{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ June 21, 2015

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?  It's been almost nothing but rain and gray skies around here for the past six weeks, though yesterday was clear and sunny. . . and very hot!  The problem is that it's hard to keep up with outdoor chores.  Also, the poor vegetable garden is kind of scraggly and waterlogged.  But first, some {pretty} and {happy}

{Pretty}

The zinnias are blooming!  Have you ever grown zinnias?  My goodness, they are so hardy and robust they are almost fail-safe.  The soil here is not great, it's been cloudy and too wet, yet these little beauties practically spring up overnight from seed and then bloom profusely until frost in the fall. They aren't even picky about spacing or depth of planting.  And then they oblige with lots of color and blooms that are great for cutting.  And this is just the start!

The dahlias are also about to bloom.  I've never grown dahlias before, but I'm excited to see how these do.  Honestly, when I put those dried up, dead-looking roots in the ground, it seems impossible that anything should come of them, but look what happens: lush foliage and the first bud. It really is a little miracle.  Gardening is an act of faith!

{Happy}

On to the vegetable garden!  We have the first two wee tomatoes~

~which is encouraging considering the awful weather we've had.  In fact, some of the tomato plants are thriving, like this:

Though you can't see them, there are several blossoms!

{Real}

. . . and some are not, like this:

It's still alive anyway.  We bought all our tomato plants at the same place and planted them at the same time in the same garden.  They are literally a few feet apart, yet we have flourishing plants like the one in {happy} and spindly plants like the one above, and everything in between.  I'm blaming the weather.

{Funny}

A mouse surprised me and I surprised it when I went to do some weeding in the flower garden.  It scurried away and hid with its face toward the retaining wall but left his hind end sticking out.  I just left it.  I don't care if the mice live outside; it's only when they come into the house that they are a problem.    

And yes, the weeds are {real}-ly that bad.  Weeds, of course, love rain, but the rain, of course, keeps me from keeping up with the weeding.  It's almost under control now.  I will take dominion!

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