First Swim Meet of the Season and Garden Update 6/17/14

The first swim meet of the Summer 2014 season was last night, and boy howdy was it HOT. I mean, feels like 102 in the sun (which we were) hot. Uuuuugh!!!

But, it was all worth it. :o)

Miss Bit swam the 25 Free and 25 Back and got PR's in each. For a girl who couldn't get down the lane last year without hanging onto the lane line, this was pretty impressive! :o) She's working on her breathing now (side breathing instead of having to stop and tread to breathe and start again), and if she can stay straight in that lane, she'll be set.

While last year she was proud of herself for simply participating, this year, she wants those place ribbons. Now we have the talk about doing your best, and if you've done your best then that's what counts.

It's tough because we have some amazing swimmers on our team (I'm not kidding, we have two kiddos from one family who are nationally ranked, and the female is internationally ranked!), and Lil is just a summer swimmer. She's not interested in doing it during the school year, so this is the best it'll be. We'll be having some long, honest discussions about this.

I sat with the girls yesterday and worked out our summer schedule (y'all know I have to have a schedule and routine to function--so do the girls).

And, we created our summer wish list of fun. :o) Now to begin working on checking items off. We don't have to do them all, but we would like to do as many as we can. :o)

And now, the yard report.

The photos were all taken in the bright morning sun, which isn't all that flattering. Sorry.

The sungolds are coming right along.

We're getting pretty close to harvest here! Yum!

And, the cukes. Last Tuesday they were finally starting to get moving.

Today, we have flowers--can cukes be far behind? :o)

They're really starting to take off now. I'm out every day vining them up the trellis.

Isn't nature beautiful?

The pepper bed with the four tomato volunteers. I suppose I should get those guys caged at this point, huh?

I found a couple of black eyed Susan vines growing up the zinnias and put in sticks for them instead.

This double/single leaf still fascinates me.

Mexican sunflower? It's bushy and big enough...

Two more black eyed Susan vines.

Down in the crazy bed of craziness...

Look how tall that butterfly weed is getting! I had to tie it up last Saturday.

If you embiggen, you can see the critter that took off when I snapped the photo. :o)

All the critters love this plant. I've not seen many butterflies yet this year, I do hope they're on their way. :o)

Dahlia bud.

Here comes the rudbeckia!

This lady had to be tied back as well. I had thought she might be a Mexican sunflower.

She's not.

I'm at a loss...

A quick trip over to reveals it's a Marsh Mallow I planted last year! Hooray! :o)

The girls just loooooove to pet the leaves they're so soft and velvety. :o)

I've been harvesting the weasel like gangbusters and it's still coming right along (yes, I know I need to weed, but did I mention it's like 10 billion degrees out there??).

Lil's Frankly Scarlets are delightful!

Plum Perfect is plum delightful.

Russian Rhapsody.

Miss Tinkerbell

My most favorite of my daylilies, Strawberry Candy. Between that ruffly, colorful edge and the lovely eye zone, this one is a stunner for me.

Oh, wait, I forgot about my Autumn Wood. Hm. I love them both.

Raspberry Wine--I saw the first bloom today.

This Sparkling Orange. What a vibrant, smell-good daylily!

The Red Volunteers are starting to bloom.

You can see how much taller they are than the Strawberry Candy. And, check out those Four o'Clocks! I swear, plant them once and you'll have them forever! :o)

Pocket Change--another one whose edge I love. It's being smothered by the rose. The silly rose is falling down again. :oS

Time for a shot of some fertilizer, I think.

In this light, it's difficult to distinguish the hanging baskets from the daylilies from the spirea from the clematis. I'll have to get a better photo earlier or later in the day.

I also need to remove the spent clematis blooms.

Check out how the zinnias are looking around the planter!

And, how delightful is the planter looking? :o)

Howdy, daisy!

The lantana...it calls to me. :o)

Lil's patio tomato. I swear, the squirrels are running off with her fruits. :oS

Lil helped me by "weeding" the flower pot here. She pulled out about four of the blue sage salvia. Eep!

But, the rest are looking happy and healthy, and the black eyed Susan vine...

Holy smokes, it's off and running!

And, look what I found peeping out at me!

I swear, gardening and seeds are so much fun! So many different shapes and sizes lead to the most delightful plants and flowers!

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Sparklies:

1. Ellie is starting to swim! I'm so proud of her!

2. To the pool a second time today. Hooray for the pool when it's 95 out there. :oD

3. I now remember how important it is to stay hydrated. We were at the pool for the meet for four hours in the heat and sun and humidity and I didn't drink enough. My body was NOT happy with me on my run this morning.

4. Fun and nerdy YouTube channels.



No milestones.

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Becky, you can find the recipe for the tres leches cake and dolce de leche here.

As for the Preacher Cookies versus No Bake Cookies, well, I think they're mostly Preacher Cookies in Appalachia and maybe parts of the south...?

Anyhow, the story about the name goes something along the lines of they were cookies that could be made and be ready by the time the preacher showed up at your door, once you saw him coming down the lane. :o)

At any rate, they're one of our faves around these parts. I really should make them more often. :o)