Arm birds, bloom update

I don't know about other people, but we like to pick up our hens. (Pictured here is Rupert, and that's Pip in the batch above.)

The beans are still coming in, but more slowly. We're picking about a handful every other day now. The "mystery" squash plants - can't remember what kind of squash seeds we saved in the windowsill last summer - have made yellow trumpet blossoms, all up and down the trailing plants. The first pink zinnias are opening. Some of the sunflower plants are four-feet tall, but no blooms yet. And in the front yard, the hydrangeas are full-on, with blooms from a pale blue-white to deep lavender. They've never given so much purple before. Maybe it's the pine straw below?

Today will be hot and sticky, but I'll get out there for some weeding. When I do, the hens sometimes bump into my elbows they stay so close. They're in the weeds too, pecking like it's their job.