| Rosemary Posted on Friday, August 17, 2007 - 08:42 pm: |   |
Very impressive. Photos are lovely. Your gardens sound wonderful. You are ambitious. And creative. |
Thank you very much, Rosemary. I see that you kindly left out "crazy". Haha!
August 16, 2007 (Thursday)
I checked the seed pods on the Evening Stock. A couple of them are close to getting dry enough to pick and save. I wish the Liatris seeds would hurry along and dry, too. I want to cut them off because they are adding to the morose, end-of-season gloom in the garden. The Purple Coneflowers are looking pale and worn, and some toppled over in the rain. A few of the Rudbeckia are a bit tattered, although most are still bright and cheery. The last Stargazer bud was opening this morning. I wish I could bottle that smell and save it to open in the middle of winter. Many of the spent Stargazer blossoms were beaten off in that last rainstorm. I really need to add more late-season bloomers to my flower beds. I wonder if Sweet Peas can be planted in late summer? I picked off the last Chrysler Imperial Rose blossom to dry for potpourri, but it still has a few more buds on it. I am happy that the Helenium has grown and flowered in the shade of the Maple tree. The Tassel Flower, too, for that matter. I wonder when the other (unknown? Canterbury Bells?) flower bud over there will open? I think that since things do grow and bloom over there despite the shade and scanty rain, I will put in a layer of good humusy soil next year, plant some seeds from my other flowers in there, and fill in the gaps with a good cover of mulch. It's just too empty once the Daffodils have gone away.
August 17, 2007 (Friday)
I watered the other half of the tomatoes and that was all of the gardening for the day.
August 18, 2007 (Saturday)
I heard thunder and rain last night. The rain gauges say we got 0.4" of rain. I wonder if that's correct or if I forgot to empty them after the last rain. It looked pretty wet this morning, so it might be right. ... I watered my Begonia basket, but I think last night's 40-something degree weather might have done it in. Aside from that, it was basically another gardening-free day. ... I have noticed that some of the Ash trees around the neighborhood have lost a lot of leaves. I wonder if they're going to die. My husband said he saw some Maple leaves changing color. I remember seeing some leaves changing color, too, but I don't remember if they were Maple leaves.
August 19, 2007 (Sunday)
I was motivated to harrow my new yard today. It was a bit difficult with that half length of chicken coop path in the way, so there is a lot left to do manually. Maybe tomorrow I will try to get those enormous rock wall foundation stones out of the way and then I could harrow right through the manual labor section. After harrowing, my husband and I pulled weeds. And pulled, and pulled, and pulled. We found more Velvetleaf. I transplanted one huge wild Geranium, although it might not make it. I also transplanted a big Queen Anne's Lace even though I'm going to have to move it at least one more time. It's in the giant dirt pile right now... I just didn't have the energy to dig anywhere else at the time. I stuck my glove in P.I. multiple times. We'll see if I break out or not in the next few days. I also think the Sumac/Poison Sumac swiped my forehead. I'm really hoping it's just plain old Sumac. I have some sort of mental block against that stuff and can only barely tell the difference between them. |
August 20, 2007 (Monday)
I did some more weeding in the new yard, then I ran the harrow through the area that I weeded. I used the loppers to cut down some giant Pokeberry bushes, then I loaded them into the bucket and took them down to the compost pile. I was just about to dump the load when I spotted a coyote about 30 ft away, standing there looking back at me. Eek!! I don't know if it has a den over there or what, but it wasn't interested in going anywhere and certainly didn't seem particularly bothered by or afraid of the tractor, even when I surged it forward to try to scare it away. It didn't even move when I raised the bucket way up high to dump it. I'm glad I didn't go down there with the wheelbarrow; I think I might have been lunch. After that trip, I decided that I had visited the compost pile enough for one day, so I used the bucket to uproot some weeds along the back rock wall, did a little more harrowing, and called it a day. I might go out later for some more weeding if I can talk my husband into going out there with me. ... I took the dog out with me while I snooped around the flower beds. I figured that he'd either warn me that something else was out there with us or he'd just go running past me at warp speed, in which case I'd just start running, too. Haha!! Anyway, the Tithonia is pumping out lots of flowers, the Heliotrope blossoms are filling out, the Yellow Peruvian Zinnia flowers are multiplying, and the Sweet Scabious 'Black Knight' is starting to get me all excited. I can't wait to see its flowers, even though they look to be rather small. The most interesting sighting, however, was the fourth Union Jack Dahlia flower. What in the world is wrong with this thing? The first two flowers were basically white with very thin red trim, the third was white with thick red stripes, and now this one is solid red. Maybe it's a chimera. Now that would be really funky!
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| Growit Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 08:27 pm: | |
Gosh DJ How do you have time to write any of this? AND look after a child? If I had one I would take my hat off to you!! } |
 Thanks, Moira. I write it up in Notepad before I post it. That way I can write when I have the time without having to post a thousand different times in one day. LOL. Also, I get up early, stay up late, and sneak in time when my son is eating, sleeping, doing something engrossing, or being tended by Daddy. Otherwise, he sits in my lap and watches while I type, or I multi-task and do this plus whatever he wants me to do. HAHA!! |
August 21, 2007 (Tuesday)
We had 0.1" of rain last night. ... Two hummingbirds were snacking at the Rose of Sharon this morning. ... I am watering half the pumpkins right now. I was disappointed to see so few pumpkins out there. I was very excited to see three golden-orange Limmony Tomatoes, though. I'm not sure that they are supposed to be quite so orangey, but they are awfully pretty. Something new to taste test. :-) One of the glads is trying to open. It looks reddish, but the flower stalk looks to have been fried, so I'm not sure I'll ever get a good look at that flower.
August 22, 2007 (Wednesday)
Another hummingbird was in the Rose of Sharon this morning. I watered the rest of the pumpkins. I trimmed off the Shasta Daisy 'Silver Princess' and Liatris seed heads. I have decided that the herb that I thought might be Oregano, probably is Oregano. Somehow, a cascading branch broke off of one of my Glorious Gleam Nasturtiums. So sad! One hummingbird tried to take a drink from my Begonia basket, and then all three hummers tried to share the feeder... unsuccessfully. ... This is perfect weeding weather, so I weeded along the rear rock wall of the new yard. My husband will get the honor of pulling the remaining patches that have P.I. in them. ... Time for another update on what's blooming now. I didn't realize it had been so long since the last update. Too busy gawking.
