Not out of my gourd yet

I feel much better than I did an hour ago. I went outside after dinner to water the container gardens, deadheading all the petunia plants while I was at it. It’s a very time-consuming and sticky job but they look so better when you remove the dead bits and besides, it helps them to produce more flowers.

Then I took George for a big walk.

And when I say big, I really mean small. Really small. I was just so dang tired and hot and couldn’t stand the stickiness of it all.

While I was outside, I noticed how beautiful my husband’s new gourd birdhouse looks hanging in the dogwood tree. I gave this to him for his birthday a couple of weeks ago and I love the little wood burnings that are on it.

I took these photos of it over the weekend.

This birdhouse was made by a retired postman who had moved to Mathews, VA. He found that a section of his newly acquired property was covered with gourd vines and decided he’d like to do something artistic with them. It turned out that he was pretty good at this new-found skill of his and now sells his beautiful birdhouses at Sibley’s General Store on Main Street in Mathews.

The store also serves as the Welcome Center for the area and has an abundance of other local artists’ wares for sale. They also carry maps and souvenirs. I was especially enamored with the claw-foot bathtub on the front porch.

You know, for all those plants who just may happen to need a bath.

And speaking of baths, they really do make you feel so much better. The fans help, too.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .