dbjc364's Blog

dbjc364's May 2012 Entries

Last Post 5 days, 20 hours Ago

| Add a Comment | Report

May 31, 2012 | 3:55 AM PST
Tag: blooms ..
then I moved onto potting up some more basil. That went on the deck.Then I moved onto sowing lettuce-Romaine & Boston,under the cuke trellis. Then a line of celery. Unfortunate for me I have errands today. But I think I shall plant this morning early before heading over to Ma's. I'll start with removing the sod clumps in one of the beds,and emptying last years planting pots into it. One of my errands I can do tomorrow to free up today for some more planting time. I got to wacking around the beds again,then got the majority of mowing done. Put on a roast for supper in the crock, checked the mail,moved onto making the next batch of laundry soap.Did some laundry-dishes,then I was a bit pooped and ready for a nap. After I got up,I went at it again,hubby a little late getting home,but with the case of mouse traps under his arm,so it was worth it. After supper we had enough daylight left to tackle the wild outdoors again. Checked over the blueberry bushes again and marveled at the good growth they've got on them in the last year and watched the bumble bees have a good time. This year I'm going to need help with the harvesting-there's no doubt about that. First three rows full & loaded. A good breeze yesterday-otherwise it would have been too hot. We did more wacking and mowing till dark,now I can see my 2 small blueberry bushes in the cement block bed. Today I shall weed the bed and give them some pine needles. Making a list and it keeps getting longer. Full sun today again-hope we have another breezer day or at least partly cloudy will do. By next month alot of this will be done,and I can sit on the deck and watch my stuff growing,but no time right now to do a whole lot of sitting. I have my six blueberry bushes planted nearby the deck.The average family needs four,but I purposely planted the six to make sure I had extra. This year they also have good growth on them, and many berries this season. Time to pick up some more and start the last line going in. Oh, I picked up some yellow Glads too that need to go in somewhere,but this time I think 2 big pots would be nice-and then I wont forget to dig them up in the fall. My Peony has tripled its size finally, just a few more days of sun and it'll bloom also. I've got its final spot picked out near the house where I can enjoy it,but have to wait till its done blooming and cooler weather. My Rhodes have never looked better,and blooming well this season,but a bit overcrowded with the Forsynthia between them. So thats on next years list-to be moved. The male Holly still in his bucket,but since he's blooming,I put him right next to the female at the fence. Hopefully they will like each other and he will pollinate her this year. Hope to get him into the ground this week-today-tomorrow-then both of them moved this fall or next spring to their final home. Whatever planting I have to do I find has to be done during the week, weekends are just too busy with the sale. Ok, time to get cracking and start the day...

2 Comments

Add a Comment

Ok, in addition to the power outlet,,

| Add a Comment | Report

May 29, 2012 | 3:12 AM PST

I've also decided to get a solar light.We've got one in the tractor barn and it works great for hubby.and their not exspensive at all,and even have remotes with them now. That way I can have a light but also use the outlet for other stuff,and save some on the light bill on that end. Yup, it was rainning yesterday-so it was a nap day. But after a good one, we still had daylight left,so went out and cleaned up hubbys workshop space,as my garage sale stuff has as tendency to get cluttery,and creeep into his space. One box leads to another as I go thru them to put on the sale,and they tend to pile up.I look out the window,its been rainning all night,and the cukes are very visible,which means they are bigger. My gardenshed floor just needs a quick bleach water cleaning,as there were alot of mouse droppings. One live one,one dead one,and a few small nests. So I think I should get dressed early and start by puttering out there.In the fall, I will switch the Iris in the deck bed. All the flowers are purple except the Iris,so I'll put the purple ones in there,and move the yellow ones to some other bed. Have had to light the living room stove to take the chill off last 2 days. Now its suppose to climb back up to 80* today.Got a few little things done,hooked up the light in the gardenshed,organizing it better,put the sonic device in there,weeded thru my organizer drawers.I have two of them but got it down to a manageable 3 drawers instead of 6,and hanging stuff up on hooks. Hubby put up 2 more shelves for me.Even though furniture will get stored in there,hopefully if I stack it right,I will still be able to reach my garden stuff,which is mainly on one side. Made a nice pork chop lunch,something we never do,but the stove helped heat the kitchen up nice, and only needed to have a salad for supper.Made a batch of chocolate chip cookies,when I realized I doubled the brown sugar,I had to double it all.Needless to say,we have some cookies.I'll pack some up for Landon.Whats in store for today..more puttering in the shed,and if its stops rainning long enough-I'll move more boxes and totes,and maybe play in the dirt a bit more..

Add a Comment

Another good weather day,

| Add a Comment | Report

May 28, 2012 | 1:40 AM PST
of mostly sunny,but breezy which was a good thing,as it was in the 70's. Without that breeze it would have been too hot. I really didnt expect alot of traffic for sunday-but there was.And this year we had alot more people stopping for the garage sale than last year. I pulled out more goodies from my gardenshed,pots and other gardening stuff that I have too many of,and can live without. Hubby got the screening loam area all squared away.The tall grass in the back of the screen was taking over. The first batch of Iris near the deck are starting to open.Those are Hubbys moms and they are a pretty yellow. I do really like the ones I see in the catalogs,they are just gorgeous,so maybe this year I can afford to get a couple,before fall in a color I dont have. In between the garage sale,while Dad kept an eye on things, hubby helped me out in the gardenshed to square that away in the late afternoon. I finally have power! out there,and was able to vacuum it after sweeping it out. He hooked up the outlet power for me on saturday! Yippee! The lines been run since it was built but thats as far as we got.We decided all the totes would go in the wing, and the furniture would go in the gardenshed. Now I can plug in one of those sonic things for mice out there. Now I can go out there on cloudy days and plug in my light to see what I'm doing too. Its rainning this early a.m. We have the morning job in the big city to do,then if its not rainning we decided to go fishing. If it is rainning,then probaly just a good nap. Suppose to be cloudy most of the week,so probaly some rain too. Then I'll really need to cut the grass after that. One of the ladies that comes to my garage sale quite often has a problem growing zuchinni. Its like a Maine staple here,like Rubarb.I didnt think anyone would ever have a problem growing it.So I told her I'd throw in some seeds for her,and she can have all she wants. We dont have a problem growing it here thats for sure. I'll plant one of the beds out back,soon as I can get out there this week. Maybe hubby would till those up for me too....

3 Comments

Add a Comment

A pretty good day

| Add a Comment | Report

May 26, 2012 | 3:20 AM PST
Tag: happy birds..

of planting and sun. I planted 6 green pepper plants. I absolutely do not like green pepper,but I love to grow the plant. The guys like them and so does mom. I can tolerate the yellow and red ones once in awhile in a meal. Anyways they were climbing out of their little holders,ready for the garden space freedom. 3 more of my tomato plants went in on the other side of them. I'll have some space for a few of brothers tomato plants but daughter will take some,and the other brother. I dont want to take up all my space just growing tomatoes. Hubby got the 3 beds all tilled up for me wed. nite in about 20 min. Fantastic,all I had to do was pick some weeds out and smooth it. Well, I've been saying all along I wanted the male and female Holly to flank the deck,but..I also want it to grow without pruning or little pruning.,so I've changed my mind on location. I dont want it taking up all my bed space,and its not a little shrub,but I'd like it nearby to enjoy the Holly berries. Well, this Myrtle is a creeper I quess,so I'm glad I have them in hanging baskets,as they'll go everywhere,but suppose to have a good flowering period,and I can keep it in check easily. Its already grown in the milkcan and becoming established. Sun is coming out-time to get going for the day..pics are posted in album-happy planting!..

2 Comments

Add a Comment

Ok,after taking a break last year,

| Add a Comment | Report

May 24, 2012 | 3:40 AM PST
of planting veggies, I find I'm in a mood for doing it. It was raining but has stopped,so after doing errands in town, I am going to put in the 3 tomato plants in the next bed. I'll have to turn it over by hand first. I've gotton a little spoiled with the Mantis tilling everything up,but this next bed has been Mantissed many times,so it should be quick. I planted the double hanging baskets off the deck yesterday with Myrtle vine,along with the milkcan. The front window box finally got done with "A Million Bells", and Vinca vine. I have more than enough potting soil to fill the last window box,and then whatever else comes along. Since I've got more large Hosta then any one woman needs, I'll take one plant & do up more containers for the sale for this weekend. We planted the grave urns with "A Million Bells" last nite, thats a record for us to do that so early,as we're usually behind the eight ball. I find I'm just in another planting mood overall this year on everything. Getting away from my regular annual planting flowers and trying new stuff. The Myrtle vine is a tender perennial,it may make it for next year if I hang the baskets in the shed over the winter,but its not a big deal if it doesn't. Radish,lettuce,onions are going in next week. ..fire up the grill-its a long weekend...!

