Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Good Morning June!

This morning as I looked at my honeysuckle 
in full bloom, I saw a darling little hummingbird
having his breakfast.

Of course by the time I got my camera,
he was gone.  
Isn't that the way it goes :)

I'm going to be watching for him.


With camera in hand, I decided to walk around
and take some morning shots of the garden.


It's June 1st, 2017 and this day will never
be here again, so I plan on enjoying it!







 This old "HOOT" is standing in the garden.
His job is to keep the birds away,
but instead they have all adopted him
as their Wise Old Grandpa.

He points them in the direction 
of sweet young seedlings and fresh berries. 


These are the raspberries . . .
I'll start picking next week :)


These are the blackberries . . .
they won't be far off from picking time, too:)


I leave you with this photo 
of the gate to the main garden.
I have plans to do a little maintenance 
and
spruce it up a bit. 
That will be a future post. 
~~~~~***~~~~~
Now
 Go Enjoy Your Day
&
Keep Smiling!
~~~~~***~~~~~
Connie :)



59 comments:

  1. Happy June first, although I'm so late in checking blogs tonight that it will be June 2 by the time you get this.
    Your Roses are very lovely!
    I can't get over the fact that you will have ripe berries next week!!

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    1. When will berries be getting ripe in your area?

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  2. I love it. I especially love the old "HOOT"!. Summer is the best!
    Blessings, Betsy

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    1. I would love the Old Hoot better, if he would do his job and keep the birds away from my berries. I have some rubber snakes out in the well-house. I'm going to hang them in my berries vines today . . . maybe they will do a better job :)

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  3. June began beautifully in my part of the country too. We had May Gray, but June Gloom might not happen!

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    1. Oh, I hope that it doesn't . . . but instead,
      I hope that you will be humming a happy Tune all the way through June :)

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  4. How quickly has your garden come from snow-bound to flourishing Spring loveliness.

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    1. Time flies when your having fun.
      FUN: digging in the garden and getting your hands dirty.
      NOT FUN: digging the snow out of the driveway, LOL.

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  5. Hi Connie, thank you for the lovely photos of your garden! There's such an abundance of color, beauty, and beautiful home-grown food. The birds certainly do love those berries, don't they? We tried to grow strawberries and raspberries, but without some kind of protective netting, the birds get the goodies before we do. We do love the carved owl, which (of course), the birds have adopted as a friend, rather than a warning. We learned that it's difficult to shoo the birds away when they're set on eating the yummies that grow on the vines. Thanks again, best wishes from Marina and Daryl Lynn

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    1. Today I'm going to the well-house and retrieving my rubber snakes. They do a better job keeping the birds away than any other thing that I've tried. Happy gardening & quilting my friends.

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  6. Love your gardens both flower and vegetable! Beautiful honeysuckle...one of my favorites and your roses are gorgeous! You have such a cute place and you've worked hard...it shows!

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    1. Oh, my husband's first reaction to going through our home with the realtor was, "I'm not moving into this dump". Those were his actual words. It took some convincing, but now we both count our blessing and absolutely love our little home. It took a lot of work and there is still things to do, but each year it shines a little bit more and we adore living here . . . country life is wonderful :)

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  7. Beautiful blooms and your garden is looking good.
    I looked for the humming bird but couldn't find it, then read that you didn't get the picture of him. : )
    Like that old owl sitting on the stones.

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    1. Hopefully the hummingbird will return . . . those honeysuckle smell amazing, I don't know how he could possibly stay away :)

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  8. Hi Connie, It is looking pretty at your house. Love the flowers. Our honeysuckle does look at pretty as yours. Yes, I think birds get used to the owls. If only they had a solar charger and could move a bit. Blessings , xoxo, Susie

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    1. Hi Susie, I think that you can get those owls that do move, but I'm sure that they are spendy. I'm getting out my rubber snakes today and putting them in the berry vines . . . we'll see what kind of a job they will do. They usually work very well.

