Around the house: Mid-summer garden

It only took about 13 months, but I've finally managed—on really, really good days when all the stars align—to get the girls to overlap their naps for about an hour. Then I race around trying to finish all the things I started the last time they performed this blessed nap miracle.

Nora usually takes a shorter snooze, which means I have my work cut out for me trying to keep her quiet so Cricket can sleep. Lately Nora and I have gotten into the routine of sneaking outside for a few minutes when she firsts wakes up to sniff flowers and find bugs around our little yard. Here are a few things we've had our eyes on lately.

Our purple coneflowers are loving the overabundance of rain this season. (It's been pouring for days on end.) They remind me of the garden at my childhood home.

Our poor lavender is recuperating in a large pot on the back deck. It turns out lavender plants do not appreciate living next to a downspout or being dug up by a dog or two. Lesson learned.

The plate hibiscus is growing so large in the bed around our mailbox that I fear it is actually going to gobble up the mailbox. But that's fine as long as it finishes off the bills in there, too.

This shiny little beetle exploring the hibiscus entertained Nora for several minutes...until she attempted to squish it.

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