3 Comments

Add a Comment

I can't,I can't I can't,,even imagine

| Add a Comment | Report

May 21, 2012 | 2:05 AM PST
Tag: flowers blooming...
living in the heat of the south. Any south state. I just dont do well with alot of heat. I'm even worse with humidity. Yesterday we hit 87*.,and wow that was hot for May,but at least no humidity. I don't know if that was a record for us or not- didnt catch the news. I do know I was moving at a much slower pace by afternoon. We had a slower sale day but that was fine with me. We got alot of yard work done, I worked on the 3 front beds mulched,and the deck was good to go, so helped hubby put it back together. And by golly I had my steak for supper,and sat on my deck and that was super duper,and I was in heaven. Oh,my lovely Bachelor Buttons..! oh my lovely beds,have never looked so good. I hope today I can play out there a bit more and find another perennial to dig up,along with planting the tomatoes,cukes,and wacking another area. But I do have to do errands- get groceries,so that will kill a good part of the day.,so probaly tomorrow some of that. Update!-Oh,,! the next day hubby played in the dirt with me all day yesterday,and we started building 3 more beds around the deck. I have to use up some rocks where they are out back so that we can put together another small shed. And I have more perennials to move so what the heck-we started in. Brother planted cuke and tomato,the cuke seedlings were ready to go in, I planted all 61 of them. Yes,,thats right- 61! Why in the world he started so many I'll never know, but he took off to go to my other brothers to work, and mom was stressing out about the cukes. My raised bed was ready,so in they went. If they all produce-I can't even imagine how many cukes that will be. The three new beds are dug out, next is screening more of the loam.This time we made sure we put the landscape fabric down too. The rocks are piled near the beds. I gathered the wood pieces needed for putting together a trellis for all the cukes to climb on,and those are near that bed ready to get screwed together. I was about 3/4 done with planting the cukes,and the rain started coming down heavier than just a misting. I stayed right there and was determined to finish up and not have to change my clothes 3 times. I was fairly wet and muddy by the time I got done. We stayed right out there during the misting,but the hard rain drove us in. At least it was a warm rain. Took a long rest,then back out there. Another tick on my head,probaly because I was near the tall grass pulling out the wood pieces. Well, I'm happy the male and female Holly are finally going to flank the deck and be near each other. The Hosta will finally get moved and a few others that need some shade during the day. I forgot I have a Bleeding Heart I bought last year and plunked it in the strawberry bed nearby at the last minute. Its now up and going good,so that will get moved also. Today I can take some pics,as its just cloudy out. Ok, maybe I can go to the store and get more big bags of potting soil for the project,and we need some for the graves anyways,along with some flowers. Well, we probaly wont get the north wall done this year-but at least now the deck area is getting done and a more finished look to it. Oh-ya and the stair railings go on too,as we're doing this project. It was cloudy-sunny yesterday-85* and high humidity. Its now 61* this a.m., looks like a repeat. Hanging my baskets,so have to have something to go in them. The birds are chirping like crazy,the bumblebees were happily going nuts on my blueberries yesterday doing their thing. The cat has caught 2 big bumblebees and carried them in his mouth,only to drop it at Dads feet as if to say,here you go-take care of it,and down cellar he went after another hunt of something. Its going to be a wonderful day-I can feel it.....

Add a Comment

Wow,what a day...

| Add a Comment | Report

May 20, 2012 | 3:51 AM PST
it was. Our 2nd weekend open for the sale,and we did good. Hubby went to the bank for me to make sure we had plenty of 5's and 1's. Because its a no rain stretch we're able to group and tarp over everything at night instead of putting everything away inside. That makes it go faster cleaning it up at night too. And hallaluya,hubby got the deck stained and done for another year. Don't know if its just our winters or the product,but we've had to restain every year. Its not that big a deal and thank god its a small deck,but its a day long process.Anyways it looks good again for now. I think we'll let the stain set up for today,and put it back together tomorrow. My nice tall planter is ready for some flowers,that goes on the deck. We put the grill on the ground to give ourselves more room and that seems to work out pretty good. I sat outside with my coffee and listened/watched the birds in the morning. Once it goes back together I'll be ready for a good steak on the grill and hoping the next weekend is full sun too. I put 1 tomato plant in the front bed with all the flowers,the next 3 will go out back in the other raised bed. The Columbine bounced back ok,and is starting to open its flowers. The Bachelor Buttons are starting to open also,and are the prettiest blue,like this color I'm typing in. The plant itself gets big,but it's compact so it doesnt make a mess or spread too far. We hit 75* yesterday with light winds,that was warm enough. It was still 72* when we went to bed.,so I knew we wouldnt get a frost last night. At this a.m. its 46*,so its gonna be another warm day. After another round of weeding time,I can see my flowers in the rock garden. The Iris were hubbys moms and I have them flanking the entrance on both sides. They were full of weeds,but are now cleared up. I can now see my Alliums blooming. Daughter got busy this week, and weeded her 2 small beds,and planted some more flowers under her tree,plus her window boxes. I knew it wouldnt take long to get into the groove of playing in the dirt once I got her started..

