It has been just too busy for my liking lately, however we finally have everything done with J's truck and that was a lot of work. By the time we transferred all his junk oops I mean trucking gear and what not into the new truck and did the insurance , and had the radio installed we were finally finished Sat. Morning. Then we connected the 5th wheel to the pickup and hauled it home so I could clean it up before our camping trip this weekend. I had J go in and scope the unit for dead mice LOL I just can't stand those creatures dead or alive. We had a birthday party to go to Sat. night so after all that I had to run to the mall for a gift and got home long enough to shower and get ready. Almost got to embarrass myself as well when I got out of the shower, I always use the ensuite and leave our bedroom door open, well thank goodness I heard J talking and realized that a friend of ours was coming in the house, I had just enough time to grab the bath towel and wrap it around all my glory and shut the bedroom door.

Sunday morning after making breakfast I cut the lawn and by then it was too hot outside to do anything else. J left early so after I dropped him off I came home and cleaned both bathrooms top to bottom and put some ribs in the oven. My son Cody and his wife Alyssa came over with Zayden to pick up the birthday present that my daughter Rachel sent. And of course we all know how the wrappings amuse the kids more than the presents. Here is a picture of Zayden with the box it came in. Can you believe he is already 1 and has been walking since Easter?





I'm glad I had ribs in the oven because the kids decided to stay for dinner.

Monday morning I was still on the big cleaning spree, at 6:30 am I was out in the trailer and hauling in all the dishes,bedding and towels to wash, cleaned all the counters,inside the cupboards,swept and washed the floors, by 9:30 I was finished. Then it was a trip to the liquor store and grocery store, and then to work.

My poor gardens are getting overrun by weeds but it is so hot by 9:30 in the morning I can't stay out there although I did manage to do some dead heading. Here are some pictures I took the other day. The first one is one of the lilies I planted last fall,as they multiply I will continue to move them so they will create a low hedge along the fence line.



The following shots are random ones from the back gardens.








And here are a few of some plants blooming in the side garden.








And finally a one of my guard dog Lucy who protects me from such things as shadows,dust bunnies and any bugs dumb enough to enter the house. She also helps to entertain Zayden when he is here. She is protecting my leg in this picture against any possible bruising that may occur should I bang it on the desk.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 11:43 PM 4 comments

 

For who? I have been just crazy busy for the last three days. On Thursday J's new truck came in so by the time we went to see it and I dropped him off back at his other truck it was time to go to work. Friday I was busy in the yard and worked, so all was good I was looking forward to spending the next day in the yard. At 8am Saturday morning I went and grabbed groceries before it got too busy, however I no sooner got in the house and the phone rang and we were heading off to meet J's brothers for breakfast. I just went with the flow thinking ok I should eat before I go and do yard work anyways. No such luck now we had to go and check on the truck again to make sure that everything was being done and to get an idea as to when it will be ready to hit the highway. Here is a picture of the new truck.




And of course what is a picture of a truck without three guys discussing it LOL







I was indeed ansty to get home because on Friday morning after doing some yard work I went to my favorite nursery to look for some snow in the summer. No luck but I did come home with 8 rock roses, 2 Dianthus, and 6 Casa Blanca lilies. The lilies were a great deal I had picked up two for $3.89 each when one the girls there showed me a pot of 6 for the price of $19.99 so I had too LOL. Anyways I just wanted to go home and plant. While I was waiting for the guys to talk about trucks etc etc it started pouring rain so I knew I was not going to get anything done outside.

Sunday morning we again went out for breakfast and as soon as J left for the wide open highway I was out there planting. Four rock roses went on each side for a border up the side of the house, the Dianthus I just stuck in the ground, now as for the lilies I have put two under the computer room window which faces the side garden, one under the kitchen window which also faces the side garden after moving an iris, two went in the same area of the other oriental lilies I bought last year. Then the final two went on the other side of the house at the end of the deck where my bedroom window just happens to be as well.

I have an area around the air conditioner that has been a haven for weeds and used as a litter box by all the cats in the area so I cleaned that up as well. And since it is by the air conditioner I did not want anything to tall. Here is a before and after shot of the area.





I dug up a chick and hens and just broke it up as well as I put pieces of another ground cover there to see if it will grow, then I remembered I had a bag of white rocks that someone gave me two years ago so I put them to use.

And while I was out there working I also discovered this little gem in bloom, one of the mystery bulbs I planted last fall.






After all this my girlfriend came over for dinner and she had also been working in her boyfriends yard all day so we had ribs, salad and a bottle of wine.

Today I did some trimming,dead heading and weeding which I will finish tomorrow and maybe if I have time I will move some iris around to get the colors mixed up a bit before I once again forget which ones are yellow,purple and purple and white.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 8:35 PM 4 comments

 

I warned everyone that I was camera happy yesterday.



These are pictures I took yesterday morning after working in the back for a few hours. All of these are views of the back gardens as they spring to life.












This is the mountain I see from the backyard as well as from my computer room window, not as bright and cheery as the view Oldroses has but still a view.



