Garden Freak

Rodeo Continued

2006-09-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

The second event is a horse pull competition. A friend of ours was with his father who came down from Prince George to compete in this. They start the horses of with 300 pounds of salt on the wagon and the horses have to pull until they get the stake out of the ground, oncce all the teams have a turn another 300 pounds are added. This continues until only one team is left.

Our friend Cory in the blue t-shirt with his dad on the first pull.

Getting dark and the salt is still being added.

I am happy to say that Cory's dad won the competion with his horses pulling a little over 4 1/2 tons. Cory the next day was on his way to Kelowna for the Canadian National Arm wresting competition. he has won this a few times, though we do not know how he made out on Sunday yet. After the work out he had Saturday night I am sure his muscles were all flexed though.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

2006-09-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

I had a rare three day weekend so J and I decided to take in the Barriere Fall Fair & Rodeo on Saturday. I have never actually been to any kind of rodeo so I was all geared up. We first went to visit friends who live out there on 40 acres of farm and I took some pictures of some of the animals they have. The first one is their daughters horse.

A Nubian goat.

The Sheep

And of course what are farm pictures without chickens.

After a visit there we went on to the fair and watched the Chuck wagon races. The pictures do not really show the speed of the races but you can get a general idea. This is the first race and the driver of the yellow wagon was tossed out when the wheel broke and was out on the ground for a few minutes. I have to admit I did not see that part since I was so intent on snapping pictures. The horses all wound up continued the race without him.

To start the race they first have to do a figure eight.

For more pictures of the Rodeo see my next blog.

I'm Here! I'm Here!

2006-08-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

Oh my it has been a long time since I have blogged, but I am here. It seems like I have been running non stop this month. I have been doing a lot of overtime at work as they are offering an additional $25.00 an hour top-up on time and a half, so being able to earn almost $40.00 an hour I am working my butt off. Everything seems to be neglected, my blog, housework, yardwork and personal life.

On August 12 I had a BBQ for J's birthday and what started out as a gathering of 18 people quickly turned into a party for 42. All was ok food wise until my friend who had said she would bring a lasanga could not make it. Into the freezer I went and with the help of my daughter and daughter-in-law we had a big piece of ham into the microwave,defrosted, sliced and heating up in the oven. With that many people the party had to go onto the lawn, so with the help of two very willing teenage boys the furniture was taken from the deck into the garden area.

My gardens in the back reacted with pride and did their best to impress my guests. On Saturday morning I went out to give the grass a quick mow only to discover that almost everything in all the gardens had decided to re-bloom, the rose bushes were bursting with a new show of roses. Don't you just love it when your garden is well behaved in front of your guests? On the vain side of me I was so happy when everyone oohed and aahed over the gardens. The gathering lasted until late and when the solar lights came on and we got candles going it all felt very mystical.

I for some reason did not take my camera out so there are no pictures. J's boss who is of Scot descent always gives J who is of Irish descent a ribbing about being a potato thief. Here is a picture of his birthday gift to J.

This is an Irishman's gourmet dinner. One case of beer, a sack of potatoes, and candles. Please ignore the ugly pink plastic tablecloth it was the only thing I could find to protect my dining room table in a hurry.

Good news I have almost completed the side garden and pictures will be posted soon. My neighbor gave me some fall plants for the garden and everything is starting to come together nicely. Here are a couple of pictures I took recently.

My $3.00 carpet rose from Walmart.

A finished area. Since I took this picture I have almost completed the other side.

Top 5 signs you're way too busy

2006-08-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

5) You catch your reflection in the mirror and realize you have mascara on only one eye

4) You conduct business meetings on your cell....during spin class

3) You check your date book to see if you have time for a quickie

2) If you get home before 8 PM your dog thinks you're a burglar

1) The pizza delivery boy thinks your name is pepperoniwithextracheese

A place for Me

2006-08-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a place for me in my garden. After having numerous people ask me if I take time to enjoy my gardens I decided that it is about time I created a place just for me. Although I do admit that just being out and working in the gardens is a joy even if it seems that all I do is work. Here is what I did yesterday I went from this.

From here

To here

I have it nestled right beside the lavender which seems to be the only thing that grows in that corner besides the weeds. I am not sure what to plant under the bench seat but my mind is saying either thyme or hens and chicks.

Not much was done last week at all with the temperature at 105f for three days and me with an injured foot. It got bad enough to go to the Dr. and was x-rayed, however no broken bones, he figures that I just managed to bruise it badly and advised me to stay off it for a few days. All is good now it no longer hurts and I am able to get outside again since it is healed and the temperature has come down.

Here is another lily in bloom and for the life of me I cannot remember what it is called but it is pretty.

Defining Borders

2006-07-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

No this is not a field of flowers, this is a shot of the garden off my deck and if you look close enough you'll be able to spot the Casa Blanca lily in bloom. When I came home Monday night I went out on the deck with my dog while she did her thing after being cooped up for 8 hours. The first thing that hit me was a wonderful scent drifting to me on a nice gentle evening breeze (I get home around 11:15pm) Of course being pretty dark I did not realize that the fragrance was coming from the lilies. Here is a better picture of them taken yesterday of the ones planted in the side garden.

Here is what I have been doing since my last blog. The area around my three rose bushes looked nice with the bushes in bloom and the baby breaths planted between and around them, however the grass that I had cut away was ragged looking and very uneven, so I re-defined the edges and gave it all a good weeding, while I was in the shed getting the right tools I spotted some dollar store fencing I had bought 3 years ago to use in the front garden so I put it to use. Because it was cheap some of the pieces would not snap together so I used white twist tags to hold it together in some spots. Here is the final outcome of almost two days of work. I am going to try and take some cutting from my lavender bush and plant it between the rose bushes.

Being on a roll and a glutton for punishment I went on to the area where my climbing rose bush is. I did not like the way I set up the two trellis's as they kept wavering in the wind and look kind of cheap. I pulled up one and put it against the 1st trellis to form a corner using twist tags once again to hold them snug together, cleaned up the edges and moved some bricks over to tidy up the other two sides,transplanted a few pansies around the base, which died quickly I guess it was too hot to try that. Anyways here is a picture.

Now I know you are all thinking that I would of stopped there. Not one your life I was in my glory at the outcome of these two areas so I went on to do one more. Here I did not have to use any twist tags LOL I moved the bricks out and weeded the area good making the garden roughly 6-8" wider and dug up the wooly thyme which I placed in the side garden where it begins. I dug up some other plants to transplant into this garden to help fill in some bare spots. Notice the area behind it? I am using the plastic stepping stones to form a small path between the two gardens and the black edging which I have a ton of I am going to use to make a path in the back garden as well.

Since this blog could become very large I am going to end it with this and do another one later today. My girlfriend Marlene and I are bad or good depending on your view of things, about calling each other about good deals we see while shopping. Marlene gave me a call on Monday morning to tell me about a bench with an attached arbor on sale at Walmart for $60.00. You know I had to have it. After about 2 hours I finally got it together. It was not that difficult but it is heavy and really should of been a two person job and once again no twist tags. Are you ready? Here it is.

My two favorite tools in the world are twist tags and a glue gun.

I'm Not 19?

2006-07-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ok why didn't someone remind me that I am not 19 any more. I spent 3 hours in the yard yesterday before work and a good 7 today. Now the only thing reminding me that I am not 19 are my poor screaming muscles. Oh well I did get a lot done, all the trimming around the edges was done by hand shears which means of course I had to really weed all the back gardens since I was so low to the ground I couldn't bear not to. After I finished all that I redefined some of the edges and enlarged one a bit. This meant simply moving some rocks and bricks, which I was doing anyways to get the grass and weeds from underneath them. I then went on to plant two white carpet roses that I bought at Walmart the other day on a clearance, they were $3.00 each, and move a Thyme plant.

After this I was pretty much done, not the work just no more energy. While I was cleaning up the tools and pulled weeds I caught a wonderful scent. This is what was causing it.

The first of my Oriental lilies to bloom.

Surprises in the back garden as well. The balloon plant and the white feverfew also are in bloom.

I was fooling around with my camera last night when I got home because the moon was cresting over a mountain these are the two best shots I thought I would share the first it the moon coming over and the second is the moon in all its glory. I wish I had thought about zoom when I took the first one though.

The last photo is the Apricot tree, the fruit is starting to ripen, Yum I can hardly wait.

Stormy Nights & Prizes

2006-07-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday I thought I was back to work and as I was getting ready it dawned on me that I might have another day off so after checking my day planner I realized that yes indeed I did have one more day of holidays. Not that I was complaining it was just a very nice surprise. Oh joy! So quickly changing into my gardening clothes I went outside and finished cutting the grass and then started working on the side garden, with dark clouds looming in the sky and a nice cool breeze I felt like I was in heaven. It started to thunder and I felt a few drops of rain, however not to be deterred I finished the section that I had left the other day and started on another area. The weather of course had a mind of it's own and when it started to spit lightning I decided that was enough and put away the garden tools. My neighbor was picking Saskatoon berries so I started helping her, plus it gave us chance to visit since she also works nights, the rain then started coming down in big drops which we ignored until it turned into hail at which time we both ran for cover. It poured hard and steady for about 3 hours with thunder, lightning and a high wind. Here are a couple of pictures of the sky later in the evening.

If you look close enough at the first picture you can just see one of the moonlights to the left.

Yesterday I went downtown and into a garden & antique store that I had never been in and found an antique birdbath at a very good price of $139.00 today I am thinking of going back and buying it. Now I need to decide if, although it is not that much I really should put the money elsewhere.

Also yesterday I had to go back to work and after being there for about an hour I was told that I had won the door prize last Thursday for the Canada Day celebration they had at work. I seldom win anything so this was pretty cool. The door prize included a folding camping chair, a holder for salt,pepper mustard and ketchup in the shape of a BBQ as well as a cooler full of goodies. Of course you know I took pictures to share. After I emptied the cooler to show all the goodies that were in it, it reminded me of a picture from the Chrisco Christmas Hamper magazine. There are even two martini glasses and a beach ball.

Here I am

2006-07-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here I am back from my camping trip. It was great and I do not believe we stopped eating or drinking the entire time. The weather was great and of course being up in the mountains and by a lake we escaped the searing heat here in town, I know it was at least 97f if not hotter.

These are the critters that kept the dogs amused and as you can see this dog was almost in the hole after the gopher.

J doing what all good campers do while the women folk rustle up dinner.

And of course what are camping trips without at least one picture of the fire?

Speaking of fires we have two forest fires going in the area and the air is heavy with the smell of burning wood. Here are a couple of pictures I took last night of the smoke against the setting sun.

Today I spent most of the day outside trying to get my yard under control, the grass is high and my lawn mower is broken so I was using the neighbor's mower which for some reason is very difficult to start but I did manage to start it and then half way through it ran out of gas and after filling it up it would not start again. So not discouraged I went and worked in the side gardens and got 97% of it weeded but had to stop around 4:30 as my hands would not work any more. I did get a nice area of it cleaned up and finally got some mulch down. Pictures tomorrow hopefully, I am going to go and rest my sore body on the couch and watch a movie.

And yet more pictures

2006-06-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

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.

Two Days Off?

2006-06-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Pictures cont'd

2006-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

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

Pictures, Pictures, and more Pictures

2006-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Pictures & Stuff

2006-06-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Gardens and Computers

2006-06-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

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)

There is an old saying

2006-05-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

"Never put off tomorrow what you can do today." This really holds true for me. Yesterday I debated about cutting the grass but decided it would run me short of time before I had to go to work, so I left it to do today. Yes you are all right we have rain coming down once again so this chore is on hold once again. Any bets on the grass reaching 6" before I can get out there? LOL
Here is a shot of my grass and this is not even the tallest, but I refuse to wander outside in my PJ's in the rain in case the neighbors call the authorities to have me locked up. I can hear them now "There is that crazy garden lady again with her camera. This time she is in her PJ's at 8am and out in the rain taking pictures of her grass. Quick before she escapes call someone to come and get the poor crazy thing she needs help."

I have mentioned previously that I have a big store of seeds that I need to get planted and I am sure that you all must be wondering just how many seeds can a person actually have unplanted. Well here are some pictures to show you just what I do have and why I am determined not to go shopping for plants this year.

A basket full of seeds

Packets of store bought seeds

Containers and envelopes of harvested seeds

These contain seeds for such things as Hollyhocks, Malva, Poppies, Marigolds, coneflower, etc. Enough to do the whole side garden plus set up gardens for someone else. Then of course there are the store bought ones as well. Yes I am really a Gardenfreak.

Notice the sign at the beginning and the end of my blog? This was made by my friend Marlene for my birthday in February and came with a hooks and a chain to hang in my garden.

My Garden Exploded

2006-05-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

It has rained for four days and my garden exploded into a profusion of colors. I have not even been out planting anything new these are all just my good old come back every year plants.

Here is the Wiegela just bursting with blooms

Also on the big bloom explosion are my iris and rose bushes

It is amazing how a good rain will bring out the blooms and of course the grass is now about 4" high so I will try to tackle it tomorrow, there was just no time for it today after I did laundry and made bread. Also I have to be to work in an hour. Sigh! I do get three days off at the end of the week but with a price, I have to work six straight days, but I figure it will be worth it. The plans are to do any grocery shopping I need to do on Thursday and housework through the week, that way I can have all of Friday and Saturday and even Sunday if I can still move to play outside. Look out gardens and in particular side garden you are all getting a big cleanup and lots of fresh mulch.

Here is a picture of my first lily of the season,

And the highly prized Apricots

Computers & Flowers

2006-05-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yahoo I finally have my own computer back up and running again after having it shut down for a good month or so. We were going to buy a replacement last week through the local college however in order to do so the orderform had to be faxed with the credit card number on it. Now there is no way I was about to send a credit card number on a fax, after all who know where it might end up, and now that I am working at American Express and see some of the troubles people have with fraud I am even more leery. Anyways on Friday we decided to take it into a repair place so they could have a look at it before deciding whether or not to buy a new one. I am sure glad we did because it was just the power supply and the bill came to $150.00 which is a lot cheaper than buying a new one. I was so excited to finally have it fixed that I hooked it up right away and was all set to blog only to discover I needed a new mouse as well. Sigh.

Everything is up and running now and the pictures of my garden are going into a folder that I can easily locate, so I went out early last night to take a few of my iris.

I did nothing yesterday as I was sick with a flu bug and it was raining, finally. I hurried inside and cleared the pictures from my camera deciding that I would go back out and take a few more because I wanted to show off the Apricots on my tree. Guess this is the weekend to have things replaced. As I carefully lined up a beautiful shot of the tree bearing all of it's wonderful fruit the camera beeped and flashed a "Replace Batteries" message. Well still feeling not quite up to par the batteries were put on hold.

The rain was great for the yard and the sunshine which followed in the evening did wonders to get things blooming.

These I can see from my kitchen window as I am slaving away doing dishes. And notice the lily coming back up to the left of the Iris

In the back yard.

Along the back fence.

The Johnny jump-ups have filled in an area in a part of one of the back gardens as well along with the black-eye Susans,pansies and numerous other flowers. One of the rose bushes has buds on it as well. It is very nice to see things coming back to life.

