Welcome to mid July in the Colehaus garden! We weren’t part of the huge heat wave the rest of the country went through weeks ago and other than a few days of hot weather, we’re just starting to look truly summery here. We haven’t had too many cool summers here and when those do happen, we sure love them!

This month we had a few blueberries ripen and Mom claims she ate two before the birds took the rest. We’re okay with that and after all, it was a light berry year for those poor blueberry bushes that went through so much during last year’s arbor transplanting. Mom says she may have to break down and buy a new one to replace our oldest of three that probably won’t last the summer.

These wild daisies, that grow everywhere along roadsides here, are back in the garden. They look so pretty at this time of year and after they bloom, you’ll have one billion baby plants sprouting up all over. Mom just can’t make herself pull them all out and toss into the yard debris bin, and vows to cut down every old bloom before they spread seeds. Sure, Mom. Whatever you say.

Here’s something that isn’t wild. It’s visitor Zerbe! You might remember he visited us last year and once or twice in late winter. He knows where to find the goods, in the form of dried catnip chicken treats! He’s a sweetheart . . . right up until he’s had enough of human nonsense and let’s you know it’s time to back off. He’s spicy!

This tubular Cape Fuchsia is exactly what the hummingbirds want this time of year. We’ve seen a lot of hummingbirds this summer probably because our neighbor has planted some vines that a few hummers have staked out as their territory. Nothing like watching hummingbirds joust for flower positions!

A sweet little visitor to the Pollinator bed. Shh, let’s let him nap in the morning sun.

The Pollinator bed we created 3 years ago looks much better than last year’s display. Mom amended the soil here and there over the spring and transplanted things that were blocking sprinkler heads or needed better sunlight elsewhere. Even though there’s isn’t an inch of space available, Mom thinks about how sad this bed looks in the winter when these perennials die down. She could mix in some evergreens but that’d take up dedicated pollinator flower space and she couldn’t really call it a pollinator bed then, could she? Yes, gardeners are never really happy with their beds.

This white wand flower did well over the winter and survived it’s spring transplant very well.

Here’s one of the neighbor’s vines, a honeysuckle, that the hummingbirds go bonkers over. We probably would too if we were hummers. So pretty and smells wonderful.

Way over on the other side of the yard is the fern garden. Tucked in between a couple of protective hostas is where Mom’s cyclamen lives. The cyclamen doesn’t look very good at this time of year and it doesn’t help that the raccoons tend to half-bury it in mulch while looking for nearby worms and grubs. So, we’ll focus on just the ferns and hostas for now. That big fern on the left came with us from the rental house we lived in before moving here 27 years ago this past July 6th. Who knew ferns lived so long!

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Wow! Ferns, living in the ground, can live from 10 to 50 years! And now we know.

Everyone’s doing okay here at Colehaus. Tessa’s slowly losing weight as her kidney disease progresses and as expected. We’ve nearly doubled her daily food amount and, well, you know about kidney disease. She still jumps up on the kitchen counter and prefers to drink out of the kitchen faucet despite the fountain and separate water bowls located not more than six feet away.

Quint’s been getting extra food every day and has gained a little weight as his vet had wanted to see happen. He’s always been a thin, lanky boy and now he has almost two more pounds to go with that.

Viola has successfully transferred her preferred routine over to Mom. Whenever Mom comes upstairs, she must give Viola a brushie. Whenever Mom comes downstairs, particularly in early morning before leaving for work, she must give Viola a combing. Any alteration to the schedule is disallowed. Quint’s starting to pick up that routine and is always very close by to ensure he gets brushings and combings as well. Sneaky cats.

Mom’s still working, working, working. Dad’s doing the same but still refuses to use his wheelchair. Unfortunately, it’ll take a few more serious falls before he “gets” it and no one’s going to tell him any differently. He get around with his walker, slowly, and Mom’s picked up a few more chores that Dad’s no longer able to accomplish due to advancing MS. This is just how it goes, Mom’s learned, when life doles out what it will. There’s a lot to still learn in this life and boy, oh boy, is she ever learning a lot!

Thanks for visiting us today!

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A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2025 – No post
2024 – No post
2023 – No post
2022 – Wordless Wednesday
2021 – No post
2020 – Monday ManCat Mischief
2019 – No post
2018 – A Story as Told by Olivia
2017 – No post
2016 – Bored
2015 – Monday Morning Sleepyhead
2014 – No post
2013 – No post
2012 – Newton, on Contrast and Blending