What’s blooming today

So glad it is Friday!  Thank you all for John’s birthday wishes 😀

It’s also What’s Blooming Day!

Today is a pseudo rest day.  Now that I am done with big rides for the summer, I can relax and just enjoy how easy the shorter rides are.  We are planning a 45 mile ride tomorrow, so I took it easy today with just walking.

I made banana custard oats for breakfast.  Probably the last oats I will eat until September with the no-grain challenge starting next week! Eeek!

Topped with crunchy Teddy PB and jam.

Work was a slog today.  Yesterday was fast and productive.  Today, the dictators were problematic and slow.  It means I make less money, which is irritating.  And you know, if a doctor cannot pronounce a medication, they really should not be prescribing it. 😯

Lunch time!

The last of the mango and a whole cucumber with my sammie.  Cucumbers are like eating air.  They make me belch.   😳   Enjoyed on the porch, although picture taken inside.

Garden is doing good.  Colorful right now.  My scentimental rose bush keeps blooming and blooming.  I just love this bush!

It even looks pretty when the petals drop:

They are so fragrant, too.  I think I would love to have about 10 of these bushes in a large garden.  The scent would be intoxicating.

Here are a few things that decorate my garden.  I don’t have a lot of ‘things,’ but a few.  Here is my bowling ball.

I took this out of a flip house I did – the same house I got my ferns and sedum from.  John’s mom has a bowling ball in her garden and I found it amusing, so I plopped this one in mine.

My birdbath.

I would get closer to it, but it is dirty and I didn’t want to photograph my shame.

This is a metal butterfly that gets eaten by the clematis every year.  I keep thinking about moving it, but it is too hard to untangle.

Here is Buddha.

He is only about a foot tall.  This is part of the garden I am struggling with finding the perfect plants. Always a work in progress.

Potted geraniums:

My sedum is all broccoli-looking now.  That means summer is halfway over. 😥

My butterfly bush attracted a friend at lunch today – a black swallowtail.

Eat up little buddy – the bush is for you!

Here is a funny coneflower.

All cone and no flower.  Not sure why it is like that.

This afternoon I decided to really wage war on the battle of the flat tires.  I went to the bike shop and picked up some of these.  See, my tires are less than 1 year old and I really shouldn’t have to replace them, and the shop said the tires were in good condition.  I just couldn’t justify dropping 90 dollars on 2 new tires.  They told me these liners would work just as well and if I get a flat with the liners, the company will replace the liner and tube for free! For only $20 for 2 liners, how could I lose?

So, I spent a good part of an hour wrestling those in and got the tires all pumped up.  We shall put them to the test tomorrow, hopefully.

I was hot and ready for a snacky:

Ice cream left from the birthday last night.  Good stuff.  I ate too may calories today.

For dinner, I chopped up most of my basil plants and made some pesto.  I just threw some pine nuts that were in the freezer into the processor with some parmesan, basil leaves and macadamia nut oil.

I cooked up a serving of Barilla Plus pasta (it has 10 grams of protein) and added it to my sauteed broccoli and a dollop of pesto.

Tasty!  And it really bulked up the pasta adding the broccoli, too.  Yay!

I am trying to relax tonight, but might do a little work as I took some time off this afternoon.

Eating some of this:

Tomorrow we are hoping to catch some horse racing at the track!

19 thoughts on “What’s blooming today

  1. Kristin

    Your garden always looks so beautiful. I wish I had you to do the landscaping at my new house! How do you decide what to plant and learn how to start/care for so many different types?

    1. Lori Post author

      It’s all trial and error, really. I find plants I like, then read about them to make sure they work in my area then try them out. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

  2. Kimberley

    The scentimental rose is so delicious looking…I can only imagine the smell.

    Love the gorgeous butterfly and I am big fan of your Buddha.

    The mangoes and berries look might tasty!!!

    I had to laugh…the big rides are done for the summer, but tomorrow is 45 miles…heeheehee!!!

    Tomorrow I am going to do 5 miles on the bike at the gym…and I don’t care how long it takes me!

  3. Linda Kuil

    Today I made the blueberry buckle to bring to my father-in-law’s house and it’s always delicious, and then I made panzanella (Ina Garten’s recipe) for dinner. Lots of cukes in that salad! It gets me to eat my vegetables! Perfect hot weather dinner!

    What was on your sandwich at lunch?

  4. Roxie

    That scentimental rose is gorgeous! And of course, I love the buddha, but not nearly as much as the bowling ball. Belated birthday wishes to John.

  5. debby

    Lots to comment on! That scentimental rose is just gorgeous! I have never seen a black swallowtail–beautiful. they must be native to the east coast. I can hardly wait for your no-grain challenge. I know you will have some creative ways to eat! Totally laughing about your birdbath shame. I have one that has been knocked over for about two years and i haven’t bothered to put it back up again. Mmm. I like that pasta idea. I have never had pesto, but I don’t know why–I love basil and pine nuts.

    1. Lori Post author

      I’m surprised you haven’t seen that butterfly before. They are a North American butterfly and are pretty common. So pretty, too.

      And you must try pesto – it is really, really good!

  6. cammy@tippytoediet

    I’ve only recently reintroduced pasta into my repertoire. The Barilla Plus is awesome. The serving size might be much smaller than I used to eat, but the protein makes it filling.

    Hope you have a safe and enjoyable ride!

  7. Shelley B

    Beautiful shot of that butterfly!

    I love pesto but don’t grow basil because I live with creatures who like to pee on green things outdoors. Still, seeing your pasta/broccoli combo (great idea!) has me itching to go buy some ready-made pesto. YUM.

    Hope you are on the road, having a flat-free ride!

  8. Jody - Fit at 53

    Lori, you take the most amazing pics! That butterfly one is crazy good! Maybe a new career for you! 😉

    I sure hope those flat tie things work for you.. way too many flat tires lately! I like that return policy!

    Hope you had a good bike ride today!!!

  9. Lisa

    Beautiful butterfly!

    I’ve been plagued with flat tires on my car lately!! Ugh it’s frustrating. Hope your new tape works for the bike!

  10. Fran

    Garden looks beautiful. I love the butterfly, it’s beautiful.

    Surprise to see pasta on your plate, don’t see that that often 🙂

    Off to read your other post about the races now.

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