NanciWorld

Winter? What Winter?

2012-02-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

We're having an incredible winter this year - around 10 inches of snow total, most of that from just a dusting at a time, and warm temperatures! Well, warm being a relative term - most of the time in the 30s or 40s (1 to 7 C), when it is normally 10 or 15 degrees colder than that! But winter days that are warm and snow free are treasured around here, and we've been lucky to have a bunch of those unexpected treasures this year!

The plants sure take advantage of that fact. The Johnny Jump Ups can always find an excuse to bloom...

And mixed with some bright Heuchera leaves, they make a sweet little mid winter bouquet

The Mole plants still look good - even though they survive winter, they normally get all flaccid (ha! that's a funny word) and shriveled up (still funny), but not this year.

Speaking of Heucheras (Coral Bells) {{above and below}}, I know I gush about them every single year, but it still fascinates me how perfect they look no matter what season it is.

Does this look like something that's been SNOWED on?

...or FROSTED on?

The Narcissus also look like they're ready to go

The Yuccas look good most winters. One of these days I'm going to plant just these and Heucheras in the front of the house, and it will look (almost) like summer all year long!

My "Blue Eyed Blonde" Campanula looks great, too, even without the blossoms.

...And my Palm Tree? It (and the Banana - not pictured) is tucked away until the threat of Winter is gone for good. They are both supposed to be "hardy" in our zone. I'm not that worried about the Palm - this is its third year,

but the first winter for the Banana! We'll find out in a couple of months how well they fared. Anyway, if the Banana can't make it thru THIS year, it would never be able to take a "normal" winter, anyway!

2011-12-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Here is my sincere wish that you will all have a happy, peaceful, and worry free 2012!!!

To Christmas Or Not To Christmas?

2011-12-18T00:20:00.002-05:00

I am not a big fan of Christmas anymore - besides my usual complaint ( that it arrives in the cold season, and I just can't be too excited over anything that happens in Winter), the holiday, for most of us, is full of rushing around, stress, and too much work! Most of the true meaning of Christmas has really been lost, but some of it is still around.... for the past few weeks, I hear the greetings exchanged between many types of people, in many different locations and jobs. "Merry Christmas!" "Happy Holidays!" "Season's Greetings!" - It's like everyone suddenly realizes that we should be a little kinder and a little more considerate towards one another - too bad it doesn't last!

Unfortunately, there's a very silly (IMHO) controversey going on in this country nowadays - some people are dropping the "Christmas" in greetings, claiming that it's referring to Jesus Christ, and that should not be forced on others who are not religious or who may not BELIEVE in the Christian faith. For me, it is just a pleasant, friendly greeting that has been around for decades - that's all. It is like saying, "God Bless You" when someone sneezes - when I say it, do I actually THINK that evil spirits are being expelled and I have to say ia phrase to keep them away? Seriously? Of course not! It has just been around so long it is considered a polite thing to say. Some of those people are even complaining about "Christmas" trees! I think they really need to find something else to concern themselves with!

Is this my favorite holiday? No. Am I religious? Not at all. But do I have a "Holiday Tree"? Noooo...I have a Christmas tree! What do I do when someone tells me "Merry Christmas"? Do I chase them down the street and tell them I'm insulted by the phrase? NO! I either say "Thank you! The same to you!" or "Merry Christmas!" back! All I know is that someone took the time to tell me something nice, and I really appreciate that.

I have and will say "Merry Christmas" to many more people, now and in the future. And if you are Muslim, or Jewish, or belong to the church of Scientology, please take it in the context it is given - I am just expressing a kind greeting to you, same as if I would say, "Have a wonderful day" and I hope you will reply in kind.

Pieces Of The Past

2011-11-29T22:13:00.001-05:00

I really think my Grandmother (my Dad's mother) was pretty cool. She had a great sense of humor, a unique fashion sense, and was very easy going. Now, actually, I can't prove much of that - she died many years before I was born.

How cute! You go, Grandma!

Grandma and Grandpa's wedding picture.

Unfortunately, I don't know the date or time frame for any of these photos. No one noted anything on any of them. I do know they both died very young - she at the age of 44, he at 54. What my father told me was that after she passed away, he was so heartbroken that he died a few short months later.

Grandma was very petite -under 5 feet tall. Strangely, her three children were all enormous babies - the two boys were around 14 pounds, and my aunt Carol around 12 pounds! I always assumed that was the key as to why she didn't live very long.

I think it's great that she would actually smile in these photos - everyone else back then looked like their dog just died ( like the unidentified lady on the left) and always posed very stiff and uncomfortable - but not her! She's all relaxed and looks like a real human. Maybe she knew that a descendant of hers someday would need to imagine what she was really like without ever meeting her....

A painting of Grandmother by her son (and my father)....:-)

An Unexpected Oasis...

2011-08-08T18:48:00.001-04:00

One morning, along my route to one of our garages (notice the red and white sculpture that is in front of it) during my workday, i ran across a fairly large vegetable garden. .....Wait.....VEGETABLE GARDEN?! What's THAT doing in the middle of Downtown Toledo?

Walking through the mulched walkways across the garden, i saw cabbage, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, even Sunflowers and Marigolds around the border.

Located in completely direct sun (which is what veggies love) in one of our hottest summers we've had in a while, everything still looked healthy, clean and well watered.

Rounding a corner, I ran across a sign - oh-oh, probably says, "NO TRESPASSING - OR WE LET THE HOUNDS LOOSE!"

...But that was NOT what the sign said. It was cute and friendly and even informed me I could TAKE something if i wanted to! What an awesome surprise on a mundane work day!

So thank you to the United Way and Toledo GROWS, and if no one else appreciates your efforts, i really do! i already have harvested a couple of tomatoes from it (i may have to prune a few of those large squash leaves to cast, too), and plan to use part of my lunch hour one day to pull a few weeds in appreciation =-)

The Rant Of Summer

2011-08-04T18:16:00.000-04:00

Yes, for years the breeders have been making sweet corn more and more sugary, but i never thought it was necessary in the first place. i loved sweet corn since i was a child, and while i do like the "new" varieties a LITTLE better, they are almost too sweet at times. So, breeder guys, it's OK to stop now!

What i really want is a sweet corn plant that bears multiple ears! i know corn plants are extremely heavy feeders and that one huge stalk is there only to produce that one lonesome ear of corn (sometimes two), but that really needs to be addressed, especially for us home gardeners who don't have room for a FIELD of corn! So there it is.

"Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it,

is to produce five eared corn plants. As always, should you or any member of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

"Mmmmmm....cornnnnn..." Did i sound like Homer Simpson?

Now, the breeders had a great idea when they worked on seedless watermelon!

Hey! Let's scare the kids!

i had my complaints about that too, especially in the transitional years, when, oh sure, the hard black seeds were gone, but thousands of tiny immature seeds took their place, the kind that were impossible to eat around or spit out!

They would advertise that those seeds were so tiny and soft that you wouldn't know you were eating them, but unfortunately, some of us DID. i would say that just in the past two seasons, i finally have eaten an actual SEEDLESS watermelon! Ahhh, my life is complete.

....Oh, 'cept for that CORN business....!

How's Things With YOU? ~ Midsummer Status Update 2011

2011-07-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

The last 2-3 years, my beloved vegetable garden has really not produced anything. Why? Well, i have a large perennial garden, i have my Creative Castings nature art business that i can only work on in the warm season and have to keep up inventory for the summer art/craft shows, plus i worked full time with only 2 weeks of vacation. It was fine without the art stuff, but that takes up a lot of hours, about as much as a part time job! Yes, i do love it, it just takes up time, time that i could be using to plant, weed, and water.

This year is a little different; i decided to cut the art shows to one per month, plus i have one more week of vacation. So the garden looks a LITTLE better.

Cherokee Purple Tomato Plant

Things ARE behind, such as the tomato plants that are just starting to look like anything, plus a couple of things didn't germinate, my cucumbers and zucchini were planted late and were slow to come up, so they're both about 6 in. tall

Squash on the left; cukes on the right

(i have faith in them, though, especially the zucchini - i expect to have many to give away, if it goes as zucchini usually goes!). Just planted bush beans VERY late (where the other seeds did not come up), but there should be plenty of time for them to mature. PLUS, after a horribly wet May, downpours every day or two.....My spousal unit and i agreed back then that we would probably in a drought situation come August. Well, by June it stopped raining, and as of this writing we have been completely without rain for 3 weeks, and the few showers before that did not amount to more that a tenth of an inch - so we're DRY! It's a pain to have to water daily, but i try to look at the bright side - few weeds and few mosquitoes! If you garden or farm, one thing is certain - you can water constantly, but it never has the same effect as one good rain! Plants will look 3 times larger the day after a rain, but so will the weeds! After a couple of good mid summer rains is usually when the weeds overtake the garden so much that i can't keep up, and if i DO have time to weed in the evenings, the 'skeeters won't allow me to! So, yes, i have to water, but i control it, so it's not all bad!

i have also rediscovered old fashioned gardening ~ that is, I have a tiller, and sprinklers to hook up to the garden hose, and all kinds of garden gadgets (remember THIS thing?)

but this season i've just been tending the garden quietly, watering with a watering can, hand picking the weeds or hoeing them, and mulching, reconnecting intimately with the garden soil. So, a slightly more relaxed season so far...

*****Late news flash ~ we DID just manage to get about an inch of rain two days ago, so that helped a bit!******

Bean There, Done That...

2011-07-10T12:52:00.001-04:00

i collect things. i collect all KINDS of things! Salt dips, coins, Hostas, stamps ~ anything that comes in different colors or patterns. When i first discovered beans (OK~ i knew about beans long before that, but not THESE beans!), opened a catalog consisting of heirloom plants and saw names like, "Jacob's Cattle", "Snowcap", "Orca", and "Molasses Face"....well, i was hooked!

So for a few years i grew as many kinds of beans as i could find, dried them and saved them in jars. Did i EAT them? Oh, no! i don't really LIKE beans!!! i love snap beans, but i don't really even like dried beans in chili!

CANADIAN WILD

JACOBS CATTLE

MOLASSES FACE

ORCA

RED VALENTINE

SNOWCAP

i just harvest the beans, collect them (there's that "collect" word again!) in clear jars, and look at them, and i'm happy with that!

Do any of you grow beans for this reason? What are your favorites?

Can Or Can Not?

2011-07-03T14:16:00.002-04:00

When i was young , i was spoiled when it came to veggies. Not spoiled by the usual definition, such as i got whatever i wanted and had access to all the types and varieties. No, i mean "spoiled" meaning my love for decent vegetables was spoiled forever because of the processed, canned junk my mother always served. Now, she seasoned everything well, i could never complain, i pretty much liked her cooking (except for those hideous potato pancakes! Blech!), but it was only after i left that house that i realized that all fruits and vegetables could be grown and eaten FRESH. Except for tomatoes, sweet corn, and watermelon, which are plentiful in our area in their just picked form at all the little roadside stands every summer, i pretty much had canned veggies all the time.

Generally, even to this day, i prefer canned over fresh. i have taught myself to like fresh snap beans (fried in bacon grease, leeks and/or onions! mmmm), and i'm just beginning to appreciate fresh asparagus, but really not much else.

i was not even aware of home canning till my MIL showed me how. Still, freshly canned beets or pickles?

Naw. i would rather eat out of those ubiquitous cans and jars at the grocery store. i don't really like peas, but if i do eat them, they're canned. i have even grown my own and could not get used to the taste (too much trouble shucking them, too!).