I finally went to Walmart on Thursday and purchased an edger to help with the work in the side garden which I am very happy to announce is really finally starting to take shape. If I had not been sick yesterday I would of went out last night and worked out there while the ground was soft and the air was fresh and cool. Also while it was pouring rain yesterday I was wishing I had gone outside on Friday and planted seeds.

Missing in action this year is my bleeding heart, it took me a few days to figure out what was wrong in the area I have planted around the lilac bush then I realized that the bleeding heart which normally blooms at the same time did not come back this year.

Still on the MUST do list is get the arches back up for the climbing roses,get the border done along the side garden, make some wooden benches,hopefully sand and re-stain my wooden chairs and a bench. I am also thinking of re-defining some of the borders in the back gardens since I am finding the shape of some of them makes it difficult for mowing the grass.

Here is a picture of a purse my daughter bought for me on Friday, it is kind of funky and will also hold my lunch for work. A late mother's day gift.

Lost Pictures

2006-05-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Arghh I am so frustrated, I took some wonderful pictures of my Lilac bush the other day and they have gone missing in action on the computer.

I will go out and take more of the blooms and hopefully they will end up in a folder where they can be located easily.

Yesterday I went out and purchased some plants to put into the side garden (my on going project) mostly I got snapdragons. This little splurge was to help me get the borders of the side-garden defined. Now that I have those in place I will be outside most of Thursday to weed and put in some of the trillion of seeds I have. I did spend six solid hours out in that area last Thursday at the expense of the other gardens and did a major cleanup. The area is starting to fill in and this year I am determined to get it all planted and blooming. The one garden tool that I have discovered I really must have is an edger, and this will be purchased on Thursday. I am hoping to cut an edge in the front of both borders running along the side of the house so that I can plant an alyssum border on both sides. The side that runs along the house I am going to put seeds in for some Malva since it comes back so easily and re-seeds nicely. The lilies that where planted last year in that area are coming back strong with lots of new shoots, even the one I thought died. Can the new shoots be dug up and transplanted? Also on the list of things to do in this area is dig up some of the pansies that have multiplied in the back gardens and transplant them. I may even thin out the black-eyed susans and put a few in against the wall.

As for the other garden areas they are all coming back to life, but I still need to clean up the weeds.

And oh happy days when I went into the backyard yesterday to put on the sprinklers I happened to look at my Apricot tree and I will have Apricots this year. I can hardly wait, this is the first year it has given me fruit! She jumps for joy and smiles broadly.

Sure sign of Spring

2006-04-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

It's a sure sign of Spring last week I went out and cleaned the debris from my yard (including all the dog *****) and cut down some of the old growth from last season. Also fixed the fallen down arch and my kindly neighbour repaired the trellis work on the shed for me. On Tuesday I hauled out my lawn mower and when finished with that I used some weed & feed on the grass to try and get a jump start on killing the masses of dandelions that have already started to appear. I was planning on doing all the trimming as well, but I then realized it was Tuesday not Monday and I had to work, however the battery for my weed-eater is charged and maybe I can get it done today, or get around to cutting down the rest of the dead growth in the gardens.

Events happening in the yard are daffodils, Johnny jump-ups, hycinths, and the apricot tree blooming. The sweet peas have started come up once again in full force and I have noticed that I have some tulips ready to burst open, and the lilac bush has leaves but no blooms yet.

Here are a few pictures I took the other day while I was outside.

This is one of the areas I cleaned up, the daisy plant has also started to show signs of life.

I can not remember what this is but it is one of the 60 bulbs I planted in the fall.

The apricot tree in bloom.

I feel very lazy this year it seems like everyone else has been out in their yards doing the big Spring clean-up and I am just starting

Sunny Days

2006-03-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

It is such a nice day out (11c) that I decided I would go out into my yard and start picking up the newspapers, tumbleweed etc the have blown into my yard and maybe do some clean up in the garden areas.

This is the first thing I noticed so I ran back into the house and grabbed my camera.

Also a shot of my lilac bush getting buds,and my front garden

I took more of a walk around only to discover almost a full backyard of doggie do-do, I was so put off I decided not to work out there because I am not in the mood to clean it up.

I surveyed the damage from the winter and there is a section of trellis I need to repair as well as the arch that was supporting my rose bush.

I also have a hole in the grass due to the fact the park management decided they were going to pump all the septic tanks.

So you can see why I just kind of got discouraged eh? Oh well I think tomorrow I will be using a shovel and putting the dirt back in place and the dog do-do into the neighbours yard. Big Growl.

Help

2006-03-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

I am pulling my hair out, after installing Norton Antivirus I cannot get my links on Blog to appear and I am sorry to say after trying to figure this out I haven't got a clue as to how this can be fixed. So please if any one can help I would sure appreciate it. I am so far behind in reading all the recent news.

Also I know I have been slack about blogging lately but please note I am alive and well it is just a case of not sitting down and allowing myself to do one of the things I love to do.

On the home front here I am just starting to see small signs of spring flowers poking up through the soil and hopefully I will soon see some flowers. The Spring fever is catching hold of me I have recently purchased two new gardening magazines. The days are longer too which helps to brighten the soul as well despite the fact that on Saturday we had a short but fierce snowfall and the top of the mountains are still snowy.

My neighbor stopped me last night as I was coming in the door to let me know she has told her boyfriend to leave his dog at the farm and to clean up my yard for me. Apparently she caught the dog digging in my gardens while I was at work and also noticed the elephant sized droppings. So I hope the cleanup will be done quickly.

Work however seems to be another whole issue I am now finishing the last week of training which requires us to be on the phones for 8 hours, which in itself is not so bad, but I feel that I do not know enough to sound competent when I am replying to a question. I sure hope this feeling will disappear once I get more experience. My shifts in April will be changing to 2:30 pm to 11:00 pm Tuesday - Saturdays ugh I hope they get better for the summer months, although I will get 2 days in a row off at least.

One major upset in my life this past weekend was the dishwasher stopped working!! I really don't mind doing dishes by hand but some of the ones that were in the dishwasher were there for at least two days so they had to be soaked before I could actually wash them. Yikes manual labor. LOL

2006-03-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Your Theme Song:

"Beat It" - Michael Jackson

'What is your theme song?' at QuizGalaxy.com

How to Beat Winter Blah's

2006-02-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hi I know it has been awhile but it took me a bit to get used to being at work again. I am half way through the 3rd week of training (there are 7+ weeks) and I think I am finally getting it. When the traning is done I will be one of the friendly voices that answers calls for a major credit card company, not the nasty one that calls to tell you that you did not pay. I actually wonder how those people do it, that has got to be very stressful.

A week and a half into training I managed to catch a flu bug and had to drag myself to work Thursday and Friday, spent all weekend on the couch or in bed, repeated the drag myself to work again Monday and Tuesday. Very happy to report though I feel much better today.

When I got home yesterday I was so tired and kind of blue, however when I went to the mailbox I discovered 3 seed catalogs. Oh Joy, I took a big mug of green tea with me into my bed and looked through them all and for about the millionth time re-planned my gardens. Now that has got to be a very timely mail delivery. The blues dissolved as soon as I seen them.

I had a birthday at the beginning of February and my girlfriend made me sign for my garden with her new woodburning tool. Photo to follow shortly, I promise.

Oh here is something that is going to undermine my paycheque come the spring. Right behind where I work is my favorite nursery. This is where I bought all those wonderful lilies last summer as well as a many other plants. I will probably be very happy that my lunch is only a half an hour and that some of my shifts will be 2pm to 11pm.

I was a what?

2006-02-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

You Were an Eagle

You are able to rise above the details of life and see the big picture.

A spiritual being, you tend to go beyond material concerns.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

Seed Catalogs

2006-02-03T20:09:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! I finally received the seed catalog that I ordered eons ago and must admit that even though it is interesting I am a little disappointed with the quality of the pictures.

Don't get me wrong I have already looked through it twice and it only got here Wednesday afternoon, the problem started when I got tired of waiting for it. On Wednesday morning I was wanting a seed catalog so bad that I went in search for Vesey's. Not only did I order a catalog from them I spent the majority of the day on the internet looking at everything the have to offer while I made bread. I have been reading about Vesey's on various blogs but you know how it is somethings take awhile to sink in and then bamm you can't believe you didn't check it out sooner. I am hoping the catalog will be as fun as their site.

I also ordered another seed catalog but can't remember from where.

We have been having whacky weather it was so nice here yesterday I had all the windows opened while I cleaned the house. While doing that I had to keep telling myself that this is still February and not time yet for me to go and start messing around in the yard.

I see why now everyone orders the seed catalogs early, I am sure it will help take the "I want to garden NOW feeling" down to a less stressful state once they get here and I can go through them and plot and plan what to order and where to plant.

When Life Throws You Lemons

2006-01-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

Make Lemonade!!!

After months of being unemployed I have finally landed a job. Not at the wages I am used to but what the heck at least there will be an income. At first I did not mind being off because it seems that I have always worked. It gave me a chance to re-arrange all my cupboards, play in the yard, sew etc. however I have a small place so there is only so much cleaning I can do before it is looked upon as being compulsive.

I also got to take my grandson over night on more than one occasion and that was fun even though he is very busy now since he has learned how to do the army crawl and is teething. He now has two on the top and two on the bottom, maybe more now it has been a week since I seen him last. At the risk of sounding really sappy babies are like flowers you turn your back and they have grown. I wish my oldest daughter was closer so that I could see Ivy and Chelsey more as well.

Now my current pet peeve is the neighbours' dog. This is a big dog who is very friendly but has been using my yard as a dumping ground. There is no fence between the yards, so not only am I cleaning up after my dog who thank goodness is small I have to clean up after this elephant dog. Yuck. Well yesterday I decided enough is enough and I am going to go knock on their door and ask them to clean up after the dog. Hopefully I will not make an enemy. Why can't people just keep their dogs on a leash? My dog is always on a leash and cannot reach their yard.

The other thing bugging me is that both myself and my other half have cell phones with the same carrier. Last week he received a headset in the mail for his cell phone and I did not. What's up with that? I am going to call them and ask why I don't get one, after all fair is fair.

And I wish the seed catalog I ordered would arrive,it is frustrating that mine has not even arrived and some of you have already gotten your seeds.

Enough complaining for today.

I have cabin fever I think. Can't wait for the spring to arrive and see the 60 bulbs I planted bloom. Now that I have my own digital camera there will be lots of pictures to share.

Where did it go??

2006-01-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been almost a full month since I have entered anything into my blog.

I took a little walk around my yard the other day and the things I discovered got me thinking about the work that awaits me in the Spring. Part of the trellis I put on the shed has come off, so it will need to be nailed back up. The arch I have in the back is on a tilt telling me that I will need to figure out a way to secure into the ground.

Here is a picture of what I am trying to do with the front arch ( minus the statues)from one of my garden magazines.

I have the two roses planted along with lavender in front and sage behind as well as some other plants I cannot remember. However like the arch in the back yard this one will need to be anchored somehow. In fact it is laying down in the back yard behind the house because it keeps blowing over. This will be the entrance into the side garden I am trying to get established.

So I am thinking I will try some quick set cement for both of these unless someone has a better idea.

The poor Lilac bushes I planted in that hard ground in the front of my house are also taking a beating. One was stepped on by the propane guy that came to take away the old tank, and a second one was stepped on this weekend. So much for the rocks out there to alert everyone that the bushes are planted. Maybe they will come back up, I'll check it out in the Spring.

And of course there is just the regular Spring cleanup that waits for all us.

Like everyone else it seems I am planning for the Spring already and we have not even gotten through January.

HAPPY NEW YEARS !!!!

2005-12-31T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here I am at 9:10pm on New Years Eve doing a blog with a hockey game on in the other room. I have no life. We opted to not go out this year but I thought maybe we would crack a bottle of Rye or Baileys and sit together drinking and talking. Oh well at least we are together. Happy News Year to all!!

I had a great Christmas and recieved my very own digital camera from my honey. Oh joy I can now take pictures whenever I want and not wait for the other one to come home from trucking.

Here are a few I took of my decorated house.

My vanity which I used as a mini bar on Christmas Eve.

My famous decorated shower curtain. I Think it just gives the bathroom a little Chirtmas spirit.

My Granddaughters down east Chelsey & Ivy having a great time in their new electric cars.

Grandson Zayden on his daddy's (Cody) shoulders. He loved all the attention and would rather of ate the wrapping paper than play with his new toys.

Stop the Insanity

2005-12-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

After reading Zoey's blog about doing a cookie exchange I got to thinking how crazy we sometimes get this time of the year.

For example on Saturday my sister called and asked that I take her shopping as she does not have a car. Agreeing to pick her up at around 10:30, we first head off to her bank and then into Zellers (a Canadian version of Walmart but smaller) where she finds some of the items she needs. We then venture into yet another strip mall to Canadian Tire which of course is now a nightmare as it is around 1. Parking at the far end of the parking lot we head into the store and accomplish what we went in there for.

I am an early morning person and usually get out of bed somewhere between 5-6am but I slept until 9 this morning. So needless to say there was no breakfast before this outing and by the time we got out of the store my stomach was wondering if my throat had been cut. We made a stop to a little fish & chip place to re-fuel. Then off again into a dollar store and a grocery store. There was no parking at all so I parked across the street and we walked. While in the dollar store my sister decided that her and her husband needed Christmas stocking. This is when I opened my big mouth and said "Buy some felt and I will make them". She just happened to have a gazillion yards of it at home, and she does not even sew or do crafts. By the time we finished all this and I had a much needed couple of coffees at her house I got back to my place around 5:30 where I proceeded to make dinner. Then I decided to I would make 2 batches of peanut brittle since I still needed to do 5 more. Once started however I did 5 batches that night just to be done with it all.

Sunday my legs were so sore and tired I did not get the stockings done. I did make them yesterday as well as four Christmas placemats.

I have now packed up all the Christmas materials and crafts so that I can concentrate on wrapping gifts and having a day or so to relax.

Quackers My Pet Duck

2005-12-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

I have adopted a duck named Quackers. You will find her at the bottom of my page. Quackers loves company and to be fed. Please visit her. She will talk to you when you click on her.

If you would like to adopt a pet click on the link below her.

Almost There

2005-12-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

Finally all the decorations are up and the house looks warm and sparkly. I love the feeling when it all comes together and the lights are put on and I can rest on the sofa. As usual I am always happy with the end results.

The tree lights were of course the pain in the ___________ that they normally are but the worse was the tangled up ornament hooks. I finally took them over to the kitchen counter where I layed out a dish towel and just shook them to help break up the tangled mess.

My main bathroom is even decorated. I have a white lace shower curtain in there so I attached red bows on the hooks as well as on the window curtain, and placed a scented sache of lace and ribbon filled with cinnamon potpourri on the counter inside a square gold trimmed candle holder.

All that is left for me to do is 4 batches of peanut brittle and wrap a few gifts.

We do a Christmas Eve get together every year since the two kids I have in town go to their inlaws for Christmas dinner. So all is ready to rock and roll for that.

I will post pictures at a later date and can hardly wait to see everyone elses.

My daughter has posted a recipe on Family Food Favorites for Reindeer food, so if anyone has small children or grandchildren you may want to check it out.

Bring on the fun I am ready!!!

Christmas Decorating According to Gen

2005-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

Everyone has there own method of Christmas decorating. This is my method which is suitable for the busy person or the procrastinator, I am the latter. So here it is.

