The great outdoors

Beautiful wheat field

Finally summer is here, and these hot days invite me outside.  And since Mike is finished teaching, it's truly a summer vacation for both of us.  Last summer we were remodeling my house to get it ready to sell which was like a construction job.  So really this is the first summer vacation I've had for a very long time...well, since about 7th grade when I had my first summer job de-tasselling corn.

I love the freedom of choosing how to spend each day outside.  It might be riding our bikes at Eagle Creek Park or walking around the neighborhood.

Minstrel on the porch

And we've been enjoying our screen porch since we updated the furniture and added a rug.  We eat most evening meals there, and I've been enjoying reading in the afternoon sun!  And one evening we broke out the guitars for our own jam session.  Not sure how the neighbors felt about that, but we had a blast!







And I've been going a bit crazy in the yard.  I've trimmed bushes, dug up volunteer trees, planted flowers and vegetables and spread mulch.  And although there is still a lot of landscaping work to be done, I'm pretty pleased with the results...

Petunias and pansies on the deck...note the irrigation system Mike built!  Awesome!

Adding color to some bare spaces

Mike transplanted these bushes...

...to create a space for a new flower bed that I finished yesterday

2 squash plants and many flower pots in my new brick lined garden

And then there is my experience with planting vegetables.  At first I wanted a garden, but we don't really have a spot.

So, I decided on container gardening, and I picked up some bell peppers, tomatoes and squash plants.

I wish you could have seen the look on Mike's face when I told him about the squash.  Right away he asked me where I was going to plant them, and  when I answered "in a container", he immediately laughed and asked about vines filling up the deck.

And then one thing leads to another and another and another...  I ended up creating a small garden next to the air conditioner for the 2 squash plants.  Next I added bricks so we wouldn't run over the squash with the lawn mower. Then because the garden was pretty bare, I decided to add some flowers for color.   And while watching rabbits scurry around the back yard, I wondered if they liked squash.  And after some researching online and finding that rabbits "LOVE" squash, Mike is planning to install a small fence around this garden.  And oh yes, he added irrigation to this area! This squash is going to be FANTASTIC!  I just know it!

And we enjoyed a wonderful Italian Fest at a local Catholic Church.  We met up with some friends on a beautiful Friday night and enjoyed some lively conversation, several bottles of wine and the best fried ravioli ever!

And then Saturday night Mike and I attended a great concert at the Klipsch Music Center.  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers put on an amazing show.  It was a beautiful evening in the great outdoors with several thousand of our closest friends singing along to great Tom Petty songs.  We loved it!

So it's another week with an open schedule and lots of choices of how to spend my time.  I think a good book and the great outdoors are calling my name...

Have a great week.
Diane