Don't worry ~ i've adapted, but if you see my garden and wonder why it's not more diverse, well...

Pain In The Grass

2011-05-08T23:57:00.001-04:00

First, i really apologise ~ the last few entries in this blog seem to have been complaints and/or rants, and oops, here's another one! Don't get me wrong...this is Spring, and for the most part, it is definitely the happiest time of the year for me! We've even had cold temps and way too much rain, but the flowers are coming up, the trees are blossoming, and the grass is that "brand new" shade of green, so it's still awesome.

BUT, let me say right now, i will NEVER plant another large ornamental grass on my property FOREVER!

They are pretty from midsummer to late Fall, but then they're nothing but problems. i see a lot of landscapes incorporating grasses, and even though they are not tended to, they grow tall and straight through rain, sun or wind, but mine always have to be tied or staked or trimmed or SOMETHING. i do know that if they are fertilized they can become soft and floppy ~ they like "poor" soil ~ so i never fertilize them, and they still flop all over.

THEN it is always mentioned to leave them as is over the cold season for "Winter Interest". AND for awhile they do add to the landscape ~ that is, until the first ice or freezing rainstorm that we get! Of course, i live in a smaller lot in Middle Suburbia ~ if the grasses were out in the back 40 it wouldn't be so bad. But here i am outside in the cold beating the poor things with a shovel to break the ice off them so they don't fall into the driveway. They can only take so many ice or snow storms, then they're down for the count and look sloppy till the weather gets nice enough to cut them back.

But wait, there's more!

We don't get "nice enough" weather until at least April, so the dead straw colored grass is breaking apart in our very windy Spring weather and is scattered all over the yard, in the pond, and in all the flower beds. i have dug out a few of my grasses, but after just a few years, they develop a rock hard root mass the size of Maine! Then after all that work cutting them down, there's a problem with what to do with all the huge piles of dead grass! Hey, i'm all for the ecology ~ the perfect answer would be to chop it up and compost it, and i would tell you to do that, but it's a huge mess, and most grasses have tiny hairs that act like cactus thorns ~ you know, the ones that are too tiny to find in your finger (or hand, or back, or feet!) but are large enough to drive you crazy until they work their way out (and/or become infected)!

So, basically, for smaller yards, i recommend you save the stress and do without unless you have lots of time on your hands!

Toad Day 2011

2011-04-17T13:23:00.001-04:00

About a year after we installed our watergarden, on an early warm day around mid April, i heard an odd sound that i had never heard before in my suburban garden. Was it a bird? It was a pretty trilling sound, but it seemed to be coming FROM the pond! i soon discovered little frogs or toads creating the sounds. Well, they must be frogs, i thought. Spring Peepers. maybe? Sounded too pretty for toads. A little reseach online and i was very surprised to find out that they were indeed plain old American Toads, and even though i grew up in this area, this was something i had never experienced before! More and more toads began their calling, and i was thrilled! Toads migrated into my yard from the road, up our driveway, right to the water, some already er, "paired up" while hopping to their destination!

A little taste of what we hear in our backyard....

We really had to watch our step for awhile, 'cause they were approaching from every direction!

Oh, no! A two headed toad! i KNEW i shouldn't have dumped that toxic waste into... - oh, wait, that's not it....

Hmmm..Will this be considered a porn site now? ;-)

That year, the toads appeared in full force all from morning till evening, and the next day it was like they were never there! Except for the many strings of tiny eggs attached to every plant in the pond! Only a few days later, the water was full of THOUSANDS of tadpoles, and a few weeks later, they left the pond. i believe frogs are a little larger before they are done with water, but not toads! i love to see the tiny, tiny, fully formed babies around the yard!

This has happened every year since, on the first warm day around April 15th (i call them my "Tax Day" toads!) Sometimes they only last one day, sometimes several weeks, depending on the weather. A LOTof it depends on the weather. We often have one or two warm days this time of year, with the next few near freezing! I have already checked the watergarden on days like that, and had to net out the toads that didn't make it to land because they got too cold!

Super Plants

2011-04-10T23:18:00.000-04:00

Had a (non gardening) co worker a few years ago who just moved into a different home. It was a primarily shady yard, and they could tell it had been fashioned into a garden, even though it was winter when they moved in, they could see there were lots of little plant markers in the yard with names on them. It was soon discovered that the previous owners were of my ilk, i.e., "plant maniacs"! When Jim wrote down some of the names and showed me, i immediately recognized most of the variety names ~ they were all Hostas!

Spring arrived, as She always does, and the Hosta, along with many other perennials, awakened from their Winter sleep. It was not long before Jim came in to work and asked me if i wanted some (or all!) of these Hostas, because they wanted a low maintenance yard. Now, much as my heart leapt when i heard "Do you want these plants?", i did the right thing and told Jim that if he wanted a "low maintenance" yard, NOTHING would be LOWER maintenance than those Hostas! Especially established, well taken care of Hostas! i told him not to mess with them. Alas, (she says, grinning evilly) they still did not want the plants, so i borrowed my husband's truck (WITH the husband) and made a couple of trips there to load up said truck! Jim and his wife did decide they liked several of the plants, and wanted to keep them, but still let me cut divisions from those, also. It was a situation ALL plant maniacs hope to run into at least once in their lifetime! AND it just so happened that we had cleared out a space that Spring under the flowering Crabapple, and it was a perfect spot for Hostas! i believe i came home with at least 25 plants that year.

But I digress ~ my description of my SuperPlants list *** 1) Comes back reliably every year 2) Does not need pruning or shaping 3) If they DO flower, it does not take a lot of time to deadhead them 4) Looks good throughout the season 5) Needs little or no cutting down before winter and 6) Is NOT invasive!

A small disclaimer ~ there are no plants that are NO maintenance! Once in a while your Hostas may be eaten by slugs, moles dig up your Poppies, the deer wipe you out, and the most well behaved plant may absolutely LOVE the spot you have it in, and takes over your yard! But ~ dem's da rules, folks!

1) So Hosta are the first on this list. Very cast iron plants! i even have shoved a division of Hosta through a piece of Styrofoam and floated it in my pond with the roots floating free, and they thrived, even after i left them frozen in the water thru the Winter!

2) Next are the Sedums ~ they can grow in sandy or poor soil, can take hot sun, some are tiny and creeping, some are upright and can be 3 ft tall,

and it's very difficult to PREVENT from thriving!

3) Hardy Spring bulbs are very carefree, although some people make more work for themselves by cutting back the leaves sooner than they need to (or braiding them ~ what's with that?) If you wait until the leaves dry out, they will easily come off when tugged.

4) Heucheras ~ i love these guys! Compact, a great variety of colors, looks good (a lot of them THROUGH a zone 5 winter). See my "Collectable Plant" post about Heucheras for more photos.

5) Poppies ~ Comes up in early Spring, blooms, fades away. No problem.

There ARE more! Will post soon.

*plAnt dAy!**SILVER LACE VINE Aureum (a running commentary on the most interesting collector's plants I own)

2011-03-18T00:08:00.001-04:00

This was my top plant last year. Acquired it in 2009, and a year later it really popped! From the chartreuse leaves all season, to the pink stems, to the foamy white flowers that lasted thru several hard frosts, this vine was totally amazing!

Here is the "official" description~

Polygonum aubertii 'Aureum' Silver Lace Vine Z: 4-8

The gold leaf form. PROFUSE, FRAGRANT white flowers in late summer on a 'Polygonum' that is nothing like it's cousins. It's a VINE, not a ground cover. It is vigorous and excellent for covering fences and buildings. Blooms for a long, long time! Soil: Most any, Well-drained best H: 20-30'

Midsummer

Detail of the blossoms ~ actually, I liked it better before it bloomed, but the flowers grew on me (heh)

This was taken on August 30. I'm looking forward to this year!

The Last Heuchera

2011-03-07T22:47:00.000-05:00

My last brave little bouquet i took into work from my Fall garden is long gone. Except for.........i had one little purple Heuchera (Coral Bell) leaf in the vase for contrast, and, after everything else had died, this leaf still looked good and so i kept it. The months went by, and i started to think maybe this leaf was dead, dried up, and is crispy in the vase - but it still looked alive!

My Jewel Orchid bloomed, as it does in January/February, and i stuck a couple of the stems of flowers in with it so it wouldn't look so lonely. Now they are on their last flowers, too. Today i decided to change the water (which i keep forgetting and it's kinda er, cloudy - but it's a tiny vase). To my amazement, the Heuchera leaf's stem had sprouted roots!

Had no idea they could BE propagated like that; not that i had researched it, but i have always just had a good feel for how various plants can be multiplied and which cannot, and i would have bet money that single LEAF wouldn't produce roots ~ but, hey, that's what's fun about gardening!

One Day Closer (Pt 2!)

2011-03-06T10:38:00.001-05:00

All right ~ it's still winter, i get it ~ and yessss, the snow is pretty. Great. Now it can go away!

Last evening...

A few shots of the yard this morning ~ gotta try out the new camera!

So, all right, Mother Nature, it's the month of my birth, the month of Spring ~ time to ACT like it!

One Day Closer

2011-03-05T23:10:00.002-05:00

...(But not close enough) to Spring, but there ARE signs...

The peppers on my Pumpkin pepper plant are STILL bright! No, didn't want to eat them (guess i should've tried them, at least) Maybe this year, because I intend to plant more of them! The only color in the landscape all winter! I highly recommend them.

Managed a couple of walks in the nearby park, and found a few nice shots...

The deer are thick in that park,as they are in all of the parks around here!

My "neighbors" are out and keeping me company, as they have all winter!

If you look very closely, you can see the Winter Aconites are nearly in bloom

And the "Blue Eyed Blonde" looks healthy and ready to go!

See ~ wasn't kidding~ she IS a Blue Eyed Blonde!

Ooo! One more ~ the Butterbur is beginning to show itself, too!

I Am Eight Cats Old...(So Far!)

2011-02-13T20:39:00.002-05:00

Went to a cat show this past Valentine's Day weekend. Why? Because i have a show cat? Because i have friends with show cats? Because i was looking to acquire another cat? Nope. Like many "cat people", i just want to be around cats, and the more cats, the happier i am. So, once a year or so, i hang out at a local cat fancier's show for a few hours and just enjoy myself!

Love to watch the show cat owners transporting their fluffy babies to and from the judging.

...Are they just products to compete for ribbons with?.....

Don't think so....i can't look at these pics and see anything but love....

Hmmm, not sure exactly what this is - a giant Tribble?

And once you've seen a Sphinx cat, it's hard to forget! They are the hairless cats, interesting and spookily cute.....

But really, i don't think i'd want to wake up in the middle of the night with something like THIS staring at me!

i want a cat with all the stuff it's supposed to have - like fur,.... a tail,

Manx

.....ears.....!

Scottish Fold

My favorite breed - Abyssinian! They look like little cougars with an Egyptian flavor to them. As the saying goes, 'In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods, and they have not forgotten this!". I have wanted one for years, but, besides the expense, there are no Aby breeders near me, and i don't want some poor kitten having to be SHIPPED to me! But, someday....

A darker (Ruddy or Red ) tone

And another Aby, this one Blue or Silver...

At rest between judging

I would NOT want to be a judge! Can YOU tell which one is better?

Had fun watching this little guy ~ most of these cats are laid back and don't mind any of the attention, but he was really complaining!

I....DO....NOT....WANT!!!

The patterns are just awesome on some of these felines. This is a very light colored Bengal.

Another oddity ~ a Rex, or curly coated cat. Reportedly hypoallergenic

i really liked this judge....

