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Recent Entries to this Blog
Can't believe I haven't written a blog entry in two years
Posted: 21 Mar 2014 Posted: 19 Jan 2012 Posted: 04 Jul 2009 Posted: 16 Jun 2009 Posted: 27 Apr 2009 All Entries |
toni's Blog
Why no new plants yet
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:28 pm Looking thru two garden centers on Friday was extremely difficult. I had bought the one plant at HD, they have evidently changed mulch suppliers and no longer carry the brand I like so we had to go to Lowes. We went to Lowes for the mulch and a small window AC unit for Amanda's room, her room is on the southwest corner of the house and we have never been able to keep it cool even when the room was my sewing room. I had to pass thru the garden center using my hands as blinders as I followed Randy to the mulch. Probably a few husbands were thinking that they wished they had their wives as well trained. I did see a gorgeous Delphinium on the cart of one lucky lady as she went to her car and did check the others on the tables just in case I had to have one, but it appeared that she got the last good one. I have way more seeds planted than I might have room for already and some vegie seeds on their way. But I also have some perennials to divide this spring that I had not factored into my gardening plans. The Mexican Mint Marigold should have been split last spring so now I will be dividing it into three plants which means finding places for those two new ones. The Texas Betony also needs to be divided and again I let it go a couple of years longer than I should so there will be three plants with two more to find space for. The two Lemon Balms, which actually stayed green all winter, need to be divided in half...that means two more. Plus it dropped seeds and at least three of them are becoming nice sized clumps already....so there are three more to move. Something tells me that the plants I have in the ground now and the new seedlings will be the max I have room for at least until I get the rest of the back yard dug up and converted to flower beds. This blog entry has been viewed 688 times
Friday? Yeah, yesterday was Friday.
Category: Random bulletins from my brain | Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:58 pm I woke up yesterday thinking it was Saturday, Randy is off every other Friday therefore I spend that entire day reminding myself it is Friday and not Saturday. I like loosing track of the days. Amanda's new boss called Thursday and asked her to start a day earlier than planned. She was tired when we picked her up but I think she had a good time. As a newcomer she was on the cash register where she had to actually talk to people and smile. She hibernates in her room a lot and not used to smiling so much so even her face was tired by the end of her shift. Randy and I had errands to do. Went to Home Depot for mulch and two rolls of that weed barrier cloth stuff for the future Lantana bed. Potting soil for the old recycle bins to plant the mint in that I bought a few days ago. Some 2x4's for sawhorse legs so I can set up a work table outside and get some things sealed before putting them outside and some shutters painted for my room. Two 4ft square pieces of MDF board, one for a project of his and one to eventually become a table top for the patio table frame we found years ago when doing some curbside shopping. He is going to round it off and I'll paint something on it. And a plant. Can you believe I wandered thru the gardening section drooling over some beauties and only bought one plant. I would have bought more but you see, Randy was with me and I do my best plant shopping alone, when I can really take my time then come home and put them out back before Randy sees just how many I bought. I bought a Nandina...I know some landscapers call them vile but this one suits my purpose perfectly. I have a section of chain link fence that needs a shade plant as a privacy screen. Out to the backyard for me now, seedlings to water and plants to plant. This blog entry has been viewed 640 times
Even if I didn't get to garden
Category: Random bulletins from my brain | Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:23 pm yesterday was a fun day. Sat outside at picnic tables with Nicky's class for lunch. We sure were wishing we had thought to bring hats to shade our eyes. Nicky had his chicken nuggets, fries and coke and played with the bobblehead doll of a character from one of the childrens shows that came with his kids meal. He didn't talk very much, just seemed to bask in the attention received from grandparents and aunt....he knows how to enjoy the moment. He did totally ignore the little girl sitting next to him who spent her entire lunch time facing him and watching almost his every move, ignoring her parents who were sitting with her. Lunch with Austin was inside, thank goodness. He and his Dad had been on a Boy Scout camp out last weekend so he told us all the jokes and about the skits they did. Austin had to get glasses a couple of weeks ago and while they do look really good on him, he also looks older in them. He is growing up too quickly. Amanda also got the job she applied for. We were beginning to think it wasn't going to happen. She starts Saturday and even tho it is at a food place, Quiznos subs, she is excited to have money of her own. This blog entry has been viewed 645 times
