National Cheesecake Day in the U.S.A.!

You never know what you learn in Blogland!

 What a way to start the day!

 It's National Cheesecake day !

Learn a bit about the history of cheesecake!

If you ever get the chance! Go here !
Or let's go some where local to celebrate!

Cheesecake with a friend and a cup of coffee!
"Dessert buddies" !

Rainy records!

 Lots and lots of rain fell today! 81mm in the last 24 hours on the monitor!Yes, we do have a lot of sunshine and warm spells but it sure is nice to get rain for the garden!

 Looking forward to seeing the weather stats for July 2014!

I don't think I've seen so much rain at once at this garden!

 And then the sun came out and dried up all the rain...

Geraniums   don't   like   this   much   rain   !

 Great to see the bees active so soon!

 Hosta 'Harry van Trier'

 Fun with photo's!

Hope you can spend time in a garden!

Time to go outside!

 A fresh start to the day yesterday!

But look who can't take the cool rain.

 A few garden visitors!

 Lovely!

 rain drops = garden jewels!

 Almost missed him!

 Hosta 'Honey Bells'

 A scented garden Hosta! 

 Hibiscus in bloom!

 Will have to wait til next year to see what these are!

 These usually flower near Autumn time!

Look who has warmed up!

Feeling better! He's on his way!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

We've got rain!

  Hello! Did you have a great weekend? It was warm here!  

  Yesterday evening the rain came! 

 I think the plants enjoyed it! They're good to go for a while!

It's easy to empty the rain from these teacups! Oops! Glue mistake! It was easy to pull the cups off where the rain settled in the saucers! I'll have to try again, later. First, time to enjoy a cup of coffee! Then I might take a nap here!  "Things are not difficult to make; What is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them." - C. Brancusi

Hello! A few extra free hours! Better check the "What to do this Summer" list before winter sets in! It's warm today! Let's go for a walk around the gardens at the Palace at Soestdijk!

 There's an art Apple display here for the Summer!

 There are 50 apples, 1 meter in diameter each!

 Now that's a lot of apple to paint!

 Great styles, great artists!

 The front !

 The back!

That was quite a nice stroll! Glad you joined me! We had the whole back garden to ourselves! Then the news of the evening, did you catch it? What  an awful start to the Summer for all those involved. Makes one really appreciate, think, take notice of, ...I'll be out in the garden reading more of "Life is verb." " Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things." - Pierce Harris

Teacups in the Garden!

 Good Morning! Isn't it great when you see an idea, talk about it with someone, and then 2 weeks later she has a solution! This someone just happens to be about 90! The idea? Instead of drilling a hole through the cup and saucer, try using one of those long stir stick things!  

 So I did!

 Then use metal piping as the stem!

 Just have to paint the stem a dark colour!

And then there is this option! Place the cups and saucers through out the flower boxes! Before I get gluing together the rest of the cups and saucers, I'll just wait to see what a bit of rain and wind and very warm weather will do to this test model! I learned that from experience! Do an outdoor all weather test before getting carried away! 30C expected Friday!

Summer in a Garden!

 Hello! Hope you had a great weekend! If you are ever in Eemnes, The Netherlands, you must visit Het Landje ! It's a private garden that is only open on certain weekends during the year! The last few weekends that Het Landje will be open this year will be on the 9th and 10th of August, the 6th and 7th  of September and the weekend of the  27th and 28th September! I visit at least once a year! Oh, yes, there are lovely places to sit through out the garden to enjoy a cup of coffee! Maybe we should go together?

 Now you see it!

 Now you don't! After waiting a few years for this Campsis, Orange trumpet flower, to grow and flower, and without any results, it was time to take the pruners to it and make room for something else! That's what you get with limited space! One time you're in, then the next minute, you're out! Plants have to have a certain something to hang around this garden! LOL!

This is Hosta 'Diana Remembered' . One of the newest in my collection! It has scented flowers! There is a great list here ! It's in Dutch! You just have to scroll down, past 'Rijkbloeiende'  Hostas to 'Geurende' Hostas! There are quite a few which I don't have! Good thing there are still a few more Hosta and plant activities this Summer! Join me on a plant adventure?

Life is a verb!

 Hello! So good to see you! Join me for tea/coffee? 

"In everyones life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.

It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another

 human being. We should all be thankful for those people

 who rekindle the inner spirit." - Albert Schweitzer

 We had 5 mm rain last night!

 Time to enjoy rain fresh cut flowers!

"...with an eye made quiet by the power

of harmony, and the deep power of joy,

we see into the life of things." 

- W. Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey 

 This plant seems to taste great this year! 

A great companion plant for Hostas!

 This is what I found this morning!

And it's not the first batch of the year on this plant!

They haven't yet made it as high as the flower buds! 

"Celebrate what you want to see more of!" T. Peters

Enjoy your evening! Until next time, 

Then it's 26C!

 Hi! 26C today! What a sweaty day out in the garden! Did you enjoy all that rain the last 2 days? I sure did! Let's take a look in the garden! The Hibiscus is already flowering!

 It's only the beginning of July and

 the Lavender has finished blooming! 

 Summer Daisies!

 Echinacea, Cone flower, has started showing its colours!

 And this? I feel like I just weeded here! So now, I thought I'd do a test, with cleaning vinegar and weeds, that I've heard so much about! I sprayed undiluted cleaning vinegar(schoonmaakazijn) over the weeds. Now I wait to see what happens!  Maybe at 26C the results will be quicker?

I enjoyed a last minute, surprising trip to Amsterdam yesterday! A visit to Artis, including the butterfly garden and the Aquarium, and a stroll through the charming streets full of plant surprises was great fun! Thanks!