Vine Hidey Spot

Using drift wood from the Falls of the Ohio I made a vine structure for Ruby to hide out in. The top picture was back in March. The second picture is how it looks at the end of July. There are three different vines planted on it. Hyacinth bean, moonflower and lufa gourd. The lufa is definitely the most aggressive. I also have a few okra plants growing in the circles at the base and some peppers in pots. The bottom picture if a similar structure (and an older one) that Nathan and Otis made over at Aleve's house. This one is two years old now and it's beautiful.

Apples to Apples - Garden Over a Season

Here's two views of my new growing beds. The top picture in each pair was just after I put in the boxes at the end of February. The bottom picture in each pair was taken at the end of July. About five months apart. I've already had several crops out of the raised beds and have just planted cow peas and pole variety of red speckled lima. I'm hoping it climbs up the trellis I made from some salvaged wrought iron porch supports. Oh how I love scrounging in alleys.

Birthday Hideout

• Nine bales of straw
• Seven balloons
  
• Three bamboo poles
• Two bed spreads
• String
• One three year old girl
• One five year old friend
• Me
  

Caterpillar Cake Walk

For her birthday Ruby requested a "blue cake" and this is what that po gal ended up with. A caterpillar cake that Erin made and I helped decorate. Complete with caterpillar frass coming out the sound end of this north bound caterpillar. I gotta tell ya...frass goes over big with young uns. I think we're going to figure out a way to include frass in some upcoming cakes.

Morning Pool Party

This little puddle of a pool is a big splash with Ruby. This morning she brought her horses into the pool to clean them. Libby, Kiki, Pullman and Man-O-War. It's been a polite kind of summer and everything is growing lush.

A Fairy Moved Into the Mulberry Tree

A fairy recently moved into a cavity at the base of the mulberry tree. Just in time for Ruby's third birthday. She'll be excited to see that she has a playmate that is smaller than she is. She doesn't know this yet. We'll let her discover it for herself. I'll keep you posted. I can't tell for sure but it looks like the fairy constructed his/her abode from debris collected at the Falls of the Ohio. It looks like maybe that little donkey must have carried everything here from the falls. Poor little thing. It must be tired.

Asserting Independence

We went to a family gathering at Uncle Tiny's house and participated in a very down home celebration of the 4th. It was like I remember holiday celebrations being when I was growing up. I thought black and white would be the only way to capture it in all of it's nostalgic glory. The gals had a great time in the pool that Honey brought. Let's see...the food I remember included grilled corn on the cop, beef burgers, pork burgers, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese (2 kinds), hot dogs, the kind of cheese that comes individually wrapped, Erin's great cake with chocolate/coffee/cinnamon/coconut milk icing, and... well, you get the picture. The old car is a Chevy nomad. Quite cool. Ruby's older cousins were into taking photos and Ruby had fun being a model. She loves her cousins.

Falls of the Ohio

Visiting the Falls of the Ohio is like stepping back in time in more than one sense. It's a world famous fossil bed but it feels ancient in other ways too. And it looks like a boneyard with the white bleached trunks, branches and nibbins of wood that collect there. Some are huge trees complete with their roots. Ruby loves it because there are lots of treasures to find. If you want to get a really great sense of the place you should visit the Artist at Exit 0 blog that I have listed as "blogs I watch". That blog is one of the most extensive and interesting place-based blogs that I think exists.