A Growing Spurt.....

All day Friday we were blessed with a long, restoring, steady rain which caused our garden to take off on a growing spurt that was almost unbelievable. It sounds like a cliche, but I mean it literally when I report that our pumpkin vines grew a foot overnight!

All of a sudden, the numerous vines are crawling everywhere, so that there is almost not room to walk among them.

Every vine has bright yellow blooms.

And I even found one little green pumpkin!

The rest of the garden is doing well also, considering we planted every thing so late this year. It won't be long until we have fresh vegetables....

Tomatoes....

Corn....

Beans....

Squash...

Okay, seriously did you see those squash blooms? There's gonna be like 30 squash here in this one little spot... I think you need to look again....

And "The Little Pumpkin who Could" is still trying his best to reach the sky...

The Little Pumpkin that Could....

This little pumpkin vine is not like all the rest. He marches to the beat of a different drummer... he's reaching for the stars....

Maybe he's heard the story of the little engine who could....

Or the story of Jack and the pumpkin bean stalk....

The other "proper" pumpkins that vine along the ground laugh at him.....

But I see potential for growth here (pun intended)....

Maybe he was just planted too close to the fence so he can look across and see the trees so tall....

Chloe looks at me and rolls her eyes, "You have GOT to be KIDDING me!"

Maybe...

Joy....

Now I can go to the pumpkin field and see changes DAILY. I love that! It's always something to look forward to.... After my morning coffee, and after Steve leaves for work, I walk out into the misty morning, through the cool, dew-covered grass, past the still-quiet barn, to the pumpkin field.

The massive leaves have turned in the direction of last evening's setting sun, and they cover the new yellow blooms like umbrellas.

Yes, we have blooms! To my dismay, I had to order a new camera battery charger, so we are without pictures of these first delicate blossoms. I have a picture from last year, which will have to do, because the blooms are all alike, right? I just wanted to document the first blooms of this season... (pout face).

Isn't it a joy to walk to your garden and see the daily changes? The new beans coming on, the corn stalks shooting upward overnight, new tiny green tomatoes? I hope you have that joy too... there's nothing else quite like it.

Red, White, and Blue

In honor of America's 235th birthday....

I went on a quest for our country's colors .....

Around the farm....

And around the house....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!!

Hope you had a great 4th of July holiday.... from the Bolte house to yours!

Perspective....

As I begin to experiment and enjoy my fairly new photography hobby, I am starting to look at everyday things through new eyes, or at least from a different perspective. Sometimes the mundane... the ordinary... can look quite unique from varying angles.

Did you ever take the time to just lie in the grass with your camera?

Things that are quite small when you are standing suddenly become large through your camera lens.

And beautiful...

I don't normally see Chloe from this angle....

Interesting...

I think I like lying in the cool grass on a hot summer day. I like taking time to watch Chloe take time to smell the flowers.

The garden even holds some unexpected delights if you look the right way.... like this leaf on a pumpkin vine.

And this close-up of a first tomato bloom in the evening sun.

The world looks equally beautiful looking up!

Stay Gold....

Woven into the tapestries of our lives are our families... bits and pieces of memories, like bright threads, are interwoven into our minds. One of my brightest threads... my golden thread in the tapestry of my life.... is Alec. Happy 16th birthday to my golden child...

He has always reminded me of that Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." I first read the poem in the book, THE OUTSIDERS, by S.E. Hinton.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Alec is just.... gold. He shines from the inside out. Everyone loves him. If it's possible to keep that golden hue of childhood, I'm sure it will stay in Alec.

Sixteen faces of my Alec....

Marshmallow eater...

Car washer...

Fisherman....

Cold shower-taker....

Farm-hand...

Rock climber...

Dog whisperer...

Hotdog roaster..

Silly...

Corn husker...

Heart-shaped tomato picker...

Happy...

Friend...

Drummer...

Cat lover...

Playful...

Happy Birthday, Son.... Stay Gold.....