Strawberries oh yum and strawberry jam for canning

It's that time of year again, tons of strawberries so we make strawberry jam, I also freeze a bunch of them as well as let the neighbors pick too

 just look at these beauties!

there would have been more, but of course we ate a "few" when we were picking

oh yes, just look at that strawberry jam!! I made little labels for the ones I am giving away as gifts

 oops a bit much flash on that photo

there, that's better, look how pretty with those labels :)

REMIND ME TO GIVE YOU THE RECIPE NEXT TIME

 just look at all those jars of goodness! waiting for them to seal so we can label and put away, and then after a hard day of canning, it's break time, down to the family pond!

 think they are tired of me and the camera yet? just look at them faces LOL

oh well, that is just what I do, love snapping photos HA

so peaceful and pretty, it's an old gravel pit, one acre we love it down here!

Old found rosebush is blooming

My old found rosebushes are blooming, I got this rose bush from my mother, who had gotten it from her mother, we are not sure where it came from before that or even it's name, but this rose, well you know its about to burst open before it does because it smells soo good, then it opens and POW in your face, loaded with tons of blossoms with a bazillion petals, when I was a kid, my sister and brother and I used to grab off the nearly done roses and bomb each other with them, there would be petals everywhere! we smelled good though HA HA

they are fading and dropping, just like when we were kids and would torment each other with them

I found my photo from 2005 so you can see how bright they are when they first open, its not the best photo because my camera wasn't very good then and trying to blow it up didn't help

oh well, will just have to keep watch and get more good new photos of it up close

geesh, I opened up the bathroom window cuz it's such a prety day, and there lays Scooter, she is dead to the world, I had to get my camera, but she really is just having a very good sleep, scared me for sure though when I first seen her

 planter on front deck is starting to fill in

 my rocks are finally all done around the fish pond

 dirty birds, they love sitting on the hand railing and the pond, they get lots of drinks in there

strawberry patch in front by the railroad ties have really taken over, started with 12 plants, the rows behind them are all potatoes, then I have beans on the right fence

 white peony

 I do know all the names for these but at present don't remember them

 such pretty flowers and huge

 this clematis is stunning

hanging on my back door, nobody uses the front door here, everyone comes to the back kitchen door :)

Picket fence in the new strip flower bed

I had been watching the culled lumber rack at work, waiting for some piece of fencing to get thrown on the pile for discount so I could snatch them up, had a gal who works in that area keep an eye out for me too, finally, Linda said "I got just what you wanted" YIPPEEEEEEEEEE

 you can see near the bottom under the bird house one of those pieces is of the fence is cracked and broken, I used those green metal fence t-posts to see if I like it where I put it before we use lumber to secure it in there good - also I still don't have the grass removed in front of the fence to put gravel down, this will be the new parking overflow area, and the native dogwood cornus alternifolia Green Osier/Pagoda dogwood, well I just love it, when it blooms, it has lovely clusters of white flowers in late spring, as they ripen they turn from a stark white berry to a gorgeous "metallic" looking blue berry.

I like it, part of the reason why this fence is here is everyone thought that the front yard was ok to just drive up into and around the end of the house, or if we were on the new deck they would drive up there and park and talk to us from their vehicle, hmmm so without being rude to the neighbors, I decided to fix it this way and keep the peace HA I didn't want to hurt feelings

 mums are starting to come up in my fall planters

 I don't know who dug this one up, the dog or the cats?

 some planters I filled with some color, can't wait until they grow up and fill in and look pretty

 that herb planter hubby built me, got some pretties in it too

 the pond water lilies and things are starting to grow pretty too

 this little spot we put railroad ties around awhile back, have it all ready, this year I think I will put the sweet taters in there 

 Hosta are needing to be split and to the right of them are some little dogwood shrubs (Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood cornus sericea "Kelseyii" they were a spring special for $3.33 per gallon pot, I have 3 of them, but they are spreading and getting so big I will soon have to be moving them, and the little tree I put in right there with the rock at it's base, that is another dogwood I transplanted from the woods, the big curved trunk is also a dogwood that I feel is just about on it's last legs, I have trimmed it up and gotten rid of the old dead wood hoping to save it, but in case I can't then at least I have a new baby planted already

 hubby also got his way with the new front deck railing, there is his rope stretched all across the front, well it hangs a little bit but when it rains and gets wet, it stretches real tight and straight across LOL

(*yes Donna those are Christmas lights strung there still HA HA)

welcome little wrens, this was one of my grandmother's wren boxes, I just cleaned it all up and repaired the roof that has fallen off, will be putting out in tree soon as they absolutely love this type of nest box, so I make sure to keep one in my book of patterns for bird houses to make when I need to :)

Root cellar gets more shelving

Root cellar gets more shelving

 finally got the last small area of shelving done, looking in door straight ahead

 he didn't extend this all the way to the wall, he wants an area left so we have some stacking area for the boxes of canning jars

 standing back there by the shower 

and the man cave wall cabinets get some of their shelves, still working on these

Grass coming in nice and flowers blooming

Been another week, but the time has really added some pretty blooms to the gardens

 poor little walkway is starting to overflow with seedlings I will be digging out to move

 my rose bush is starting to bud nicely, won't be long and it will be bursting open and they smell awesome

the upper flower strip bed behind railroad ties are even filling in so pretty and some iris have started blooming

 iris down by the road strip

 that orange azalia from West Virgina is blooming, hate to cut it out when it still blooms

 more iris and buttercups, lenten rose blooming

 white blooming shrub in center is pyracantha 

 got some purple columbine mixed with the hosta, rose bush and clematis

 such a pretty white clematis, this is one I got with my birthday gift certificate Donna if you see this, well all these clematis are, thanks!

 side yard filling in ok

 just another angle on the new strip bed, still have to find that fence to put in there

 i guess this would be the view the cat sees HAR

view out my front window - happy camper here!