The last of the visitors have left and are on their way back home. It was so nice seeing them again.
I have had some expected visitors and some unexpected visitors as well. All were welcome. We had a great time and the house came to life for over a week which was very nice. Now, all is quiet again.
Warning. This post is photo heavy. Here are some photos of our visitors.
My husband's nephew and his wife from Quebec. Missing is his brother from Montreal. He went out when the photo was taken.
My brother and his wife from another part of Quebec stopped in on their way up to our home town. This photo is out of focus. That's little old me on the right.
My daughter Christine and the boys relaxing on the swing. They have grown so much
Of course, the kitty must be included in the photos.
The grandkids were feeding oatmeal to wild ducks. The ducks were pretty tame.
We went to the lake at my other daughter and son in law's cottage and had a relaxing day but I didn't take many photos. It was a cloudy day so we stayed mostly inside. The next day we went out on the lake and I found out I was getting out of breath. I need to start walking again or go to the public indoor pool. Weeding is too stationary...
To keep the boys busy, I got them to pound nails in the deck boards. There was a frenzy of pounding. They had a great time and felt good about fixing my old deck. One of the boys found out that the little hammer had a neat screwdriver in the hollow handle.
I read these books that some of my friends lent me. Vatican has 823 pages and Piercing The Darkness has 441. Vatican by Malachi Martin was very eye-opening. I enjoyed reading both.
I harvested over 20 pounds of beets and filled 2 large pots to make beet pickles.
I never froze beet greens before but thought I would give it a try this year.
In all I made 18 pints of beet pickles. I don't have a single beet left in my garden.
I made 7 + jars of Rhubarb Pineapple Strawberry jam. It uses strawberry Jell-o which doesn't have strawberry in it so I can eat it. The extra went in the fridge. I only use a tiny bit on my toasts so this will last me a long time except if George gets into it.
I harvested a whole bunch of Basil and made 7 containers of Pesto base with olive oil for the freezer. When I need pesto, I just thaw the base and add the other ingredients. So yummy... I still have a tons of basil in the garden.
I've been harvesting all my cabbages, broccoli and cauliflowers and froze some. They all grew so large this year with all the rain we had. Also, I froze green and yellow beans. My freezer is full and I cleaned out the garden where the veggies were harvested. I still have kale, broccoli and brussel sprouts left in that garden.
And now for those who love flowers, here is fragrant Debbie Oriental Lily. Oriental Lilies are more fragrant in the evening I find.
This one was just starting to bloom. It's called Muscadet Oriental Lily, also fragrant.
Just starting to bloom is fragrant Dizzy Oriental Lily.
This is fragrant Golden Stargazer
And not to be outdone is fragrant Pretty Woman Oriental Lilies.
This is Bombshell Hydrangea which is getting crowded by daylilies.
Here is the culprit Daylily called Decatur Cherry. They are so pretty. I think they are one of my favorites Daylilies
This is one of the Fire Light Hydrangea that the deers ate some of the buds. I'm glad that they didn't eat all the buds. It's starting to change color already and will turn to pomegranate-red in late summer. Please don't look at the weeds in my lawn. Bad Creeping Charlie has taken over.
I started the taller red Impatients from seeds and our friendly plant nurseryman gave me a whole tray of mixed shorter Impatients this spring.
This is an old Houldini Clematis that has been having difficulty because the trellis on which it was climbing was taken down to work on the chimney last Fall. Unfortunately, it started to grow with no support and is folded in two on itself. I hope it will do better next year. It's a very tall climber.
I love these happy Rudbeckia. They add a bit of sunshine in the garden.
My only Lavatera that survived from starting seeds indoors. Next year, I'll plant directly outdoors. They dislike being transplanted.
Have a safe rest of summer everyone.
Hugs, Julia
