blueyedkitty04's Blog

We had a pretty good day today. 

First thing this morning I woke up, looked out my bedroom window down at my garden and what do you think that the first things I saw? 

Two hummingbirds feeding at separate feeders.  One was a female Rufous Hummingbird, and the other was a male Rufous Hummingbird.  I tried to take a picture, but the window was pretty dusty/dirty on the outside so it didn't turn out well (plus I was quite a distance away). 

Above:  The female Rufous Humming bird is on the right side of the hummingbird feeder, she almost blends in with the haze of the dirty window/flash.  I really like the female's colors best I think.  The males are flashy, but the female's colors are so multicolored/iridescent.

What a wonderful "good morning" from Mother Nature!! 

Hannah and I spent quite a long time outside playing. 

I had to re-pot my 3 "Campanula (Poscharskyana) Serbian Bellflower" (perennial) that I bought 2 weeks ago.  When I bought them they were already root bound and growing out the bottom, but they looked really nice on top.  I just now got around to re-potting them since the weather hasn't been too great.  They look very happy now in their newer temporary home!

(See Below)

 I discovered that I have one Sweet Pea coming up in my hallowed out stump planters.  I planted the seeds over 3 weeks ago and not much has happened, but I hadn't kept the seeds "moist" because I was counting on Mother Nature.  I am happy that at least one seed is coming out.  Maybe more will now that I have hooked up the hose and am going to start my regular watering. 

Hannah played with the hose and the new hose sprayer that I got.  I am really happy with it since it has a special nob to easily control the flow.  My old one would blast my established plants and it was horrible on my seeds that were trying to grow.  I was always fighting with the flow trying not to destroy my garden, so this has made me incredibly happy that it works so well.  It was an impulse buy because I alread had the one and I felt it worked well enough to keep (because I hate wasting $$.  If I don't have to replace it, I won't buy a new one until it's totally broken and beyond repair.) 

Needless to say, I am very excited by a hose nozzle!  HAHAHA, the little things that excite a gardner...LOL!

Hannah had a blast "washing" out my old flower containers and watering the little grass area.  It was really cute, she was proud to be my little helper, plus it kept her out of my way while I re-potted the Bellflowers mentioned above.  She was good, but she got tired and I had to cut my flower playing short. 

I went outside this evening while Hannah was napping because I had to shut off the hose I left on.  I decided to check out my garden and see if I could catch any hummingbirds at the feeders.  Well as I was browsing through the different areas in my garden I happened to walk within 3 feet of one of the hummingbird feeders.  Just as I was doing that, a male hummingbird came flying straight at me, zooming past "warning" me to stay way from "his" feeder.  The little stinker was challenging me!  It was crazy how close he came to my head.  I decided to try and get some pictures of him if he was going to visit frequently.  Well, would the little bugger come to the feeder?  NO!  He just kept buzzing around everytime I moved in the garden "warning" me to stay away.  What a dominant male, to challenge me!  I was able to get two pictures of him at the feeder (but not as close as I had hoped), and some in the trees where he would roost, then fly off and buzz me. 

Above:  Male Rufous Hummingbird (I am pretty sure it's the same one that was there first thing this morning due to his protectivness of the feeder).  Pretty neat!

Above:  The Male Rufous Hummingbird watching me, making sure I won't steal "his" feeder.  He's hard to see, but you can see the red in the middle of the picture sitting there watching me... 

I took a few pictures of some of the little birds that hang out where I put birdseed.  They are so cute.  I especially like these little ones that have a whitemohawk stripe down the top of his head, then black stripes on his cheeks, then another white set of stripes below the black.  It's really cute and I don't remember seeing them last year, but who knows. 

(See Below)

 So, there are some pictures from a day in my garden....I enjoyed my outdoor day very much!!

Have a great week!  Happy Gardening!

~M~

So since I posted those Hummingbird pictures yesterday, I decided to post some of the pictures I took so far this spring. 

I think I wrote about how the woodpeckers came through our yard.  They stopped by, choosing the same power pole to peck at.  Hannah was able to hear them, but I wasn't sure if she actually saw them.   So I am including two pictures of them on the power pole. 

Above:  A tiny, tiny hummingbird flying in the sky....so cute!  I just love them!

Another little hummingbird sitting in a tree keeping an eye out on his/her feeder. 

Above:  Woodpecker (there were two or more at one point).  They come and peck this pole every year, and even bring the little woodpeckers to practice/learn how to peck.  It's so cute!

Above:  The two woodpeckers, pecking happily away....I don't know much about them so I do not know if they are male/male, or female/female, or male/female.  I really like getting a chance to see them too!

A big thanks to Yardgranny6 for helping me identify the hummingbird species that I have here.  It is indeed the Rufous Hummingbird, but I think we have a different type other than that too, I just don't have any pictures (or can't find them at the moment, I have tons of pictures...lol).  

I hope that you enjoy these as much as you enjoyed the other hummingbird pictures from yesterday.  I will try getting some more pictures within the next few days since we put our own hummingbird feeders out.  I can't wait to get my first close-up of the year!

As you can tell, I did not do much in the garden the past 2-3 days, but I hope that I will get out there more in the next few days.  I will try posting some more pictures too of the progress of my seeds that I started indoors.  My cucumbers and zucchini are doing pretty well, and of course my beans which are climbing the trellis I taped to my window sill are doing really well.  I will try and post those pictures soon. 

Happy Gardening everyone!  Have a wonderful week and I hope you enjoy my newest set of pictures!

~M~

Well, I don't have too much time to write a long blog entry today.  Not much happened today except that we (and by "we", I mean I did, and Hannah "supervised") filled and hung our hummingbird feeders.  So on the note of hummingbirds I have decided to check back in my old pictures and post a few pictures I have taken from past years.  Enjoy!

Hummingbird feeding.  You can see how they perch on the little "step" like piece.  It is the neatest thing ever to be able to see them sitting there looking around and feeding! 

-- Summer 2008 

Poor Hummer flew in my slidding glass door and got stuck in my sky-light.  I had to fish him out with a butterfly net, but then he flew over to my kitchen window and got stuck in my screen.  Luckily I was able to remove the screen carefully and he squeeked out.  Poor guy! 

-- Summer 2008

Above is a picture of my natural "pink" clover that I transplanted into my garden (yes, you read correctly, I actually want it in my garden).  I really like the pink flowers!!  It's one of my favorite "wild" bits that I have added to my garden.

-- Summer 2008

Hummingbird are so neat!  I just love them!  -- Summer 2008

This hummingbird is a diffent color than the other pictures I posted.  I think this one is possibly a female (?) and the other three pictures are of a male (?).  Not sure if they are two different kinds or if they are just different sexes.  -- Summer 2008

Well, I hope that you enjoyed those pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them and remembering back to when I took them.   Have a great Sunday and as always, Happy Gardening!

~M~

Thank you everyone who commented on my last post!  I am so very excited about the hummers being back!   I just hope I can get a chance to show Hannah them soon too.  They will come flying by and then sit on the little roost part of my humming bird feeders for really good viewing.  I just love them and had never been around so many as I am lucky enough to be here in B.C.  

~Reba/rbsteen9 ~  Thank you so much for the helpful information.  I never thought of using rice to help scrub out the feeders!  That whole bit was very helpful and interesting! I am currently brewing up the nectar!  Thank you!

~Thirdgeneration ~ My humming bird feeders are red, green and white so I have never had a problem with wasps, that would be bad with Hannah around in the garden too! Thanks for the reminder though, I don't know if I would have thought of that since I have never had a problem with them. 

~Witt~ Thanks for the recipe too. 

~ Yardgranny6 ~  I got 3 feeders at the Dollar Store and I have been very happy with them.  This is the 3rd year I've used them (but the first year I didn't bring them in over the winter though).  They are fairly easy to clean too, but I think I will try and get some larger ones or atleast some more of the same ones I have already to put out in the new area I am working on.  The ones I have have little perches on them and when I first got them I thought "yeah right, I doubt they will stop and stand on these".  Well, sure enough they will fly up and sit on the perches and I am able to get some really great pictures!  I don't know if I have any in my photo album, but I will search on my computer and post some if I don't have any in the albums.  Thanks for the suggestion. 

