carolyncat353's Blog

Thursday night when we had some bad rainstorms come through, lightning hit a tree next to my houes (about a 150 ft. tall pine tree!) and apparently that's what screwed up my computer-It's going to the doctor today.  Also-messed up my A/C system, too!  Now, my unit is about 15 years old, so I guess it's time for a new one-THERE GOES MY NEW CAR!  Then, we had the cool front come through-and I have no heat, either!  But it only cooled down to 60 in my house, so I could live with that-for now!  Supposed to be 80 today! No A/C either!  How long will it take!?!

The SW La Garden Show was a little bigger than last year-and suprisingly I did not see anything I couldn't live without!  I went around 10:30 on Sat morning and the place was packed!!  I already had all my vegetables-I did see a couple of small trees I would have liked-but I thought the prices were a little high.  I did buy a Lousiana Gardening book-and I like it !  I did see a birdbath made of flower pots turned upside down, painted very nicely, and sealed with a large 'saucer' as the bird bath itself.  Wish I had taken a picture.  Very nice and not complicated at all!  Handouts were slim this year because of "cutbacks", so I didn't get any of those, either.  All in all, it was nice-but I want to go to the one in Lafayette, which I think is this coming weekend-That one is really nice.

I have 4 hummers just SWARMING my bottlebrush-At least I think there's 4-It looks like more, they're so busy!  Yesteday evening sitting outside I had a bluebird appear.  Not a bunting, but a TOTALLY Blue bird!  Smaller than a bunting, and so perfect!  And I had 2 Goldfinches!  REAL, real gold-finches!  I thought they had all left.  So it was real colorful with a bluebird, goldfinches and the red cardinals!  Along with the usual gang of sparrows, doves, those darn PIGeons, blackbirds, starlings, chicadees and 1 woodpecker!  Nice afternoon.

I took several pics around the yard, but they're all loaded in my home computer-which is "cassed" (pronounce Kas-aid-cajun french for broken)  I have many things budding and blooming and spitting out pollen-and grass needing to be cut.  It's heading to summer!

While cutting the grass Sunday, I discovered the Iris along the fence had a bloom, with several buds.  Yesterday evening, all of these were blooming!  I took the picture just before dark because we're going to get some rain, and I'm sure it will beat them up some. 

Maybe someone can lighten this up.  I don't know why, but it seems my pictures consistently post 'dark'.  They are not this dark when I take them!    Close up:

I didn't get to do a whole lot this weekend.  Petey had to go to High Island, TX, which is near Galveston to look at a job, so I went with him, and we drove down the coast a ways toward Galveston.  Amazing!  It looked so much like after Rita-places where there used to be houses or camps were totally GONE!  Just broken pilings, or maybe a slab, and the Gulf is sooooooo much closer to the road now!  And you can actually see the Gulf where in many places there was a small levee or lots of Rozo cane-All gone!  I feel so sorry for those people! 

AND, then on the way back, he stopped at a truck dealership and bought a new truck.  I soooo did not want to be there!  He bought a REALLY expensive, loaded up one-and I told him this was his last 'HURRAH', cause in 6 years he would be 70 and driving a compact truck! Anyway, he deserves it.

Now-Sunday, I cut some grass and pulled a few (a very few) weeds.  I cleaned off the patio some, and washed off the majority of it, because poor little PEANUT is eat up with allergies!  His little belly stays red and he's constantly scratching.  So, we went to the vet AGAIN yesterday.  Now, he has a skin infection from all the scratching.  The med I've been giving him just doesn't appear to be working.  So, we're trying new stuff. 

I do have a pic of my NEW RED mandevilla that I planted in my newly made box, and a close up of the bottle brush.  I will have a picture of the full thing by this weekend, if the rain that is coming doesn't destroy it!

Bottle Brush close up

I have a couple more pics of the flowers blooming around my house.  Both of these are planted in pots, and both need to be sorely divided!:

St. Joe lillies are always red.  I also have some candy striped amaryliss:

I also have some dianthus blooming-love this color:

Of what's been going on.  The Rain finally quit Monday AM sometime-stayed misty & foggy and kind of chilly, but the afternoons have been warm.  My potatoes and tomatoes look great-no beans up yet (and I thought they would be), but...my cukes have had it.  Too much rain at one time-totally flat-Here we go again-I had to start over 3 times last summer and never really got any cukes.  I promised pictures, and I will spread them out over a few days-

First-Motley is BACK!  Fence sitting looking for birds and lizards-The pin is out and the doc said he is impressed at her recovery-didn't think it would be this good! (yeah, $1200.00 later)

Her right eye is the blind one-She can still catch varmints, though!   Here is the bottle brush just starting it's bloom.  I saw a hummer buzzing it yesterday, but he was too fast for a picture:

It's also nesting time for the wood ducks-this is from behind Pete's house.  The ducks are on top of the wood duck box.  When the babies hatch, the Moma duck gets in the water and quacks and quacks and the Dad is on top and they make a bunch of noise, and the babies plop out into the water!  Sometimes, it takes a long time.

More in a few days!    Later Gators!