Maybe making one of these posts into a scratching post wasn't such a good idea!

...Can you say "Velcro"?

Check out the tie!

i think this won the prize (in MY mind) for cushiest digs! This is a Somali, which is basically a longhaired Abyssinian, and one that i would want as bad or more than a shorthair Aby.

That's the end of the tour for now ~ oh, yeah, my cats ended up with a new Valentine's Day present, too!......

Mid WInter Musings

2011-01-29T21:27:00.001-05:00

Speaking of Tillandsias, I must be doing SOMETHING right - one of them is blooming, which is really unusual for January! Maybe it's an extremely early sign of Spring (yeah...., that must be it!)

i have to turn the small gas heater in the Florida room on for a while every morning and evening in this weather, too, since the only South facing window is in there, and so that is where i keep all my tropical plants that live outside in the Summer.

This pot of succulents summer over in my front porch box (the one facing West against the brick). In that box i have a mix of tropical and hardy succulents - the hardies are still out there -, since it gets so god awful hot that poor little annuals just won't make it. i have a thermometer out there that regularly reads 120-130 F when the air temperatures are in the 80's! These look so nice that i'm going to hate to break them up - i may have to leave as is and buy new ones for the box!

The pond has been frozen over for well over a month now, which is the longest period of time i can remember since we had the pond. Let's see, for December, there were 24 days in which the high temperatures were freezing or below! For January, there were 19 days so far, and really no change predicted for the rest of the month. And almost all the rest were in the 30's. So it has been at least TWO months that the pond has been frozen over. There were a couple of crises when the brand new (last winter) deicer decided to die just as it got real cold! Tractor Supply will be hearing about that! For a couple of days, all i had was a length of 2" PVC pipe stuck thru the ice for a tiny bit of oxygen! Finally found my back up, and have since seen some fish in there, plus my youngest Koi, so hopefully the older, i.e., hardier ones should be OK. Even saw some fry,(i really think calling baby fish "fry" is pretty funny - usually when i hear "Fish Fry" i'm thinking about making some tartar sauce)!

And the cats appreciate the sunny weekend days when i warm up the room and let them pretend they're actually outside!

Want Some Cheese With That Whine?

2011-01-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

i am not a wine aficionado..

When i was young, my only experience with wine was when, once a year, my parents would toast the New Year at home (they never went anywhere) with Mogan David brand wine (i.e., one of the very inexpensive wines that - along with Boone's Farm and Ripple - American teenagers in my day would procure for a cheap drunk!). i did have enough knowledge of wine to be embarrassed for my parents when we went out to a nice Italian restaurant one time on vacation - they looked at the wine list and asked the waiter if he had Mogan David! Arrgh.

...but it IS pretty....

Being part Italian and loving Italian food, you would think i would have naturally evolved into a wine drinker, but it was not to be. Every time i drink wine, i get tipsy VERY quickly, and it is accompanied by a queasy feeling followed by an unpleasant hangover the next day (if there's such a thing as a pleasant one!). Yes, i have tried "good" wines, and fairly expensive wines, and they all taste the same to me - bitter and unsatisfying. No, i have never tried the VERY expensive wines - i doubt if the experience would be any different, and would be wasted on me.

Even if i SUDDENLY became wealthy and decided to drink wine with my rich friends, i think i'd be afraid to! You have to know what wine goes with what food, and use the correct glass, can only fill it so far, should smell the "bouquet"...really? i WISH i only had things like that to worry about! It seems like a lot of rules that, in the broad scheme of things, mean absolutely nothing (eye roll).

With that background, i have difficulty understanding "wine collectors" and the large amounts of money being spent on this or that special bottle from a certain year. You either hang on to it - and God forbid if it is stored incorrectly and it goes bad - or drink it, and it's gone...i believe wine is about the only food or drink item that people will pay really exorbitant prices for.( i know there are countries wherein people will pay big money for some unicorn horn or Narwhal testicles or whatever they think is an aphrodisiac, but i'm talking about intelligent, civilized peoples in this post). i just don't get it, but i guess i really don't have anything against wine aficionados - if you have the money, you've gotta spend at least some of it on what makes you happy! But can wine really make you THAT happy?...

IMHO, beer could make me just as happy, AND it doesn't matter WHAT i drink it out of! :-)

The Care And Feeding Of Tillandsias (revisited)

2011-01-02T22:00:00.001-05:00

A lot of people i'm close to do not even know that my VERY favorite things in the world of flora and fauna are Tillandsias, probably because most of the people i know are not "plant" people! For those of you who have no idea what they are either, here's a fairly concise description, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The plant genus Tillandsia, a member of the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae), is found in the deserts, forests and mountains of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America.The thinner-leafed varieties grow in rainy areas and the thick-leafed varieties in areas more subject to drought. Moisture and nutrients are gathered from the air (dust, decaying leaves and insect matter) through structures on the leaves called trichomes.

Tillandsia species are epiphytes (also called aerophytes or air plants) – ie they normally grow without soil while attached to other plants). Epiphytes are not parasitic, depending on the host only for support.

(Almost everyone is familiar with one type - Spanish Moss is actually a Tillandsia species! -nanci)

The genus Tillandsia was named by Carolus Linnaeus after the Swedish physician and botanist Dr. Elias Tillandz (originally Tillander) (1640-1693).

So there you have it. Now, living in Northwestern Ohio, Tillies (as i like to call them) will not survive our brutally cold winters outside, so if i want to keep them going during that time, i have to use a little ingenuity.( If i had the money to keep a warm tropical greenhouse going for eight months, that would be ideal, but unfortunately i need most of my money for trivial things such as food, shelter, clothing, etc)!

If you look online, you will find many sites on Tillandsia care. The problem with this is most of the info comes from nurseries currently growing and selling Tillandsias, and the care is very different. If i had a huge greenhouse in Florida, i would have no problems growing Tillies! Most information is essentially correct, but once in a while you get something like this (actually taken from a nursery's site in Pasadena, California)-

How to care for Tillandsias: Tillandsias will be happy indoors or outdoors. Keep them in indirect light and give them a mist of water two or three times a week. They must be put outdoors once a week(for 24 hours more) or a fan will be helpful to promote air circulation. A drop of mild fertilizer in mist once a month is helpful.

Well. this might work, maybe for California, but not here! First of all, most of what we see in this part of the country consists of various common Tillies hot glued to branches, shells, etc., with instructions to mist them once or twice a week. With misting, they will live for maybe 2-3 months, then die (trust me!). They need deep soaking at least once a month (submerged overnight)- the misting is NOT enough. Also, in a heated house in cold weather, it's almost impossible to supply Tillies with enough humidity. It is true that they then need air circulation, because if moisture lays too long in the base of the leaves, it will rot. In warm weather they are outdoors, so it's not a problem, but what about winter? They certainly can't go outside overnight when it's 10 degrees (F). So this was my solution:

A Tillyhouse

Oh, and did i mention that another of my very favorite things is PVC pipe? It's lightweight, inexpensive, easy to cut and fit together, waterproof, and strong. This hanging greenhouse was very easy to make, the hard part was finding the corner pieces, since, handy as they are for building boxes, they aren't utilized very much in plumbing applications!

The bottom and sides are plastic (or vinyl) sheeting, and the front has Velcro attaching it to the PVC so it can be rolled down to water. There is a plastic grid in the top (actually a nursery tray for carrying cell packs of plants) so i can hang the Tillies up in the greenhouse.

This is hanging in my unheated Florida room (Ha! WISH it was Florida!) in front of our only South facing window. The two major things i have discovered about Tillandsias in a Northern home in wintertime are: 1) They do not need warmth that much, they just need to be kept above freezing and 2) They have to have humidity and as much light as possible. i do have a heater in that room, in case there is danger of going below freezing, but i only fire it up in the evenings and in the mornings to keep the temps up. When they are enclosed in that plastic greenhouse, though, it keeps them several degrees warmer. Once every week or two on a sunny day, i open the front of the greenhouse and mist them with warm water until they are saturated.

Gettin' steamy...

I also pour some water in the bottom, as well, for extra humidity. One more thing: while i'm misting them, i exhale on them (don't laugh!). Plants like carbon dioxide (and give off oxygen), so i give them some! Does it help? i haven't a clue- but it can't hurt!

So all of my Tillandsias make it through the winter, right?

Example of fine leaves
Well, not always ....In my experience, the Tillies with the very fine leaves just don't seem to make it, and once in a while one dries out when i'm not looking (actually, through so many months, i don't always water them as faithfully as i should, either). My bad.

But many do make it, and if i lose a few, well, that's not all bad, since then i have an excuse to re-stock!

Another One Falls To Father Time...

2010-12-31T20:41:00.000-05:00

Didn't i just write a New Year's post? Wasn't that about 6 months ago? Arrgh, it's rough gettin' old! But there it is. And once again, i have high hopes for the next 12 months for all of us....here's hoping 2011's a great year!

Adaptable Animals

2010-12-11T23:33:00.000-05:00

We humans are extremely adaptable creatures. We must be - how else could we go from a sunny 70 degree (F) day to a drop in 40 degrees 12 hours later with no repercussions (except lots of complaining)? Today isn't exactly one of those days, but it IS going from a 42 degree day that was sunny and felt like early Spring, into rain tonight, snow tomorrow, and temps going 25 degrees BELOW freezing in the next couple of days! How any plants (OR animals) (or my FISH!) can live out there through weather like THAT amazes me!

i remember a year (quite a long time ago) when we had a whole WEEK of 70 degree weather in March, long enough to become complacent and believe that winter was completely gone, until Mother Nature let out a "Mwuaa haaHAAHAA!" and dumped a FOOT of snow on us!

And really, around here that's not very unexpected, but i also heard that it's going that cold in the Carolinas and maybe even further South - and that just ain't right! And i remember that the Floridians (of whom i hope to be counted amongst someday) were treated just last year to a very cold winter - i really hope they don't get that same blessing THIS year!

i'm always threatening to move to a warmer climate if anything ever happens to DH (though i hope nothing ever does!), but then i wonder - would i really appreciate the Spring as much as i always have if the seasons didn't change as much?.............. HA! Try me!

Angst Laden Thoughts of Winter

2010-12-06T22:08:00.000-05:00

i hate waking up on Mondays this time of year! First of all, i DO tell myself-"You're lucky to be alive and healthy at your age - get up and appreciate it!" But when it's 6 AM, dark, cold, flanked by a warm, purring feline on one side, and a husband (who doesn't have to wake up for another hour and a half) on the other side, it's difficult! AND i'm going to work - on days in which i could do whatever i felt like doing, my attitude would be very different!

Anyway, we had a long, warm Autumn this year - it's only been really cold the last two weeks, but i got complacent in that stretch of nice weather, and so was STILL surprised by the onset of the sub freezing temperatures. i was really upset when i realized i hadn't yet covered my Palm tree!

It's a hardy Palm, which means barely hardy in my zone 5b, so she's got to be babied. Been thru 2 of our winters so far with no damage - in a protected area facing South under a large styrofoam cone, of course! (We gardeners like to beat the odds ;-) ) Fortunately, the Palm still looked pretty nice and is now tucked in for the season.

Then i noticed my poor little homemade rain chain - coated with ice and getting heavy (it's made from aluminum armature wire - looks good, but ice will bend/twist it all to hell!). i thought it would warm up in the sun and thaw, but not that material, - and not in 30 degree (F) temps!

So i carefully took it down and moved it into our garage attached to the house till it thaws out!

