A Garden Oasis

The sore throat I’ve been fighting off since last Thursday kept me up most of last night. Not my idea of a good time, especially when I was so exhausted I just wanted to sleep forever. So today I am taking it easy at home with my throat lozenges and tea and crossing my fingers it’s just allergies. I’m glad yesterday was a rest day. I needed it. My legs were sore from Sunday’s ride and Saturday’s workout, too.

If you missed the post about the benefit Michael and I went to, you can read it here. The update: that night raised sooo much money for Jerry and his family! I am so happy that I got to play a small part in that. I don’t know if it’s enough money to cover all the medical costs but I hope that it does and there’s some left over for Jerry and his wife to take a trip together. They need to spend quality time together and share what little time they have left.

Monday night Michael brought home some leftover BBQ chicken from the benefit. I guess they had leftovers so the coworkers got to take some. When I got home from Les Schwab (getting my flat tire fixed) we made dinner and watched a few episodes of “Californication” and “Damages.” In keeping with the BBQ theme, I opened a can of baked beans to go with my BBQ chicken.

It really hit the spot. The chicken was just as flavorful as a leftover. I kinda want their secret recipe so I can try and recreate this amazing chicken. The baked beans were good too.

Can you imagine that as a kid I hated baked beans? Now I love it. I also had a small salad with olive oil, balasamic and gorgonzola cheese:

Fat Kitty jumped into my light box during dinner, begging to have his cuteness photographed. Of course, as soon as I got close with the camera he broke his adorable pose and this is what I got:

What a dork! Speaking of animals, I have a new visitor to my garden. This time, it’s something I’ve never really seen before in person. This is my Lucifer plant, that I bought Michael as a present when we first started dating three years ago:

It was so tiny when I first got it! And it’s flourishing. Last year I planted the seeds from this plant in other locations to see if it would spread and another little Lucifer is popping up. Also, Lucifer seems to attract these little guys:

A hummingbird! This little green guy is so adorable and he’s been visiting Lucifer for a few days now.

What an amazing little creature. Those wings were going so fast. And he loves the Lucifer plant. I’m thinking of buying some hummingbird feeders to put in the back yard near the vegetable garden. It would be nice to see them when we’re sitting on the deck in the back yard.

We are slowly creating a garden oasis in our little plot of land. I am excited every day to see what unfolds: new veggies, flowers blooming, hummingbirds and wild bunnies. Would you believe we’re just a short drive to downtown Portland?

QUESTION: What’s growing in your garden? And what critters visit it?