Day one:

Locate all the decorations, which in my case they are in four different places. Some are in my climb-in closet, so named because I have so much stuff in there it can no longer be called a walk-in closet, others are stored under my bed in plastic bins,as well as in an antique trunk and in the shed. The ornaments in the trunk are all my very fragile ones that I do not want anywhere else and once they are stored there the lid is closed and they are safe.

Now that all of these are located I bring them into the living room and open them, this way they will drive you crazy since everything is so visible. This helps to prevent the procrastinator from leaving it all there for too long.

Day Two:

Now that we have a nice mess in the living room or where ever else you decided to spread out it is time to tidy up a bit. The next step is to get out all the bowls, platters, etc. that you plan on using over the holidays, unwrap your bulbs and fill up the platters, bowls etc and place them all over the table tops, counters and so forth. This is also a good time to find hooks and put them somewhere handy so that when it is time to put up your tree there will be no frantic dash to the store to purchase some more. I myself have 2 or 3 unopened packages because I have done the frantic store run thinking I did not have any hooks only to discover them later.

Day 3:

Use all the boxes, containers etc., that have been emptied to store everyday ornaments, knick knacks and so on that are not required over the holiday season. Now you can put away all of these boxes and containers away and take a break. This gives your home the getting ready for Christmas feel.

Day 4:

Now that I have floor space once again I start placing various items around the house, such as the musical Santas, bows on my shower curtains, wreaths, well you get the idea. Leave all the bulbs where they are until you are ready to put up your tree. This is also a good time to toss in your favorite movie such as Christmas Vacation, It's A Wonderful Life or a good Christmas CD and maybe check out some eggnog to be sure you have the right mixing technique.

Day 5:

Now that wasn't so bad and today you get to put up your tree!! Of course if you are anything like me you will be calling yourself some pretty bad names while you untangle the lights for your tree. Every year I go through this and vow to put them away in some kind of orderly fashion so that they will not get tangled. However I never seem to be able to figure it out. So decorate your tree and have some fun. Once all the dishes containing the decorations are empty they can be washed and are then ready for use when company arrives, thus killing two birds with one stone so to speak. I am lucky enough to have a dish washer so 90% of them can go right into it along with my wine and drink glasses.

This is how I do my decorating so that I do not have to spend an entire day and then collapse from exhaustion.

Buying a Computer

2005-11-29T05:17:00.000-08:00

My guy got a new computer on Friday with one of these great LCD monitors. This of course now makes me using my own a complete drag. However with him gone all week I can use his. I spent most of last week shopping and comparing prices, finally settling on one, a computer bundle from Staples. Having spoken to a young salesperson there I inquired as to whether or not they would accept his credit card # from him over the phone since he had just left and was told not a problem. I got home and managed to catch him on his cell before he was in a no service area and then proceeded to go back up to Staples. Of course then I had to deal with someone different who said no way they can take a credit card # over the phone. Of course I had thought it was strange that they would so that was not what got me going, it was the fact that I was given the wrong info earlier and made a second trip. Then of course I am told that the sale was ending that night. After explaining that my guy drives truck and wouldn't be back until Friday I was given a handwritten note stating that the offer would be honored until then. Perfect.

Along came Friday, the truck needed to go into the shop for service which we figured would only take an hour or so. Wrong the truck was there from 8am to 3pm and the snow started coming down. However we did get up to Staples and purchased the computer which took us another hour. It took roughly another hour to set it all up, having to follow plugs and wires from the previous computer over and under the desk. Of course I had clean the desk where everything had been sitting. I have to admit I love the plug and play system. Finally everything was set up and we turned on the power. My magic cursed touch then appeared on the monitor, there it was a defective piece of hardware, on the right side of the screen was a stripe about 3" of a pale green that was not going away. We used the system over the weekend anyways since we needed to transfer info from the old one onto it.

You would think that this was the end of the story but having snowed all day Friday and being busy with the computer I did not use my car on Saturday which was a nice warm day. Sunday after he left for work again I disconnected the monitor to take it back for a replacement and went out to my car figuring I would be out of the house maybe 30 minutes or so. The warm weather on Saturday had melted some of the snow on my car but when the temperature dropped through the night it froze the snow. Yep thats right I now had 3-4" of ice on my car, so 20 minutes later I had managed to defrost and de-ice it enough to drive. Once up at Staples there was no problem exchanging the monitor only it took me about an hour because there was only one person working in the computer section so I had to wait. All is good now though.

The next step is replacing the big desk we have in this room. It is huge and takes up most of this room, as well as when we are both in here using our computers I sit at the end where there is a bank of drawers and being 5'8" this does not give me any leg space. We did see what we want so yesterday I put an ad in the Buy,Sell and Trade to get rid of this old desk. And of course now I need to save my pennies so that I can buy a new montitor. I just seen a 19' LCD at Staples on Sunday for $377.00. Hmm maybe Santa will be kind to me.

Which Flower am I ?

2005-11-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

You are an Iris:

You are logical, analytical, dignified, and wise.
You are studious by nature and may prefer books
to people. You tend to be a serious person but
are capable of making others laugh with your
dry sense of humor. Friends always benefit from
your advice.

Symbolism: Over the centuries the iris has come to
symbolize faith, wisdom, hope, and promise in
love.

Which Flower are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And So It Begins

2005-11-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

Funny thing about the Christmas season I never feel like I need to do anything until the American Thanksgiving rolls around, then I realize how close Christmas is getting.

So yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought the makings for my Christmas goodies, and to the Dollar store for some Christmas cans. Once home I made two batches of peanut brittle, two batches of Poppy cock and a pan of Eatmore squares. This done I then filled seven cans with the goodies to give away to friends and family. By the time I have made enough for everyone on my list I will not be eating any because I am usually sick of looking at it. Great diet aid by the way. I will probably do about 6 more batches of peanut brittle and poppycock, and 3 of the squares. After that is done I will make 2 or 3 batches of Nuts and Bolts.

Some of the peanut brittle I make is traded with one of my girlfriends for shortbread, because I just can't seem to find a recipe that works for me, so this barter system is good.

There is a beef crockpot recipe on Family Food Favorites for Oldroses who is in search for a good one, you might like this one " Chinese Beef and Pea Pods"

Closing In

2005-11-15T06:08:00.000-08:00

Well here it is November 15 and Christmas is closing in fast and all thoughts are starting to lean toward it. For some of us baking all the goodies and buying presents are probably right there consuming our free thoughts as we mentally figure out how and when to do everything. For others (and you know who you are) Christmas crafts and baking have already begun. I am one of those people how seem to put things off as long as possible then two weeks before the big event you will find me in my kitchen making pounds and pounds of peanut brittle. A few years ago I started to make peanut brittle to give away as gifts for friends and at one point I had 20 or so people practically lined up at the door waiting for it. Finally when it got to the point where I was having to start making it in October I said enough is enough. There is now only about 9 people on the list. You can find the recipe on the site my daughter set up (Oldroses inspired us) at familyfoodfavorites There will be some other treat recipes added there soon as well.

Also closing in is winter. The last few days I have noticed snow on the mountains around me. The snow kept getting lower and lower, well surprise when I opened the door this morning to let my dog out the snow is coming down. This means I should of gotten the BBQ and the wooden park bench into the shed on the weekend, now I will have to wrap them both in plastic to protect them until the weekend when I have someone to help me carry the two of them to the shed. The other thing I tend to do every year is forget to dig out the extension cord for my car so that when the temperature drops I can plug the baby in. Last year after not being able to locate the brush/scraper for my car windows last year during a big snowfall (in fact I had to go buy one) I was smart enough to just leave it in the trunk on my car after last winter. This was really a sad sight. Here it was colder than ............. With a semi blizzard coming down and I had no way to clean the snow or ice off my card,so using my hands I cleared the snow from the windows and I finally pulled my bank card out of my purse and used it as an ice scraper on the windows. And yes it stilled worked after that. Guess I had better dig out the snow shovel from the shed today as well.

Here is a recent picture of my grandaughters wearing the aprons I made for them. Ivy is the oldest hugging her baby sister Chelsey. *This picture was pirated from my daughter Rachels' blog*

Lest We Forget

2005-11-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead, Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae - Canadian Army May 1915

This is a special tribute to all.

Harvey E. Myers

A photo of my father in uniform who served oveseas during the Second World War.

Muscles

2005-11-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

They are overworked muscles not old muscles I tell you. I refuse to let myself think that the pain radiating from down my neck, shoulders and into my back has anything remotely to do with age.

After the planting spree last week of all the long awaited bulbs I came into the house and showered, then noticed that my shoulders and neck felt stiff. This however did not concern me at all because let's face it with the gardening season winding down the amount of physical labor dwindles. The next day I felt not too bad and the weather was kind of nice so out I ventured once again with just plans of collecting up all the lawn ornaments and storing them in the shed for the winter, and collect some seeds for friendd. A simple enough plan and quick process you'd think. Never on your life! Once out there I decided to cut back and pull out some of the plants that definitely were the worse for wear due to a couple of nights when the frost hit. That was quick and easy, so into the shed that has been a nightmare for I don't know how long to find some kind of storage container for the solar lights, I discovered a big plastic container that we use during the summer when we have people over for BBQ's and drinks, we put all the empties in it as we go so that we can just put it in the car and return the bottles and cans for refunds. Of course somewhere along the line cans and bottles were still in this so I organized them all and put them into the trunk of my car, gathered up the lights and various ornaments, lawn chairs from the deck and the table. One look at the shed with all this stuff to go in made me realize I had to do something. I organized the whole thing and gave it a good sweep in the process.

Last year when I wanted my Christmas decoration they were buried behind all the summer furniture, the lawn mower etc. And I had the choice of pulling everything out or climbing over the mile high pile. I chose the climbing. Well let me tell you that was not fun since it was cold out there. This year I got a bit smarter and the bins which hold the decorations and the tree are now on top of the patio table for easy access, it will still be cold when I need to get them but at least it will be quick. I then proceeded to clean up more of the yard and anything left standing now is pretty much going to be there for the winter and for nature to deal with.

This all said and done I have not been able to move my neck without pain for the last 4 days, and yesterday I had my grandson while the kids were moving. This did not help my neck at all because he is a big boy. But that pain is worth it.

So what do you think is it age or overworking that has the muscles screaming?

Just in Time

2005-11-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that I decided not procrastinate today when came to planting the bulbs. Outside I went with my planting plans firmly fixed in my head and all the bulbs. I finished planting every one of them in just under an hour, and I have the feeling that the cold gusting wind had something to do with it. It was so cold that I dug those holes fast, popped in a bulb and covered them back up. It's amazing how much faster one works when the weather is nippy. Also I don't know if I am that last person on earth to realize that the length of the blade on my little hand shovel is 6 inches, this little discovery took the guess work out of how deep I had dug, and of course sped up the process.

There was one major change in my planting scheme however, I did not put the Daffodils, Crocus, or Stardrifts in to the grass at the front of the house to naturalize them. Don't ask me how I could not remember the hardness of the dirt out in that area after having such a bad time planting the Lilac bushes. Anyways I just tucked them here and there in different beds. These were also the last to get planted so I was pretty cold by then and the rain had started.

The rest of the planting went very smoothly except for the huge rock I hit when planting one of the lilies. If this had been summer I would of dug it up because it has some great color to it, I dug around it instead. I might go back for it in the Spring hee hee.

So all this done I then came inside put some Turkey soup on the stove and had a hot shower. Now I just have to wait for Spring.

Yahoo I Think

2005-11-03T06:41:00.000-08:00

They came yesterday all 110 bulbs complete with all the planting instructions and I am glad 50 are going to my girlfriend. By the time I got them yesterday we had a cold wind blowing otherwise I would of been planting then.

It is 6:47am as I write this and I am checking out the sky from my computer room window, kind of cloudy and there is a slight wind. I have decided that if it does not rain I am going out to get some or all of them into the ground today. I am so excited and I keep thinking of all the possible places to plant them. However I am going to try and stick to the original plan as laid out on my Oct blog. It is probably a good thing I have only 60 and not the full 110 otherwise I would spend so much time trying to figure out where to plant them all that the snow would be here LOL.

I know I sound like a little kid in a candy store but I have never indulged myself like this before so it is exciting. I felt the same way last Christmas when my other half gave me the gift certificate for my favorite nursery and I had to wait to use it.

After I plant all these it will be time for me to start cleaning the rest of the beds. It is going to be along wait for spring. SIGH

Still Waiting for bulbs/Killing Time

2005-10-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am still waiting for my bulbs and not patiently I might add. The weather has been nice for the last week and I was hoping to get them and do all the planting. My concern is of course that the weather will turn nasty just as I recieve them. We have had some frost and the yearly scraping of the car windows has begun. Some of my plants have started to die as well so I guess the fall clean-up must be started in ernest, ahh the fading buds of summer. I won't complain too much about this since it will soon be November and we have been blessed with an extended blooming season.

I took my dog to the groomers and as always I requested no bows on her ears. They seldom listen though, and when I went to get her sure enough bows on her ears. I didn't mind to much this time though, she is black and they put in orange bows decorated with witches, pumpkins and ghosts. Lucy is ready for halooween LOL. I am leaving them in until after the 31st. Too bad the camera is on the road in the truck.

I am sewing my fingers to the bone making PJ bottoms, Christmas decorations and quilts. It has been a long time since I have been on a big creative binge, I think it started with the bows I made for my sister's wedding. At any rate I am having fun even if my hands scream at me to stop. My grandaughters received the aprons I made for them and are quite happy with them. When the oldest one Ivy asked my daughter Rachel if they could make cookies, Rachel told her after play group, Ivy then had her apron put away in the same spot as moms, of course Chelsey not to be left out put hers there as well. And the joy of webcams, Rachel and I were chatting online when the parcel arrived so she got her webcam going so that I could watch the girls open their gifts. I will post a picture of them in the aprons as soon as I get one.

I guess now with the gardens going down for the winter we can all share our visions for next summer and maybe share some holiday tips, recipes etc.

Ghosts and Goblins

2005-10-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

That time of the year is here again with thought of ghoulish masks and trick or treating.

My daughter Rachel loves Halloween and has dedicated most of her recent blogs to theme. Check out her blog at Live Love Laugh to get a good sample of songs and what not. She is also having a costume party on Saturday night and made cookies called Witch Fingers. Here is a picture of the gruesome things.

Maybe she will share the recipe.

Also Perennial Passion has provided a link to a Martha Stewart site for little trick or treat bags. They are quick and easy as promised.

When I lived in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island it was a yearly event to pile the three kids into the car and drive down Jingle Pot Road at night close to Halloween. There the people living on the road would decorate the trees, fence posts and ditches with glowing pumpkins, ghosts etc. It was quite the spooky site enhanced by the fact there were very few street lights in the area. I wonder if they still do this?

Remember to keep your children safe and your brooms dry.

This is Fall?

2005-10-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Wow I cannot believe it will be November soon and I was outside cutting my grass and looking at all the new buds on my plants. I had no plans on cutting grass my main goal was to clean up the front garden and move some of the day lilies. That chore was accomplished and I then moved some rocks to the area where I planted the Lilac bushes to protect them from cars. Due to the pot holes on the road in front house because of the water problem people have been driving up onto the grass to get around them. Now I have big rocks around the bushes to help keep those jerks off my lawn. A fence would be great but the propane people have to be able to get to the tank.