...And just got the watergarden half heartedly cleaned out and the deicer floated in it "just in case"- except "in case" is here already! Managed to break a hole in the ice layer for several days so the deicer didn't have to run, but it quickly became too thick for that. Most pond enthusiasts will tell you to never beat on the ice to break it, because the shock waves will hurt or kill the fish. i would imagine that is correct, if the ice is thick and you're trying to break it with a hammer or pickaxe, but i only do it when the ice layer is thin and i can break thru it with a piece of pipe or rebar (punch thru it in a circle like a perforation and tap it ). i have done that for years and never harmed the fish - although i do see them get startled once in a while!

Oh, yeah, and i now have a rain barrel in my Florida room! (you don't even wanna know....)

Dr. Bronner's - A Good Thing (?)

2010-11-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

i used to hang out at health food stores a while back, during the "low carb" craze.

(i am, in case you haven't heard before, one of those "low carbers" - lost a lot of weight with that lifestyle, and i still contend that i would be either sick or dead if i hadn't! i still follow much of what i learned from Dr. Atkins, and feel that is why i'm so healthy now! So DON'T diss Dr. Atkins!)

Anyway, since low carb is so out of fashion now, and the health food stores do not carry low carb foods, AND their people all spread the tale that low carb will KILL you, i pretty much boycott those places these days. But before that happened, i discovered a few items i really liked, one of which is Dr. Bronner's Magic All-One Pure Castile Soap! Now, i know what you're thinking - that this stuff looks like "Snake Oil"! Well, if you read the whole label on the bottle (which has to contain the most words on a soap label you will ever find...) you'll believe it even more, but, really, it's great stuff! In fact, maybe you should try it BEFORE you read the label! Here's a sample of a very small excerpt off the side of the bottle - you ready? This is word for word straight off the label.

"DILUTE- ENJOY 1 SOAP FOR 18 DIFFERENT USES! GUARANTEED NO SYNTHETIC PEPPERMINT OILS & 100% VEGETARIAN.

(which is nice to know if i ever want to drink it! - n)

SUPER MILD CASTILE HAS OUTSTANDING WATER SOFTENING & CLEANSING POWERS. PREFERABLE TO HARSH SOAP & DEFATTENING SYNTHETICS. IT DOES NOT CUT DIRT, BUT DISSOLVES IT. IT IS THE MILDEST, MOST PLEASANT SOAP YOU EVER USED OR MONEY BACK! ENJOY BODY RUB TO STIMULATE BODY-MIND-SOUL-SPIRIT AND TEACH THE ESSENE MORAL ABC UNITING ALL FREE IN THE SHEPHERD-ASTRONOMER ISRAEL'S GREATEST ALL-ONE-GOD-FAITH!"

Um, see what i mean? It's like it made sense until it all seems to fall apart into insane babbling right around the "body rub" part!

It IS fun to read, though! They must have reprinted everything off the first, circa 1948 homemade labels! He goes on to mention and/or quote Shakespeare, Mohammed, Einstein, some Rabbi,...and Jesus! Enough about that. Get a bottle and read it for yourself (I myself need a magnifier for a lot of it!). You can also print the labels in a PDF format from their website. The man definitely believed in SOMETHING he wanted to share with everyone, just not sure what in the hell that something was....

...the good doctor himself

At the time i first found it, the store had Peppermint, Eucalyptus, and Almond scents. Well, i can smell the Castile scent fairly strong in it, and i didn't think the latter two blended very well with that! So i have always used the Peppermint, which also is odd but pleasant smelling. It's also very "menthol-ly" on your skin, so it's really great in hot weather, but i don't use it as much when it's cold! There have also been warnings by other fans of the Peppermint soap about getting the undiluted soap onto certain sensitve "nether regions" of the body until you make sure you're not too sensitive to it! :-)

So there, i passed the warning on and did my civic duty. Use at your (crotch's) own risk!

It also definitely cuts thru (although Dr. Bronner says it "dissolves") oil, dirt, and grease. i use it on my hair periodically, and it really strips away all the product and crap i put in my hair to style it. And when you use it in the shower, your skin actually BECOMES "squeaky clean"! Most things we use to bathe with have moisturizers, deodorants, or other additives in them. While a lot of folks probably will want to moisturize after using Dr. Bronner's, it IS nice once in a while to feel like you've cleaned your skin completely - it's like a fresh start!

Tool Time

2010-11-07T00:04:00.001-04:00

I love tools. My father, being an oil painter as well as a carpenter, built a room on to the house I grew up in (when I was about 3 years old), to use as an art studio and also added a "utility" room for his tools. So through my entire life until my early 20s, if I wanted a hammer or file (-or band saw!), all I had to do was go to that utility room. I didn't leave my parents' house until my wedding day, and never thought about the tool room....UNTIL one day I needed a file or a hacksaw or something, and we HAD none! Hey!? We didn't have one HACKSAW between us? I was dumbfounded. No longer could I go to that room and grab whatever I needed (and there was definitely none in our 2 bedroom apartment!)

This is MY cake batter!

So we purchased a few as we went along, borrowed the bigger stuff from Dad or some other friend or relative if we needed it, and for many years, the Xmas list (for me) always included one or two tools. Dad would inevitably ask, "Oh, Steve wants a cordless drill?" "No, I want it!" "Oh, Steve needs a Dremel tool?" No, it's for MEEEE!" "But - you're a GIRL...!" (Dad was old school - women just cooked and had babies)!

So i finally accumulated enough hand tools to make me feel somewhat less like i lived on an island with no provisions.

But just recently, we are facing the hard truth that my dad may not be leaving the nursing home he's now in, and his house may have to be sold in the forseeable future. Among all the angst and problems related to that, one question is starting to cross my mind....

"What in the hell am i gonna do with all those tools?!"

Early Fall Holdouts (2010)

2010-10-30T13:15:00.001-04:00

i say this every year - it's a certainty that i get teary eyed at least twice a calendar year - on the day i take my tropical and house plants outside for the season, because i'm so happy it's finally warm, AND - on the day i have to take them in because of the cold! That day is not a happy one...and this is that day (sniff...)

One of my Kalanchoes (Mother of Thousands) that went crazy this year. Didn't realize it was a vine - till this! Strange and ugly - but interesting!

Another Kalanchoe - i remember the cultivar name of this one - "Big Mama"! Having many babies this time of year (anyone wants any, let me know!)

The Amsonias have turned their golden autumn colors ( "amsoniared" has been my online name for many years - and yes, i know their flowers are blue...!)

Another Amsonia....

And my first one (and namesake), Amsonia tabernaemontana, (Eastern Bluestar) with thicker leaves.

The Castor bean is smaller than it usually is, but still became a pretty good speciman!

But any day now, a frost will get it, and i'll have to start from seed all over again in the Spring

And one of my favorite small trees, Cherokee Daybreak dogwood, with its variegated leaves flushing pink now. Very pretty, but i'd still rather have it showing its Summer color!

I Love You, I'm Just Not IN Love With You...

2010-10-15T09:00:00.004-04:00

Oh, Facebook, i was infatuated with you from the moment we met. i have a hard time going more than 8 hours without seeing you, and look forward to curling up with you in the recliner every evening.

You're all i ever wanted....

...except ~ i can't really trust you.

Such as...

If i post silly pictures of myself when i'm drunk, how do i know you will respect my privacy (settings)?

If i post pictures of my children, who they hang with, the things they like, and where they go to school, how do i know you won't crack under the pressure of a determined pedophile with impressive hacking skills?

And many times, when i trust you to update my blog posts or post my pictures, like you promise to, sometimes it just doesn't happen...

And will you keep it only among my closest friends when i'm out of town (and my house is empty) or can't you really promise anything on that, either?

So you see why, although i will always want you in my life, i cannot give you my unconditional love.

(...and you really need to have Spellcheck, so i don't have to be the Spelling Nazi anymore for all your OTHER lovers!)

What? Too dramatic? That's pretty much the way it is - i'm very conservative with FB - i only "friend" FRIENDS (not friends of friends, or children of friends, or co workers - ESPECIALLY not co workers!),relatives, and a select few that i may not know well, but who i feel are actually interested in my art business and/or well being. Speaking of that, I AM friends with a couple of "friend collectors", -those who seem to "friend" every person or business they can find! One has 4800, the other has 4500 (and growing), but the reason they do it is that these particular folks love our city and are trying to bring everyone together to benefit the city and its people, so i can't fault them for that!

(On the other hand, some FB members just want to see how many names they can throw onto their 'friends' list. I don't have anything to do with them).

Anyway, i definitely don't post all my deepest beliefs or every iota of information about myself - i post pictures of my vacation in another state...AFTER i'm home! i don't friend co workers, but STILL don't talk about my boss, or customers, or the day i called in sick, but wasn't (not that i'd EVER do that...)

After all that, i'm still a fan of FB, i just think everyone needs to be a little careful!

My Garden Interview - Part 4

2010-09-26T23:18:00.001-04:00

Q: Do you have anything you want others to know about you?

i'm amazed at all the yards in our suburban neighborhoods that have nothing but grass and a couple trees growing in them. My God, at least stick one tomato plant somewhere! Many people i know never go outdoors,

are scared silly of bugs, and we have actually met some who don't know where eggs come from! If they ever had to live off the land to survive, they'd be dead in a hurry! I'm sure even i would have trouble doing that, having been a "city girl" all my life, but i think i'd manage better than they would..

i make it a point to live as simply as i can in our normal American Midwestern life. i have a lot of things to do, but always try to just sit in the garden a few minutes, or walk to the park. If i see a hummingbird and want to stop and watch it, i do. It takes me about 45 minutes for a decent walk in the park, and if i can't find 45 minutes for myself, then i feel something's wrong with my life! i take all the

breaks and lunch hours and vacations i'm entitled to at my job. i feel that all of that is vital to my well-being. All the workaholics i know either have heart disease, or cancer, or diabetes - or have already died!

i try to be as environmentally "careful" as i can, too. i don't know why - i don't have children, so it's not because of my concern for my descendants having clean air to breathe! No, it's just something i feel i have to do for my OWN peace of mind. Don't get me wrong, i have a car, and gas heat, and central air conditioning, and a microwave and a computer - all the luxuries of modern life, but i don't abuse them. We use our central air maybe as

much as two weeks most years, when it's really necessary for sleeping. A lot of acquaintances put their air on the first 80 degree (F) day, and don't turn it off until Autumn! I walk if possible - i don't start the car to drive across the street! If i find a tiny spider in the house, do i call the exterminator? No. Either i gently take it outside, or the cats get it (!), or i leave it - especially in mosquito or gnat season, a couple of spiders in the house is a natural, self sustaining extermination system!

All anyone has to do is THINK a little to improve their lives and the planet.

Our current home has about a third of an acre, relatively large for a city lot, but it's conversely not enough and too much for me! One side of me would love several acres of a large, maybe partly wooded lot, but on the other hand, when i get home from an 8 hr workday, a huge area would be daunting! i already have areas that "get away " from me in the summer, mostly because i have my leaf castings to work on now, so even though i work outside, i still can't work ON the outside! My husband does the mowing and weeding (but only the recognizable weeds!), and enjoys the yard when it looks nice, but the work is not out of love, as it is with me. One time i complained to a friend of mine (who is a non

gardener married to a "plant nut" like me) that it would be nice if DH was as passionate about the plants as i was, but she said, "Yes, but then you would always be arguing about what plants to buy, and what location to plant them in, and in what configuration, etc. This way, you can do what you want without another person with different ideas getting

in your way." Well, i thought that was quite the wise thing to say, and ever since then, i don't really wish as much that i had married a horticulturalist !

