Bye-bye blackberries, hello salsa! (And other miscellaneous ramblings)

We've gone from harvesting berries to harvesting peppers and tomatoes, here at the stuga. This was our first batch, a nice pico de gallo. I also made a batch of roasted tomatillo salsa, but didn't think to take a picture until after it was all consumed (there might have been some beer involved). You'll just have to take my word on its awesomeness. And oh, it was awesome.



There was a group birthday party on my side of the fam over the weekend. Since there are so many of us, we batch them to keep from going insane(r). My birthday was included, but us old folks let the youngsters, Kyle and Emily, do the candle extinguishing.



Earlier this spring, I bought an unlabeled rose (a pity purchase - who else would take it?) and have been admiring its unnamed blooms all season. I finally ID'ed it last week after spending a ridiculous amount of time on the gardenweb rose forums.

Insert silvery trumpets: Dum da da dum! I present to thee the hybrid tea, First Prize!



We are still seeing our foxes fairly regularly. We know now that there are two (mother and baby), but the only pictures we got of them together are pretty grainy. Baby is big enough that we can't tell them apart unless they are together (and baby is being chastised). So here is one of 'em, chowing on some birdseed.




And since you asked so nicely... Yes, that is the bottom of my palm tree bird feeder pole, prominently featured in an issue of Birds & Blooms this year. Thank you for noticing!