The Window In The Valley

2011-04-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

Can I just emphasize how nice it is to see spring. Potatoes are in the ground, more garden to come in the next couple of weeks.

Look how much the hosta has grown.

The little bluebird of happiness..

Can I just say how beautiful the lilacs are this year.

What A Day

2011-04-10T16:40:00.001-07:00

What a marvelous spring day, if only Mother Nature would stay this way...

Of course the wild violets are out in full force. Even after being mowed over by the mower Thursday. They are so small the mower doesn't usually touch them.

The first apple blossoms, this little antique tree is rushing through the season. Apple blossoms are quite pretty aren't they

The first hosta leaf that has opened, and would you look it's slug free for once.. (sure wish it would stay that way)

The northern mockingbird doing what it has done all day long. It is singing its little heart out. I don't know how many different songs it has, but it was certainly loud today :)

Snow & Blooms

2011-04-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Spring has come bouncing in but forgot to bring spring weather with it. The end of March had a nice wet snow arriving. By the time the first weekend of April was over we had pretty close to record high temperatures...

See I wasn't teasing about the snow!!

The Bradford pear is blooming very nicely...

I realized I have 3 different varieties of daffs blooming. I don't know which I like the best.

I think this one is my favorite. It's a bit tattered, but it went through a lot this week :D

This is a little daff, it is quite sweet and tiny

Time for February

2011-02-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

February is upon us and moving fairly fast. Of course we don't like to wish our days to go by faster, but that's hard not to do in winter...

I've been waylaid just a bit with some minor knee surgery. It looks like I'll miss most of February at work. I hope by the time I've recuperated that the weather will be somewhat milder. I've got big plans to do more walking and exploring this spring.

This is probably a bit uninteresting, but I just think this is such a neat looking tree. I couldn't resist a photo.

This is one of the hawks that likes to frequent the backyard. They are so quiet flying in I'm usually more startled at times than the birds. One surprised the birds one day and snared a small one off of the feeders. I try and keep the feeders close to shelter, but this hawk flew in and out in a blink of an eye. Mother Nature is amazing.

This was actually a sunset one evening. It certainly didn't remind me of a winters sunset, but gave me a bit of hope for spring :)

Winter Doldrums

2011-01-15T19:45:00.001-08:00

It's official, I have the winter doldrums

The tufted Titmouse is very quick at the feeders, I just snapped this quickly before it flew away. It's easier to get photos of the birds now except when they won't stay still :)

I have seen several purple finches at the feeders this winter, but I'll have to say maybe not as many as usual...

One of the little sparrows perched on the deck this morning.

Yeah, Molly doesn't really mind winter weather... but she has slowed down in it quite a bit. She's having some minor health problems, but nothing that serious hopefully...

Christmas & More Snow

2010-12-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

We're just about to get Christmas behind us. I'm so glad to say that I got a new camera for Christmas. Still trying to figure it out, maybe sometime I'll understand everything. So here's a few sample photos from the new Canon.... I have got to read the manual.....

This is Tank, my doggie nephew :)

The squirrel looking for the best route to the bird feeder

The red bellied woodpecker, I just love my woodpeckers.

The white capped sparrow enjoying lunch

Blizzard having a cat nap during Christmas... doesn't it look relaxing.

Ice Day

2010-12-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Instead of a snow day, we have an ice day... Just a bit of an ice storm. We do have a few tree limbs down. I was outside near a tree when one of the bigger limbs broke and fell. It would be quite dangerous in the woods at a time like this.

Daughter helped me out today and took a couple of these photos, the one above and the pine bough below the crepe myrtle

This is the crepe myrtle..

It's no wonder most of the limbs that break and fall are pines.

This is the flowering pear

My grapevines.. it's hard to tell what anything is today....

The Backyard Diner Is Open

2010-12-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

The backyard diner has officially opened back up. That's a hooray from me.

It didn't take long for most of the regular visitors to find their way back. We're actually in the middle of some dreadful winter weather right now. But the diner is open for business.

Keeping Up with a Resolution

2010-12-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been on a bit of hiatus lately. Having had back surgery in October really changed my daily routine & things. I'm still not released yet, but am able to work. As long as I don't bend, twist, lift anything heavier than 5 pounds, I can stay at work. :) I'm really at the end of recuperation and should be released next week. I've had to give up a few things (aw shugs).. loading & unloading the dishwasher, sweeping, doing laundry, etc etc... It's been really tough watching someone else do all those chores.. haha

The bird feeders have had to go for now. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that and with Hubby's schedule we wouldn't keep them filled regularly. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we can open the diner back up here in the yard.

My New Years resolution that I had kept up with was growing my gourds and hoping to start a bit of a cottage industry with them. I can't do much artistic work with them, but if they are used for bird houses at least I can paint them.

Once they have dried, I found cleaning them was something I could do that didn't break my recuperation rules :) Here's a photo of ones that are dried but not cleaned yet. They have been in the drying sheds, but once they are dried I move them to another building, until I've cleaned them.

The good news is that I am actually selling a few of these. I grew swans, penguins & bird house gourds this summer. I think they are all gorgeous. So if your in the market for some wonderful gourds, let me know :D

What birdhouse gourds I have left I'll use for my own this summer. I do hope to get the tree swallows back and hopefully more. The little wrens used a couple of houses, I don't know if they ever hatched a brood or not, but they sure fussed whenever you even walked by.

Putting the Garden to Bed 2010

2010-10-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

It's that time for the annual garden report :D

To begin with, it was a horrible start to the growing season. Seeds were slow to sprout and then the weeds were already up by the time the sprouts started growing. It was a bit more weedy in the garden, and we should have done a better job of getting rid of them.

Most of the bean varieties that we tried grew well. I don't know what we will try next spring. We tried Roma II, Jacobs Cattle, Money & others. My peas had to be resowed a couple of times, then I finally had a big enough crop to freeze for the winter. It wasn't a good growing year for peas.

This was an idea I had gotten from a fellow blogger, only I made a planter with the jeans. One of my co-workers had heard me talking about it and was getting ready to throw away her size 1 jeans. (can anyone be that tiny) I used them to make this planter. It worked o.k., except I needed more of a vine to grow out of it and I just used some standard flower mix. I'll do it again next year though.

The tomatoes did wonderful.. I was so happy with the Opalka tomatoes, we used that to make homemade soup with. It's delicious.. will definitely grow these again. As to the comfry tea, it worked very good on the tomatoes. Hubby thinks they grew so fast from it that we had a bit of a problem with blossom rot because of it. It wasn't a big problem and once we threw the lime to them it helped the blossom rot.

This is more of the beans, other things that did well this year was potatoes, corn & the gourds. (Hope to have plenty of birdhouses by the spring) Things that did so so was cucumbers & lettuce.

Here is a after photo of the new potting shed. On a previous post I wrote about the arrival of our new old shed, I hope it looks a little better. Still haven't finished with it yet, but it should be ready for winter.

The Blue Bird Party

2010-10-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

I was so excited this afternoon, I have never had so many bluebirds at one time in my yard. They were all enjoying the birdbaths.

Here are 3 enjoying a bath.

I know I have counted 6 bluebirds in this photo, but I think there are 2 more on the small metal stand waiting their turn. The bird baths are still in the shade from the trees and sometimes it's hard to see because of the shadows.

Here's one that did sneak in to enjoy its bath by itself :D I only wish my photo quality could have been better. I tried to get a little closer, but didn't want to startle the birds and have them leave. My camera does leave a bit to be desired trying to zoom. It was very enjoyable to see so many bluebirds in one place. If anyone knows if this could have been a migratory flock, please let me know.

The Other Side of Magnolia

2010-10-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

With the changing seasons, I've felt a little out of sorts with having to say goodbye to the plants & flowers. But then I realized I still have plenty of color around. My older southern magnolia tree has always brightened the day with it's wonderful fragrant blooms. I love the seed pods and really haven't taken the time to really appreciate the pop they bring.

This is a young seed pod, once the seeds start to getting ready to pop it becomes more red everyday

Here it's open and the seeds are ready to fall.

I have never had any luck in growing these seeds. Today I did pick a few and am going to try again. There are never any seedlings that grow around the tree. I do think magnolias are rather notorious for being hard to grow from seeds.

