“But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.”
Psalm 71:14-15 ESV
Today marks a special Sunday as we reach SSS number 600. We wondered what things were like for such previous milestones and decided to take a look back at a few to refresh our memories. From SSS 500, this aerial shows the garden after some changes and additions from the previous year, yet today, another aerial would definitely reveal a few more differences. SSS 500 was posted in June, 2024!
We have had some unseasonably cool nights lately, but no, this was not last week. From SSS 300, a different view of the garden, one not often seen around these parts. SSS 300 was posted in August of 2020. It has never snowed here in August either, but our milestone posts always have select photos from prior years. Since our high is predicted to be around 90 today, maybe this will cool us off a bit!
This old home place stands in Cherokee County, a few miles to our northeast. It is one of those places that has a story that we will likely never hear. Hopefully someone decided it was worthy of restoration. We’ve not been in this particular part of our neighboring county in a long time and had forgotten about this old house. Maybe it is time to revisit since this photo was in SSS number 200, September, 2018!
Looking ahead to America’s 250th birthday, we chose this pic from July 3, 2022 and SSS number 400. The Sunshine Cottage has since taken on a new color scheme, but will likely be decorated in a similar fashion for this year’s special 4th of July.
Our guests were called home for dinner. They had all driven separate vehicles. The grands, except little Daniel, are old enough now to jump on a bike and ride over to see us. They might show up any time and we absolutely love it. It is rarely a visit by only one. Once it is discovered by the remaining two that one has headed to our house, it’s only a matter of time before all have joined us!
For several years we attempted to have a wildflower area away from the house beside the pasture to the east. The soil was not the best and deer were also fond of it so I gave up on that spot about 3 years ago. As you can see, there’s a lot of bare ground here, not much growth except for one lone larkspur. After all this time we have a survivor!
Our coneflowers have already completely outgrown their space this season. I’ve watered them well since we’ve had a dry spring and that seems to have been to their liking! Some are as tall as we are. We aren’t very tall, but still…!
Our firstborn, sweet EM turned 10 last week. EM wanted a cowgirl theme. Her mom and siblings made the neatest banner and everyone, including Ella Mae, participated in the coloring. In the words as sung by George Strait, “How ’bout them cowgirls, boys ain’t they something”! One definitely is!
EM also requested a “Cookie Cake”…and of course her mom made one. It was so good, buttercream icing too!
Little boys love dinosaurs and apparently older boys do too. It was time for me to bring out some of my garden creatures. I placed the T-rex in a new place but WL had no problem finding him…well, maybe a hint from his PJ helped!
I did not see this blooming on Monday, but by Wednesday a large patch of everlasting peas was on display alongside the walking trail I use often. Also called sweet pea or perennial pea, don’t let the beautiful bloom or the fact that it is truly a member of the pea family fool you into taking a bite. It is toxic to people and pets! It is not native and I do not recall ever seeing it here before. Parks and Recreation mows between the trail and the lake but so far this season they have only mowed a narrow path beside the trail. I’m thinking this has allowed the peas to grow and bloom?
Pam checked on the blueberries this past week and her findings and report is good. There may be more berries than ever. I had to find ways to support the bushes to keep the berries/limbs off the ground. Once they are ripe, there are two culprits that we must protect the berries from…birds and Wyatt.
Wild “Susan’s” started blooming last week. The black-eyed Susan’s in our garden have buds and will soon bloom but the wild version is a bit ahead of our “Swag” garden variety. Ours were gifted to us a few years back by the gardener at The Swag in North Carolina!
Herons usually don’t allow me to stop this close without flying away. This encounter was an exception. They are fine as long as I keep moving but become suspicious when I stop. I notice this behavior in a lot of wildlife. Pam said this was definitely a girl because she was wearing a frilly skirt!
Blooming now is another invasive weed, at least in most peoples mind. I discovered a sea of white that from a distance I thought was surely daisy fleabane. But when I ventured closer the foliage reminded me of parsley and the blooms were somewhat different from anything daisy-like, more like Queen Anne’s lace. It looked like parsley because it is indeed spreading hedge parsley, a native of Eurasia and a member of the carrot family…which leads us to this…
…Queen Anne’s lace. Wild carrot, as it is sometimes called, is a member of the carrot/parsley family. No wonder ‘lace’ and the hedge parsley appear so similar. Queen Anne’s is also not native, but naturalized across the country, and significantly more abundant than wild parsley. Queen Anne’s is seemingly a favorable, acceptable, and popular roadside adornment that folks love. I took this photo yesterday on the roadside near our house.
The various stages of the bloom of Queen Anne’s lace seems to have no end to unique and unusual presentations, this just one example. As we were thinking about the 600+ weeks of Everyday Living, Pam reminded me that she did a complete post on Queen Anne’s lace, and that post remains as one of our all time most viewed!
We had some very pleasant spring days last week. I spotted a hummingbird visiting these million bells so I decided to get close and remain as still as possible. Of course she didn’t return, but this sulphur butterfly stopped by exactly where I was hoping the hummer would come. I was thinking a photo of a hummingbird would be a good way to close out today’s post. But, you take what is offered and the butterfly turned out nice!
The hummingbird did not show up as hoped, but later in the day, this did. Looking in an uncommon direction for sunset beauty, this sky appeared as I faced northeast, gazing over the Appalachian foothills and Lookout Mountain. Following the mountain would eventually lead me to Chattanooga, Tennessee!
Have a blessed week!!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Life and Linda
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