BLOOMING
Amish Cockscomb pinkish red
Bee Balm 'Monarda citriodora' pinkish/lavender
Blue Lace Flower pale blue
California Poppy orange (they close up in the evening and when cloudy)
Cornflower 'Jubilee Gem' blue
Dahlias Little Beeswings, Winsome, and Union Jack
Daylily 'Stella de Oro' golden-yellow
Delphinium 'Fantasia Mixed Colors 2nd gen' pink, purple, and blue (planted this year)
Echinops ritro lavender/blue
Nasturtium 'Empress of India' red
Nasturtium 'Glorious Gleam' shades of orange and yellow
Evening Stock white, lavender, pinkish, bright purple
Flax lavender/blue
Forget-Me-Not blue (winding down)
Germander lavender (winding down)
Helenium autumnale (mixes of gold and maroon)
Heliotrope lavender
Hollyhock 'Country Romance' white, maroon
Hosta lavender/white
Hydrangea blue (finishing up)
Hyssop purple
Johnny Jump-Up purple
Liatris lavender (finishing up)
Love-Lies-Bleeding deep pink
Mignonette insignificant flower (looks orange, so maybe it's not fully open yet)
Morning Glory 'Kniola's Purple' purple
Moss Rose (Portulaca) hot shades of pink, yellow, and red
Nigella 'Persian Jewels' shades of blue and pink (finishing up)
Old Fashioned Vining Petunia white and two shades of purple
Oregano pink
Perennial Pea pink, white, and mixes of the two
Purple Coneflower lavender (fading)
Roses Chrysler Imperial red
Rose of Sharon lavender (double)
Rudbeckia golden yellow
Scarlet Runner Bean scarlet
Snapdragon 'Black Prince' maroon (finishing up)
Stargazer Lilies pink & white (on their last legs; one good storm and that's it)
Tassel Flower coral/red
Tithonia orange (very tall this year, way over my head)
Wallflower orange
Zinnia 'Yellow Peruvian' sort of a peachy golden-yellow
WEEDS IN BLOOM
Butter and Eggs (yellow), Canada Goldenrod (yellow), Geranium (lavender, white), Greater Celandine (yellow), Oxeye Daisy (white), Polygonum (pink), St. John's Wort (yellow), Queen Anne's Lace (white), Red Clover (lavender), Black-eyed Susans (golden yellow), Orange Jewelweed, wild Joe-Pye Weed (lavender), Cardinal Flower (red)
BUDDING
Joe-Pye Weed, Lavender 'Hidcote', Moonstone Rose, Sweet Scabious 'Black Knight'
NO BUDS IN SIGHT
Chilean Jasmine, Chinese Foxglove, Cosmos 'Seashells Mix', Levant Cotton, Moon Vine
August 23, 2007 (Thursday)
I watered the shade garden this morning and the area along the rock wall, which really should be referred to as the Easy-Bake Oven. ... I weeded along the rock wall by the Maple tree and in the Daffodil beds by the cistern. I found P.I. here and there, so my husband is really racking up the weed chores around here. ... I have identified the "unknown" flower near the hitching post as my Sweet Scabious 'Black Knight'. It sure starts out as a small button of a flower. It looks the same by the Tithonia, too. I looked it up on the Internet and found only one photo. It looks as though I have a couple of weeks before it will pop open into full-fledged Scabiosa.
August 24, 2007 (Friday)
One of the hummingbirds was begging for food this morning. The feeder was only half empty, but that seems to be low enough to be just out of reach for the smaller hummers, and this was an extra teeny-tiny hummer. Little cutie pie. It's strange that the feeder was running so low because I just looked at it yesterday and it was practically full. They must have ramped up their intake with the slightly warmer weather. ... The puppy went careening through my Delphiniums this morning. Bad dog.
August 25, 2007 (Saturday)
I stepped out to let the chickens out this morning and oh, boy, is it warm and humid already. That's an odd change after it being so cold lately. Not that I am complaining! ... I weeded in and around the Easy-Bake Oven again today. I was hoping to continue using the stirrup hoe, but no such luck. It was all hand-weeding. Ugh. Then I used the tractor to move the rock wall foundation rocks. My husband helped to maneuver them into the bucket. Sometimes I weeded among the watermelons while he arranged the rocks for removal. Now we are both beat. It is 89 degrees so far today. Again, not that I am complaining. ... The poor Ligularia was the most wilted I have ever seen it. I watered it, but I wonder if it's going to survive this time.
August 26, 2007 (Sunday)
I checked the Ligularia this morning and it was up and perky and shiny. That's amazing because it really did look horrible yesterday, like lettuce left to dry in the sun. ... I mowed about half of the yard and then a rock bent my mower blade. So, on to the next project. ... My husband and I weeded the new yard some more and moved the last of the big rock wall foundation rocks. What a chore and the dust was flying! Now when I look at the new yard from the bedroom window, it looks much bigger than it used to. I still have more weeds to go and a rock wall to remove. ... The wild pumpkin plant by the chicken pen has a striped pumpkin on it. From the looks of it, it has to be a King of Mammoth, which tells me that it was probably either chipmunks or squirrels that were digging up my pumpkins earlier this year. I also discovered another stray pumpkin plant over by the north field compost pile. Odd, since I was over there just the other day and hadn't even noticed it. ... I went out to tuck the chickens in and realized that I had forgotten that we had put a big flat stone right in front of the chicken coop for use as a step. I had such fun testing it out. :-) ... I must remember to water my peonies tomorrow or they'll die. |
August 27, 2007 (Monday)
I had collected some small stones from among the rock wall foundation yesterday and dumped them by the Hollyhock patch, so this morning I used them to edge the Hollyhocks, Rhubarb, Veronica, and two stray Mint plants that I found. I think it is interesting that the two Mint plants are Spearmint. I had Spearmint planted about 15 ft away from there. I don't remember if I transplanted it or what, but I know that these two Mints weren't anything that I had transplanted. Anyway, the interesting part is that they smell like Spearmint even though people are always saying that Mint doesn't grow true from seed. The leaf shapes of the two plants are different, but I couldn't care less about that. It's the smell that makes me happy. ... I watered half of the pumpkins this morning. While that was going on, I ripped out some of the Violets that had flopped over the path beside the Tithonia and trimmed back some of the Harlequin Marigolds that were hogging the route. I don't think I could have done that if they had been producing striped flowers the way they should. As it is, they are still hanging halfway over the path. At least I don't have to tread on their stems to get through there, though. ... I watered my Delphiniums and Peonies. I noticed that some of the self-sown Kniola's Purple MGs are climbing over top of the Perennial Peas now. That is a very nice look. I wanted to do that on purpose next year, and at least now I know that it will be a successful project. I have another Delphinium that looks like it will bloom pretty soon. I think it will be white. Aside from that, I have been studying my gardening plans for next year. ... I visited a drought web site today and found that we are at the extreme end of the "Moderate Hydrologic Drought" rating, and bordering on "Severe Hydrologic Drought". I decided to look for that sort of info after looking at the 10-day forecast which shows a 30% chance of rain on Thursday, a few instances of 10% and 20% chance of rain before and after Thursday, and then ending with three days of 0% chance of rain. I'm glad it's not windy. We'd be having red flag warnings for sure. Guess I won't be planting any hay/grass any time soon. ... Okay, so I looked for more weather info and another web site indicates that we will get a whole whopping 1/4" of rain over the next 15 days. Hmph!!
August 28, 2007 (Tuesday)
I removed the "Pumpkin Patch" part of the sign from my truck window. I seriously doubt that there will be any pumpkins worth selling this year, so no point in getting anyone's hopes up. Goat flipping is looking more and more enticing.