I transplanted some of the day lilies and made some space for the new bulbs that are on the way, cleaned up the yard at the side of the house that is slowly getting planted. While working in that area I had a brainstorm, since I have 60 bulbs coming that I am going to plant most of them in that area in a staggered fashion and then come spring I will plant all around them with other flowers. My thoughts on this is that the bulbs will or should give me a good basis to get me motivated in that area. My planting plans are to naturalize the crocus and daffodils in the front yard. That leaves me with 41 assorted bulbs from the package I am sharing with my girlfriend so I should be able to space them out nicely. I also ordered 10 Red Carpet Border Lilies that will bloom in late summer, those will be planted at the front of the arch area (5 to a side) I think. They are going to be used to create some kind of path way leading to the garden on the side. The other project for next season is to get a couple of wood benches hammered together and place them along that area for sitting on, they will just be plain benches that I am going to leave to the weather.

After doing all this clean up I noticed the grass, (with blooming dandelions,the little yellow devils), needed to be cut so I did that as well. It has been awhile since I spent the day outside doing yard work and I can feel every muscle I have screaming at me. It was such a nice day out there today and I worked with just a long sleeve shirt on, which was kind of dumb because when I finally called it quits I was totally chilled to the bone and had a wind burn on my face. A good hot shower and a bowl of leftover beef stew hit the spot though.

I then turned my attention to sewing.

Monster

2005-10-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Your Monster Profile

Shadow Gargoyle

You Feast On: Beer

You Lurk Around In: Las Vegas

You Especially Like to Torment: Republicans

What's Your Monster Name?

My Rating

2005-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

My life has been rated:

See what your rating is!
Created by bart666

Heat Babies and Other Things

2005-10-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ah the joy of heat when it is raining and cool outside. Friday was the same type of weather wet and cool, however around 4:45pm I discovered that only cold air was coming through my vents, so donning boots and a jacket I braved the weather to go out and check the propane tank. Yup just as I thought no propane. Of course being that late on a Friday afternoon no one would deliver any fuel, thankfully I have a little space heater and the weather got mild over the weekend and there was no snow. I still had no heat until late yesterday afternoon and when the first blast of warm air hitting me was such a great feeling.

The real joy was that now I could take my grandson for the evening. Being 5 months old almost he has really discovered his feet and voice. Zayden is a happy little guy for the most part with lots of giggles and smiles, and sleeps most of the night. Not the same case two weeks ago when I had him for the night after a vaccination, it is funny how fast you forget the fussiness that can come along with those, I was up most of the night with him. My little dog gets mad at me if I do not answer his cries asap as well. I really believe that we were made to have babies early in life when our energy levels were higher.

Other happening in the garden area:

I called Breck's to see where my order is and they are to be shipped tomorrow and I should have them next week hopefully, so the fun will begin. I went out on Sunday to gather some seeds for friends and when I spotted all the roses and other flowers still in bloom I decided I would pick some to enjoy them in the house before they start to die off for the winter. And pick I did, I have four large vases filled in the living room. It sure makes the gloomy weather outside seem not so bad, and picking flowers this time of the year is great there were no bugs on them. I can't believe that the garden is still looking that good this time of the year. When the guy came to install the new propane tank he was thinking of placing it in the back yard so it would not be visible from the street, however he told me that it was going to stay at the side of the house because he didn't want to ruin my wonderful garden. Oh I could of kissed him, and it didn't hurt that he was also so damn cute.

Recipes

2005-10-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

I know the American Thanksgiving is later than ours so I thought I would share these two recipes or just in case anyone would like to try the Apple Betty or Corn Bread Recipes here they are.

Apple Betty

6 large apples, peeled, and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1) In large bowl, toss together apples, sugar and cinnamon. Place in slow cooker

2) In bowl combine butter and brown sugar. Add flour and mix together with a spoon until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apples and pat firmly into a crust.

3) Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or until apples are tender and sauce is bubbly.

Corn Bread

1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 tablespoons of sugar (I use 4)
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Heat oven to 425. Grease 8 inch square baking pan. In medium bowl. Combine corn meal, flour,baking powder, salt and sugar. Add milk, egg and oil mixing just until smooth. Pour into prepared pan, bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Variation
To make cheese cornbread use 2 eggs and add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese.

Turkey Turkey Everywhere

2005-10-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

I love turkey and after just having our Thanksgiving weekend there is certainly enough leftovers. Picture this after feeding eight people including myself there was enough turkey left over for sandwiches, and a big pot of turkey soup. However there sure seems like a lot of work doing a turkey dinner. It takes a full day to put it together no matter how organized you think you are or how much early preparation is done. But all was good and I believe everyone went away full, the first hint in that area is the fact that the two desserts were untouched. No problem I sent the kids home with the pumpkin pie divided between them and put the Apple Betty that I had made into the fridge. I have a great recipe for the Apple Betty that is done in a crockpot, this is very handy since the crockpot can be pushed into a corner on the counter, therefore it is not taking up valuable space which is needed for the potato mashing, turkey carving etc. or space in the oven, because if you have an oven the size of mine only the turkey is fitting in there.

After this wonderful feast comes the cleanup. Usually I have my soup pot out to start throwing the bones into as the turkey is being carved, but for some reason that did not happen this year. With the dishwasher filled to the max and help from my daughter and her soon to be sister-in-law the kitchen was cleaned up. You would think ah all is good, nope, the next day is turkey soup making day and it does not take long to have it look like a disaster area. Picture this a big pot on the stove with the bones boiling away, fridge open in order to locate the leftover vegetables, and anything else that might be good in the pot, dishes that were not put away from the night before as the girls were unsure where to put them, and I was too lazy to do, cupboard doors open where the great variety of mysterious spices are hidden, food processor going,dishwasher running etc. There is not a lot of counter space in my kitchen, in fact some people probably have more counter space in their bathrooms, so running out of space I have now placed a large cutting board across the sink in order to compensate. I know you think what a great idea!, not so, the problem with this is that now I have one sink overflowing with dirty dishes and the top of the other one covered with the cutting board and I have to try and get around all of this to make more space without sending the board off the sink, and trying not to get the clean dishes still on the counter from the night before dirty again, and I had to bring out another pot for soup since the first one is not big enough. Of course while I was trying to make space and chop veggies the first pot decided to boil over and then the phone rang. My phone is always on the other side of the house as well,so I had to run to get it on time, oh but life is good it was my daughter Rachel calling from Ontario for help with the recipe I sent her for Corn Bread. So juggling the phone I managed to get the over boiling pot slowed down and helped her with the recipe.

We did manage to have a big bowl of fresh turkey soup before my other half had to go back on the road as well as some of the Apple Betty.

So there it is one day to get the dinner ready and one day for clean up. I still have leftover turkey which did not make it into the pot so today I will keep out enough for my dinner tonight and the rest is going to be wrapped up and frozen. I hope it is gone before Christmas. (And I still need to put dishes away)

Reflecting on all this I want to express my thanks for being lucky enough to have this abundance of food and friends and family to share it with. I am truly blessed.

Socks - Love & Hate Them

2005-09-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Socks that is what I bought yesterday at Walmart. This I feel is one of the first signs of winter approaching. I needed some to take on the trucking jaunt last week and discovered I only had two pairs in the drawer, no biggie. That is of course until I got up yesterday and it was cloudy, windy and cool outside and my feet were cold. So off to Walmart I went to buy some socks and light bulbs. The socks were the first things I got then I went around the store and picked up other items. Needless to say that after I returned home and settled into the dimly lit computer room did the light come on that I forgot to buy light bulbs.

I have a love hate relationship with socks. I love putting them on fresh out of the dryer when my feet are chilly and they are still warm, I love the great variety of socks available now from the very serious to the funky ones with toes etc, the cotton socks, nylon, thick, thin, ankle, mid calf, and knee high. I also love the great and cute little socks they have for babies now. Socks are kind of a comfort thing at times though, have you ever noticed that when you are only slightly chilled a pair of socks on your feet warms you up almost instantly and they always seem to go along with a big plate of stew or with soup when the winds and snow are blowing outside?

My sister Jacquie knits socks and some can be seen on her blog Norge Thingy which I am linked to. I have not had the honor of getting a pair of these great socks yet, however I wonder if I made her a pair of PJ bottoms if that would help persuade her to send me a pair.

I hate socks after having them on all day and they come off my feet with my shoes and/or boots the second I come in from work. I also hate them when they are wet, tight or so loose that they need to be pulled back into a comfortable fit all the time, or they have holes.

The saddest part about socks is that when you have to start wearing them again you know that the summer has truly come to an end once again. Ah I can't wait for next summer when I can once again run around in bare feet through the yard while I garden. Although putting socks back on again can be a good thing since my feet get pretty rough by the end of the summer so now I can put lotion on them and pull the socks right on and in a day or two they will still be ugly feet but at least they will be soft ugly feet again.

Here is a picture of a pair of socks my sister made. (Pirated from her site)Don't they make you want to have a cup of tea and read or watch a movie on a cold day?

Trucking

2005-09-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here I am back from a full week on the road with my other half. I went out in the rig for a week and I know that is not a life for me, and how they do it is a wonder in itself.

Bathroom breaks are few and far between so when we did stop for something to eat my coffee intake was minimal and I made sure I went before we left just for good measure.

The trip took us to Northern Alberta where the air is certainly telling everyone that winter is on the way. Lots of wildlife spotted up there as well. We saw deer, Elk, Caribou who look like they are floating because their black legs are barely visible in the early evening, moose and a coyote. Also spotted was a black bear and I could not believe that people are stupid enough to get out of their cars and approach the bear to try and get a photo!

Although this should not shock me either we actually had someone stop in front of us on the highway, then make a left hand turn from the inside lane. He was lucky to get away with that because there is no way the truck could of stopped in time to avoid hitting him. Riding along for the week really made me open my eyes to some of the really dumb moves people do on the road, such as passing on double solid lines going around a curve only to see another vehicle there and if they are trying to pass a rig with a trailer or two they have no place to go. Scary stuff.

Here is a picture of the truck I was in.

My name is on the passenger door, so it must be true love LOL.

I wish I had taken the camera with me the scenery was awesome with the mountains covered in yellow,red and green trees.

A picture of Mount Robson taken awhile ago but still awesome.

Now it is time for me to go and do some yard work since it has been a week as well as the weather is perfect for it today.

Oops It's Raining

2005-09-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

It has been raining for 4 days which in itself is not a bad thing however I spent all last week indoors re-arranging my house and sewing PJ bottoms and quilting. Of course when I finally decided to go out and clean up my yard that is when the rain started, I now need dry weather for at least a day.

The sewing has eaten up the days and so far I have made 5 pairs of PJ bottoms and started to rag quilts for my granddaughters. My grandson may get one for Christmas but he will only be 7 months so I doubt he will notice whether or not he gets one this year.

Here is a picture of my daughter modeling her PJ bottoms.

I am in no hurry to start the fall cleanup of my gardens as they are all still blooming nicely.

Can anyone tell me what this plant is? It grew from seeds a friend gave me last year.

Here are some random shots of my gardens in the back taken about 4 days ago.

As you can see the weed and feed I put on the grass is working over time and I really need to get it cut since it is pass my ankles already. I know too that I cannot be the only one who feels a twinge of pain at the thought of having to put the gardens to bed for the winter after all our hard work. I am a die hard and always wait to the bitter end and usually end up slaving outside in the colder weather to get everything cleaned up before the snow arrives. I hope the bulbs I have on order show up soon so I can get them in the ground before it gets to cold.

But since we all have posted so many photos this summer at least we can view them when the winter comes and look forward to being outside again. And I am going to complete the side garden next year.

Wedding Done

2005-09-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Wow I can't believe the chaos in my house last week. With two out of town sisters, a niece and her 3 year old son my place was a mad house. Then of course there was the insane live in town sister who was getting married. Thank goodness for a beer. The wedding was good after being delayed for an hour, apparently the dress maker forgot to bring part of the dress with her and had to go fetch it. All I can say is that I am glad I only had to deal with the decorations.

Here are a couple of pictures of the bows I did for the church.

The happy couple

Ethan the three year old lady killer who at the reception was asking all the ladies to dance while he held a glow stick in the air. The only thing that got him off the dance floor was the sight of what he called "The Big Cake" He is quite the card when we were waiting for the taxi to take us to the reception (as opposed to driving) he kept saying "Taxi to the Party"

Good fun was had by all.

What have I done??

2005-08-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ok I now realize that this crazy splurge on bulbs might not of been the smartest move I have made lately but oh well. As I mentioned I have ordered 60 bulbs from Brecks bulbs. All that remains for me to do now is receive the order divide the 100 bulbs in half with my co-worker from this order

Take full possesion of the bulbs for the red lily at the bottom right hand side

And figure out where to plant them all. I know where the red lilies are going and some of the other ones. But man I think I took a crazy pill that day.

Stay tuned for the trials and tribulations on the planting probably coming your way late September or early October.

What Kind of Book Are You?

2005-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

A Poppy "Finally"

2005-08-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it here we are rolling into September and I have just gotten a bloom on my poppy. There were about 30 seeds put into the ground in the same area and only two plants came up and one bloomed.

TA DA my poppy at long last. And my carnation is making a come back as well,those little red and white flowers on the left of the poppy.

Also on my just blooming list are the marigolds.

This is a picture of the same general area that was newly planted this year. I am really happy with how it grew. See my July 18 post More Pictures and Ideas for the before shot.

A temporary home for the birdbath.

Yarrow which was given to me this summer. I planted this in an area by the shed along the fence line as I work my way down creating the allusive side garden. There are four plants the other one in bloom is white.

A shot of my Russian sage that got buried under the sweet peas, there are lots of shoots from this so I will be transplanting a few in various areas, the first being in my corner of shame.

The Winnipeg Parks rose still blooming as well as all my other rose bushes.

A shot of the back corner with all sorts of blooming happening.
Nastrium

I am really quite amazed how well the gardens are doing despite my neglect,I have not been out there doing much, the weeds have slowed down so that I can now just enjoy the beauty and the grass is not growing quite so fast so it is only getting mowed once a week. My friend and I sat out in the back on Sunday and slightly sanded Ronnie the Rambling Ram and put a clear coat on varnish on him so he won't rot. When this started to dry we noticed different shades of color showing through, the prominent one being yellow.

A full body shot of him, pretty good looking for a chainsaw carving.

And a head shot showing some of the detail on him. I'm so glad my neighbor gave this to me.

I was also given a pile of sunflower seeds to plant by a client, he over heard me saying I can't grow them so he gave me some from his very healthy plants and swears they will grow. Tune in next summer LOL.

I split on an order of bulbs from Brecks bulbs with a co-worker so my share will be 50 plus the 10 red lily ones called Red carpet border lilies, described as a flowering carpet of fiery red Asiatic lilies. These grow to a height of 35-45cm. and if I can I will get the picture scanned and post it for all to see. Just in case I did not post enough tonight.

I'm back,Bugs & Rain

2005-08-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here I am back to the quiet life at least for two weeks until my out of town sisters arrive for the wedding. I have survived the dentist and even though I am on antibiotics for three weeks and am not to be out in the sun too long all is OK there.

