Gallery 10 - My (New) Indiana Home in the Good Ol' Summertime

Just a half mile down the road and a hundred years into the past - We spent the first summer 2005 painting and remodeling and putting up some finishing touches such as new curtains here and there. The previous owner was THE curtain guru, so I saved as much as I could of her curtains, but where they were coming apart I had to replace them.. As we do more work on the inside and out, our new Indiana home continues to be a work in progress

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"An Old Fashioned Summer"

Summer number 5 - just like our winter, an honest to God old-fashioned summer. June was mostly in the 90's - mostly wet and very stormy. Benny has planted our beans and corn 3x and they are a bust. On the other hand, my flowers have been loving it. And Ben just got 60 tons of dirt from his nephew Rich to raise the garden. So maybe we'll have better luck with vegetables next year. And in June, I started back to school. Well, in May actually. Turns out you can attend our local community college for free after you turn 60, and after doing some research, I've decided to go for some computer field certifications. They didn't have those back in the 80's and 90's when I was earning my programming degree. So lots of changes all around. The first week my online class started, Mom spent 5 days in the hospital! Thank goodness for my laptop, and that I found Microsoft Professional 2007 for a bargain on ebay!

First days of summer - hostas in bloom

Nasturtium

Hydrangeas in bloom - the Endless Summer and the Nikko Blue in front are taking a bit of a break from blooming this year - not sure if they have an on year and an off year, or if I need to be doing some fertilization or something ....

Hydrangeas in Bloom

Another little garden corner.

In front of our kitchen picture window, a butterfly bush, a wild geranium, an eggplant, a hanging tomato plant, a nasturtium, some chocolate mint, a geranium, and some violas.

My Nikko Blue Hydrangea in the back of the house is doing very well - and is really blue in color! We found a clump of red day lilies with yellow centers in a load of dirt Benny got from his nephew - so I planted them around the back of the house and watered them in - hopefully they will pick up and thrive. That's the nice thing about all the digging - I now have some space for planting!

This lovely flower came from a garden swap I did with some friends last October or November. Don't know what it is called and didn't know what to expect, but it strikes me as very suitable for our July 4 time of year. Like our ditch lilies which are about at the end of their blooming season.

Cone Flowers

Graceful Annabelles - these were damaged by a high winds in May, I believe - frost bit them off, but they have made a comeback and are even forming more flowers! I need to look up how and when to propagate them, because I'd like to have this area full of them!

Another look at the hostas in bloom and another shady section of the garden.

The family grows ...

Jet and Goldie nap on the couch.

One of the Jersey Girls hatched a cute little chick we call Chiclet (remember those?). Don't know enough to be able to tell if Chiclet's a "he" or a "she." Benny built another coop so we could protect Chiclet and future chiclets until they are big enough to be out and about amongst the hazards of cats and hawks and other chickens and the like. I guess it's our chicken nursery.

Meanwhile Dharma sets on 6 eggs (at last count)

Nasturtiums - the blooms are supposed to be edible, but they are so colorful I hate to pick them! They are kind of peppery in taste

This summer I saw lightening bugs in June and heard the first Katydid chorus before July! We started picking our first tomatoes from the garden in early July. I was afraid the ditch lilies would be finished blooming before July 4th, but there were still some left to see us through the holiday weekend.

Our little barn swallows are getting big enough to venture out of the nest and onto the supporting beams.

Meanwhile Mom (or Dad as the case may be) stands anxiously by

Watchful Barn Swallow Parent

Okay, not a great shot, but proof of the first butterfly to grace my butterfly bush outside my kitchen window (if you hunt real hard you may actually find it). Now in its second year, it grew very tall in this sheltered spot. By the way the butterflies were also very early this year.

Mom Barn Swallow on the Beam

Baby Barn Swallows checking out the wide world below while Mom supervises

Baby Barn Swallows on a Beam

Baby Barn Swallow on a Beam

Colorful Summer Kitchen Corner

Tangerine Day Lilies moved this spring to a more suitable location, and a nameless but lovely Purple Flower from a Plant Swap last fall bloom in time for the 4th

Tangerine Day Lilies

Tangerine Day Lilies and Purple Fireworks!

Tangerine Day Lily Closeup

Tangerine Day Lily Close-up

Blooming Annabelles on a hot summer day

Blooming Annabelles on a hot summer day. The ferns were transplanted from the east/north side of the house - they come up each year behind the hedges. These like their new location and are quite prolific!

I gaze out my bedroom and bathroom window everyday now and enjoy the view of these new flower beds.

Hollyhock in Bloom

My Cosmos came back up volunteer around the windmill, and even seeded in the flower bed behind the summer kitchen. I planted Heavenly Blue Morning Glories in various spots around the yard - with the heat and the rain, they have sprouted and are growing. I also purchased a package of mixed color holly-hocks, and a canary climber from Rural King. Those have also come up, but are still pretty small.

Goldie and Smokey keep cool on a hot summer day

A visitor to my kitchen window butterfly bush

This magnificent swallowtail finally rewarded me with a photo op on the butterfly bush just outside my kitchen picture window

Swallowtail

This black swallowtail fed at my bush all afternoon!

But he didn't hold very still - so it was tough to get a clear shot

By courtesy of a friend of Facebook, I observed that there are more than one kind of swallowtail!! I applied a patchwork texture to this picture - I think I applied underpainting as well.

Just to provide a little context for my butterflies, here's an updated view of the outside of my kitchen picture window in August

And the view from the inside out

I planted the bush last year so that I could see butterflies outside my kitchen window

Taking pictures through the screen

Hot Summer Daze - finally got around to feeding my plants during break between summer school and fall semester - and while unwinding the hose, I accidentally disturbed this tiny guy who was hiding in it - probably from the cats!

This has been such a wet summer, I've been hearing these guys sing everywhere. One was living behind a cushion on our porch chair - and another - or maybe the same one was inside our back porch one morning.