Transitioning into Summer

Lobelia, Nasturtium, Poppies, and yes,
powdery mildew on my squash

Despite appearances (lack of blogging on my part) there's a lot going on over here. For the last few months other things have taken a priority over my gardening and especially my blogging. My gardening is limited to our upper deck, mostly in railing planters. I'm doing container gardening with a mix of veggies and flowers. Spring was successful, using peas, lettuce, and kale. Right now I'm transitioning to summer plants. But, I'll talk about that in a later post
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Remnants of my Spring planting

I did not continue with the community garden this year. I'm glad I made that decision too. I'm content with my choice to try veggies in containers. I have 2 pages about my plot at the community garden,  just click on the tabs at the top of the page. I really loved it there, but my nemesis the flea beetle is what drove me away. 

Personally, this year seems to be the year of BIG life events. One after another. My dad's illness was diagnosed in January. It took us by surprise and has been quite stressful, in ways I never anticipated. Earlier this month Chris' youngest graduated from high school and is preparing to leave for college this fall. A week after the graduation we adopted the 'family' dog. She is now living with us full-time and we are busy with walks, feeding, a vet visit, and coping with fireworks (and the world's most difficult cat). Her full-time residence prompted us to make some changes in our tiny back yard. I will post some before and after photos later.

We are also planning our wedding in November. We've got the venue, the pastor, but I cannot find a dress. Aside from that, I have been looking at flowers, buying vintage glass, going to craft stores, and having a lot of fun visiting our wedding site, McMenamins Edgefield.  I even created a WordPress web site to keep ideas and photos in one place, and to let any of our friends and family keep up with it if they want to.

Since Chris' parents were here for the graduation, we decided to take them to brunch at the Black Rabbit Restaurant at McMenamins.  We had brunch, then we showed them where we would be married. We then got to see the gardens and go shopping at the gift shop. I shared photos of Edgefield back in January here when we were first scoping it out.

I was taken with the garden in the middle of winter and was excited to see it in summer.

Back in  February we had decided that this was where we wanted to have our wedding. I posted about it again here. I showed this wall  covered in vines. Right now it is covered in lush green with Boston Ivy and by fall should be a brilliant red.

I've lived in the Portland Metro area for a long time and had never been to Edgefield before this year. I actually vetoed it at first, thinking it was too big, too much for our wedding. By the second visit I was hooked. I find it hard to describe other than to say it has something for everyone and a lot of character.

So, it's the last day of June and I can see how fast the time can fly. I will post later about the container plantings and the dog's new back yard.

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My word for 2014: Gratitude

I'm grateful for a shift in seeing problems more as "life lessons".

Just when we really needed a boost, we have had a lot of new work in the last few months.

When we could have opted for less responsibility, we chose to adopt Asha. She brings a lot of happiness and laughter to our house - and others.