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It is an absolutely beautiful day outside.....I should probably be getting out there with the little one.  We planted some more seeds last night, so I am now officially exploding with flowers/seeds.  I will post a picture of all the perennials I have.  I think next year I will have to show a little more restraint from buying so "early" in the season.  It was just that they had such a good selection of the flowers I wanted and I hate when you go and everything is picked over.  I bought 8 seed Geraniums (I have always hated Geraniums, but last year I gave them a try and they made me happy enough, so I decided to buy more....) for my under-porch hanging baskets that don't get much light, with rare direct sunlight.  They did pretty darn well for what they were given, so this year I plan on rotating them around and giving them more sun every few days.  More on the perennials and the few annuals I got later....

I found a few "natural" ways of repelling ticks.  Since Hannah is only two I don't want to be putting too many chemicles on/around her.  I heard that citronella, garlic, and peppermint scents will work to repell ticks.  Of course proper clothing too, but we were fully dressed - jacket included - yesterday because it was chilly.  We'll also be using the bug spray with DEET in it as well, just carefully since it says it's not something to be used "daily". 

Thank you to all who commented on my last post!  It is so nice to hear from you all, even if it is just to say hello!  I will be posting more later!

~M~

I am itchy all over and super paranoid that I have creepy crawly things on me. 

What started this, you might ask? 

TICKS!  I am so paranoid of TICKS!  I HATE TICKS!  Ticks, ticks, ticks - YUCK! 

Since 2005, I haven't had any tick incidents......until today. 

Hannah and I had gone up to visit with Pam and we helped her re-locate her stump flower pots.  Hannah got to ride in the wheelbarrow and she got to ride all the way down to where the swing is.  I pushed her for about half an our or so, then we decided to walk back home since her little hands were getting so cold.  We took a detour into the bushes to check if we could find some wild rose starts that I could dig up, then back onto the driveway and down to the horse shed.  We fed the horses and then walked up towards our house.  I headed to grab the hummingbird feeders and then on my way back towards Hannah I noticed that she had a spider in her hair.  I walked up closer to her and realized it was a tick in her hair!  I FREAKED!  I was able to smack it out of her hair and it landed on the concrete.  I smashed it with a rock, there was not a drop of blood in the tick thank goodness which means it had just gotten on Hannah.  I fix Hannah's hair up every day so I doubt I would miss one, but I don't want to have to deal with getting one out that has embedded itself into her.  Oh, you think I'm freaked out now, boy, it will get way, way worse if I have to do that!!  We're going to give her a good bath tonight to check her over and make sure she doesn't have any on her elsewhere.   

I will have to find out some ways to help protect Hannah and myself from ticks this season.  I sure hope it's not a "bad tick year"!  We didn't seem to have a problem last year,  and it was 2005 when it was the year that was so bad.  Oooo-icky! 

I spread out some bird seed last night since some new little birds have arrived.  They are called the "Red Breasted Nuthatch".  I think it's "Red Breasted Nuthatch" even though their breast color is actually more of a yellow color with a blue back/body.  What makes them so special is that they hop down the tree, head down.  Most birds can't do that.  They are very acrobatic!  I just love seeing them and I think that they are so sweet!  I know I will see more as the summer comes. 

Also, my Mother-In-Law filled her hummingbird feeders and today I heard, then saw the first hummer of the year!  It made me so happy!  I will be putting mine out soon. 

What is the best ratio/recipe for hummingbirds since I have never actually known the recipe? 

I also found an area (the same area where Hannah may have picked up the tick though) that has tons of wild rose spikes that I can transplant.  I am excited, so I have to get on that before it gets too far into the spring. 

I checked through my garden today and things are progressing well.  The crocus are still bloomed which is nice that they have lasted so long, and my hyacinths are really coming along as well. 

What happens to a plant (perennial - English Daisy) when you over water it?  Can you cause it to rot at the base of the plant?  Somehow I manged to do that I think.  I set it out to dry up a bit and accidentally left it outside on the porch all night.  OOPS.  I hope that it will recuperate though, so we'll just have to see.  Any suggestions???

I didn't get any pictures put up yet, but will try later this evening or tomorrow.  

~M~

P.S.  I forgot to write this part.....lol:

I plan on planting some seeds directly in the garden soon, possibly tomorrow or I may I will wait until Thursday when it is suppose to be quite a bit warmer than it has been lately.  I plan on planting:

1.)  Malva Zebrina
2.)  Sweet Peas - Spencer Giant Mixture
3.)  Black-Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia Hirta
4.)  Bachelor Buttons - Double Mixed Colors
5.)  Mixed Poppies - I have no idea which kind they are, I just had some mixed in a bachelor button seed packet.  Who, knows...
6.)  Carrots - Danvers
7.)  Peas - Lincoln

Are the above flowers/vegetables alright to put in the ground now, before the last frost date?  Or should I be waiting.  I think our last frost date is still 4 weeks away still (not quite positive, I will have to call one of our local nurseries to find out for sure). 

Also how on earth do you find out exactly which zone your in?  I have tried, and tried to figure it out with the zone maps, but they never show close enough on my area.  We live in a sliver of color difference compared to the next zone over.  It's hard to explain, but it is just overly difficult to figure it out. 
 

Okay, now I am not allowed to post any blog entries with sites that could be misconstrued to seem like they are advertising sites.  So, I don't know if this is accepted or not, but if you had wanted to see those links that were removed for that "reason", you can go to my other blog (FREE OF ADVERTISING) at:

http://cluttermomm
y.blogspot.com/

I have other info on there too, but not always pertaining to the garden since that site is my regular everyday blog.  

To find those links just scroll down, looking at the right side of the blog until you find the part that says "blog archive" and underneath that you will find a blog entry entitled "Interesting Plant Blogs and Websites.....".  If you click on that it will bring you to the blog entry that I also posted with the links on, but on my other blog (FREE OF ADVERTISING). 

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I got pretty frustrated that every link on my last post was taken out, even the ones that I believed (and still do) should be allowed in my blog.  They don't sell any product or service but happen to have advertisement on the top and bottom of the blog site, so if I am understanding correctly, they are not allowed. 

I did not like the way things were handled by a particular person.  I felt I was treated like a person who only signed up to spam and push my product on other GG members.  That was, and will never be my intentions.  I have been blogging on here for a bit now and have been a contributing member for over a year I think.  I understand that there is a problem with people who search the internet for places to sign up and spam/harass members with sales/products, but I don't deserve to be treated like one of those people. 

I have not really wanted to write much on here until everything is cleared up and I things get straightened out.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their spring weather and that you all have had opportunity to play in the garden!  Take care!

~M~

 *Added Note* - Now that I seem to be having "issues" with "GG Rules" I would like to point out that I have been a member for officially a year now!  Obviously I am not a person trying to spam this site. 

Well, I was roaming the web and I came across a really interesting blogger.  His blog title is  and has really interesting topics in his blog.  Things like a , and a wonderful  .  Just click any of those links to get to his page and browse around at the different topics he writes about.  I found it to be very helpful and extreamly interesting because he is interested in "cheap" gardening or and using/recycling things found around the house.  He also is very knowledgeable  Very interesting stuff. 

Also when I was browsing through his blog, I found a seed site that offers wonderful informational packaging on all it's seeds as well as a VERY helpful ".  The seed company is .  The only negative thing about this site is that they don't ship their seeds to Canada at all which I had hoped that they could.  I am really enjoying the  and still have quite a few more topics to read and look thorough. 

