These aren't really my creations...

...they are far more incredible than what I can create.

I love spending time in my yard in the summer. We were blessed to buy a house with a beautiful, established yard. When we bought the house in the dead of winter, we had no idea that we were going to be in for such a treat in the spring. This spring was even better than last year, and here is where maybe I can take a little credit, I took really good care of all the flower gardens last year, fed them and weeded them. This year, because I knew what we had and were, I was able to take better care of the gardens in the spring time. My work has paid off, our yard is even more incredible than last year.

This is my favorite flower in my whole garden


Sure I have other gorgeous flowers like these


or these


But this....

...this is my favorite. A simple yellow long stem rose with just a hint of orange on the edge of the petals. It is so perfect. It smells so sweet. It thrills me to see it bloom, and saddens me when the last petal falls.

Last year this rose "bush" only produced on incredibly gorgeous flower, this year looks to be the same. I am far from an expert on roses, I would love to have this rose make more flowers, so if anybody knows anything, I would love to hear it.

I also look forward to these ripening!

Can anybody say raspberry jam?

Last year we only got enough to sample every other day. This year? Well, we may have more that I can keep up with! I am so excited! I'll let you know if I get tired of raspberries, though that is really very unlikely.

In other news....

What do you think my cats have been up to?Poor birdie!