Together Again

This was Weasley last week.

Cute, but kind of sad. But now, Ginny has started doing more of this.

So, the two of them are able to spend middle-of-the-day time together again.

Much better. We are still keeping Ginny separate at prime eating times, so we can monitor her. She needs to gain back a lot of weight.  But, they both are much happier now. And no, I don't make them stay on that little blue rug all afternoon. It's just what they like to do. I guess they can supervise all household activities from there, without needing to move much!

Friday In The Garden

It has been a week since I have touched the computer. I am almost afraid to check my e-mail and reader! Second Daughter and I came back late Tuesday from visiting colleges in Maine (don't think she's any closer to narrowing that search down yet), and the rest of the week has been spent playing catch-up. The dental work seems to be helping Ginny, and she is slowly starting to eat again. She has even shown some interest in Weasley the past two days, which has made him happier.

As for the garden, this week has been mostly about the blackberries.

They look so innocent, don't they?

When we returned from our travels. we found that First Daughter had picked some, and made a very tasty pie. She is the pie lady in this house.

But there were more berries left, and in the next twenty four hours, we picked even more.

So I made some jam.

And then I made our favorite blackberry cheesecake, with blackberry sauce.

You can click this link for the Very Berry Cheesecake recipe. I use blackberry brandy instead of the cherry that is called for in the ingredients list. I also use lite vanilla wafers, lite cream cheese, and lite cottage cheese, and pretend that this makes it a healthy recipe!  By the way, this is one of those foods that is better the second day, if it lasts that long!

I also made a fruit salad with mostly blackberries, and froze three quarts of berries.This is our first year with a freezer, and I am very happy to not be canning quarts of blackberries this year!

Have a very happy weekend everybun, and I hope your gardens are also being fruitful. I promise to answer e-mail tomorrow, and start catching up with what everyone out there in blogland has been doing this week.

Another Late Friday In The Garden

Yesterday was crazy. Ginny had her dental work done, and came through it OK. She is eating some greens now, and I was told she has eaten some hay (haven't seen it myself). Unfortunately, this vet decided she couldn't do anything about the lump on her lip. She does, however, think that the Boston vet may be able to. First we have to fatten her back up, though (Ginny, not the vet).

Then I took First Daughter to her riding lesson, where this guy, named Dart, tried to eat my sketch book. It now has horse slobber on it. 

Then we went to Sturbridge Village to pick up a friend of First Daughter for a weekend visit, back home for a quick walk in the garden, off across town to pick up another friend arriving on a bus, home to feed them veggies from the farm that Second Daughter is working at, and watch some spectacular lightening. The lightening storm caused them to abandon plans for walking to the ice cream store, so I took them to the grocery to buy ice cream. I left them arguing about who could be Jo, Amy, Meg (but not Beth), and since they are not awake yet, I assume that went on for awhile. Today we will visit Orchard House, Home of Louisa May Alcott.

On that quick walk in the garden, I saw that the pears are getting bigger.

The blackberries are starting to need picking.

The Laura Phlox is in full bloom. Love that color!

And it is in front of the Rose Of Sharon that is starting to blossom. This is a white, double-flowered variety.

Around here we also call it the "Dirty Handkerchief Shrub", because on the second day those beautiful, white flowers look more like dirty, crumpled tissues! Very unfortunate, but the shrub is happy here, so it stays, at least for now.

Tomorrow I am off to Maine, with Second Daughter. We are spending several days visiting colleges. See you when we get back. Have a happy weekend, everybun!

A Couple Of Works In Progress And Ginny

Here are a couple of new pieces that I am working on. They both use a sketch of a seedling, printed on fabric from my computer, and one uses some of the stamps that I have been making.

 I'm wondering if the one below needs something more in the upper right. My family is in favor of leaving negative space there, but I have difficulty not filling every spot! What do you think?

As for Miss Ginny, she goes back to the new vet again on Friday. The lump on her face has been making it hard to eat, and so now her teeth need work. They will put her out to do this, and while she is out, they will check the lump more closely. The vet thinks she may be able to do something about this one on her lip, to make things easier for Ginny.  We will see how it goes. Please send some prayers and happy thoughts Ginny's way tomorrow morning. She's a little toughie, but she needs all the help she can get.

Pets On Quilts Show

There is an interesting event in the works over at  sewcalgal. She is calling it her Pets On Quilts Show, and it will happen in August. Everyone is welcome to join in. You can post a picture of a quilt with an animal in the design, or an actual animal on your quilt (dangerous around here). You can also participate by making beds or blankets for shelters, or by volunteering at a shelter. Check out the link for more information, and have fun browsing her blog, also. It's got a lot going on.

I plan to participate, but I'm going to have to buckle down and get organized. The show starts about the time we take First Daughter off to Pittsburgh for a couple of years. Its probable just going to keep getting crazier around here for the next couple of weeks.

By the way, Ginny is still holding her own. We are going to a new vet today, to see if she has anything more to offer us. I'll let you know what happens.