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getting anxious...

Category: a new year | Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:00 pm

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well, February is almost complete, and this is the time of year when I start getting antsy for the weather to change. it's not any easier knowing that there is still at least a month left of winter, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!.....lol.

reading through the posts & blogs and seeing all the pictures just makes me jealous. I am starting to look for signs of life in the yard as I walk the pathway when I come & go....(of course it would help if there was some daylight). I think the worst part of the winter is the grayness of it all.... the sunshine is always welcome. in the meantime, I have been starting to stock up on seed packets & solar lights and gloves and planning what will happen in the yard this year. I think in a few weeks, will have to plan a cook-out...hot dogs on the grill, macaroni salad & baked beans.....a little preview of the summer!

i'm still waiting for the birds to start flitting about..i can't wait to see the first robin, though I will probably hear them before I see them. my new kitty hasn't really seen a bird yet, ...he looks out the window but there really isn't much to see but things blowing around...it seems it has been very windy this winter. I can't wait to see his reaction..i think he will probably go nuts, especially if one happens to land on the fence when he's looking out the window!

in a couple of weeks, I will start 'window' shopping for bare-root plants...see what is available...& what I want to grow...hoping the forget-me-nots & English daisies I planted in the front bed made it through the winter...that is such a difficult area to get things to grow & flower...the electric co. did come by a few weeks ago & trimmed the branches over the sidewalks, so there will be a little more sun, not much, but some. (they do such a 'chop' job....but they are electric workers, not arborists).
i'll have to take a picture of the tree across the street....absolutely awful....they probably should have just cut the poor thing down..a poorer job of trimming I have never seen!

Cannot wait for the day, when I get up in the morning, and my first step outside I can 'smell' the change in the air and actually believe that spring has arrived!

p.s. saw the crocuses starting to come up! am truly excited....my friend suggested I was out with the flashlight looking for them, and I had to tell her no, it really was in the daylight!....lol

Last edited: Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:51 pm

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happy new year...

Category: a new year | Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:57 pm

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first, i would like to wish everyone a happy & healthy new year along with wishes for a great new year of digging in the dirt!

i haven't had a lot of time to visit lately, started a new job in september. i'm working 4, 10 hour days, and it seems i leave in the dark and come home in the dark as well, but, i like it, and the pay is reasonable. the only drawback is the driving. i can't seem to find a decent job near home. but i've resigned myself to the fact that that is probably the way it is supposed to be!

we've had some decent snow this winter (far cry from last year). i'm glad it has provided decent protection from the winds this winter, at least for the time being. who knows what mother nature has in store for the rest of the winter.

received my first seed/plant catalogue a few weeks ago, and of course, that gets my mind working on what i want to do in the spring, when i'm able to work the dirt again. but as usual, plans are made, and then things happen. that is o.k.

all those tomatoes i grew last summer, turned into about 8 batches of sauce. they are sitting in the freezer, and the only thing i've been making with them is bbq sauce (so far). i will probably still grow tomatoes, maybe not so many.

i also got a new kitten from the shelter in september. he was so scrawny and weighed only 3 lbs. i think he was younger than they said. i was worried for a moment, it took about a month for him to adjust to our home, but now he thinks he owns it. he is my 3rd black cat, so i named him 'ditto'. he is lucky he's so cute.

i try not to make resolutions for the new year, too much pressure! i am going to try and get the front garden 'finished' this spring. it still needs alot of new soil. and will be praying for a spring/summer with some decent rain....that would be a huge help!

(sorry the quality of this picture is so bad)


ditto ( photo / image / picture from Annette's Garden )





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my twin .. hero, sort of.

