I went outside this morning to water the garden and saw that Rebecca's very first flower had finally bloomed. (The small white ones don't count.) She has two planters by the front door and a huge planter of sunflowers by the side of the driveway.

One of the apple trees made it. Three apples are growing on it, it has plenty of leaves, and I spray it regularly for rust. The other apple tree, not so much. It is a stick in my front yard, and I am dreading having to dig it up.

Torrential rains while we were on vacation left many of my plants slightly out of place in the raised beds. I found peas in with the squash, lettuces snuggling up against the zucchinis, and cilantro getting frisky with the eggplants. I was unamused.

I thinned out the squash, harvested the radishes, noted that the spinach had bolted and was decidedly not spinach-like, and strung up the peas on a quick-and-dirty framework of driveway reflectors and cotton twine.

One side of the backyard fence is covered with roses, honeysuckle, and grapevines. The honeysuckle bloomed a few weeks ago, and now it is the roses' turn. Rebecca regularly comes in from playing outside with flowers in her hair.

I made tzatziki Friday night with fresh herbs from my garden. It was so nice being able to wander outside and snip off what I needed without the $2.99 grocery price tag. The tomatoes and green beans in the backyard are doing nicely; hopefully the Thai basil will perform well.

I must plant ramps and garlic and shallots next year.