Ooooh, It's the Middle of July Already

 A catch-up post long in length and photo heavy - apologies up front.

First a couple of birthday cards recently sent.  One freshly made and the other from my stash.  In case you're wondering, the bee card is new.  I've seen a lot of bee motifs around lately.  $Tree has/had some pretty dinnerware with bees that tempted me but I left them for someone else. 

This card was done quite a while ago and was in a box of cards that I had done for Teapot Tuesday many years ago before they were dedicating them to a particular person.  I knew it would be perfect for someone who loves pink and tea.  

Our daughter and SIL celebrated their 3rd anniversary this month and are actually going to have their second wedding, or wedding reenactment next month since it had been postponed due to the Covid restrictions on their original date.

HWNSNBP and our SIL did some surf fishing when they came to visit from Delaware and caught several sharks.....which they sent back into the ocean to get even bigger.

The full moon on July 3rd.

And Maverick painting a flag sun catcher for the 4th of July at the condo.  He is so careful for a 4-year-old.  He may have not followed the pattern, but he kept the paint in the stripes.

Grandma got to spend a lot of time with Beckham when the rest went to have fun in the condo pool.

Back home, our lavender is going crazy.  The cleome volunteers show up in many places in the yard and I let most of them stay where they bloom like here in with the lavender.

A tub full of dill to hopefully lure some swallowtails to lay their eggs and feed the caterpillars which will in turn become butterflies I hope.

HWNSNBP built "tomato cages" for us and our daughter and daughter-in-law.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the month.  The plants are now almost to the top of the cage and a bit crowded so we already know that next year there should only be one in the cage and not two.  He basically did this because they were having problems with squirrels and we with the deer eating the tomatoes.  Usually we just put some wire fencing around ours but HWNSNBP had this idea that grew and grew and, well, you see what it came to.  (I love that he wants to do these projects but sometimes he tends to go overboard.  I've been trying to get him to make a simple plant hanger for me.  We bought a beautiful hanging plant on sale and he says it's too heavy for the bird tree branches so I drew a plan for a hanger that can be added to the pole with the worm feeder on it for him to make.  Something simple that is getting turned into a weeks-long project.  I'm just hoping the plant doesn't die before it gets done.

Finally caught a rainbow on the way home from some errands.

The reflection of the trees in our backyard pool.

Rachel's bridal shower....it was a small gathering that her bridesmaids put together for her and they did a wonderful job.  She was so happy with everything.  

Dad brought the boys and HWNSNBP at the end when things were coming to an end.

I loved the floral arrangements that her friend put together.  Notice the little pineapples - she loves the pineapple motif.  Don't be surprised if we see that again soon.

On the way home to Branchburg we got behind this bus.

The next day we got to see GS1 and his parents.  He's happy those teeth are coming in.

It is cherry season and it wouldn't be complete without a picture of my favorites!

My strawberry pink hydrangea is turning blue, which is okay with me, but I did love the strawberry color too when we got it.

More voluteer cleome.  At dusk we have the solar fairy lights around the bird tree that light up.

And here's another fun vehicle we got behind in our travels.  

I'm still doing my ICAD's and will be back with a post on that and somemore soon.