The new walkway I have been working on all summer.

I think I have more pictures than words today. I have been visiting so many beautiful blogs lately I feel as though mine just does not hold a candle to them. So many of you have such wonderful words to put with your beautiful pictures and I enjoy stopping in often. That said, here is the walkway I have been working on all summer. It is filling in. It leads from the largest part of our yard over to a side area where the grand kids play. There is room to the right within the walkway for a child's size picnic table, one of the things on the honey do list, along with the chicken house that will be at the other end of the walk beside the herb garden. Can you picture it yet? So here are some pictures of items in and along the walkway. The stepping stones Jeff and I make each summer. We still need a couple more to finish this walk. My middle daughter Samantha made the plant hanger for me. Isn't she creative? Can you see all the work she put into it? Thanks for coming by! I need to figure out a signature. Maybe by the next blog!

This is the yard ornament that started it all! We did not make this one.






The great flower pocket my daughter made. Below right after I received it for Mothers day. On the right, how it looks now!

We have a ton of these coming up everywhere overnight this year.

Last but not least!

The Bug flopped down after waiting and waiting for me to finish with the canning I was working on. One really big sigh and plop. I had to take a quick picture!

Vacation and new herb garden.

I had so much to talk about today that I have broke everything up into three different posts. First I need to thank Amy at Park City Girl. I received her new Boxy Tote Bag pattern, that I won on her blog site, while I was on vacation. I need to finish up some other projects before I start a new one, but I am excited to have it. Jeff, I and of coarse Ladybug, took a couple much needed days off for a mini vacation. We stayed in Port Austin and spent time on Lake Huron beaches. We have spent past vacations on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior beaches but this is our first time on Lake Huron. We love to sit and read on the beach and walk the along the shore line collecting pretty rock. We make our own stepping stones with them and other crafts. I have also finished planting a new herb garden. Jeff built the raised beds for it and we set large patio blocks between each section. The trellis was re-purposed from another area. It was a fake gate that a previous owner had put in and I asked Jeff to remove last year. Our plans are to put a chicken house to the right of the herb garden and a potting shed to the left. The plan was for this year but I think since it is August already only one may get done. Well I think I have rambled on enough. If you have any suggestions for the gardens I would truly appreciate them. I have two other garden projects I am working on but I will wait until they are further on to blog about them. Thanks for stopping by!

Lake Huron

The perennial border.

I have decided, after visiting The Perennial Patch and seeing the owner Shirley Sprague's perennial gardens, my border needs to be widened a foot or two for some depth. I think that will be a new project for next year though as I am still trying to fill in what I do have. This is only our second year on our new property and I have been digging up and transplanting in different locations to get the look I want. The border was already in place when we moved in and I have a long way to go to have it look as full as I would like. I've added quite a few this year but they will not have much of a show until next year or the year after. Here is a picture of the length of the border and some of my favorite sections.





There are Sweet Peas growing behind the purple Liatris.

The vegetable garden

As you can see our vegetable garden has finally started to look pretty good. If you look to an earlier post from this spring that included pictures from our planting weekend and also of last years garden you will know why we were not to sure that we would have much of a garden this year. But Jeff has started picking and we are hoping for enough to can our yearly salsa. Last years crop was so good that I was canning all summer long.