This isn't the prettiest photo, but this is the last step of the seed pod. Once the seeds have mostly fallen, the pod will shrivel up and fall off also. It doesn't take long for this to happen. I'll enjoy the pop of red while I can. Who knows maybe I can grow a seedling this time. I won't hold my breath for that to happen :D

The Cow Parade

2010-09-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

Went to help out family with some chores today, one required moving Holstein steers from one pasture to another. They actually pretty much moved themselves, you just had to make sure the gate was open

Time to move

They have a little bank to go up, of course one of the biggest steers goes up the steepest part and peeks over the top at me.

Going through the gate I was suppose to count how many went through. By now, I've lost count. I did manage to later account for all of them. Not the easiest job.

Enjoying the new pasture or just being nosy wanting to know what I'm doing in the barn :D

The New Old Shed

2010-09-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting an old building to use for a potting shed for some time. Hooray, we found an older building some friends were selling. Took a bit of know how to get it here, but we got the the shed home. It did have a run in with some pine trees along the way and here in the yard. But otherwise I'm pretty tickled with how it arrived. I was worried it wouldn't have a roof at all by the time it got here. It does need some fixing up, new shingles etc) but it seems structurally sound. So here's the way it arrived and how we unloaded.

It does look a bit rough, but just use your imagination.

Starting to tilt off the truck, actually had something on the other end to pull it off also

On the ground

Completely on the ground!

Now see if you can't imagine the cutest little potting shed around... I'll keep you posted on how it turns out :D

The Visitors

2010-08-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

Seems like I've noticed a few visitors lately

I don't see many dragonflies, I've often thought they needed a nice body of water to relax in. This one came by Sunday and stayed long enough to get a few photos. They are quite unique, it almost seemed like he was watching me.

I have been just fascinated with these hawkmoths that are coming by the moonflowers every evening. They are huge. I've put pictures on blipfoto & twitpic of these guys. They certainly are busy. It's a little alarming when they are flying around your head, I was almost face to face with one the other evening.

Here's two lovely little bugs on my seed pods. Hopefully they weren't snacking on them. They looked to be staring too.. I'm not sure what kind of bugs these are, I probably need to do better on a bug ID :D

The biggest visitor of all.. Came home from work and Molly ran off the porch, and was frantically barking. Sure enough a groundhog was under the steps. Mr. or Miss Groundhog moved out from those steps that night. It only went to the front of the house and dug out a hole under the concrete steps and moved in. I've really got to get it to move before more show up....

Not All About The Blooms

2010-08-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to get some seeds from a Hyacinth Bean a last year. Loved the plant, but didn't plant soon enough to give the seeds time to mature. I got more seeds this year and planted it at a different spot. This time it is trailing up my porch posts. Love it even more. Out of 4 areas that I planted seeds, 3 came up. One plant does try my patience about trailing up the post and it is usually on the ground. I'll fix it every couple of days. I do love the blooms, but the seed pods, I think are just lovely. Beautiful purple pods about 2 inches or so, just now forming the little seeds. I sure hope I will have some seeds for next year.

Just gorgeous seed pods

An especially lovely purple flower.. the first flowers are usually where the seed pods start forming.

Moonflower Midnight Madness

2010-08-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

I've haven't done much with flowers lately, I've missed that. My moonflowers are finally blooming. They are started early indoors and it still takes 5 months for them to bloom. I'll not complain as long as they bloom. Here's a few samples of their different stages of blooming.

This is getting close to opening up. I think it reminds me of a custard in a cone. It just does.

Here's one of the first blooms just starting to open. They start opening late in the evening and will stay open at night.

A bloom just barely starting to unfurl, aren't they rolled up perfectly.

Some buds and a bloom that is starting to mature. The vine will have several buds. These buds will eventually mature to the green flower bud.

An old bloom, this is all that is left the next day. A little sad looking isn't it.

Here's one in the dark. Lovely little things. I did mess up a bit and not realize how the vines were growing this year. Some have grown up through the floor of the deck, doesn't seem to bother them. That's Mother Nature for you.

I'm needing new flowers for next years growing season. Any good ideas for some, let me know.

Day Trip

2010-08-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

Our family took a little day trip Sunday to Grayson Highlands State Park here in Virginia. We're not that far from the park, but really haven't visited as much as we should. It was a good day, pretty warm for walking.

There seemed to be a bit of a battle for the thistle blooms.

A creek bed below the rock fence. Below there I had spied a deer spying on me, unfortunately the pictures of her didn't turn out good enough. But she was content to just watch.

I'm not sure what this is, but there are rather large thorns on the berries. Is this some type of a thorn bush/tree?

There were so many different types of mushrooms/toadstools all over the area. I saw this toadstool and thought a gnome really should be sitting beside it.

Wild huckleberries, yes they were sampled and daughter thought they were way to tart

On the way out I stopped and got some panoramic views. I'll have to consider it a very successful day and one can't have too many of those :D

August Already

2010-08-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

I can not believe the calender says August 1st. Wow, isn't summer rushing off

Sunlight through the trees

This is a bloom from a houseplant that I have. If anyone recognises what this is, let me know. The plant's main leaves start out growing straight up as a single stalk, then eventually unfurl to start forming more leaves. It's rather unusual. I've had several for years & last year was the first year any bloomed. I was surprised to see this bloom this year, had no idea one was forming. If anyone is interested in this houseplant, let me know. I've always got little ones growing. I'm glad to share :D

Tomato harvest. Don't worry the white on the tomatoes is dried lime. We've had to use that to combat blossom end rot. It does seem to be working for that. We're getting a bucket about every other evening. I am blanching & freezing what we harvest & will use that to make homemade tomato soup.

O.K. summer you can just slow it down.

Yearly Vacation Slide Show :D

2010-07-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

O.K. Here is the slide show of vacation. You know you wait forever for vacation and then poof it's over. Back to grind for now

I was watching the sunrise and a small fishing boat came by, I thought it looked a bit more exotic

The view outside the deck. O.K. when I took my camera outside I forgot the humidity would cause the lens to fog up. When I took the picture I realized it was still a bit foggy, but I actually liked it after I uploaded to my computer.

If anyone knows what type of lilies these are, please let me know. I'm going to assume they are lilies. Aren't they just gorgeous.

Here's a spectacular sunrise. I am actually surprised at myself for being up early enough for the show. Glad I was :D

Here's a couple of brown pelicans early in the morning. I do wish my photo skills were a bit better. It does look one of them is holding a fish. I'm going to say that it is.

Mr. Toad & Vacation

2010-07-15T04:25:00.000-07:00

Has it ever been one of those weeks. Vacation time is coming up and the garden is in full swing, so I've been running in circles :D

Even though the growing season seemed to be a bit slower this year, the green beans have caught up. We are picking every other day it seems.

Here's Mr. Toad. I saw him the other evening, actually hadn't seen many toads around. I wish he would go and live in the hostas. My confession: I don't like to pick up or touch frogs or toads.

More flowers. These flowers were given to me by a co-worker. Always be careful what you wish for. They are pretty, in golden & orange. But they certainly reseed like crazy. Another co-worker that received them has her own name for them (they have reseeded all over her yard) and I can't repeat what she calls them here :D

New Favorites

2010-07-03T20:07:00.001-07:00

The first official tomato of the season fresh off the vine

A new friend, the hummingbird moth which I think is pretty cool

This may become my most favorite daylily, it's huge and just look at that color, fabulous...

The hostas are blooming and do the bees & hummingbirds love it

The hydrangeas are blooming (hooray) and this one blooms the deepest blue. It's looking like I'll have blue blooms with my soil.

Just a few old and new favorites for the week. Just gotta love summertime

Just Because They are Pretty

2010-06-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

I just noticed today that the Rose of Sharon bush had a few blooms on it. We inherited several of these bushes when we purchased the house. Only have two left now, I leave them because the hummingbirds & bees love them. But I don't know how many seedling I will cut down during the summer. All in the wrong places too. This year I'm going to try and clip off those seed pods before they open.

At the fence line at the back of the property, we have a couple of mimosa trees. I'm expecting hubby to cut them down, especially since our apple trees are close by. I really don't want to have to start thinning out mimosa trees from the little apple orchard. When I was a young girl, I thought the mimosa were just a magical tree. I mean, they look like pink clouds when they are blooming. I'm surprised my father even had one close to the yard, but he did. I'm not sure how many states now have them on the invasive list. But they can sure be a monster.