My Garden Interview - Part 3

2010-09-04T22:02:00.001-04:00

...A continuation of my hypothetical interview...

Q: Any garden organizations?

i became involved at that time in the Master Gardener program - the very first year it was offered in my area (1991). It was a wonderful program, and i got to "shmooze" with fellow gardeners! The only downside was that most of my fellow "students" were retired folks - and i was in my thirties! i thought it was a good deal - the fee was $25, for the

literature and instructors (there wasn't anything offered online in THOSE days!), and you agreed to give back so many hours in volunteer time, i believe it was around 20 hours back then. It quickly became a very popular program, and a lot more people became involved with it. Later it was decided that you had to give so many hours each year to

"recertify", which i just did not have time for in the growing season. NOW the fee is up to $175, you have to volunteer 50 hours, and need 10 hrs. of volunteer work plus 6 continuing education hours annually to recertify! Whew! So, even though i have not recertified, i do still call myself a "Master Gardener" anyway - seniority ought to count for

something!

Q: Any funny stories?

We sold our first little house in '97 to a very young couple who were not even in their 20's yet, it was November, but they were very impressed by the gardens. I had taken photos and had a few enlarged to show prospective buyers. Unfortunately, they both had jobs and went to school, and had no clue how much work that was gonna be! i did take starts of my favorite plants to go to the new house with me, but left just about everything.

The following July, i received a phone call from my former neighbor. All she said was, "Oh my God, Nanci, they're tearing out all your plants and throwing them away!" i was there within 10 minutes, on the pretense of visiting said neighbor. The young people weren't QUITE throwing away everything, but threatening to, and i could see why. When i had lived

there, i walked around virtually every day, automatically weeding, deadheading, pruning...they had done none of that. The Hollyhocks were 7 feet tall, the vines had literally absorbed part of the yard, the groundcovers were covering WAY too much ground, my arbor that i painstakingly created from PVC pipe was broken and laying in the vegetable garden space - it looked like an abandoned property! To their credit, the new owners were very considerate and told me i could dig up

everything i wanted to, so i borrowed a shovel from my friend next door and started digging in the 90 degree heat. An hour later, after i had filled the trunk AND back seat of my car, i called my husband and told him to come over with his pickup truck and more tools! When we came home with the plants, i had no idea what i was going to do with them - it was early July, in the middle of a heat wave.These plants were my

BABIES! Now that i had rescued them i was NOT going to lose them! So we shoved them all into our 2 garbage cans filled with water and i spent the next week or so finding spaces for them. Now, planting in weather like that should only be done in emergencies (like this was), but - it CAN be done.Out of about 40 plants, only 2 did not make it, i am proud

to say!

One more unfortunate thing - about a month after that, I

discovered that the vinyl lattice we had put up all along the fence row was gone - the young couple had taken it down and put it out for the garbage pickup - all five hundred dollars worth of it!! i almost cried over that - wish i had known. BUT, to this day, i really have no idea what i could have used that for at the new house! It was such a waste,

though...

My Garden Interview - Part 2

2010-08-11T22:34:00.001-04:00

...A continuation of my hypothetical interview...

Q: Did anyone inspire you?

After living in an apartment for several years, surrounded by houseplants, we moved into a little house with a little yard, and i began to think beyond only houseplants and veggies. Flower boxes, hanging baskets, perennials...Around that time i met Adrian, my new boss at work. She wasn't a typical boss, she was full of fun and had a great laugh, as if she had just heard a dirty joke! She was fairly spiritual, believed in the paranormal,.. and gardened. When she talked about some of her plants, she would describe them in detail and with such excitement that i started to realize that i had that same passion, too, but had kept it inside because i hadn't realized that anyone else felt that way, and, evidently it released my inner "Plant Maniac"! i eventually acquired several plants from her, and still have them today, almost 20 years later. We lost touch, and i don't think Adrian ever knew what an influence she had on me - i didn't even know at the time,either! But i think of her -every year - when her Festiva Maxima Peony blooms in my yard.

Also, my husband's grandparents lived on a farm (a REAL one), and they were also a big inspiration to me during all of the years i was fortunate enough to share with them.

A start was all i needed, and soon the yard was filled with hundreds of plants, many grown from seed, and many shade loving plants (Our yard was 80% shade). i built a coldframe and an arbor using PVC pipe, we attached white vinyl lattice (when it was first available around here and pretty expensive!) to the chain link fence around the backyard, making it more

private, and ringed the beds in red and grey bricks.

My coldframe

It was a tiny yard, but a wonderful sanctuary, much more than i realized at the time.... When my husband was diagnosed one June with cancer at the age of 40, i think i was devastated even more than he was - we knew nothing about cancer, i just assumed i would be a widow in a short time! Having that garden to retreat to was the only thing that kept me sane! (By the way, we know a lot more about cancer these days -plus he is now 54 and is, i'm happy to say, still around to bother me!).

My Garden Interview - Part 1

2010-07-29T13:55:00.003-04:00

i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....

Q: How did you become a gardener?

N: First of all, i need to point out that it was never really a conscious decision to "go forth and garden!"

i never knew my grandparents on my father's side, but i do know they were avid gardeners, so i'm thinking i had it "in my blood", since i sure as heck know it wasn't thru my parents! They didn't even like to be outside! i think Mom took me to the park several times when i was young,

and they liked to sit out on the porch in the evenings in warm weather, and THAT was probably only because we didn't have air conditioning back then, and it was the only way to stay cool! We had a fairly large and swampy back yard- (this is the Black Swamp area, after all) , but except

for some hideous foundation plantings of evergreens, one Poplar tree, one rose bush and one white Spirea, that's all there was in the whole area! Being an only child with few neighbor children, i spent many long

days in that backyard on my own, getting hundreds of mosquito bites and black bare feet from the muddy yard - how i didn't end up with Hepatitis or some '60's equivalent of the West Nile virus is beyond me.

Anyway, we were visiting my uncle's house one summer day, and my cousin and i walked into one of the farm fields surrounding their property. She told me that they knew the owners of the fields, and that they were

allowed to pick some of the produce out of the fields if they wanted (whether that was true or not, i never really knew...Being 12 and very naive, i didn't question it ). She picked a tomato right off the vine

and handed it to me, and actually had to instruct me to eat it right there, as i just looked at it for a second - i had only seen tomatoes in salads before that (yes, i had an extremely sheltered childhood!). When i bit into that beautifully ripe, warm tomato, standing in the middle of

that field, that experience it was so awesome that i had an epiphany of sorts - and actually changed the course of my life! i did not immediately know what to do about this new feeling, but within about 2 years, i had a small vegetable garden plot in our backyard.

i did have somewhat of a social life in my late teens, so of course with other things on my mind, i didn't have as much time to garden. Until after i was married - and for a few years we lived in an apartment, so except for the 40 or so houseplants i acquired, i did not do much gardening. i tried to keep my plot going at my parents' house, but they wanted to stay inside when i was there and expected me to sit inside and visit with them! So that was not feasible for very long.

CONTINUED SOON

2010-07-17T11:09:00.000-04:00

i used to have quite the T shirt collection. Radio stations, comic book characters (still have my "Elfquest" shirts!), rock bands, etc. Of course, that included my gardening interests, too - but i didn't go for " Happiness is Gardening" or "Gardeners Have The Best Dirt" - noo..my humor is a little different...

Don't know if this company's even still in business, but i loved the shirt! i don't really wear it much anymore - my "tomatoes" don't really line up! LOL

...And from my favorite nursery, Plant Delights, came this funny ( but sensible) play on words. If you're not sure, an 'annual' is a plant that lives only one season and dies. A lot of folks in my area spend tons of money on flat after flat of 'tunias and marigolds (for "color"), and do it all over again the next spring. Hey, i buy 'em too - after all, that's how most nurseries make the majority of their income - but i also use a lot of perennials (that come back in the Spring) so i don't have to buy everything yearly!

But, whatever you gardening humor, or no matter how i feel about it, just plant SOMETHING!

...And You Actually Wonder Why I Love Gardening? Seriously?

2010-06-27T23:13:00.000-04:00

Amour In The Garden

2010-06-13T23:01:00.002-04:00

Today, my wedding anniversary, got me thinking about several plants (or cultivars) i have in which the names involve "love" themes. These are a few i have:

i grew Cardiospermum halicacabum, AKA Love In A Puff or Heartseed Vine, for the first time last season, thinking it was perennial. Well, it didn't come back, but the seeds i saved sprouted slowly but easily for me, so i do still have it. I was impressed by this little (up to 8 feet) vine.The leaves are a very elegant shape, and the seedpods are three sided puffballs.

The flowers are not so great - tiny, delicate, and white, but it didn't really bother me. Then when i saw the seeds! - well, i didn't research this one well, i figured the name came about because of the seedpods' shape, but that wasn't all! The seeds are about 4mm in diameter, very dark, nearly black, except for a white HEART shaped mark on each one!

That clinched it - i will be growing this one for a long time!

Then there's Love In A Mist (Nigella), which has that elusive sky blue color of blossoms seldom seen in the garden. (There are also pinks and whites available, but the blue is all i want!) This is what i call a "perennial annual" because, even though each plant is annual, it seeds itself so enthusiastically that you'll never be without it again! This, like Perilla, doesn't bother me with its reseeding. It is easy to pull out and shows up in places like pots and flower beds where i leave it until after it blooms.

The foliage is so ferny that it does look like mist, and then when the seedpods form, they look like little striped hot air balloons, thus the reason it is also sometimes called "Love In A Puff". The dried seedpods are used a lot in floral arrangements.

First grown in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate,(Polygonum orientale), is also an annual old cottage garden favorite, but the plant is not found in cultivation very often.

Of course, when i first heard the name, i had to find it! It is, of course, growing by the garden gate, where it reaches heights of around 8 feet, and droops its long clusters of bright pink flowers above my head. It also reseeds, though in my experience not a whole lot, just enough to keep it going.

i also want, though have not been able to find, the Hosta cultivar "Illicit Affair". Is it an outstanding variety? Not so much - just want to tell visitors, "I wanted to have an Illicit Affair in the garden, and all I got was this stupid Hosta!"

Nature's Fury

2010-06-07T14:45:00.001-04:00

i was very frightened of storms and tornadoes when i was young. In fact, in my area in the 70's, we had tornadoes every spring for a period of 6-7 years or so. We have been very fortunate since then (for the most part) and my fears have long subsided. And after i became an avid gardener, you could still find me outside when the sirens went off and the sky was turning black, trying to plant the last few seedlings before the rain! Gardeners don't care!

But for some odd reason, I WAS worried this time, i guess for good reason...

We were not fortunate Saturday night.

Well, WE were fine (Toledo), but the line of storms that went right over us spawned several tornadoes to our east, after it passed us. Since it was nighttime, it was hard for even the newspeople to determine what had really happened. At daybreak and during the day Sunday, we found out that the police station in Millbury (20 minutes and 15 miles from my house) was hit along with half their police vehicles ( killing two people ), and a short distance away from there, Lake High School was almost completely destroyed!

They were to have held graduation ceremonies there on Sunday, only a few hours later! About 100 houses were either destroyed or damaged, killing five more people (one of whom was the valedictorian's father!). Very, very sad...

We forget sometimes that we cannot control everything (if we haven't figured that out yet from the current disaster in the Gulf!). Yes, we can control a lot in our lives, but only by the grace of God (or Fate or whatever you believe in) are we here in the first place!

