Happy Saturday! A big thanks to Natalie of Natalie the Explorer for hosting WeekendCoffeeShare.

Greetings from the road!

I’m once again on the road this week as I embark on my 7-day road trip. As this post goes live, I should be about half-way to my first stop – Capitol Reef National Park. This will be my 4th visit. One more visit and it will be tied with the number of times I’ve visited Yellowstone.

My mom’s youngest sister was supposed to come with us but she got a notice to report for work next week 2 days ago. She’s a temporary worker at a cookie factory. My mom wanted her to go full-time but my aunt didn’t want the job to impede on her travel.

I was actually relieved to hear my aunt won’t be coming with us because now, she can help me water the garden. I asked my uncle but I’m not sure whether he’s reliable enough. Half of the garden is on an automatic drip system, so all anyone has to do is turn the water on, turn the dial on the timer, and press a few buttons. The other half of the garden requires refilling the olla (terra-cotta watering vessel) with water like refueling a car with gasoline.

I took this picture of my front yard on Wednesday evening, just so I know what it looks like prior to my road trip. Most of the aphids are now gone from the rose bushes. I am now calling my rose bushes “Drama Queens,” because they love putting on a show each year with their blooms.

You will see a lot of black clothes draped over the plants. Those are shade clothes, they allow the peas and potatoes to continue to grow as we hurtle toward summer.

This week, I found 2 different poppies making appearances in my personal meadow – the Mission Bell poppies (left) and the English poppy (right). The English poppy first popped up in my garden last year when I scattered a flower mix in my meadow. This year, it came back in a different spot in the meadow. I feel I love the English poppy more than the California poppy, simply because it’s a bigger flower.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I’m loving my strawberries right now. I will miss it so much when I’m on my road trip. I harvested nearly 14 ounces of strawberries last week. This week, it was a little over 14 ounces. It’s incredible how productive my strawberry plants are this year.

After strawberries, I will be waiting on my blackberries. The blackberry plant I planted in 2023 has tripled in size since March. It’s now full of flowers and fruit. I keep going out there just to admire the sheer size of the plant. It’s so incredible.

Well, I better return to my road trip. I appreciate you stopping by. I will sure have some photos to show on our next chat. Have a great week ahead! 😊