Summer Days

Did I say that I love the garden at this time of year?  Hmmm.  I don't know what I was thinking.  It's a weedy mess and I can never quite keep up with it.  Everything is overgrown.  We've had major heat this summer, combined with lots of rain in the evenings.

My paths are unrecognizable.

Do you even see it??

The neighbours hedge needs a serious trim on our side.

Again, can you see my brick path?  Mozzy heaven.

 Some things are nicely overgrown.  It's not all bad.  I've never had success with zucchini before (I know, who can't grow zucchini?!) but I'm giving it away this year.

 My straw bale garden is doing great.  I've had to water it as often as my pots, but it's got actual squash on it!  Yay!  And the lack of hedge in this small section has meant that I've had access to my compost heap all summer without hacking a path through the overgrown hedge.

Acorn and butternut squash, and lettuce and spinach which has surprising not bolted in the heat all summer.

An eggplant flower, also in my straw bale garden.

 The back garden was not well planned.  I've got good pole beans and the carrots are bigger than ever, but that's about it.  Tomatoes are still coming though.  Alice must have 15 pounds of green tomatoes hanging on hers. 

This golden elder had to start from the ground again this spring and I almost dug up the root ball because I thought it wouldn't amount to much.  It's about 7' tall though.  

And when will I ever learn?  All of my brassicas look lacey with caterpillar damage.  I picked and picked and picked those little green things, but there is no keeping up with them.  I did cover them briefly in the spring, but they outgrew my cover.  Next year I'll stick to a few brocolli and kale and skip the rest.  Think of all the beans and carrots I could be freezing!

Lacey is a only good thing in shawls, not cabbage.

 Although I let the garden keep me away from any long vacation this summer, it doesn't stop me from having fun with the girls.  This is the third week of hosting a child for a week and I feel like we need to show them a good time.  After a trip to IKEA, we drove to a lake yesterday.  Laura framed my cryptic directions so I wouldn't get lost as I so often do.

 Beth and Abra did a bit of kayaking, but mostly we sat on the beach and splashed in the shallow water.  While at the lake, we found this lovely mermaid basking in the sun.

And we chugged a bit of wine.

Lingon berry juice, anyone?

The sand was beautiful and the wind off the lake kept us not so hot.

  And the day ended in its usual way.  A summer storm at night with lots of rain.

Are you all having a good summer too?