Funny how many things we can have growing and not realize just how invasive it can be. Just because they are pretty may not mean they are the most perfect item for your yard & garden :D

Take Me Home Country Roads

2010-06-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

No, I don't sing John Denver's "Country Roads" when I'm out driving around. Most of the time I use interstate to get back & forth from work. A lot of Fridays though I'll take some back roads home to avoid heavy traffic in the town I work. It's a pretty drive and doesn't take to much longer than interstate. Here's just a few scenes here & there. I believe most of the mountains seen in these pictures are the Clinch Mountain. I do seem to enjoy the tree lined routes :D

Summer's Around the Corner

2010-06-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's been feeling summertime for a little while. Took me forever to get over the feeling that we were going to have a cold snap on the way. (Thanks to the winter we just had)

The bird's nests are thriving it seems. The tree swallows stay busy and I usually see a chick waiting at the entrance for din din. The blue jay has 4 very large baby chicks in the nest. When I'm refilling the bird baths I usually check on them. I won't be surprised if one doesn't fall out of the nest. I think one of my smaller gourd nests is being occupied now, or there's a lot of commotion for some reason around it.

We've had some much needed rain and that's helped the garden tremendously. The beans are growing & here's another way we've staked the tomatoes. I don't know if the orange construction fence will work that great, I kind of have my doubts.

The hydrangeas have started blooming (yippee). Most are some shade of blue. Looks like I may have several blooms from each bush. After that disastrous year of only 3 blooms total from all of the plants, this is like hitting the jackpot :)

Yes, I've been playing with picasa, here's an asiatic lily and the last iris bloom of the season.

What's Growing In the Garden

2010-06-05T05:01:00.000-07:00

It's not that I've ignored my veggie garden this spring, it's just been a little slow going. I think things finally seem to have taken off and it's beginning to look like a garden.

Since we replanted peas about 3 times, it looks like we may have a bumper crop now. I think the 2nd planting came up later than I realized and by then I had already put more out :D But I do love peas so I'm happy. We're trying a bit of a different trellis for them to climb on. We recycled old woven fence wire, cut it off and set it in between the rows. It's like a little tent and so far the peas are climbing fine. Just hope it will be fairly easy to pick off of.

Yeah, we do have a couple of little tomatoes growing. We're in the process of getting all the tomato plants staked. Using the woven fence wire again, we've put a stake in the ground and cut the fence about a foot and a half and attached it to the stake. As the tomatoes grow they can be tied to the wire also for added support.

Here's a few row of beans, we've got a few new varieties out just to see what may do well. The cucumbers are growing like crazy, what in the world will I do with all of them :D

Today I think I'm going to work on making comfrey tea for the tomatoes. I read the tomatoes need to bloom before you add this tea for fertilize, and several are blooming now. I hope I can stand the stink this must cause, wish me luck there.

Bees, birds, blooms & critters

2010-05-28T20:06:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year, things are blooming and you can usually find a variety of critters to watch.

Undoubtedly we've had a nest of young squirrels close by, we're kind of over run with squirrels & bunnies at the moment. The squirrels do seem very playful so I think they are just juveniles. They are a little brazen at time, they don't seem to care if I'm standing close by or not.

The blue jay is still sitting on her nest, bless her heart. I think she's been there forever. I hope those eggs start hatching soon. I don't think this is her in the bird bath, but this blue jay had a wonderful expression.

My comfrey is blooming and the bees are loving it. I will see several bees working the comfrey blooms each day. I still haven't really done things with the comfrey that I want too. I need for my tomatoes to start blooming and then I'm going to fertilize with some stinky comfrey tea.

Here's one of the petunias in a hanging basket. I'm trying hard to keep some nice wave & trailing petunias this year. Some years me & the petunias are friends and some years we aren't. I'm really working on my relationship with them this year :D

May Tulips & Sunrises

2010-05-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

My tulip poplar tree is blooming. Beautiful blooms, but when the petals fall it can be a bit messy. I was able to get a picture of the inside of a bloom. It's an interesting flower. Funny, when I think of the tulip poplar, I think of the 1860's. That's so weird, I don't know if I read a book based during that time period and the tree was in the story or what.

Both magnolias trees are blooming. Hooray.. These are the good smellers :D. I had worried about my younger magnolia tree, it looked terrible earlier this spring. I thought we will be cutting it down soon. But low & behold, it's back to it's old self and has so many blooms on it. I just breath in deeply whenever I go by either tree..

No new garden news, just kind of still waiting on things to take off and grow. After several days of rain, maybe just maybe we'll see some action now.

Here's my spectacular sunrise this morning. I actually surprised myself. Could be better, but for me I'll take it :D

Mother Nature

2010-05-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that the tree swallows are still in residence. If you look close, you can see the one inside the nest and the other one sitting outside. Also another picture of the male outside. I think they are pretty gorgeous. The chestnut trees are becoming quite busy. I just noticed this week that a blue jay has a nest, just about 4 ft from the bird baths. She is quiet on the nest which is always surprise for a blue jay. She actually seems quite protected from the elements, so I'll have to give her some kudos for the location. I did see one day when a squirrel got a little too close to the blue jay nest and there seemed to be a confrontation at that time. I would imagine the antagonism between the jay & the squirrel go back a bit :)

On my other gourd birdhouses, I noticed some activity in couple of them. They have nesting materials and a bird going in and out. I can't get close enough to see what kind of birds they are. That's my project for this week. I can't be too much of a stalker though :D

Here's a young black bear that has been visiting a nearby farm. It's amazing how much the black bear population has jumped in this area. This is a young bear and he does need to go back farther into the mountains. He's beautiful and looks very healthy. Rather surprising at the amount of wildlife that is just a few miles from your house. I know some beehives were destroyed at another farm by a bear last year. That was a surprise for everyone. It wasn't this bear, hopefully he'll mosey on back into the woods soon.

Whatever animal or bird is trying to raise their young in the wild now, this is always a tricky time. You have nest raiders, terrific spring storms, natural predators, man & other things. Mother nature isn't always nice. Hopefully most of the young birdies or animals around here will be strong enough to make it. At least I've helped some with my birdhouses I hope :)

Spider Webs

2010-05-08T18:56:00.001-07:00

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks an abundance of spider webs outside. It seems to be the eves on the porches and other places. I suppose I shall have to get a broom and sweep off some webs. The sun was setting this evening, and it was behind a web, I so wanted to get a spectacular picture of that. I didn't quite succeed, but I did change it to black & white. I'm sure that didn't make anymore spectacular either :D

What's blooming now, my clematis & of course more irises. The clematis is a funny old plant. Both clematis plants are several years old and each year after they bloom, they look terrible. I'm just sure they have died this time and I am so tempted to cut them back. I know types of clematis you can cut back and some you shouldn't. Since I'm not sure which types I have I just leave them. But in spring, they start showing off again for a few weeks. Then we will start the vicious cycle of looking totally awful.

This is one of my most favorite irises, but don't ask me the name of it. I just love it. It still isn't quite big enough to have to divide, soon I'll do that and get even more plants from it :D yippee.

The Not So Happy Garden, Irises and a New Resident

2010-05-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

The calender says May 1st, but the garden looks like it was just planted. We haven't planted much except potatoes, peas, lettuce & carrots. There's no need for any new pictures because it looks just like it did the first of April. Mr. Hubby has been checking the potatoes and did say they have sprouted. I laughed when he told me that. We've replanted more peas & lettuce out hoping these will sprout. That's part of the perils of gardening, it's never dependable regardless of what you do.

On a more happier spring note, my first official iris bloom was this week. Because I separated so many last year, I won't have nearly the blooms that I normally have. It will seem sparse, but in a couple of years they will be back to their normal glory.

I think I finally have a new resident in one of my gourd birdhouses. It looks like a pair of tree swallows have moved in. They had been checking it out & must have decided it looked like good starter home :D

Spring Blooms are Happening

2010-04-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

Once things start growing & blooming around here I finally feel like I'm home again. I will have to say the crab apple tree has really been showy this year. It has a wonderful scent that you can smell all over the yard. Now later on, it's not the nicest tree when all those crab apples start falling in the yard. Each year I think about cutting it down, then I remember the spring and just hate to lose those blooms.

The lilacs are starting to bloom and yes we've gotten a bit chilly. Some years you have lilacs and sometimes they seem to bloom whenever we have some frost. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this year there will be no frost to kill the lilac blooms.

