Dog nap afternoon

Last weekend we had some sunny patches, and it came in at just the right place so the dogs could enjoy it during their afternoon naps.

Brodie and Logan sleeping on a sunny afternoon

In the photo above, you can see Brodie’s funny habit of stretching his legs straight out while he sleeps. You’d think he’d relax enough to let them go.

Of course when I went over to take photos Logan perked up a little. She’s still hanging in there, though this week has been rough for her. She doesn’t have too many days left, I don’t think. All the more reason to spoil her while we can.

Logan

You can really see the Cushing’s showing in her skull now – the shape of her head has definitely changed. You can also see her spine standing out in this shot. Look at those lovely eyes, though. She’s such a good girl.

Logan

And, so we don’t end on such a downer note, here’s Brodie again. You can’t see it, but he was totally sawing logs when I took this shot.

Brodie sleeping

the sun is warm

And it finally came out for real today! It’s been raining and/or chilly for what feels like ages so I was really happy to see the sun full-on shining today. When I went for my lunchtime walk it was 70 with 5mph winds, so it felt glorious! I actually had to keep my walk pretty short because I wasn’t wearing uberstrength SPF and didn’t want to tempt fate.

The gardens have been happy for all the rain, but they also seemed pleased at today’s warmth and rays.

The other day I went out to empty our countertop food waste bin and noticed that something is sprouting right out of the compost bin!

something volunteering from within the compost bin

This looks pretty similar to some of the volunteers that have sprouted in the raised bed closest to this bin. I’m thinking maybe cucumbers, or zucchini? I’ll probably pull these out as carefully as I can and transplant them into the bed.

Some of the plants in the ornamental gardens are looking ready to bloom any day now.

Dutch Iris (Mixed) in the driveway-side bed:

Iris buds

Mystery plant in the garage-side bed in the back yard:

unidentified plant

Woodland Sage AKA Salvia ‘Plumosa’:

Woodland Sage

Bellflower ‘Ivory Peach’:

Bellflower 'Ivory Peach'

Dalmation Bellflower:

Dalmation Bellflower

Many of these are plants I put in last year after ordering them online. They were super tiny and didn’t really do much last year, so it’ll be exciting to see them actually bloom this year.

Speaking of things I haven’t seen bloom before, I got a ton of Pink Hardy Gloxinia on clearance last year, after it was past its bloom. Now it’s starting to get going:

Pink Hardy Gloxinia

It’s got teeth!

It's got teeth!

I’m a bit concerned about this Black Hollyhock in the front yard. It is clearly not happy, but I’m not sure what the problem is. Too much sun? Bugs? Virus?

something is killing my Black Hollyhock

something is killing my Black Hollyhock

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

More photos on Flickr.