Sara, our 5 year old lab
Chickens...they only have a few months before butchering time.
Ducklings...freebies from the neighbor.
They are cute and so fun to watch as they eat the water plants through the cage.
I don't know the variety of day lily, but they bloom profusely every July, even in dry conditions.
The Astilbe, just past peak bloom.
I was surprised by the lovely scent of petunias this year. I hadn't noticed other years, maybe because they weren't in my daily path. I mixed in the pansies, which always look like little faces peeking at me.
I couldn't resist the line up of four chairs waiting to be sat on by anxious kids waiting for the nightly fireworks lighting.
Now, back inside for a couple of canning pictures.
Rhubarb can be picked unti July4th and then it needs to rest and store up energy for the long winter. On the very last day of the season I pulled as much as I could and then made rhubarb juice. It was incredibly easy, tastes delicious and now I wish I had been making this all season. I guess I'll have to wait until next year; it'll be back. 4 quarts won't last long, but if I hide it at the back of my canning shelves, I can pull it out in January for a refreshing taste of spring.
And since the canning supplies were up from the basement, I made a batch of cranberry juice. I am a cranberry grower's wife and this was my first time ever attempting juice. I used a simple recipe. Just drop in the cranberries, add sugar and boiling water, seal and can. Wait 2 months then strain fruit off and serve over crushed ice. Sounds good, we'll see how it tastes....in two months, which will be right around Lou's 6th birthday.