August 29, 2007 (Wednesday)
It is 55 degrees this morning, but feels a whole lot colder than that. Today's agenda: pick veggies, rip out the zucchini and cucumbers, water the Lime Fizz, and water the sq ft garden. ... So what I've ended up doing so far is ripping out one zucchini, weeding the sq ft garden, and watering the berry patch. Hahaha! But there is still time to follow through with the rest of the chores. ... I watered the shade garden and the hanging baskets. The pre-existing Hostas are in bloom. I really love their white blossoms, which is odd since I thought I wouldn't like white flowers around here with all of the snow that we usually get. Makes me glad that I am trying to grow some Foxglove 'Alba' and that I discovered white Obedient Plant to try some other time. I watered a few plants in the bake zones. One of the baking Sweet Scabious has opened a couple of full flowers now. Yeah! How pretty! That was worth waiting for and I really ought to plant a bigger patch of it next year. After all that, I went and watered everything in the sq ft garden except for the tomatoes. I should pick some of the Glads and Dahlias to bring inside. ... I forgot to mention that this morning when I was weeding the sq ft garden, I saw a white eggplant. I thought, oh, great, something else wrong around here; I should rip it out. Then for about two seconds I thought I should save it and see if it will propagate more white eggplants. Then I remembered that I planted Rosa Bianca Eggplant this year instead of Black Beauty. HAHAHA!!! I really need a break. On closer inspection, I could see the parts that make it Rosa. HAHA!! ... I found one very, very wee Moon and Stars Watermelon. I suppose that there is some hope that it might mature, even at this late point in time. I suppose that it's as good a plant as any for testing out a cozy little tent to prolong the growing season.
August 30, 2007 (Thursday)
My son's Red Stalker Corn has three ears on it. The Sweet Scabious is opening more and is so pretty. I like its little white stamens. Oh, but the big news -- which I actually discovered yesterday and forgot to mention -- is that the big Wisteria isn't dead after all. YEAH!!! I thought the little one might not have been dead when I yanked it out, but it was a non-performer, so I'm not going to fret about it. One Wisteria by the path should be pretty enough anyway. My husband will be happy to hear the news. ... I watered the Hollyhock patch, Rhubarb, Utrecht Blue Wheat, Veronica, Watermelons, and herbs, plus everything in the Easy-Bake Oven, the flowers by the cistern, the Rudbeckia down the driveway, and the pumpkins by the chicken coop. Oh, and the Ligularia, AGAIN. That poor thing. Now I'll REALLY be surprised if it survives again. I also used the tractor bucket to scrape out some weeds in the corner where the two rock walls meet. ... I need to water the Clematis and associated Rudbeckia now. ... Done with that. Good thing I remembered them. Talk about Catch-22. My plants need the rain, especially with this wind adding insult to injury, but I need to be able to paint soon, too. ... The Sweet Scabious is fully open now. Beautiful! ... Another of our Maple Trees is turning colors, the pear tree is loaded with pears, the Crabapple is losing its leaves, and so is the Black Walnut Tree. The pond across the street is empty.
August 31, 2007 (Friday)
We went to the Spencer Fair. It wasn't particularly interesting, maybe because it was early Friday and it runs through Monday. I did enjoy seeing the Mille Fleur chicken and all of the other Bantams. The little boys had the highest-pitched crows I've ever heard from a rooster. I could go for 30 or 40 Bantams. So cute! They had an enormous Dominique rooster and some beautiful black and white turkeys. I think they were Royal Palm Turkeys, but I don't remember. There were some little baby peeps, too.
September 1, 2007 (Saturday)
I tested out the new pressure washer on part of the garage. It seems to work pretty well. I won't be getting much done with it on any given day, though, because we still haven't had any rain in forever.
September 2, 2007 (Sunday)
The chicken coop thermometer said it was 40 degrees last night. Lovely, especially since it's supposedly going to get into the 90s tomorrow. I am taking the day off from gardening and housework to try to get my gourds and Mom's bracelets set up for selling. ... I managed to get roped into holding the ladder while my husband put up some Tyvek on the north wall. Turns out the wall under the old aluminum siding wasn't missing like we thought it was; it was just some sort of optical illusion. He'll put up the new clapboards next Saturday when he gets back from his trip. ... I checked out the drought watch again. The 14-day average has moved from Moderate Hydrologic Drought and into the Severe Hydrologic Drought in just the last week. Some areas have moved into "New Low: Extreme Hydrologic Drought". I wonder if we'll get to that point.
September 3, 2007 (Monday)
I guess I will water the pumpkins and as much of the gardens as possible today. Then they'll just have to hang on for the rest of the week while I pressure wash the house. At least today's forecast says 82 instead of 90. I think I'll collect seeds today, too. |
September 3, 2007 (Monday)
(continued from before)
I collected Hollyhock 'Country Romance', Forget-Me-Not 'Firmament', California Poppy, Kniola's Purple Morning Glory, Daylily 'Happy Returns', and Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella) 'Persian Jewels'. I also collected wild Common Yarrow, wild Common Mullein, wild Butter and Eggs, wild Campion, and wild Common St. John's Wort. I wanted to collect some Purple Coneflower seeds, but the Goldfinches are eating them before I can get to them. I guess I should cover a few so I can have some, too. ... I pulled up wild Polygonum while I watered the first half of the pumpkins. I pulled up the green beans and now I'm going to save the seeds. I might give these away because I think I'd rather have pole beans. Too bad, because these beans make a very pretty dried bean. Maybe I'll grow them here and there in my flower garden just for that purpose. ... The Lilacs are drooping. ... I watered the other half of the pumpkins. ... The Glads have really popped out, but they are anything but 'Ruffled Pastel'. I have lots of red, one bright pink, and one white. There are still more to come, but I am not expecting to see anything pastel, and they aren't particularly ruffled. Good thing I planted them in their own patch instead of in a flower bed with other KNOWN pastel flowers. That would have been garish. Makes me think of the Pompon Dahlia Mixture, which is also from DG. I ordered 32, but only 24 had eyes, and of those probably only half came up, if that. And except for one white one, they are all red with yellow. Not much of a mixture. I will not be buying from them ever again. That's all in addition to the Hardy Fuchsia that they canceled. On a scale of 1 to 10, they get a big ZERO. I started to panic because I thought my huge order of daffodils and crocus was coming from DG, but I looked it up and it's not. Thank goodness for that small favor. Unfortunately, a separate order of 200 crocus IS coming from DG. Oh, well.