I vaguely remember reading Julius Ceasar in High School-a long time ago! 

It's been RAINING!  For 3 days.  Since Friday, I've got about 2 1/2 inches of rain in my meter.  We needed it-but it can stop now!  My yard doesn't drain well, and it is a lake!  Supposed to be sunny and in the low 70's tomorrow so everything should look great and Perky!!

My yard Amaryliss are blooming-the pink candy striped ones, and the St. Joseph Lillies are starting to bloom, too.  I have 2 more potatoes peeking through, and had a couple of real swollen green beans on top of the soil after the rain, so they should be up next few days, too!  I have pulled my remaining radish and will pull the last garlic next week.  I have the ones I pulled in the garage and WHEW! they are garlicky!!  Can you freeze garlic? 

My azaleas are almost done-and the neighbors are just starting.  Weird, both are planted on the north sides of our houses-although mine are next to my house, and hers aren't.  Her Mom is a garden nut, too, and came over to look at my petunias, pansies and snapdragons last week, and to see what I had that she didn't.  We have almost all the same plants, BUT, she had a pink angel trumpet and mine is yellow-so she sent me a Pink cutting! Yay!

I planted some Dahlia's this year-and they are UP!  After planting, I read that they shouldn't be planted in a pot-and mine are in a 16" pot-Dahlia growers-what do you think?  Only 2 in the pot.  In my Southeast bed that I redid, I planted some coreopsis, and put a small plumbago in the ground.  Those dreaded Elephant Ears are starting to show. (GRRR)  I also threw some seeds of Baby's Breath in there, too. I also have some caladiums in there that should be poking through before long also. 

I have tiny leaves showing on my crepe myrtles, and new growth on my hydrangea.  I bought another red mandevilla to replace the one the kittens killed by climbing on it and had the guys at the shop make me a "box" to plant it in.  The bottle brush is full of buds and starting to bloom from the bottom, the passion vine is full of new growth as is my Alamanda and even the Bird of Paradise.  It is SPRINGY around here!

Tomorrow when the sun is out, I will take pics of all this for your viewing pleasure!  Stay warm and dry!

Later Gators!

Wow!  Though our winters are very mild, it still deters you from doing "stuff" in the yard.  This weekend was gorgeous in the upper 70's and sunny and windy !  So....yesterday I moved some potted plants around, WATERED (can you believe-we're close to drought conditions here!) pulled a few weeds and of course-WENT TO LOWE'S!, and I planted cukes, 2 tomatoes, 2 bell peppers, and 1 1/2 rows of snap beans.  I have ONE more potato poking through the ground, and I pulled 2 garlic plants cause they were in the way.  Now, I don't know a thing about growing garlic, and the bulbs are kinda small, about 2/3's size you would buy at the store.  Is this ok?  I have 2 more BIG ones growing, I can see a flower starting to develop, still lots of green leaves-but they are fixing to be in the way of summer vegetables.  Suggestions?  

TODAY was a killer!!  We planted one tree and 3 blueberry bushes in Petey's yard, pulled weeds and MULCHED (to me, he soOOO overdoes mulch),  He planted some more radish-he had such a good crop (and didn't know it, cause I planted the seeds and he forgot about them!)  Then, I came home wanting to nap around noon, but the next door neighbor fired up the chain saw, and a nap didn't happen..  I mowed part of the back yard, finished redoing the SE corner shrub/flower bed.  WEEDEATED (yuk!), finished chopping back the angel trumpet, cut back the banana tree that is in a pot, tossed out some zinnia seeds and drank 3 glasses of wine. I'm done! I will have pics at  a later date!

Later gators!

I counted 6 little plants yesterday!! I only planted 10, so this is a good sign!  My sweetie pie nephew tilled my other little 8x8 square for me, and this weekend I will set out my tomatoes, and plant my cucumber seed, well, just get STARTED full swing.  There's gonna be bell peppers, eggplant, squash and green beans, too.

Yesterday my son called me from Montana (zone 4, poor baby) wanting to know what vegetables he can get started for planting up there.  KERRY!  Where are you!! I told him to get in touch with the local extension service.  I don't think what we grow here in south Louisiana will be the same as what grows in Northern Montana!  Meaning not the same 'type/variety' of seeds.  And he never wanted to plant a garden (he-he!)

Motley is back in full cat mode.  Day before yesterday she brought me a bird.  This morning at 4:00AM, she brought me a mouse!  And I have found various dead little frogs and lizards-more frogs than lizards in the house.  She'll get the pin out of her leg next week, and she's good to go! I don't know how I'll keep her out of my planted seeds! -Oh, I know, I remember, lattice!  I have some extra lattice salvaged from one of the hurricanes (one man's trash...)

I still have lots of cannas to dig up, so if anyone still wants some-pm me.  I have a few gingers that I have dug left, too.  I have started some moonflower seeds, and some seed that I pulled off a plant when Clint and I went to an old plantation home in Mississippi.  The plant was dormant, I didn't recognize the dried flowers on the bush, so, Clint just jerked some off the bush and put in his pocket. Keeping fingers crossed!

Got to do some work Yek!

Later Gators!!