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Well after some deep contemplation we decided to call in a pond expert. Leak is not a leak; top pond has settled at an angle and is running over the top between the rocks and the pond itself. Drastic measures, all must be torn down and leveled correctly and rebuilt. The pond was here when we bought the house and with some of the other crazy things the seller did to it, who knows what this will turn out to be when we get it apart. DH wants to fill in upper pond the soil and make a flower bed. I am almost tempted!
Had a new (for me) bird sighting yesterday! A Scarlet Tanager was hanging out in the trees in the front yard. He was gorgeous! Watched him hunting for bugs in the oaks for almost an hour. I was so captivated that when he flew off it finally dawned on me that I should have grabbed the camera. Oh well, the hunting was so good hopefully he will return.
Had one ripe mater yesterday and the plants are loading up with more fast. The three new ones I put in this weekend are already bushing out. Daylilies are popping all over and everything else is doing well. My black magic elephant ear has decided to make an appearance. The standard green ones are doing wonderful. It’s that time of year when it is mostly watering and maintenance.
Pulled the tent trailer out last night to take stock and ensure that everything was in there. Looking forward to fly fishing this weekend. Even with the high water they have been pulling some nice 17 to 20 inch browns out of the White. Robdog was pretty peeved when we pushed it back in the garage. Promised him we would go on Friday, but I don’t think he will believe it until he is in the truck with his trailer hitched up. This dog loves to fish! And my portable a/c unit came yesterday!! Which means we won’t swelter trying to sleep at night while camping! Gonna tie up a load of San Juan worms tonight since they seem to be the fly of choice right now.
Reseasoned all my dutch ovens yesterday. They were such a mess. Got left out on the last camping trip during a bad storm. I just have not had the time to work on them. All are in good shape now and ready for this weekend. I love cooking in my black pots!Went by Lowe’s on the way home Friday and got a mess of gerbera daisies and blanket flowers for .75 cents a piece. Just needed some water. Also found a lemon boy tomato and a Cherokee purple at the nursery during my lunch hour on Friday.
Saturday I got up early and got the tomatoes in the ground and watered all the pots and the flower beds really good. Had planned to get the flowers in but a chance to spend the day on the lake was just too good to pass up! Our friends have a big cruiser and invited us to spend the day. It was wonderful and sooo relaxing! Of course the pond didn’t get fixed though.
Sunday was all that domestic stuff that has to be done before the start of another work week. I did get the flowers in the ground and deadheaded things before it got too hot to be outside. The black and white brigade got a bath, and the front of the house and deck got power washed. Then it was inside to clean up the dusty bunnies and do the wash.
My daylilies are blooming like crazy now and I will try to post some pictures up later this evening. The older tomato plants are doing great and I gave them all a feed this weekend. Bush beans are up and cukes are peeking through. Having a good rain shower this morning, but they are saying the heat is on the rise this week.
Going to play next weekend too. Packing up the little vintage trailer and going to the Mtn. Home to fly fish for the weekend before daughter #2 comes on Tuesday. Taking all next week off from work and looking forward to enjoying the yard.
Went home last night and watered everything. Our expected showers today and tomorrow have decided to go somewhere else and the gardens needed a drink.
Not a lot of color in the gardens right now. But all the daylilies are about to really pop and the bees balm is going crazy. Have buds on all the cone flowers and the foxglove, salvia and delphiniums are full of new stalks again. Another week and there will be color everywhere.
Tied up some of the tomato vines that were beginning to fall over. Last year I staked, this year I tried cages. I think I am going back to staking. Not real happy with the way things are going with the cages. Going out at lunch today to see if the nursery has any more tomato plants left. Would like to find a late season something.
Pond repair work is on slate for this weekend. We have sprung a leak in the upper pond! DH has located the leak, we will drain, repair and reseal around the top of the pond between the rocks. One of the pond lilies should open by the time we get home this evening. It’s a pink one! I love the pink. Lotus is doing better this year. The freeze late in the spring last year knocked it down. Pleased to see it doing better this year. Hyacinths are blooming and multiplying. All the pond fishies are happy and love all the plant cover they now have.