September 4, 2007 (Tuesday)
I think I know what's been eating my tomatoes. I went out to water the sq ft garden and found five turkeys in the garden. ... I watered everything in the sq ft garden except for the tomatoes, everything in the berry patch except for the asparagus, and everything in the shade garden. One of my Fuchsias looks a bit fried. I think one of the currants died and maybe two of the rhubarb plants. Some of the strawberry plants were a bit brown. I came in to wash my hands, using very little water, and the well ran dry. Big surprise. I'm sure it will recharge a bit, although not any time soon, and I doubt that I will be able to water the flowers and the private garden today like I wanted. I wanted to pressure wash some more of the house tomorrow, so now I'm going to have to rethink my plans. Maybe I'll just wash the end of the house that had been under the aluminum siding and try to water either the private garden or the irises. Then I could pressure wash the front of the house on Thursday and then water whatever else is left to water. Then I can pressure wash the painted portions of the house on Friday and maybe even into Saturday. That sounds like a good plan, assuming that the well can recharge that much water that many days in a row. What a nightmare. Now that I think about it, maybe I should just use a bucket and hand scrub the painted parts of the house and then just do a quick rinse with the pressure washer. Ugh, that should take forever. ... Another Glad is open and it is almost chartreuse. I don't consider that a pastel color, either. ... I had to water the Hollyhock patch, the Kleckley's Sweet Watermelons, and three hot pepper plants. Then I replenished the hummingbird feeder. I noticed that one of my cotton plants has a flower that's peeking out and just about to open. I had no idea that the flowers would be pink. I was expecting white. Pretty! ... Okay, now that's messed up. I went out to take a picture of the pink cotton bud and of course it had fallen off. I picked it up and took a picture of it anyway. Then I started rooting around to find more buds and I found a creamy yellowish-white flower already fully open on the same plant. Does that mean they turn pink when they're spent or what? I'll have to pay more attention to what happens with this new flower. At any rate, now I'm excited because I might actually get some cotton bolls off this plant. ... I decided to take some pictures around the flower beds and stepped into one of the beds to check out the Heliotrope while I was at it. One hardly smells at all and the other one smells really good, although it doesn't smell like vanilla like I thought it should. I think I will label the one that smells good and overwinter it inside. I have a few flowers open on the Union Jack Dahlia now and it looks really nice even though some of the flowers are still not the right colors. The Moonstone Rose has one flower and one bud. I like that rose. Oh, that reminds me... I had an intellectual moment when I was outside looking at the Kazanlik Rose. I was wondering why it was so huge, and the Empress of India Nasturtiums around it were so huge and floriferous compared to others in various places around the garden, and why the Snapdragons were also so bushy compared to my other patch. I was thinking that maybe it had something to do with being shaded by the big Maple Tree and therefore not drying out as fast or as often, until I remembered that they are all growing where last year's Dahlias had been grown... which means they are all growing in a pile of ancient sheep manure.
September 5, 2007 (Wednesday)
No gardening today. Had enough of a headache just dealing with the house.
September 6, 2007 (Thursday)
I watered the Begonia basket and now I'm watering half of the pumpkins. When I woke up this morning, the pump was running for some reason. It has occurred to me that the well may be running very low and the pump may have a small leak or something and is having difficulty maintaining a head, so I've decided to water the two plots of pumpkins on separate days. We'll see if there's enough water to even do that. ... When I hooked the hose up to the pumpkin irrigation system, it started leaking around the connection. Of course! Then I couldn't unscrew it to see what was wrong. Of course, again! But then I finally managed to dislodge the hose within the fitting, reseat it, and rescrew the fitting. I got it working, but in the meantime I was thinking that I should have known that there were still things that could go wrong with the pumpkin crop even at this late point and even as bad as things already are. It's just no longer even funny these days. At least there looks to be a chance of getting some rain by either Sunday or Monday. ... EEK!! I just got the bill for my garlic. Does that mean it's on the way? My garden still has veggies growing where I wanted to plant the garlic. I suppose there could be worse things than having garlic growing in various patches among my cut flowers. Maybe I should prepare a whole new patch just for garlic. Ugh, I'm going to have to think about this. I suppose I could plant them in the new yard just as easily, though. That is all still just dirt. HAHA!! ... Even though they are shocking colors, the Gladioli make me think of my Grandmother. I would like to have more. I wonder if they will multiply and how well they will store for the winter.
September 7, 2007 (Friday)
I watered the other half of the pumpkins. The Rudbeckias along the driveway are fried. I'm not going to bother to water them. I suppose I should go see the Ligularia. ... Well, I watered it, but it is basically fried chicken now. I watered the ferns in the shade garden, the Clematis, and the Rudbeckia, and a few things in the flower bed. I'll have to water some other things later this evening. I found a pumpkin in the Foxgloves.
September 8, 2007 (Saturday)
This is the first time in 18 days that we've had rain.
September 9, 2007 (Sunday)
We got less than 0.1" of rain yesterday and it's still completely dry under the trees. ... One of the interesting weeds that I decided to let grow in the private watermelon patch has turned out to be Borage. I haven't grown Borage in years. I wonder how that seed managed to survive all of this time? I hope the plant gets pollinated so that I can grow some more on purpose in the future.
September 10, 2007 (Monday)
The Hydrangeas are droopy. On the bright side, the Ligularia survived that last episode of wilting. Unbelievable, considering it was crispy. I haven't watered them, but I wonder if the Rudbeckias along the driveway will come back. They are crispy fried, too.
September 11, 2007 (Tuesday)
It's raining! I think we could get 0.75" to 1" of rain, so it'll be interesting to see how accurate that forecast is. We really need it.
September 12, 2007 (Wednesday)
We had 0.8" of rain yesterday. Woohoo! We're still in a drought, though, of course. ... My Crocuses, Tulips, Daffodils, and Grape Hyacinths should arrive Monday. Uh-oh, like I don't have enough to do already!
September 13, 2007 (Thursday)
The well ran dry last night after all of the pressure washing and everyone showering. Between that, today's laundry, and needing to be someplace this afternoon, I will not be pressure washing today. I will save that for tomorrow since it is supposed to rain tomorrow night and Saturday morning. Today will be priming day. ... My garlic has arrived. It says to plant after the first light frost. That sounds like a great plan since I have so much to do already.
September 14, 2007 (Friday)
My Standing Cypress has developed red buds. Too bad it's so late; I think the hummingbirds may have already headed south for the winter. I harvested two Arikara Sunflowers for seeds. They need to dry a little; hopefully they are mature seeds. The crazy Goldfinches have eaten the seeds from all but one of the others, including the one that lost its bird shield paper towel. I hope the other one stays protected long enough for the seeds to dry on the plant.
September 15, 2007 (Saturday)
We had 0.3" of rain overnight and into the morning. ... Some of my Moon Vine buds are getting big, so hopefully they'll beat the frosts, which are now moving into MA. The Standing Cypress opened today. That is very pretty. I hope it survives this zone's winter and blooms earlier next year. ... The latest drought report says that as of yesterday we are in an Extreme Hydrologic Drought. I wonder if the overnight rain will make any difference in the next report.
September 16, 2007 (Sunday)
The chicken coop thermometer said it was 36 degrees last night. Figures. So I'm going to move my Cactus, Fuchsias, and Begonia inside tonight since it's supposed to be colder than last night (which was supposed to have been 46 or so). ... Oh, great. I just checked the weather forecast and they're saying 36 degrees tonight and patchy frost after 3am. I hope my Moon Vines and Chilean Jasmine make it. It's too dark to do anything about it now, except maybe cover them.