Category: summertime | Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:22 pm

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first, let me apologize for rambling...and start off by saying, 'it's a twin thing'. i remember my oldest brother telling the story that when we were babies, we couldn't be put in the same playpen because we would fight & fuss, but if you separated us, we would carry on like no tomorrow...solution... 2 playpens, put next to each other, separate but next to each other. i guess that is the story of my relationship with my twin. (i also have twin sisters-in-law).
my brother is a big help in the yard with the 'big' stuff..thank you very much. we were out in the yard the other evening, watering, weeding, etc....very happy with the progress of the cucumbers,tomatoes, sunflowers and discussing how much we should prune the rose of sharon trees. (the trees are not mine, but my next door neighbor..aunt jean..we share our yards..my late husband disliked them - i do as well - but aunt jean won't let us chop them down). a nice night with a little breeze.
well, here comes this woodchuck waddling down the alley, and trying to crawl under my gate. i rushed to the gate, and it immediately took cover in the outside corner of the yard amid the balsam & canna.
(all i could think of was last year when one of those critters made a salad bar out of the cukes and sunflowers). so, where did this thing go? i didn't see it come out the other side, my brother is throwing big rocks at the outside fence....still no sign of this thing. i keep looking in the balsam, and i see a little black eye staring back at me....
so i tell my brother....there it is....there it is....it took him a while to finally see it.....he was hidden well.....ok....so what does my brother do......grabs his edging shovel and proceeds to pummel the critter until kaput!......it was a good size one, and i'm sure if we hadn't spotted it, it would have had a field day with my garden. well, my balsam & canna looked absolutely flattened, but a small price to pay for one less destructive critter. and after a few days of watering, you can hardly tell there was a battle in that corner of the fence. i know it sounds horrible, and in my mind i would rather have them just go away, but, reality says, they are just living their lives & trying to survive.
and in that case, it's us against them. in the meantime, i'm glad i have a twin that is totally opposite of my nature to handle that stuff! now, what is next?



Last edited: Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:23 pm

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a little respite

Category: summertime | Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:39 pm

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well, here we are, the end of june, and finally the big stuff is done. my brother finished mulching the walkway the other day, and it looks nice and fresh. amazing what new mulch will do! it's been a curious spring for me. i can say it has taken a while for me to get my behind in gear, can't explain why, but i worked through it, and now, it's time for watering cans, sprinklers and hoses! i moved daisies, penstemon & day lilies, dug out a gigantic hollyhock, and any other 'chore' i wanted to do, well, if it gets done, good, if not, there is always next year or later in the fall. (specifically, getting the yarrow moved to the front side of the walkway).
this is also a year of firsts for me. i actually bought tomato starts to plant, and have seen my first fruit appear. i 'gave' a little strip of dirt along the east side of my house to my twin brother for cherry tomatoes, jalepenos & thai dragon peppers, which he has been using for about 5 years and always has a bumper crop. i don't care for the hot stuff, and honestly i can't understand why anyone would subject themselves to that experience. but, to each his own!
as mister rogers said....'it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood'...and i'm going to enjoy this one, and later on, neighbors one block up are going to be shooting fireworks....will pull one of my chairs up to the fence and sit and watch them!

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moving right along.........

Category: stuff in bloom | Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:00 pm

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well, we had a nice rainy weekend, and that certainly helped all the new and established plants. (plus it was nice to turn the a/c off for a few days, will probably have to turn it on again tomorrow).
walking around the yard during my water routine, i always get excited watching the plants as they go about their business doing what they do! the penstemon i unceremoniously ripped from it's home seems to be recovering nicely in it's new spot. i might even get a few blooms on it! planted some nasturtium seeds near to fill in this year and with any luck, maybe they will reseed themselves as well.
the bellflowers are loaded with blooms as were the weigelia and peony. the storms we had over the weekend blew most of the blooms off the weigelia and absolutely flattened the peonies, but no time like the present to start cutting back! the soapwort has passed it's prime, and yesterday, i cut them back by about 2/3's. the bellflowers will probably go another week. but, as they say, everything in it's own time.....the masterwort is opening up now, i spotted new growth on the 2 daylilies i just put in (exited!) and the glads are about 2-3 feet tall already. will be tying the baptisia to the fence (one of my most favorites)and that will open up the space just a bit for the glads to come through.
the biggest chore this weekend is to get all the weeds out of the walkway, re-edge the one side (a yearly maintenance job),fill the gaps with preen & then put new mulch down. (as i've said before, if i had my way, i wouldn't have any grass to deal with..but that is another story).
when all is said and done.....i will probably be thinking of more things to move and change, and that is o.k.

