If you lie down in the mud, then… it must be summertime.

Unequal Squirtgun Fights with Mud joy makin mamas
So, listen, boys. I know I said YOU couldn’t play with the hose, but that doesn’t mean MOMMY won’t be chasing all you muddy kids with it in a second.

If you’re getting dirty then you’re really probably having a pretty good summer. Getting dirty and ruining your favorite shirt with popsicle stains are hallmarks of a good summer. (I think we are out of popsicles. OH NO.)

Bee pollinating Rudbeckia Hirta

We’ve reached the point in August when I look at the calendar and realize how time has flown, and how few, few precious days of summer we have left to fit in all the fun things we wanted to do before school started. And also, we have to start cramming in doctor appointments and organize school clothes and… well. We are soaking up every delicious, sun drenched, dirty minute of it.

Gray Hairstreak Butterfly on Purple Coneflower
Gray Hairstreak Butterfly on Purple Coneflower

Good news: The butterflies are finally here! We just had an outing to a local garden park and they said the same. They’re late, but finally arriving. We’ve seen a few that didn’t allow a close inspection, but may have been swallowtails. My milkweed plants are growing strong and leafy, but haven’t bloomed yet. (They are definitely behind schedule, and were looking a little feeble for a while, but I’ve been fertilizing them more aggressively and they’re bouncing back. Just a quick word from experience: if you’re seeing discolored leaves or leaves falling off, try fertilizer.)

Zinnias about to open
The zinnias are still going like gangbusters. We’ve got some seedlings (that the boys have proudly claimed as “theirs”) coming up to make sure we have some color going all the way through until the first frost. The birds have been feasting on them, although I rarely catch them at it. I just find the evidence after they have been pulling the seeds off, one by one! Our yard is a popular place to be for our feathered friends this year.

We’ve got blooms on the watermelon and tomato plants, but so far something has eaten all the fruit off my tomato plants. So I have no harvest to show you… yet. We’ll see. I’d like to plant blueberries for the boys in future years, but I’m pretty sure that would actually be “plant blueberries for the deer.” So we’ll think about it. (Or, “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, MOMMY!” if it’s a bad idea.)

We’ve got a very nice, untidy, in-between garden going on out there, with a good bit of the mulch pile still to shift, and plenty of places to try growing new things next year. I’ve got a passel of black eyed susans to move and I’ve successfully re-planted my iris patch after I split the bulbs. I’ve got more irises to find a corner for, somewhere else, and basically, to go back to my metaphor, gardening is still like parenting. There are a lot of balls in the air, and while one little corner may be looking lovely and finished and well tended, there are several others that are untidy and chaotic where the real action is happening. False starts turn into successes and lessons learned lead to new adventures.

Our garden visit has also added a new “want” to my garden wish list. A kid size (in more ways than one) potting bench.

Kid size potting bench Joy Makin Mamas

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About Meghan G

I like blues, punk, and crime drama. I love having boys, keeping active, and the outdoors. I'm a cat person, but I think dogs should have equal opportunities.

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9 Comments on “If you lie down in the mud, then… it must be summertime.”

  1. I love that potting bench – so nice to have a kids sized one! Good to hear that all is growing so well in your garden. Mmmm blueberries!!
    thanks for joining in again x

  2. Such a cool blog!!! The first muddy picture reminds me of a time our pretty much started a giant mud pie at a music festival… The older kids had been shy about it, until my then 3 year Olds just stepped right into the mud and started molding the pie!!! LOL!!! So fun!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Thanks so much for the Review/Information on If you lie down in the mud, thenโ€ฆ it must be summertime. I love the pictures of the flowers! I have a lot of the same ones! I hate that time of year when you know it’s still summertime and the flowers are all still blooming, but, you know right around the corner it’s time for school and fall and leaves to fall off the trees, etc. I just wish we could hold on to the summer a bit longer than we actually do! The winter is so dreary and nothing outside grows (except weeds!) Thanks so much for sharing your pictures and your thoughts and information on summer and having fun with the kids! I really do appreciate it! Thanks again, Michele ๐Ÿ™‚

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