The birthday party I threw for my other half on Saturday went really well and the clean up Sunday was not bad. The weather held out and my gardens were awed over. ( I take a bow) The only stressful part that evening was when someone let my dog Lucy out without a lease. I have no idea how long she was out before I discovered it but the search party went out in full force. Lucy the poor thing has never had the pleasure of a fenced yard where she can run, so once out and un-tethered, run she did. About twenty minutes after we discovered the great escape she came tearing through the back gate and dropped panting onto the grass, she was more than happy to go into the house with the air conditioner and cold water to drink.

We have been really lucky this year with the lack of mosquitoes however I have noticed quite a few grass hoppers. Yesterday morning I got into my car to go to work and sitting right in the middle of my dashboard was a big honking grass hopper. These do not concern me but I still wanted it out of the car. Hmmm how to do this without squishing him or having him jump into the back seat? I finally reached into my glove box real slow so as not to spook him, I don't know if they spook but just in case so he wouldn't go hopping into the back seat and got out a couple of napkins, armed as I was I approached him to knock him out of the car, poor thing was half dead I think, however after 3 or 4 swishes with the napkins he did go out the door.

Having been on the run since Friday morning getting everything ready for the party I have not really had time to sit and enjoy a good cup of coffee so first thing this morning I made a pot, turned on my computer and went straight to the blog sites to catch up on everything, fetched the mug of coffee and got all settled in to read the blogs. Ah all is good I am thinking as I go to take the first drink of this freshly brewed coffee. What? What the heck the cream cannot be bad I just got it. What it's moving!! A big damm moth had landed right in my coffee, struggled and then sort of fell apart in it. GROSS. After washing my mug I poured a second cup and enjoyed it while I caught up on my reading.

Many thanks to Sabine for the promised White Mallow seeds, they arrived here on Thursday when I needed them. I had just gotten home from the dentist with the frozen mouth so they were a pick me up. I can hardly wait to plant them.

The birdbath has not made it outside yet as I have to seal the paint and I haven't gotten that far yet. Oldroses I did worry about it blowing over but there is a lip on the bottom that I am going bury in the ground and will use the white rocks from the previous path to help weight it down. I'll keep you posted on the outcome. I am going to put this in where the Sunflower is since nothing wants to grow there.

And finally we have rain. Hopefully enough to compensate the lack of watering my gardens have had the last couple of days.

A picture my friend sent to me of a canyon in California.

For the Birds

2005-08-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

I am not a crafty person but I seen this idea in a recent magazine so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here is an inexpensive and easy to make Birdbath that I made last night.

This is simply two large pots one smaller than the other with the base of the largest one sitting on top. I glued the base just for security and used plastic pots instead of clay ones. My friend and I then decided to stencil just for fun and so that I could get the hang of it since that was my 1st try. I did the easy stuff on the bottom.

Just Yacking

2005-08-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have been checking out all the blogs and I can't believe some of the yards. Yikes and I thought I had lots to do. There are so many plants, hints, and just plain craziness I love it.

I sent away for a catalog of bulbs at www.BrecksBulbs.ca which is a Canadian mail order company. This is like giving a child free rein in a candy store. There are so many choices and the prices are right. All of them are Dutch bulbs, there are lilies, iris, crocus, tulips of all sorts of colors and blooms,etc. I have my eye on a package which contains 103 assorted bulbs "The 120 day flowering sampler collection" for the low price of $49.99" I could plant them everywhere, the only thing is 1st I need to list the bulbs in the package and then go through the catalog to be sure they are all zone 3.

The other package that caught my eye is the one with 40 Giant Crocus for naturalizing which I would love to do in the front yard for $19.99.

What you guys don't think I can plant 143 bulbs?

I am really only thinking of the packages because I will never be able to decide what to get. Since it looks like we will be staying here I am thinking all these bulbs would sure get a good start on the side garden.The lots we were looking at are cheap but the cost to get septics, wells etc. is just plain insane.

Yesterday I went out back and while doing some weeding decided I made a big error last summer when I put down white rock to use as a path between two garden in order to weed. First off all I used under them were layers of newspaper which of course I learned this year makes worm lasagna, of course the weeds just kept coming and coming through all these and what a pain to weed since I had to keep moving them in order to get to the weeds. I had enough yesterday so I picked them all out of there, pulled all the weeds leveled the ground, placed thick plastic down and then the resin stepping stones.

The little path went from this; on the right side

To this, a much tidier area. The planter at the end is full of the stones so I am going to put down more plastic around the area on the left and put them there. I think.

This is a Scarlet Ruby Begonia

And the Cosmos gone wild coming up even through the steps. I pulled them all out once this summer.

And hidden in under all the Cosmos is what I believe is a Dahlia.

And finally my marigolds have started to bloom and the poppy is still growing but not blooming yet.

I am Woman here me Moan

2005-08-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhhhhhh I just can't seem to keep up. I spent all evening mowing and watering the gardens. Still on my list of things to do either tonight or in the morning is clean the inside of my house. This has to be done since I have someone coming to look at it and give me a price.

Oh yeah let me start from the start I have a mobile home in a mobile home park, I then got the brilliant idea that I should by a small lot just out of town in an area called Pinantan Lake which is only about 20 to 30 minutes of driving depending on the weather and move my mobile to the lot. It is a great idea the lot I am looking at is cheap and the payments would be the same as the pad rent. Well here is the killer the price to move the trailer is is $10,000. or more. I can buy a brand new one for $65,000 and then with the lot my mortgage payment is the same. Of course the dealer said he has buyers for one the size of mine. We'll see. Of course this means I would have to start my gardens all over again if we decide to do this. But just imagine a 1/2 acre of virgin un-planted dirt, and she dreams with stars in her eyes.

Next day Aug 4/05
On top of all this I have a stagette to go to on Friday night, a meeting with a fellow on Sat. to check out the lot to be sure it is not just swamp, and a baby shower on Sunday night. We are then back to the work week with a dentist appointment in there which requires my mouth to be frozen and then I am giving a birthday party next Saturday. I do get two weeks after that to prepare for the onslaught of relatives coming for my sisters wedding.

I just went out and took photos of some mystery plants so now that I have ranted on about how busy my life is at the moment I am ready to share these;

And here is my little dog Lucy, please note she is 7 and this is only the second picture I have managed to get of her with her face at the camera.

I know these are gentians they were planted late last summer and then I forgot I planted them.

Killer dragon fly.

Frantic weeding

2005-07-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last two nights pulling weeds. What a job. Tonight I finished the weeding and did all the trim, leaving the cut grass laying on top of the lawn so I can mow tomorrow and mulch it all in. It only took me three years to figure out that if I do the trim before the mowing I don't have to rake. Duh! Anyways it already looks good so by the time I mow it will be good for the long weekend.

Added to my gardens in the back are solar lights which were on sale at Zellers, which is a Canadian version of K Mart, they were 4 for $19.00 a savings of $10.00 so I got 8. I like them however not enough to pay $29. for four. I went out last night to move my sprinker and they were all on which surprised me because the box said they had to be in the sun for eight hours. But what the heck they looked cool. I am going to go out in a few minutes and see if I can get a photo to post.

On my list of things to do this weekend is to cut the dead flowers off the daisy, cut back the sweet peas, do general deadheading. And after all that I will finish making the bows for my sisters wedding so that I can give them to her to look after.

And yet more digging

2005-07-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am insane! This morning we went out to get the rose bushes from my friend who has them all over inside her chicken coop. That was quite a chore there were chickens everywhere and a low netting over the top. I am 5'8" so stooped over I was trying to dig these up without maiming a chicken or getting the handle of the shovel caught in the overhead net. Finally I got about 6 bushes and headed for home. They are in a couple of pails of water and hopefully I can get them planted tomorrow.

I also went to my favorite nursery and purchased some perennials for the side of the house. I got Small's beard-tongue ( pentemon smalli),Torchlight blanket flower ( gaillardia fackelschein), Threadleaf coreopsis ( coerepsis verticilllata moonbeam),pincshion flower, feverfew. Don't get excited I did not all of a sudden learn all the names I have the tabs in front of me. I did manage to plant some but I needed to come in to clean up, eat and do some laundry.

My Black beauty lily and the Lilium arena have both opened so here are the pictures.

The Black Beauty, not what I expected but gorgeous never the less.

And the White Lilium Arena.

Now the only lily I need to seek out is the Casa Blanca because vanilla is my absolute favorite scent, expect for bread baking.

There is so much in bloom right now I cannot even begin to list everything. My sweet peas and hollyhock have both taken a beating from the high winds, I think I am going to have take down most of the sweetpeas and I am hoping I can stake the hollyhock. And joy the sunflower has some new flowers. I am really glad that I planted some yellow flowers arounf in the gardens it seems to bring out the pinks, purples and reds in the other flowers.

Well thats all for now I am going to go and finish watering the front and then kick back with a couple of gardening magazines I just got.

I can't decide

2005-07-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

I can't decide what I like the most about my gardens in the evenings.

The stillness of it, when all that can be heard are a few crickets and the odd bird. Silence is not totally there yet as the night starts settling in however the mowers and such have been put away. The only gardening sounds to be heard are the gentle swishing noises from sprinklers. People are still working a bit as evindenced from the water peaking over the top of fences at varoius heights and directions, but it is a quiet labor of love.

It could also be the change of the colors in the gardens that so intrique me. The color of the black eyed susan toned down with the descent of the sun so that it is now a different more subdued shade of orange with the black centers being more prominant. Plants with yellow flowers such as the mountain flower and pansies, as well as the yellow roses with their orange tinge, the pinks, reds and purples all take on a sharper tone, and all stand out against the dusty millers,white allysem and baby's breath.

AND THE SCENTS! I cannot tell where one begins or ends the air in the yard is so perfumed, but not overly. I can pick up the scent from the Nicotina and lilies, and as I walk around moving the sprinkler there are some scents that are just there and do not seem to have any source of origin.

It is just a very nice night out and if I had a tent I would put it up smack in the middle of the gardens and enjoy the scents all evening. My guess is that it is times like this that makes all the work and worry worthwhile. I am sure I am not the only person to feel this way but I must admit this is the first year that I am really enjoying my gardens, and having other people share their highs, lows and ideas sure is making this a great summer passion for me.

Show no dirt, keep planting!

More Pictures and ideas

2005-07-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

In response to Zoey here is a picture of the Musk Mellow, it looks pretty much average however the scent is musk and of course these are supposed to self-seed. I'll let you know whether or not they do in the spring.

Also Zoey my plan for the side of the house is to plant all along the both the fence and the side of the house, I just kind of got more going along the fence line first for some reason. I have planted a hardy heavy traffic tolerant woolly thyme in the grass which is suppose to spread killing the grass along the way, it looks pretty lazy to me as there is still a lot of grass and not much spreading. As for the path I am still undecided about using pavers or stepping stones. I did find a web sight that gave directions for making stepping stones, but I already have too much on the go. There are two climbing roses on the arch a red and a white one and in front of each I have planted lavender and behind them Russian sage, my goal is to have a very romantic arch which leads up a path planted with all kinds of different flowers, in fact I hope to transplant some of my excess plants from the back in order to get the area jump started so to speak. I guess we think a lot along the same lines and I am sure the pathway will have a curve as I can't seem to get any straight lines in the gardens no matter how hard I try. You are right about doing a section at a time when I first thought about this I was totally overwhelmed, now however I am putting in the main plants I want and then I will use a lot of seeds, and don't worry there will be lots of pictures.

Here is a picture of the Red Hot lily that opened today.

And a couple of shots of an area I planted this year in the back which is starting to take hold and I noticed there are a few plants with buds on them.

I mowed the yard after work tonight, did the trimming and some weed pulling the results are good and now the watering is being done so that everything will continue to grow.

Speaking of growing my little grandson Zayden is now two months old and is weighing in at 14lbs. Here is a picture of him taken today.

Isn't he just starting to look like a little butterball? And note he has on Vancouver Canucks outfit (that's our hockey team in BC).

Pictures and lilies

2005-07-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I went on a mission yesterday to find a Casa Blanca Lily. The nursery I went to has sold out of them however when I advised them what I was looking for she was great. I have come home with a very fragrant Kissproof which I can smell in the front yard from where it is planted, I did get a white Lilium Arena which is also fragrant but not as strong and another one Red Hot which is also fragrant. The best part is they were on sale for $5.99 each. I am going to go get more of the Kissproof and put one under the bedroom window which is also by my deck and a couple more by the front arch.

Kissproof

The white Arena is planted next to it and the red hot on the other side.

Also I have my first flower on the Nastrium.

I have all kinds of things that I would like to do today but it is so hot that I am going to go to the nursery and then go outside later in the day. I am on a roll I managed to clean up the area around the front arch and tonight I am going to transplant some marigolds and maybe some alyssum.

Here is a shot of my disgrace corner by my shed.

Later in the day
I am back from the nursery where I purchased four more lilies, three Kissproof and a Black Beauty, I am giving one of the Kissproof to my friend I know she will really enjoy it. Also I got two Alpine Asters one purple with a yellow center and the other is pink with a yellow center, these I planted in front of the three lilies and I will divide them at a later date once they take off, they are a little sad looking and such a bargain $2.00 each. Along with all these I got two Musk Mellow plants and put them in the ground one on each side of the front arch. Yesterday I purchased 12 white saliva for $2.00 and two other plants that were $.50 each and just marked annuals, these also were put in around the two rose bushes and 4 or 5 of the saliva along the front fence that I managed to get nailed together so it should not blow down again.

I am thrilled that I have finally started to work on this side of the house with a vengeance and now that perennials are all going on clearance I can scooped them up and plant them and fill in the areas as I go.

Here is a picture of how it is starting to look.

I know this is not a great photo but hopefully you can get an idea of what I am trying to do.

My Lambert Closse rose bush is unable to support it's blooms so I had to cut them all off this morning, however I do have a nice bouquet, I should of cut some baby's breath too now that I think of it.

The Return of Screaming Muscles

2005-07-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

Yikes one would think that by now my muscles would be used to the labors of yard work. Not a chance. Here it is 5:30 am and I had to get out of bed because of the soreness in my legs, back and hands.

Last night I came home from work and had a quick bite of dinner and out to my yard I went. I spent 3 1/2 hours out there cutting grass, trimming, watering, dead heading and pulling weeds. The tough part came with the weeding I think as this was not weeding in the flower beds, I have a gravel driveway which it seems overnight was becoming covered in weeds. It really didn't look like a big job and I figured that I would pull the big ones only, since my dog kept getting tangle on them. These did not come out by a mere good tug though, I had to go and get a hand trowel and dig down in order to get them out. I used the hand trowel as opposed to the spade figuring it would be easier on my back since I could sit and do this. Wrong. This is probably just as bad or maybe worse since I ended up doing a lot of stretching,digging and pulling. Near the end off this chore my hands were cramping up, however I now was on a mission so I kept working until I got them all. I must admit the driveway now looks awesome and I have resolved to get those weeds as they come up instead of waiting as long as I did this year. By the time I finished all this it was 9:30 so I then came in and took a hot shower which I am sure helped with the sore muscles or I would of been stiffer this morning. Notice I blame this all on hard work and not the fact that age might be a part of it.