I hope today finds you all safe and happy...

pLANT dAY! ~ !***(a running commentary on the most interesting collector's plants I own) ~ Perilla

2010-06-04T11:17:00.004-04:00

Perilla frutescens has been a part of my gardens for so many years now that i take it for granted, but i would hate to be without it! i knew absolutely nothing about it when i acquired it thru a Master Gardener plant swap (but, of course, that has never stopped me!). Also known as False Coleus and Beefsteak Plant (?), it's an annual in my area, but reseeds vigorously, so i always have it. Some people claim it is very invasive but, although it is in the Mint family (and most of that family is horribly invasive!) and it is all over my garden, it is easy to pull out and throw in the compost or move to containers, (in which it does very well). It comes in a green form, a purple form, and a couple of fairly new cultivars (Vanilla Perilla and Magilla Perilla - oh, those wacky plant people!). i have the common purple form, it looks very similar to purple Basil, but it keeps its deep purple color in sun, in shade, moist, dry - it doesn't care! Bugs leave it alone. Some leaves turn out with ruffled edges, and some do not. The leaves are not large, but you may have seen some of my Perilla leaf jewelry - they look very nice cast into pendants!

This time of year, when we see some bare spots in the beds, and my spousal unit complains, "We need to put something there", - i just point at the purple haze (ooo, Hendrix!) covering the ground, shake my head, and say "Perilla". In two weeks, the space will be bare no more! It can grow to a height of 1 to 3 ft., depending on location and/or the flower spikes.

There is conflicting information about using Perilla in food - some say it can be used as a substitute for Basil, but i have also heard it can be poisonous in any sort of quantities. i was told by a Vietnamese lady that it is frequently used as an herb in her country, so i'm not advising you either way. It has a fairly nice Basil-ly scent when the leaves are bruised, but i honestly don't like Basil flavor very well, or i think i'd try it.

The decorative factor and ease of growing it is good enough for me!

A Spring Garden Stroll

2010-05-25T13:56:00.000-04:00

...A garden friend....(who i painted, naturally!)

..An 'artsy" shot!

...Although i really hate the Cottonwood tree across the street, the "fuzzies" falling, backlit by the sun, are pretty (i guess...)

The variegated Kiwi vine actually is showing its white and pink splashed foliage for the second year in a row!

First Waterlilies in bloom

We've had a lot of rain this Spring ~ and my Hostas love it!

"Sweet Kate" Tradescandia is one of my favorites. Those colors are almost blinding in bright sun!

Never had a lot of luck with Penstemons, but they're doing great this year!

....And, of course, the sky blue of an Amsonia (If you've gotten any emails from me in the past, "Amsoniared" has been my email name for many years! Hey, 'Amsoniablue' was taken!)

Fishin For A Name..

2010-05-13T23:38:00.001-04:00

Baby Skeeter and Godzilla having a conversation..

My first Koi was 2" long, cost a buck and a quarter, and was a pale yellow gold. I named him Godzilla (well, i had to name him something Japanese!), and he lived to be a foot long and bright orange, and would eat from my hand. He was pretty much a "common" variety, but i thought he was awesome! Koi can live for many years - unfortunately, Godzilla only made it to 6. When he died three winters ago, i was actually very saddened (yes, i know it's just a fish! So?), and did not have luck with Koi for quite awhile after him. I did get 3 small Koi two years ago, and one of those three became another favorite. He's white with black "cow" spots, and is very noticeable (hopefully the herons won't notice, though!).

But i can't think of a good name for him (her?)!

i'm hoping i can rely on my blog group to help me out! What do you think? (i do have an orange and black Koi, also - if there are two good names, he'll get one too! This is actually dangerous - you know what the "rule" of pondkeeping is - the first Koi to die young are either the most expensive, the biggest, or the ones you have named!)LOL

But I'll risk it! Please help! He's been nameless long enough!

The Princess And The Cherry Tree

2010-05-04T23:18:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time, in the northern Land Of The Five Lakes, a tree seed found a lovely spot in which to start its life, and began to grow. It just happened to be the land belonging to the Monarch and the Princess. (You may recall the Royal Wars in the land of literary works of fantasy many years ago, when the King was banished and the Monarch's rule began).

The Princess, who was known to nurture much flora and fauna, happened upon the young tree one day and was pleased. The little seedling, as it grew older, had small peach sized leaves, panicles of white flowers in Spring, beautiful bark, and golden leaves in the Autumn. It was an unknown type to the Princess, but she was sure it was a tree of petite ornamental heritage that just happened to find her lands. As a season or two passed, the Princess inquired of her royal clan (The Masters of the Garden) as to what tree it might be, but they could not answer. She even inquired of the magic PC (Prophet Creature) who also could not answer.

So the tree stayed, and grew. And grew. And then, as it matured, it proceeded to send thousands of progeny down upon the royal lands to create a small forest of its own kind, which began to displease the Princess. Finally, one day, the magic Prophet Creature revealed to her that the tree was not only a Cherry tree, but a BLACK Cherry tree, which was a duplicitous and evil life form!

The Princess informed the Monarch that she wished for the tree to be removed before it and its progeny invaded the royal gardens any further. Their many subjects

agreed.

The Monarch, wishing to keep tranquility in the Castle, also agreed and proceeded to remove the large branches one at a time. The task is not yet completed as of this day...

The Moral of this story - Beware of evil beings that disguise themselves as alluringly beautiful ~ by the time you realize what is happening, it may be almost too late! (And your Royal Spouse may threaten to "crown" you!lol)
THE END

Plants On The Ground ....

2010-04-30T22:48:00.000-04:00

OK, i couldn't resist! Actually, i guess the correct title should be "Plants IN The Ground", but, whatever!

i had a small revelation yesterday - i realized i hardly ever plant plants the "normal" way anymore; that is, planting the seeds directly in the ground, keeping them watered, and having them sprout right where they need to be! i have started plants from seed for years, but indoors, to transplant at the proper time. OR (file this under "lazy") - i just buy plants!

So i never get the fun little thrill anymore of seeing those first few seedlings breaking out of the ground, which actually was one of my favorite memories at the very beginning of my gardening life. i had almost forgotten that feeling....so this year, i planted a row of early spring veggies - 2 kinds of spinach, 4 types of lettuce, white, purple, and black radishes, as well as carrots that are supposed to be a mix of 4 colors! That was two days ago, and i am impatiently looking at that patch every day, and watering it (using a watering can, the old fashioned way, so i can feel more connected with the earth).

i have lost touch with my garden somewhat in the past few years, partly because of a job change, which gives me much less vacation time than i used to have, along with my garden sculpture business that takes up most of the REST of my time! i'm not complaining about either situation, but still i'm not giving my treasured plants the attention they need!

The tomato plants, which used to reach 3-4 feet tall, have ended up in the past two years as scrawny,weed choked, foot tall things that had a half dozen small fruits on them at the most! i just lose track - BUT i am now making a middle of the year resolution to give the veggie garden some TLC this year - i'll update you about this later!

Free Comic Book Day 2010

2010-04-28T11:14:00.001-04:00

***Shameless Promotion Warning***

...of spouse's business!

How many times do you hear "free" nowadays for real, without a catch? Well, this Saturday, May first, Monarch Comics in Toledo http://www.monarchcardsandcomics.com/

(4400 Heatherdowns) will actually have FREE comic books available to everyone! Comic shops across the country will be participating in Free Comic Book Day http://www.freecomicbookday.com/, but it is up to the individual dealers to add any exceptions/stipulations, like "free with $_.00 purchase", but there's none of that at Monarch! There are many FREE comics available, many different titles, and not 3 page pamphlets - these are real comics (and i think they even throw into the mix some of their extra backstock issues, but don't hold me to that), and FREE to anyone who stops in!

Where will I be? At an annual plant and perennial swap far from there! lol After 28 years, i know better than to get in the way!!!

Stop in May 1 and tell 'em I sent you!

RANT ~ Hardy, My A**!

2010-04-27T14:20:00.003-04:00

Went to a well known, local department/general store yesterday. It's a family run business that started out as a general store catering primarily to farmers. It's much bigger now, and despite my impending rant, i still feel that it's a well run, upstanding company, therefore i'm not naming names! i'm sure if you live in my area, you'll figure out where i mean.

Anyway, they have a fairly large plant/garden area, and is always one of the stops in my "Spring Hunt For Plants I Don't Have Yet" trek. Now, this isn't the only place i have seen this happen, but was a little disappointed that this store, the one i have known most of my life, is now carrying perennials that are NOT hardy in my area! *(A perennial is a plant that should live thru the winter - outdoors - and continue to grow for many seasons)* Not just borderline - a full 2 or 3 zones off from ours! Now, i live and breathe plants, so i know to check the tags before i fall in love with a particular cultivar, but most folks just want a nice plant, and will assume that if a local store is carrying this plant that says "Perennial", that of course, it would mean it's a perennial HERE, in zone 5, not (as the tag reads) in zone 7 (which is GEORGIA, not Ohio!).They do have a 1 year guarantee on perennials, but i don't know if they would honor that or just say, "Well, it's not hardy here, so the guarantee doesn't apply". i have a feeling they WOULD honor it, so then what? - then they lose money, guaranteeing plants that had no chance to begin with!

And it may not be the store's fault at all - are the buyers for the store given the correct information, or are they just told the plants are "perennials"? As i said, this is not the only place i've seen this happen, but i'd like to know where the fault lies....

***Oh, i have tried many plants not considered to be hardy here to try and stretch my luck, but that is MY decision, backed with the knowledge that it very well could die! As Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery likes to say, " I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times!" (by the way, Tony, I'm still waiting for my Tetrapanax "Steroidal Giant" to try to kill!). By the way, i would love to work there - after reading their catalog, i'm convinced everyone there is mentally unbalanced (i'd fit right in)! Here's their website ***

But i digress... no, the plant tags attached to these plants i refer to do NOT lie - they ARE perennial - almost ALL plants are perennial somewhere, if the situation is right. i get tired of watching "House Hunters" when the hunt is in the tropics, and my tiny houseplants (here) are 20 foot outdoor giants THERE! Saw one home and garden show a while back, the homeowners had a problem with a 25 ft. Bird of Paradise plant (no..colony)(no.. TREE!) that was taking over their front yard - they actually had to bring in heavy equipment to dig it out! LOL - that's what they get for living in Paradise - serves 'em right!

But, please, if you're new to gardening or not, pay attention to those plant tags - know what hardiness zone you're in and match it up to the plant tag info (note: if you're in zone 5, plants hardy to zone 3 or 2, etc. are fine - that just means the plant is good in even colder areas than yours, and should do great).

This is a fairly simple map, but you can Google for more detailed ones online.

True Blue, Baby, I Love You....

2010-04-22T23:13:00.018-04:00

i think i speak for the great majority of gardeners when i say that we are constantly looking for blue flowers. Real clear blue - not purple, not bluish purple, not violet - BLUE. Unfortunately, there aren't many fitting that classification!

Grape Hyacinths(Muscari "Valerie Finnis ")

When you read many plant catalogs, they will describe ALL the Grape Hyacinths as a "Clear Blue!" color, but i don't understand it - they are very definitely PURPLE! Just like in the photo below (and even looking all over the 'net for this picture, almost all varieties were shown - as blue). Valerie Finnis is the only one i've found that REALLY is blue.

There are two blue flowered plants i have not yet succeeded with - one is the Himalayan Blue Poppy (Meconopsis), which really wants the cool, moist summers of the Pacific Northwest, and the Corydalis 'Blue Panda', also another one that doesn't like our hot summers - but I'll keep trying!

