A few of my favorite things - July

Okay, I'm just loving this Agapanthus x 'Monmid', Midnight Blue! Full sun, zones 6-11. Continuous blooms
                all summer into fall, foliage 2 ft. tall, flower stalks 3-4ft. Divide clumps every 2-3 years.
                                              Love the pattern on this hosta, forgot name - 'Stained glass'?

  Years ago, while antiquing in Vermont, I came across an old Singer sewing machine base. It was rusty and beautiful. It was a little more ornate than this one. It had no top, just the base. I bought a rectangle cut piece of granite left over from someones kitchen redo. It fit perfectly. I used it as a sideboard with our outdoor dining set. But with years of use and leaving it outside the base broke. I was sad.
A couple of years ago I found this one in Vermont.
Someone attached a thick slab of wood cut from a single tree and painted the base a gloss black.
I use it in the potting shed and the garden.
Not as nice as the first on, but still a "favorite thing".
I think I paid $10.00 for the first base with no top and $25.00 for this one. Can't beat that.
They make great tables!

 Okay, so this is a proud mom photo. I admit it. My middle daughter baked gourmet cupcakes for the Fourth of July .Baking is a hobby, she is an Irrigation Technician by trade.
They were amazing ! They tasted even better than they look. I really try not to eat wheat, but I so cheated.

Starting from the left the flavors are:
Almond Joy cup cake, a chocolate cake with coconut filling topped with an chocolate cream cheese frosting flavored with almond edged in toasted almonds.
Next is the Orange thyme cupcake. A vanillia cake infused with fresh orange juice, orange zest and fresh thyme, topped with a orange butter cream frosting, flavored with pure orange extract, garnished with sugared thyme sprig and orange zest curls.
Next is a Funny Bone cupcake, Hersheys chocolate cake, with a peanut butter filling, topped with dark chocolate ganache, garnished with a peanut butter filling rosette and a chocolate design.
Last is the Lavender white chocolate cupcake. A fresh lavender infused vanilla cake, with lavender flowers, topped with a white chocolate frosting garnished with edible gold spray and a sugared lavender sprig.
She made everything from scratch...YUMMM.

                       Have you ever seen a more beautiful cupcake? Okay, so I'm a proud mama!

                                     Love the way a see-through plant adds depth to a collage
                             Juncus effusis, Quartz Creek Soft Rush zones 4-11 full sun to part shade

                                                           Some of the "pinks" I'm loving...

                                       Alcea rosea 'Carter's Double Newport pink' - Hollyhock
                         The leaves have a "few" holes..maybe Aphids," But look Ma, no Rust!" (yet) lol

                                       Achillea Tutti Frutti  'Pomegranate' - Yarrow, zones 4-8 full sun 29" tall

                                 Echinacea Purpurea Magnus - Cone Flower - I know my spelling is awful!

           So, I was thinking of starting " A few of my favorite things" link up, is that what it's called?
    Where you could post whatever is making you happy in the garden - is there one of those posts already?