Monday, August 24, 2015

T STANDS FOR TUESDAY


It's Tuesday and time to head over to Elizabeth's and Bleubeard's  for our weekly Tea Party!
Today I'm drinking Raspberry Zinger Tea iced this time.
The art is a journal page I'm working on. 
I have no clue where it's going or how. 
The garden is starting to wind down. This week there are only enough tomatoes to eat. 
On Friday I picked the last of the larger batches and cooked it down today to these 5 jars of sauce. 
I thought it would make more than this but I did cook it down to a really thick sauce. It will great on pizza's or lots of things :) 
It's much cooler here now which is a blessing. I can stay outside much longer now. So there are some pictures of what's happening in the yard this week. 
The Hosta's in the shade garden are blooming... 

I don't have a lot of hosta's left after the deer discovered them winter before last. Before that I had a huge bed of them :( I'm slowly building it back up but they are little baby plants still. 


Their bloom is almost magical ♥
The Passion Vines are finally blooming. They are very late this year because of the cooler spring and early summer and usually by now they are climbing over everything everywhere . This year they aren't even over the hoop completely yet. If you ever decide to grow the perennial Passion vine ...be careful where you put the trimmings from the vines! My husband threw them into the compost pile one year and now I have the things coming up everywhere  ..the flower bed ..the veggie garden around the fish pond. You pull it up and it just reappears a few days later :) Doesn't bother me as much now that I use the dried leaves in teas and tinctures. But I would rather not have them in so many places. 
Can you see the hummingbird in this picture. He was following me around the yard today :) 
I can't  this was the bottle tree last week with the Naked Ladies Blooming in the bed close to them...
To bad the pole is in the way :( 
We had very bad storms last week and some of our dead trees fell with them :) 


These two oaks were over 60 ft tall and were going to cost us major bucks to have taken down. Mother Nature took care if it and laid them right where we wanted them to fall ..Knocking down a couple of smaller dead trees on the way down. Unfortunately they all wrapped up in poison ivy so we won't be able to use them for firewood . They will just lay where they are a rot away as we don't use that part of the woods. If they had fallen in different directions they could have cause some serious damage . 
So that's what is happening here this week. 
and here's some 
Random Thoughts for the day..


So don't forget to visit the other folks at the party :) 

22 comments:

  1. Lots going on in the garden still, and you are always working fo hard wit those tomatoes - enjoy them! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank goodness the trees fell in the right direction!! We have several huge pine trees around the house and some of them make me nervous! Love seeing your garden. The Naked Ladies are blooming around here too... I wonder if the deer would leave them alone?? Happy Tday Carol! Hugs! deb

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh you were lucky with those trees; I am glad no one got hurt when they fell. Love the passion flowers, I don´t think I have seen one in real life. Happy T-Day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had NO tomatoes this year, so I am still in awe of yours.

    I was just telling Halle yesterday when a hummingbird flew over her head, that I had never seen a hummingbird, except in photos and wondered if they might not live this far south. Looks like I was wrong, because you live farther south than I. I've put out a sugar water formula in my hummingbird feeder, but have never attracted one. I'm glad you shared yours.

    Golly, I have two different types of hostas, but have NEVER seen those blooms before. They are gorgeous. I know there are many, many forms of hostas, so I hope yours continue to thrive and grow back.

    I am so glad those trees fell in the "right" direction, and didn't hurt anyone. Even though they are covered in poison ivy, they will make exceptionally good mulch as they decay for that part of your land. BTW, my naked ladies are completely gone, now. The storms took care of what was left of them.

    Your raspberry zinger iced tea sounds (and looks) wonderful, and that background you have created in your journal looks quite promising. I'm sure it will soon tell you where it wants to go.

