary
to make some
Rosemary and Garlic Oil.
 

I love this on toasted Ciabatta buns.

I just put a few sprigs of rosemary
and 4 cloves of garlic 
into a cruet
and then fill with 
good extra virgin olive oil.

Put on the lid and store in the fridge.

YUMMY!


This should be used up within a week.

Thyme flowering
 
I thought I would share a few photos
of some of the herbs I grow 
in the foundation of
an old grain bin. 

Culinary lavender

Mint

Sage in bloom

Marjoram

Cilantro

Dill

Chives

Parsley

I filled in a few empty spots with 
some leftover
strawberry plants
and rhubarb which I didn't take a photo of.

   
Are You Goin To Scarborough Fair?
Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme.
Remember Me To The One Who Lives There,
She Once Was A True Love Of Mine.
Simon And Garfunkel Lyrics

  
Do you cook with herbs?
If so...what is your favorite dish?

A Cottage Rose

 The old rose bush 

outside the dining room window
(at the back of the cottage)

is in full bloom.

I wish I knew it's name

and what kind of a rose it is.

I think it was planted

around the time the house was built

in the late 1940's. 

It is a HUGE old bush

that blooms once a year.

What it lacks in longevity...

it makes up for with profusion!

It doesn't seem to have much 

of a scent and the

colors range from red...a very 

dark pink

to a light fuchsia.

All this color on one rose bush!

When we moved to the farm 

nearly 3 years ago

it was very overgrown

and there was a lot of old dead

branches.

I gave it a good pruning

late that winter

and it must have been what it needed

as it has grown very well

with very little attention since then. 

 

If only everything else 

on the farm would grow so well!

~~~~~~

Have a wonderful week! 

The Colors Of Spring

 

Color...this is definitely a spring full 

of color for us here on the farm.

This time last year

THIS 

is what our fenced in

area close to the house looked like...

  ....it was brown dirt and sand.

  

 

On March the 24th THIS year

I mowed the lawn for the first time this year

and most of the plants I had put in the garden

last year were up.

The daffodils were blooming.

It was the beginning of color here on the farm.

 

 

 This is my favorite Hosta...

it's name is Marmalade.

:)

It's a perfect name don't you think?

 

Right now the Columbine are the stars

of the garden.

I love their soft pinks and yellows. 

I'd like to plant more of these if I can find them.

 

The 'Fairy House' yard needs a bit of work.

 

 

 

The rhododendron I planted last fall

is starting to bloom.

I just hope all these plants still look good 

when the hot summer sun is here

as one of the trees that gave 

a lot of these plants 

the shade

they needed has

all but died. 

Many of them will have to be moved

if the sun becomes too much for them

but time will tell.  

  

This is another Hosta I really like.

I thought the heat and drought 

last summer had killed it 

and a few of the others

including 'Marmalade'

but they shocked me by

coming back. 

:)

 

This poor weather vane 

has moved 3 times

with us and has been knocked over

and blown over

and been beaten with hail. 

This summer it will again be covered

with Red Trumpet Vine

that has been here for many years.

Yes it's definitely 

a colorful spring on the farm

and summer will

have a hard act to follow.

I hope you are enjoying a colorful

spring where ever you are.

~~~~~~~