This is another picture of my gnome and dedicated to Snappy who recently mentioned that gnomes have been banned from the Chelsea flower show. The site for ordering one of these or others is www.sunstargifts.com

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 9:40 AM 2 comments

 

You are all going to be sick of pictures but I have taken a lot and want to share them.

The first series are of the walk of shame aka the side garden. Remember the poor flowers that were all hidden by the tall grass and weeds? Well I got out there for the last few days and cut all the grass right back and pulled a ton of weeds and now I am ready to do some serious dirt turning and planting. However it is pouring rain today so I really don't know if I want to go out. I am actually going to cheat a bit and dig up small areas at a time to plant seeds and then just keeps digging up the other areas around those as I go.

The before:














The after: This whole area was overgrown like the previous picture so I really had to clean it up






You can see where the grass has yellowed and this is going to be my guideline for the edge of the border for this summer. I was looking at a blog that Zoey did and I am considering using Snow in the Summer up both sides along the edges and maybe mix in some Dusty Millers. Also as you can see I have lots of Iris and Day Lilies at the far end so some of these are going to be moved and planted against the wall just to help fill in some of the area quickly. There is also the big basket of seeds that I have so once the rain lets up and I get out there to plant I am hoping to have a good start on this area. Notice the green plants sticking up? These are red lilies that I planted in the fall that are suppose to multiply quickly, hopefully they will and I can start putting them along the edges with the Snow in the Summer.

There are two climbing rose bushes hiding behind the lavender with nothing to climb since the cheap arch I purchased last summer keeps blowing over and is falling apart, so I need to find one that is sturdier.





This is some kind of lily I believe that was also planted in the fall.














My miniature roses in the front of the house. I keep pulling the day lilies and iris out of these area and they continue to come back every year bigger and stronger. I want to plant the whole area with miniature roses.

I am going to do a second blog today to post the rest of the photos.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 8:46 AM 1 comments

 

Oh boy I think I burnt myself out through the week doing all the gardening and house cleaning etc. Friday morning rolled around and I totally did not want to go outside to do any gardening or stay inside to clean house,I was just feeling very lazy and tired. So off to Walmart I went to buy a few tank tops, what I ended up getting were 3 pairs of Capris, 1 tank top, a jacket, and these funky shoes for $6.78



The place I work now is casual dress so the choices in my wardrobe were very limited since my previous job was in an office. The other major factor in this splurge on clothing is the fact that I have lost close to 35lbs since November, the jeans I bought in February are hanging off me and I also wear my cell phone on my belt loop and the other day I was constantly pulling my pants up and then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realized how baggy they really are. Not complaining mind you, and I was surprised when I went shopping that I have come down 2 sizes since Feb. Today I went to a different store and bought 3 tank tops and two light sweaters.

It was a great day today however the only thing I did was hang out with my guy and we went for a couple of beers and lunch with some friends, in fact I did not even cook dinner I went and got chicken from the Colonel. My daughter came by the house and wanted to go look at my yard so out we went. Here are some shots of things that have bloomed since Thursday.

My Clematis













I don't know if anyone remembers that I mentioned last year I had planted Canterbury Bells, well I figured they just did not grow and oh well. However, sometime through the cold winter months I read that they are biennials but then forgot about them, so imagine my surprise and delight tonight when my daughter and I went into the back garden and discovered these.


















The orphaned rose bush I rescued from my friends deck


















We had friends over last weekend for a BBQ and they came in with these flowers for me and my grandmothers cut glass vases.

















The picture is of the lilies shoots I was trying to post on my last blog.

















Sweetpeas coming to life and the daisy plant just waiting to explode.













I just love getting these bursts of unexpected blooms. Happy gardening everyone.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 10:21 PM 4 comments

 

Here I am again finally. So much for my repaired harddrive it lasted about a week and the same problems occurred. Well enough is enough it was beginning to be like an old car needing repairs every week or so. I went up to Staples last Thursday to check out the prices of drives with no real intentions of buying. I found a nice one, however for an extra $50.00 I walked out of there with a whole package including a photo printer, and a 17" flat screen monitor. So color me happy!!!!



For the last three days I have spent 4 hours out in my yard every morning weeding and trimming. Today I started to tackle the side garden and made some progress. Here is a picture of what I call the walk of shame aka before weeding was started.














Here is a picture of some of the cleaned up area (still have a lot of work to do )













I dug up two Black eyed susans and transplanted them in an area that I cleared as well as a pansy which had managed to get itself into the lawn in the backyard and then gave the area a good watering. The watering could of been skipped if I had known we where in for a two hour major downpour late this afternoon. Hopefully the rain is done for a few days as I really want to get this area all cleaned up and planted over the weekend.

Now here is a picture of my climbing rose bush with a new trellis, the poor thing has been laying on the grass for the last couple of weeks.








I also harvested the Rhubarb yesterday and got it all cleaned up,bagged and put into the freezer. I think the real reason I work is to get a rest. LOL


Remember the lilies I bought last summer? Well here is a picture of one of them with a bunch of shoots. My question is can these be dug up and transplanted? And if so how and when can I do this? (ok no pic. blogger is being stubborn)

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 11:45 PM 4 comments