We started a little apple orchard last year, I think there are about 80 buds on one little tree this year. Some of the others are starting to bloom, but not as much as this one tree. It's not quite big enough to have any apples this year I think, but if it blooms like this every year we may have quite a few apples off of it :)

Here's a bluebird that stopped by for a visit, just enjoying a bit of the late afternoon sun. Don't we all enjoy that

Finally Gardening Day

2010-04-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, spring has finally arrived. Right now, we're having July temperatures in April. When it cools down to normal April temps, it's going to be a bit of a bummer

We were able to get some garden planted over Easter weekend. Here are a few rows of potatoes, kind of hard to get some good pictures of dirt, but that's what it is.

I removed some old yucky landscaping timbers from around the chimney and we put more rocks down for a landscaping wall. That's still a work in process, but I already like it so much better.

The comfrey is coming along nicely, that's still going to be my secret ingredient later in the garden...

And I just thought my flowering pear tree was pretty in the late evening sun.

The Nosy Landlord

2010-04-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we've finally made it to some gorgeous spring weather. That sure makes me happy. Tomorrow is the first official garden work day. I'll probably be adding another post tomorrow. We're still trying to figure out where everything is going to go in the garden. We've still got seeds that are on their way here, (those are hubby's venture not mine) He's going to raise carrots & beets to sell. (We'll see about that)

A few weeks ago, I made some birdhouses out of the gourds that I raised. Some were smaller than I would have liked, but I'm hoping some of the smaller birds will use them. I have read that there may be a shortage of nesting cavities for these birds. Hopefully we've made the opening small enough to deter the pest birds from getting in. I've been watching and so far have not noticed anything going in to at least check them out. I don't know if I'm deterring anything from moving in, so am I being the nosy landlord? I'll try to curb my tendencies to be nosy and try not to watch the goings on in the houses. It's kind of hard for me to do... hopefully I'm not really that nosy..

A Tease of Spring

2010-03-11T19:55:00.001-08:00

O.K. I know I've whined about winter a bit, (just a little bit) :D We finally have had a few glimpse of spring. I was pleasantly surprised to see my crocuses blooming and then I saw a bee working them. We still had a bit of snow left so it was a bit of a surprise to see the bee. I have been checking the flower beds, I was expecting to see the daffodils starting to come up and they were. I wasn't expecting to see some daylilies coming up though, but I'm always glad to see them.

With spring like temperatures I went to the garden and realized how much work we have to do to get ready. I mean trees need to be trimmed & brush burned. We are expanding the garden a little bit, so it takes a bit more work to get a brand new area ready to garden. Nothing looks like a garden right now, so I need to take a deep breath and relax about it :D

While home the other day, I had a visit from Mr. or Mrs. Chipmunk, who really enjoyed running around the garage deck. You don't suppose he'll show up in the garden later do you? :D

Trees & Then Some Holes & Then Pests

2010-02-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I just so happened to look at my tulip poplar tree and noticed a good sized hole had been excavated in it. I am going to assume it was some of the woodpeckers around here that did it. I've never been able to catch whatever is doing it. Anyway, Thursday I looked up at the hole and now there are 2, they are both just about the same size, one above the other one. This is a big tree, but when I look at those holes it almost looks hollow inside, I hope the tree isn't hollow

Last year here in the yard, whenever the woodpeckers started a nest, the starlings took it over and used it. I'm not that keen on them using these nests. So I suppose my option would be to watch and see exactly what may use it, and if the wrong birds move in, just move them out and block the holes.

This time of year, I do start having starling problems, they take over the bird feeders, so in turn I have to slow down on feeding. With the harsh winter we're still in, I really would like to continue feeding normally at the feeders. I looked out one morning and there wasn't any other birds at the feeders but these greedy ones. If anyone has any good suggestions on running them out of your area, please let me know. I'm tired of them taking over nests, feeders and running amuck.

February & Trees

2010-02-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Finally a sunny weekend and moderate temps, hooray... Still quite a bit of snow here to melt, but at least I can see grassy spots. I was out checking my little heirloom apple trees this afternoon, hopefully they will come through winter just fine. I had noticed some trees on the fence line. One had large vine wrapped around it and I thought it how neat it looked. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, I'll assume it's some type of wild grape vine that has grown up the tree. Another picture is a view of part of the mountain, I do think that's a nice view. I do wish I had some photography skills to get some good pictures :D

While I was out, Molly was furiously digging around in the snow in the field and finally came up with a mouse. For a dog, she is a good little mouser, she must have some type of terrier in her. She was dirty, but a happy little dog. The exercise has done her good. I need exercise, but I'm not chasing mice.

My Comfort Food

2010-02-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

We're still in the grips of a bit of a mean streak of winter. Last weekend I put together a big pot of beef stew. I use a recipe from some older cookbooks that I had gotten from Southern Living years ago. These are called The Southern Heritage Cookbook, and there are around 15 books or so of them. They have old photos and advertisements from years ago. I find it fascinating just to sit and look at all the pictures.

Anyway, I do like this stew, and yes I do act like I have my own cooking show while I'm putting it together. Doesn't everyone do that :)

Here's the recipe, please let me know if you try it. There is still several cold winter days left that it would be perfect for.

Old-Time Beef Stew

2 pounds lean boneless beef, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
2 tblspoons shortening
1 large onion sliced
1 clove garlic
1 quart hot water
1 tblespoon salt
1 tblespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teasppon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 bay leaves
Dash of ground allspice
6 small potatoes, peeled
6 small onions, peeled
3 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cold water

Brown beef in hot shortening in a large Dutch oven. Add next 11 ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hrs. add potatoes, onions, & carrots; cover and simmer an additional hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove and discard bay leaves.
Combine flour and water, stirring to form a smooth paste. Stir into stew; cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Ladle into individual bowls and serve warm.. It's yummo

Hopefully soon I can post some about our upcoming outdoor activities for the spring... until then enjoy the stew

The White Crowned Sparrow and Blizzard the Cat

2010-02-06T19:10:00.001-08:00

No, this isn't a horror story about the cat eating the bird. I wasn't sure what thoughts I may have on another blog post, but I had the best luck today photographing some birds at the feeders. Here's an assortment of pictures that I took, I do believe the one may be a white crowned sparrow, he's pretty neat I think. I thought maybe a chirping sparrow is with the tufted titmouse at one feeder. And to finish up, the red-bellied woodpecker at the suet. I was able to get pretty close to the feeders today and they didn't seem to mind me being that close.

Of course afterwards I came inside and Blizzard the cat was lying on the couch, very comfortable and not at all in a hurry to leave his comfy bed. I couldn't resist not taking his picture, (I even tweeted it) Must be nice to be able to catnap whenever you feel like it :D

Molly Dog and Homemade Doggie Treats

2010-01-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't really devoted a post to our Molly and thought this was a good time to do so. We've had Molly since Aug of 99. She came from the animal shelter, when I called that day, they told me this was her last day so I left work to go look at her and of course pick her up. She had the biggest ears on a puppy that I had seen. I did wonder what in the world she was going to look like once she grew into them. :D

She did become the neighborhood dog. She does have a daily morning walk that she goes on. She surveys the neighbors and makes sure everything is has it should be. I know a few years ago, a neighbor gave her bologna treats everyday. She learned if she went to another house and looked in their door, they would come out and give her yet more bologna treats. Took me a little while to get her out of the habit of those bologna treats.

I think her most favorite activity except eating treats, is digging for mice in the garden. She will spend hours during the spring, summer & fall on the hunt. Most of the time it's in a place that she won't hurt to dig. If she starts tearing stuff up, we'll fence it off from her. I really don't mind her getting mice....

She grew into her ears, and she has made a perfect guard dog. She is always telling me if something isn't quite right around here. I've learned to listen to Molly, but sometimes Molly don't listen to me :D

Here's a homemade dog treat recipe that I found. I didn't come up with the recipe and I don't know who to give credit to it.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3 tblespoons peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats

Blend wet ingredients together. Whisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then mix with wet mixture to form a ball of dough. Roll out and shape as desired. Place on a non-stick cookie tray. Bake twenty minutes at 400 degrees. Turn oven off and biscuits will cool inside the oven until crisp & hard. I store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Also, it makes a lot of dough, I'll make a small batch and freeze the dough for another batch later.

Molly loves these, they are crunchy and a little crumbling. But she gets every crumb.

Closed for Winter, Reopen in Spring

2010-01-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

This is the signs you see everywhere on the bird's nest this time of year. Recently I've noticed a couple of nests around the yard that until now I had no idea they had been there. (and this is even with the leaves off of the trees). I was a little surprised how large one is, it is in what I call a mock orange bush. I walk by this bush quite in bit in the summer and didn't even realize it could have been occupied. I noticed the birds may have used some of the cat hair that we had brushed off of Blizzard. I had put some of it out in nooks in the trees for the birds to use. I'll have to remember to do that again this spring. One of the other nest is a smaller one made of mud, very secure in it's perch. Another one is above the door of an outbuilding we have. It has been there for years and seems to be used every year. I think the birds just add to it every year.