On the flower side of things the black-eyed Susan are in full bloom so the back corner of my garden near the gate looks like something other than a black hole, the baby's breath has bloomed at the same time as my rose bushes. And joy oh joy the white climbing rose in the front has opened and the red one on the other side of the arch is going to bloom as well.

The first blooms on the white climbing rose bush.

The promising bud on the red climbing rose.

Yellow roses and baby's breath in bloom.

The happily blooming Black-eyed Susan cheering up a corner.

Echinea (don't know how to spell that) I think among my sweet peas and the Russian sage peeking through.

All in all things are starting to look good although the baby's breath and rose combo are not quite the way I envisioned, but maybe next year when the rose bushes are a little more mature and with a thicker planting of baby's breath it will look better. I think maybe the area around the rose bushes just needs to be filled in more and I did put in a low growing wildflower mixture that of course has not appeared yet so that may help. I was unsure of how tall or wide the baby's breath grew so I planted sparingly but now I can re-plant them next spring thicker.

In the meantime enjoy your gardens and keep looking in between the weeds for the unexpected flowers.

God & Gardens

2005-07-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a joke I had emailed to me today, it is not offensive and I thought about all my garden blog buddies when I read it.

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sodworms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it -- sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn leaves fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No fooling? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: "Dumb and Dumber," Lord. It's a really stupid movie about....

GOD: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Late Night Garden Visit

2005-07-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

I convinced my other half to come into the back garden area on Friday night for a look at the garden. This was around 8:pm and the night was just staring to creep in but still light enough to enjoy the flowers. I ended up pulling out a couple of old blankets to spread on the ground to sit on. This turned into a 3 hour sit down amongst the flower beds where we just relaxed and talked.

This has got to be one of the best times that I have taken to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The evening was cool and quiet and the slight breeze caused the night air to be pleasantly perfumed by the flowers. And although there were some clouds the stars still managed to shine through.

Not much in yard work or gardening was done over the weekend except for a bit of weed pulling and watering. I have taken a picture though of the small garden I started this year. Here is a picture of before.

Here is the after picture taken this morning, it has filled out not too badly with the alyssum and dusty millers along the border. In the center is a purple iris that may or may not be moved, snapdragons, some pansies and petunias, I did plant some Canterbury bells in there but I am not sure if they are coming up or if the seedlings breaking through are some of a seed mixture planted called a Bridal mixture which was to produce a variety of pale pink and purple flowers are starting.

And yes my yard does have a slope to it so when mowing back there I consider it equivalent doing 20 pushups or more.

Also I am still waiting for the two rose bushes in the front to bloom. Here are a couple of pictures of buds in waiting.

The Climbing White Dawn ( almost there but not quite)

The Climbing Dublin Bay.

As you can see I wasn't kidding about doing a bit of weeding over the weekend.
I am thinking of taking some of the alyssum from the garden shown above and transplanting them by these two rose bushes and maybe some pansies just to get this area sharpened up for the rest of the summer. The lavender is doing fine but I want to have some flowers going this year around that area. Patience is not one of my virtues when it comes to my garden.

And a final picture of my pink miniature rose in bloom in the front garden.

A big thank you to oldroses who identified my daughter's hanging basket. Rachel has advised that after putting it in the shade it has survived.

And finally good thoughts to snappy during these hard times over in England.

Weeding Seeding and Seeing

2005-07-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

I took my usual walk outside this evening to check out the hen & chicks. My curiosity is killing me I am getting ansty to see the blooms, however they are still holding back, possibly for a solid day of sun before they open. The black-eye susans are really starting to bloom, the purple balloon flower has three more buds waiting to make the grand entrance, poppies are coming along but have a long ways to go before they bloom, the rose bushes are all blooming again since I cut off the dead blossoms, baby's breath and alyssum etc etc. All in all the whole area seems to of changed since my stroll around last night.

Of course there was some weeding done, I think I have it under control for now as long as I get out there for about an hour a day and pull them as they surface.

And the seeding, BIG SIGH if you have been following my garden season you will remember that I have a galzilion types of seeds. So tonight I planted, planted and planted a whack of them around the back garden, some are annuals, others perennials and stills other biennials so we will watch and see. If none of the annuals grow this year I will at least have some interesting surprises next year. Tomorrow night no matter what the weather I am going to clear more area along the side of my house and spend Saturday planted ever last seed up both the side of the house and the fence, also I am going to plant the begonias that were given to me. Even if it kills me.

Under the weeds

2005-07-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

After reading Oldroses' comment of the surprises under the big honking weeds I decided that I should show a couple of the ones I found tonight.

Here is what I believe is a Malva and this has come back from last year. I love it when it gets really big and is in full bloom. A friends mother gave me the seeds for this plant about two years ago and I came across them last summer and just stuck them in the ground to see if they would grow. Wow they just took right off.

And this little gem in my front garden was totally buried along with the other miniature rose bush and a bunch of Johnny jump-ups. There are lots of blooms on the rose ready to go, this is the one I felt was not going to survive but maybe the big weed gave it enough coolness to help it along.

One of the pink rose buds.

I am still waiting for the hen & chicks to bloom as well as the two rose bushes in the front. The roses should bloom at the same time I think judging by the look of the buds on each of them. There is a red rose bush on one side of the arch and a white rose bush on the other side, both are climbers but of course they haven't reached that point yet as they only went into the ground this year. Just seeing them develop leaves had me excited but now they are both going to bloom as well. I am looking forward to next year when the lavender and the Russian Sage have grown around that area some more and it starts to fill in. Stay tuned for photos of the roses and the hen & chicks.

Many thanks to Sabine who questioned my logic of just using Flicker and being limited on my uploads. I had began wondering about it myself so I am now using the Blog Image upload. So look out world you may get sick of my pictures.

Also I want to let everyone know that we are not just a bunch compulsive garden photo freaks after all. I was reading an article that advises pictures should be taken of your garden in bloom so that in the spring/early summer you can refer back to them if you are unsure whether or not the plant is an old favorite or a big weed. So you see we are all doing the correct thing here we just didn't know it. The only problem with this theory for me is that I will most likely forget to refer back to my photos and still have to play the wait and see game as I have just done with the Balloon Flower.

It is so nice outside half sunny/half cloudy with a cool breeze so I was out there pulling weeds again. The baby's breath has also started to bloom (about 4 blooms) and as I was weeding in that area I decided that I will find the garden book which gave instructions for taking cuttings from the lavender bush and starting new plants, I will then plant them between the three rose bushes in the back to grow and take their place there after the baby's breath has died away. If I recall it is easy to do and it is worth a try.

Out of all the alyssum I planted I have only one purple plant and it is not even where it should be.

Now here is a comment that was directed at me by a client today when my co-worker and I were talking about my flowers. She told me I should be planting something useful like vegetables. I wanted to tell her flowers are useful because they make most people smile.

Garden Chat

2005-07-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have just taken my nightly stroll through my gardens and of course pulled a few weeds and snapped a few more photos. It is not sunny or raining the weather seems to be trying to make up it's mind what to do. In either case I could be out doing one of a hundred different little jobs but instead I decided to post a blog and some pictures.

It is so quiet outside when the weather is uncertain, no lawn mowers or weed whackers going, it's as if everyone has decided not to start a job they may not be able to finish. Myself I think I will take my little dog and a cup of coffee outside and just enjoy the quiet when I finish this.

These are just random photos in no particular order. The new blooms are on the Black eyed susans, and my balloon flower, some of the portulacas, and various other plants.

Blue Balloon Flower

Black eyed Susan

My bugle boy which was a birthday present, and hidden under all those sweet peas is my Russian sage, along the front of this I planted alyssum which is just starting to grow.

Just a few photos and now I am going to go and relax outside for a bit and take in the cool air and scents from the flowers.

Pictures?

2005-07-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

As promised here are some pictures of my garden, also as stated I suck at taking pictures but I have picked a few that may give an idea of how my gardens are doing.

This is the main Arch which I am trying to have used as the main gateway into the back yard. In the back ground center in the arch is an Apricot tree.

As you go right this is the garden which is now on its third year so it is a little more established.

Notice the Hollyhock in the background it is in full glory now, I put this in late last summer it was a transplant from a neighbor's garden, she gave me two but only one made it. Also the rooster in with the hens & chicks is still teasing me with a promise of bloom.

Here is a view as you now walk around on the path that is being worked on very slowly, this does not look like much at the moment however there are wildflower and other plants making their way through and hopefully they will come up this summer.

The corner where I planted the sunflower and poppies coming through with weeds as well.

The dusty miller has bloomed and they really remind me of tiny yellow daisies and did not do much for me they remind me of a weed but what the heck maybe once it really opens up I will enjoy it more. This is what it looks like.

I have been busy trying to keep up with the grass cutting and the weeding it seems this grand mixture of rain and sun has everything growing like crazy. While I was out there tonight I found little green caterpillars on a lot of plants. Out came the can of bug spray!

And joy the baby's breath has buds waiting to burst open and the black eyed susans are showing the first yellow petals. I LOVE FLOWERS!

My Lily List

2005-06-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

I have decided I want to get some of the awesome Citronella Lilies I seen on Oldroses's site and I also want to get my dirty little hands (from working outside) on some Casa Blanca lilies. More lilies came to mind last night while I was doing the dishes with the window wide open and I realized that some of the lilies I planted along the fence at the side of the house last year are very visible. This of course now has me wanting to hand wash the dishes rather than shove them in the dishwasher. Before going to sleep last night I was flipping through a magazine which mentioned these lilies and the fact they have a wonderful vanilla scent to them and that is when I realized I must track some down no matter what the cost, even if it is the last thing I purchase this year for my garden. Obsession has now set in. Can you just imagine washing those dishes and having a nice scent like that float in. Hmmm a little piece of heaven I think. Of course the Citronella lilies will be in there amongst the orange and white lilies.

Today one of my co-workers spotted packages of begonias with 2 plants in each marked down to two for $.99 and got them for me. I was so elated thinking of where they would look good when I realized that they may prefer a shady spot. MY bubble busted however I do have one side of the house that seems to be semi-shaded so I am going to try them there and cross my fingers.

I took some pictures but since I have just about used all my allotted space on flicker I will just post this one of the Winnipeg Parks Rose, it is the best anyways.

I can squeeze one more picture in,

This looks a little perverse however it is one of the hens & chicks getting ready to bloom.

I will follow up with more photos in a couple of days when I get some space on flicker back.

More rain, More weeds

2005-06-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

I can not believe this it is pouring rain once again. We did get a dry weekend which allowed me to go out and pull all the weeds. This took me the full 2 days since they of course just love the rain and grow fast.

I was going to take pictures last night of the gardens since they looked so good being weed free and all but then I decided I would cut the grass tonight after work so all would look great. Big mistake it is raining and that will not happen unless the weather clears up.

On the planting side of things I put in the remainder of my alyssum seeds along the border of one of the back gardens, the rest of the baby's breath seeds, purchased another Shasta daisy, 2 carnations (pink & white combo), 2 pansies which are red with white trim, 2 red begonias. Yes I went to the nursery that is moving locations, can't help myself.

Also put into the ground (freebies) were numerous portulacas, 4 yarrow plants, some more lavender, and then about 6 other plants all the same that I can't remember the names of. These mystery plants actually grow into a small bush with very dark maroon colored leaves which then go red through the fall. I have planted them in various area in the back gardens hoping that they take off and then can be transplanted to the front yard in between the lilac bushes. I also had some carnation cuttings given to me about two weeks ago that have been in water and since they seem to of grown good roots I placed them into the ground as well. I have not had any luck with carnations what so ever but now I am thinking with four of them at least one should survive. Maybe all this rain will help all the newly planted flowers and seeds take root. Here's hoping. I also moved a stray pansy which was growing in the grass and placed it into a garden.

I have identified 3 mystery plants in one of the back gardens they are Black-eyed Susan's. Actually my friend who gave me these last year reminded me what they are, they were pretty sad last year after being re-planted but they are now about two feet high and waiting to bloom. The hollyhock has bloomed and looks great. I noticed that the dusty millers have grown twice the size they were last year and they have buds on them. This was a big surprise to me since I had no idea they even flowered so I can hardly wait to see what kind of flowers they have. Also another plant I did not realize would flower is one of my hens & chicks, I thought it was some kind of mutant plant since it shot up into the air and looks a little perverse, however it too is going to do some kind of flowering. Both these plants are just ones I used last year to fill in space on the ground and never really gave them any thought, in fact the dusty millers I thought would not come back at all after the winter but were left in the garden because I did not have a chance to take them out in the fall. Lots of other plants are growing from seeds planted which I am anxious to discover as well. And of course the roses are all looking great in spite of the leaves being chewed. The red Winnipeg rose bush has a very strong fragrance that fills the area without having to even bend down to smell.

I am going to move my Russian sage to the side of the house because it is totally lost in the sweet peas, however I am not sure if I should wait until the fall or if I can do it now. Any ideas?

If it is not absolutely pouring rain tonight I am going to take pictures tall grass and all to get them posted. Until then happy planting.

Plant SOS

2005-06-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

My daughter has bought a hanging basket and it is starting to die on her. I have no idea what they are but I suggested putting it in the shade. She of course has sent out an SOS call to all gardeners. She is post at Live Love Laugh that is on my links list. I am sure any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I am sick of rain

2005-06-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have had it I really don't mind the rain so much but thunder and lightning totally freak me. We had an office golf thing today, and I have to admit I really don't care for the game, and I really don't like it when thunder and lightning are happening while I am out in the open. However having survived this trauma we all proceeded to the covered deck at the club house and were enjoying a drink and a few laughs when all of a sudden there was one horrendous bang as lightning hit a nearby transformer. Before I realized it I was shouting almost hysterically " I hate this shit" Thankfully most of the group had been drinking out on the course so they all had a big laugh. I was more than a little embarrassed and then had to explain why it terrifies me so much. This is a childhood thing from Ontario where I once witnessed a cow getting hit as well as a few trees.

The skies opened up and it rained so hard that the roads were being flooded. I have been having a water problem in my driveway since January and the park management has yet to do anything about, in fact the last time I mentioned it to the manager she told me it couldn't be that bad. Well the driveway is starting to sink and when I got home tonight I had to use the back door because of the water level by the stairs. Here are a couple pictures I took

I am just livid when I called the manager tonight and told her something has to be done she just told me that she would see to it Monday, I was going to tell there will be no pad rent until it was fixed but decided I better wait until I calm down. ARRRGGGGH I just want to scream. And that is my big gripe for the day. Inhale Exhale

Good news is the torrential rains and hail did not destroy my gardens.

A nice day

2005-06-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

The clouds and rain disappeared overnight and we had a wonderful day here. Tonight I cut the grass as soon as I got home though just in case. If I had to wait another day or so it may of needed a thrasher. However when I started to use the weed eater it was very feeble so I had to give that up in order to re-charge the battery. Mental not made check battery before cutting grass and re-charge if necessary. Oh well not a big problem I pulled out the shears and did all the trimming in the front yard and pulled weeds from the front garden. It sounds like a lot of work but the front yard is pretty small and so is that garden. The majority of yard and the larger gardens are all in the back. While I was pulling weeds I discovered some sage hiding in between the day lilies, I left it there because it smells so nice when I am weeding, this is from the previous owner and I thought I have pulled it all out last year along with the day lilies. Surprise they are both back.

