And The Garden Flourishes...

 This photo captures most of it, there's one row missing, but it's hard to capture the scope.  I think I need to balance on a tall ladder for the next shot! :)

As many of you know via facebook or twitter, we had a bit of an adventure on the way home.  It's a bit disconcerting when the courteously supplied flight tracker shows your plane heading to Oklahoma, then you feel the sharp turn around again and are back on course.  Hmmm the thoughts that go through your head.  Well, maybe the computer was malfunctioning.  Ah, no.  Then comes the announcement, that we've been trying to get around this storm and can't, the fuel is getting low, and we're going to have to stop and refuel in St. Louis.  We  quickly turn on the weather channel to see the massive storm hitting Chicago, as well as further North by us.  The first thought once we land isn't jeez we're stuck on a runway for an in determined amount of time with the kids (who were amazing by the way).  No, the first concern was, there's hail in this storm.  The Garden!!!

We're back in the air after 2 hours and home at 8:30 instead of 4:30.  Once we taxi I check and see photos from lots of friends about storm damage.  We're waiting on a call from a friend who was going to drive by and check out our property on his way home from work.  We are treated to an amazing electrical storm as we drive home and then get the text.  A few branches down, but no major damage!  Yea!  You may think that our concern was an over-reaction, but it is not.  This is our third summer here, and our heavily wooded property has lost at least one or two major trees that block the street or our drive each summer (one fell into the garden last summer). 

So we drive in and it's dark.  Our first stop once opening the front door is for a flashlight.  We, being the crazy garden people that as I discussed here, bound outside.  We light our way by the light of tons of fireflies (which I've never seen before July 4th since we moved here), our flashlight and the frequent bouts of lightening.  We examine every inch of the garden and it's tripled in size!  It's amazing, especially in the dark, but here's some views by the light of day!