Company has gone home; Willie is Gone, Lilies

It is a very hot Memorial Day, 84 degrees.

Our company left this morning around 9 AM. I spent the rest of the morning resting in my nest in the kitchen.....then decided I better mow so I could get on the gardening early in the morning. Time is running out on me. Most of the yard is shady so it wasn't too bad.

I made Ilene's Hot Milk Sponge Cake and it was a big hit. It is a small cake and I should have doubled the recipe! It is a keeper.

I think I have talked about our Indoor/Outdoor cat who found us. We named her Willie after the town where she first approached us. She is the first indoor cat we have ever had; she would scratch to be let in and come and stand in front of us when she wanted out. She liked spending her nights outside when the weather turned warm. A few times she would be gone for a couple of days but then we would hear her scratching at the back door to be let in. This last time she was gone two days and DH returned from checking the cows to tell me that he didn't think she would be coming back. I won't be graphic but remember we live in the country and there are varmints around.....We are both saddened and vow to never let one inside with us again. Her last year's babies are still here with us and visit on the porch each day. So far, they have not roamed like Willie did. Then, of course, there is the barn cat who showed up this spring and gifted us with three babies the first of May. I refuse to make pets of them.

Gardening

I was able to squeeze in tilling the new plot just enough to get one row of tomatoes planted. I was happy with the quality of the soil and the scarcity of rocks....I should have tilled it all and let is lay for a few days, but since I am so late, I am just tilling and planting and letting the weeds die around the plants. It looks ugly the first day or two, but now looks normal. The goal is to get it finished this week! All else will have to wait........except the strawberries. I will pick them each evening and process the next morning. The cherries are ripening quickly too. This is a busy time of year.

The lilies are beginning to bloom. The first is Dani Arifin. The tall airy plant in the backgound is garden heliotrope.

From 2010_05_28

I see there are dark blotches on the blooms; I don't believe they had them last year. Curious



I see the papaver somniferums are blooming. It is always exciting because they cross a each year and I never know what will show up. I have a very full frilly red and lavender one. I will try to take pictures soon.

The Annabelle (hydrangea) bed is looking great. I seem to be mostly blues and purples in the flower beds this year. I never realized that before.

House

I got to really break in the new sink and lights and DH (Mr. Laundry Man) got to use the new dryer. He reports it works much better than the old one. I love the sink and new faucet. I discovered the brushed finish on the faucet does not water spot like the shiny one did. The sink just requires a wipe down to keep it looking good. The stove actually worked great.

I got the clothes line back operating and my MIL brought me out her clothes pins so I am all set to hang out lots of laundry with the pretty weather. I am wracking my brain to find a location in the yard where I can have a larger set up. I just have one short line now; the retractable kind.

Ladies,here is something you can look forward to (I hope), my husband has become very domesticated since retirement. He does all the laundry and does a fantastic job of it. He was the manager of a commercial laundry in his other life and also ran the military laundry at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He can get stains out of anything. He makes the coffee (and carries it to me); he unloads the dishwasher; he sets the table. This is a man who didn't know where the coffee was kept for most of our married life. I did not demand the change or suggest it. It just slowly happened. Thank you Lord.