Not yesterday and not today
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:04 pm but definitely tomorrow. Going out back to play in the dirt that is. Yesterday I just didn't think I should when I got a look at the ratio of dirty dishes to clean dishes, saw the clothes hanging out of the hamper cause there was no more room inside for them and most importantly saw the empty Chipotle Mayo jar sitting on the counter. Gardening forever! Housework? Whenever. Well 'Whenever' had arrived. Still not caught up on the laundry, the last load is in the washer still...I have never been what they call a 'finisher'. Last night Lisa called to say she had broken her sons hearts. Twice a year their school has a fastfood day, with parents bringing fastfood and having lunch with their kiddos. Well, she teaches 6th grade there and can't leave a classroom full of them to fend for themselves without serious repercussions. Kenny can't take off from work either. So on the way home from school yesterday she was telling the boys that she had made arrangements with the Moms of thier best friends to bring them lunch and they could hang out with her and their friend. Austin was confirming with her that in fact neither she nor Dad could get off work to be there....when from the other backseat in the van Nicky hollered "well call Gramma!!" When I said of course I would be there, she told the boys...Austin exclaimed "hallelujah" and Nicky hollered "Yea for Gramma". Randy decided to take a half day off and go with Amanda and I for lunch with the boys. We leave at 10 to stop by Wendy's for chicken nugget meals and whatever we want for lunch and will be home about 1:00. Then Amanda has a job interview at 2:00 and still doesn't have her drivers license so no gardening for me today. But tomorrow is mine no matter what....I had better duck and cover, there might be a jinx out there just waiting for me to be so sure of things so it can prove me wrong. This blog entry has been viewed 545 times
And plant seeds is what I did
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:31 pm In pots in my shed are Delphinium, Dill, Oxeye Daisy May Queen, brilliant orange Butterfly Flower, St. John's Wort, pie pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins I bought last year and some heirloom watermelon seeds Randy's dad gave us. I have no idea if those last two will sprout. I combined a packet of Old Fashioned cut flowers and wildflowers, they are in the large wooden planter we got from Lisa. Two ornamental grasses, Blue Fescue and Fountain Grass, are in large pots where they will have to stay until the eave work is done out front. Blue Woodruff is in a large brass pot, it does fine in shade, that was where the pot was and it is too heavy for me to move. Zinnia 'Red Spider' in a large plastic halloween cauldron. Cornflower 'Black Gem' is planted in the ground. Since I don't know what the seedlings look like and strange things are always coming up in our yard thanks to the birds, I cut some small water bottles into 4" tall rings that I pushed into the ground and planted the seeds in. I put them in sets of three at four different locations. I have to nick and soak the Morning Glory, Bushel Gourd and the European Licorice seeds and plant them in the ground tomorrow. I still have more seeds to pot up but ran out of potting mix. And then I went for a walk thru Calloway's Nursery .......and I bought plants, no surprise is it? Chocolate Mint and regular Mint for the retired recycle bins. A lavender to replace one that died in the last freeze. Two Red Geraniums for the pot out front. A Red Ice plant, 'Pink Chablis' Deadnettle and a Bacopa 'Glacier Blue' all for pots on the front porch. This blog entry has been viewed 633 times
Tomorrow I plant seeds
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:08 am I found the type of shelves I wanted for the potting shed and got them put together today. White metal with wire mesh shelves. I have been saving all sorts of containers to use as pots, the bottom half of half gallon size Silk (soy milk) cartons, bottom half of water bottles, yogurt cartons, etc. Plus I have some small pots from plant buying over the years. Also have some large pots for the plants that will have to stay in a pot longer than the others...like the grass plants that will go out front after some work and painting is done on the eaves. I also will be calling Seeds of Change tomorrow with a question about the order I have not received. I emailed them yesterday and got a response back that I had underpaid on the order and still owed $5.05. They said a letter was mailed to me last Monday about it, now why did they wait a week and a half AFTER cashing my check to let me know I owed more? I only ordered 5 packets and then added postage from their chart. Before I send anymore money I want an exact accounting of why? I also found a small packet of two year old red Poppy seeds in a drawer and planted them in an pot out back not knowing if they were still viable and they are coming up. Never have grown Poppies before but the red color should be pretty. This blog entry has been viewed 600 times
Where it all takes place, aka my craft room
Category: My Crafty Side | Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:18 am I forgot I took these pictures a couple of months ago. The view from my room to the bookcase in the front part of the room. 
