mitzilou-2's Blog

List of Characters !
Jul 30, 2009 | 9:45 AM PST

If you read my blog titled----Mitzi's Mayhem !,  then you are aware of the current---out of control---situation in the dry garden bed.  I thought, today, I'd make a list of the characters in this melodramatic drama !

 

1.  Goldenrod------fair haired and extremely handsome also daring, but totally  full of himself------a downright egotistical snob !

2.  Russian Sage-----with steely blue eyes that hypnotize, he is aloof and cunning-----a totally ruthless aristocrat !

3.  Purple Coneflower------superior air about her,  but playfully flirty with her rich purplish lips but downright gossipy-------a real prima donna !

4. Maximillion Perennial Sunflower------extremely quiet, bashful and shy, and so hoping not to be noticed with his  enormously  big floppy ears, but he can't help but stick out like a sore thumb------a gentle giant ! 

5. Globe Thistle-----eager and so willing to please and desperate somehow to fit in with his blue-toned, radical, spikey, over the top, far-out hairdo !  He's right off the farm and as green as they come-----------a real new kid on the block !

6. Black-Eyed-Susan-------so happy and cheerful and full of glee with  her pretty  black eyes as big as can be.  She's very uncomplicated, so down to earth,  and always says " Why can't we all just get along ! "She's a true blue friend to all and an enemy to none and the sweetest person there ever was !---------an original flower child and peacemaker !

7.  Lamb's-Ears--------very mild and secretive as a mouse, she lays low out of the way seductively gentle with her soft, silky  touch--------a sweet little thing---indeed !

8.  Castor  Bean-------nasty and sour, downright bitter in his  mood and demeanor, and actually he can't stand himself either  !   He has a bad reputation so no one dares to mess with him !-------------a grumpy old man !

9.  Tansy------a loveable, good ole boy, never meaning no harm with his curly, cascanding, golden locks that are always tumbling and bouncing into everyone else's hair and their very own private space !---------the clown of the garden !

Coming very soon------the rest of the story............

 

 

Garden Peas and Bittersweet Memories
Jul 28, 2009 | 9:07 AM PST
My mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in 1982, and they gave her 3 months to live.  But, my memory of her in the last bit of her life has stayed with me.  She was a kind and generous person, and tried to see the good in everyone.  She always was smiling and loved to laugh.  The most poignant and last memory that I have of her was the day I went to check on her, and she was putting peas up for the freezer. She wasn't going to stop living to the fullest even though she felt so sick.  What a simple and ordinary thing to be doing, I thought----if it had been me in those last days with cancer treatments, I probably would be laying in bed.  Of course, I immediately started helping her, and we ended up with quite a few freezer bags of peas. She never let on about how bad she felt or complained. Before I left, she gave me a few bags of the peas.  I thanked her and went home and put those peas in the freezer. Not too long after, we did the peas that day, one night the whole family felt compelled to go out there to their farm to see her.  We were sitting out on the lawn enjoying the summer late afternoon, and the sound of  laughter of  the children in the family. I remembered she smiled and laughed in spite of how she felt.  It was the last time we where all together with her for a get-together.  Soon after that afternoon, she passed away. We had the funeral. And the next day when I opened the freezer, I looked at those bags of peas and it overwhelmed me with sadness of  the memory of that day and was hard to look at them. I couldn't bear to look at them, much less eat them.  But I realized one day that they were a loving last gift  from her, and she would want us to enjoy them, so they were eaten.  The bittersweet memory of the peas from her  garden, and her willingness to live life in spite of her circumstances has stayed with me always.

Mitzi's Mayhem !
Jul 24, 2009 | 3:11 PM PST

There seems to be some competition and backstabbing going on in my backyard corner flower garden !  Let's just say----that it's been rumored that mitzilou's flowers and plants are not getting along all that well.  And, I found this out  just  yesterday !   Evidently,  I'm again the last one to know about this turmoil in the flower beds !   In the past, there has been some envy and jealousy in the backyard garden bed areas and, therefore, a little name-calling,  but that was nothing compared to the current situation !  I thought yesterday-----GREAT !-------the vegetable garden is ready to unload it's bounty and my flower beds are doing fine and dandy-----basically  on co-pilot------and everything is running smoothly !  Well, looks can be deceiving !  Herbie told me the reality of the whole situation in my flower beds yesterday, and I was livid with anguish and screamed out-----why me !------ why now !----------why oh why oh why !----------everything was so perfect in little mitzi's garden community !   Well, here's the scoop-------there is a click in the dry garden bed area which involves the purple coneflower, goldenrod, and the russian sage !  They have decided that they are all going to completely overrun  the tansy out of their area !  So, the tansy has been in a state of panic for some time now unbeknowst to me !  The purple coneflower, goldenrod, and the russian sage plotted together to slowly take over the tansy's corner.  I must admit that the tansy can get a little slap happy in it's corner and pretty down and out wild at times,  but overall, he's not such a  bad character.   Anyway, so the pact agreed on----- was that the  purple coneflower, goldenrod, and the russian sage  were..............to be continued........some yellow straightneck squash just arrived from the well-behaved vegetable garden along with some tomatoes, and radishes.  The squash is screaming to be fried up !