September 17, 2007 (Monday)
My vines made it through the night, maybe because I covered them. I'm not sure we've had frost, but it sure has been cold. ... My Daffodils, Crocus, and Tulips arrived this morning. ... I planted about 335 of the Daffodils today. I am sick of planting bulbs now. HAHAHA!!! ... We taste-tested a Rosa Bianca Eggplant. It was very nice and crisp, not like the rubbery things we get in the grocery stores. It wasn't very seedy, either. It would be a great type to maintain seeds of except that it seems to start flowering so late in the season. I have loads of blossoms right now and only two eggplants (including the one we tested). I wonder how much difference starting them earlier would make in when they start producing. Might be a moot point if I don't get any viable seeds out of the other eggplant; I'm pretty sure I used up all of the seeds to make this one planting.
September 18, 2007 (Tuesday)
It was close to 32 degrees last night. ... More of my pumpkins are turning orange. I'm wondering how in the world we are ever going to eat so much watermelon. I collected a few wild Common Milkweed seed pods for next year's butterfly garden. I'd like to plant a big patch of that along with a whole lot more Tithonia next year. That should make the butterflies very happy. For the first time in days, my husband saw one hummingbird (either today or yesterday), so it's a little late for the Standing Cypress to be of any use now, although it is very pretty. We'll see how it behaves next year. Same for the Cardinal Flowers that seem to have re-exploded in the creek after that last rain. ... The Rudbeckias along the driveway are hanging in there. |
September 19, 2007 (Wednesday)
I seem to have missed noting that the Blue Lace Flowers are on their last legs these days. ... It is 50 degrees right now (7:44 AM), but it was 32 last night. I saw steam rising from my piles of pulled weeds when I was outside. I could see my breath, too.
September 20, 2007 (Thursday)
I see a very nice spiraled bud on my Moon Vine this morning. This could be the big day! I will have to remember to spy on it after dark tonight. ... I checked on my Moon Vine after dark and it was part way open -- kind of half way open. It sure smelled good, like perfume. I can only imagine what it must be like to have a whole bunch of them open at the same time. I'll have to have my husband wake me up when he gets up to go to work in the morning and see if it has opened any further, since he gets up before the sun comes up.
September 21, 2007 (Friday)
Duh! I forgot that my husband had today off, so I didn't wake up until the sun had started to come up. It doesn't look like my Moon Vine flower opened any further than when I saw it last night, though, but who knows, maybe I missed the big show anyway. A little disappointing, but even if it's the only flower that opens on it this year, it was still better than I've ever managed to do before. ... My husband and I planted 120 daffodils tonight, but had to quit when it got too dark to see where daffodils had already been planted. Only 45 to go...
September 22, 2007 (Saturday)
I checked the pumpkins and gourds. I didn't find much in the way of quantity, but I did find a Swan Gourd and a nice mix of softshell gourds. Something that was supposed to be pumpkins looks like gourds, so I wonder if I replaced some pumpkins that the birds/pests ripped out with gourds. I don't remember. The big shock, though, was finding two big yellow dahlias in my Pompon Dahlia Mixture. That was such a pleasant surprise. I gathered a few Boothby's Blonde Cucumbers for seed-saving. I also gathered seeds from Arikara Sunflowers, Oregano, Purple Coneflowers, and Helenium. ... It was rather cloudy today. I wonder if we will get some sprinkles tonight.
September 23, 2007 (Sunday)
I don't think it sprinkled any last night, so that's good news for yesterday's primer. ... I ended up priming for 12 hours today.
September 24, 2007 (Monday)
No gardening, just 10 hours of priming.
September 25, 2007 (Tuesday)
My son was sick all morning, but I managed to squeeze in about 5 hours of priming while he lounged around in the back of my pickup or on the picnic blanket. I had somewhere to be this evening, so I called it a day around 3 PM and watered the berry patch. It felt really, really good to do some gardening finally, even if it was only watering.
September 26, 2007 (Wednesday)
No gardening. ... I primed for 6 hours. I spent the last hour or two trudging and tripping my way up the ladder, so when half a dozen black jackets (or whatever they were) came out and started flying around the top of the ladder, I decided that was a sign to stop for the day. I'd already had one following me around for about 3 hours as it was. Actually, I didn't entirely stop... I started again around 5 PM to put the first coat of Meetinghouse Blue on the porch ceiling. Sort of a reward for doing nothing but white primer for the last three weeks.
September 27, 2007 (Thursday)
I was slow to get to work today, so I only primed for 4.5 or 5.5 hours. I'm too tired to even remember the number of hours accurately. I ran out of primer and I'm not in the mood to plant flower bulbs, so now I'm just waiting for the rain to come. I've used 10 gallons of primer in the last three weeks. Five of it was probably just in the last week, so that shows just how much faster a second coat goes compared to a first coat. I've certainly covered a lot more area in the last week, too. I noticed at least 5 or 6 other empty primer buckets in the garage, which means that this place has sucked up at least 40 gallons of primer since we've had it. |
September 28, 2007 (Friday)
We had 0.1" of rain overnight. I woke up to a bright and cloudless morning, which was a bit unsettling, but the gray is moving in now and that's what I really want to see. I mean, if it's going to interrupt my painting, it better do it in a big way. (Not too big, though! One day here and there is quite enough.) ... I gathered seeds of Kniola's Purple Morning Glory, Scarlet Runner Bean, and 'Happy Returns' Daylily. ... They changed the forecast from 60% chance of rain to 30%, with only 20% tonight, so I decided to try out the Pumpkin. It took 1 hr 40 minutes just to do one coat on the front of the dog room. ... My Cosmos 'Seashells Mix' is finally opening! One pink and one white. Very pretty. They are very ruffled and old-fashioned looking. I can't wait for them to open the rest of the way. I wonder what has taken them so long. Maybe I should find a different heirloom Cosmos that flowers earlier. I'm never going to get seeds out of this kind if this is typical. One site I just looked at says 'Bright Lights' flowers in 10 weeks from seeding. I'm glad I'm trying that next year. Hmmm. 'Sensation Mix' says the same thing. I tried that, but I don't remember getting flowers (or plants) and I can't find anything that says when they first appeared in catalogs. Indoor planting times for Cosmos vary from 3-4 wks before frost to 6-8 wks before frost (per Burpee), so maybe next time I'll try 8 wks and see what happens. I'll have to look up what I did this time.
September 29, 2007 (Saturday)
We didn't get any more rain yesterday. That's too bad. ... I made my first sale of the season. Yeah! A great end to a great day of shopping. (Too cold at night to prime or paint, so I took a Free Me Day. Hee hee.)
September 30, 2007 (Sunday)
I've decide to not push my luck with the overnight lows, so I'm going to plant bulbs today and skip the painting. It will be interesting to see how many bulbs I get planted. I'd like to mow and mulch the leaves, but I'm not sure I'll feel up to all that after planting. ... Nope, wasn't up to mowing and mulching after that. I planted the last of the Daffodils and 800 of the Crocuses. Not too bad! I am freezing now, which always seems to be the case after a hard day of digging. At least I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as bulbs go now. Haha... no pun intended. I want to take a hot shower and relax my muscles, but I think I'll settle for scrubbing off any lingering P.I. residue and head for the electric blanket. (Yes, I managed to put my hand down directly on top of some P.I. while I was digging holes. Luckily, I had my gloves on, but unfortunately, my gloves had holes from all the digging of holes. HAHA!! At least my other P.I. is going away. Maybe I'll actually get some decent sleep tonight.)
