Wedding / Naomi's birthday / Gardening

On Saturday Andy and I went to a wedding - the son of a staff member got married. The wedding took place outdoors in a park nearby. Fortunately, there were lots of well established trees that gave plenty of shade. Unfortunately, it was still very hot. The wedding itself wasn't too bad if you sat still and thought cool thoughts. But the reception was right at high noon and by that time, the breeze had died down. Ugh! No amount of cool thoughts helped then.

On our way to the wedding, Andy had a unique experience. Because of the high price of gas, we decided to make a stop at Babies R Us for a shower gift. It was on our way to the wedding - seemed like good sense. Andy had never been in a Babies R Us store. He wasn't too keen on it then, either. I had talked up how frustrating it is sometimes to find gifts that are on the registry. But this time we decided on a gift and went right to it. Maybe I should take him along more often!

After our church on Sunday, Andy and I made the trip up to visit with Christian and Christy and their family. We celebrated Naomi's 3rd birthday. Andy played with the kids in the kiddie pool, trying to stay cool. Christy and I stayed in the kitchen by the air conditioner. Christy & Christian gave Naomi a princess fairy costume. And she was happy to model it.Andy left early this morning for a 3 day worship conference in Phoenixville, PA. My gardens have been sorely neglected because of being on vacation and are in desperate need of weeding and trimming. So thinking I would work in the cool of the day, I went out at 6:30 a.m. and started working. I did get some transplanting and weeding done, but by 8:00 a.m., I couldn't stand it anymore. It was extremely humid. Hopefully, we'll get the thundershowers they are predicting for tonight. I'm including some pictures of my gardens.

By the way, have you heard the little rhyme about perennials?

The first year, they sleep.
The second year, they creep.
The third year, they leap.

This is clematis on the lamp post. I'm very happy it's blooming - in its second year.


This is pink gumpo azalea - nice big trumpet-like delicate pink flowers. I have 3 of these bushes and they're somewhat delicate, needing lots of water. I wasn't too faithful with them when I first got them and lost one, needing to replace it. I'll do better this year.

Toot gave me all these hostas several years ago. I love the way they look around this huge maple tree. There's a golden thread cypress bush to the right of the tree behind the hostas. I drove by a new house one day and there were 4 of those bushes at the street. Someone had pulled them out and put new stuff in their garden. So I called Andy and told him to pick them up and bring them home in his truck. So far they are doing well in my garden!

Two more pictures - the first is of the garden at the end of our driveway. I planted the pansies last fall, they lasted through the winter and were beautiful all through the spring. One of the things I did this morning was take them out and plant them in a shadier spot. Then I put in some ice plants (the second picture). They love the sun and bloom all summer. And they're perennials - in a year or so, they'll leap and fill the spot nicely.