Wahhhh!

It is with a heavy heart that I type this. We have just returned from the garden and it looks like Death Valley. No joke. I'm hopeful to get the remaining tomatoes on the vine to ripen, before both plants totally hit the deck, and it's going to be a race against the clock. And not just for me, either. Everybody is in the same boat. Even the guy who replaced his soil last year-- so what ever this fungal blight stuff is, it takes no prisoners. My green beans are on life support. A squash has already bought it and the other one is not far behind. Wow. So much for my garden....cut down in the prime of life.
I will miss doodling around up there and watering. My carrots (all three of them) are still hanging in there but at a mere two inches tall, I'm not holding out a lot of hope. No wonder farmers go broke. Glad I didn't buy a tractor.

The good news....cause there's always good news somewhere--- is that pictured are my two new gardenia bushes, that Bruce nearly had a heat stroke planting. He mowed first (shuuudup...I offered) and then we went to lunch and got back right at the hottest part of the day-- to plant-- 'cause that's just how we roll. While I did the ice tea shuffle and transported bags of landscape mix via my little red wagon, Harris dug holes. And then I dropped the bomb....the holes needed to be wider ...I showed him the gardenia planting instructions. I won't say what happened next but just use your imagination, and the holes got w-i-d-e-n-e-d. Since these needed an eastern exposure, that's where we put them, for a change. We are learning to follow directions.

We also moved pots around--more on the front porch, and switched the bench with the pillows to the other side of the yard so you can see the hanging baskets. And, we added a pot on a wrought iron stand, right beside the bench. Very Cottage Living with a dash of House Beautiful (don't I wish.)

Sister is here with us, in the white chair, snoozing, because "Daddy Disneyland" let her run wild, outside with him, while he planted, except for AC and water breaks. She's so wasted, she's snoring-- on top of my good pillow. Wigman? He stayed inside in the cool, and slept all afternoon, in his freshly laundered bed. He may be old... but he ain't dumb.