Another seed company that I found on blog was .  This seed company does ship to Canada which makes me super happy as well as offering VERY, VERY good information on it's seeds.  The company has signed the "Safe Seeds Pledge", offers various "Organic" seeds as well as seeds for various purposes (ie. butterfly gardens, or hummingbird gardens).  When you look at the specific seeds you can click on a link to see either a picture of the flower, or for more information on the seeds/flower. The seed packets are chocked full of information on the enclosed seeds.  Needless to say, this is a super website and it blew me away with the quality of information offered by .  Super seed company willing to go over and beyond expectations, and I will definitely buy from them if I decide to order some seeds over the internet.  Also be sure to check out their   The companies namesake too, which looks interesting althogh I haven't fully explored it at this point, but definitely plan on doing so tomorrow.  

Anyway, I found all of the links above to be really good and I just had to share them with all my Garden Guides Friends!  I hope you all will find them as interesting and helpful as I did.  I will post more links soon if I end up finding more as I continue to browse through  and others.  

ENJOY!!

 ~M~

**I wrote this entry yesterday, but since my internet wasn't working due to the storm, I am posting it today.**

It rained on and off today.  It wasn’t quite a rain, but more like overcast misting and plenty of dripping off the eves.  It continued like that until about 4p.m. and then the rain really started coming down.  After about half an hour we began getting heavy cloud cover and then the thunder started!!  

Hannah doesn’t mind the thunder, but when she’s not expecting it, she jumps a bit and then runs closer to me until she realizes it’s just thunder.  It’s cute.  We ended up with some thunder and lightning for about 45 minutes which was kind of nice to hear and watch.  It’s good when the lightning is paired with the rain in case the lightning does hit and start a fire.  The dry lightning is what scares me like crazy in the summer months!  I have gotten way worse with worry since having Hannah.  Lots of things scare and worry me now that she’s in my life.  

Of course I didn’t’ go out and do anything in my garden today, I just sat back and appreciated the rain.  It’s a part of spring that just has to happen, and my flowers need it so it’s okay by me.   

After I post this I am going to browse through my garden book and see which seeds I should get into the ground first, which ones I still need to start inside and when, and the little extra bits of info about my various seeds.  

I need to make a plan as well for my continued soil amendments.  I know I need to get some more wheel-barrow loads of composted horse manure since it has a really great broken down texture to it.  Another thing I have been doing is collecting any leaves , degrading bark, and dried up grass that I find around my garden area and then adding it to my two areas that I have all dug up.  I found an area that had tons of worms in it and figured it must have been full of good things if the worms were there so I collected it in a bucket and will dump it all into those same dug up areas.  I’m making a mini-composting dirt holes where I have dug up and removed some of the clay soil while adding lots of other good things to the soil.  Then I will either leave it there as is, or I will use it in other places in my garden that need help.  We’ll have to see what I end up doing in the end.  My plans are always changing!

I also plan on moving those two Day Lily bunches from the area that I want only the wild roses in.   I have no idea where exactly I want them to go, but they shouldn’t be in and amongst the prickly roses.  It’s very hard reaching over all those prickles…haha.  I have had second thoughts about planting all the wild roses around Hannah, but if she learns to stay away from that area it won’t be too bad.  It’s up and kind of out of the way, so I don’t think it will cause any problems.  It’s just when I am up there fiddling with my flowers (ie. The Day Lilies and others that I will be moving) that she comes up there and is exposed to the wrath of the thorns.  She just doesn’t understand yet that they are incredibly pokey and that she will be hurt big time if she grabs or brushes up on them.  

My layout plans for the “Leveling Project” have changed yet again.  It all started when I ran into a really good sized boulder while digging out one of the areas that I had though of possibly planting all those evergreen bushes that I was digging out while I leveled the area.  I was digging up so many and salvaged quite a few (ones with lots of roots attached, or ones with a whole root ball and soil) which I just placed in Hannah’s project garden wagon for temporary (so they would stay in the shade and would keep moist to help with the transplanting).  I have transplanted one so well have to see if it stays alive and grows or if it will just end up dying off.  Anyway, back to how the plans had changed.  I hit the big boulder and as I have said before, I can’t just leave a boulder alone.  If I  know it is there I have to get it out!  It’s a rock addiction….LOL!  So, I was digging and digging and with each shovel of dirt the rock was getting bigger and bigger.  Now, normally I am a good judge of character (a.k.a size of the boulder) when it comes to rocks, but this one tricked me.   I had already un-dug nearly the whole top, and sides of the boulder and was thinking, “Now what?!”.   I remembered back to a conversation my Dad and I had had regarding me not being able to move a rock that I had dug out and rolled out of the way temporarily.  The rock had ended up flipping on a flat side making it much more difficult for me to pick up and roll.  I had said, “Well, maybe I will just have to wait for Kyle to get home and help me move it.”  and then my dad suggested that I use 2X4’s to get leverage underneath the rock to roll it.   I decided what the heck, if I can get this rock to roll 3 feet forward it will go from being right in the way to being part of my retaining wall.  It took me about an hour to get this thing dug out just right (which included me pulling out very carefully rocks underneath the boulder keeping it potentially from rolling where I wanted it), and to get the 2X4’s under and behind it.  This mammoth was so heavy!  Not only was it just a big rock, but it was made out of one of the heaviest rock compositions around here!   It took a bunch of shoving, shifting, digging and bouncing on (the 2X4’s of course) to get this thing to move.  I got it to approximately where I wanted it to go, but I didn’t like the way it looked on the front of it.  It was kind of jagged and not a very nice looking rock.  So, I decided to try and turn it around (swivel it around) so that the back side would be forward.  That was tricky trying to keep if from rolling on my own foot or rolling the wrong way, but I did it!  With the rock actually out of the way, I ended up making a path way that winds down from one of my existing upper garden areas down to the area I am flattening out for Hannah.   

I was happy finally getting the rock it into it‘s final home.  I didn’t realize how accomplished I felt until my Mother-In-Law made the comment about once you get a feat like that accomplished it sure feels good.  It makes me so proud of my garden knowing how many hours I have dug, and how many rocks I have pulled out and re-positioned into the walls and steps.  I am SO proud of it.  I just wish my hubby shared the same enthusiasm as I do or could see the finished product and just know how much work it took me to make it look that way.   It’s hard to convey exactly how much work it took through before and after pictures alone.  I wish he was here to see it step by step, or at least a few of the stages and see exactly how many rocks are sitting there today waiting to be re-positioned.  There are so many, plus my garbage rock pile is getting really big too!

Oh-My this is an incredibly long blog entry...LOL!

My “GOOD NEWS” that I wrote about in my last blog post was that I have discovered that quite a few of my perennials from last year are starting to come back!  They are just starting to come through the ground.  Things like my first ever Clematis (Nelly Moser),  Bell Flower (Campanula - 3 years old), Veronica (3 years old), Globe Flower (I think that is what it’s called, it gets a round yellow ball flower that opens up when in full bloom - 3 years old), Polemonium Boreal (Heavenly Habit - New last year), Cat Mint (New last year), and a Mallow (it’s possibly Rose Mallow or Prairie Mallow, I will have to check out the tag tomorrow - New last year).   There are a few others, but I don’t have pictures of the tags so I don’t remember the names off the top of my head.  I will have to check out tomorrow as well.  

I think that I also found a lonely Hens and Chicks that I planted a few years ago that never did very well and I thought that I lost them, but I guess one survived.  They got pulled out (well I think rather knocked out of the ground) not very nicely and didn’t have much if any roots.  It’s not entirely where I had thought I put them, but it’s still really nice to see.  I do like them and have never heard of any not having success with Hens and Chicks.   It is small, but never the less, it’s still growing, so it makes me happy.  

My chives are coming in nicely and the ones that I re-planted that were out of the ground all winter are settling in just fine too.  My little bunch of pink clover that I actually planted in my garden is coming back (2 years ago now). It’s just wild/natural clover that grows like weeds around here, but this one had little pink blossoms instead of our normal larger purple blossomed types.  It was really pretty, so I dared to plant it in my garden and I have been very happy with it.  It blooms pink blossoms and I just cut it back when it gets too leggy and it stays in a manageable little mound.  I also found more last year and transplanted it into my garden in a different area deemed “temporary housing” for various plants I wanted, but didn‘t have a place for just yet, but it hasn’t come back.  It may be that I have stepped on that area a bit this spring, but normally clover is pretty hearty, so I just don’t know.  We’ll have to see if it comes back a little later in the season.  