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a suprise!

Category: stuff in bloom | Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 4:11 pm

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things are really starting to crank in the garden. i had wanted to use my brother's new digital camera, but it seems everytime i connect it to my computer, my computer decides to give me a hard time about using it again,(it is old, and am working on a new one)so, back to the 35mm for a while.
i swear, sometimes things happen overnight! the baptisia is just about in full bloom, one of my clematis is flowering, the peonies opened all of a sudden as well. the weigelia is absolutely loaded with flowers this year (i even got a glimpse of a hummingbird visiting it! maybe she'll tell her friends about it)
a few years ago, my friend on the west coast sent me a bunch of seeds..lunaria, cleome, lupine and i mixed them with my cosmos, bachelor buttons and planted along the fence on the alley side of my yard.
i usually have good luck with the annuals, but don't have many perennials on that side of the fence with the exception of the black eyed susans. last year i noticed a lupine had taken and i am almost certain it had a blue/purple & white flower on it. i looked at it this year and was kind of shocked to see that the flower is pink & white! what a nice suprise. i also noticed that somehow a daisy had made it's way there as well. i'm always happy for volunteers.
speaking of daisies...the ones i transplanted are limping along...and i am confident they'll do fine in their new home.
i found 2 forget-me-not plants at the market on the dollar table.....they were so cute, and were perfect for the front bed. i planted 4 foxgloves last year, 2 made it through the winter, and i can't wait for them to flower. my toad lilies are really growing this year, and i hope i don't have to wait until september for them to bloom like i did last year. they were so tiny i almost didn't see them!

i love this time of year, when everything is blooming or starting to bloom.

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as it should be....mostly

Category: stuff in bloom | Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 12:49 pm

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another sunday morning! the sun is shining, already 65 degrees and it is supposed to get into the 80's! just about ready for planting seeds and annuals, put a lot of hard work in the yard this past week.
looking around the garden, i just love how everything has it's time..right now, the alliums are in bloom, along with the soapwort and sea thrift. i see the lupine is starting to flower as well and one of the clematis is full of buds, ready to pop. out front, the bleeding heart is showing off. yesterday, i dug all the tulips out of the front bed (moving them to the back yard) and planted the english daisies. they look so nice. (the front bed is almost always an experiment as it is very shady & dry...am always trying to amend the soil).
by the wagon, the sweet william is also loaded with buds and i expect one morning this week, i'll walk outside and it will be full of flowers. i also found a volunteer bachelor button growing there and it is loaded with buds as well. the bellflowers will probably open this week. peonies are going to be awesome, so many buds! i still get excited about it all.
my only disappointment was the lilac. it looked very promising, but mother nature had other plans, two freeze/frosts when it was loaded with buds, and when the few buds that did open, they looked already old and spent. oh, well..will give it a good pruning and hope for the best next spring.
as soon as i am finished writing, am going to start my watering walk and take my camera outside and get loads of pictures. better yet, i'll use my brother's camera & then i can upload them right away!


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check list

Category: one thing at a time | Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:30 am

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80% weeding....check
hollyhock gone....check
daisies moved....check
ditch lilies gone...check