I'm glad to finally see some of these birds nest, and I'll admit I have a terrible time trying to see them in the spring & summer. So maybe I'll wait on the Reopen for Spring signs to start showing up soon

Is it a Peregrine Falcon?

2010-01-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to get a some pictures of the hawk or falcon that flies by the bird feeders every so often. Today it was undoubtedly able to grab lunch from the feeders since it was on the ground eating. Here's some pictures of it, my question is: Is this a Peregrine Falcon. I do have trouble identifying these larger birds.
Also, the pictures were taken from inside, I wish they could have been better. It is such a magnificent bird.

Who Loves Green Beans? (Not Me) :D

2010-01-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

Barely January has started and I've got some seed ordering to do.
:D

Hubby has picked out most of the veggie seeds, I'll concur with him on most of them. He picks out several varieties of green beans. That's o.k., definitely not my most favorite item out of the garden. The green beans helps him to be interested in the garden and that way I can get him to help out with my stuff in the garden. (Yeah for me)

I've got a few flowers that I need to get some seeds for. I collected seeds from my bean hyacinth, but I don't think they had matured enough. I'm ordering some this year and planting earlier. I should be able to collect my own seeds next fall.

I am going to give lavender one more try. If it cooperates, I'll harvest and dry it.

I'm currently drying gourds that we put out last summer, I love growing them. I am going to grow a few more varieties I hope. I'd love to be able to sell some to the crafters. I have no artistic ability in painting those what so ever.

I think if we weren't up to our armpits in winter, I wouldn't be thinking so much about spring & summer. Have I got a long winter or what....

"To Rise Above the Little Things"

2010-01-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

I hadn't thought much about New Years resolutions or anything until I saw that quote yesterday. That, I hope will be my mantra for the year. I thought it fit perfect. I had read some other blogs today and one was more about what you wanted to work on instead of resolutions. I thought of different things I wanted to work on this year. Let's see how long I do.

1. Give my daughter more space and understand that 21 year olds don't like to feel fenced in

2. Work on starting a little cottage industry from the garden, (seeds, catnip, gourds etc) things like that.

3. Really work on taking better photographs, it's not the camera it's me that makes the pictures blurry.

That's just a few things I could think of. I'm sure in the next few days I'll think of several other things.

Welcome 2010, let's hope it's not a bumpy ride....

The Big Snow

2009-12-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

O.K. looks like I am going to owe the weatherman an apology. Yet again, they had the correct forecast and we had a snow. A nor'easter went up the coast and yep, we got a lot of snow. Driving home Friday from work was awful. It took me a little longer to get home, but at least I wasn't snowbound in my car like a lot of people were. We've got snow piled up quite a bit, and may have some left by Christmas.

Molly loved the snow like most dogs do, while Blizzard was very unhappy with it.(typical cat) :-D

First Snow

2009-12-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

The first snow forecast of the season always brings thoughts of will it snow or not. Considering we have cold enough temps for snow, we don't always get much. We get plenty of snow forecast that kind of fizzle out. This time for the first snow, we actually had an inch or two on Saturday. I can't say how surprised I was that the forecast was actually correct. Wonder if it will happen anymore this winter :D

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.

2009-11-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

Now that my official outdoor activities are over for the year, I will turn more attention to my bird feeders. I think I've inherited my enjoyment of birds from my grandmother. I remember I used to call her whenever I saw the first robin of the spring.

Of course whenever your feeding the birds, your feeding the squirrels. I don't mind that, most of the time the squirrels are quite entertaining. They do like to jump on the round cylinder feeder and they will hang on to it while it twirls around. I call it the squirrel merry go round. They don't seem to mind going round and round, I don't know if squirrels get dizzy or not. Lately both fox & gray squirrels are around. I'll put out some corn that they may like a little better than the bird feed, sometimes that works and sometimes not. Other times you can see the blue jays and squirrels almost squaring off over the feeders.

A hawk has been around some lately, the birds do seem to hide when that happens. I know that's just mother nature, but I'd really like for the hawk to get all the field mice and such that it can instead of the birds :)

Recycle Through the Compost

2009-11-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

Since I had to completely start a new compost heap from scratch this year, I've been on a mission to try and get the correct ingredients in it. There have been times this year that I thought I would just plow it under somehow and start all over. I just didn't seem to have a good combination of ingredients. I recently found a list of 163 items that can be added to your compost heap. While some of them I don't know about, there were others that were interesting. To be honest, I'll put some shredded paper in my compost, but not much other paper. Now, I'm trying to use napkins, cardboard (from rolls of paper towel and tissue) popcorn (both popped and old maids), and dryer lint, (I'm going to try and stop using store bought dryer sheets.) I've been using tea bags and coffee grounds all along. There are more things I'll use and some I won't.

Right now, it's looking pretty good, I did add a layer of leaves today. It's more open in the front than on the sides. To be honest, I wanted it a little more secure away from possums, raccoons and other little varmints. I did start a small patch of comfrey this past spring, I am planning on using it next summer as an accelerator for compost. Hope that works. Here's a picture of my current compost and the comfrey bed getting ready for winter

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

With it being Veterans Day today, I have been thinking a lot about my Grandfather.

Granddaddy was born in 1905. He later attended Virginia Tech and graduated in 1928. He was a cadet there. He married my grandmother(a local girl from Blacksburg) He stayed in the military and retired in 1960.

I can remember when I was around 16, and with all the bravado that a youngster has at that age, I announced I was going to join the military after graduation. I remember him, looking me straight in the eyes and saying. "I've never told you no, but I'll tell you no on that. There are things you don't need to see" I understand he was protecting his granddaughter and he was a little old school. I also know if it had been my calling, I would have entered one of the branches of the military. He knew it wasn't my calling.

He looked upon the voting process as one of great civic importance. He was able to take some of his grandchildren to register to vote. He took me when I turned 18, and was so proud to bring someone in to register. It's been 30 years and I remember that so plainly.

One of my next projects, is to try and find some of the places that granddaddy was stationed at during the course of WWII. He didn't mention much about the places he saw during the war. I'm not looking for any classified information, just locations :)

I think I'll get a wall map of the world and once I can find the places he was at, I'm going to mark them and think of him at those far off places. Veterans Day I do think of him and his comrades, and am always grateful for the sacrifices that they gave. It's a very poignant holiday.

This is his senior picture taken around 1928.

Stirring up the Hornets Nest

2009-11-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

Funny thing, one day all the leaves are on the trees, then by the next morning, it will look like winter. They are all gone. I noticed Saturday morning the yard was full of fallen leaves. I then noticed something odd in the chestnut trees. At first I thought it was a huge squirrels nest, then I realized what it was. It is a huge hornets nest. It is close to being 30-35 feet high, plus the nest is probably 2 feet long. I assume it has been there for months. I am always walking by that tree, It's so funny how they are camouflaged. Didn't even notice any extra hornets during the summer either.

According to old folklore, the closer the nest is to the ground, it will be a bad winter. When nest are built in the tops of trees, it will be a mild winter. So now I'm going to see if the hornets know something we don't know.

Here's a couple of pictures of the hornets nest, one up close. Then of course I have to throw in the squirrels little nest. I think I can see the difference between them now :)

Tiptoe Through The All the Irises

2009-10-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Those who have read my previous post, know I grow several irises. Due to having to remove a flower bed and just time to separate others, I an inundated with iris rhizomes now. I'm sure I have over 100 rhizomes, am taking a good size box tomorrow to work to hand out :)

Here's what I did along the sidewalk. Years ago we had this awful plastic like landscaping stuff we put down and then laid white landscaping rock on top of it. Along the way, I decided I wanted irises along this sidewalk and dug out places for it. I knew it would be a problem later because the iris would not have room to expand. I have separated these a few years ago and knew it was past time to do it again.

This time we started by removing all white landscaping rock. (If I ever want to put that rock back down, someone smack me silly) Then we pulled up all the awful plastic landscaping stuff that had been down for years. I replanted several rhizomes on each side of the sidewalk, planted them actually pretty heavy so hopefully they will fill in better. This coming spring I'm planning on mulching, so that will cut down on the weeds. Hubby is not that crazy about pulling up the landscaping junk, because he doesn't have much confidence in my weed pulling. The 1st picture shows the before picture taken this spring. Here are more from the day that I worked on getting them in the ground and more showing the buckets that I have accumulated.