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Anyway, my internet is finally working today so it is nice to get to post it!  I don't know if many people saw my last blog post with all the pictures or if it got bumped off early since I wrote it in the early a.m.  There are lots and lots of pictures on there so I thought that I should mention that too. 

Happy Gardening Everyone!!

~M~

**So, the reason that I have a bunch of other stuff besides Gardening in my blog is because I have another blog and I am joining the two by writing just one blog entry and posting it in both.  That way I can keep up to date on both without having to write the same story twice.  If you want to just read the Gardening stuff, it will generally be in the bottom half of my entry.  I will of course still have tons of pictures and update often.  Thanks for understanding!!**

 >http://cluttermommy.blogspo
t.com/   -  My other Blog

Well, today was a wonderful day.  Hannah and I went shopping, I bought some perennials and we stopped by a movie store that is closing and bought a bunch of older VHS movies for $2.50 each (now that's a bargain!). 

I bought some moves that I absolutely loved from when I was younger.  My Mom always wanted us to see all types of movies, especially black and white movies.  I enjoyed the ones below:

~Herbie Rides Again (I think it's the second Herbie movie, but I am not sure.  I've seen both quite a long time ago though)

~That Darn Cat! - I just love those Siamese Cats!

~Shaggy Dog - Just a classic...

~It's a Wonderful Life - You gotta have this one for Christmas time!!

I had hoped to find Flubber, and possibly some of the Gidget Movies (I sure liked those when I was younger).  Also Oh-What's that movie called...Harvey maybe, it that the one with James Stewart and the rabbit?  There are so many, but I can't remember them off the top of my head, but I would LOVE to have them.  I will try to go back on Saturday or Sunday so that I could browse some more. 

I bought Hannah a bunch too.  Barney, Franklin, Strawberry Shortcake, The Rescuers (Disney), The Wind in the Willows (Disney), Babe (such a cute little movie!), Robin Hood (Disney) and Little Bear.  It's always nice to find a place where you can get your hands on some older movies that are much better quality than some of the crap (mind my language...) that they make now.  I do like the Barney for her because of the songs, but they do drive me nuts sometimes!  I know there are much worse out there though-LOL!

I was able to browse through the flowers at the "grocery" store and found some great additions to my garden this season.

The perennials that I bought are:

~Black Hollyhocks ( 2 )

~Emerald Blue Moss Phlox

~Rose Forget-Me-Knot ( 2 )

~Blue Forget-Me-Knot ( 2 )

~Pomponette English Daisy

~Red English Daisy (It's the same as the Pomponette above, but solid reds)

I am so happy to have been able to get my hands on the Black Hollyhock so early in the season.  I just made the comment in my blog a few days ago about how I wanted to get some of the Black ones.  Oh-How I was so happy!  I had one Pomponette English Daisy last year and really liked it, it was continually blooming and had really nice foliage.  So I am very happy to have found some more this year.  The only thing is that they are supposed to be perennials, but mine hasn't shown any signs of coming back, but we will have to see. 

So, I took some pictures of my tiny Columbine to show you exactly how tiny I mean.  I also took some pictures of the yellow crocus', some of my garden decorations, different kinds of Sedum I have, a mystery succulent (maybe someone know's what it's called), rock garden progress, and a project I plan on making for Hannah.

Enjoy:

 Above:  I just love these little yellow crocus'!  They're just so cute!

 Above:  My little bear my husband Kyle picked out for me on sale at the end of the season.  Gotta love end of season sales, it's really the only time to buy these "extras" unless you shop garage sales, or thrift stores then it's open season!

Above:  My other cute little bear peaking-out from behind a tree!  I sure love this one too!

 Above:  I don't know if I have posted this one before or not.  This is a "Gnome Home" built by my Father-In-Law for Mitchel's (my little 8 year old Brother-In-Law) gnomes he bought.  Mitchel let me use his gnomes last summer and also lent me this "Gnome Home"  I sure like it.  (*Note:  Those are fake flowers in the front....lol)

  Above:  A different form of Sedum I think from the one in yesterdays blog post.  This one is nearly all red, but it could possibly be the same, just shows up in a different color due to the soil/area it's in.  I don't know though.....

Above:  This is the "MYSTERY FLOWER".  I am not sure if it is a succulant and it's similar to my one of my other sedums too. 

Above:  One of the wild/natural Sedum we have all over the property in various areas.  It's really neat if you can get it to take in a spot it really likes!

Above:  The GIANT boulder that I dug out today.  I moved it from the space above it down to where I wanted it.  It's now part of my rock border area instead of in the way.  It made me change the plan of my rock garden yet ah-gain!   But it looks so nice now and I am getting really pleased with the progress!

 Above:  This is the little playskool wagon that is broken that I want to paint a more natural color, then fill it with dirt and make a little flower garden for Hannah.  Maybe I will plant some carrots so she can pull them out when they are ready.  Also she can do the watering with her little pink watering can, just like Mommy!

Above: 
My tiny Columbine.  It's been like this for 2 seasons and I have no idea why it only grows to be that small.  It is for sure Columbine because there are a few others down the line where I planted the seeds originally.  It's just so strange! 

So, I have a question.  Can I move my Day Lily's even if they have some green starting to emerge from the soil?  I want to move them from where they are, which is right in the middle of where I am wanting to only have the wild rose bushes and those evergreen bushes I talked about in a previous blog. I have never tried growing Day Lily's before last year and know nothing about growing them.  They are tubers aren't they?  How exactly do tubers work and how do you divide them? 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my newest blog entry.  I love all your wonderful comments, suggestions, and thoughts.  Keep up the great work on those gardens, I enjoy browsing through your blogs too and seeing all your beautiful/hard work!!  Have a great day tomorrow and a wonderful weekend!

~M~

It is an absolutely amazing day out!  We went grocery shopping and I picked up some perennials (I'll post those later).  I was very happy when I spotted the black Hollyhock!  It is one of my favorites, I also like the one that is a nice bright pink too, but they didn't have any other Hollyhocks.  I just put Hannah down so I will be back on here this evening to write some more about our "bety-ful day"!

I should get out again and so some more playin' in the garden.  I have to mix my vegetable soil up and get those started so they will be ready and in place ahead of time. 

I will write more after dark!  I have some exciting news about my flower garden, I am very very happy.....

 ~M~

Well, I am too tired today to do any digging like I had hoped to do.  I just walked at a snails pace around the yard examining everything with Hannah (man, two year olds have doddling down to a perfection, she is the slowest walker sometimes, no wonder I am out of shape and get out of breath easily these days!!). 

She walked (doddled) up to the Mother-In-Laws to say hello then spotted her swing and really wanted to go swinging.  It's one of those things that I avoid, but do it because she likes it so much.  I just can't get her out of the darn thing.  I pushed her for over half an hour today, and I was getting chilled (I assumed by her little red nose and hands that she was cold too!) so I had to sidetrack her to get her out of it.  We made it halfway across the Mother-In-Law's lawn when she realized that we were walking away from the swing area and a fit/tantrum ensued.  Gotta love the toddler stage...LOL!  She kept saying "swing, swing please, swing....." so I had to tell her we couldn't because she had gotten so cold.  Her hands were just freezing. It was a cool afternoon today which didn't seem to help my drive to do more digging.  I just figure I have all of April to get this finished, so no hurry.  I've worked hard on it so far, but being tired and cold doesn't make for a fun time. 

I took some pictures of my Mother-In-Laws yellow crocus' that I absolutly adore!  I think they are the prettiest things with the dark purple striping down the petals.  I will definitely have to keep my eye out for some of those this spring.  Maybe tomorrow I will go to the nursery to see what they have if we have time after grocery shopping. 

