Spring gardening check list -

General maintenance, planning, planting, watering - all required in May.

This has been an amazing spring but it's about to change with a

 heatwave descending on us for the weekend!  Shorts and sun hats

 are at the ready for any outdoor activity. (Sorry Brits and European

readers - know your weather is not good yet - I'm trying to blow our

 warmth and sunshine across the pond). All this week I've been very

busy piddling and pottering to get things done in the garden before

 it's just too hot. The first mosquitoes have arrived and I was bitten

 several times yesterday so bug spray is at hand, yuck!

I found a favorite at the Farmers Market - a pot of Heliotrope.

Then, at LIDL, the awesome pot of French lavender at a very good price.

I didn't grow the basil - bought it at the grocery store as my pots, which

 you can see below, are freshly planted seeds from a couple of weeks

 ago - but they are coming along well and I'm looking forward to pesto

 making days ahead!

This is the best time, early morning, for hydrangeas and hostas 

around here - sunny and cooler, but the afternoons are really too hot 

with blazing sun. Too late now to move them though and they've survived

 for many years so we keep on doing what we've always done with fingers

 crossed they will not fail to glorify this spot in front of the porch where 

we love to sit after a busy day.

Thanks to all who have asked how I'm doing after almost a month on

 medication for the Polymyalgia Rheumatica flare. Along with the

 drastic Low-Histamine diet (which is really no fun at all) I must say I truly

 am 100% better. I am just about pain free, several pounds lighter, have

 much more energy, can lift things again, and feel ten years younger, haha!

Monday I go for a follow up visit with my doctor and am hoping to celebrate

 my good fortune with a glass of wine and some cheese on the front porch,

 oh how I've missed cheese!

Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back at the farmers market with my granddaughter,

then we'll be checking a local antiques shop now re-opened with the COVID

rules changing. We are vaccinated however still wearing masks in public

despite them being no longer mandatory in many stores. 

Rather safe than sorry.

News from the garden -

Yesterday, with the surprise of what must have been quite a soaking

 rain during the night - the best kind for the garden - I opened

 the front door to a beautiful shock of green. Layers of color all the

 same hue but each a different shade. Washed clean, undamaged, 

refreshed, with no fallen leaves or twigs.

Many birds were at the feeders - including the invincible four-legged

 versions with the bushy tails! A large rabbit hopped across the lawn, and 

two chipmunks scampered around the front porch, one stopping for a

 drink at the fountain which I'd not seen happen before.

I baked a French pear Gateau de Mamy (Grandma's Cake) for Mother's Day

and decorated simply with garden pansies. I couldn't eat any though whilst

 on the Low Histamine diet!  I'm feeling great though cutting out so many 

food items which may have been causing problems. I did cheat a bit for

 Mother's Day by drinking a glass of sparkling Prosecco during a visit 

with a dear friend. She bought it especially for me to sip, along with

 thoughtful carrots and broccoli rather than cheese and crackers which

I've had to give up for a while!

She also gifted me with this..........

.........a very pretty bird snack wreath now hanging on the porch.

Note my special 'garden boy' Bob working in the background!

This was another beautiful gift from Anthropologie for Mother's Day, 

one I'll be using a lot - even later today as I'm heading into the garden

 now to prune the massive azalea bushes. If you have azaleas always

 prune at this time when the blooms have died - that way they can set

 buds during the summer for next spring's glorious display.

Who doesn't love peonies! I cut the first open bloom from the garden

yesterday as it was so heavy and hanging down - the perfume is

 awesome, I wish you could sniff, and the petals so pretty.