Tuesday, June 9, 2015

My World Tuesday & Poppy Love

Hello dear friends,

I hope you are all doing well.

I've been fairly busy as usual as I'm helping build a house and picking out paints, looking at bathroom and kitchen cabinet design, water connections, electric connections and building flower boxes to set outside the kitchen window and gaze at flowers. It is a lot of work looking for design ideas and figuring out everything from scratch on a budget.

I am also busy trying to keep my little garden growing. It has been very hot for several days.


I found this guy in the bird bath on the hottest day so far. I don't know if he was trying to get cool or if he had fallen into the water from the tree above.

My garden soil is of mixed health.  There are parts where I need to water a lot because the soil doesn't hold the water for long.  This is the area where the vegetables are planted.

There are other areas where I've over watered and see I've drowned a few anenome plants that were not that hardy.  I also have a few seedlings I started a few weeks ago that need to go into the ground but I haven't had the time or energy to plant them. Maybe tomorrow.









My vegetables are doing fairly well.  But I've discovered there are lots of tiny holes my cabbage leaves.  Last night I looked up the problem on line and see the holes are made by cabbage loopers eating the leaves. But I haven't caught any of them in the act yet and I'm not quite sure what to do about it as I don't want to use any chemicals. I will have to do a bit more research.

The petunias I planted just the other day are starting to flower already and the geraniums are doing well too.  The pansies easily wilt under the hot sun and need some good watering and deadheading on a regular basis.

I've also been busy trying to get the blood glucose under control. I have been doing my very best for years and it doesn't seem to make much difference to my average blood sugar levels which are slowly rising. The doctor now has me on another drug and I'm cautiously optimistic that it is going to work.  I should have a better idea in a few weeks time.

I made a nice Greek dinner recently just for something different. I had a rack of lamb in the freezer that I had been saving and wanted to use it before it got too old. I didn't get a good photo of the lamb but didn't much like it anyway. I prefer lamb in a stew.

Greek Salad
Roasted Greek Potatoes (garlic and lemon)
Homemade Tzadziki (cucumber) sauce & toasted pita bread
It has been a long time since I did any crafting or extensive reading. I've been trying to do both but haven't gotten very far. Hopefully I can do more of both over the coming weeks. One book I'm reading is called London by Edward Rutherford. I am at about page 700 and have about 500 more pages to read.

I went to the eye doctor for my annual check up the other day. I was relieved to discover that my eye sight had not deteriorated even more. There is a new optometrist I was booked in with. She is a young and bright doctor and gave me some new contact lens to try. They are for presbyopia and can eliminate the  need for reading glasses on top of contact lens. I'm trying them for a month and have to see her again at the end of the week to see how things are going. I think the prescription still needs a bit of tweaking.

Well that is what is going on in my world this week. I'll be by to read about your week.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday this week and I Heart Macro.



29 comments:

Janice said...

We had a bug in our bird bath this morning, too. That meal looks yummy!

Joanne Noragon said...

Our poppies lost their petals before I could photograph them. Such pretty flowers.

Debbie Harris said...

Hello, and good evening to you, dear friend!
What a fun post hearing all about your week.
Your photo of the poppy is gorgeous and that darling little bug must have been hot and in need of a cool down. :-)
I was able to plant our window box flowers today and look forward to enjoying their beauty. I have down sized with my flower gardening as each year goes by, but I will always keep the window boxes going. My knees don't allow me to get down and play in the garden like I used to.
I have never been able to grow poppies as the chipmunks eat them. They just wait for the bulb to show up them bite it off. Brats!!

It's so nice to visit, it's been awhile.
Sweet blessings to you, Debbie

My Garden Diaries said...

It sounds like you are having a lovely time in your garden! That poppy up there is beautiful!!! And your dishes up there look delicious!! So glad to hear that you got a good report from the eye doctor! Wishing you more great moments in your garden friend! Nicole xo

Inspired By June said...

My you've been busy. Sounds like the gardening is going well and that Greek salad looks yummy! Have blessed week, Penny!