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  9. It was a joy to see and I do hope he comes back. The honeysuckle vine smells so sweet that I'm such he will return :)

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  10. Everything looks so pretty at your yard and garden. I do so enjoy seeing other people's flowers. It's been three weeks since the grass in my yard has been cut. I do the mowing and that's on my no-no list for a while yet. The farmer is so busy with the chicken houses, so I just try to keep my mouth shut ~ but it is hard to do! Have a good day and good success at keeping the birds away!

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    1. Country life is not for the faint of heart or for those that don't know the meaning of elbow grease . . . there is a lot of work, but I think it keeps you moving and moving keep you young. My garden gets bigger and bigger every year . . . we don't need that much garden for just the two of us, but we are learning to can and we love to share with friends and neighbors :)

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  11. You have such a beautiful garden, I must admit to missing my old garden a little but time will soon have us organized here in our new home. Fingers crossed you get another glimpse of the humming bird.

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    1. I've truly been enjoying working in the garden . . . it's a lot of work, but so rewarding. As for the hummingbird, I do hope he returns and brings his friends. They are such interesting little creatures.

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  12. I'm so envious of your wonderful Honeysuckle! and your roses and flowers. Not much blooming here yet. Your climate seems so conducive to early blooms! Our elevation is 2260 feet so maybe that's why it's so much slower here. I would love to get some honeysuckle to plant by our bedroom window! Love that garden gate too... and the berries, oh my! Our raspberries do have little blooms and tiny green berries on them so that's exciting for me, since I've dragged them around with me in tubs for 4-1/2 years when we moved from our Washougal, WA home. They seem to be thriving here. I hadn't heard of putting rubber snakes around them! May have to try that, though there don't seem to be alot of birds here other than big old black crows and doves. I never seem them down in our bushes. One of my favorite things to see and take photos of, is flowers among old wood... it just attracts me for some reason. Love your photos of that and the old boots. Have a nice sunny weekend! Marilyn

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    1. Hi Marilyn, it is always a pleasure to have you stop by. I remember when our daughter lived in Bend and how the weather would be very cold at night, even when the days were warm. I am sure that your weather is similar to theirs and those cold nights making growing vegetables very hard.

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  13. Connie, your flowers are just beautiful. So healthy! The honeysuckle vine is lovely on your trellis and I adore your white gate with the sweet watermelon sign. Your raspberries are surely going to taste delicious when they all ripen. Enjoy every moment, Connie. ♥

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    1. You are so sweet, thank you. I'm afraid that my plans for that white gate are going to change it a lot, but I think for the better :)

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  14. Replies
    1. Thank you sweetie . . . enjoy your long weekend and do a happy dance for me :)

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  15. Your flowers look so colourful, I enjoyed all of your photographs.
    Happy June Wishes Connie, have a lovely month.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Hi Jan, thank you so much. June is a great month; most of the garden work is done and it's time to think about having some fun. I see kayaking in my very near future :)

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  16. What a lovely garden! You are so lucky! Love your flowers!

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    1. Thank you so much . . . I don't think it's luck, it's more like hard work, backaches and sweat, but I enjoy every minute of it (well, maybe not the backaches). Thank you so much for following my blog, I love making new blogging friends.

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  17. Your yard is lovely with all those wonderful flowers

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    1. This will be our forth summer in our little country home. We finally have drip lines on all of the gardens so I think that the vegetables and the flowers are going to starting thriving. The gardens are hard work, but so rewarding . . . I love working outside. The older I get the more the heat bothers me, but getting out early in the morning when the air is cold is wonderful.

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  18. Your garden is gorgeous! Like a Botanical Garden! You could charge to tour it, but we get to look free! Your roses are gorgeous, like the sun is inside them. And the honeysuckle! I have seen deep coral, but not this stunning pink! So it is girly honeysuckle! The smell takes me back to my childhood. And of course pink daisies to match!

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    1. Hi Ginny, if you want a honeysuckle like this one it is called pink lemonade and smells unbelievably wonderful. I am very happy with it. It is a starter that I bought from our old home. Thank you so much for your sweet words, you are a sweetie pie :)

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  19. Hi Connie, Thank you so much for taking us around your garden and showing us your beautiful flowers. Who said flowers do better on the West side? :-) It looks like you have proven them wrong! I am sorry we missed the hummingbird but that would be my luck as well. :-) Have a great weekend, Connie, and take good care!

