Back To Life

Sometimes it seems just too hard to write anything here, and once I skip a few days, it gets even harder, knowing I can never catch up with even the things that happened last month.

So.  while Mike goes back and catches up on his missed sleep from last night, I'll sit on the porch with Stella and enjoy the morning.

Since we got back from vacation, we've changed places with the bird feeder and hummingbird feeder because the birds made such a mess it was falling on the car beneath our balcony.  And since then, we've attracted a new family of birds, the goldfinch, we think.  They are beautiful things and don't mind us being right there on the balcony when they come to feed.

The little chickadees and juncos still come but not as often as these vocal little birds.

There seems to be at least one nest under the eaves right above the bedroom window, and since we are sleeping with the window open, the birds are so loud in the mornings, we don't need an alarm clock.

With the arrival of summer yesterday, we're spending more time on the balcony, and it's turned into a nice little haven.  So nice to just sit out there and read and drink coffee.  We still have more work to do, but so far we're happy with the plants we've chosen.

Mike's Lenten rose is flourishing in the Georgia soil we brought with us.

The pink jasmine's fragrance makes it way into the living room sometimes.  Mike worked on some taller bamboo trellises, so we'll have some privacy soon.  Not that anyone ever looks up here though!

This ivy-leaf geranium makes me happy.  So healthy and my favorite color.  I can never think of the plant with the purple blooms, but it seems happy too.

Verbena - that's the purple plant.

And this is the mess the birds make.  We vacuum it sometimes, but the birds will hop around on the balcony if we leave it awhile.

We've left the Christmas cactus out since about February, and the leaves are more purple than green now.

This looks suspiciously like a bloom - but surely not!

I started a fuschia plant I picked up at the grocery store.  They do really well here, and I'm tempted to get some of the beautiful baskets, but we'll see how this does first.  The little dahlia has bloomed a lot and is about to have another one.

The girls love being out here, but this is what happens when Katherine comes out with us - among other things.  She will put her little finger on the plant and shake her head no-no - but then she will touch it and tear it and try to eat it if we don't stop her.

With the heat arriving yesterday and no air conditioning, we left the apartment and went for a walk yesterday.  Even with so many people around, there are still little roads like this to enjoy.

Emily and Ryan took the girls swimming in the early afternoon and then asked us over to cool off.  With the temperatures climbing into the 90s, the apartment was getting a little warm.  Not miserable but warm enough for us to take advantage of their cool house - and company of course.  I'll take some pictures of their garden later this morning.  Ryan has worked hard building the beds and planting and redoing the deck.

It's now time to get back to the real world and talk to the nursing home nurses and cleaning up and getting ready for babysitting time again.  Today is Graysen's last day of ballet, so we'll have a fun afternoon.