I Like Thursday #161

 Welcome to my 161st I Like Thursday post.  It has been a busy couple of days and by the time I finished up my chores yesterday the outside lights had came on and I was covered in dirt, and weeds from weed eating. I now understand why Jeff used to insist that I wear a face mask, I could not believe how much dirty I had on my face, and hair afterwards.  

I have been enjoying my outside lately.  It can be so soothing, even though the next freeway exit 2 miles North of us is closed and they are rerouting them down my road.  (Insert rolling eyes). Early in the morning walks I discovered these sweet violets.

The Lily of the Valley is really thriving this year.  

I am thrilled that my cold is finally kind of getting better and I could smell the sweet scent.  

Yesterday was my day off----there was a lot of outside work to do.  I had mowed the other day, and I needed to weed eat the 2 berms, and along the flower beds.  I also needed to plant the tomatoes that I had purchased a couple of weeks ago.  I had been putting it off because a few days after I purchased them there was a freeze and they looked pretty sad.  I kept watering them, and I see little leaves starting to form.  So hopefully I will get them into the ground today. I did get some of my planters done though.

The barrel planter with petunias and heliotrope.

I love Heliotrope!  The smell is a mixture of vanilla and licorice.  

Planter 2, you can see the berm in the background, where my weed eater finally ran out of battery.  I really do not want to finish it up today, but it may be necessary.  In the 2nd planter you can see the geraniums, and I also have some lantana, more petunias, and of course with our swampy property a couple of citronella.  

While weed eating the flower beds I saw Columbine!  It has spread nicely!  I love Columbine!

The Weigela is starting to bloom.  I need to prune it back a bit. 

The Rhubarb patch got cleaned up.  While I was working outside I had company, a lot of company.

Bobbin, Girl Cat, Boy Cat, and some new additions including some of the kittens born last year. 

Meet Haze, the kids say each kitten got lighter and lighter, almost like a printer running out of ink.  Wookie is dark with long hair, Tangy is a lighter version of her mama, Haze is even lighter, and Ashes is a very faded gray version.  

Recently I decided to try Misfits Market for organic produce.  Weekly you select your fruits and veggies, and they are sent on your day selected the following week. Things I love, it forces me to eat more fruits and veggies, the cold pack which it is packed with is a gel that is water soluble and safe to go into the environment once diluted.  Downside is for a single person it is a lot of food and I can't seem to eat it quick enough. Some things need to be processed right away such as broccoli, beets, greens, and with my crazy schedule that can be tough.  

This is just a small selection of this weeks produce, apples, manadarins, pears, beets, broccoli, tomatoes, dandelion greens, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers.   Great that I am eating more good stuff, but the chickens get stuff that goes bad before I eat it.  I have decided to go to an every other week schedule and see if that is better. 

I love the bright summer colors of these towels I saw at work.

French bulldogs Hawaiian print shirts in pool floats!

The fun patriotic one.  I considered buying this one to make another drying mat.

Old trucks, dogs, bikes and surfboards.

The only book I managed to read last week was Burials by Mary Anna Evans.

 Faye, and Joe are in Oklahoma where Joe grew up. They are there to bury Joe's mom's ashes with Joe's father Sly.  To help supplement, Faye has been contracted to start up a 30 year old archaeological site which was shut down quickly at the time.  Imagine the surprise when the first pit that is opened has a necklace, pearls, and the remains of a body.  The body is the Dr. Sophia Townsend the volatile archaeologist that was running the dig 30 years ago.  The Muscogee Tribe  who had contracted the dig is surprised so are the people who worked on the dig 30 years ago, who just happen to be involved on the current dig.  How did Dr. Townsend disappear with no one's notice years ago, especially considering how many people she manipulated around her at the time, including Joe's father.  

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts.