We interrupt this summer for berry picking and friends...

I have been picking berries every night.  There are Juneberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, cherries, and currents.  I can't keep up.

 This is one of the many paths my husband made for me.  They are great for accessing the plethora of wild berries we have this year.

I have also had a packed weekend with friends.  My friend from college is back in the area and it has been our tradition to go to the Festival in the Park.  Then a good friend dropped by and we toured the gardens, sipped lemonade, and relaxed on the porch.  Later this week Bob and Phyllis are coming out with their daughter on Tuesday.  Life is just better on the porch in the summer.  

 I apologize for not visiting other blogs lately.  I don't intend to spend my days berry picking, but I see one little berry and before I know it I'm wandering off into the woods with a pail.   I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer.

Potting bench project...

 It was a busy weekend.  I picked berries, cut a few trees, hung solar lanterns in the greenhouse, trimmed plants, and fixed my potting bench.

The rose bed is doing fantastic.  The spring blooms are done and now my summer flowers are gearing up.

I did quite a bit if trimming in the greenhouse.   The tomatoes and bok choy needed to lose leaves so air could circulate.  

The corn, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkins, and squash all look great.

For several years I have wanted to enclose the wonderful potting bench my husband made me.  It used to be protected on our porch, but I've had to move it.  

The back and sides weren't too difficult.  The doors were going to be a challenge.

I was super excited to use the shutter hinges and a window closure salvaged from an old house.  Any of you that have followed me for awhile knows I love giving old things new life.

There it is.  The final product.  It wasn't easy.  I am proud of myself for measuring two or three times and only cutting once (Maybe twice).

I'm not the greatest carpenter, but it feels good knowing I can do a project like this.  Now, water and wind won't cause havoc with the stuff in my bench.  This has been the biggest project I've tackled this summer.

Do you have any big summer projects?  Do you have a potting bench?  I hope you enjoyed the weekend as much as I did.

It is that time of year, berry picking.  This is the most wild strawberries I've ever had.  I really want to make jam, but I am far from the required 8 cups.  The other berries are Saskatoons or June berries.  They make an amazing wine.

My roses are putting on a show.  Which I appreciated.  Our niece and nephew came up for the Fourth.  Usually they come out for turkey hunting in May and nothing is blooming.  I was glad they finally got to see the flowers.

The orange rose below is an Australian Copper.  It only blooms once, but wow!

I have a visitor to the garden.  Can you see him snug on the rock?  My frog pond hasn't filled with rain yet, but this guy is waiting at the pool.

Yes, my peonies and iris are still blooming.

 As always, my chamomile is going crazy.  I don't mind as I use the flowers for tea and hair detangler.

It was a wonderful Fourth of July.  I hope you were able to enjoy the weekend.

Traditions...

 It is that time of the year again, a week at Aunt Bonnie's.   I had the three littles at the beginning of the week.  Due to scheduling issues I didn't get the older two until the end of the week.  

You can't go to Deadwood without touring a gold mine and looking for gold. 

There was the traditional pie baking and cookie making.  It was raining so nobody felt bad about missing time outside.

Aunt Bonnie needed a new log to put the giant Jenga game.  She may have also been trying to wear them out a bit.

We painted rocks and then left them along the trail as we did our annual hike.  They also hid a few in the garden, to make Aunt Bonnie smile.

We also made horse hair bracelets.

Of course we made the trip to the Spearfish Fish Hatchery to feed the fish and then tubed down the creek.

I didn't get any photos with the older girls we did go tubing in a much bigger creek.  Aunt Bonnie went along so no photos were taken.  Since they didn't get to go last year and almost didn't get to this year, I splurged and took them to a Zipline and Alpine slide park. Again no photos. 

The sun set on another successful well with the kids.  I hope they enjoy the time together as much as I do.

Do you have any family traditions?

Beautiful blooms...

 I have nothing to say.  I've waited all winter for this.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  What is blooming in your garden?

Flowers and follow up...

 My spring fling is on the downhill slide, but it was beautiful while it lasted.

I got my sidewalk planters filled.  I'm going to say I almost had a heart attack.  Remember going to Wal-Mart or the hardware store and getting little six packs for a few dollars?  Well, those days are gone.  I buy plants to fill my 3 little planters and everything else I fill with seeds.  I think I will be planting them with seeds also after forking over what I did for 11 plants.

Our neighbor is moving and he had an auction last week.  My husband got me this boiler.  It works perfectly for my houseplants.

I have fallen in love with alliums.  They are like little spring fireworks.

I don't know what the deal was with these little tulips, but everytime I tried to take a photo the yellow streamed my picture.

These daffodils were so much fun. They looked so darn happy.  

Now some follow up. With past projects.

No potatoes.  It must have been too cold for them.  I swear you were supposed to have them in at Easter.  Guessing I got that wrong.

On the other hand, my strawberries are going strong.  I'm very pleased with their progress.

The Tomato Taj Mahal is rocking it.  Maybe you can't see, but the tomatoes and peppers are in heaven.  The spinach, bok choy, and lettuce will soon be ready for wraps and salads.  It also looks like another good year for my carrots and herbs.  In the outside beds the sweet corn, broccoli, cauliflower, and beans are making progress.  We had a really hot day yesterday and they made leaps and bounds.  There hasn't been any rain.  I filled the frog pond, but it was too dry to do much good.

That's all I know.  I hope your gardens are progressing.  What do you have flourishing in your vegetable garden?