rain?

Maybe because we still occasionally mist a little cedar oil around the entrance to the farmhouse. Or maybe it's that I keep the area well trimmed. Or maybe it's that once they found better digs, our mosquitoes decided to set up shop elsewhere. For whatever reason -- we have far fewer bugs around the farmette structures than, say, out in the open fields.

So that when I stood at dawn, admiring the sunrise (yes, yet again Ed slept through the cheepers' wake up and release hour), I was sufficiently bothered by mosquitoes there, that I did not linger.






I did some spot pruning early in the day, but not a lot. I worried that I would have to water the remaining flower beds later on and so I held back on gardening. To conserve enthusiasm for it.

Everything is so dry and the forecasters tell us that we only have a slight chance for rain -- today, if at all. Though in general, I rather love working in the garden, it does suck up the hours of a day rather quickly and I do want to move on to other projects. I've been stuck on the same routines since I've come back from Europe and everything else is growing cobwebs and collecting dust balls.

What morning photos do I have? Let me start with this little group: it's as if the wild and free has a close encounter with the elegant and sublime!






In general, it's been too cool this year for a boisterous lavender crop, but the plants are still trying to keep their spirits and stalks up. Take a look at the bushes that line the driveway:






This is a small bed that I completely neglect on Ocean (it's not as photogenic as the ones facing the courtyard) but it is one that everyone sees when they come to the farmhouse. In addition to the lavender, there are these guys:






One more note on the morning activities at the farmette: the white hen has recovered! She is laying again and her appetite and energy level have returned!






Phew! Enough wondering around outside. Breakfast time!






And later, there's a lucky break: the thin band of thundershowers passing over the state today? It comes straight at us and we have a nice, prolonged dousing of the farmette lands from above, without human intervention!

The cheepers don't like it and the mosquitoes probably view it as an opportunity to massively reproduce, but I am happy that we have added some nourishment to all things bright and beautiful. Even if it all looks a bit damp and gray for the afternoon. (As seen from the porch just now.)