Still Best Buds!

 Yesterday takes the prize for the most spectacular day of the summer.  And I say, that with certainty, no future days could be as perfect as this one!  If only a summer could stay exactly like this single day - sunny, breezy, highs in the mid 70's, no humidity, no bugs - absolute perfection!  Ok... enough with the superlatives.

I spent a little extra time in the garden yesterday... picking the day's produce (not shown here was a quick quart of blueberries that I picked from a single bush - yes, the mockingbird bush.  It seems, in retrospect, that only 3 of the 4 eggs in this nest had hatched... and unbelievably, the little mocklets have fledged, leaving this unhatched egg behind.

This gave me the ability to rescue this particular bush's limbs from their heavy load of ripe blueberries.  I picked a quart, and still there are many more berries left to pick on just this bush!

I have discovered, while gardening, that Forrest loves sugar peas!  He picks them right off of the vine and eats them.  I have started cutting them up and adding them to his dinner.

If you have every grown sugar peas then you will know that there are always a few that go un-picked (they are very good at camouflaging themselves) and as a result grow huge - almost too woody to eat.  Luckily, these are the ones that Forrest loves - big and crunchy!

And while we are on the subject of Forrest... he still love, love, loooooves Pete!!  Any time that Pete is in the area, there is a guaranteed snuggle-fest between these two.

First, Pete cozies up to Forrest.

They rub their heads against each other.

Then Forrest gets up and gently places a paw on Pete's back until he is lying down.

Next, Forrest proceeds to lie on top of Pete, nibbling him around the head and neck.  These two absolutely love each other!  I think Forrest believes that Pete is HIS cat.

When Pete has had enough, he wiggles himself free and says goodbye.  It's absolutely the most heartwarming display of affection... these two!❤️

You might remember the farm wagon that Hubbs and I re-furbished and painted last summer to use as a container garden...

This year I have planted it full of flowers that I grew from seed in the greenhouse.

I love these Bells of Ireland with their green blossoms.  

I am particularly fond of flowers with green blossoms!

The front of the wagon is planted in celosia, while the back (not yet blooming) are dark purple asters.

Another of my favorite summer harvests is the flowers that I plant in our vegetable garden - planted there to use for cut flowers.

Lisianthus...

And a combination of zinnias, sunflowers, and others.

This is, I think, the thing I miss most during the winter months - fresh-cut flowers and fresh-picked produce.  But - the absence of these things in winter makes summer all the sweeter.