My neighbor's from across the street came over to look at my gardens and chat, as we went through the arch and up the side of the house I was thinking how great this area is going to be once everything starts to grow and bloom. This is going to be an ongoing work in progress for awhile I think but worth it. If I do get the yellow roses that I mentioned the other day I may put them along that side of the house for my anchor plants.

When we got to the back and went through the gate of my arbor they were amazed at the way everything is blooming. It is almost like stepping into another room they said, I can't help but feel pleased about that since I just thought it was me who liked that feeling when I go into that area. I am pleased to report that my Hollyhock has three big blooms on it and the Sunflower has three flowers as well even though the leaves are still pretty droopy. The roses look like they have double in blooms as well. Even though I really suck at taking photos I am going to try and get some decent ones that show the feel of my gardens and then I will post them for all to oh and ah over LOL

Forgive me if I sound like a braggart but this is the best my gardens have ever been and I am really pumped.

This is Summer?

2005-06-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

Who turned out the lights? I got home tonight and had plans of going outside to admire and weed the gardens. By the time I ate my dinner the sky started to turn black and within less than three minutes it turned completely black. As I type this I can see a wind tossing about the trees in my neighbors yard and the rain staring to fall. The rain is not coming to hard as of yet but I do believe it will hit us hard any minute.

This is bad I have lights on at 6 pm it is so dark. I thought we were having summer.

On the advice on Sylvana I was brave and went to the nursery which is having the big moving out sale yesterday. I only had 10 minutes in there because they close at 5:30 not 6 like I thought. No problem I grabbed the soil I need for the rock garden 12 pansies, 6 yellow and 6 purple ones, also 3 Lobelia for $.97 each and made my way home.

Oh here are the torrential rains.

The total cost of all this was $13.86 not bad eh? They were all planted about 10 minutes before it rained last night, however I think I have to move the Lobelia as I put them in full sun and I was told today they like some shade. Well they will have to stay put until we get some dry weather. Sad to report the Sunflower does not look very healthy, I don't know if it is getting too much water or not enough. How frustrating I thought for sure when I bought one already going it would be OK.

I now see lightning and the rain is even more intense. I am hoping there will not be any thunder. Also if the Sunflower is getting too much water then it may be toast after this rain storm.

Last night I decided I like the shape my gardens are taking, they are looking more like the Cottage Garden style than I realized. This was done only by accident, when I first started the gardens 2 summers ago I just planted for the fun of it and put plants and seeds into the ground with no particular order in mind, and concentrated on covering the ground with plants of all sorts in various colors, (a trait of mine that drives my friend crazy). Now with the addition of roses,iris and more plants I realize that the garden quiz I took in a gardening magazine was dead on when the results said I was the Cottage Garden type. I had a good chuckle when my neighbor who has the huge Clematis came over to look at my yard, she noticed the nasturtium growing all in a perfect row and knew who had planted them. They are doing great by the way and I can hardly wait for them to bloom.

Also I may have lucked out on bricks to do a path up the side of the house where I am ever so slowly planting the wildflower garden. One of the guys who works in the same office as me has a huge amount of bricks that he and his wife ripped up out of their driveway and yard. I asked him to give me a price and he was going to talk to his wife to see if I can just take them. Wish me luck on this one, free is good but a low price on used bricks is ok too.

Ok now I feel like I am back in Ontario the thunder has started. We seldom get thunder or lightning here, for that matter when I was still debating about moving here I was told there was little rain or snow because it is desert, I was rooked.

Strange weather now all is calm outside again and the sky is brighter. No problem I am going to stay indoors and read other garden blogs and garden magazines as I plot out my next project for the yard.

Planting gardens = Dirty nails = Pretty gardens. The Theory of Gardentivity.

Flowers for Rachel

2005-06-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

A big 29th birthday bouquet of daisies for my daughter Rachel today. Happy Birthday!

I hope your day is as cheery as these flowers.

Love you.

Bloom View

2005-06-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

I managed to get the rocks I wanted for the small rock garden on Saturday, however it continued to pour rain so they were just dropped close to the area where I planned on using them. Here we are in the middle of June and it was so miserable outside I actually made a stew for dinner. No big deal about the weather though I got lots of house cleaning and movie time in.

Yesterday was a treat though it started out with dark clouds by noon it had cleared off and felt like an early spring day. After my other half left for another week of trucking I went outside and cleared the area for the rock garden, right now all that is there is the plastic and the rocks because being the rocket scientist that I am I never thought to get any dirt. This means a trip either on my lunch break or after work to Walmart. Oh oh.

Lots of things are blooming, daylilies, snapdragons, roses, the mountain flower, my mystery plant, the alyssum, phlox, daisies (my oldest daughters favorite), my clematis. So first thing this morning I went out and snapped a few pictures to share.

This is the Winnipeg Parks rose I put in this year.
The baby breath I planted around this rose is starting to grow, but I think the roses may finish blooming by the time they really take off, I will have to remember to put the seeds in earlier next year.

The mountain flower in the very weedy garden. I am leery of getting right in there to weed as there are some seedlings coming up that I don't want to step on but I will figure it out tonight because it does look awful.

The Morden Sunrise rose in full bloom. Those are not weeds around it that is the Baby breath trying to survive.

My Clematis finally in bloom I am sure the white one I planted with this one is dead.

And finally one more photo of a flower most people love the famous Snapdragon.

I am not sure why this is such a pleasing flower but I suspect it is partly because the snapdragons are usually just such a unassuming presence in a garden and remind us of mothers, grandmothers, and the gardens we seen as children. I do love them and plan on planting some more next year.

On the dangerous side of life one of our major nurseries is relocating to the other side of town and they have started a 30% off sale to clear their stock. I work three blocks away from there so I am not going to wander over for the dirt I need because I know what will happen.

Rain Rain and more Rain

2005-06-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

I had great plans for this weekend for things I was going to to outside. The main project was to get the small rock garden done in the messy corner at the front of the house. However we have had rain since late Thursday night so it looks like I will be lucky if we even go get the rocks I have lined up. Getting the rocks is actually one of the main things I need to worry about since I drive a little two door car so with I really need the use of the pick-up while it is home this weekend.

With all this rain I am very happy that I came straight home from work an Thursday night and mowed the yard and pulled weeds etc. I purchased a Sunflower plant the other day it was on sale half price ($4.99) and I couldn't resist, I cannot not even tell you how many time I have tried to grow these from seed and had nothing happen. This is a dwarf version so it will only get to be about 3-5' tall. As always nothing is ever simple when it comes to planting something new in the garden. In order to plant this where I wanted it I first had to dig up the Yucca plant because it was not happy there, I think it was getting too much water, so now it is in a clay pot on my deck until I can find a spot where it won't be overwatered. The second chore was to move the iris further back against the corner of the fence in order to fill in the spot where one of the Hollyhocks died. That all completed I pulled a few weeds and planted the Sunflower. This was not as time consuming as it sounds since the ground was soft and there is a lavender plant in there that scented the surrounding area every time I brushed against it while working.

Here it is sitting in the newly tidied up garden area.

I have to admit that once I was finished planting the Sunflower I stepped back to admire my handy work only to discover that I had planted it with the flower facing toward the fence so I had to dig it up and turn it around.

The rain and sunshine mixture we have been having has done wonders for the gardens and I am happy to report lots of seedlings are sprouting up and one of $6.17 rose bushes I planted by the front arch has developed a bud, this is the red rose bush. The Sunshine rose bush in the back looks wonderful with all the orange buds waiting to open.

Speaking of roses we have a lady who comes into the office every Friday to sell us some fresh eggs and she was admiring the roses on my desk from my garden. We got to chatting and she was saying that when they bought the property the previous owners had lots of yellow rose bushes that she cut right down in order to erect a chicken coop, these all came back and are in the middle of the chickens running around in full bloom. She said that she feels they should go to a better place and will let me know if I can go dig them up for my garden. Horray more roses and only for the cost of a bit of labor.

A Little bit of garden chatter

2005-06-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am going to have to send someone into the stores for me to get only those things I require. I can not be trusted if there is a plant department. When I left work tonight I went up to Walmart to drop off a film to be developed. Baby pictures. After being told it would take 2 hours I decided to look around and see what there was. Big Big mistake I walked out of there with about 20 plants, mind you some were in containers holding 6. All but 3 got planted tonight and they will be going into the small rock garden I am going to do this weekend at the front of the house. Most of what I got are annuals just to fill in some spots, petunias, nicotina, that sort of thing.

I was reading Snappy's blog and he mentioned the tranquility of a garden after a stressful day at work. I could not agree more I love to go out there at any time of the day and just putter or sit with a cup of coffee. I now have a plastic lawn chair out there, since the wooden ones are to heavy to always lug around.

Here is a discovery that I have just made since I am on the topic of tranquility in a garden. One of the garden magazines I have just purchased has a story in it about a Taoist Garden which is usually fairly small but planted in a very calm manner and most of them are in between buildings. The very exciting part about this article is they are showing all these wonderful photos and you just want to be part of it and explore. Well this particular Taoist Garden is in Vernon,B.C. only an hour away from where I live. Guess where I will be going very shortly? I promise if we are allowed I will take lots of photos to share.

Gnomes You Say

2005-06-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ok now that Oldroses and Snappy have posted pictures of their Gnomes here is one that my daughter sent to me last summer. He is not your average Gnome though

Isn't he too funny?

Evening Garden Walk

2005-06-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

First I'd like to thank the people who have shown off their garden shoes, Oldroses, Live Love Laugh and the Obsessive Gardner. I know there must be others so please don't be shy flash those shoes.

I have resolved the problem with my license at work so once again I am able to do what I do.

The ritual evening chore of watering the yard/gardens was left late tonight as I was downloading the bloglines site and chatting to my daughter on line. As I was doing what all gardeners do I was checking the great job of weeding I did yesterday. No really to be honest I was seeing if any of the latest seeds I planted 48 hours ago have grown. You all know what I am talking about I have read the confessions on your blogs. Well to my surprise and delight the alyssum has started to bloom, I have about 4 little flowers and more coming, these were not there yesterday when I was weeding, only the white has started to bloom I can hardly wait for the purple, and I was thinking of buying some because I was getting inpatient for the flowers in that spot. Also in bloom now is the daisy in the garden by my deck and the Melva is stating to gets some leaves on it.

Here is a picture of my miniature rose in the front garden.

I hope the one I planted this year survives it has a nice pink rose on it.

The side garden is very slow getting started but if nothing else it will be set up for all the biennials to bloom next year as well as the iris and lilies along the fence line and the side of the house. I seen some great stepping stones made from resin at Walmart that look like cobble stones for about $6.00 each so I may get some for the pathway when they go on sale.

I asked around for some big rocks because I have a real eyesore at the corner of the fence in the front yard and the neighbor never helps to keep it tidy. Here's what is looks like right now

What I plan on doing is cutting all the grass and weeds back and maybe some of the dead branches on the tree, lay down some landscaping paper, place some big rocks in the area and plant some good groundcover.Any good ideas on fast growing ones that won't take over the entire lawn? Hopefully it will all take and I won't have to look at this every time I go out into the front yard. Man some neighbors drive you crazy, this is the same one who has bug (aphid)infested Virginia creeper that grows over my fence. He caught me cutting it off my side of the fence a couple of weeks ago and told me I should get him to do it, I just replied that I only cut on my side because I can't stand the bugs when I am working over there. He went away not a happy camper but what can you do I was not rude I just stated a fact.

To work or not to work

2005-06-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

That is a question I have been asking myself since last Wednesday. I sell insurance and in order to do that we must have a license which has to be renewed every two years. In order to renew we must take courses to give us the required credits. Mine was coming due for renewal so I called our head office to verify how many credits I needed if any and was told I only needed 1/2 a credit, that said I went home that night and did a couple of online courses and submitted everything the next day.

This was done the beginning of May and my license was due June 4, I did not think about it again until Wednesday when I got a fax from the Insurance Council of BC 4 days after the expiry date telling me that I need more credits. I called them and was told I can't work until I get the credits and that it will take another 10 working days to process the paperwork. Well Thursday I did paperwork and Friday I took a holiday day. Today I get to sort stuff in the storage area but at least I can wear jeans.

I think I should just book holidays until this is sorted out. I am really mad it took them over a month to let me know I needed more credits and waited until after the expiry date to tell me. Also the fax did not get sent to me until 4 in the afternoon. Ugh the slow wheels of government paper pushing.

Roses Roses Roses

2005-06-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well I am just thrilled to actually have roses growing in my garden and blooming.

Here is the Morden Sunrise rose that I absolutely love

Excuse the weeds it has been raining however they are gone now I spent hours outside today pulling them.

Here is one of the orphan roses I rescued from my friends deck last summer since she was going to throw it away.

Beautiful isn't it? I am so glad I adopted the poor thing.

And here is another photo of my climbing Dortmund it is going crazy.

And really if you think it has had a growth spurt check out my mutant rhubarb, this plant almost scares me.

Please click on this one to see how big the leaves are, good thing I do not use fertilizer on this.

I have lots of plants blooming right now and weeds galore, yesterday I bought a phlox and another plant with some great yellow flowers I believe it was called an Ozark Mountain Sunburst.

And here is something that will put a smile on your face. Even though I love to garden I just freak when I see worms, probably has something to so with my older brothers and their friends throwing them at me when we were young. Anyways I was weeding and grooming around the front arch yesterday and all of a sudden this worm shot straight out of the ground and landed about two inches away from where it came up, this happened right in front of my face. At first I thought it was a snake which I am terrified of as well, being just a worm helped a bit but not much and if I had not seen this happen I never would of thought it possible. I just about peed myself. I went to a back garden to work to give it time to go away LOL.

Also I got to babysit my grandson last night it was such a treat.

Die hard Gardner

2005-06-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Call me crazy but after three days of continuous rain I was getting antsy about not being outside. So in the rain at 6:15 am this morning I donned my favorite gardening shoes, a jacket, clipped up my hair and ventured outside.

First things first I rolled up the hose and sprinkler because clearly this is not an item I need out in the yard at the moment. Having done that I carted the four big pots of Iris over to the side of the house and proceeded to plant every one of them despite the rain snaking down the back of my neck and making it's way down my back. I then decided to take a quick tour of the gardens to see how many weeds where around before it really start coming down. Really I was already soaked and a slight shiver was starting to take over my body. So with dripping hair, wet shoes and clothing I proceeded. I must admit this was not the usual slow stroll and admiration time that I normally have, it was more like a small sprint.

The Morden sunrise rose bush has about six orange buds on it teasing me with promises of a wonderful display of flowers if the sun ever decides to make an appearance again, also the climbing Dortmund has produced some great flowers, but with the rain I have been really unable to be out there to admire them, my miniature rose in the front garden has opened all of its buds and looks splendid and those at least I can adore while getting in and out of my car while coming and going to work. Everything is starting to bloom or on the verge of blooming and I am not worried about the excess weeds because once the sun comes back out I will deal with them and take the time to enjoy the flower show.

As my mother always said when we complained about going out into the rain.....

"You're not made of salt"

And thank goodness I am not because as soon as I got back in the house I headed straight to a warm shower. Ah gotta love being able to turn a tap which produces hot water.