Pulled up some non stop weeds around the back by the a/c units. I will pick up some mulch to lay down back there to keep the weeds down. I really need to fill in with some topsoil and plant some shrubs around there. What would work around blowing a/c units and west facing sun all day? We have concentrated soo much on the front of the house it past time to get busy around back.
We did get the concrete poured for hubby’s woodworking shop in March. He plans to enclose the shop this fall. One wall and a roll up garage door, he will be good to go and will have his man cave for the winter. LOL! I do fly tying and he builds things, keeps us busy in the winter. He did make me a great tying bench, how cool is that!
Still messing with designs for under the deck, some kind of sitting area or screened in patio. There is a door out of the house under there so that might work. Yes, we really need to work around back of the house! Going on third year in our new home and keep ingnoring it back there.
Frogs are doing the nasty in my pond again. That has got to be a sign of summer, right? I bought a large fish bowl and netted a bunch of tadpoles for the two little kids up the street. Complete with pond plants and shiny stones. They love watching them grow legs and then let them go. I noticed this morning that my pond clover is full of froggy eggs again. Time to fish them out or I will have pinky fingernail size frogs all over the place in no time. The gold fish will mack out on the rest and help keep numbers down. I’m brutal, huh!
Chickadees have taken up residence in two of the old bird houses in the front. I have added to the bird housing market. I have four small vintage trailer bird houses hanging from posts on the old stump. Birdie Trailer Trash Park right in the front yard!! So far no takers, they have chosen the more upscale houses in the neighborhood.
The squirrels are behaving, or maybe it is more a matter of who has who trained. They stay out of my bird feeders and stay to their trough and I keep it filled. No signs of Mr. D this year (Pig of a Squirrel). Wonder if he became one of those little speed bumps in life? My seed costs have plummeted since his disappearance. I caught one of the coonies raiding the feeders last night though. After tangling with Robdog last week, I am very leery of them now and think I have created a monster issue by feeding them.
In the veggie patch there are some nice sized tomatoes now and actually had one ripe one. Yummy good. I got the beans and the cukes in. I have some large empty pots let over and think I will do some more containers of veggies. Maybe a few peppers and some plum tomatoes. I could not find the Lemon Boy tomato at the nursery this year. Should have saved seed, that one did so well for me last year.
The wild Black Berries are green and growing large. So much rain this year the vines are heavy with fruit! We will have some good cobblers this year. Before DH’s surgery, he leveled out a path on the black berry hillside behind the dog yard. Now I don’t have to fight the thorns, ticks and snakes to get at all them berries! My black raspberries are finishing up and I will miss the fresh warm fruit on my cereal in the mornings.
Deadheaded a few of the beds last night, excited about all the daylilies getting ready to bloom. Hoping for more rain so I don’t have to water. All containers got a drink though, as some are under cover and don’t get the rain. Oh and very pleased with the zoysia sod we put in last year. It has come back really green and nice and thick. Love to walk out there bare foot and crunching my toes in it.
Daughter #2 is coming for 4th of July week. No big plans yet, just hang out and relax. She said she would like to do the canoe float. 11 miles on Big Sugar creek. It’s a great easy paddle with lots of bluffs, wildflowers and critters. We pack a big lunch and take the day stopping where we want. Be kind of nice to go during the week, less people, more critters to watch. Must remember the fishing rod, left it in the truck two weeks ago!
Oh, and my Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' is covered in little white fuzz balls, WHAT IS THAT!?! Fungus or bug? I babied this thing in the house all winter and it did great. Put it back out where it spent last summer and now something has attacked it. Please if anyone knows what this is let me know!
It is a word. It is the study of the times of recurring natural phenomena. I learned that some of my writings are phenology. See you are never too old to learn something new.
I love our spring showers and storms. You can always feel them coming in the air, by the sounds from our part of the forest and the reactions of the local fauna. The birds are usually the first to alert and all come to the feeders to stock up before the rain hits. Just as the temperature and humidity start to rise they wing in to get their fill of seed.
As the sky begins to darken they wing off to find a roost to wait out the storm. The chickadees are always the last to brave the sudden winds and large drops and sometimes take this opportunity to stake out the feeders throughout the storm, protected under the cover of the deck.