October 1, 2007 (Monday)
I painted the garage for nine hours and didn't have time to do anything else. Fall leaves kept falling in my paint pan and one even stuck to the house.
October 2, 2007 (Tuesday)
I primed for about 3 hours. I didn't want to run into problems in case it rained tonight and it was foggy and chilly this morning which gave me a late start. I already panicked this morning with the fog condensing on my Pumpkin paint. I thought the paint was going to run off, but the fog eventually evaporated and I think the paint will be okay. I certainly hope so, anyway! ... My son raked up a small pile of leaves and managed to uncover some P.I. growing in the lawn while he was at it. I'm going to have to pull that stuff myself, I guess.
October 3, 2007 (Wednesday)
No rain last night, but it was really foggy this morning and when I went out to let the chickens out, I was completely shocked to see a Moon Vine flower completely open. How beautiful!! What a wonderful smell. I saw two more spiraled buds right beside it, so maybe I will luck out and see some more blossoms. I hope I don't forget to dig it up before the frosts come. ... I just received an email saying that my Casa Blanca Lilies are on their way. UGH!! Well, I will drop everything to plant those the moment I get them. As for the rest of my bulbs, I need to move them into the basement because I am clearly not going to get to them for a while. ... I primed for five and a half hours today. Not too bad. Just a scary part left above the bathroom roof... will need to get on the roof to do that part... and then the whole three-story south end left to prime. Unbelievable. I feel like I actually accomplished something even though I'm not actually done priming.
October 4, 2007 (Thursday)
I primed a little this morning, mostly just touching up where the downspouts had been yesterday. Then I started painting on the back of the dog room. Naturally, I forgot I had just primed some of that, so I spent a while fixing white streaks in the Pumpkin paint. Duh. Anyway, the room looks good, but I can't really see it from the mailbox. How can that be? Now that I think about it, though, it must show up from the road because I remember lots of different cars slowing way down as they went past. ... I had another Moon Vine flower today. I think it might even be slightly larger than yesterday's. I also had a lot of Cosmos open. The petals on one of the white Cosmos flowers aren't curled into tubes like the others. That's sort of odd and it has a blush of pink to it, too, whereas the others are either just white, just pink, or just dark pink so far. ... Time for an update on what's blooming. Despite the huge list, the flower gardens are very colorless. More leaves than blossoms at this point.
BLOOMING
Amish Cockscomb pinkish red
Blue Lace Flower pale blue (last ones)
Cornflower 'Jubilee Gem' blue
Cosmos 'Seashells Mix' pink, dark pink, and white (just started)
Dahlias Little Beeswings, Winsome, Hockley's Maroon, and Union Jack
Daylily 'Stella de Oro' golden-yellow (here and there)
Delphinium 'Fantasia Mixed Colors 2nd gen' pink (planted this year)
Heliopsis helianthoides - False Sunflower 'Summer Sun' yellow
Levant Cotton (forming bolls now)
Moon Vine white (just started)
Nasturtium 'Empress of India' red
Nasturtium 'Glorious Gleam' shades of orange and yellow
Evening Stock white, lavender, pinkish, bright purple
Forget-Me-Not blue (winding down)
Heliotrope lavender (winding down)
Hollyhock 'Country Romance' white
Hydrangea brown-purple (dry now)
Johnny Jump-Up purple
Lavender 'Hidcote' lavender
Love-Lies-Bleeding deep pink
Marigold 'Harlequin' yellow/burgundy
Mignonette insignificant flower
Moonstone Rose pale pink
Morning Glory 'Kniola's Purple' purple
Moss Rose (Portulaca) hot shades of pink, yellow, and red
Old Fashioned Vining Petunia white and two shades of purple
Perennial Pea pink, white, and mixes of the two
Purple Coneflower lavender (last ones and only a couple)
Rudbeckia golden yellow (last ones and not very many)
Snapdragon 'Black Prince' maroon (finishing up)
Tassel Flower coral/red (finishing up)
Tithonia orange (some in color, some dry)
Zinnia 'Yellow Peruvian' sort of a peachy golden-yellow (some in color, some dry)
WEEDS IN BLOOM
Blue-stemmed Goldenrod (yellow), Red Clover (lavender), wild Asters (various types in white and various shades of lavender)
NO BUDS IN SIGHT
Chilean Jasmine, Chinese Foxglove
October 5, 2007 (Friday)
I started painting at 7:30 this morning. I took a shower and headed to the bank at 10:30, but went right back to painting after that and finished a little after 6 PM. I primed the wedge on the back of the house, painted some of the clapboards on the back of the garage and the ones on the back of the dog room, and painted all but one of the clapboards by the side door. I can't believe how long it takes to paint clapboards! ... I had another Moon Vine flower today. It is smaller and much lower on the vine than the others. I hadn't even noticed any buds way down there. My Casa Blanca Lilies arrived today and of course I didn't get around to planting them like I meant to do. Oh, well, maybe first thing tomorrow morning.
October 6, 2007 (Saturday)
I painted the rest of the clapboards on the back of the garage, then got the sprayer in working order and painted the bathroom wall and part of the upper half of the back wall.
October 7, 2007 (Sunday)
After painting the wedge of wall above the bathroom, I went shopping. The fall leaves are really beautiful in some areas and I really ought to remember to take my camera when I go out these days. ... I mowed part of the yard, mostly to mulch the leaves.
October 8, 2007 (Monday)
I thought for sure it was going to rain more than the 0.1" to 0.2" that we had, but no such luck. I planted the 3 Casa Blanca Lilies, 200 crocuses, and 20 tulips in the front gardens. I really tried to plant more tulips, but I hit rock everywhere I jammed in the bulb planter and the shovel. ... I apparently had another Moon Vine flower last night and I saw another spiral bud all ready to go. I pulled up one patch of Snapdragons, thinking I could plant some bulbs in there, but of course I hit rock there, too. It's amazing that practically my whole front garden grows just inches above a layer of rock. So, I picked off the Snapdragon flowers, some Forget-Me-Nots, and a Perennial Pea sprig and gave them to my son, who of course wanted them all put in a glass of water, so now we have a little posy to enjoy inside. I found lots of flowers on my cotton. I was glad, but also a little disappointed because I can see them from the house and I was hoping they were the cotton bolls. Not yet, though; still green and closed up tight. ... One of my chickens is practically nude. She is molting and for some reason she has dropped almost all of her feathers at once. If we get a cold snap, I might bring her inside until her feathers fill in. What a mess. When she "fluffs" herself, it's like looking at Pig Pen. She's completely ensconced in a cloud of feathers. Hilarious, but disturbing.