I haven't gotten to the point of putting a sign up that says:

Irises, Free to a good home

Close to doing it and will consider it :-D

It's Been How Long?

2009-10-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

What are some of the scariest words you will hear... I know.. Class Reunion :D

Yep, I think I may have to go for this one. Not that it is a milestone year, well maybe it is. I'll have to admit, this is my 30th class Reunion. 30 years I have been out of high school.. geez.. doesn't that make me sound ancient. It's just a few weeks away, not nearly enough time to lose 30 pounds or so. haha

I just hope I remember who everyone is...

Why Does Sunrise Have To Be So Early

2009-10-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Yet again, something I must admit. I enjoy trying to take a wonderful picture of a sunrise. I don't profess to taking very good ones, but I keep plugging away. One day I'll surprise myself with something decent.

This kind of started this year, once the neighboring trees were cut down, I could finally see sunrises over the mountain. It was hard to see that through the trees (still miss the trees). But I've realized that there is only a few times of the year that I make it on time for sunrise. The fall season being one of them. With the mornings being darker longer, I can see several sunrises. Once daylight becomes earlier, I'll be honest, I have a hard time being the early bird. So I had better enjoy these dark gloomy mornings and the sunrises. Yeah folks, I'm a sunrise person that's not a morning person.

"And even the sun
in dawn chorus sings,
a celestial melody to the earth
below"
- Tjaden

The Bicycle Saga

2009-10-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

As if I can't come up with more things to do, some co-workers & I have started bicycling. Funny, I've not bicycled much since I was an early teenager. BTW, my most favorite bike I had growing up was a spyder bike with a banana seat, it's still at my parents :)

I am able to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail, a wonderful biking and walking trail. It's a beautiful ride. Hopefully I'll work my way up to riding a few more miles each week. The small inclines feel like mountains right now. I'm borrowing my daughter's old bike and using it. It's o.k., I just need a simple bike that doesn't have to many gears and things. (and one that you don't have to pedal hard) ha

And these are some pictures I took after work today.

You can enjoy the views while your legs are turning into noodles on the bike

"Sewing Seeds"

2009-09-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not really sewing seeds. I've gotten on a seed collection kick this summer. I have a few more flowers to try and get the seeds from before winter.

I am really tickled with my moon flower, took it forever to bloom though. I even started it indoors, and it was still around the first of Sept before it bloomed. I am watching for the seed pods to form so hopefully I can collect a few of them. The others that I am waiting on are a hyacinth bean vine and hummingbird vine. I got the seeds from a fellow blogger, I love these plants. The purple is the hyacinth bean, along with the bean pods. The hummingbird vine is just a mess of vines with small flowers, invasive I know. But it makes a great privacy screen. Today I have been collecting of all things, catnip seeds. I'm fairly sure I am pretty pungent. Can you smell me now....

Falling into Fall

2009-09-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

I'll wonder why the days are getting shorter, mornings a little cooler, then I'll remember it's almost the end of September. Summer is definitely behind us. I have a little problem letting go of summer.

I went and checked out our new heirloom apple trees that we set out in the spring. There was a few times this summer when I didn't think they looked that great. Now, they are looking quite good, new leaves look healthy. We set these types out, Northern Spy, Lodi, Spitzenberg and Roxbury Russett. Planning on getting more varieties next spring.

A definite sign of fall. I love my chestnut trees, they are huge and have a great canopy of leaves. The birds and squirrels enjoy them. But I hate those chestnut burrs that are all over the yard now. I'll even try and rake up those little buggers and burn them. Once I have a brush pile burning, I happily throw those sticky little burrs into it. It's worth the pain of getting that occasional painful stick.

To Everything There is a Season

2009-09-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

I know it's not quite time to put the garden to bed for the season, but here's a rundown on how things went this year. Some good and some bad, but mostly enjoyable (sometimes)

Veggies that did really well, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, peas and most of the beans, and finally the tomatoes. I had wondered in August if any of the tomatoes would ripen and they finally did.

Things that didn't do well, pumpkins were a bust, basil & thyme were nadda. A couple of new Gala apple trees, they will surprise me if they come back next year.

Other things that did great, An assortment of gourds we kind of haphazardly threw out, they have taken over their little corner. Grapes and sunflowers did great. My new comfrey patch has grown like crazy, next year that will be my secret ingredient in fertilizing :-} Never fear the weeds are still growing, I'm ignoring them completely.

All in all it was a good year, several things were put up for winter months so that will be nice when it's blustery and cold. The pictures are all an assortment of things taken at different times of the summer. I'm already planning on what I am going to do in the garden next year. It will be interesting to see if I can remember any of that by next spring

My Little Friend Who Was Hiding

2009-09-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

Oh, I just had to show off a new friend I saw this evening. I was cutting back iris foliage and I ran across this little guy. It was already getting late so I left the rest of the foliage and will see if he is there whenever I get back to cutting. If he is I'll move him to some evergreen bushes. I think the praying mantis is just one of the coolest insects. I know they can eat good bugs too, so I'll ignore that part and hope he eats the bad bugs I have.

Molly The Alarm Dog and Blizzard

2009-08-30T18:33:00.001-07:00

What a crazy kind of week we've had. Daughter went back to school last weekend,(is enjoying it) hooray. And we've had a little injury to one of our animal family members. Blizzard the cat was out Sunday for a little while, when he came back in I could tell he was hurt. You couldn't touch him on his back & hips.

He went to the vet later, found out he had puncture wounds from a bite. He's on antibiotics for a few weeks. By the way, giving him the antibiotics was a real "good time" at the beginning, (not really). I finally realized I could ice his little cat treats with it and he will eat every one of them. I don't like for him to be outside without Molly the dog being out. She has become the alarm dog, she couldn't handle a large animal, but she can sure tell me when something isn't right.

The vet told us it was probably either a large dog, coyote or raccoon that attacked him. We've found kernels of corn and things near and in a bird bath he likes to go to. We are more than sure that it was probably a raccoon that latched on to him. Thank goodness he was able to get away. Anyway, here's a photo of Molly the Alarm Dog on patrol along with Blizzard the cat.

Daylily Day Dreaming

2009-08-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

O.K. earlier I did a blog on Iris Musing, now it's the day lilies turn. I feel like it's the last hooray of summer. What better time to look back and feel the love for those wonderful summertime flowers. Here's a few of my favorites, let me know which one is yours. PS... I know one isn't a daylily so to speak, the first one I think is an asiatic lily, still love it too.

The Beach Sabbatical

2009-07-26T14:24:00.001-07:00

Do you ever look forward to something and wait months and months for it, then poof, it's over. That's vacation..

I usually vacation for a week at the beach. I suppose you could call it a beach sabbatical. It's enjoyable seeing the beach and ocean again, so very different from the mountains here. Of course, we have closer living conditions there, my daughter, 2 sisters and a brother in law all go. We rent 1 place so we all have to learn to live with each other again. It's not that bad, but I am kind of ready to pack up when it's time to leave.

We go to Hilton Head Island, stay at a very nicely priced resort. We do rent bikes and do a lot of bike riding. I realized this year while I was pedaling as hard as I could, why am I working so hard on this bike. Then I knew, my sister must think she's racing Lance Armstrong. You have to work and work to keep up with her. I think next year, I'm slowing down.

I think I kind of like that motto, "I'm slowing down" .. That's going to be my new catch phrase for the rest of the year. Whenever something isn't done at work, I'll say. "I'm slowing down", laundry hasn't been done here at home, "I'm slowing down". Yeah, I can see it now, the possibilities are endless. A whole new prospective, and I like it.

Wouldn't be a vacation blog, without some photos, so here goes. Here's some random shots of the beach, different times, typical beach photos, but I like them.

The Flower Thief

2009-06-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

O.K. I admit it, I am a flower thief. There I've said it and admitted it. I have even drug my sister and daughter into the dirty work of stealing flowers. Here's the entire story of my decent into the dark side of flowers.

I have and still do enjoy tiger lilies, I know they are almost looked upon as weeds, but I like them. They are old fashion, but I think they have a lot of spunk. Anyway, one day I noticed there was several tiger lilies blooming on the rural country road that I was on at the time. I knew that the dept. of transportation probably would be mowing them down in a few days, so I decided to come back and get some. Knowing I would need help, I made my sister and daughter join me. We went back and we dug and dug getting some of those lilies out of the ground. There was a time or two I didn't know if we were going to get any, but we pressed on until we had some. (Actually I wouldn't let anyone quit until I had gotten some).

