dirtdobber's Blog

Witt, you pegged it again. Surprise!!! You were right...my "surprise Lily" really is a Surprise Lily! I looked it up and there is such a thing! At first I thought you were teasing. It's in the amaryllis family. One thing for sure, I will never forget the name of this lily!

And just another ramble of the mind...The other day we had a hummingbird trapped in our garage. No...we didn't trap him. He just flew in and couldn't get out. He flew in nonstop circles only occassionally stopping and perching for a second. My hubby tried to guide him out with the rake. Didn't work. We finally brought the feeder to the garage so he would have food, but also hoping he would perch on it and see where the outside was. Didn't work. We had to leave the house for a few hours and when we got back, my hubby found him stirring around in a bucket on the garage. Poor thing! He was so tired! Hubby picked him up and set him out of the garage on the hood of a car. The little thing sat there for about 10 minutes and then flew away! Sooo, I'm happy for the bird...mad at myself! I didn't get a picture!!!!!! Ya'll have a great day...and get in that dirt! Trish         P.S. Keep your cameras handy!

Honestly! I have more surprises in my garden than a kid at a birthday party! (may be why I like gardening so much) As I strolled the other day in my yard I noticed something pink way up in the front flowerbed. The closer I got, the more excited I was! It wasn't a pink weed....no, it was a lily! Of some sort. I've never grown a lily before. Well, once at my previous home but I wasn't too successful with it. This little joker was standing straight like a soldier, no leaves, just a straight stalk rising up out of the ground to meet 4 pinkish blooms on the top, facing N,S E and W! How about that! Where did it come from? The dirt in that bed was bought by the truckload and probably came from a construction site. No telling where all that little thing has traveled! But he is sure happy to be here with me now. I'm just sorry I didn't go get my camera right away, and then the rain came, and then I had to go to work and then...well, you know. This just reinforces the little saying....."bloom where you are planted"!    Ya'll have a great day....and get in that dirt!!! Trish

How mad can you be at a compost pile? Answer: very! I have now accumulated quite a pile of grass clippings, pine straw, some kitchen stuff like eggshells and greens etc. and it is going nowhere! It sits in the sun almost all day. I try to turn it every so often. The other day, I got my husband to turn it over b/c ...well he has more muscles. Anyway, there was nothing good on the bottom. This thing has been sitting here for a couple of years! But the biggest surprise was that it was bone dry! And we have had some gully washers! Anything that was deeper than 1 inch was dry as could be! Soooo... We turned it over good and turned on the sprinkler. We let it run for about 6 hours on it (well water so it was ok). Would you believe it is still dry underneath? What in the world is going on?

I read somewhere that you shouldn't put pinestraw in the pile b/c it is so slow to break down. I do have some in there but it only the little bit that comes with the grass. I try not to dump a load that is full of straw. I'm trying to do right!!

Well I'll sit on my back porch and drink another cup of coffee while I stew over this stubborn thing. It's like he's looking back at me saying na-na-na-boo! Yall have a great day...and get in that dirt!! Trish

So I was strolling around my dry garden,and there were a few surprises that reinforced my belief that gardening has got to be the best hobby ever. It is filled with little delights around every corner if you are observant. Behind the grill in my newest patio bed was one single petunia blooming a hot pink bloom that would knock your socks off. I have never had any petunias since I have been living here, but I did order a truckload of dirt for this bed. Who knows what kind of journey that little guy has been on.

Then I bent down to weed a little bit and stopped short of pulling up a volunteer basil plant. He was just too happy being there! I walked over to my newest Zinnia bed. I had thrown these seeds out in an empty bed that I couldn't decide what to do with, and I am so happy with the result! To be honest, I've never really liked zinnias for some reason. But these have won me over. They are chest high and every color in the rainbow! The butterflies love them as much as I love them.

As I walked over to the my veggie garden I spotted what I thought was a weed coming up by my little cherokee rose sprig a friend had given me months ago. But, it was no weed! It was a bunch of new growth coming up from the plant! Yaaahh!

And the irises that my daughter in law gave me (that I thought had died) are poking up little pointy head shoots. Oh happy day!

My redbud tree is putting out new growth, so I am fully prepared to be eyeballing some gorgeous pink blooms in the Spring!

I hope ya'll are slowing down to find delights in your garden too. Ya'll have a good day...and get in that dirt!! Trish

I am seeing red!! Some computer hacker got my hotmail account and broke in. Sent out a bogus plea for help like I was stranded. Everyone on my contact list got this "message" from me! Soooo embaressing!! Now the hotmail people have shut down my email account and I can't get in touch with them to get it fixed b/c it keeps telling me to email them! I've now got to change my email address, get each contct's address one by one, and let everyone know. Why would people do this? I've heard a couple of theories but honestly, what drives people to do something like this?

Well, I need to go water my plants as they are thirstier than I am mad. It is sooo hot. I've been out of town for a week and gotten behind on some gardening chores. A little time spent with my flowers will surely help me to calm down and feel better. Getting in some dirt is good medicine. Ya'll have a great day...and go get in some dirt too!!