Saturated on Saturday......

The coneflowers are really showing off now with so many of them in bloom.  It is interesting that the first flower looks so pathetic and then it unrolls the petals and the petals grow in size.  I did see that my coneflowers are getting darker in color the older they become. My coneflowers tend to have made themselves at home in their own space.  It makes for a very informal planting and I really do like it as the plants all mature.  I don't do any planning with them other than to be careful not to mow them down in the spring.  I have a couple that have spread into my tomato patch and I am fine with that.

I have a lot of insects on them this summer.  I don't see many butterflies on them but maybe they need to mature more before the nectar develops.  I did see a monarch out there Friday morning but it was not planning to land anywhere. I had my camera in my pocket but it didn't cooperate.

I forgot to buy any Off insect repellant but I did find a new watering can.  It is plastic but it will work fine.  I would buy an old antique one somewhere but I have not been anywhere to find one.  The old watering can went to the dump as it was leaking out a lot of water faster than what I was pouring out of the spout.

While I was out working Friday morning planting some new things, I was able to watch the machinery and men laying down asphalt on Cedar street.   It is noisy and smelly but we will have the final layer yet to be put on next Monday.  It is raining today and the newly rounded surface road is draining the water away quickly.

The neighbor cat was over for the day yesterday enjoying free food and a quiet place to sleep on the side porch.  I had to go check on him when he was crawling around on a water tank and trailer that was parked out in the street.  He came back to me once he saw I was checking on him. He pretended that he hadn't been doing anything wrong or dangerous.  My wife now believes that he may be a Bengal cat from the way his markings look on him.  He has this very deep low meow that sounds like "mow."

Can you see the truck and road paving machine hiding behind my honeysuckle bushes?  They looked like they were progressing faster as they weren't having to do a bunch of small streets.  The one long street meant they could go as fast as the trucks could keep in line to supply the asphalt.

We did get our sidewalk connection poured yesterday and the one lone man stayed behind to trowel it all down.This morning as it is raining there are two guys out there sawing in lines on the concrete.  The concrete they used yesterday was a very thick mix with lots of rocks. It looked solid in less than an hour and the guy troweled it quickly to a rough finish.  The new has to blend in with the old 1930's sidewalk. All that is left to do after the final layer is put on is bringing back all the dirt and fill all the spaces left open.

This seems to be the perfect place for this rose.  It gets a lot of sun and the soil in the area seems very dark and rich.  The rains today probably won't bother these blooms as the past rains didn't seem to bother it.

I planted my new red coneflower up against this same fence wall.  I planted it outside of the brick ring so that it can grow freely up against that wall. I did get my sedum planted and I will share photos later.  I had forgotten where I had planted a new daylily this spring.  It was found yesterday as my brain released the memory.  The foliage is up and doing well but I will have to wait until next year to see the blooms.

Our rains are to stop around 11:00 this morning. After it stops we will venture off to see if there are any new books at the bookstore.  A cup of coffee and sitting among the bookworms of the world will be relaxing.  My wife has had a project going for the church the past few days that has meant long hours for her.  I have been trying to make a big dent into the framing.  We both need to get out for awhile. The boys, two dogs, and the birds will be ready for their long naps about that time so we can go and find adventure.  Have a good Saturday today and thanks for stopping by at my blog.