Joy said...

You are a busy woman for sure. But gardening is especially when you see the fruit of your labor;)
Hope your health will get better.
Your food looks delicious!

Fun60 said...

Poppies are the most beautiful of flowers. The only way my daughter can control her blood sugar levels (she's a type 1 diabetic) is to cut out all carbs including fruit and root veggies. After years of poor control, this worked within 2 weeks. Tough diet though.

Nancy Chan said...

What a busy time you are in. Hope everything is running smoothly. We are not allowed to grow poppy plants over here. Your Greek salad and cucumber sauce look great! I am trying to control my cholesterol level with is very, very tough.

Pietro Brosio said...

Nice and delicious dishes, beautiful images!
It's very hot here in Turin, too.
Have a pleasant Wednesday!

Unknown said...

I love your poppies. They're gorgeous.

Sara - Villa Emilia said...

Hello! I hope your health will get better!
Your poppy photos are really lovely, but I must say the photos of the Greek dinner you cooked are my favourites. The salad, the potatoes, and the sauce look beautiful and really delicious. :)
Thank you for sharing and have a great day!

Jenifer Harrod said...

Loved the pictures. Greek is one of my favorite kinds of food. I have some greek ancestry. I wish I could go to Greece and experience the culture first hand. That would be fun. Thanks for sharing with me.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Your salad looks yummy. It sounds exciting to help out with a house as it becomes a home. And you keep a garden as well . You are very busy.

Anonymous said...

What lovely poppy shots.

Stephanie said...

Hello sweet Penny! My, what a stunning Poppy! I have some of those in my yard and every year my plant has only gotten larger and more beautiful, but this year it's not doing well at all so it's nice to see yours :)

Happy hugs to you!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

You have been busy aadn thatfood looks yummy. Love the Poppy.

Laura said...

The poppy is gorgeous!!!

Laura said...

Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro ♥

Mari said...

I love poppies! We haven't had good luck with them here, but we just bought a different variety, and we'll see what happens!

Cranberry Morning said...

The Greek dinner sounds good, and the salad is just my type. We had a similar salad today, and it's one of my favorites. I checked out the London book on Amazon and read the reviews. I bet it's fascinating! I'll have to put it on my list.

fabol said...

Beautiful details of the poppies! I love these fragile and yet so intense flowers! And I truly love greek food!!!
Kind regards,
Attila

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, This is just a great post. I enjoyed the flower photos, especially the macro series ... fascinating. Greek potatoes ... I must give that a try! Homemade Tzadziki sauce ... You are an inspiration! Thanks for the updates on the visit to the eye doc ... young doctors are often a source of health care optimism. Thanks for sharing all!

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Love the colorful flowers. Maybe biologic control will work for the loopers. Leaving for Canada this weekend-- Vancouver to Calgary via train and tour of Lake Louise and Banff. Hope it is not too hot but it looks as if it may be a rainy week.

Joyful said...

Hi Kenneth, that sounds like an awesome trip. I've made it once by train. If you haven't already been to Lake Louise and Banff, the scenery is absolutely stunning no matter the weather. We have had a heat spell in BC but that is expect to change this weekend and it looks like the same applies to Southern Alberta. I'm not sure what biologic control is but it seems to be a method rather than a product. I will check into it. Thanks for the tip and enjoy your travels.

A Woman that Fears the Lord said...

The red flower reminds of a certain poppy we grow here in California. They are beautiful. I've had the holes in my cabbage, too. I would go out close to dark and look for the worms. They are the same color as the cabbage so they are hard to spot but I found about 8 the first night. I hope you can find those little guys! :-)

Joyful said...

Thank you Georgene. I will keep my eye out at dusk and see if I can spot them.

kissed by an angel said...

I don't like red poppies so much (I don't know why), but you have taken wonderful photographs of them!
Enjoy your weekend :)

Joyful said...

I appreciate your kind comment. Especially since you don't even like red poppies. x

Anonymous said...

The colour of those poppies is so beautiful! Amazing pictures :)

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