Garden 2013 and Stuff

Let me just say that this milder summer weather and regular rain we've had this season has done wonders for my garden areas.  My camera did not capture the beauty of my butterfly garden but this photo was taken 3 weeks ago and it is just as beautiful today as it was back then.  Everything just keeps blooming!

I love zinnias so planted a small area of them in the herb garden.  I've been cutting flowers every few days to place in vases around the house and give to people I visit.  I just LOVE these flowers!!  Next year I'm going to plant two seed packets instead of one.

This is the rest of the herb garden.  I've harvested dill, sage and basil so far.  I still have to harvest savory, rosemary, thyme and parsley.  It's all growing so good!

And this....this little calla lily I planted about two years ago along with about a dozen others in the past 4-5 years.  They never would come back up for me so I decided it is just not a flower I can work with but all of a sudden, this year I see this one little flower blooming!  It is a sign of hope. ha ha!!  I hope it will slowly multiply and I'll have more next year.  My friend can grow these things like nobody's business but despite my green thumb I've not been so lucky.  Maybe things are changing?

Bob and I just returned from a weekend in the French Lick area for our 12 year anniversary.  We had such a nice time.  We had dinner at the Schnitzelbank in Jasper one evening, lunch at West Baden and French Lick winery and also did some wine tasting at a couple places on our way home.  We also relaxed in the pool and hot tub in our hotel.  It was so relaxing and nice to be away from home. Sure, we could try to relax at home but there's always something going on or I'll see something that needs to be cleaned and end up doing that instead.  I just feel like a person cannot truly be "off" from their regular life unless they leave home for a couple days.  We love to travel and are blessed to have the means to do something like this every once in a while.  We might try to take another weekend break from home later this year since we won't be taking a major vacation until sometime next year due to saving up $$$college money$$$.   I'm hoping the leaves this autumn will be bursting with color due to the great weather we've had so far this summer.  I'd love to drive back to the French Lick area again in October to see the leaves change and pick up some more wine at the winery ;)