Early morning herb prowl and other good things

This morning I did my early herb pinch and sniff rounds, like a flourish of trumpets to the nose.

Clockwise from five o'clock, Italian basil, skip the potatoes, Thai basil, curry leaf plant, thyme, lemon balm, sage. It's a lovely journey for the senses in rhe early morning, when I'm also providing breakfast for various biting fellers.

My little patio now has this herb garden, a flower corner, an arboretum, consisting of a giant butterfly bush (which yesterday my Indian neighbor, English her third language, referred to as a buffalo bush), the ficus and the Japanese maple, now dealing with a morninglory invasion

And a butterfly sanctuary, my rapidly growing butterfly, or buffalo bush. I'm hoping not to attract buffalo.  Amazing what you can claim, even if miniaturized.

Out front, my daisies having been completely obscured from the street by the lavender plant, I've made them my picking area. See below

Less ikebana, more flowers stuffed into water, but yes, that's a tree seedling. We get loads of them, constantly digging and cutting before they take over. Around here, it's the main reason to mow.

Yesterday's yield of great stuff, out walking, first time in days because of heat, here's another mystery plant. What the heck is this? There's a lot of it

And are these wild strawberries or a poisonous imposter? 

But look at this wonderful new fungus or lichen

on a huge hollow fallen tree trunk. I haven't been able to get an id. If you know it, looking at Chris here, or anyone with an app, I'd like to know. I'm going to follow this one's progress 

Gary stopped by last evening to add one more jam jar to my collection (!) and to say the plum jam is so freakin' good he's rationing it to make it last.

Yesterday's excitement in the mail

When the arrival of a new ironing board is a source of heart-pounding excitement and tearing open of packages, you do start to question your life choices to date.

Happy day everyone, with a couple of thoughts

Very high falutin from an ironing board aficionada, but oh well.

And a tribute to the bridge busters in the process of retrieving Crimea