I noticed that my Columbine that I planted last year from a purchased plant is coming back and that made me incredibly happy!  I have had no sucess with the ones that I planted from seed.  They grow to be about a few inches tall (basically one stem with the tinniest leaves you've ever seen) and never even come close to flowering.  They came back though this year.  I was kind of shocked to see them there where I planted them.  I will check my photos to see if I have a picture of them so you can see.  I just wonder why they do that.  I don't know if I could transplant them since they are so so tiny!  I have also tried to transplant a wild Columbine that I found grows up in the mountains where we go fishing some times.  It's a really pretty red color, but I don't think that they are going to come back this year.  The "Beast" that I have wrote about in the past (it was a pack-rat) ate the tops off and it never did recover from that.  I will have to look for more either in the summer while out fishing or in the fall to collect some seeds possibly!  My Mother-In-Law had the best group of Columbine I have ever seen, it was so big and bushy and she could trim them and get a second bloom out of them sometimes.  I just fell in love with them and hoped to get mine to do that.  Well, mine from seed aren't cutting it...LOL!  Last year they put an addition on their house and when they went to pour the concreat they had to move some dirt and a lot of her flowers in the flower bed close to the addition were covered in dirt.  Some of her Tulips are coming in (they must have got moved by the movement of dirt, because they are in weird places), patches of Columbine are coming in where they weren't totally covered with dirt, and her purple crocus' and tiny daffs are coming in too.  She had just bought those bulbs (crocus and mini daffs) and put them in that spring and then they got covered up that late summer/fall.  I may buy some more Columbine plants this year though since I won't likely be getting any from the Mother-In-Law like I had always hoped. 

Above:  My Columbine coming back!  I am so excited and I hope that I get some flowers on it this year!

Above:  Sedum that I transplanted. I am not sure what kind of Sedum this is exactly, but my Mother-In-Law has had some great success with it in certain places in the yard.  I am hoping it will like my garden too.  

Above:  This picture is hard to see the wild rose pieces that I have transplanted over the years (and a few transplanted from the other day).  Also there in the far back you can see some green, that is the wild evergreen bush that grows naturally all over here.  I hope it transplanted successfully and will add some green to the backdrop I attempting to create.  It's slow going, but I'll get it!!

Above:  I am hoping that my beans will grow up the side of my steps.  I will make some sort of trellis/support to train it up the side there.  I hope that it works out.  The only thing I am not sure about it if there is enough sun there.  I will just have to see!

**I can't seem to find any pictures of the tiny Columbine mentioned above, so I will have to take a picture of that tomorrow to share with you all**

Take care and I hope everyone is getting wonderful spring weather!

~M~

Today it continued with more of the strange weather.  Hail, sleet, rain, snow and sun all in one day!  It went from overcast and misty to cold, clear and windy, then back to overcast and no precipitation.  What a strange day weather wise. 

I got outside when Hannah was napping and of course did some more digging!  I came a cross an area that I was leveling out ("The Leveling Project") that had the heaviest clay I've had to deal with, plus it was full of gravel rocks and these dense patches of tiny hair like roots that made it so hard to dig and break up the clumps.  It was awful! 

I think that that hard clay bit even made my back hurt!  My back has been really good and not-too sore since I started doing all this heavy digging and major rock "re-positioning" - as I will call it since I tend to re-use most of the rock I pull out of the ground, the only rock I don't "re-position" is the gravel rock and the sharp and jagged ones.  My back has been "worked muscle" sore, but luckily not "back problem" sore.  I have had some tinges in my back since I slipped 3 years ago on a melting ice patch on the lawn.  I slipped backward, and twisted back and to the left (I think it was the left....) to catch myself.  Ever since I get these tinges of pain every once in a while and boy it is an uncomfortable pain.   It generally heals pretty quickly (one day I feel it, the next it's gone for the most part).  I don't always know what triggers it either.  Last time I had a BAD back ache was after we went ice fishing.  If you remember from a previous post, we got two trucks stuck in the snow that day, so I had strained my back pushing the truck to get it out, plus I had to carry Hannah across the frozen lake while pulling her sled full of fishing gear (which caused my to twist while holding her).  So, either one of those two events could have made my back so sore.  I had to have ice on my back to reduce the swelling for over 2 days!  It was crazy how bad it was.  I couldn't bend down to help Hannah with things, I couldn't shop or clean.  It was so hard to deal with, but I got through it.  Thank goodness this whole digging thing hasn't done me in, it's too addicting to stop!!

On Saturday I transplanted some wild roses into the part of the garden I want to be thick with roses (basically a backdrop/hedge look).  It's been tricky transplanting them and so far I've had only about 50% transplant success.  About half of them don't take to the move, so over the 3 years I have been doing it I have been able to get some to work out.  It's still not quite what I want, but hopefully I will get more in there this spring and they will take.  I've improved my transplant technique too, so that should help out. 

I also transplanted an evergreen bush that I dug out from where I was leveling out the ground.  It grows wild all over the property and I plan to pland some more possibly between the wild rose bushes for some winter backdrop/hedge.  I have a few that I have pulled out of the ground just sitting in a clump in the broken plastic wagon, so I really need to transplant them soon!  I just want to make sure I want them there, or if I may want them somewhere else.  I will take a picture of them tomorrow or the next day.    There are also some other bush (not evergreen though) that I have been pulling out that are starting to bud and I think I may try to find a home for those somewhere too (but who knows). 

Hannah had a great Easter!  She was so cute searching for the eggs that the easter bunny hid for her out in my garden!  She was so thrilled when she woke up and saw her easter basket full of goodies (which happened to be at 6 a.m - 3 hours earlier than her normal morning wake up).  She had really enjoyed dying the eggs the night before and even did some painting.  She is the cutest little girl and loves doing projects with me.  She follows directions so well and for the most part is very patient when I am getting things set up.  I am so proud of her!! 

Well, of course it is getting late.  I should go to bed.  On a good note, I am feeling much better and my sore throat is gone!  Yipee, the only little thing I have is a slightly stuffy nose from the pressure changes from the weather.  Anyway, more tomorrow - pictures too!  Have a great day!  Happy Spring!!

~M~

Wow, last night was interesting.  I have never (as far as I can remember) seen thunder and lightning this early in the year!  I had just put a VHS movie on the television for Hannah when I went into the kitchen.  I all of a sudden heard a super strange noise that sounded as if the VCR was eating the tape I had just put in.  I ran towards the VCR then realized that the noise wasn't coming from the VCR, but from heavy rain or hail falling on my skylight.  It was the loudest I had ever heard it come down on the skylight.  I was talking on the phone with my mom when I heard the first loud crack of thunder, then followed up by more lightning.  It lasted only 20 minutes, but it was quite a shock (no pun intended!).  

Hannah had a great easter!  We also went over to Hannah's Great Grandma's (Mrs. P) house for a special turkey dinner, which she just loves the stuffing part!  She also tried the mashed potatoes and gravy and actually ate a few bits on her own.  She is a REALLY picky eater so it's hard to get her to actually continue eating things that she has tried.  We're slowly working on this one!  

I will be trying to go outside and get some digging done in the next hour or two.  The weather is currently spuratic with rain, sleet, hail and then sun.  It's pretty cold outside so we'll have to bundle up. 

 More later....

~M~

Gardening thoughts/progress: 

Today I dug more on my "leveling-out" project and had to re-think my plan.  I ended up having to move my "junk" rock pile (the rocks that I don't like to use in the rock walls etc. due to the fact that they are too sharp, are gravel rocks, or are poky and are more dangerous then the average rock if Hannah was to fall on them).  I decided to make the area bigger.  Oh-boy, it's addicting!  Anyway, I was able to dig 3-4 good size boulders out of the way (one was dead center in the way and Hannah plus myself tripped over it regularly, so thank goodness it's out!).  I will take some more pictures when I get better visual progress since it doesn't look like much has changed since the last time I was out there. 

On to my other garden endeavors, I planted the garlic I had in my cupboard and the rest of the chives (or at least I think I did, there may be a few still in the bucket though, so I will have to make sure).  I dug out two rocks from an existing flower bed (why I didn't do it in the first place I don't know...hum...) and also dug out a really big rock from where I planted my cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes last year (I was amending the soil when I came across the beast and couldn't just leave it in there even though it was quite deep.)  I have quite a few rocks now to place in a rock wall area holding up the terraced areas I am building, but it's getting hard to find ones that are "nice" or kid friendly.  I want to use as round as possible rocks so that they can't trip Hannah, or hurt her more than normal if they were jagged.  I am hoping that my new plan will work out nicely. 

