kerryh1's Blog

Jim and  I finished picking the last of the apples, they are beautiful some were hugh. Some "people" think I am a little whacked because I get so excited when my fruit produces, but when you grow  and pamper a little "stick" and wait years for it to produce. You would have to be a cold hearted slimy slug  not to get excited. LOL

It's labor day weekend so of course it is raining. I am working tomorrow . I have clients schedualed and it throws me off to cancel a day. I still have not decided if I am going back to fixing hair,I have till December to make up my mind.

The water lillys are turning yellow, it almost time to climb into the pond and do some serious manteniance,the two lillies I seperated into seven just about covered the pond , not very many flowers. The new fish never did get tame.They have hung out in the bottom all summer,I wonder if a person even needs fish. My first fish ...Al Capone and his 2 wifes.. were so tame you could pet each one at feeding time, they were fun. These just fertilize the pond.

Carolyn, is Clint going archery hunting this weekend. Bird season also opens up. Jim and I usally go,but Jim is going to Dubuque IA  the 24 to see Shylo and the grand kids.  

This is my favorite time to head for the hills, the colors are just begining to change .And that mountain air smells so good. I am not a hunter ,could'nt  hit the broad side of a barn if I were inside it but I do very well as a... "hey there's one"

. We were elk hunting a few years ago, been driving around all morning ,we had gotten up at 3:00 and had got to the mountains about 5:30 It was now about 10:00.  I sit in the back - munch on donuts and coffee, check out the scenery. I am very good at this .

 Jim and his brother Ray are getting a little flustered- they hadn't even seen any tracks. So they stop and are walking around the suburban drinking coffee and plotting  their next move .

   I am stilll in the backseat checking out the scenery, all of a sudden 7 or 8 elk come out of the tree's  across the draw running like the devil himself is after them. I just say, Uh-- guys is that what you two are looking for.  It was like watching Laurel and Hardy...trying to run around the suburban - reach into the cab- get their guns and aim. . I am totally amazed one of  those old geezers didn't shoot their foot off.  They did manage to get one.

Then the work began dragging the blasted thing over acres of dead fall,  up a side hill I didn't think  would ever end, wench it to the top of the suburban.  4 hours later we headed home.

 Elk hunting is hard work and  mostly luck.And what is spent every year you could put a nice beef,cut and wrapped in the  freezer for alot less. But I keep that little bit of info to my self .

 Everyone have a safe and fun day tomorrow.

Happy Planting Kerryh1 

It is suppose to be cooling off but 90 degrees today is hot.The grass is burning up, what apples I have left on the tree are turning to mush because they are so warm. The water in my pond has finaly gotten hot enough for the lillies to bloom. Some of the trees are turning but I think alot of that is from the heat and lack of water.

This time of year I am getting tired of the chores it takes to grow a flowers. And I envy all the people that have vegetables. Every fall I say I am going to tear up some sod for the coming spring  and plant veggies but I never do. It is so much easier to go to our wondeful farmers market. It still would be awesome to just go out and pick a couple  of ears of corn like my one client did for me yesterday.O-MY that was so good .

Oh Carolyn, Jim and I went to Goodies to night for seafood gumbo it was really good, not as good as yours , his had a tomatoes base. I don't remember your's being tomatoe'e. Lots of seafood though very good. 

 I am glad that Goodies have made a go of their little cafe. This town is hard to start up  anything differnt . "Meat and potato people."

 Except when Sonic opened up a month ago. good grief  there's  still cars lined up 2 blocks away. One of the people that was interviewed was from the base and said ,"we liked Great Falls but now that Sonic's here we love it LOL

 Well Happy Planting Kerryh1

I am grounded for the day. A hose or something happened to my car yesterday at my last client , so I took it into the Ford dealership this morning. Had to reschedual everyone today. Oh-  I hate doing that. Not only does my people look forward to my coming  it makes me rush around for the next two days.

   I do pedicures for seniors in their  homes and have nail clinics in the assitant living facilties around town and surounding area.  I am more on the medical side than the foo foo stuff ,  if you want hot wax-sugar rub and a glass of wine you  will have to go to a salon. LOL. I have been doing pedicures for homebound seniors since 1976.

  Most of my clients live alone so I never book  appointments to close together, then I have time to visit with each one awhile. They tell the most wonderful stories. I have 3 that are over 100 years old. The oldest man in the world... 112 year old  Walter Breuning ...lives in one of our assitant living facilitys.  What a kick he is.You can go on line and type in his name and read all about him. He is so cute you just want to put him in your pocket and take him home.

I can't see my self  retiring,I get hugs and kisses everyday.  One of my ladies told me one day ...if you like your job... you never work a day in your life. How true. 