Glory of The Snow (Chionodoxa )

The first blue of the year (actually, the Scilla {below} blooms when the Crocus bloom, but the flowers are so tiny and delicate that it's easy to nearly overlook them)

The tiny stripes on the above blossoms are a subdued baby blue

Pulmonaria (I think it's "Blue Ensign" - unfortunately, i lost the tag) blooming right now - even though the buds are pink, the open flowers are EXTREMELY blue!

...And one more.... the pretty blue forget me not-like flowers of the Brunneras....

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T09:09:00.000-04:00

i'm sure this is not big news to you all - it's all over the place! - but today is the 40th celebration of Earth Day!

Here's my Earth Day message: You don't have to recycle, and compost, and drive a hybrid, and garden organic, and use rechargeable batteries, and reuse 'gray' water, and use flourescent lightbulbs,and plant a tree, and conserve energy and gasolene usage all at the same time - just do SOME of those things! That's the problem. Some of us are really trying, but many more don't do ANYTHING! And the scariest part is, a lot of people don't care! Well, they should- especially if they've had children - they may not care, but their descendants might, don't you think?! If every one of us would just do whatever they could towards conservation, it could really make a difference. And if you're reading my blog, it's more likely than not that you already feel the same way, so today, i think we should all find one or more of those "uncaring" folks and try (tactfully) to convince them a little that, like it or not, we're in this together!
Peace!

Collectable Plants ~ Heuchera

2010-04-20T22:04:00.003-04:00

When i like a genus of plants, i usually want every cultivar there is of that particular plant. One of my favorites is the Heuchera (Coral Bell) family. When i started gardening (way back in the ancient times), there were just Coral Bells - a reliable small perennial with nicely shaped green leaves that bloomed in summer with tiny, delicate lily of the valley shaped pink (or coral) flowers up and down long stems.

Then came "Palace Purple", with large dark purple leaves that glowed when the sun shone thru them! One drawback - the flowers were a sickly greenish cream color instead of the coral!

Palace Purple

That happens often in the plant breeding world - new foliage shape / color results in loss of flower interest or new flower color or disease resistance results in loss of fragrance, as in our modern roses.

But we gardeners fell for the pretty new leaves (and the blossoms themselves never really were that interesting to me), and wanted more!

The breeders got going, and these days, i swear they come out with at least a dozen new leaf colors every year!

i just walked around my yard last night, and this is a list of the Heucheras (HEW-KER-AHS) I currently own:

Cappuchino

Peach Melba

Creme Brulee

Amber Waves

Midnight Rose

Mocha Mint

Velvet Night

Autumn Bride

Green Spice

Lemon Lime

Citronelle

Caramel

Cherries Jubilee

Crimson Curls

Palace Purple

Lime Rickey

And Sunspot
(Actually she's a Heucherella - a cross between a Heuchera and Tiarella, looks very similar to a Heuchera, but the flowers are a little "foofier".)

Sunspot

...On top of that, Heucheras are long lived, well behaved, hardy, and evergreen (or whatever color they happen to be), and the flowers (pink or not) attract hummingbirds! Can't go wrong!

Spring Thoughts..

2010-04-16T10:52:00.002-04:00

I love Spring! LOVEIT LOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT!!!!

My little heart is overflowing with it! If this feeling could be bottled or made into a drug, i'd be an addict! There are many people i know who really don't notice the seasons....how can they ignore the smell of new growing plants and flowers, and the chorus of birds and toads early in the morning at sunrise? How do they not see the sun, the blue sky, the trees in flower, or the new bright green leaves? And who would want to miss it?

Even on a COLD Spring day (and we get plenty of those!), it's still beautiful and a LOT better than a Winter day! My only complaint is that it doesn't last long enough, and, if we do get a really WARM spell, all the blossoms quickly unfurl, but fade just as fast, making everything that much more fleeting.

Yesterday was one of those warm days, though - the air temperature was well over 80 degrees (F), and i even managed to get into the pond for the first time to do some maintenance! The water wasn't 80 degrees though! No problem - once my legs went numb, it didn't feel too bad at all! LOL

i really have to get some of those shoulder high gloves for working in the pond - no other kind would work, and if i'm messing with water lily roots,it takes me days to wear the purple stains off my hands.

WARNING: Lily roots don't LOOK purple, but they definitely dye your skin! Another warning - they stink! They smell rotten - i have had people send lilies to me in swaps and apologised to me because they couldn't wash them well enough to get the smell off!

i usually get in wearing shorts and deck shoes, which work pretty well to keep me from slipping, (If i have to get in there and it's REAL chilly, i do have hip boots) but still, we have a rule at our house - no getting into the watergarden without supervision - yes, it's only 24" deep; but one slip and hit of your head on any of the rocks in and around it, and you'll be one of those "freak accident" deaths in the local newspaper! How embarrassing would THAT headline be?
"WOMAN DROWNS IN 2 FOOT DEEP WATERGARDEN"

A Wish For You All...

2010-04-03T23:52:00.000-04:00

Peep Romance by David April

I hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful, fulfilling day tomorrow, whether you celebrate Easter Sunday or not!

~nanci~

The Watergarden Bug

2010-04-03T22:58:00.001-04:00

(Note: This happened in 1999 or 2000, so these are all old film photos from back then. i'm happy that i'm finally putting these "out there" - i kept misplacing the actual hard copies!)

No, not a water strider or mosquito - i mean the thing you get in your MIND that you HAVE to have a body of water in your yard! i got the bug as hubby and i were at the open house the Realtor was having at what WOULD become our current residence. The Realtor was pointing out what a large yard there was and telling us that there was plenty of room for a swimming pool. i thought to myself,***Pool? Heck, no! i want me a POND! With fish and plants and frogs and a waterfall and a stream and snails and stuff!"***

And so, in the spring following our moving in, i started digging. OK, i didn't go REAL crazy - just bought a 60 gallon (227 Liter) hard plastic preformed thing, but it was enough to start. i have heard that you should always go big at first, to prevent having to replace it with a bigger one later ('cause all us "ponders" always do!), but i disagree. i was glad i started - and made my mistakes - with a smaller pond (NOTE: i AM referring to watergardens - 'pond' is just less to type!). This one had no filtration system (except plants and fish ~ the rock "waterfall" was just for looks, too), and it was fine - even had more fish in the Fall than what i started with, if you know what i mean..;o)
.
After a couple of years, we did want to expand, so we went to a local watergarden shop in our area that gave free classes on how to install ponds, and just about got frightened out of the whole idea! This place really went all out (and of course, wanted the class participants to purchase the supplies from THEM), and if we followed all of their advice it would have cost us a small fortune!

So i started researching the whole pond building thing myself and discovered that, while watergardens CAN be a lot of work and expense, they really don't have to be! More about THAT later...back to pond building...

Here's a photo (below) of our initial sod removal in the shape of the new pond - quite a size difference! The only thing i wish we'd done differently was to keep the front of the pond where it was and not dig another foot closer to the sunroom - it's a little tight there now.

...So here it is a couple of days into the digging (below)- note the chairs in the shade - we had, in our usual bad timing, picked the only week that YEAR that was in the mid 90's (F)...ALL week!

More confusing info you'll find is the "to shelf or not to shelf" debate. There are good reasons for both configurations, but i can tell you that i am glad we have shelves - first of all, i would have no idea how to get INTO the pond without a step of some sort - it gets extremely slippery in there within days. Second, the shelves are very convenient for marginal and bog plants - in fact, i wish we had made them shallower than they are.

And last but most important, we got tired of shoveling and trying to find places to put the soil!!! After building up the waterfall area, the whole margin of the pond, AND two planting hills behind it in the yard, we were fed up with the whole digging thing! We finally looked at each other, said "Screw it!", and called it done!

The stick is for checking the level of the sides, and that large bucket is actually the biological filter we had yet to install.

The rubber liner going in. TIPS- don't let this stuff lay on your grass - it'll be killed in a hurry (no, we didn't do that - we were warned ahead of time!). Also, we didn't put any cushion or underlayment underneath - didn't have many roots or rocks around, and it hasn't been an issue - but i would still recommend it, because now, any time we lose water, i immediately worry that it's a stick or root cutting thru the bottom of the liner! So just for your peace of mind, put underlayment if you can. i know there are liners that have the underlayment already attached - wow, i cringe to think about how heavy THAT would be!

This is me in the pond - i was pretty overweight then, so this is all i'm showing you!

(To this day, when someone asks my spousal unit what he dug the pond with, he says, "With my wife!"). Sigh....

While we were lucky and had lots of pretty fieldstone for the taking from hubby's grandparents' farm, it was rounded and not good to use for the first layer. Here was our Big mistake, though - my idea was to use cheap concrete patio blocks for the perimeter. Found out later that they were soaking in the water and leaching LIME into it, throwing the PH completely off kilter! We had to invest in a load of shale to replace it all, which was NOT fun! But anyway, that's how we started.

Couldn't wait to put plants in, even before it was finished!

Here's my guy, working on the patio blocks and waterfall. We did not mortar any rocks together, still not sure if that was a good thing or not. They do shift during the winter, but they were much easier to move when we had to get to the back of the filter when we had a leak. So, there's good points and bad points to not mortaring, too.

Plants going around the outside. Once again, i saved a lot of money because i had so many plants in the gardens. i just divided or transplanted them and only purchased a couple of "special" plants.

From the other side

Before mulch...

...And after mulch!

And here ~ A year later...!

The End LOL

Me, Continued

2010-04-02T16:14:00.000-04:00

For those of you who may have caught the post about my health scare and were wondering, life goes on for me, thankfully! i had my "procedure" yesterday and everything looked just fine (according to the doctor). i had even been putting a few things off, because i was almost certain there was something wrong, and if i had to go thru treatments, i was waiting before making future plans. That's not a great way to be, but, having been sucker punched by unforeseen health issues before, i would rather expect the worst and just be relieved if i'm wrong! But, it seems our (DH's and mine) boring and uneventful lives will not drastically change, and that's just the way we like it!

:o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o)

Off Topic Tangent Day

2010-04-01T11:47:00.002-04:00

Well, here i am, "prepping" for my "procedure" (colonoscopy) tomorrow. I ate at 11:00 AM and can't have anything but clear liquids until afterwards (which will be at least late afternoon tomorrow!). i have had minor surgery before, so this isn't completely new to me, but i have never had much experience with medical procedures. Never been admitted to a hospital (never had kids, either, so not even then). And compared to many others my age (52 - don't tell anyone), i'm very healthy (unless i find out differently tomorrow! :p), and i don't take any drugs except vitamins and painkillers (when necessary). So i don't want to get too involved with this stuff.

The worst part will be the "pre-procedure" stuff. As i said, no food till mid tomorrow, then, about 5:00 PM today, i start to drink this liquid that will begin to "clear the pipes", putting it nicely! Of course, my spousal unit will be eating regardless (i will not cook tonight, though - it's fast food for him)! My plans are a little different - I gotta have clear liquids - Tequila's a clear liquid, right?

Just kidding! - it's supposed to be warm and beautiful for the next 3 days - i'll just stay out and work in the garden until dark - DH always has to chase me into the house to eat, anyway - i don't love many things more than food, but gardening just may be one of them! By that time i should be pretty tired, don't you think?

*It's actually kind of freeing to not think about eating at all. I think some people's customs of occasional fasting is an interesting and good thing. We Americans eat so much, even compared to people in other countries (who are financially able to eat whatever they want) - it's almost obscene at times!*

Time for a picture that is totally unrelated to the subject (thank goodness!) ~ this is a wall in my office at work.

