Upside Down Tomato Reaching for the Sky

Obviously the tomato plant knows it's not supposed to be growing upside down.

It's nearly bent itself in half trying to turn right side up.

Finally... the Peonies Are Blooming

Ta Da!

Sonic Opens in South Bend

I drove on Portage Avenue today, north of Cleveland Road, heading to Applebee's to pick up Carside to Go lunch.

I guess it's been a while since I've been that way because I totally missed the Sonic building going up.

I seem to recall seeing the ground being broken for it a few months ago. Not being a big fast-food fan, it sort of slipped my mind that it was even coming.

But, seeing the Sonic Drive In there today, in all it's shiny new paint glory, I'm kind of excited about checking it out.

According to Heidi Prescott, the South Bend Tribune journalist in the know about all things retail, Sonic isn't supposed to open until June 9. But, as this photo clearly shows, they were open for lunch today. Maybe it was a soft-launch for the workers???

Looks like they still have a few finishing touches to complete -- like landscaping (note the big pile of sod and stack of Miracle Grow potting soil bags).

Update: As of June 12, they are not open to the public. They do have the driveway blocked and the people eating there must be employees.

Dragoon Trail Gets a Makeover

I haven't driven on Dragoon Trail for a while. It's too frustrating to get stuck behind a school bus on my way to work so I've been taking the bypass for the past few months. And, Dragoon was in such bad shape it was shaking the bolts loose off my van.

Tonight, on my way home from work, I got off on Elm Road and took Dragoon to Beech Road. I was delighted to find the 3' wide strip of missing pavement has been replaced at the intersection of Elm Road and Dragoon.

Then, I was overjoyed to drive on the newly paved Dragoon Trail, starting at about Cedar Road and continuing until the road ends at Beech Road.

It's so smooth I could have probably driven hands-free... but I didn't put that to the test.

My sincere thank you to the crew that paved the road. It's great to see my tax dollars at work.

Green Beans

About the time the green beans got this size last year, the ground hog discovered them and helped himself.

I haven't seen any signs of a ground hog this year so I'm hoping these survive long enough to grow into a yummy Sunday dinner.

Thunbergia Alata

Last summer, when Bruce and I went on the Elkhart garden tour, I saw a black eyed susan vine climbing up a trellis. It was incredible. I'd never seen anything like it. Thousands of tiny yellow blooms.

I've been searching all over for these and finally found some at Menard's this weekend so I picked up a couple.

Let's hope they don't overtake the garden like the morning glories did last year.

Purple is my favorite color

Just about every flower I have in bloom right now is purple.