Wildflower Adventures: Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia. How you doing? The orange butterfly flowers are blooming in the backyard. The butterflies love them. We can see the flowers out the kitchen window. The bugs, rabbits & birds have been bad in the gardens this year. I made a version of that chia seed pudding I've seen going around on the internet. I topped mine with strawberries from out of the garden & drizzled it with chocolate. The drizzle was more of a blob. The strawberries are what gave it flavor. I ended up adding blackberries when the strawberries were gone. It was good & filling, I'll be making it again. I went swimming this week & ate birthday cake. Kevin went fishing & caught some good looking yellow perch. He cooked a mess for supper & the rest went into the freezer. He replaced the fuel pump in the side by side & we're ready to ride when I get back from the beach. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage, we'll walk around in the gardens then we'll sit on the porch for a spell before it gets too hot. The temperatures are supposed to get in the upper 80s next week, maybe into the 90s here in north Georgia.

Ok, here we go. These are my
walking around out in the
yard shoes.

The creek is running good. We've
had several good rains recently.
We have a little pump to pump
water from the creek to water
the gardens when needed.

The begonias & fern are pretty together. Moma
gave me a start of these. They are doing
good here beside the creek. They get morning
sun then are in the shade most the
rest of the day.

Kevin picked up a couple packs of lily bulbs at the dollar store. They turned out quite beautiful here with the donkey. If you haven't heard the story behind the donkey yet, I'll tell the short version right quick. Kevin was given this rusty old donkey as somewhat of a joke. He cleaned it up, painted it & now it's quite the handsome fellow in the flower gardens.

Daisies

The swimming hole.

The tadpole pond. Kevin has a red clay
source. He just hasn't got around to
getting it yet, to see if we can get this
thing to hold water & be something
better to look at.

The different colors of daylilies
are blooming.

The phlox have been pretty. Iris doesn't
seem to be bothered that her kittens are gone.
The new owners named the kittens Bobby &
Miss Maggie. I got the turtles as a retirement
gift. I move them around for Grands to find.

I call this a snowball bush but
I think it's supposed to be
hydrangea. Last year it was
loaded with snowballs.

We're not sure if this pampas grass
is going to make it or not. It looks
like it's only going to have 1 blade
of grass this year. There is some of
this grass near the road going to
town, it's not doing any good this
year either.

Kevin scratched up this little
garden space on the edge of the
property down by the creek.
Last year he planted broom corn
& it did good. This year he planted
squash, pumpkins & tators. The
rabbits have ate most the plants.

The birds are eating the blueberries.

Kevin picked a bowl full. We made
muffins & the rest went in the
freezer.

The fenced raised bed garden is protected from the rabbits & deer but not the birds & bugs. The grape vines are loaded with tiny grape clusters just starting to grow. The tomato & pepper plants are still looking good. The radishes are gone, we ate them up. We're still getting lettuce, spinach & onions. The onions are a little bigger now.

The bugs are eating on the okra.

Cherry tomatoes

The blackberries are starting to
come in. Have some, if you see
any ripe ones. They are so sweet.
These are thornless blackberry
bushes so we can pick without
getting all scratched up.