And he’s back, stomping the streets of FroRo with his somber message.

The smoke from the Canadian fires is bad at Front Royal again. 190 AQI. Hoping this clears up soon as Boss Man has given us a 4 day weekend, and I don’t want to spend it all indoors.

I love this little sleeping cat ornament I found at a flea market, and this morning’s early sun lit it up perfectly.

Some of the sunflowers have bloomed. They’re short, only about 3’ or 4’, but very sturdy. These were winter sown plants. Many others are still growing.

I shelled the first picking of peas tonight, and there’s still more to come.

Elliott has a paper wasp nest being built in his kayak. They’re beneficial pollinators that will eat bugs which destroy crops and also eat house fly larvae, so good to have around. The best will only be active for 3-4 months.

The garden tour was a success. These two Mennonite ladies had to work but chose my garden as the only one they visited, and were impressed. Lots of great feedback and a full blog will be forthcoming, but first I need to relax and enjoy some down time.

Petals from the bee balm, fallen by the rain, landing on purple hyacinth bean leaves.

Looking out of the kitchen window on a day filled with rain. 

It’s been raining all day, and Malcolm just wants to shut it all out and sleep until the sun comes out again.

I found this lovely little American Toad at the bottom of the basement steps. He wouldn’t survive down there too well so I took him up to the garden where he has plenty of damp shade, dead leaves and the kitchen steps to hide under. He’ll find plenty to eat when he goes hunting tonight.

These beautiful seedheads of the yellow salsify, 3 times bigger than dandelions, were gone 15 minutes after I took this photo; we have strings winds coming through, with a storm following. These have pretty yellow ‘daisy’ flowers, which will only open when the sun isn’t too strong. 

The plant has many benefits, including healthy hair growth, fighting cancer, boosting the immune system, and controlling blood pressure. All parts of the plant are edible.

One of my favorite plants, borage, coming into bloom by the veggie garden.

I drove into this workshop yard in town, wanting to take a photo of these 3 Rollers. A gentleman there explained the grills had been removed, since they are easy to steal, and that I should come back during the week to see inside, where there’s a collection of Roll’s Royces, including Bette Midler’s and Winston Churchill’s Bentley. I will definitely pop down the next time I work from home!

I spotted Malcom hanging out with new friends this afternoon.

This colossal cacti was at the garden center, but not for sale. It’s was over 18” tall. Magnificent.

2 little orchard orbweavers in their web, which spans across the gravel path in the back garden, so I have to duck to avoid them. Impressed their web survived the strong breezes today.

These monstrosities stopped me in my tracks at Martins. They’re not toys, they’re bagels! Absolutely horrific, I dread to think of the chemicals cooked in those.

Hoping this big ole clouds have been dumping rain on my garden, as I drive home from work.

A bumblebee bum in the prickly pear cacti. The bees are loving these blooms.

Malcolm looks exactly how I feel. I’m worn out after a day of painting, lugging cement and bricks, and then dismantling a fence panel and gate, then building a small brick wall to rest the new fence panel on. Going to recharge for tomorrow’s work and have an early night.

The last big job before the garden tour, replacing a side fence panel and gate with these 3 doors. Cut down, cleaned up and sanded, they’re ready to paint tomorrow.

I made a gate for the veggie garden. Very pleased with it. Just need to saw down the posts and it’s complete!

I usually have to pull my visor down in the car on the way to work, as the morning sun is so bright. The smoke from the Quebec fires is hanging low over VA at the moment, and the sun is just an orange globe. The air smells acrid too. Hoping this will drift away soon as I have 4 days of garden work ahead of me, and the current air quality is poor.

I made a brief appearance at the town government office where a meeting was being held on whether to allow books to be banned at our library. It seemed most of the town had turned up, inside was full up, including hallways, and crowds were outside too. Most were against any books being banned, as was I.

The cabbages, and beetroot behind them, are coming up nicely.

I pass this old building in town every so often, loving the vintage warped boards.

At the Master Gardeners plant sale I bought 24 plants, 20 of them native species, and got them all planted. All but 2 were $5 or under. Score! It was also lovely to be recognized by vendors and some of the customers. I went round with my little cart twice, and left very happy!

This made me chuckle. It looked like the swan was about to nip at Rosie Lee’s tail.

The integrity of our town pavilion has been compromised, thanks to a young driver who failed to stop. I hope it gets repaired before summer really starts. This is a favorite shade spot.