Eating from the backyard...

I should first apologize to all those I owe return visits and comments too...We had a tummy bug hit the house, so everything has been sadly neglected...It started Saturday afternoon on the way to a friends wedding when Sara threw-up all over herself in the back of the car...Needless to say we did not actually make it to the wedding...or church Sunday morning...lots of fluids and culturelle later she was well enough to return to Daycare Monday...Tuesday involved a trip to a specialist in the city to discuss her up coming surgery (Aug 25th)..After seeing the Dr we stopped by the book store and then on to the Mall for lunch at the food court and a couple hours window shopping and playing in the kiddies playground....I returned home exhausted but thought it was just from the days activities and a few sleepless nights taking care of Sara...Nope...wrong...In the wee hours of Wed morning the tummy bug hit me...Thank goodness it waited until then though, because it was hubbies day off Wed. He did the daycare runs to and from, as well as took care of dinner last night while I slept most of the day...I am still feeling delicate today but better than yesterday...

What has this got to do with eating from my backyard you ask...Well both are about being neglected...Though I think the backyard wins being more neglected than my blogging lol.

I am really enjoying seeing all the baby Cardinals at the feeders when I look out thru the French doors...So much so I had not noticed until I grabbed my camera to photograph them, how neglected the backyard is look...

The pear tree is loaded, so much so it has lost a couple of branches, one is still laying on the ground below the tree, fallen fruit also litters the ground...My chickens love coming in to forage here...The sunflowers below the trees are spent and weeds from the spilt birdseeds are taking over...

But the fruit on the tree is looking lovely...

Hubby transplanted the banana tree from the old place into this pot...it grew much quicker than we anticipated...Need to get a bigger pot SOON...

And then we have the overgrown herb/fairy garden...The only time I get out here atm is to grab a few sprigs while cooking and then dart back inside before I burn the food I am cooking...oops..

The Basil is doing great...I already harvested 3 large freezer bags of basil from the front garden, and a good amount of seeds...Will soon be time to harvest this one too...

Wave 2 of the tomatoes is coming in well, getting lots of blooms and even some small fruit..These are the Heirloom tomatoes I transplanted from the front garden...

The Dill has gone to seed, so I need to harvest some pods today...This was great not just for cooking but attracting the Black Swallowtail Butterflies...See the POST HERE for the full life cycle we witnessed thanks to this plant...

Time to harvest some Sage to freeze...I made some pumpkin soup the other day and used some of the Sage in it...OMG DIVINE

Hiding in the back behind a mountain of mint is one of my favorite garden statues...She used to be a water fountain and I painted her yrs ago...now her pump is lost and after continually being knocked into the pond by the dog her paint chipped, but I think she looks even cuter this way.

Thank you for touring my overgrown neglected back yard garden with me..

Blessings Kelsie

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Butterflies in my garden...

This year we have been blessed with an abundance of butterflies...

Following butterfly images taken from my 2011 photo archives.

Black Swallowtail

Painted Lady?

Large Eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail (Male)

Gulf Fritillary

Three in a row - Unknown, Zebra Striped Swallowtail, Painted Lady

Red Admiral Butterfly, Vanessa atalanta

Zebra Striped Swallowtail


Largely due I am sure to the size of my 5 butterfly bushes that reached over 7 feet tall and have been blooming steadily since February...

Images from here down taken today..
This week I did cut 2 of them back to about 2ft hoping they will thicken up as they are all starting to look very spindly...I adore the fragrance of these blooms, smells like a beehive...yum

Cutting back 2 of the bushes has not cut back the number of butterflies visiting...These are not my best butterfly photos simply because once again the Large Eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail proves to be a very flighty subject...This time a smaller female (or at least this is my guess as she barely sits still long enough for a good look at her open wings)...Most of our other butterflies are lazier and just drift from bloom to bloom ignoring myself and my camera.

Started from seeds sent to me by my Mother-in-law this white Wisteria is show a lot of growth over the last week or so...I might have to wait until next year to see it bloom..

Also from my Mother-in-law, the Black-eyed Susan is beginning to show buds...I am delighted since I was sure it would be next season before I got flowers.

My box of cheap mixed flowers are still going strong, a little too strong, my poor rose bushes have been lost in here and are just not getting enough light, as soon as I have time when it is not sweltering hot, I will go and rescue the roses and put them else where...

And talking of roses, I had to share this lovely pink knockout rose with yall...It really seems to be loving it's home in the suitcase planter...

Now I am off to sit on the porch with my camera and wait for the lady butterfly to return.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing this post for the following parties:
Blooming Tuesday @ http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Garden Party @ http://www.anoregoncottage.com/
Outdoor Wednesday @ http://www.asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/
Cottage Flora Thursday @ http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/
Flaunt Your Flowers/ Fertilizer Friday @ http://www.tootsietime.com/

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

We awoke this morning to find our butterfly had emerged from the Chrysalis and drying its wings...

I gently moved the entire jar, dill branch and butterfly to the breakfast bar to get a better photo of those beautiful wings..

Lil Sara thought it was very pretty but did not like it when it crawled up her arm...I tried to take a photo of it on her but it was not good..

Just a couple of hours after we got up and it was ready to fly away...I opened the french doors and bid our butterfly fair-de-well...I am sure we will see him again around the garden with all the other butterflies..

It was such a delight to happen upon him as a big fat caterpillar and amazing to find him again the next day tucked away in his Chrysalis...and here we are just 10 short days later and the wonders of nature are revealed before our eyes...

Blessings Kelsie

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