October 9, 2007 (Tuesday)
I had three Moon Vine flowers this morning, in various states of openness. We had only 0.1" of rain overnight. It is gray today, but I am going to try to paint anyway and end early because it is supposed to rain tonight. I think I am really running out of time to paint. ... I painted from somewhere between 7:30 and 8 AM to 12:30ish. A good portion of the end of that time was spent cleaning the sprayer. What a pain, but I am thankful that I can access all of the parts that get in contact with the paint. In all of that time, I only managed to paint the bottom half of the big back wall. I really hope I can paint the living room/bathroom wall and the north end before painting season ends. I'm scared to start the big front wall because I don't want to be left with a partially painted wall for the winter. I like it just the way it is with the primer. Looks better than ever. ... I went to an appointment and forgot to take my camera for fall photos, again. Cars should be equipped with cameras just like they are with seat belts.
October 10, 2007 (Wednesday)
I have another Moon Vine flower this morning. Once those things get going, they really get going. It rained last night (0.3") and it's drizzling this morning. My guess is no painting today or tomorrow, and maybe only a few hours after noon on Friday. After that, the nighttime temperatures drop to around my cutoff point for being able to paint, so I can tell it's going to be a week of trying to outsmart the weather. I think I need five good days if I want to get one coat of Pumpkin on everything, and then it can snow for all I care... just please let me dig up my tender perennials and finish planting my bulbs first. And take cuttings of my Siberian Wallflowers and maybe bring in my eggplant plants, a couple of tomato plants, some hot and sweet pepper plants, and dig up my Dahlias and Glads... oh, my! I just know I'll forget something.
October 11, 2007 (Thursday)
We had 0.1" of drizzle and/or rain since the last time I checked the gauges. ... No painting and no gardening today. Aaahh, that felt good.
October 12, 2007 (Friday)
WOW, we had 0.8" of rain last night and it is raining again now. I thought I might get some painting done today because the rain was supposed to stop around noon, but now they are forecasting scattered showers until 3 PM. The next few days are looking good, though. If I can get my husband to help me trim in the windows and the house trim, and help move the ladder around the power lines, I could feasibly get some good painting in over the weekend and into next week. I won't hold my breath, though. There is always plenty of room for something to go wrong and ruin my plans. LOL.
October 13, 2007 (Saturday)
We had an extra 0.3" of rain after I checked the gauges yesterday. The chicken coop said it was less than 30 degrees last night. I don't know if I believe that thermometer. The coop water wasn't frozen, so maybe it's time for a new min-max thermometer. I think the Ash Trees have all totally lost their leaves. The Sugar Maple is dropping loads of yellow leaves at the top of the stone stairs. I looked at some photos from last year or so and saw that the Japanese Maple won't turn scarlet until November. That's encouraging... I want to hold on to fall as long as possible. ... We painted the last wall on the back of the house. That's an attention-getter. All sorts of people slow down and gawk as they drive by now.
October 14, 2007 (Sunday)
Oops, okay, so it wasn't the last wall on the back of the house. I painted a wedge of wall above the roof this morning, so THAT'S the last wall on the back of the house. HAHA! ... We went to an orchard and picked up apple cider donuts, a red raspberry pie, and some apple cider. After we came home, we all went to the field to see what gourds and pumpkins I have. I have a relatively decent quantity of gourds considering how few I planted, but they are very small. I was shocked to find four more Swan Gourds. I thought I only had the one that I had already sold. They sure are good at hiding. The pumpkin crop is terrible. They just never really set female flowers and the few that I did get set pumpkins that either didn't get big or rotted on the vine long before harvest time. It must be a weather thing because the extra ones that I grew in the shade did rather well. That is very unpumpkinlike behavior. Maybe what little rain we received just didn't evaporate as fast in the shady areas and that kept the ones in the shade going strong. ... After I gathered the gourds, I harvested eggplant, cheese peppers, and loads of tomatoes. Those are some of the best cherry tomatoes ever; I think Riesentraube beat Principe Borghese for flavor and texture. Aunt Gertie's Gold tomatoes are a fabulous orange color. They are very firm and looked great for sandwiches. I didn't taste-test any as they went straight into the dinner pot, but I have a few others I could test tomorrow. I couldn't believe how many little eggplants I had. Rosa Bianca is such a late producer, but it sure pumps them out once it starts. I guess I will have to try to overwinter some eggplant plants and see what happens. If that makes them produce earlier, that would be great.
October 15, 2007 (Monday)
I painted the wall to the right of the chimney. It only took 3 hours by hand, which isn't too bad, but it wasn't a very big area, either. The more I look at the picture of it, the more it looks like someone else's house... a designer house. Needless to say, I love it.
October 16, 2007 (Tuesday)
I see cold for tonight and rain for the rest of the week, so it's bulb-planting time again. ... I planted the last 30 tulips and 150 of the Grape Hyacinths. I'm going to make it my goal to plant the other 50 GH and 200 Crocs by the end of the week. Then I'll just be down to garlic and bringing in tender perennials for the year.
October 17, 2007 (Wednesday)
I painted the left side of the chimney end from 8 AM to 3 PM. The ladybugs started swarming once it warmed up. ... At the end of the day, I picked hot peppers to make a ristra, but not as many were as completely ripe as I had thought. Hmmm, what to do with so few peppers... I gathered the dried okra pods and picked a bouquet of Pompon Dahlias and Winsome Dahlias. What beautiful colors... red, yellow, orange, and peachy.
October 18, 2007 (Thursday)
I trimmed in the front of the house from 8 AM to 3:45 PM. After all that, I realized that I had forgotten to paint to the left of the front door. The ladybugs were everywhere again and I had decided to paint elsewhere after the ladybugs sticking to the right of the door started falling off and spreading fresh paint on the granite porch. I know they show up every year, but I pretty much only remember them as being inside. I suppose I never really had any reason to fret over outdoor swarms of them before. Haha! The weather was lovely and I could hear summertime bugs calling to each other all day long. They must be completely confused by the abnormally warm weather. I went out to tuck in the chickens and their wire coop door was open and their water fount had flipped over, yet everyone was inside. I gave them fresh water, spread two bales of hay around, and tucked them in for the night.
October 19, 2007 (Friday)
I went outside around 7 AM to let the chickens out and it was 71 degrees and humidly foggy... tropical, even. I love it! I could go for that from now through December. I will try to plant the last of the Grape Hyacinths, the Asiatic Lilies (where?! and are they Asiatic or Oriental... I can't remember), and the other 200 Crocuses. Then I'll just be down to garlic. ... I see that on Tuesday, it was my goal to get the GH and Crocs planted by the end of the week. Just maybe... ..... I went out to return the movies and pick up a dandelion plucker and passed a newly painted orangey house. It is a totally different shade of orange, but still caught my eye with its creamy trim and pinkish door. What a combo! The store was out of pluckers, of course. Guess I will be planting bulbs the usual way today. ... We planted the last of the Grape Hyacinths and all of the other batch of Crocuses. Yeah! It started raining after that, so we went to the orchard for another pie (Strawberry Rhubarb this time) and some more apple cider donuts. Then we went to a nearby nursery. They were having a 50% off sale and yet I bought nothing. I'd like to get some of their orange and chocolate mint, though. They had beautiful Pelargoniums and something that looked like amazing Coleus standards. Is Coleus perennial somewhere? I thought it was an annual; had no idea it could grow into something woody. Then we headed for my favorite nursery and they were closed because of the weather. What a disappointment!