I bought two large shelf sets made from old barn wood from an herb market that closed down a couple of years ago, this one holds my craft books and supplies for soap making, beading, some painting things, etc. 
Bookcase filled with yarn and my spinning wheel which did NOT produce any of that yarn....still haven't taken the time to figure it out. 
Half of the back wall, another old barn wood shelf I bought from the herb market. It holds the books I haven't read yet, my witch collection and my collection of dragons. 
Rest of the back wall with small jewelers cabinet a friend gave me that holds all sorts of craft supplies that I painted is in front of what used to be an outside door. 
My always cluttered craft table and a bookcase filled with fabric from my quilting days. 
This blog entry has been viewed 1216 times
March is here and I am gardening again
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:11 pm It felt soooooo good to be out back again and not once did I wonder what was going to happen to me this time. I did hear the wind blow that large paper bag I put weeds and grass in for recycle collection over and noticed a little shutter went thru me, guess I will be 'gun shy' for a few days. I cleared out some of the stuff that had been left sitting around my new potting shed. I put some special goodies in the shed. Will have to buy some shelves this evening I think. Randy got most of the fence pieces out to the curb last night for pickup today, there are some left that will stay where they are until he moves them next Tuesday evening. I did get the grass/weeds pulled up around the new shed to create a new bed. Not really a flower bed as such, it will be covered with mulch for now with only the Iris planted in it. I may come up with something else later. I have a small metal table and two chairs that used to be out front but will be just outside the opening of the shed where we can sit and enjoy evenings looking at the garden. 
This blog entry has been viewed 790 times
Two more days until March
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:05 pm Yesterday was almost 80 for a high temp, today should be almost 80 and Wednesday should be in the mid to upper 70's ...way too hot for me to be out back in the afternoon. Even iffy during the late mornings since the tree limbs are still bare and the sun just shines right thru them leaving no shade. I have been putting off buying the shelves I need for the new potting shed too. I know that once they are out there I will have an even harder time staying away from the yard until March. And when my last two seed orders arrive, the call of the shed will be strong. But thru all these temptations I only have to reach up and accidently scratch my healing injury to be reminded that it is still February and February hates me. And it appears February is not very fond of Randy either, he stepped on a nail Sunday afternoon while finishing up out there. Just a small puncture and thankfully he is current on his Tetanus vacination. But March will be coming in like a lamb on Thursday with temps only in the 60's for about the first week of the month. Trash day is tomorrow so this afternoon we must move all those fence boards to the front curb, we haven't been able to find suits of armour for that chore so wish us luck. This blog entry has been viewed 651 times
Shed extreme makeover
Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:23 am This is what the potting area looked like for the last couple of years. It started out as a nice area but the wheather really took it's toll on everything sitting outside. Plus when I tried to start seedlings last spring I had to contend with squirrels digging in the pots, birds dropping unwanted seeds, the rain we did get flooded everything. It really looked bad as you can see. 
This is the last of the old fence panels, Randy took them apart. We were going to salvage the pickets but most of them split and fell apart in the process so they will all go to the curb on trash day. 
The old metal shed that is so rusted in the first picture has been painted a dark gray color and when I find either a barn red or dark green, the door will be painted too. The new potting shed is up. It is 7feet x 7 feet x 7feet and is a popup design. It has 8 screened 'windows' that can be opened for ventilation. I need to get some shelves for plants, the red cooler in front of me holds my potting soil so it will go in too, several other things will go in so the furnishing is not complete. But the important items are there, my chair, me and a glass of Chianti. 
This blog entry has been viewed 1597 times
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