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Monday, July 3, 2017

June in the Foothills

Hello from the hills of Tennessee!

I've been doing my usual watching-things-grow routine and collecting the harvest.
There are no ripe tomatoes yet, but we have lots of green for fried green tomatoes. These are the Heirloom Beefsteak variety.

Bee-balm.

When we bought our place there were five holly trees posing as bushes in front of the house.  They required a lot of trimming to keep them in check and had outgrown their space so Goodman cut them down then dug out the stumps.

We replaced the holly trees with Peach Drift Roses.   If you're not familiar with them, Drift Roses are used to fill in lateral garden spaces.  There are different colors, but this one is the only variety that has a rose scent.  And what would a rose be without the fragrance?   (Someone else's, not mine ;)

Lavender from some new plants that have deeper color but less scent than a variety I've had for years. I planted the lavender behind the roses.  I have to say it's a relief not having to trim those holly bushes this year. 

I made a few more project bags for needlework projects.  They're great to have on hand for gifts, too.

Goodman loves a good salad and likes to see all the ingredients at a glance.

I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day Celebration.   General Washington and his men crossing the Delaware River in December 1776 - Liberty Blue platter.

16 comments:

  1. Hello, your flowers are beautiful. I love the roses, they are a pretty color. The salad and tomatoes look delicious. Pretty platter!
    Happy Monday, enjoy your day and new week ahead. Wishing you and your family a very Happy 4th of July!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen! I hope you had a great 4th of July, also.

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    2. Stopping back to wish you a good weekend. And thanks for visiting my post and for the comment.

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  2. I do love to see holly bushes/trees, but they do get big. It would take some planning to put them in the right place. Your roses and lavender will make pretty replacements for the too-big holly bushes. My mouth was literally watering over that salad picture. The bag is gorgeous! And that platter is a treasure. Happy Fourth, my friend.

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    1. Hi Linda! The platter is part of a set of dishes that were released in grocery stores in 1976, but I didn't know they existed until the late 90s when a fellow re-enactor at a historical site in Knoxville showed me a few she had collected. I was enthralled to say the least. I'm a blue dish fanatic, and the variety ofhistorical depictions on the different pieces sent them over the moon for me. I had the best time collecting thirteen place settings, and I have most of the serving pieces. (I'm hopeless when it comes to blue dishes.:)

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  3. Your photos are beautiful. I like the salad, too.

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    1. Thank you, Brenda! That salad was really good; I had a smaller version of it myself.

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  4. I love the replacements for the holly bushes! I've not seen a drift rose before but this is lovely...and then to have the lavender in behind it! Oh my goodness! It will certainly smell wonderful as you walk by them.

    The salad looks amazing! I hope you had a lovely Independence Day celebration!

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  5. Thank you, Dianna! We're already enjoying the scent of those roses, they're prolific bloomers from May until frost which is October in my area. Thanks for stopping by. :)

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  6. How wonderful that you will have roses now, they are beautiful! And that salad really looks amazing! I love your blue platter with its historic picture on it, I'm sure you must have a lovely collection :) Enjoy the summer!

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  7. A beautiful piece of paradise :)
    I can't wait for our tomatoes to get that big :)

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  8. Hello, Toni! I've missed you! I haven't been much on the blog for almost a year, except for 3 or 4 posts more recently. Needed to reevaluate how I spend time and what is most important! Just wanted to say 'Hay, there", let you know you have been an encouragement to me and say thank you! God bless you!

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  9. I love your beautiful flowers. I hope you are well and enjoying summer and the fresh vegetables.

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  10. I hope you were able to see the eclipse. Was it a total solar eclipse? It was an awesome event here.

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Thank you for your comments!