i always have great plans, but sometimes other things happen. one plan i always have is weeding. got the big garden finished, just have to turn the dirt a bit and get ready for my zinnias (one annual i always purchase). sunflower spot is weed free. the gladiolas are coming up, and i've got nice fat buds on the peonies.
i had ditch lilies in a small bed in the front, and just got tired of them. (they are all over the neighborhood, and i do have some by my lilac bush). so, i'm digging out the lilies, and end i end up reworking the bed (it's only about 2'x3'), added new soil, then had to come into the back yard to dig out the penstemon (in a small spot by the fence near the fire pit). the poor thing looked absolutely wilted by the time i got in the ground, which could only have been 10-15 minutes. so while i'm putting it in it's new spot, i'm talking to it the whole time, telling it how sorry i am for ripping out of it's home and how happy it will be in it's new spot where it can spread it's roots and be happy. so it's water, water, water, and after about 3 days, it was starting to come around, and i'm optimistic. it may not bloom at all this year, but as long as it overwinters, it will be ok.
with that done, time to work on the back yard...the monster hollyhock...it's been fun, but time for it to go! what a monster! i really worked up a sweat digging that thing up. it's been there for about 8 or 9 years, and i didn't even plant it. (there is a smaller one in the empty lot next door, so i still get to see one). with that finally done, had to make a spot for the daisies...more weeding and new soil. getting the daisies out of the wagon wasn't hard, but i did have to be careful. the wagon is so old, rusted and brittle, i didn't want to break it. the daisies came out, and immediately to the new bed, and they proceeded to look wilted as well. and i talked to them the whole time (told them exactly what i told the penstemon). right now, i'm in the water, water, water stage...they are still alive, but need a few more days to bounce back some. i also planted some sweet william seeds in front of them to keep them company). now, with that done..my attention is turned back to the wagon. that needed weeding as well plus it had some grass i had to get out of there as well. added new soil and back out front to dig up my 3 daylilies (pandora's box) and bring them to the wagon, they fared much better in the move, plus i bought 3 more bare root daylilies (new toy) and put them in the wagon as well. i think they will look great there.
so, what is next on my check list?...the rest of the weeding, moving tulips from the front to the back, getting the bed ready for the cannas, but as i've learned, you can only do one thing at a time.....even when that one thing involves 2,3,4 or more steps!

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couldn't help myself!

Category: springtime stuff | Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 11:54 am

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yesterday was a rainy day. couldn't get much accomplished outside, so, thanks to uncle sam, went and did a little retail therapy at wal-mart. i had a few things i absolutely needed, but, always have to check out the gardening part this time of year. wasn't impressed with any live plants they had, but did find some small solar lights for a $1 each - bought 5. as i was wandering around, looking at just about everything from grills and tools to seeds and bare root plants, i was thinking how i wasn't that impressed with this store's set up. (there is a much better one elsewhere, but didn't feel like driving too far). but, i did get a couple of packets of perennial candytuft seeds, and a couple different kinds of lilies, namely a stargazer lily (5 roots) and a daylily called 'new toy'(3 roots-it looks like it's supposed to be a dark pink). i think the daylilies will be perfect in the wagon, which now has the daisies that are going to be moved to the corner of the shed where the holly hock is. i also have 3 daylilies in the front (pandora's box) which i will be moving to the wagon as well.each package was only $5.38. not a bad deal at all.
it doesn't matter how many plants i have, or how much room i do or do not have, i have to get at least one or two new plants every year. i also went wandering around the open air markets over the weekend, and saw a few plants i'm going to have to get for the front....good thing they're having a mother's day sale!

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best laid plans........yeah right

Category: springtime stuff | Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:52 pm

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it's funny, you spend the winter going through ideas in your head, and when the weather breaks, and you start your new season, the things you thought you would be doing turn into something else. that is ok, i just take it in stride. i'm waiting for my load of manure, and hopefully top soil will go on sale soon. i don't want to get into too much, until i get a starter supply of these things. this year i have a new toy! my brother bought me a wheelbarrow! i'm so excited...considering i did most of the hauling with an old orange plastic sled..it is still useful, but has seen better days. i was perfectly content with it and even have a spare up in the attic! but now the possibilities are endless.
i decided to move my daisies to the corner of the shed and ditch the enormous hollyhock (maybe i can find a home for a piece of it in the empty lot next door). i'm think i'm going to put the blanket flower in the wagon. better view for me, then the daisies can get as tall as they want and still cover the corner of the shed, which is ugly. the only other definite (so far) is to move my tulips from the front of the house to the back. i don't think they like it there. and if they don't bloom in the back, well, then they are toast.
have been stocking up on seeds...sunflowers, viola, sweet william, wild flower, and of course cosmos. it is supposed to rain/snow at least through tomorrow, and then rain for the next couple of days. probably won't get much done except poop patrol. but that is o.k. too. it is still only april.

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