4 Comments

Add a Comment

A busy May month,,

| Add a Comment | Report

May 18, 2012 | 1:55 AM PST
Tags: I think I can , I think I can...
and after a round of another rain stretch,5 more days of sun again. Temps are to be in the low 70's,with light winds. Now thats perfect weather. Well, the first mowing has come and gone,now I'm on my third mowing. The pattern has been 2-3 days of rain,then a stretch of cloudy or sun.Just the lilacs dont seem to be doing that great this year,but everything else is,including the dandelions. There are millions of them this year. Actually their quite pretty in the fields. I've let my hair grow out for the last year quite a bit,but chopped it back to my usual very short nubs.I couldnt take the heat on my head, hanging in my eyes,and have to check for ticks every day now anyways. I hated to do it,but had to move my Columbine out of the way of the Bachelor Buttons. They had gotton so big they were smothering the pretty Columbine. I put it in the front bed,so I hope it'll be ok,as it had flower buds. I hate to disturb them when their that close to flowering.Well, this fall anyways, the Buttons are certainly big enough to give me another good size plant when I divide it. I started with the annual Bachelor Buttons and liked them so much I moved onto the perennial,and it hasn't disappointed me at all. They have a bit of tap root,so every time I move them,I still have one coming up the next spring. At one time I had a nice bunch of Lambs Ears,the tall grass took over,and I was down to one small piece. I dug it up yesterday, and put it in the bed,so I hope it grows back to full again soon. Careful what u wish for I told myself. I moved the 3 Oriental Lilies into the back of the bed,along with Iris flanking the back corners. Then I moved onto looking for my Purple Coneflower. I had a good 4 foot line of them,again,I found 2 small plants.Dug them up and into the bed,and will re-check again in 2 weeks to see if more come up in that area to be moved. This mudroom bed is in full sun.I got some petunia annuals for the front for some color. Everythings all droopy,but another day or two,and they should perk up. The last 2 nites hubby is working in the yard with me at night,wacking and mowing. He did the fenceline,last nite we worked the blueberry orchard. I got it all mowed during the day,he wacked when he got home and I fed them blueberry food.Now to work on the surrounding fence and corners tonite,and be done with it. No rain in sight till wednesday,so we'll open the sale today. I'll mow and wack the front areas again while I do that. I picked up 4 tomato plants,they can go in anytime,but have to watch for late frosts. My Alliums are just starting to flower now,the tulips are almost done. The deck is ready for a quick wash tonite and then stain on saturday. Picked up a fishing pole for Landon that we can have here,so when the mood strikes we are ready. My cement block bed has 2 small tophat blueberry bushes,and they are loaded also, but desperately needs weeding...