We had an absolute beautiful day today.  The "weather man" had said it was supposed to be "rain/snow mix" yesterday/today, but it was really nice.  I am so worried it will all end up coming down tomorrow on our heads while we're out there doing our 1st actual easter egg hunt with Hannah. 

I am extremely excited it is Easter tomorrow, just as excited as a little kid!  I can't wait to see Hannah's face in the morning when she wakes up to the special surprise that the Easter Bunny brought her!  I can't wait to see her searching and finding the eggs outside in the garden.  Oh, I am so excited!  She's so wonderfully special and I love her so much!

Hannah coloring on her eggs before we dyed them.

Today we spent time with some of the extended family (My Mother-In-Law's Brother, his girlfriend and daughter(4 years old I think), and Hannah's Great-Grandma (My Mother-In-Law's mother - Mrs. P as she is called).   We spent most of the time outdoors having a "camp-fire" out in the back of the property, walking the paths we have through the woods and just really enjoying the spring weather. 

She sure loves playing in the dirt!

We never have a boring week around here:

Today:  We live across the canyon from a very popular area for dirt biking and this time of the year is especially popular for dirt biking.  There is a dirt bike race track down the canyon from us and we only hear a little of the "noise" from it, but when dirt bikers are not using the race track (basically when there is no special event planned, so quite often), they tend to do their biking all over the mountain on the other side of the canyon.  We had noticed quite an increase in dirt bike "noise" this week and had begun our yearly "tune-out".  It just gets to the point we really don't notice it much, so while we were out there doing our "camp-fire" we started to notice it was much louder than normal.  Hannah and I were taking a walk towards where you could see the other side of the canyon.  Something caught my eye, and sure enough it was 3 dirt bikers trying to traverse the side of the VERY steep mountain with their dirt bikes.  It was one of the scariest sights I have seen!  They were trying to ride on animal trails, not meant for dirt bikes; the deer and coyotes use these trails.  The dirt bikes are really heavy machines now days (not like I knew what they were like back-in-the-day, but I just know they're huge now!!), and it must have been exhausting trying to keep hold of them.  They had to drive them instead of just push them due to the weight of the machine and the type of terrain they were on.  One of the guys was extra scary to watch because he would just gun it and practically go straight up the mountain side, then slip and tip off the bike, each time we'd all hold our breaths.  One guy followed the same trail as the "crazy" rider, but the other one was "smarter" (and I use the term VERY loosly, he still got himself into that dangerous predicament so he couldn't be much "smarter"!).  He stayed behind observing to see how they did before he went and got himself even worse off. 

The canyon....it's a long way down there!

We decided it would be best if we called some sort of authority to warn them of the possible emergency in progress.  The police decided that they would come to our house to see what the situation was exactly and to possibly pin-point where on the mountain these dirt bikers were.  There is a road on the other side of the mountain, but it's not close to the canyon so it would have been difficult to find them from that side of the mountain.  Two police cars showed up and we showed them where the dirt bikers were and by that time we think that two of the riders were able to get their bikes up to an easier area and then came down to help the third rider with his bike.  The two police officers stood out there and watched the riders until they felt that they would get out alright, but jeeze I would have thought they would have tried something more.  What if they had just been watching and one of them took a dive down the canyon???  We could have done that much, watch and call if we watched someone plumit to highly likely death (not something I wanted to do though and was hoping for the best outcome).  I don't know exactly what they could have done either, so really atleast they responded quickly.  Once the police officers felt it was "okay", Mitchel decided to ask if he could get a ride down the property in the police car.  The officer said sure, but that she only lets people in handcuffs into her car.  The three kids were very happy to get a chance to see the inside of a police car.  They were allowed to press the various siren and light buttons.  Then Mitchel was handcuffed and Luke and Jessica (Mother-In-Laws niece) were all allowed to get in the back of the car for the drive down the road to the house.  Once they got down there the lady officer let all three of them get handcuffed and pose for a picture with her.  She also gave them temporary tatoos that have a mounted policeman/woman on them.  The kids were so THRILLED!   Hannah thought that the sirens were so neat and enjoyed seeing the police cars too. 

Needless to say, we never have a boring uneventful week around here!  I love living here!

Anyway, I should get going to bed, it's late and I have to get up early in the morning to hide the eggs for my sweetie-po-teetie!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter weekend and that they are getting lovely spring weather!  Happy Gardening!

~M~

Well, it was overcast and partly sunny on and off today.  Hannah and I didn't get out and do much.   We basically went out for a bit of a walk and then fed the horses for my Mother -In-Law.

We spent quite a while over at the Mother-In-Law's house visiting and helping her create an email address.  She's pretty computer illiterate and I have to teach her how to do the same things over and over.  It's okay and I really don't mind, but it's hard to find the time when I have my little 2 year old stinker running around like a hurricane!  It takes me twice as long to teach her and it's hard for her to concentrate totally while "Hurricane Hannah" hits.  Anyway, it took us a long time to get even the simplest thing like making her a hotmail account accomplished!  But we did it!  Yes!  But.....later this evening my Mother-In-Law called and said that something weird came up when she tried to log-in, so who knows.  I will have to check it out tomorrow!  

Hannah played mini hockey (basically indoor hockey) with her Uncle Luke and his friend Connor (both 12 years old) for a while and she just loves spending time with them.  It's so neat to watch her interact with her young uncles (12 and 8 years old) and to see them interacting with her.   Kids are so much fun to watch how they play....

 Above: The three musketeers, Mitchel-Hannah-Luke, 2 days ago while it was super nice out.  So nice we even broke out the popsicles!  Hannah just loves hanging out with them (she's wearing a head band that Mitchel put on her, she was so proud that she got to wear it!)

Sorry there isn't much on here about gardening so far...but here ya go:

My seedlings are doing alright, nothing "new" with them.  The tall zucchinis I have been talking about are okay, tipping over like Gay Lynn (giggelynn) mentioned might happen.  I just hope that I don't lose them.  The cucumber seedlings are still button cute.  Tomorrow I need to plant my Grapefruit seedlings/sprouts before I end up killing them (they are still in the baby food jar I started them in). 

I am planning on trying to plant some of my garlic.  I bought some garlic and it's gotten older and I thought why not try to plant them.  My gardening book says that there can be some success from store bought garlic cloves.  So, experiment #1 we'll see how it works out!  If anyone has any suggestions/experience with starting garlic from store bought garlic. 

Another thing I have to get around to doing is planting my bulbs that I have.  They are summer bloomers so I am pretty sure that it's an okay time to be planting them (well, as far as my "research" is telling me. 

Bulbs I have:

Chives:  I have just regular old chive bulbs from my Mother-In-Law's garden that she pulled out last summer (they wintered over with just the dirt they were pulled out with and sat into a pot).   They are starting to sprout so I need to get them in the ground.  They grow actually really well even in my clay soil and I do like the look quite a bit, especially when they are thick and full.

Gladiolas:  I bought some bulbs from Home Depot last fall when they were getting rid of their bulb selection.  They are red.  I think.  (They are put away in a "dark place" and I haven't seen them in a while). 

I have VERY little knowledge of growing bulbs, but last year I decided to try my hand at it.  I bought some crocus (still does anyone know how to spell this one in the plural form?) flowers,  2 tulip pots (flowering) and 2 pots with 1 hyacinth in each - to brighten my spring.  I planted them all after they died off.   I am happy to say that ALL of them are poking through the ground.  I originally thought that one of my hyacinths was not going to come in, but when I checked yesterday it had started to come through ever so slightly!  I still need to make sure I planted them properly so I have alittle research to do in the next few days so that I can make it right after they die off this year.  I will be sure to post pictures of them when they bloom.