 I was offered a salon the other day in a retirment home, I wish I had a cyrstal ball to see into the future.  I fixed hair for 37 years, most of those years were in a senior facility. I quit 4 years ago so I could do what I do now full time.  It's almost too good of a offer to passup though.  I have been reworking my schedual to see if I could do both  and give each quality time. I sure wouldn't have time to watch apples grow LOL.

 I think I will go pull a few weeds . Happy Planting , kerryh1

Just watching apples grow. I sure have a nice crop this year. I haven't sprayed so I guess they are "organic" The only bugs problem is hornets ye- gads they really like apples. The one that have fallen don't have any worms either. 

Picked the  few rasberrys I got and the strawberrys are flowering. It will be awhile before I get a good crop of berries.  Had 3 current berries  LOL.

   I was going to the farmers market, but the wind came up we are to get another gullywasher this weekend. We have had some awesome storms this summer and my lawn looks so good with all the rain we have gotten. It usally is brown by now.  The roses are done resting now and are beginning to rebloom. I still don't have any water lillie flowers  ,The leaves have covered the pond..  Have to put up some yard things with the wind and rain coming so ... Happy Planting Kerryh1  

I started spring of 2008, with a shovel ,rake and wheel barrel. And last Friday I had  United Material  deliver 2 yards of road grade gravel  in the ally by the garage. My neighbor across the alley just shook his head , "Now what are you doing?"  he asked.  "I finished my new garden, and I am making a  dry creek bed/ path. "  I wheel barreled 6 load to the area and I came to the conclusion I am not as peppy as I once was.

 My next door neighbor boy was home with a friend and I asked him if he could finish my little project.It would have taken me 2 days to do what those boys did in a half an hour. It was 20 dollar well spent.

March 2008

                          
                        July 31 2009

There is Quaking Ash-  Russin Olive-  Buffalo Berry - Currents-  Rasberrys- Vines and wild flowers. Everything in this area grows near a lake that Jim and I go  to every summer. These plants all spread and I am hoping fast. This side of the house is so hot , there hasn't been any shade  since a big ash blew done 30 years ago. We just used the area to park the boat and campers and Bubba the Bus.

I don't think I am going to tear up anymore sod. My gardens circles the house now. I can find a shading spot to sit on all for sides LOL.

I have alot of plants I want to try still, I am just going to wait till something needs to be replaced and fill in with a new varity. 

I still need to figure out what I want to do with those big cracks in the cement where the tin shed sat and I use for a patio now. I need a speddy -weedy tuff plant . OMG Jim said ,"well we could just jack hammer this out and put in a new patio"

 I looked at him as if he had two heads ...are you crazy ? End of dicussion. LOL He must have gotten to close to some one's  paint can at work.

 Happy Planting Kerryh1

We all work so hard in our gardens... it nice to share. I look at everyones pictures and read your blogs . This site is kind of a family of sorts. It was aweome to meet a couple of members this year. Biskutmkr/Terri and her husband moved to MT from SC last fall and spent the winter in Helena. Jim and I had them over for Thanksgiving. We had an unusual cold and snowy winter,and come spring they headed south. They are happy planting again and enjoying the ocean. This country is hard to take if you are not winter sport people.I hate winter but the mountains in the summer make up for the unperdictable winters. And then carolyncat/Carolyn came this summer to see her son that had moved to our airforce base and we had a wonderful visit, she makes awesome Gumbo.

Jim and I spent the weekend fishing with the kids .This was the view from our rented forest cabin

I told Josie I doubted he would turn into a prince but give it a shot LOL

 The wild flowers were beautiful this is a wild geranium, the hillsides were covered.

It would be  fun if some of us could meet at a tulip or rose festival  some year somewhere.

Again thank you for the compliments and Happy Planting  kerryh1

I have been so busy having fun this summer haven't had time to do much on  GG. My pond is beautiful this summer. I really thought I had killed it this spring but it came back awesome . The lillys are not blooming yet but the leaves are healthy. I put in a algae eleminater and I made the solution too strong and really stunted everything. Pond are all about getting the right chemicals working together. It not hard when you follow directions.

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I planted  these last fall ...when I went out to do my morning walk though , there they were. It rained so hard last night i had to prop up the flower to take the picture, and my favorite rose is blooming

 This has been the perfect summer for my flowers, hot days and cool nights. And lots of rain.

The pond isn't so good I really messed up the eco sysytem when I put that alge killer in it. I stunted everything.  I only have one cat tail blooming and the lillys are slow to grow. Oh well there is always next year.  It seems a gardener  is always waiting for next year.

 Went to Glacier Park last week it was beautiful.