Cats, Dogs & Wascly Wabbits

2005-06-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ok this blog is going to help Old Roses I hope. We had torrential rain here yesterday afternoon so being the garden addict that I am I went to the store and headed straight to the magazine rack where I decided on two magazines to buy. Since I couldn't and didn't want go out in my yard anyways I figured that I could at least settle in with a couple of good gardening magazines.

Once I was all settle into my pj's and onto my favorite chair I started leafing through the pages. Here is where the help is coming from for Old Roses the 1st magazine (Easy-care Landscaping)has information on what plants to put into the garden to help keep out dogs,cats, deer and little fluffy bunnies. Here are the lists

1) Avoided by rabbits: calendulas, chrysanthemums, columbines, four o'clock, foxglove, gladiolus, hollyhocks, impatiens, iris, larkspur, morning glories, nicotina, snapdragons, sweetpeas and verbena

2) Avoided by deer: ageratum, begonias, chrysanthemums, columbines, coreopis, cosmos, foxglove, iris, lavender, monarda, purple coneflower, rudbeckia, Shasta daisies,verbena, vinca, yarrow and zinnias

The article says that unless the rabbits and deer are starving they will not eat these, it goes on to advise to plant these on the edges of the garden and your prized flowers in the center of the garden since both the deer and rabbit nibble on the edges of the garden furthest from the buildings. FYI this magazine is an American publication in case anyone wants to buy it.

Now for those wonderful cats and dogs we can plant the scented coleus to repel them as well and here is the web site to visit to find a dealer closest to you www.dogs-gone.com. This plant is dicribed as having attractive thick, silvery leaves and blue blossoms.

I sure hope this helps.

Here is a photo of my miniature rose bush in the front garden

Click on the picture for a better look.

I was given more iris to put along the side fence and I think that is all I need now although I do want to also do the side of the house with them as well. I am going to mix a few lilies between them in the fall for some extra blooming time next year. Three small evergreens (which I am allergic to)were left on my doorstep as well as some wild flowers so I will be busy tomorrow night if the rain will let up long enough for me to plant.

A garden stroll

2005-06-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

We have a break in the rain finally with some sun coming through the clouds. My poor back which I managed to strain on the weekend helping with the pool is finally feeling better, so I think having not been able to do yard work was a blessing as I did rest.

I could not resist going for a walk through the yard to see what is happening out there.

Here's what I discovered. Blooming sweet peas,rose buds bursting forth, snapdragons in bloom, some kind of ground cover I planted last year has produced the tiniest little yellow flowers, weeds, sprouting seeds for the wild flower, poppy seeds coming up, the baby's breath may be coming through as well but there are so many weeds in that area I can't be sure, day lilies opened, one of the dahlia in bloom, numerous leaves on the $6.17 climbing rose bushes finally.

I have one dead dahlia, some foreign plants coming up, but all in all I think most plants are holding their own. The grass is very green and very thick, yikes there goes my back again.

More destruction of leaves on the rose bushes in the back so I really must spray this weekend if it dries up outside.

I currently have all my windows wide open to enjoy the fresh smell of the air which is being blown around by a soft breeze. Ah life is good.

I thought about going out to pull a few weeds but I will rest one more night. This weekend I am going to just cut the grass and enjoy the gardens as they are.

Here are some pics I took the other day of some of my gardens.

In the background to the right are my sweet peas going crazy just before they bloomed.

Here is a picture of the first rose on the climbing Dortmund, however it is not a very good one.

Finally here are some funky flowers that have come up in the front garden through the lilies, and of course once again I have no idea what they are.

They are nice and I either planted them last year or they blew in from somewhere.

Rain

2005-05-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

Rain, what can I say about rain?

What I dislike about rain

1. My car gets dirty

2. My floors get dirty because my dog comes in with wet paws

3. Lots of people complain about it

4. The sky is usually dark and gloomy

What I like about rain

1. I don't have to water the gardens or grass

2. I don't have to cut the grass

3. It gives you a good plausible excuse for getting into PJ's early in the evening

4. It lets you look forward to a hot sunny day

5. Wet feet for no good reason except it was raining

6. A good reason to curl up with a good book or watch a movie

7. Rain forces some of us to sit down and relax

And my favorite thing about rain is the wonderful smell in the air after it stops, everything just smells so fresh. The windows beg to be opened to enjoy the air

I think my grandmother was right she always said "Rain is God's way of cleaning the earth."

Next time it rains in your area take a moment to inhale deeply after it stops, you may get a nice surprise.

Pain & Pleasure

2005-05-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today I have only had a quick tour of my garden and only because I noticed a show of red from the Climbing Dortmund as I was leaving for work this morning. The first thing I did once I got home and changed was to visit my back yard where sure enough the rose bush has produced a bloom. I did manage to snap a quick photo of this rose and a few other things before the batteries in my camera died, so they will be posted later. This is the pleasure.

When I got to work this morning one of my co-workers (the one that was snipping and advising me on my roses) gave me a book on roses complete with a CD to borrow. This also was a pleasure. Here is the pain I do not have enough room in my yard to plant the 20 - 30 roses I fell in love with. Big Sigh.

Nothing was done outside tonight since as soon as I came back indoors the sky opened up with big claps of thunder and bolts of lightning, with of course a down pour of rain. Oh well now I do not need to water and I can rest my sore joints. I guess helping with the pool and doing all the weeding over the weekend caught up to me.

No big deal I am going to go and crawl up with the book of roses and a mug of green tea, the name of the book is Bontanicas Roses / The Encyclopedia of Roses. This goes A-Z. I may even pop in the CD and check it out.

Here is an insert from the Forward of the book written by David Austin

Few flowers can equal it for massed effect throughout the summer-but it is the individual bloom that makes it the "Queen of Flowers"

And oh yes before I forget I had a reply to a previous post "Name this Bush" and guess what it is not Jacqueline, Willard, Molly etc. It is a Weigela. I then checked on the web and found a photo so thank you to the anonymous reply.

Early Morning Gardening

2005-05-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

What can be better than going out into your garden first thing in the morning? I got a good early start today as I know we are in for a really hot one, you could find me outside this morning at 6:am. It was wonderful and cool enough to get a lot of nice quiet labor in, I don't think my neighbors would of been happy had I turned on the weed eater so early.

I took my coffee and my little dog out and started pulling weeds all the while listening to the birds who I am sure were waiting for me to put seeds into the ground. I got about 98 percent of the weeds pulled and all the sweet peas tied up to the lattice work and I am hoping they will now start climbing the lattice on their own. After doing this I rediscovered the Russian sage I put in there when I first started a small garden three years ago. This is going to be moved somewhere else I think as it tends to get buried amongst the sweet peas. Also are couple of other plants that I have forgotten about in fact I forget what they are.

The morning smells are great I just relaxed and took lots of breaks so that I could just inhale the morning and look around. Everything is springing to life.

Here is a picture of what I started with my first year here. As I look at it, I thinks it seems a little sad.

However I guess it was a start and did not seem too bad at the time. I am amazed how much bigger it grew last year.

As you can see in this second photo the garden now extends around the back fence as well.

One of my orphan rose bushes bloomed yesterday however it is not that grand and something has been at the leaves. I guess I will have to spray although I don't like to.

Also got some work done at the side of the house where the wild flower garden is starting to go in. This was put off for too long I think so I am not sure if I will get the desired results. The whole project became so daunting that I kept avoiding it until I decide instead of trying to do it all at once I will just work my way up from the front arch. Once that was decided I have been giving it a good half hour daily.

Little steps make big gardens.

Pool setup

2005-05-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Not much done in my yard tonight except for cutting the lawn and watering we hit a temp. of 90F too hot to do much.

I wandered over to take the promised picture of my neighbor's clematis.

I then went on to help my other neighbor with setting up a pool for their son Riley. We actually had to dig up the sod and level it and although we got a good bit done we had to quit due to mosquitoes and lack of light. Here we are still plugging away in the dark.

Am I the only one who has real bad garden shoes? These sneakers cost me a $1.99 about 5 years ago and I could not pass up the opportunity to share them, so take a look at these they are well broken in and usually stay on my feet for about 10-15 minutes once I get outside. I have totally given up gloves in the garden unless I need to pull thistles.

To bad you can't see the tattoo I have on my leg in this shot but maybe another time. These poor shoes are well worn.

Now I want to see pictures of other peoples garden shoes. Yes it is a challenge for those brave enough to show their worse foot wear.

Changing the subject I have a red snapdragon blooming that I don't recall planting last year and lots of other mystery plants coming to life.

Another Planting Frenzy

2005-05-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have read other garden blogs and it holds true "That I too am a sucker for plants" My friend and went to Walmart today so she could buy herself a few things for her new home. Of course we needed to go into the plant section as she wanted to get a planter for her deck, mistake number one was that I followed her there like a lamb to slaughter.

I promised myself I was not going to buy anything not even a packets of seeds! Oh who was I trying to fool, I am a Garden Addict. By the time we left I had 12 Dahlia plants 6 red and 6 yellow. Oh come on they were on sale only $1.87 for six. Not too bad eh? Well they also had alyssum plants on 6 for $0.99 so I had take advantage of that too.

There really was some reasoning behind this small splurge on plants. I do not like the way the area around the lilac bushes I recently planted looks, so I decided I would dig around them and plant all these newly acquired flowers there. Oh can you just picture how beautiful it will all look?

This did not happen, I forgot how hard that strip of dirt is so after trying to get one hole dug I gave up and dispersed the Dahlias around in three different garden areas and planted the alyssum in the front garden as a filler. While I was doing this and pulling weeds I noticed my miniature rose bush is loaded with blossoms. I don't know how the poor little thing will hold them all up when they open.

My neighbor has her Clematis plant in full bloom with huge flowers so I am going to go over and get some pictures tomorrow night. I hope mine are even half the size.

Everything got another good watering and I resisted the urge to check the seeds I planted last night.

Gaze at the stars and take a deep breath of the scented air

Planting Marathon

2005-05-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Well I decided that if I did not get off my lazy butt there would be very bare gardens this year. After a power dinner I went outside armed with my many packets of seeds, the purchased ones, the donated and saved one and the scrounged ones.

Planted on this fine hot evening (30c sorry I don't know the conversion for my American buddies) were marigolds, wildflower, baby breaths, alyssem both white and purple, a mixture called old fashion flower garden (another surprise somewhere along the line), poppies, nasturtium jewel mixture, some unknown seeds for a beautiful plant that gets purple flowers with white all over it, and you know a ton of others that I can not remember now. I love to garden however as you can tell I really do not keep track very well of what I am planting. This is why I drive my friend/neighbor crazy she knows everything that goes into her garden and where. I like all the surprises I get through the season, although I must admit it might make weeding easier if I knew what was where, but I am good about figuring out the dandelions and dill.

Everything got a very good watering and for once there was good water pressure so it did not take to long. While I was placing the sprinkler in the front yard to get the lilac bushes some moisture I checked my two bargain roses and YAHOO they both have started to get leaves.

The Lazy Gardenfreak

2005-05-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ok I have just read two other blogs on gardening and I feel so lazy becuase I didn't get much done over the weekend. I cut my grass on Friday night in between the torrential rain storms. Saturday I put an extra day in at work and then went out Saturday night. Who can resist a turkey dinner invitation.

On Sunday I had great plans to go out and play in the gardens, however in between the necessary naps I did not get out there until around 4pm. A small overindulgence of beer Saturday night caused the need for the naps.

When I did finally get up and about I did all the trimming I needed to do and all my weed pulling.

What I did discover was all the roses bushes I have in the back yard have buds on them. The moonflowers look like they may actually grow,the hollyhock is looking very good and has grown about 3" since the rain started, the lilac bushes I put in the front yard are still alive. My clematis plants are climbing like crazy on the arbor though no signs of flowering yet, but they seem happy enough.

Today was a wash as I went shopping with my sister who is getting married in September for wedding decorations and stuff. I purchased a packet of baby breath seeds to plant around some of my roses in the back and a packet of nasturtium jewel mixed seeds that I am going to plant by an area along the back fence just because I am not sure what I want to do with it yet, so I hope this is a quick fix that will brighten that corner for this year. Yeah like I need more seeds! By the time I left her to come home it was pouring rain again. Well there is always tommorow after work.

Surprise in the Garden

2005-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

After two days of much needed steady rain I finally managed to get a chance to walk around my back yard to survey the weeds and the length of the grass.

To my surprise look at what I discovered.

These were given to me by the same friend last fall who gave me the yellow iris. I love mystery plants in my garden it is such a treat when they are discovered. Now that's what I call the joy of gardening.

Also I am happy to report the alyssum I planted last weekend was so happy with the rain that they have started to sprout, as well as three Moon flower plants.

And after all the comments about my bush here is a better picture of it now that there are more flowers on it.

All the rose bushes loved the downpour too they look quite happy in the yard, and the climbing Dortmund is actually starting to climb now that I moved it closer to the arch.

Happy planting!

Long Day

2005-05-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well after a long wait at the Hospital today I am very pleased to announce the arrival of my third grandchild. Zayden weighing in at 7lbs.13oz. the first child for my son Cody and his wife Alyssa, both are doing great. It will be so much fun having a grandchild in town, my two granddaughters Ivy & Chelsey live in Ontario.

However without further ado here is a photo of mommy and Zayden about 45 minutes after arrival.

Name this bush

2005-05-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the flowering bush I cannot remember the name of. Maybe someone can help. If not I will just keep calling it the Neat bush with the pretty pink flowers.

As you can see it is ready to burst open with flowers as well.

What a Blooming Day

2005-05-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

And I really mean that. The yellow iris have taken right off in the back yard the purple ones are blooming happily in the front yard. I have decided that come fall I am going to mix them up a bit so I will have both colors in both yards. Mind you I did not know I had the yellow iris until this year as a friend gave them to me.

The bush I cannot remember the name of has started to bloom. I will post a picture tomorrow and maybe someone can give me a name for it other than "the cool bush with pretty pink flowers."

Today I tackled the planting of the four lilac bushes. Man what a job! First I soaked the area where I was planning on planting for a good half hour thinking this would make the job easier. Wrong. I set out with spade in hand and to my surprise it was as solid as a rock, I did manage to get a dent in the first planned hole so I stuck the hose in there for another twenty minutes or so, should be good enough you'd think, no way, I then had to wait 10 or 15 minutes longer for the water to absorb into the ground. Finally I managed to get the first lilac into the ground. I went on to the second spot and was a bit wiser as I waited for the water to sink in I dug the third and then the fourth hole. I decided to take a break before planting the second lilac and as I stood there wasting time I felt pain all over both my legs. Looking down I quickly realized that the fourth hole I dug contained an ants nest and they were all over me biting. Let me tell you I was glad to have the hose right there, after getting them off of me I drowned the little beggars, or at least I hope I did.

Also nestled into the ground are two Russian Sage both placed at the back of the front arch and a couple thyme with little white blossoms placed front of the lavender by the same arch. I am working on this front area and then gradually up the side of the house to get the wildflower garden going. However I hope I have not left it too long.

The trellised gate that was given to me last weekend I have decided is going kitty cornered in the back garden by the fence and shed. If I do not find a rambling rose that I like this year I will plant some sweetpeas or something for this summer. This will take care of a messy area that I cannot get to easily once the garden takes off, so hopefully it will suffice for this season.

Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?