I planted the stolen lilies, they have grown and expanded just as I have wanted them to do in that location. Yes, I have more refined lilies in other places, but those tiger lilies just scream summertime at me. To this day whenever we pass a yard with some nice flowers in it, my daughter will tell me, "Oh look Mom, why don't you go and get some of those. haha," It's just so amusing to be the flower thief of the family.

I have been collecting columbine and foxglove seeds. I'll be glad to share some if anyone is interested. Just leave me a comment and I'll get in touch.

The Apron Party

2009-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

This Father's Day got me thinking of my grandfathers. Both of them are gone and I still think of them quite a bit. My Mom's father, ran a little country store for many many years and farmed also. Her mother, Granny, is 96 and still with us. This is a story that Granny recently told us about her and Pawpaw.

Back when she was a late teenager she and her cousin had been invited to a neighborhood party one Saturday night. This was in the late 1920's,and her mother didn't want them to attend without someone going with them. So a married cousin was called upon to accompany the girls. They had called it an Apron Party, and you were to cut a very small piece of fabric from an apron that you bought. This was the era that still used aprons and Granny had made a very pretty little apron. She had taken it with the cut piece of fabric. They had put all the pieces of fabric I assume in a bowl or something. Then the single guys at the party each pulled out a piece of fabric. I believe the girls had put their aprons on and whoever had their fabric that's who they were to sit beside while they had refreshments. Of course my grandfather had pulled out her piece of fabric. She seemed to think that it had been planed for him to have gotten hers. Undoubtedly he had made sure somehow to get her fabric.

I think it's a great story,and after all these years had never heard it until recently. I'm glad I got the chance to hear it

The Yard Supervisor

2009-06-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that whenever I am out in the yard or garden I usually had a "supervisor" with me. I felt like for everything that I did, there was some remark from the "supervisor". Whenever I refilled the bird baths, the supervisor was there, whenever I was working in the flowers, I might catch a glimpse of the "supervisor" If I were in the garden, I knew the "supervisor" was watching what I was doing. He or she was always letting me know what I was doing wrong or so it seemed. I finally decided I was going to get a photo of the supervisor. As soon as I decided to do that, the supervisor became scarce. It became a game, I'd wait and watch for the supervisor to show up, he never would. Then I'd turn my back for a minute, and guess who showed up. I chased him all over the yard trying to get a picture. He was just playing with me and I think he enjoyed it. This is the best picture that I could get of the supervisor.

Of course the supervisor is a catbird, I have a couple of pairs here and they are quite nosy. Except when I'm carrying a camera.

Peek a Boo Baby Birdie

2009-05-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

On one of my previous blogs, "Woodpeckers" I wrote about a pair of woodpeckers that were working on digging out a hole in one of our trees. Of course after they were done I didn't see them anymore. I think a pair of blackbirds have taken over the nest site. I have been able to see a bird looking out. I can't tell much about it since the leaves are really blocking it. I hear baby birdies quite often there, so I'm assuming there is a nest. If you look closely at the first picture, you'll see a bird peeking out.

Here's another picture of a couple of mature trees that we have, we've been here over 25 years and have no idea what these trees are. Even when my daughter did a eighth grade leaf project, no one was able to identify the leaves. If anyone has any idea what they may be, just drop me a line. The sun was setting today and the light was shining through the leaves, I thought it looked pretty cool.

Are We Ducky?

2009-05-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

It's kind of a weird title for some extremely rainy weather. I know I've already wrote a couple of times about the spring rains we had, just didn't know we would be having this much. Anyway, the garden is thriving, I don't think anything isn't growing in the mud. haha. Today was overcast at times with a few rain showers, the view here is more clouds and mountains. Almost all the irises have finished blooming, they don't have a long blooming season. I wait and wait on spring, then poof, things bloom and they are done. It's almost sad sometimes. The day lilies are almost ready to bloom, so they will entertain me now for a while. They are looking great. Hopefully Mr. Sunshine will be back soon, I almost feel like I'm wilting from lack of sunshine. Oh yeah, and great news on the home front. Daughter has got a summer job, she's home for the summer and is a member of the work force now . haha, yippee. (I don't know if anyone realizes how happy that makes me)

The Flowers in the Trees

2009-05-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

My tulip poplar tree is absolutely full of blooms this year. I don't know if I have ever seen this many blooms on it before. I do have petals all over the deck and yard from it, but I don't mind. It usually finishes blooming in a week or so. We have had Baltimore Orioles to nest in it, I haven't been able to see them this year, but I don't always get a glimpse of them, so hopefully they are here.

Also, my smaller magnolia tree had the first bloom this week, I noticed it on Thursday. Actually I was walking by and the scent of those blooms stopped me and I knew it had started blooming. I love them. I have a bigger and older magnolia tree that has huge blooms and it has the greatest scent. I always look forward to when it starts blooming.

Iris Musing

2009-05-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd show some of my favorite irises that are blooming this year. My favorite is the mauve color, which is a newer one that I have. I enjoy finding new colors. Hope to add even more soon. Here are some others, the rust color is my husband's favorite. It's a nice one.

Thyme for Basil

2009-05-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ha, I crack myself up sometime, (thyme for basil) Anyway, that's what I planted this evening. Haven't tried herbs before, but now I have a tiny herb garden started. This is what I did. My husband brought in some huge (I suppose pvc pipe) or something like that. They had been cut in different lengths, we have used some of them for container gardening. We've experimented and used one for some potatoes & lettuce. I used one tonight to put basil & thyme in. One picture will show the size of the pipe before I started. I placed it near my comfrey patch, filled it up with some good dirt, added some fertilizer and planted my seeds. I think it may do o.k The other picture is of the potatoes and lettuce. They haven't had time to come up yet, I'll keep you posted on how they do.

Have I Mentioned Rain.... and more rain..

2009-05-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

I know I shouldn't complain about the rain, we have been so dry for the past few summers. This week we have had rain & more rain about everyday. We won't be able to plant any in the garden this weekend, I was hoping to finish up. Oh well.. things are a bit soggy & muddy that's for sure.

I did notice yesterday inspecting the yard & flowers between rain showers, my wonderful little hydrangeas have blooms starting. I'm so excited, I've dreamed of a nice southern yard with big hydrangeas blooming during the summer. I've been trying to grow them for the past few years, they are still fairly young. I have 6 plants, last year on all of them I had a total of 3 blooms. (yes 3 blooms) I already have more than that this year on one bush along.. yippeee.. Here's a picture of the little things.

Here's also what the columbine is looking like now, I think it's quite nice.

Rainy & Foggy Day (A good thing)

2009-05-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

We've had a couple of days of rainy weather. Actually after we've needed rain for the past few years, I've learned not to complain to much about rain. It was foggy most of the day, it kept climbing the mountain so to speak. I went out between raindrops and looked over everything. My columbine is just about to bloom, all so close. I had a place beside the tulip poplar tree that was hard to mow, I started scattering columbine seeds there for the past couple of years. This year it is full of columbine, I can't wait for more to bloom. I thought the fog on the mountain was pretty today especially with how green everything is, I took a few pictures of it. In that picture you can see the stump of the maple tree that we had to cut down. It is huge, I didn't realize that tree was that large. I still miss it, and I know the birds and squirrels do too. My blue irises are my first irises to bloom, they still have some rain drops on them. Anyway, it was a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon dodging raindrops to look at things outside.

Sunrise (almost)

2009-05-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

I thought I had done it this morning, the sun was just coming up and shining through some clouds. I ran out to get a picture or two of it, still didn't quite do it justice... I'm going to keep on working on that, maybe one day I'll get a decent picture.

Update on the woodpeckers, I can't seem to see if they are on a nest or even going back & forth from the nest. There's plenty of blackbirds in that tree, they have probably run the woodpeckers off. :(

Update on the apple trees, they are all doing great... love checking on them every evening.

