Happy 30th Birthday Jennifer

30 Years Ago We Had 4 Generations In Our Family

Grandma Belcher, Mom, Me and Jennifer

Happy 30th Birthday Sweetheart

My Baby All Grown Up

She is the most caring and loving daughter any mother could possibly have. I am so proud of you and what you have accomplished with your life. I love you.

Momma

Japanese Maples & Flowers

We lost 5 1/2 of our Japanese Maple trees these last few years. We had a late hard freeze and then a drought in 2007 and it was just too much for them. The oldest one we have is half alive but sure looks pitiful. Don't know if it will survive or not.

white rose of sharon

2 new little Japanese Maples we bought at a nursery in Arkansas last month waiting to be planted this fall

phlox -- they have made an outstanding come back since the deer ate them

our oldest Japanese Maple still trying to live

double bloom purple clemetis was gorgeous this summer

Sandy

Little Pond Is Clean Again

The little pond is once again nice and clean. It took several Sundays to get it this way since I had unfortunately let it go the last several years and it was extremely nasty to say the least. I had it cleaned and empty last Sunday and put a tarp over it to keep it that way since I still needed to clean out the honeysuckle and mini weed trees that were growning in the rocks and I didn't want to fall into that nasty water while cleaning them out. When I lifted the tarp this past Sunday I found it was 1/2 full of water again from the rains we had last week but at least this was fairly clean water to deal with.

clean and empty -- the 1 frog I found was not happy

clean and full of water -- now the birds and cats are happy

finished with water plants and Mom's new gazing ball -- now I am happy

Sandy

Clearing Skies

Sunday was a miserable humid day after the rains moved through. I wasn't outside 10 minutes before I was soaked and ready to quit working in the garden. I did manage to get quite a bit done before calling it a day.

white hibiscus still blooming

barn at the back of our flower garden with clear skies after the rain moved through

white hibiscus again -- looks so clean and happy after the rains

looking from the corner of our flower garden the skies starting to clear out for a pretty evening

Sandy

Cross Stitch Quilt Blocks

Finishes

Ethan - LDI

Patriotic Quilt

Brave Flag

Shepherd's Bush

Josh -LDI

Cat Quilt

Cat Clock

Cattitudes 8th Litter

Sandy

Bunnies & Crape Myrtles

I think we probably have at least 1 of every color of crape myrtle we can find. Here are some early bloomers:

peppermint

bunny birdbath hiding in the daylilies

white - always the first to bloom

our large bunny hiding in another daylily patch

watermelon

Sandy

Chase Tree & Surprise Lilies

The chase tree is awesome and the blue flowers are gorgeous attracting lots and lots of butterflies. We have tied it up twice to keep it upright and it still flops all over the place but continues to bloom and bloom.

The surprise lilies are doing very well this year. They have just starting blooming and should continue for another week or two.

Sandy

Rose of Sharon

Our rose of sharons are in full bloom and gorgeous. The pink and white single blooms are from the bushes we brought from Grandma Belcher's and have reseeded themselves all over the garden and yard.

Our 2 double pinks we have in the garden we picked up at the garden center.

Sandy

Newest Acquisitions in the Garden

iron hanger from Hobby Lobby clearance isle for the woodpecker food bars -- thought it might save some holes in the trees except that they ate both of these in a day

birdcage I picked up at TJ Maxx on clearance -- perfect for candles on the patio

iron fence piece we found at an antique store on the way home from Arkansas a couple of weeks ago, perfect backdrop for our rabbit

Sandy

My Helper

Velvet is my biggest helper in the garden. He likes to rest easy where ever I might be working.

he has decided I'm not doing anything interesting

didn't even budge while I walked by

wasn't even interested in my water cans this trip by

watching to see what might come out of the weeds I'm pulling

didn't care for the frog that hopped away

Sandy

Birdfeeders, Butterfly Weeds and Cannas

Here are a few of the birdfeeders we have around the garden.

Hanging in the magnolia bush -- had to raise it since the cats were sitting in the swing waiting for the birds to come -- not that they are fast enough by any means to catch a bird feasting.

our yellow cannas are starting to bloom

newest oriole feeder -- bugs seem to like it better than the birds

butterfly weed is now in full bloom all over the garden

lantern feeder at front of garden

Sandy

Tiger Lillies and Hibiscus

Both have been growing extremely well the past couple of years.

This is our 3rd year for the tiger lillies and they are looking bigger and better than ever.

Our white hibiscus is also doing great and the large blooms are so beautiful.

Group shot - it appears to enjoy living next to the grape vines.

Sandy

Our Glorious Magnolias

I feel we are very fortunate to have 4 magnolia trees in our yard and garden. There is nothing more wonderful than a magnolia in bloom.

we now have more seed pods than blooms

however, there are still a few blooms left to enjoy

tiny in the backyard

small at the edge of the flower garden

medium in the back yard and provides shade for the shade garden

large on the side of our house

Sandy