chattycarnation's Blog

Busy day today!
Sep 25, 2007 | 9:57 PM PST
Tag: Crown Imperial Fritterlaria

I spent most of the morning and early afternoon trying to get all my phone calls finished for my company TV program that makes its debut on Saturday. Then we had a chance of rain this evening, so thought I had better put my bulbs I bought yesterday in the ground. Also planted some icicle pansies as well, white and yellow. The bulbs I planted i got at Menards. Crown Imperial Fritterlaria. They really stink!! LOL yes I know flowers are supposed to smell good, but these smell like skunk and help to keep the moles out of my flower beds. And as a bonus they have a great looking bloom on them in the spring... just don't stick your nose into one!!

All that rushing around and trying to get some outdoor things done and it doenst shower until about 10pm this evening!! And not much at that :( we will see what is in the rain gauge in the morning. Maybe a shower will settle down some of this corn and soybean dust in the air from the harvest all around me.

 

Hit a record high today!!
Sep 24, 2007 | 8:24 PM PST
Tag: record high

We hit a record high today.. 93 degrees.!! Broke the record that was set back in 1891....

We have a chance of rain tomorrow.. things are so dry here, but the farmers are going to town working on getting the crops out. I got my deck power wached yesterday with the help of my daughter.. that was a harder job than we planned on. Did the north end of the house and the shed while we were at it. If we get rain tomorrow, will have to wait a few days for it to dry before restaining it.  The power washer, which my daughter borrowed from her neighbor, did a great job. The deck looks wonderful and did not seem to be roughed up. I guess we will see if it takes a stain or not.

Also picked up a couple of packages of tulips this afternoon and some icicle pansies..

 

 

Mid September and it has been in the 90s!
Sep 22, 2007 | 3:20 AM PST
Tag: rent or own your own power washer?

Weird weather we have had. After that touch of frost, it turned back to hot and dry. I am sure the farmers are trying to hurry and get the crops out .. everywhere you go you see the combines going at full force. The wind blew a lot of corn shucks my way and my yard its coverd with them. Some of the trees are showing signs of color, they are all under such stress because of the lack of rain and this is the 3rd year. Some people, including me, have lost some trees, which is a real shame.

I think today the high is supposed to be in the 80s..and next Monday we have a slight chance of a shower. I have been trying to get some of my outdoor things done, but have really been busy with my business so finding time for everything is not easy.

We took all the lights off of our deck and have been going around with the hammer, resetting some nails that had popped up a bit before we rent the power washer to clean it.. Hubs wants to buy a washer, but I am thinking??? Do I want to store it, will I use it often? What do you all do? Rent or Own?

 

We did get a touch of frost..:(
Sep 15, 2007 | 5:32 PM PST
Tag: a touch of frost

I don't think the frost was too bad, but we did have to wait for it to melt off the windows of the car this morning before we left for a business meeting. I put some of my container plants under the table and chairs on the deck and they seem to be fine this evening. When I got up about 6 this morning it was 36.5 degrees!! Way too cold for this time of year that is for sure, but it does put you in the mood for a weiner roast! LOL

To answer a couple of questions, I am not sure how to describe the wrought iron furniture, there is a little bench and matching chair, kind of like flowers and scrolls  with a kind of claw foot leg.

We have not purchased the deck stain yet, but hubby is leaning toward the same color we had before which was a cedar shade.

Guess it is time to get out my fall decorations and bring home come pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks.

 

What a difference an inch of rain makes!
Sep 14, 2007 | 7:19 PM PST
Tag: deck stain and sealer

Our yard is becoming green again! We definately do have large patches that are going to have to be reseeded, but the plants just perked up and you could see them smilng!! LOL

We have a chance for scattered frost tonight. Goodness we had our air conditioner on yesterday and now we are going to bring out the blankets!! But the cold spell is only for a couple of days and then warmer weather for next week. I have purchased my black paint to work on our storn door and some wroght iron lawn furniture that used to belong to my mother in law before she passed away. 

Tuesday, if we can rent the power washer, we will clean the deck and house and get ready to restain the deck before winter. Going to be a busy week for me! Does anyone have a special brand of deck stain that they found works best  and has long retention?

Yippeeee.. we finally got an inch of rain!!
Sep 7, 2007 | 7:31 PM PST
Tags: porch , rain

My plants are so happy! No matter how much you water and raise your water bill.. it is never like mother nature! So when we got a few showers yesterday, my plants just perked right up and got a nice drink. The counties around us got more rain than we did, but we got a much needed inch and we are grateful!!

I just found out that one of my neighbors is going to have a wedding in their backyard in a couple of weeks.. so now I want to get out to the back of my lot and make that look a bit nicer for their backdrop in case some of their pictures pick up my backyard in them.I have an area that is about 12 x 10 that I have not worked on yet. That bed is about 150 feet long and that section is at the end and not finished . Now I have some motivation to complete that section. Hopefully I will be able to get some of that done soon.. I have so many projects going already. One is to clean, stain and seal my deck and to also put a porch over my old concrete walkway.. Supposed to get those estimates this week for that project to see how much it will set me back. I think it will be cheaper than taking out the old sidewalk and concrete stoop and repouring concrete.. we will see.

My north flower bed is refreshed:)
Sep 1, 2007 | 1:14 AM PST
Tags: mulch , Preen

Well the people I hired to clean out that bed, hopefully got all of the poison ivy! I can actually see the old bones of that overgrown bed! During the course of neglect .. I lost a couple of hosta, but my coral bells, hydrangea and a few other things actually do not look to bad considering the drought.

Now I need to work on it. So more has been added to my fall to-do list! First thing is to get some soil amendments in there. Maybe add some Preen to help stop the weed seeds from sprouting??

What kind of mulch do you use, up close to the foundation of a house?