Our Niece Graduates...and Slices of Garden Life

Our niece Erica, who I home schooled through the first grade, has officially graduated from Bearden High School, as of yesterday evening. This was extra special to me, almost as special as my own kids' graduations, since I - with her momma's assistance - taught her to read, and write her first letters and numbers, and add and subtract numbers through 10. Once she started public school in the second grade, I had her every summer after that, until she was old enough to be home on her own.

I hope that gives you enough background. She's like my own.

The graduation was held at the venerable Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Basketball Vols play...
...and win lots of championships, particularly those Lady Vols...

All the seniors...

...the commencement speaker, talking about the fact that we are not our abilities, rather we are the sum total of our choices!

That's our girl, our niece, walking off the platform after getting her diploma. She's just to the right of the white flowers, there...(and oh. my. word. Jesus wants me to have a zoom lens. Amen.)

And, just now, I realized that I hadn't shared my garden pics with you yet, this year. Perish that thought! So I threw the Nikon strap around my neck and got busy...just now...as in, like, ten minutes ago...
Some of the basil coming up...we live for pesto in the summer.

The "salad pot"...lettuce, grown from seed weeks ago, finally ready to eat, and a tomato plant tucked in, after some other lettuce was done...

More of the lettuce...

Tomatoes (and we have a big patch of heirloom cherry tomatoes coming up at the side of our house...they originated in the garden of our elderly neighbor's mother, years ago, and he gave us some little starter plants about three years ago. I let them go to seed at the very end of the season, every year. The following spring, they come back. Effortless.)


Oregano, chives, and thyme...the oregano and thyme will get really bushy, and take over this planter in about a month to six weeks...


More 'maters....cause we're bruschetta fiends.

My pots of petunias in the front...always petunias. This has to make the 8th year?? At least?


Several pots of this n' that, here and there.

This is our vintage Radio Flyer wagon (it once belonged to our elderly neighbor's grown daughter...a woman older than me.)


The firepit. Come by sometime, and sit with us, right here. We'll break out the guitar and a glass of whatever blows your dress up.

Another pot...not as full as I'd like it to look. There just wasn't as much money in the budget for plants this year. (As always, keepin' it real. So many in blogland don't do that. I always will. Promise. It isn't Utopia here...) But this pot will fill out, eventually. Usually, I'd have two in it, so it looks fuller, right from the very start.

And there's several pots still sitting empty. I'm going to plant some things from seed in them. Talk about NOT your instant gratification. That's what $4 a gallon gas, higher taxes, higher food bills, and more expenses in general, will do to your garden.

You, girlfriend (or sir...I know I have some guy readers, and you are absolute dolls to put up with me!) are not alone. I'm even thinking about starting a regular weekly post on economizing - with real life examples, recipes, and just stuff that we do around here when the belt needs tightening.

There's nothing to really show you yet, with the Kentucky Runner pole beans. Hopefully soon I will have some sprouts to show you, because I dearly love me a mess of beans.

Have a blessed weekend.