The start of chicken soup.

In the fading light of the longest day, I paid my garden a overdue visit. The garlic leaves are just starting to turn. Lonely bees vibrate through the air. My presence disturbs a toad.

I found the “dying” sage bush over-taking the sidewalk to have renewed vigor. June, having finished growing her plums has moved her top branches closer to the sun by a good six inches. A baby squash from a volunteer has set and sets to expanding in girth. An earwig is devouring a strawberry – I relieve him of his dessert. Tomatoes are swelling and lime leaves are curling and it is definitely the late start of Texas summer.

And here I am weeks later finding this saved as a draft instead of published…so it goes.

The wedding is in four days! And the house is filling up with paper pom balls. Or as we decided to call them – giant dahlias.

Never mind the massive amounts of hay grass and henbit getting started, or the ginormous fire ant mound (I’ve never seen a bigger one) also getting started…

What’s getting started outside that I want to be there?

Little squash action.

Little green bean sprouts…

And there’s also the finishers, like my sole surviving broccoli, kind enough to still put off side shoots while I leave it to feed the bees.

Work is madness this week. I hope you’re all well and happy and dirty!

They haven’t bloomed yet, but they’re thinking about it!

These guys dropped all their leaves in the freezes. I love seeing their new growth contrast with the purple stems.

I fully expected the decorative peppers to take a dirt nap (yeah, I said it) after our multiple nights in the 20s since I neglected to cover them. No dice. They’re blooming yet again to add color to the front walk.

Some seeds from a coworker (self-saved from a friend, hand-labeled Chinese forget-me-nots) made themselves known this week in the Heat Bed under the shade of some painted daisies.

I hope this quick post brought some sunshine to those under feet of crisp snow or days upon days of grey skies!

If it didn’t, this one might 😉

Quick! Am I shopping for lady bugs after work, or mixing up some pepper soap? Or will diatomaceous earth do the trick?

It hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit today. The strawberries have been growing slowly, white with green seeds, for weeks. This silly strawberry turned red today. The bottom is still white. Perhaps I should install some reflection apparatus to brighten the underside 😉 I even found time to sow tomatoes and peppers the other evening. It’s a month late, but we do what we do when we can do it around here. Five weeks until the wedding! I’m getting more excited for the celebration (and more anxious about the event details) by the day. I have to say it is absolutely splendid to have nothing but joy about the actual marriage part, even if I have quite solidified the self-knowledge that I gain no pleasure (nor am I very good at) coordinating colors, creating timelines for good flow, or otherwise planning such a large (albeit small by wedding standards) party.

The heat bed gained a new tenant a few months back. It promptly lost all flowers. Then it froze. Flowers returned. It froze again. More flowers. In a generally drab landscape, this little lady makes me smile.

I think this plant should work harder. It obviously has no idea how to make leaves big enough…