Yesterday’s storm went about this normal routine with one exception; the chickadees had a wren as a guest. As I watched from the kitchen window, all were swinging from perches at the feeders as the wind picked up and the thunder rolled through our hills. We had the typical heavy downpour for about 20 minutes, and the gang of little birds chirped and fed on seed through the deluge.
As the sun began to break through the clouds and the rain lessened to a sprinkle, I watched as the wren sprang from his perch to the rain heavy branches of the cedar tree. This little character proceeded to fly up to the limb above him, knocking the water from the limb to land below, flapping his wings and thoroughly enjoying his self made shower.
I slept in this morning! Didn’t get up till 7:30A. Hey that is late for me. Grabbed a cup of tea, threw on the garden clothes, the clogs and went out to deadhead and check on things before the heat kicked in for the day.
My bee’s balm is about to bloom and many of the daylilies that I put in last fall all have scapes about to bloom. Here is one that didn’t show a flower last year. I love the red eye with the butterscotch. Hardy hibiscus huge this year and can’t wait to the see them big ole flowers.
Ripped out the last of the peas and planted cukes. Bush beans went in where the cabbage came out. Chopped up all that I pulled up and threw it all in the compost pile. I love my compost pile. Early this spring I had mounds of black gold filled with earthworms happily doing their job. The plants love it too!
Fed the BTB (bushy tailed beasties) gang and the birds. Filled the hummer feeders and headed for the house and the air conditioning to down load these few photos. There are more in my profile photos.
Okay time to catch up. Enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs! Time to get back into the swing. I have been working in the flower beds and the veggie patch. Had lots of peas and cabbages this spring. Now it’s tomato time! Good thing with all that is going on in the news about maters. But then prefer my own anyway. Who doesn’t?!? The flower beds are maturing and I spent this spring excited with each return peeking up through the mulch. My bleeding heart did me proud this spring and was full and loaded with blooms.
The dappled willow that replaced the frozen Japanese maple is doing wonderful. I think I love it now. It’s a favorite hangout for the hummers too. The hostas bed at the front of the house is my favorite bed right now. I have added peony, hydrangea, Japanese ferns and some annuals for more color. Lots of trailing stuff that falls over the rock wall of the bed. All the daylilies in the bed by the pond have scapes and this being their second year they are all doing great.
Back to battling the bushy tailed beast on the deck. As long as I keep their trough filled with seeds they stay out of my herb pots. We have six pots of basil (a must), sage, chives, thyme and cat nip. The birds are still my passion and enjoyed regular visits this spring by five male rose breasted gross beaks and had my first oriole. Waited forever for the hummers to show up this spring but they made it and are back in force.
Robdog tangled with one of the now grown coonies last week. Not good and though we no longer feed the coons they still come to the deck almost nightly. Hubby was not quite fast enough with the block (leg thrust to stop dog in tracks). A scratched nose, a visit to the vet and a couple of vaccines that were not due till Aug and Rob is back on guard. Silly dog. Miss old Buddy, my shadow dog. His old heart gave out on Jan 21st. The old man had 2 and half wonderful years of sleeping on the bed and being loved and cared for. I know he went to the bridge a happy old dog. Brair Rose is also beginning to show her age but is always up for a game of ball. She gets an aspirin for those achy old joints and is ready to go again. Thinking of adding a young dog to the pack, I am sure there is another border collie in need. Have plans of putting in two more flower beds at the side of the house and a pondless stream running between them.
We have the rock selected and have been waiting for hubby to recover enough to be able to lift more than 20 lbs. Couple more weeks and we will start that project. Should be good and hot out by then!! HAHAHA!!!
Trust me this was not all in one day, as mentioned below! Just progress since the spring and ideas to come!
Wow Sept 2007 was my last Blog. Life gets in the way sometimes. Long story short. Lost our old dog Buddy in Jan (my heart still breaks when I see his picture), FIL passed in April (89, a wonderful man and miss him so much) and Hubby had some health issues and he takes priority. Anyway, all is well and the last test came back this week and he is CANCER FREE! How great is that!!!???!!! I have missed you all soooo much and have a ton of catching up to do. Got to start reading! Hi to old friends and welcome to new ones!
So good to be back!!
Cheri
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