Well, i'm adding more on "The Day Of".. Not too bad so far, definitely can't get away from the bathroom for very long, though! The worst part is this solution i have to drink - it really doesn't taste that bad, but after SIX glasses of it, it's pretty disgusting! I'm all for preventative measures, and everyone SHOULD have one of these after they pass 50, but this is a lot to go through! Still in the process of trying to get the rest of it down (and out!) - wish me luck!

Lilac Lore

2010-03-26T21:51:00.000-04:00

The Lilac buds are swelling. Even at this early stage, you can already tell whether you're gonna have a good bloom year or not.

The buds (above) are just going to be leaves, while...
...

THESE show the first signs of tiny purple blossoms! Don't know if it would be as easy to tell on yellow or white Lilacs - i'm sure the dark purple type are easier to see. Anyway, i'm happy to say that i saw very few non flower buds this year!

RANT : Lost Life Data

2010-03-25T21:50:00.002-04:00

Being a middle aged (the latter end of "middle"!) person, i don't take all this new technology for granted. Yes, i'm thrilled silly with my iPod, and love my netbook, and i think it's great that the Smartphones can do all the things they do - but i am also old enough to remember when cassette tapes were hi tech! So i see the other side of it. i own a pay as you go cell phone and still have a land line - i can't bring myself to trust a phone that can run out of battery power! That's just too unreliable - we have elderly parents - i don't want one of them to get sick and not be able to call me because my battery died or i ran out of minutes!

And while i couldn't live without my computer now, it still bothers me that the information i'm now putting on CDs, SD cards, flash drives, and peripheral hard drives may not be able to be accessed in a couple of years because there will be NEW ways to store data! i have my resume on a floppy disk, had it safely on there for years and could update it at anytime - now it's just a piece of plastic! i still have my old PC - it does have USB ports, so hopefully (if i ever think about doing it) i could transfer the resume to a flash drive. i know there are solutions,but, as a self described computer illiterate and old person, it's a lot

of work and confusing - more trouble than it's worth!

i had a scanner - just utilized it on occasion - and now, after i acquired my last PC, it's too old, not compatible, and also junk! i paid a lot for that thing at the time - now i have to invest in another one when the one i have is like brand new! Then i have to explain to my "Don't get any of those newfangled gadgets near me!" hubby WHY i'm throwing away an expensive, perfectly good piece of computer equipment!

Some of my NEVER USED floppy discs sitting on my useless scanner...
Hey, they're for sale....... cheap!

So are all these photos i painstakingly transferred to a CD for posterity going to be unavailable to me in a few years, or will i have to transfer all of them to something else? i know there are companies that can store all of my data for a monthly fee. Great - what if they disappear 3 years from now? What if i lose my job and can't AFFORD the monthly fee anymore?

i guess i'm looking for certainty in an uncertain world, and may never get what i want, but i wonder if i'm the ONLY person who has noticed any of this stuff!?

Fish Favorites

2010-03-21T20:12:00.001-04:00

Pet shop people don't like me. At least if they've seen me before. i'm the one who goes into the fish department, stops at the "10 cent Feeder Fish" tank (the 30 gallon tank filled with 500 1/2 inch goldfish), and wants to pick out ten "pretty" ones! Yes, they always warn you that those fish may be inbred and/or diseased, and there's a chance they could affect the health of your current fish population - which is very true! - if you just toss them in immediately. So i definitely recommend putting the new purchases (even if they were NOT feeders) in a quarantine tank for a week or two first. i don't always do that, but that's my risk to take! Most of the time, the store employees are very polite about it and actually chase down and net the fish i pick out. NOTE: don't come in on a Saturday or at a busy time and expect them to take that time - be considerate :o)

Some of the cheapie fish in the pond - the little ones in the photo above are Rosy Red minnows

Seriously, though, my feeders have done very well. Oh a few do die right away, but that's why they cost practically nothing! But i try to pick out color mixes, longer fins/tails (Comets), things like that, and they breed with the others and really create a colorful bunch of fish. In fact, around here, that's the only way i can find Comets anymore.

These two (the bigger ones) are Koi - they cost a little more than the feeders! This is the first time this year that they made an appearance. i had a third, but haven't seen him yet - he may have not made it thru the winter...

Me, Interrupted

2010-03-19T11:53:00.003-04:00

Today i'm in the throes of a cancer scare. Normally, i don't like to be serious on my blogs, i'm making an exception today. This IS also a journal, more or less, and, while i also know that i have a pretty low following on this year old blog, hopefully someone will read this and can understand.

First of all, i'm a hypochondriac and have learned to recognize that. i have so far had brain tumors, heart disease, skin cancer, Lou Gehrig's (ALS), plus a few more i can't think of right now - all were in my head, but i even had symptoms - it's amazing what your mind can do to you physically! The Web is a godsend- most of the time i look up some symptoms and realize that i don't really have the disease (then the symptoms magically disappear!)

Then last year, a co worker of mine had been having stomach problems for awhile. She had only been there a year, was not a friendly person, so i did not yet know her very well and really never knew any details. But she was taking over the counter meds for it, eating Activia (the yogurt that's supposed to regulate your digestive system), stuff like that. Then she started to call in sick here and there, called me one day in early December and said her doctor was putting her in hospital to see what was wrong (she was in quite a bit of pain by then).

That was a Monday. The following Saturday she was dead.

Apparently it was cancer, and she had hardly any intestine left by the time they found out. She was about my age, too.

...Needed to stick something lighthearted in here - made ME laugh, anyway!

Keeping this background in mind, I had just mentioned to DH that i was glad I didn't need Activia, i have never had many problems like that (OK, years ago i had Irritable Bowel Syndrome- went on a low carbohydrate diet and stopped eating sugar, and it disappeared. Completely). Then, about a month ago, i became constipated - and it hasn't gone away! Yes, i could take laxatives and it would be better, but it doesn't change the fact that something is still not right. After about 3 weeks, i saw my doctor and am now setting up an appointment for a colonoscopy, because now, i'm scared silly that i have colon cancer. Now, the procedure itself does not concern me - if they would find cancer and would have to go through treatments (which i certainly don't want, but at least i would have a chance), that would be tolerable as well. No, i'm afraid of a situation like my co worker had - that it's found too late, or it would not be treatable and the doctors could not help me! My hubby has had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma - twice since 1996 - but he has done very well and after going thru a LOT of various treatments, is currently fine. After all that, my greatest fear is that now I would end up with something that will "get" ME in a month! i'm really NOT constantly fretting about it - it's the times i wake up at 3 A.M. and start to think about it....

So if you could cross your fingers and send some good luck wishes my way, i'd be happy! And i'll pass along whatever the diagnosis ends up to be (hopefully just hypochondria!).

First Art/Craft Event 2010

2010-03-17T22:35:00.001-04:00

Well, the Home & Garden show, for all intents and purposes, sucked (businesswise)! Looking at it from another perspective, though, i had time to walk around and talk to the people who had plant nursery setups, one being Bench's Nursery, which is my favorite one in the area!

Why? First, because you can tell they actually love plants, and because they really go out of their way to find very unusual flora and little treasures! Only purchased one thing there - i'll be taking my annual "plant quest" journey next month, and will stop at their place then and

load up! What one thing did i purchase? It's another addition to the "wish I had thought of this first!" list (along with Velcro and Post It notes).

Called "Pinky Trees", these are tiny cacti or succulents planted into a tiny capsule about 1 1/2" long that you can wear as a pendant! It has holes in the bottom so you can set it in water 1-2 times a month,and of course can live in the capsule until it gets too big, then it can be potted up and you have a houseplant! How cute! Brought it to work today so i can string a nice neckchain for it. And, of course, when it

does outgrow its capsule, you can bet i will find a plant i have grown myself to replace it!

Some amazing landscaping setups, too...

Also enjoyed talking to the other artisians there about different

events, their experiences with the local art shows, and an artist's life in general (for the ones who actually do this for a living). i did have some offers to consign or wholesale to a couple of local businesses, one of which is very close to where i live, so i may take them up on it.

Networking is always good!

Nature ~ Again Resurrected

2010-03-15T23:23:00.003-04:00

It has been less than a week since the snow faded away - it had effectively kept any flower growth dormant. But now- the Winter Aconite is suddenly in full bloom!

One small group of Crocus have appeared...

The fish can finally see the sky...

And the Pitcher Plant that resides in a pot in the pond looks incredible, considering it has been frozen in solid ice for the past 2 months!

i haven't seen my young Palm since the cones went over him in November - time to peek....

Oh, and he looks very healthy!

One last small miracle - my Foxtail Lily is emerging! It was very iffy as to whether it was hardy enough for my area - apparently THIS year it was!

Wow! Where Do The Hours Go?!

2010-03-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

This was definitely news to me!

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake

in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second), according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis," NASA officials said in a Monday update.

The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake

effect also found that it should have moved Earth's figure axis by about 3 inches (8 centimeters or 2.7 milliarcseconds). Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kilometers per hour).

Image: NASA Glenn Research Center

The figure axis is the axis around which Earth's mass is balanced. It is offset from the Earth's north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters). Strong earthquakes have altered Earth's days and its axis in the past. The magnitude-9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly

tsunami, should have shortened Earth's days by 6.8 microseconds and shifted its axis by about 2.76 inches (7 centimeters, or 2.32 milliarcseconds).

It did not shift the Earth's axis as far because the earthquake was located nearer the equator.

- msnbc.com

My question is this: are these axis shifts new, or is our technology just becoming sensitive enough to measure such things...? i think i could research this a little and find out fairly easily, but it's more fun to speculate!

First Seed Swap Of 2010 - How It Turned Out

2010-02-27T22:39:00.002-05:00

Why do i swap seeds? Partly because i like to get something for relatively nothing - yes, i do a little work to prepare, but i'm still not handing anyone money for what i get. It's also partly for something to do during the "worst" time of the winter; that is - when it's STILL winter, but you want it to be Spring so badly that it's almost a physical pain.

But a day like today reminds me of why i really do it. It's certainly not wanting to crowd into a roomful of people and having to wait several minutes at times just to MOVE 3 feet! It's because of what kind of people they ARE - gardeners! Almost everyone had the same look in their eyes - here we all are(the day after a snowstorm), surrounded by seed packets, seedlings, plants, plant paraphernalia, and although we do know a new season is very near, an event like this reinforces that promise. Did anyone complain about being crowded? No. Everyone was pleasant, considerate and smiling. We were all given paper grocery bags, and as we collected packets, bags or cups of what we wanted and put them into our bags, several of us could be heard commenting that we felt like we were collecting goodies at Halloween!

Didn't take my camera, but this looks close to our swap - just add about 50 more people into this picture!

Because this, 20 days before the first day of Spring, was a happy day for all of us!

Some of my "take" today, laying in a large cast Tobacco leaf i just finished. That package of black radish seed touts, "Popular Snack With Beer and Dips" - although i got nothing against beer, radishes sure wouldn't be my first choice as an accompaniment! i now have seeds of Resurrection Lily, "Rose" and "Cherokee Purple" tomatoes, an "experimental" variety of snap bean, and "Rattlesnake Master" Eryngium. Plus quite a few red Canna rhizomes that i promised i would get for my friend Diana, who is still recovering from cancer treatment, and, as a result, probably hasn't got the best of immune systems and i'm sure wouldn't have wanted to get into a crowd like that!