Cousins...

Bailey came home from the hospital on Saturday and Brooklyn and her mommy and daddy drove down from Duluth to meet her. Of course Grandma couldn't resist getting them matching outfits for the two little cousins first time together.

Bailey thought the photo shoot wasn't very fun so we'll try again another time :)

She's here!

Introducing our newest little family member...Bailey Evelyn!

7 lbs 5 oz of pure joy in a 20 1/2 inch package of love. We are so excited for our son, Nathan & daughter-in-law, Tammy as they welcomed their new little daughter into the world last night. Grandma & Grandpa got to hold her within 1/2 hour of birth and she is just the most precious little baby, alert & checking out all the members of her family with curious eyes.

I'm sure the "garden of life" part of this blog will showcase many more photos in the days to come.

garden tour...part one

Welcome to my gardens! I'm watering today and you will see the hoses I'm dragging around in these photos but that's keeping it real :) First up is the front landscape garden...

followed by the rose garden alongside the driveway.

another view of the rose garden with my faithful garden helper waiting to help in the ranger. The roses are past prime but the rooguchi clematis is really putting on a show.

Next, we peek at the side of the garage...

before heading over to the barn.

While circling the barn we see my shady rest spot and...

the back of the barn.

One more stop in the front of the barn to show how beautifully John Huxtable is blooming right now.

Our first view of the backyard from the barnyard.

Parts two and three coming up!

garden tour...part two

Continuing our garden tour we get our first glimpse of the backyard as we enter from the sidewalk.

On our right we see Pine Hollow, the fairy garden located under the elegant Pine Lady.

I just love my tiny fairy sized hostas.

A view of the hummingbird garden located alongside the patio.

Next we take in the views over the bridge...

and take the path towards the cabin.

At the cabin, we turn and head towards the back arbor...

where we stop and take a quick look back.

Next, we head up the path towards the bridge...

where we can view the center of the garden as well as...

back towards the arbor.

Part 3 is next!

garden tour...part three

We continue our garden tour with this third and final post by heading down the path to the clematis gazebo.

As we leave the gazebo and look across the dry creek bed we see how disease has affected by garden this year. In this butterfly garden which was filled with lilies and phlox, the phlox have all died or are extremely stunted and brown.

Passing the butterfly garden we come to the red door garden before heading up...

to the west arbor and...

following the path alongside the back of the house leading back to the bridge and patio.

I hope you have enjoyed the garden tour as well...

as a few mosaics of random shots.

I have been so discouraged by the poor garden I have this year that I needed this tour to let me spot some random shots of beauty. Aster yellows have taken over my purple coneflowers (which amount to 30-40% of my flowers) and I have been digging them out and loading up the ranger to bring them to a burn area. Yesterday, Hershey and I dug up 6 ranger loads full and I still have more areas to dig! This year, all my daylilies have yellowed and some have died - the master gardeners in our area say it is because of our mild winter too many pathogens in the soil survived. Some of my other varieties of lilies have also been sickened including the tangoes. The leaves become bronze and they die back without blooming. I've already mentioned how all my beautiful phlox varieties are also being sickened. I miss those bright spots of color the most and I had built up my collection to hot pinks, purples, whites & orange. Are any other MN gardeners facing the same problems?

mosaic Monday...backyard birds

The heat wave we have been experiencing here in MN has brought lots of birds to the rock and pond this weekend. This indigo bunting was a favorite visitor as well as the common yellowthroat below.

The flicker frequently comes for a drink but I rarely see one actually take a bath.

The most common visitors to the rock is the robins (not pictured today) but tied for second would be the goldfinches & baltimore orioles.

I also spotted a male rose breasted grosbeak this am but the sunlight reflecting on my dirty windows made a photo impossible and he flew away when I opened the door.

feathered friends...

With the heatwave we have been having I have seen several birds that haven't been in the backyard for quite awhile. First up is a female red breasted grosbeak, they only come to the feeders and rock fountain in early spring and fall migration so I was surprised to see this gal.

Cardinals are a rarity in my garden but this male stuck around for one day to refuel and cool off under a sprinkler I was running.

The orioles have been frequenting the rock more than usual including this male orchard oriole...

and the new red chandelier feeder has been a hit with all the birds including the cardinal, I just wasn't fast enough with the camera :)

full moon fireworks...

Happy 4th of July! It is HOT here in central MN so we are choosing to spend our day in air conditioning but did take in a wonderful fireworks show last night. Since most shots were hard to shoot without the full moon in the background, I decided to make the best of it and call the following video (my first via Picasa) "full moon fireworks". Enjoy!

July is finally here...

and that means in a few short weeks we will welcome our second granddaughter, Bailey, into our family! Yeah! Since I haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks, I thought I would share a little of what I have been doing. First off I spent lots of time with little Miss Brooklyn - including one night in a hotel and bringing her back to my house for a few days while her parents fought to save and cleaned up after flooding around her house.

After helping out with Brooklyn, Jeff & I spent a weekend helping Jayme and Scott clean up some of the flood debris and basement repair before heading back home where I started preparing for 2 garden parties I held last week. The first thing I did was weed the gardens and craft a new bird feeder out of an old chandelier and some dollar store ramekins.

One of the garden tea parties I hosted was one donated and sold at a benefit for Justin back in January 2011 and was rescheduled for this summer after a couple of date conflicts last summer. I wanted it extra special for the generous buyer so my sister, Tammie and niece, Rachel came and helped the day before and the day of the parties. We created 24 food items and 4 different beverages and served the afternoon tea in 6 courses. Since so much food was created we invited 13 of Justin's family members over for a second party that evening. Pictured below is a sampling of the food, I was so busy I forgot to take photos of many of the items served.

After all the parties, I spent a full day in the office and then spent time at the sewing machine making Brooklyn a holiday ruffled skirt for her first vacation this coming week. Jayme found a tutorial online and asked if I could make it and the skirt turned out so easy that grandma will be sewing many more ruffled skirts soon.

Finally this weekend arrived and it was time for a little relaxation so J & I enjoyed a great camping weekend along with attending a friends wedding.

July is a less busy month so I look forward to more blogging and I know once little Bailey arrives this Grandma will be sharing her as well!