A Fine Summer Day

This is the time of year when all the hard work done in the spring starts to pay off.  All the planning, buying of seeds, digging in the dirt and watering....so much watering. There are blooms all over the yard, large tomatoes hanging on the vine and giant sunflowers looming overhead. The funny thing about the sunflowers is I didn't plant any sunflower seeds. I have a little "mini me" that took it upon herself to scoop out a handful of black oil sunflower seeds (or goat food as I like to call them) then prance around the property pushing them into the soil. There are sunflowers growing all over. I didn't think the black oil sunflower seeds sold as bird food would sprout. I always assumed they were treated or something to keep them from being used as flower seeds. Nope, they grow some really nice big sunflowers it turns out.

The wisteria vine always tries really hard to produce it's large clusters of fragrant flowers in early spring but they usually succumb to a late freeze. Apparently all this rain we've gotten made it pump out some mid summer blossoms. I wish you could smell these flowers. It's like I'm in Hawaii again. Such a wonderful smell.

We planted three blackberry bushes that I found on clearance a couple of years ago and haven't thought much of them since. They get mulched each year and watered but left to their own devices. Well this is the year they decided to produce blackberries. So many blackberries! The kids and I love going back there each day looking for the ripe beauties.

This is the first year I've really just completely slacked off on the koi pond. Each spring I empty all the nasty brown winter water out, rake out the 400 pounds of wet oak leaves and make it ready for the season. The extremely wet May put me back a month and I just barely got it cleaned out before we left for vacation. I didn't get the pump up and running so without running water I couldn't go buy goldfish for it. So there it sits, empty. Usually by this time of the summer it's already got baby goldfish growing in it. I went out this morning to see if anything was using it as a home and was pleasantly surprised to see a ton of these guys:

I think they are bullfrog tadpoles as they are big guys! There are also a ton of dragonflies dancing around the air so I'm sure there are larvae in there as well. I love seeing both of these things around the pond as it means there will be very few mosquito's around.

That's what's happening in our yard this fine summer day.