I love Leawood in the spring time

Our house was owned by a family that apparently loved gardening. The parents bought the place in the mid-70s, I believe, and planted all sorts of trees and bushes and clearly had a vision when they did so. One of their daughters moved in to take care of the parents as they got elderly and feeble and she also had a big love of gardening. So that means we have a very lovely yard, even though we aren’t particularly good at gardening ourselves. The yard is one of the reasons we bought the place because it truly looks like a park.

And it’s prettiest in the spring. We’ve got all kinds of blooming bushes and trees so I thought I’d share a couple of pictures with you.

Cat scratch fever

I’ve got all these bits and pieces zipping around in my brain; not a one of them adds up to much of anything but I think need to do a brain purge so they get out of my head.

First up, I don’t think our tomatoes will produce anything. They’re really long and leggy looking, and I don’t see any signs of forming buds. The peppers, on the other hand, are going crazy. We have probably half a dozen tiny little peppers growing like crazy with lots more blossoms.

Show me the tomatoes.

Go, go peppers!

The basil plant is loving our heat wave. I used some today to make a tortellini salad except my unopened jar of roasted red peppers had a bad seal. So I need to pick up another jar on the way home from work tomorrow. Yes, I could make the roasted peppers only my peppers aren't ready yet. This salad is a great summertime dish and takes minimal cooking. That’s a plus even with air conditioning.

I’ve taken a deep stretch class at a nearby yoga studio two Saturdays now. I love this class. It’s a 90 minute class of stretches that we hold for quite a while—three to seven minutes, depending on the stretch. I am quite inflexible through my shoulders so I'll take all the help I can get. Last Saturday, we worked on shoulders and back and I already noticed some improvement yesterday. We were flat on our backs with our legs and butts up against the wall (yesterday was all about the back and legs). I stretched my arms out to either side and then bent my elbows to form right angles with my palms facing the ceiling. Normally my hands just sort of float in the air because my shoulders are so tight. That’s how it was at first but within a couple of minutes, I realized the backs of my hands were touching the floor. That’s real progress for me.

Friday, I took poor Wally to the vet and it was horrible (not the vet, Wally’s behavior). First he hissed and growled when I tried to put him in the carrier. He fought the carrier so much that I had to get Kent to help me. Then Wally growled and hissed the entire drive to the vet's. Once we got into the exam room, things  went from bad to much, much worse. Long story not quite so long, he screamed, hissed, tried to bite and was so scared and angry he had to be sedated to be examined. He’s over it now and I’m glad his shots are three year shots. Maybe in three years, he’ll have forgotten how much he hated being in the carrier.

What’s new with you?

How does your garden grow?

Very well, thank you!

Two tomato plants, three kinds of peppers
and a straggly mint plant (it's lasted for three years).

Tomatoes again, also peppers, and the
basil, rosemary and oregano plus some flowers. Because I can.