Lake Mc Donald

Mountain Goats on Goat Lick

We went to a friends cabin for the 4th. I took a few pictues of our mountains. This place is just a hours drive from home.

behind the first out cropping is a valley - this is where our friends cabin is 

 went for a hike up this valley to their swimming hole

the water is about 6 feet deep in front of that big rock

And of course it would not be Montana with out a thunder storm  in the afternoon and a rainbow to end the day

 This is Mother Natures fireworks... we  had this view all the way home.

happy Planting Kerryh1

Thank you  to our military, they have been keeping us safe even before "the shot heard around the world'   was fired.

 Happy Planting Kerryh1

I am glad you made it home safe.  Jim and I sure enjoyed our visit  with you and Clint .  It was fun showing you around. I wish Clint and Jim would not have had to work. We would have loved to take you up to Augusta and showed you our beautiful mountains, and catch a fish or two. There never seems to be enough time when you go some where. 

You can look at pictures of places but when you get to talk to someone about thier part of the country it is so much better.   I know I am going  to  see the Bayou, now for sure.

 I hope Clint keeps in touch with us, it is just a day trip to Wood Lake and eat a big o burger at the Buckhorn.  Next year we will have to plan in advance and spend time in Glacier Park. And go over the Sun Highway. It's better than any amusment park ride on the planet LOL.

 Your gumbo was wonderful. We got home and Jim said, do you think you could make that stuff. So I will have to get a list of all the ingredients from you. It was nice to meet Clints friends too.  I am happy  that Clint  has settled in. It can never be easy moving  to a completly differnt place on a map !!! Our military people give up so much to keep us safe.

I think it would be fun to have a kind of convention for us GG friends. I would not have the slightest clue on how to go about planning such an adventure. But what a hoot it would be.

Happy Planting Kerryh1

It is raining today so no gardening. Have time to catchup on all my wifely duties.

 We had a good time In Billings caught a few catfish. Son Stace caught the biggest one

We had a good time and the weather was awesome. Good weather is a rarity around here.

Rose's haven't started to bloom yet but the Poppy's are just opening. 

This is the best my honeysuckel has ever looked

I need to do some serious prunning

That darn rain flatten some of my Dame's  Rockets. No one needs to go to Vegas to gamble, all tthey have to do is plant a garden. There is a 50 percent chance it won't make it to the end of the growing season .

 Happy Planting Kerryh1

In between snow flake , rain and 35 degree weather, good grief.

 The Dames Rockets and Wall Fowers in my new project are beautiful. Rasberrys are slow, it is to cold at night.

Had to empty my pond and clean it out I had just a alge problem I could not get a head of it. So while I was knee deep in yuck I trsanplanted all the water lillys and rearrange the rocks . Looks good. Empty but good. I also added a chemical that is suspose to keep  the alge in check.

 No pears this year and I'm  not to sure of the apples. I have so many dead branches on my street tree's... I think that 8 below last June , the effects are now just showing up.There is dead trees all over town. Even my dog wood is funky looking The Burning bushes out front are slow to leaf out, the one in the back is awesome. Weird happenings this spring.

 Oh well going to Billings this weekend and go Cat fishing with the kids. My son-in -law has been catching big ones some where on the Yellowstone River. I told him he had better left me some.

We had been planning on going camping but the weather is so wacked and I am to old to sleep in a wet tent, and freeze while I wait for the coffee to cook.

Happy Planting  Kerryh

I think the summer is just around the corner. The weather lady said 60-70 degrees for the weekend.

We are staying home . Our favorite camping spot is closed due to snow. So I am working in my yard. The new project I started last spring is growing leaps and bounds.

Spring 2008

I mentioned a new product my sister gave me ...Nelson Simply soaker, it is the coolest thing.

One set of 5 soakers covers this whole area. The only set back is the wind can't be blowing or you waste alot of the mist. The soil just sucks it up . It has these little gadgets that you can turn I have the one behind the pond set so the fence does not get wet. New seedlings love it. I have 3 now.

Happy Planting Drive Safe Kerryh1

enough with the snow flakes. Woke up to self shoveling snow ! The grass was white in my back yard. Yuck....

I am true Montanan and even I am getting tired of this. So far my apple and pear trees look ok but I probably won't get much fruit. I am so waiting for summer I want to see my new project grow, everything is at a stand still because the nights are so cold. And I really want to go camping.  

My dear friend Karen moved to MN a few years ago. She just took her last chemo treatment the week before Easter. And is doing ok. Karen is coming out  to stay with me for a few days and then we are flying back to St Paul for a few days. I am so excited... I have driven many times and flown over MN but have never visited. What has me so excited is when I would fly in to the airport I would see all these ponds and lakes and the water would be is covered in  lilys , I hope some are in bloom. I want a up close look at this awesome site.  Karen said that there are trails everywhere. We are also going to see the show Yannie/ Voices, love his music.

 Must be off to work ...Happy Planting Kerry