3 Comments

Add a Comment

I feel another raised bed coming on,,

| Add a Comment | Report

May 11, 2012 | 3:01 AM PST
Tag: bloom time..
as brother filled the front bed with too much loam,now we have to take some out,so I can add some of the good stuff. My perennial Bachelor Buttons-Centaura Montana has grown 3 times its size since planting it last fall in the deck bed. I should complain huh? Well, I love that plant,except I feel its a bit too big for the bed,and now overcrowding the Columbine. I've got it in the center of the bed,so I quess I'll move the Columbine to a different spot, and give it more room.We need to put together the Home Depot shed onto the backside of the garden shed for the lawn mower etc.,so I think we'll pull up all those rocks and create another rock garden. The outline for a rock bed is back there that never got planted.My tulips are just beginning to bloom, some daffodils still coming,and the Alliums are up and ready to burst open with some more sunshine. It finally stopped rainning. Clearing today,and a nice weather weekend in store. I walked the blueberries late afternoon,and the buds are starting to flower open.The front rock garden is an absolute mess. Landscaping fabric never went down when we first built it, so anything and everything is just poking up thru. And its mostly dandelions,and stubborn burdock.No amount of just mulch would help that situation. So I'm gonna take everything in there-which is mostly spring flowers,and put them in the other beds,and give it a major overhaul this year. That should take me an into the fall project,doing a little at a time. I had put out a table full of Iris on my last weekend sale, and they all sold for $1.00 a pot. I put as many as I could fit in each pot too. I still have more I can sell. I need to defrost and clean my big freezer this summer,but need a freezer for the contents. I traded a table and chairs for a small freezer to do that,but also need a small freezer for the blueberries,if I get the crop thats expected. I'm still waiting for a long enough stretch of sunshine to wash down the deck and re-stain it. I picked up a big bag of potting soil for my window boxes and the first of the Petunia's. That is first on the honey list for tomorrow. Honey said he will help get them up,and I can plant them as their right nearby as I'm doing the garage sale.I looked at more plants at Walmart-but I refrained from buying anything just now,as I have alot that still needs to be moved. Although I have a feeling I'll go back for an "Endless Summer Hydrangea. $30.00 at one nursery for a good size plant,but that is too much for my pocketbook for a plant. $12.88 for the same thing at Walmart,now that I can handle. My other Hydrangea is doing well,even though its surrounded by tall grass,so I'm trying to keep it chopped down. I'm hoping my Annabelle survived the hacking it took by mistake from the young fella I hired last year. He didn't know it was a plant-although that was hard to mistake it from a weed,so by the time I checked on him,he had it chopped up.Hopefully a few roots remained intact. I will have to look again today to see if anything is growing. I just love springtime here in Maine. Everything is so green and every flower is anticipated after the winter. The small crabapple that is suppose to be "Espaliered" soon as we have time to do it,has gorgeous blooms this year. Hubby gave it a severe chopping after the catapillars got into it-but its rebounded nicely. It was given to us,so I plunked it in the holding bed.I see the sun now,so its gonna be a great day....

3 Comments

Add a Comment

The temps are riding up and down like a seesaw

| Add a Comment | Report

May 4, 2012 | 12:47 AM PST
and finally brought us a good amount of rain. Now temps are rebounding again,a seasonal 46* at night right now. Nice sleeping weather with the peepers.Both of us came down with Broncitis,but now also on the mend.Daughter is sick now,hopefully it will stay just a head cold,and Landon is starting to sniffle she said.I've never been sick 3 times in one year and certainly never 3 times in one season,but this year I did.Since mowing the grass doesnt take much energy on a rider,I did that yesterday while it wasn't raining.That should help with brothers night crawlers too. He went out wed nite and got another 5 dozen for this weekend.I know he'll go out again tonite,and tomorrow will get the trim finished up and help with setting up the garage sale. Today-this morning, I'm upstairs with the cleaning bucket and vacuum before it gets so disgusted with itself it walks away.With all that down time this season,I'm amazed we got as far as we did with the bath and kitchen. The cat boundry fence arrived, and this morning have to watch the dvd.He also caught another mouse on wed,and more morning entertainment for us.I hope he pays attention and trains easily on this boundry fencing,then he'll be able to go out whenever he wants to. We also got him a cat tree. Need to move it into the corner now,and he's gone up once to the top.Because he loves laying on top of the refridge area,I threw his squeaky mouse up there,and that was just too much.He doesnt like it when I play with his toys.He'll go up again as soon as we have it a bit more stable to the ceiling and wall. I can tell it makes him nervous with its shaking back and forth under his weight and jumping. This is the first year I've cut the grass in the blueberry orchard before they bloomed,but it was getting high and thick. But their about to bloom anytime now,and fully loaded,which I'm surprised. The garlic is yummy lovely, and now the tulips are getting ready to bloom also. My daffodils are still coming here and there,as I now have small bunches everywhere. Since I cleaned up the raised bed near the deck in the fall real quick,springtime clean up was maybe 10 min. The same with the front garage bed,and at least 2 of them look nice,with the perennials coming along nicely also. I picked up the "Blue Prince Holly" to help the female,and he's about the same size. I would like to flank the deck with them,but we'll see how it goes. I can make the spring to-do list, but we'll go according to our energy level and not push it. I hope it doesnt rain this weekend,even if its cloudy we'll take it...

1 Comment

Add a Comment

dbjc364's Blog

dbjc364's May 2012 Entries

Topics