evilgardner

Lots of doggies, lots of fun, but OMG, we're missing someone...OK, "Do Over"

New granddoggie, Haku, was super sweet. Everybody loves Haku... except maybe Edgar







I learned the art of making a turkey sandwich from H & B ... mashed potatoes on a sandwich@#$!??

Doing a little historical documentation. A treasured heirloom tradition, passed down through countless generations ... what if it dwindled away and nobody cared ... (one small teardrop) ... what if, no one even noticed




this

plus this

equals



Zowey, does this look fun, or what! ... Any takers, somebody....anybody

Took another long weekend trip to Victoria with friends and had a wonderful time.  The end of August was a wonderful time to see the Butchart Gardens, soak up the sun & enjoy this vibrant city.

While I'm thinking...some suggestion to self on flower combos.  Licorice plant, I currently have in a pot, could be propagated from cuttings & I read it looks really cool with blue salvias, of which i have quite a few.  Drought tolerant & carefree, for both, so should give them a try.

Magazine showed  mass plantings of Coneflowers, Rudibeckias & Russian sage which are, also, easy care.  Could be in the back 40, taking care of themselves.  I'm working too many weird hours etc to give anybody a lot of attention.

And yet, I'm feeling the urge to bring in some HOUSE plants.  I was given an African violet, which is just the cutest thing & he's doing real well for me & why not keep on going....




                                         

,,,,/////////English Ivy?.........herbs? in the window? .  .  . Maidenhair fern?, We shall see

They do not dally, they do not light & forget-about-it when they are in flight...sincerely, this was the best I could do...I deleted my many mutant nija bee pics.  I'll try again another day... they are a challenge, indeed.


Three cheers for the stationary flower

Our first year, on the coast, weather was like in a fairy tale.  We really did have a Summer & often sunny days throughout the Winter & this was as it should be.  And many geraniums & nasturtiums often lived  through the winter & I loved this.  I've since learned this is rarely the case, but every spring, I get all hyped up & go to town planning & planting....and waiting ...and waiting.

Some folks are slower to learn than others.  No, they're not stupid...just incredibly hopeful, I think.  Nature knows best & my new plan is to hope to see flowers in August & if they show up earlier, "Yeah!"

I'm learning to chill

Exhilarating to grow your own food and so pretty and red.
  

Blanket flowers, my latest favorite, along with Nepeta catmint.
                                                                                                               

Verbena, up close & personal

Mt Fuji flowering cherry

Took a few photos
Walked round the block
Fed all the Rhodies
Look at the clock!

New flowers are homeless
Weeds I must pluck
Undivided perennials
Haven't much luck

Named Procrastination
What is the plan
Goals unrealistic?
I feel such a sham

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination
                                                                                                         

Whew, I've worked very hard to prepare for Anna's birthday.  My first cake flopped & I whipped up another.  My frosting... not sure what happened there . . .  didn't want to spread . . weird, like no other frosting I've ever worked with.  But I persevered, I adjusted, I improvised.  Anyway, I rushed out this morning to meet her for our walk.  I gave her a big hug & a hearty "Happy Birthday." . . . She smiled & laughed, "Well, thank you, but It's not my birthday." . . .

We made it her birthday, at least for this year & Anna, Elaine & I ate a very yummy cake on the good china & had a few giggles.

If I can spell alzheimers, I shall look it up

Hope to find some time today to try some more "MOTION" photo opps.  I get a kick out them . . .

  Taken in Feb '09, the street behind, looking like a stream when fuzzed up, is kind of cool.



                                 Japanese artish?  Mirror image of Anna's rosebud azalea makes a fairy princess design


I'm very easily amused . . .  it's a good thing

Sometimes, on the coast, it's just too nippy to garden.  The bracing wind off the ocean often chases me into my warm home.  But, often times, the breezes fall off in the late afternoon & the temp rises.  So, although, it was actually misting, out I went & had a jolly good time moving plants around & adding some new ones.  This explains the dark pictures, well enough.



The top pic is perennial Candytuft, which is an evergreen, and I thought would be good along the front sidewalk.  I planted some dwarf Rosemary along there, too, which hopefully will stay green all year.  The annuals, I usually plant there, left the area looking shabby for half the year.  I loved them, but, hopefully my new plan will pan out.  I planted some English Daisies with them for some color & some lime green thyme.

In the back yard, I put in some Wallflowers, purple & yellow.  Ultra Lyn says they bloom all year long for her & are easy care.  I moved some "Becky" daisies, candytuft, & primroses to keep them company.

Next, on my list, the back forty.  There's far too much grass back there, when it should be all mulch.  There are evil blackberries lurking under the pines.  The tiny garden I started back there, needs attention and the Rosemary needs trimming.  She's very angry...I can tell...

Mello kitties, gasp, let me take their pics!



We even look good without ears

Looking through photos & wanted to make note of Mt Fugi's progress.  These are cute little guys we bareroot planted two years ago.  It's the first time we've planted any horizontal growth pattern trees & so far I'm really pleased.  They're kind of artsy looking even when bare of leaves.


December '08, with dusting of snow, shows their first real color change.  Very exciting as the coastal region doesn't get much of a Fall show. ..grow, grow. 



And this little Rhodie, shot taken the same day, blooms several times a year though it's not meant to.  So, a really nice fall we had which kind of made up for the non summer year of 2008.

For the last few weeks, I've been cooking up a storm.  Odd, because I rarely cook anymore.  I've created beirocks or krautburgers, nifty packages of ground beef, cabbage & onion stuffed into pizza dough & baked.  I've made the lazy woman's version of Cornish pasties, which is ground beef, carrots, potatoes, rutabagas & onion rolled up in puffed pastry.  All great for lunches to grab on the run.   And the sweets...I really try not to bake the sweeties...Hello, my name is ....ah, Doris...yah, that's it...and, yes, I'm a sweetiholic.  Pumpkin cookies, orange cranberry bread & and a walnut cake recipe I've been toting around for about fifteen years wanting to try. The nip in the air ? or lure of a new recipe? 
     
                                                                   

 

Edgar doesn't like the papparazzi, at all
Nor does he like his name & often goes by Flufferbutt




Twink, always happy to pose








 

Heathers & Heathers, defying great odds, neither cold nor damp of beach can keep them down
 Notice pale prone nasturiums, at back,
                                                                                                          really missed the sun



Also, with honorable mention
 
Snapdragons & daisy, Becky, laughing in the cool gray mist


                                                                                                              

Yes, I've heard of rust...especially in association with hollyhocks.  My hollyhocks were gorgeous last year & not a speck of rust, but this year with very little sun and much misty weather.....we're so rusted.  It's very sad, as the blossoms are blooming atop wilted greenery.  I'll probably replant the back corner with rust resistant stuff, but I'll miss my darling hollyhocks.  I read the "Happy Lights" variety is somewhat resistant & maybe I'll plant those elsewhere..

Plants new to me:

Geum (Anna's recomendation)
     Slow growing, dark green low foilage with red flowers held high 
     Very pretty, rather artsy looking





Daisy, Becky variety
     Sturdier stems on this type, about 2 feet high
     Fingers crossed, I'm kind of a daisy jinx





White snapdragons
     Trying to add more white flowers, as I feel they off set other colors well
     Veloris, at work, says to pinch out the first bloom & they get fluffier & more blooms 





Lychnis
     These old fashioned seedlings will bloom next year with gray foilage & magenta flowers
     Purchased for being unfussy about soil & drought tolerant for my back forty area
     2 to 3 feet tall & most effective in large borders alonside white flowering plants
     Hopefully, we'll like them, as they self seed vigorously...uh oh