    Thanks for sharing your tea and your wonderful garden with us for T this Tuesday. Yes, your garden looks MUCH BETTER than mine. BTW, I like that train quote!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That should have read "as they decay ON that part of your land." It's either too early or too late.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh what a lovely post! So many lovely photos and much to look at. I should have brought my cup of tea to the computer...
    Your hostas are great. I used to have many different types of hostas in my garden in the UK. UK is great for visiting gardens open to the public and most of them sell their cuttings and young plants. So I got quite a collection of hostas. Problem was the slugs loved them and would eat all the leaves!
    That was a blessing that the tree fell without doing any damage. What is it about poison ivy that prevents you from burning the wood? Is it toxic in the house?
    The hummingbird is gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen a real one.
    Well done for making that tomato sauce. I made some plum sauce (see yesterday's blog) and it turned out yummy.
    The passion flower is gorgeous. Interesting what you said about throwing it on the compost heap. I shall remember that. We haven't got garde at the mo. (still building the house) but we have a plot within walking distance where we (one day) will grow vegetables and flowers (if we can get the water system sorted. We bought the water rights but the well is dry...)
    I loved your quotes. I shall share them on Facebook. I have friends who need to remember this. I have suffered from depression in the past (am fine now) so I understand the value of that advice.
    Have a great day,
    Lisca#10

    ReplyDelete
  7. What an amazing garden! Gorgeous!!!
    Like paradise!
    Happy T-Day Carol!
    oxo
    Susi

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your hostas are fabulous but those passion flowers are just stunning! How wonderful that the humming bird followed you around. I actually didn't think they stopped flying, lol. Like Lisca, I'm curious as to why you can't burn the trees with the poison Ivy?
    Thank you for the random thoughts. Happy T Day :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely to see your bottle tree and your naked ladies are very happy blooming up a storm.
    You have me swooning over your passion flowers...there is something so magical and amazingly beautiful about the various blooms.
    You really have a green thumb!
    Great pic of the hummingbird as they seem to always be in motion.
    We are having cooler nights here too which will slow down the tomatoes and more I'm sure.
    Change is definitely in the air.
    Really enjoyed your photos.
    Take care and Happy T Day Carol
    oxo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice to catch up here again. Your blooms are gorgeous! Love the bottle tree. Nice of mother nature to help with the dead trees-and nicer weather now. Aren't those sweet tiny hummingbirds fascinating to watch? We are still enjoying lots of tomatoes but I don't have the patience to do the canning as you do. Your sauces will be especially good once the produce is gone for the season. Happy T day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That passion flower bloom is so exotic-looking...gorgeous! wonderful garden pics...I love the color of the Surprise Lilies... Fun start to your journal page...it made me think of a splash of chocolate! (don't mind me...chocolate is a favorite) will be fun to see where you take it...Happy T day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. wow. I missed the hummingbird the first time...clicked on the photo and spotted him. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bottle trees have gotten very popular around here the last few years. I'm happy to hear Mother Nature took care of those trees just as you wanted. Perfect! Aren't hummingbirds fun!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Glad you trees fell where you wanted them to and caused no damage. Must have been quite a storm. Your garden looks so pretty. You must take very good care of it.

    Darla

    ReplyDelete
  15. You've got me wondering where that journal page will take you. ;) Those two trees must have wanted to not cause you harm and fall where no harm would come to them, either. LOL! Happy T-Day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am so pleased the trees fell the 'right' direction! I love the photos of your garden and the little humming bird! I look forward to seeing the next step on your journal page! Happy T day! Chrisx

    ReplyDelete
  17. So far the background of your journal is looking lovely. Wow! Your sauces from the tomatoes look good. Hope one day I too will be able to garden my own veggies -:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Such an interesting post Carol, always fun to see how it is in other areas of the world. My little garden of tomatoes and bell peppers is done for, our growing season is so dramatically different, since we start our gardens in March....LOL

    I used to do a lot of canning, but not so much now...good thing too, cause my tomatoes were not very plentiful, or large enough this year. So your bounty looks delicious to me. Nothing like home made preserves.

    Thanks for stopping by for T-day and for the comment. I actually walked a mile this morning.....yea!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. We have a couple of big oaks that have to go... :( Hope you are enjoying this cooler weather. You have made me hungry for pizza with the thick sauce in the jars. Our hosta have survived the deer so far. I think they have had plenty to eat in the fields behind us, thankfully!

    ReplyDelete
  20. You've been busy canning too! I tried your trick of saving and drying the tomato skins...I then ground...or more like flaked them then put in a glass jar for future use. I'm excited to see what extra flavor they add. Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sorry for taking so long to visit you but it has been one of those weeks and only now squeezing in some visits.Love your journal page and the photos!Simply beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sorry for taking so long to visit you but it has been one of those weeks and only now squeezing in some visits.Love your journal page and the photos!Simply beautiful!

    ReplyDelete