Hitty Jean is all packed up and ready for the BIG TRIP!!! She will ride with the people and help to navigate, while the other Hittys are all riding in a safe travel bag. (I hope Miss VanDroo can keep things under control in there!!)
Great Cranberry Island, here we come!!! :o)
Our first Morning Glory opened today!!! I love them...they remind me of my childhood, and back to school pictures...and early fall, which has always been my favorite time of year!
Another first today - a Balloon Flower:
We also have this dynamite Petunia growing. It self-sowed and so is known as a "volunteer." Volunteers are often the most prolific, and this Petunia is no exception!
A more common volunteer in the garden is the Sunflower. The birds drop the seed from the feeder, and every year a few seeds are missed by the Mourning Doves, Chipmunks and Squirrels. I just love them. This one is as tall as Pit~Pat:
The bees love them too! This little guy is impressively productive. He's laden with pollen. What a good little bee!
The Cicadas are buzzing in the trees, the Sunflowers are blooming, and the Tomatoes are starting to ripen. Sounds like mid-July to me!
Gosh...we're halfway through July!!! Wow. I can't say that summer is my most favorite, but we've been short on heat waves, with plenty of swimming weather and who can complain about that?! Not I, for sure!!
With Tater and Pitter at camp this week, Dassa and I have been hanging out, thinking about our up and coming trip to "Parts Unknown." Boy, are we excited!!!
Meanwhile, here's what we've been up to:
Backyard fun:
Plenty of Wildlife Sightings, some caught on camera (though not well...ahem):
My flowers have been amazing this summer...(silly me, I never took a photo when they were at their PEAK.) We even found wild black~raspberries growing in our yard:
Pitter, Dassa and I spent plenty of time swimming at Pawbee's last week while Tater was at camp:
We've gone on countless walks:
Pit~Pat turned 10 (!) on the 13th, and it's Blythe~o~Rama here:
Sweet Mabel has been working hard on her bakery. She is so pleased with how the table and chairs turned out. Miss VanDroo stopped by for some tea. She and Sweet Mabel are discussing paint colors and the best way to electrify the bakery. Miss VanDroo is most impressed with Sweet Mabel's baked goods. "Oh! Miss VanDroo, that was made with help from Kookaburra and Griffin. I do think they add some wonderful sort of fairy magic to the batter," admits Sweet Mabel.
What are Kookaburra and Griffin up to? Well, they have discovered WAGON RIDES!!! The Robertsons have been taking turns pushing and pulling them around and around the Morning Glory patch. Hitty Eleanor~Esther needs help from Hitty Apple on the uphill parts. Hitty Neckling cheers them on. (She's not being lazy, she's resting up for her turn to pull...) It seems that the bakery elves never tire of this fun!
Meanwhile, the twins have found a nice spot to sit in the shade and chat. They have made popsicles! They are enjoying the peace and quiet before they are discovered by the Bittys...
*** All in all, a quiet Fourth of July. Perhaps next year, the Hittys will have another parade? ***
It rumbled on and off for most of yesterday. I loved it.
Between downpours, Dassa and I were in the front yard when we noticed that the hail had damaged the large Hydrangea bushes. This is a phenomenal Hydrangea year, and the bushes have grown as tall as Tater, with more flowers than I have ever seen. They aren't quite at their peak, though the Lace Cap Hydrangea on the side of the house is peaking out right now:
Well, I went and got my clippers and Dassa collected the severed blooms from the ground. There are still tons of flowers on the bushes, and though they won't last long, we do have the gift of some pretty bouquets for indoors:
::::: Not a bad price to pay for a Great Thunderstorm :::::
We just had the most amazing thunderstorm, complete with hail, as the girls and I ate a candlelight lunch. Though we live on a hill that is occasionally hit by lightning, (my car was hit in the driveway once!) it is one of my favorite parts of summer...and we cooled off 12 degrees in less than 30 minutes! Thanks, Mother Nature, for the wonderful lunchtime entertainment. :o)
June 28th was my Grandmother's 101st birthday. The checkout people were exclaiming as we purchased her cake. It's not everyday you see a cake with triple digits. Though her birthday was pretty low-key, family was visiting from out of town, resulting in a three day birthday extravaganza. (Probably explains why Dassa had that meltdown, eh?)
Pit~Pat had her 10th Birthday Party at the Karate Dojo. What fun! I must say, I didn't really know what to expect, but the girls had a ball and they learned some cool stuff, to boot.
Before the actual Karate began, Dassa had all the girls following her for a "warm up." They had so much fun, I began thinking she probably could have run the entire party herself!
Sensei Paul lined them up for some Karate:
Pit~Pat got to be out front. My SHY Pit~Pat!!! She was fantastic...and she LOVED it! Boy, have we come a long way!
There was board breaking, which was tough to capture with my camera, but here's Sensei Paul telling Dassa what to do:
And there was a "yin-yang" ice-cream cake:
That picture above is sooooo cute! I love happy girls!
Pit~Pat doesn't turn 10 "officially" until mid-July...but it is important to celebrate with friends before everyone is away for the summer. She is already asking what we will be doing for her real birthday...
I love you, Pitter!
