The Older I Get, The More I Want To Be Outside

The other night as I walked through the back porch to get to the bedroom, I found Maurice in a pot. To be specific, the pot where my ginger was beginning to sprout. Now, I know cats like to get into small spaces. This is one of their most well-known proclivities. However, I have never seen Maurice try to squeeze herself into a small anything and definitely never in a pot. Glen said she was still there when he came to bed which was quite a while later. When I got up the next morning, she was in our bed so I guess she eventually decided to opt for comfort, rather than...whatever she was getting out of being in that thing. 

Today was at least ten degrees cooler than it has been and the humidity was a low (for us) 41%. And so I decided to spend as much of the day in the garden as I could. And I did. 
What a pleasure it was!

I do believe this is the prettiest garden we've ever grown. And it is quite productive, too, at least so far. Mr. Moon has done most of the really hard work but I do my part as the one who weeds, picks the beans, serves up the vegetables, and does the preserving. What I mostly did today was weed and then I mulched the areas that needed it most. A garden can never have enough mulch to suit me. It really helps with the weeds and as the leaves break down, they enrich the soil. 

So I did that today and it did wear me out and I did sweat a lot, even if it was cooler, but I enjoyed it and now feel as if I have accomplished something meaningful. 
For us, at least. 

The first zinnia of the ones I planted in the garden bloomed today. 

I have a nice size strip of them running all down the south end of the garden and I think in a week that will be a glory to look at. 

Last year I had some leftover zinnia seeds and I just threw them on the dirt in the little kitchen garden and smashed them down with my feet. They bloomed and this year the volunteers have come up and they are looking good too. 

I love that color.

Here are some less vibrant ones but still sweet. I always say that zinnias are the happiest flowers and I believe that. They are happy to blossom in all of the crayon colors and they are so happy to be alive that they come back again and again and again, year after year. 

As do the phlox.

Talk about vibrant! I have these all over the yard and pretty soon that color will be showing off everywhere. 

And I think that's about it. I'm making a sort of slaw with vegetables and tofu for our supper tonight along with a sesame miso dressing. I asked Mr. Moon if he'd be okay with having tofu for supper and he said, "Sure. As long as it tastes like meat."
"Well, it's not going to taste like meat," I said. 
"What's it going to taste like?" he asked.
"Good." I said. "It's going to taste like good." 

I hope I'm not lying. 

Love...Ms. Moon