More tomorrow, I have to go to bed!  I really need to continue my recuperation since I am feeling noticeably better today!  I sure hope that we don't have an icky day tomorrow.  I should probably check the weather report to see though. 

Have a great Easter weekend!

~M~

Well, yesterday I was able to spend a super long time digging in my garden!  I ended up shoveling so much that blisters formed, then popped.  Yikes! They're pretty sore today and full of liquid again.  I hope they will heal soon and turn to a callus so they I won't keep getting sore spots.  The blisters are where my ring were, so today I took them off.  I don' t know if it made any difference since I think it's the way that I shovel that caused them.  Who knows, all I know is my hands are tender. 

"Maybe I should be wearing gloves too." - DUH, silly me! 

My dad pointed that one thought out for me last night when we were talking on the phone.  I just hate wearing gloves so much!  I have a decent pair, but my hands are small and I always get irritated when the dirt inside the gloves gets stuck under my nails.  It bothers me so much more than when I just get dirt under them from digging bare handed in the dirt.  It tends to be dry crumbles of dirt and it's just so uncomfortable for me.  Oh-well, it's strange, I'm strange...lol!

Anyway, back to what I was writing about in the beginning of this entry - I was so thrilled to make so much progress and very proud of my hard work!! 

Below are the pictures of a before shot, and an after pictures:  

Above:  The "Before" picture!  What a mess with uneven dirt, rocks sticking out everywhere, grass and branches too. 

Above:  This is the "step" I made.  It took me a bit to figure out exactly what I wanted to do design wise, but once I figured it out this quickly fell into place!  I was able to start it and finish it in one day!  Yipee!  I love progress! 

 Above:  A side view of the same area of the picture above this one.  It shows my rock step almost finished, and all the dirt I've dug out.  My camera seems to distort depth, or maybe it's when I upload them.  It seems to smash the depth, weird.  The area is deeper than this picture seems to show.  Also there is a pile of dirt in the center there that is hard to see and that doesn't help to show how big of an area actually is. 

Above:  Another view of the step and the area I've been digging in.  You can see how much I have dug down by the level of the dirt on the right side of the picture.  It's been a struggle and now the "Boulder Brothers and Sisters" have joined forces with the "Root Brothers and Sisters" and have one the battle in one area, but I am not giving up elsewhere!

I was able to do more after I took these pictures so these pictures aren't totally current.  I will try and post some more when I get a bit more done.  So, tomorrow "a digging I will go!"

I took some really nice pictures of Hannah today with some crocus' (Now, how on earth do you spell crocus plurally, anyone know that one?).  She just loves flowers and was just drawn to them.  They are the first things to bloom on our property (Unfortunatly they are not mine, they're the Mother-In-Law's, but they are still so nice to see!).  No wild flowers yet, and my crocus' are not all the way up either.  They should be blooming in the next 2-3 days I'm guessing.  We are supposed to get rain and snow mix on Friday so that may slow them down - YUCK!

Hannah loves flowers!  I just love these spring pictures!  They're some of my very favorites of her so far this year!

Well, I hope everyone enjoys my pictures of spring!  Have a great rest of the week and I sure hope that the "rain and snow mix" were going to have on Friday will not be as bad as I am picturing in my head. 

"Happy Gardening, Happy Spring!"

~M~

Above:  My bean sprouts FINALLY sprouting.  It seemed to take forever in comparison to my Mother-In-Laws.  Her's sprouted in 5-6 days I think and mine have been closer to 10-14 days!  I do know that she used a special (I think Miracle Grow brand) seed starting soil and I used plain jane potting soil.  I wonder if it made that difference, thoughts?!

 Above:  My beautiful super tall Zucchini plants!  They're almost 6-7 inches tall, which I am not sure if that's too good since they're probably "reaching" for the sunlight.  Any thoughts, good or bad?

Abov
e:  Another view of my super tall Zucchini.  Any thoughts, is this good or bad, or just okay?

Above:
  My good little cucumbers growing in their milk jug home.  They are doing pretty darn good, and I am pretty proud of 'em!  Hope it stays that way!  (Fingers crossed!)

 Above:  Now there's some big rocks!  This is a sample of some found on my husbands parents property (we rent on this property too, so basically it surrounds were Hannah and I go walking a lot.)

Above:  One view of the canyon we live by.  My husbands parents own the property that follows along the canyon (and we rent on this property).  Pretty dangerous for kiddos, but the actual canyon is far enough away that we don't deal with it on a daily basis.  We have to walk a bit to get to it and my young Brother-In-Laws (ages 12 and 8 years old) know better and have been raised to know its very dangerous!

Above:  One of those dang "Gravel" Brothers and Sisters!!  If you happen to hit this too hard with the shovel, they break into many pieces gravel size and are a PAIN to try and get out!!

Well, that's the lot of them.  I love taking pictures and especially like being able to share them.  I was so excited that I was able to get out and do some digging in the dirt today!  Hannah is feeling better a little bit at a time and she came out and joined me for a bit, and then I was also able to get out when she took a nap (thank goodness for baby monitors!!).   It was another gorgeous day outside!  I got quite a bit done today in that area that I am making for Hannah.  She will love it once I am done!  I won a battle with the "Boulder" brother, but may need the hubby to move it from where I ended up rolling it since it flipped to a side that doesn't easily roll from.  I hope it's not stuck since I would like to use it in the landscape of the new area I am making for Hannah.  I may use it as a rock step, or even as a retaining rock.  I have conquered the "Boulder" beast!  Hahaha! 

I also transferred two wheel barrow loads of composted horse manure over to a pile near my rock garden.  I still have to make up my mind as to what is going to go where and what I want to expand before I put the manure into the soil.  I think that I want to expand an area and potentially get rid the area that I attempted to plant my veggies in last year (Zucchini, Cucumber and Tomatoes).  I will have to take a good long look at things tomorrow.  At least I was able to get the manure closer to where it will eventually end up.  I can't move the manure when Hannah is around because she walks so slow (basically I couldn't fill up the the wheel barrow and have her walk next to me, it would take upwards of half an hour!).  So, I was very pleased to have been able to get the two wheel barrow loads today.  I will be sure to do more when I get the chance since I need TONS!

Well, more tomorrow.  I hope that everyone is well!  Happy Gardening!

~M~

 Above Left:  My African Violet start rooting!  I am so thrilled!!  I have two successfully rooting!

Above Right:  My Grapefruit seeds that have sprouted. There are two seeds but multiple sprouts.  I will try getting a better picture later!  I am also very excited about these!

  Above:  The beautiful African Violet that I was able to get my starts from.  It's just a wonderful plant and it likes me so I decided to try and get some starts from it so I would have more that like me! 

Above:  One of the "Boulder" Brothers I encountered today while trying to make an area toddler friendly (see below picture.)

Above:  The area that I am going to try and flatten out for my daughter Hannah (2 years old) to play on while I am playing in my garden.  It is really hard to see how uneven the ground is and how many rocks are actually sticking out of the ground (So hard for a toddler to navigate!!)

Above:  5 days ago this is what I saw when I went "strollin" with Hannah.  I was bummed out that the snow level was heading our way!  But it came and then quickly melted away, thank goodness!

Above:  Same as the photo above this one.  5 days ago (April 1st, 2009)

Above:  My Zucchini  and Cucumber that had already out grown their starter cells. So, I transplanted them a few days ago into larger peat pots.  I will post another picture in the next blog post. 

This thing is acting up so I have to make another post to include the other pictures I want to show you all!  Be sure to check the rest out too!

~M~

Well, Hannah has a throat infection as well as an ear infection.  It's terrible.  The worst part comes at night when she's trying to sleep.  She wakes up and tosses and flings her body around coughing and crying.  She's so frustrated that she can't stop coughing and so tired from not sleeping soundly.  It's rough.  We went to the walk-in clinic today and ended up getting antibiotics which means we should start seeing some improvement tomorrow or the next day.  I just hope that tomorrow night is much better.  This is the second night that I've had a flinging little cough-er on my hands. 