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    1. Hi John, it is always a pleasure . . . if it were not for drip-lines my flowers would not be doing this well. Over on your side of the mountains all you have to do is put them in the ground . . . you do have the perfect weather conditions for flowers, but thanks to Roosevelt and his dream of a "big ole dam" we do too :)

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  20. I have never seen honeysuckle that beautiful. The color is so pretty. Is it wild? Our honeysuckle is all white and yellow. Poppy put one of those owls at his deer corn feeder to scare the squirrels and crows away but they seem to enjoy knocking the owl off it's stand. Not one bit afraid of it. Your plants and flowers are all so pretty!!

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    1. I think that my honeysuckle is a hybrid, it is called "pink lemonade" you might find it at a local nursery or even Walmart's garden center. Those old owls need something in them that makes their wings flap every now and then or something.

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  21. Oh wow Connie! I am in love with your gorgeous pink honeysuckle...I have never seen one like it! And that rose...so beautiful. What is the name of it? Love the two colors in it. Can't wait to see what fun treatment you give the gate. You are one of the most creative ladies I know! Hope you are having a lovely weekend my sweet friend!

    Hugs, Vicky

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    1. Hi Vicky, I'm sorry to say that I do not remember the name of that rose, but the honeysuckle is called "pink lemonade" and I think that I bought it at a Walmart garden center.

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  22. Haha. I thought my eyes were going bad when I couldn't find that little hummer. Your flowers are so gorgeous. After a wet spring, we have pretty roses this year, too. They are such a blessing. Eye candy! My DH loves keeping the dining table supplied with roses. What a treat it must be to pick your own berries.

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    1. All things from the garden are wonderful, don't you think? Flowers, vegetables, herbs . . . it looks like we will be eating our first sugar snap peas, of the year, this week :)

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  23. Oh my such beauty for my evening viewing, wow they flowers are just gorgeous, it is a bummer you didn't get a picture of the hummingbird but at least you saw him, I haven't seen ours come back this year, so sad.... I don't think there is anything that keeps our birds from the goodies, but the owl is still a nice addition to the garden. Love the plants growing out of the boots! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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    1. Hi Connie, it is so nice when you visit and leave a comment . . . I always enjoy reading them. You are a sweet friend.

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  24. Your flowers are gorgeous. I think my favorite is the honeysuckle. I don't see that much here in northern IL. Too funny about the owl attracting the birds instead of driving them away!

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    1. I don't get it, because when we had our sailboat moored we always put an owl on deck to keep the birds from landing and pooping on the boat. It worked great! So they should work in the garden . . . at least I think so, to bad the birds don't agree, LOL.

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  25. Hi Connie!Gorgeous flowers!Loved your honeysuckle,I've never seen it before,very beautiful.Have a lovely week!Maristella.

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    1. Hi, thanks so much for stopping by to visit. If you look for that honeysuckle in is called a Pink Lemonade.

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  26. That honeysuckle is incredible - may I ask what variety it is?

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    1. It is called Pink Lemonade and I think that I found it at the Walmart garden center.

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  27. Beautiful and I bet that honeysuckle smells amazing xxx

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    1. Yes it does . . . I can't walk past it without giving it a smell :)

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  28. Replies
    1. Welcome! Thank you so much for following my blog and leaving a comment. I do enjoy reading them and being able to visit your blog, too.

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  29. Connie, Your garden is beautiful! I think your Owl may be related to my Owl lol Have a great day!

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    1. They don't do much work towards keeping the birds away, do they, LOL

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  30. Your flowers are beautiful, Connie. Is the honeysuckle in a place where you can smell its scent? My friend has honeysuckle on her back porch near a window where she often sits and reads. She enjoys the scent when the window is open. Hummingbirds are so sweet, and so fun to watch. We put up a feeder for them this year. It hangs above our porch rail and we can watch them from the kitchen. xo

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    1. I have been thinking about getting a feeder. This was the first one that i've seen since moving here. The honeysuckle is on the trellis at the front gate . . . if we have guests coming through the gate it will be there first impression of your property :)

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