There's going to be a wedding!!!

Samm and Chad came out to visit for a few days, and while they were here he popped the question and she said yes.

Elizabeth Rita Ann Meagher

A whole new person has entered the world. Introducing Elizabeth Rita Ann Meagher, born 2:57 am 24 September 2008. Welcome to the world little one, and congratulations to Jennette and Peter for whom the adventure is just begining.

4/10/08

Summer's almost gone

The garden's almost done. There's just one row of potatoes left to bring in. I'll probably do that on Friday or Saturday--whenever it stops raining. Here's a lovely soup I made. Everything in it came from the garden except the chicken. The potatoes are tiny little banana potatoes, and the leafy greens are swiss chard. A little bit of chicken broth and some chili paste and voila! la soupe du jour.



The sunflowers didn't do well this year. Only half as tall as they're supposed to be, and the flower heads are not going to fully develop. The birds will be unhappy. I usually cut them with a long stem and tie them to the fence so that the birds can enjoy the bounty, but this year I don't think there will be any seeds at all. Still, they're incredibly cheerful looking even in the rain we've been having. I took these pics a couple of days ago when it was sunny.

Fruits of the tree

Well, the three lonely apples will soon be ready to pick. Fall is definitely on its way, and winter soon to follow.

glorious gladiolas

They're late blooming, but this is definately a case of better late than never. I've never planted glads before, but I certainly intend to try them again. I'll try storing the bulbs over the winter, and I think I'll get some more in the spring. The colors are amazing, and very welcome since its been cold and rainy here. They speak for themselves, so enjoy.

Pics of the fur children (and Papa)

Its been quite hot here the last week or so, and Babe loves to sit and soak up the sun. She loves to be invited to sit on the park bench, although at over 100 lbs, if we sit with her we can hear the bench start to complain at the weight.



Prince doesn't care much for the bench. I think he's afraid he'll fall through the cracks. He'd much rather sit on the ground, though he trusts me enough to tolerate whatever I ask him to do.


Spook is still at that "everything is new and exciting" stage and doesn't care much what she's asked to do as long as someone tells her she's a good girl. She's come a long way since I brought her home on July 20th. At that time she was suffering the effects of a serious case of some very dangerous intestinal parasites. She only weighed seven pounds, you could count her ribs and her hip bones stuck up as if she'd been starved. She now weighs 22 pounds, and has energy to burn. I've started training her on the treadmill so that she'll have adequate exercise when its too cold to spend much time outside. She's not taking to it with the same enthusiasm that Prince has, but we'll get there eventually.

The three of them are happiest when Papa is home to play with them. Prince won't go on the road with him, but Babe is never happier than when Papa takes her in the truck with him. Prince is a bit of a Mama's boy, and has been from the start. Spook, we don't know about yet. She doesn't have a problem with the kennel, and she doesn't get travel sick, but I don't know how she'd feel about a long trip without Mom.

History of a ballon flower

I said I'd post more pictures of the balloon flower and here they are. They start off looking like some sort of horticultural origami; first green, then blue. I wish I'd been able to catch a couple more; one before the first open one and one just after. They're quite striking in the early morning when the sun first touches on them. The largest of the blossoms is nearly three inches across.