With Kyle (the hubby) being out of town it's hard to take care of a little one alone, but I am getting through it!  I've been taking care of Hannah most of the time alone, literally since the day she was born.  Kyle travels a ton for work.  This trip he's been gone for 3 weeks already and it looks like he'll be gone for another 3 or more still.  He works so hard too, 7 days a week X 12 hours a day!  I love him so much and miss him incredibly! 

On top of it all, we missed two of the most gorgeous days so far this year.  They were so beautiful and warm.  I hope that this weather sticks around for the rest of the week so that we can get out there and work in the garden.  I wanted to do so much this last week and into this weekend, but with Hannah getting sick and then actually being sick, it's just not happened.  I hope to get out there and do some mixing of horse manure and clay soil, and general cleaning up of the yard.  I also want to start working on smoothing out that area that Hannah finds hard and scary to walk over.  There are a few rocks that stick out of the ground and uneven ground.  That is part of my expansion plan, smooth it out and put some bark mulch down for Hannah to walk on and play around.  I want her to have an area that she can play in when I am playing in my garden too.   I will post some pictures of the "before" soon. 

I have to go for now, she's coughing again and I have to get her to take some of the antibiotics and drink some water.  More possibly tomorrow, but how much more, I do not know....poor little Hannah.  I can't wait for her to get better, oh how I can't wait!!

Hope you all have a great week and weather!  Happy Gardening!

~M~

 I just thought I would share some photos of me and my family.  Since Hannah is sick, I don't have much time to think and write, so for now all I can do is post some pictures. 

 Above:  My Husband Kyle and our daughter Hannah (2)

 Above:  My Husband Kyle and our daughter Hannah (2) with the giant snowman Luke (Kyle's younger brother, 12 yrs), Hannah and I made.

 Abov
e:  My hubby Kyle pushing one of the two 4X4 trucks we got stuck on our way to ice fishing (see previous blog post for a picture of our ice fishing successes).

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Above:  Kyle, Hannah, Grandpa V ( Kyle's Dad), Luke and Mitch (Kyle's younger brothers,12 and 8) on our ice fishing trip.  We had a blast and it was truly a beautiful day, cold, but beautiful!

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Above:  Hannah sitting in her sled, sipping on hot chocolate I packed for her.  She was just watching Kyle fish, it was so cute!

 Above: Hannah (2 yrs) digging through her outdoor box in March '09

Above:  Hannah (2yrs) trudging through the spring muck!  We had so much mud!  March '09

I love my family so much and enjoy every bit of time I get to spend at home raising my daughter.  I love teaching her about nature and spending time with her outdoors.  We love where we live, but hope to be able to purchase a place of our own soon.  We put in an offer on a house in March and it was accepted, however we didn't get acceptable financing.  Basically the conditions of the financing were not what we had in mind and were outrageous, so we declined.  We're pretty bummed hat it didn't work out, but are looking forward to a better situation later on as we save more $$ and the houses in B.C may continue to go down in price.

More on that tomorrow maybe...goodnight and have a wonderful day!

~M~

Just testing....testing.....testing
.....

Ice fishing Feb. 2009 - Hannah with her first fish and myself. 

Yipee, it worked!

My daughter is sick again, so I won't be updating my blog as much until she is better.  Third major sickness in three weeks! 

One interesting note, I found out that my Grandpa is also allergic to Kiwi!  Since Hannah was so sick after eating one a few days ago, I had a suspicion that she may be allergic.  It's such a strange bit.  I asked my Grandpa if he knew of anyone who was allergic to Kiwi and he said "YES!  ME!"  I was so shocked to have figured it out that quickly!  So, chances are, she is allergic to them!

It was a really nice day outside and Hannah did manage to want to spend some time outdoors even with her bad cough.  She likes it when we go "strollin' " as she puts it (when I push her in the stroller).  We did that for a bit, collected some Hollyhock seeds, then checked out my flower garden,   Stepping back and taking a look at my flower garden, I have decide to expand!  I plan on making a more toddler friendly section and to flatten out the bumpy, rocky areas.  I am looking forward to working on it tomorrow, but like I said it depends on how Hannah is feeling.

As I am writing this (yes, it is 2 a.m), she's in pretty rough shape.  Running a fever, coughing a bunch and she just threw up the Motrin I gave her.  She must have had too empty of a stomach to handle it.  She is drinking tons of water which is good, but man I hate when my little one get's sick.  It stresses me out.  She is my first child and I find it's hard to know when it's a serious problem and we should see her doctor, or if it's just something that will work it's way out.  It is stressful!  We'll see by tomorrow if we decide to go in and see a doctor or not.  I just hope she gets better because I would love to be able to share the wonderful weather we're supposed to have this weekend with her.

I hope everyone is doing well!  I'll post some pictures when I get the chance.  I took some a few days ago of the birds that have found our "birdy treats" Hannah and I made as well as some neat nature pictures I took. 

 Have a great weekend everyone!  Happy Gardening!  Spring is on it's way!!

~M~

I am so tired right now.  It's 1:02 and my daughter is still awake.  Hannah ended up falling asleep in my arms really late and slept for over 2 hours.   We're now so out of wack, plus I couldn't sleep last night and didn't fall asleep until sometime after 4:45 a.m. (that was the last time I looked up at the clock).  Yuck!  I hate when this happens!!

In gardening news, I did a bunch of digging out in the flower garden today to continue my battle with the evil "ClaySoil" and encountered it's evil siblings "Rock", "Boulder" and "Gravel".  I have some picture of the progression of my fight and removal of the evil "Boulder". 

The above picture is my first encounter with "Boulder".  Shovel in place and ready for action......

Ta-Dah!  I was successful in the "Battle of the Tomato Bed".  He was a brute, but I persevered!

My seeds inside.  They are Zucchini, Cucumbers, and Broccoli (top to bottom).  I have to transplant the Zucchini already due to the fact that the roots have already grown through the bottom.  I hope to do that soon since I don't want them to die off due to cramped quarters.

Ah, the above picture is my "dead" Alyssum.  It just fell over.  This picture really doesn't show what it looked like the first day it happened.  This was a day or two after they all "fell down".  I have NO idea why they did that.  It didn't seem to be "dampening off" .  Anyway, I will just plant them outside from now on too. 

Well, I gotta head to bed.  Hope all is well with everyone! 

~M~

Ah, to day is April 1st, and nature is playing a joke on me today!  It's snowing and has been snowing for the last 2 hours.  Nothing seems to be sticking, but jeeps!  Anway, off to the eye specialist for Hannah and I.  We'll see what he says today!

More later this evening!  Hopefully some pictures too.  I have been lacking in the addition of seed starting pictures.  So, hopefully tonight it will work out. 

~M~

Well, I didn't get to do any work out in my garden today.  It seems that the weather that hinders me, is also hindering a whole lot of fellow gardeners throughout the US and Canada.  We had marble sized hail, slushy rain and ever-so tiny snow flakes.  It didn't amount to anything, so that's good. 

 I hope to get out into the garden tomorrow after Hannah's eye specialist appointment.  It's tomorrow at 3 and we're going to possibly find out if she's at the top of the waiting list for the surgery to correct her "lazy eye".  I don't like using that term, since she doesn't have it wandering in all the time, just every once in a while when she's not wearing her glasses and she's trying to focus.  The eye specialist said he still sees a slight turn in even when she is wearing her glasses.  I think that the glasses have made a HUGE improvement, but he is the one that is trained to spot the slightest difference in eye alignment.  We have been patching her "good" eye to strengthen her "bad" eye for almost a full year (it will be a full year sometime in April).  We patch it now for 1-2 hours, but in the beginning it was 4-6 hours.  I hope that he sees enough change or more solid eye alignment!  Oh, fingers crossed.  I don't want her to end up having to have sergery on her eye.  It scares me to death!

Well, it's so late and I am so turned around backwards!  Anyway, I will post some more pictures tomorrow and explain a bit about my rock garden then. 

I hope that everyone has a great rest of the week and that "our" weather shapes up soon!  Happy Gardening!

~M~