Carnival Glass

2009-04-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

One more thing, here's a great piece of Carnival glass that I got off of Bonanzle. It is an Imperial Marigold Carnival Hobstar Arches Footed Bowl.. It is gorgeous, I love love love it. I got it from Mt. Top Collectible, great seller. There is some very nice Carnival Glass pieces at Bonanzle. Check them out

I did want to put all three post in one, but couldn't quite get everything the way I wanted it. So now I have 3 little posts all in the same day... typical for me.. haha

Apple Trees

2009-04-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Have started a small orchard, with mostly heirloom apple trees. They have all started leafing out, here's one of the smaller ones that we planted earlier. It's a Gala, not an heirloom, but a good tree to start with. I'm excited about this new venture. Of course now we haven't had much rain since we planted and extremely hot temps for this time of year.. so yes, I've watered them every night.

Woodpeckers

2009-04-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well spring has definitely sprung, and now feels like summer... I noticed 2 woodpeckers staying in an old maple tree. I saw they kept working like they were digging out a hole for a nest. I took this picture of what I assume may be the female. They have finished now and have a perfectly round hole about 3 inches in diameter. I hope maybe they have started a nest. I'll be quiet, but I'll try and see if I can spy them coming and going.

The View

2009-04-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors have had to cut down some very large trees this spring. I didn't realize how much of a view we had from our house. It is spectacular. While the tree crew was here, we had them cut down a very large maple that was getting awfully close to the neighbor's house. I do miss it, but I know it needed to come down before something happened. I am getting used to my new view, in the mornings the sun is coming up over the mountains and it is very pretty. I haven't had a chance to get a really good picture of the sunrise, but here are a couple made later in the day.

Change of Direction

2009-04-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

I had intended to take some pictures of a couple of items that I just love. I went to get my camera and after I took the first picture, I realized the card or whatever it is called isn't in the camera. My daughter had used my camera over the weekend and more than likely stuck the card in her computer and forgot to take it out. So hopefully it will show up this weekend when she comes home.. geez.. I hope that's where it is at. Oh well, I found a picture I had made a week or so ago of a daffodil in the sun.. Not the greatest picture but I thought it was quite nice with the sun shining through the flower petals.

Twittering

2009-04-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I would ever have to admit this, but I'm starting to enjoy twitter. I really thought that I would just sign up and see what it's about, probably not use it. Now I'm really thinking about what to tweet, who to follow and hope maybe someone will follow me. How funny is that. Oh, by the way, my twitter id is http://twitter.com/luvthecountry

What's wrong with this Picture

2009-04-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

This is a funny picture indeed, I hope you can see what is actually wrong with it. Blizzard the cat rarely uses the smaller bed, but Molly doesn't mind to use it. Strange animals sometime. haha (of course the cat looks bigger than the dog)

Hopefully I have linked my Bonanzle booth to my blog, It should be on my profile page. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is correct. I am getting a little more familiar with twitter. I do wonder what the average age of tweeple are? :) Anyway, enjoy the dog & cat picture. I have to laugh every time I see it.

Catching Up

2009-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I've been around. Christmas seems like it was years ago...lol and now it's Valentine's Day. We've had a nice winter so far. I have started another smaller project. My mom found one of the sewing projects that I had done in high school in home ec class. It was only 100 yrs ago. :) Anyway, it was an apron, and I put it on and thought this is exactly what I need to wear sometimes. I am forever needing a towel or something when I'm in the kitchen. An apron makes it so much easier. I found an old dress of mine that I can't wear any longer. I have cut it down to make an apron from it. I used the front and kept the pockets also, just have to sew up the ties for the top and the back. We'll see how long that takes. The picture is of the one sewn in school many many years ago.

The End of the Year

2008-12-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is over, I was working on the wall hangings Christmas morning, but I did get them done in time and they turned out very well.. I didn't have time to take any pictures of them. My computer finally died before Christmas and today I finally got a new one. So I'm learning the ropes now with this new one. We had a very nice Christmas, am glad though to be getting back to a normal routine. Work will be very hectic next week, (end of month, end of quarter, end of year) geez.. I kind of dread it.. :)

Still working on those Christmas presents........

2008-12-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Things are moving slowly on finishing the wall hangings. I was afraid that may happen. I haven't finished either one and have got to finish at least one this week. Nothing like adding a bit of extra stress at Christmas :)

I've made more Doggie Cookies, I wish I could turn this into a part time business venture. I have some other kinds of doggie treats that I want to prepare. I may start giving some of those out at work to the doggie people and see if I can get some interest from them. It may be worth a try. At least have a few different types of treats and see what happens. That may be a new project for after Christmas.

Quilted Wall Hangings

2008-11-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

I am attempting to sew a couple of quilted wall hangings for Christmas gifts this year. I found these beautiful fabrics and they are perfect for my sisters. One fabric has moose & elk and the other is chickens & roosters. I have finished the work on the squares, and now I have to finish the outside edges. I think this will be the hardest to do. I hope to finish this week with that. (hopefully)

Peanut Butter Doggie Biscuits

2008-11-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

I made peanut butter doggie biscuits this week. This was my first try at making homemade doggie treats. Molly loved them, but she isn't too picky. They really didn't get hard like a doggie treat, more like an actual cookie. The recipe made up quite a bit of dough, which I froze. I hope the next time I make them, they will turn out a little bit better or at least prettier. haha. They certainly don't look too great. Molly now has a new official title of taste tester and she probably couldn't be happier about it.

Halloween

2008-11-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

Halloween is a favorite time for me. Of course in the last few years we may not have even been home for Halloween with volleyball games. Last year, the first year my daughter was away at school, I carved 5 pumpkins, that was a record for me. I think I was really missing the early Halloweens that we had. This year was better, I only carved 1 and probably didn't do a great job with it. Here is a picture of last years pumpkins, and a picture of this year's lonely guy....

How to pick up your computer and chunk it.. lol

2008-10-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks with your computer. I know it's getting quite old, but it still does the work I need it to. This week was terrible, I just didn't know what was wrong with it. I really hadn't anticipated on buying another one yet, I know I need to but I'm putting it off as long as I can. Anyway when my daughter was in this weekend, I told her what it was doing. She & I worked on it yesterday afternoon, deleting cookies, adding some much needed updates etc... (Sometimes I don't update like I should, and she scolded me about that) Today it is working much smoother, still have a few things that are glitchy about it, but nothing that will slow it down much. Yippee..

Time Off

2008-10-19T18:31:00.001-07:00

We were able to spend a couple of days in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge last weekend. I had Monday off for Columbus Day and our daughter was on fall break from college. She had an entire week, how lucky for her. We also had a free night at one of the hotels there, so it was a good time to use it. We haven't travelled much as a family lately, it wound up being a very nice trip together. I did start a little Christmas shopping while I was there, but not much. The traffic wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The autumn colors were nice in Gatlinburg, I feel like the colors and views here at home are just as nice. This is a picture from our back yard that I took last week. The leaves haven't started turning a lot yet. It may not be the magnificent views of the western mountains or the breath taking views of Europe, but it's home.

The Hula Hoop

2008-10-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have purchased a fitness hula hoop. Someone at work had one and I thought that's just what I need to help with the extra pounds around the tummy. The one I purchsed isn't padded, but I am getting used to it. It weights 3 pounds. I have only had it a week and you really need to start out slowly.. It is a little PAINFUL, especially when you first start. (actually it might be considered quite a bit painful at first) It is recommended to only use it around 1 minute for the first few days, I went over 2 minutes today. Yippee... It still hurts, I don't know if I will ever do this that it doesn't hurt some. I'll hope for some results from this.

Introductions of the furry family members

2008-10-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Now on to our furry friends, we have a dog & cat who reside in our house. Molly is a mixed breed dog who came to us via the animal shelter. We rescued her when she was around 6 weeks old. She is now 9 yrs old and a stinker. Our cat Blizzard actually was a stray kitten that just showed up a couple of weeks before we rescued Molly. I have no idea where he came from, and how he was able to find us. He was a tiny kitten when he showed up in the yard. He is beautiful, and very spoiled. They are very good company and I think I have spoiled them even more in the last year. But I'm their favorite person!!!!

My First Blog

2008-10-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is my first attempt at blogging. I am an empty- nester so to speak, my daughter is a sophmore in college. I have had a year to get used to college, this year is better. I haven't done some of the crazy things that I did last year anyway. I live in the country, my parents were both were raised on farms, so I can relate to farm life. My husband is in construction & excavating. That brings in a lot of dirt. I work in the banking industry. I have more free time now and am trying new hobbies. I know it's strange to hear someone say they have more free time, when everyone lives are so busy.... I didn't know I would have this much time once my daughter graduated high school. I intend to make the best of it and find new projects to work on. I hope to update with new things that I am doing or have tried, (even the failed projects) lol