Batnavel's Blog
Batnavel's April 2008 Entries
Last Post 5 days, 7 hours Ago
Apr 25, 2008 | 2:16 PM PST
The wife and I took a walk yesterday and I brought along the camera so I could share with all of you how beautiful the area is around us. These pictures are what we see everytime we take a walk. Spring is a beautiful time.
This first one is our house. We are definately discussing adding some color to the front.
This next one is of the tree in front of the house that is two houses down.
And this one of all the Azalea's diagonally acros the street.
This one is two blocks down, around the corner, and my favorite.
This one a block down. This is a cute little subdivision that all the houses are identical. At Christmas, there is a massive light display in this little court.
And finally, a house about four or five blocks down Main St. I love the way these trees look, and frame the color from the Azalea's in the yard.
Thats just a fraction of the beauty in this neighborhood. I feel truly blessed to be able to live here, and see this as my surroundings. Hope you all have a good day, and a great weekend gardening. ^v^
Apr 19, 2008 | 1:05 PM PST
I let a perfect gardening day go by yesterday, but I am blaming the weather man in part. I had to work all week, but was off Friday, and I checked the weather on Yahoo every day approaching Friday, hoping the forcast would change. Well, it didnt. It said "Rain, thunder and wind" and the little picture didnt look pretty. So, I decided to stay up all night and go to bed at 8 am when my wife got home from work and was ready for bed. I awoke several hours later to find a PERFECT gardening day. I did get one project done.....added some river rock that I got free from a friend to my back corner, but I could have dug my 19 foot sunflower / veggie bed, and probably sealed the inside of my ginormous flower box. Oh well, you live you learn.
Anyway, I am planning massive planting days for May third and fourth. The local Master Gardeners have a sale on the third, and I plan on being there early. This will be my first time there, but I hope to chat up some folks while I am there, as I plan to take the course this fall, and become one with them. I hope to get my veggie bed dug before then, so I can do it all, ( or most of it ) next weekend. The wife is off too, so I have to plan on spending some time with her. She usually sleeps a lot later than me, so early morning digging will probably be the best.
I always like to post pics in my blog.......so here is an extreme before, and the current state of the garden. After the master gardener sale and a trip to lowes, there will be lots more to shoe.
What I started with in Aug 07:
And where I'm at in April of 08:
Apr 15, 2008 | 10:00 AM PST
What a great morning I had. Too bad I have to get ready and go to work or I would spend the next 10 hours outside. This morning I did have a chance to mow the lawns, trim, go to lowes, plant two clematis, re-level one patio stone that I wasnt fond of, prepare two containers for herb gardens, and take some pictures. This morning the tulips were closed up tight. They were as happy as I was to see the sun.......
Apr 12, 2008 | 12:07 PM PST
People in Retail love when they get the weekend off. Some relax, others garden. Although this was more like construction than gardening, I did get my hands in the dirt, and spent the morning surrounded by all the beautiful things in my garden. Here is the much awaited patio. My next step after I am sure we have seen the last frost will be to put living borders all around this in the dirt that you see on all sides.
Apr 8, 2008 | 12:23 PM PST
Here is the bed I dug from 7:30 to 10 this morning. You can see I added some fresh top soil to the back half. Need more top, and some manure compost for this.
I put some of the stuff I dug out of that bed in where the patio is going, along with some fresh top soil also. After a few rains when it is all compacted, I can finally level it off and put the pavers in.
Ps. I still need to seal this back bottom corner of the flower box. It was still wet the day I did the rest.
Here is a pic of some vinca minor that I bought for ground cover last year on clearance.....Didnt know where It would end up, and it has moved three times since september, but is doing pretty well in its newest location.......however, this is NOT its final resting place.
Any finally, a pic of some grape hyacinth ( Muscari ) that is back by the old pampas grass. This whole area needs to be cleaned up, so I took a close up shot to avoid the uglies.
Apr 7, 2008 | 8:07 PM PST
Batnavel has the day off tomorrow, and rain isnt forcasted til later in the day. I got a start on my 30 ft bed ( morning glories and shrubs) tonight before dark, so that will be finished tomorrow. Pictures to come. ^v^ OH!!! And I have a bright yellow hyacinth getting ready to bust open smack dab between a light and dark pink one........^v^
Apr 5, 2008 | 3:10 PM PST
The weather was absolutely beautiful here today. Only the second day in about 15 that it didnt rain. I had to work till 2, but I managed to make it home, mow the yard, and get a coat of stain on my flower box. I couldnt do the bottom boards on the back sides, cause they were still damp from all the rain. Here is a pic of the box, and some pretty Hyacinth, and more. ^v^