October 20, 2007 (Saturday)
It rained 1.4" over the course of yesterday and last night. It was really windy and poured down rain overnight, so I'm surprised that's all the rain we had. ... I have no idea when I started painting this morning. Somewhere between 8 and 9 AM. I finished at 5 PM. My husband helped me (although I had to go back over what he did) and that is it for the front of the house. Hooray! Now I just need to sand that lone white board and get it painted. I will try that first thing tomorrow, and then I will prime the southfacing wall as high as possible and try to paint as much of it as possible before winter comes just so that I don't have to look at it. It looks even nastier now that everything else is painted. Aaaaahhhh, but my basic goal for the year is now done. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
October 21, 2007 (Sunday)
It was another beautiful day. I started the day off by cutting down the Hopi Blue Corn. Then I pulled up the pumpkin irrigation system, row covers, stakes, strings, etc. I found a couple more gourds while I was out there. After that I pulled up the solar mulch pathways in the sq ft garden. How strange to have a drought and discover moss growing under there. Now I wish I had put rocks under there to grow moss on and add to the shade garden. Amazingly, no snakes under the mulch this year. I spent the rest of the day cutting down spent flower stalks and harvesting lots of different seeds from the flower beds while my husband primed the south wall.
October 22, 2007 (Monday)
I filled in a couple of the places my husband didn't prime on the south wall, then painted the lower section of the wall. I think I painted for about 4 hours, but I don't remember if that included the priming. After I cleaned the brushes, brought in the paint cans, and changed out of my painting clothes, I realized I'd forgotten once again to paint that lone white clapboard, despite having dragged out the electric sander this morning, having sanded off the drips, and having reprimed it. What is it about that board that makes me mental-block it? I went back out and painted it right there on the spot. LOL. Anyway, I later tested the Pettingill Sage and Stagecoach on the kitchen window. I like the Pettingill on the window frame, but not on the sash, and when I tucked in the chickens, I discovered that the Pettingill makes the windows disappear at night. I'm not sure the Stagecoach is as advertised, a little too bright I think. I'll check that again in the morning, although it was looking a little better after it dried. Still not sure I'd like it on the sashes, even though it is nice to have a different attention-getting color on them.
October 23, 2007 (Tuesday)
After waking up way before 4 AM and just lying there thinking about paint colors, I am leaning toward leaving the trim all white and the doors the Garnet that they currently are. It really does look gorgeous the way it is now. HAHA! I like the way the doors match the Lilac in fall and the Japanese Maple out back. I'll have to check my test paint once the sun comes up and out. ... I hung a sheer in the window and went out to study the test paint some more. Still couldn't make up my mind, so I let the chickens out and then made some more computer mock-ups of different colors on the porch. I considered leaving everything white, but painting the insets Garnet and the some of the porch details either gold or antique gold. Then after staring at that for a while, I hid the colors and looked at just the plain white again. The more I look at it the way it is now, the more I like it. Plain, simple, old. No wonder Federal-style only went for one color on the trim... when painted in just the right colors (LOL), it looks fabulously elegant. We'll see how I feel about it after looking at it all winter. ... I cut down flower stalks from Purple Coneflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Canada Goldenrod, and Liatris. A lot of the Liatris was fried black, so I suspect it won't be back next year, but I have lots of others popping up all over the garden, so I won't worry about it. I kept the cuttings in separate piles with the thought that I will spread them somewhere and let them sort of self-sow. Now I just need to harrow and mow the fields... maybe over the weekend. |
| Lindablond Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 10:30 pm: | |
Love, love, super Love your journal. Thanks for sharing your life with us this way. |
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy it. The journal was one of my reasons for trying out this site. It gives me one more place to sort of "back up" my notes in the event that my computer crashes or my house burns down and I lose everything. LOL. It's a bonus for me that people actually read it and enjoy it. |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 10:27 am: | |
I love reading your journal as well (when I can find the time!) I wish I had/took the time to do my own instead of writing bunches of little notes all over my calendar and on misc. pieces of paper at home, lol.
Thanks for sharing your journal with us  |
Thank you, Lisa! I can't believe that with all that you do that you even have the space to write it all on a calendar. That must be one monster of a calendar! With my giant handwriting, about all I can squeeze into a calendar is a doctor's name, appointment time, and the patient's initials. LOL. My memory seems to be selectively shot, though, so I have to keep a journal these days just to remember what I did in the last five minutes, lest I try to do it again in the next five minutes. HAHA! I keep forgetting to put a drawing in my wallet that shows me how to get home from my favorite places. I am always afraid that one day I will be at the grocery store and forget how to get home, or even forget where I live, or for that matter, not even remember that I can look at my driver's license to find my address and jog my memory. Seriously! I spend a lot of time these days staring at my toilet, wondering what I meant to be doing, until I remember that I was actually on my way to the kitchen and somehow just ended up offtrack.  |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 12:49 pm: | |
Me?!! I can't see how YOU have time for this PLUS all that painting,shopping, "accidentally" finding wineries (LOL), etc.
I guess I failed to mention there is a reason I have 3 calendars here at work, and 2 at home 
That is too funny. It reminds me of those leather belts with the brass plates on them with the wearer's name engraved so you can read it through the belt loops. One of my DH's relatives gave us those for Christmas one year. I always joke and say I wear my name on my belt in case I forget who I am!
You are hilarious (in a good way of course)! Gosh, it is good to know I am not alone! If you could have only seen the circles I was making last night trying to do 10 things at once in order to get them all done! |
Oh, now I see! LOL.
Haha!
Maybe you are related to goldfish. I saw an Irish or Scottish comedian one time who told a joke about goldfish having only a 5 minute memory. He proceeded to tell the audience a very, very long story about how this could be, then started to tell the exact same story over again from the beginning. It took people a moment to realize that he was retelling the same story, just as though they, too, only had a 5 minute memory. LOL. .... So maybe it only seemed like you were doing 10 things. (Hahaha, just kidding!) |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 01:36 pm: | |
Whew! That goldfish story was hard to follow. I feel as if I've already forgotten it (j/k). Well, I managed to get 4 things (that I can remember, hehe) done on my "to do" list for last night anyway :)
If I don't quit sharing so many stories/conversations here in your journal, it is going to turn into my journal! I would have had time to start my own after all, lol! |
I'm sure it's not you. This raging headache I have today has probably seeped into my writing. Many, many years ago, my grandparents had a house with the kind of windows that swung out from the house to open. One day, I had squatted down next to the doghouse to play with their dog. A few minutes later, I stood up right under the corner of one of those open windows. That's about how my head feels right now.
Too funny! Watch out or I might start one for you and expect you to fill in the blanks. HAHAHA! |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 02:15 pm: | |
Funny how we remember things like this. When I was younger my older brother, sister & I were in the back yard. My brother wanted to drive a big metal rod into the ground for some reason. He told my sister & I to hold it while he hit the head of it with a sledge hammer. Next thing you know "wham"! He hits me in the head with it. Ever since then I blame my forgetfulness on that, lol!
Maybe that is what I need...a bop on the head & a kick in the pants to get me motivated to just start one. I don't know why I think I am going to remember everything about my gardens a whole year lat |