Have a great gardening day !    mitzi

Our Vegetable Garden
Jul 23, 2009 | 9:40 AM PST
We have two vegetable gardens this year.  One is on our property and another is on a neighbor's property.  We had the garden on the neighbor's property for the time being, so we could eradicate the cocklerburro invasion in our property's garden.  My partner used 2-4D and got rid of a lot of the cockleburros.   So, that's why-----the two gardens !   Our first garden on the neighbors property did not do well at all !  Our tomatoes, actually the only thing doing well, were slowing disappearing off the vines.!  But,  our garden put out late on our property is flourishing !  Our garden on our property is about 100 feet. long and 40 feet wide.  The soil was rocky, red clay in the beginning,  so over the years,  we've been adding  amendments of lots of mulch and lime so the soil has been getting darker and richer, and throwing out the rocks.  This year, we  have  rows of corn with green beans planted underneath them.   Also,  we have  tomatoes,  peppers, cucumbers,  squash,  eggplant,  cantaloupe,  and watermelon.  We have some types of oriental squash and cucumber also planted since they were given to us by a  Japanese member of our family.  Looks like we will have a bounty of vegetables this year even though we had a late start !    Have a good day !   mitzi

Dry Garden Area Photos
Jul 20, 2009 | 9:26 AM PST
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Thank you to all who looked at and made really nice comments on my dry garden area photos.  I very much appreciate it !    Have a good gardening day !     mitzi

 

 

 

 

 

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A favorite quote
Jul 19, 2009 | 8:34 PM PST

"    An   Eden  cannot  be  set  out     

and   just  left  to  grow .    

Season  after  season  it  must   

be  nurtured .   

Indeed  a  garden  is  never  done .  

It  is  an  unending  fascination    

that  is  nothing  short  of  romance .  "

 

P.S.  Just as we nurture and care for our gardens----we need to also nurture and care for one another.      mitzi

Dry Garden Area Photos
Jul 17, 2009 | 4:44 PM PST
I rearranged my photo albums today and all photos in my------------ Dry Garden Area photo album------------- were recently put on my site.   Last evening,  I mentioned in a blog that I had some new photos,  but no one responded on them,  so I thought,  maybe,  I'd rearrange my pictures in my albums to see if that would help in the viewing of them.  I  think my photos are looking a little better this time around.   Let me know---------what you think-----------if you want to-----------I'll be waiting around----------------Have a good evening !     mitzi

Ok-----Ok ! ! ! GOT A BIT CARRIED AWAY !
Jul 16, 2009 | 7:44 AM PST
Well, yesterday, if you happened to read my blog about my daughter's weedy garden-------some of it was factual and a lot of it was exaggerated !  I did find the basketball, baseball bat, toy truck, broken gazing ball, dog toy, and the actual weeding tool that was resting way in the back of  the flower bed.  But,  the rest of the junk was fabricated by me for dramatic effect, and  personally, I thought it was hilarious !  So, then, later, my daughter wanted to read my blog, and she was------let's just say----- less than amused !   She turned to me with pure horror on her face and said, it was funny up until the badmitten set in the box !   Yes, I said, I got a bit carried away !  That put an immediate damper on the evening's visit. All I know ,for sure is that,  I will never discuss my daughter's home and garden enviroment ever again !  And, by the way, she was in pure estasy over the dramatic change in the look of her flower garden,  and she was proud of the two little helpers !  Thank goodness, I did something right !

Never know what you'll find in my daughter's garden !
Jul 15, 2009 | 2:41 PM PST

Well-------yesterday,
   I  finally  made  it  over   to  my  daughters  house  to  help with  weeding  out  the  flower  bed  ! ! !     And,    what  an  exciting  adventure  was  that  !    My  daughter  has  not  been  able  to  get  to  weeding  and  maintaining   her  flower  bed  in front  of   her  porch  for  some  time  now,   and  kept  inviting  me  to  come  down  and   perform   a  miracle  on  the   near  hopeless  little  plot  of   garden  delight.    So,    by chance,     somehow,    I   managed ,   to  happen,     to  be,     over  there,     by  stoke  of  luck,  and   by  no   fault  of    my    own,    yesterday, --------watching  my  grandson  and  one  of   his  cousin's  for  her.     I  began-----and  mostly-----the only  gardening  item or  tool  I would  need -------- just so  happened   to  be------- a  weeding  tool -----which   I  just  so   happened  to  come  equipped  with  that  day---------  my  hands-------- fortunately,   because  finding  a  gardening  tool  at   my   daughter's  is  like  finding   a  needle   in  a  haystack   so,    I  was  ready,  willing,    and  set   to go  ! ! !       All  you  could  make  out  for   sure was   present   there   in   her   bed  were  weeds,   and    except   for   the   towering  orange  daylillies  blooming  above,    you  had  no  clue  that  this  was  an   actual  flower   bed   !   And   those very  same   flowers------ miraculously  blooming--------
-- she   just  happened  to  have   (  the orange  daylilliies  )--------- well,  it    just  so  happened  to  be    the  very same  plants  that   she  couldn't  stand ,  and   wanted  removed  !    And,  I  thought ,  wow,   they  are  the  main  show of   attraction  (  the  one  and  only  visible  attraction   )   and  she  wants  them  removed.    I   just  kept  my   mouth  shut  about  that  ! ! !    I    liked   them------   actually,  it  was  me    that  gave   them   to   her,  but  no  need   to   make  her  feel   bad    or   quilty   about    that   !    So,  I   began   pulling  weeds   out-------left   then  right-------then------right   then   left.   So   many  weeds  but   who's   counting    !!!     I   lost     count,     but  I'd    say  roughly  around   maybe  a   million  at  the  least   ! ! !    So,  the   race  was  on  because  while  she  was  gone  and  I   was  keeping  an  eye  on  the  kids--------I  had  a   brainstorm------- I  was  going  to  try  to  completely  make  over  her   lovely,  charming,  and  unique  bed  as  a compete   surprise  for  her   upon her  return   !!!    OK  ,   now,   done  to  business------I had  two  assistants------the  clean-up  crew------to  remove  the  debris from  the  operation-----nearby  running  and  playing  in  the  background.   And,  I  was  surely  depending  on  them.   So,  I'm  weeding  merrily  along   when   I   felt  some  glass  and  discovered   the   glazing  ball   that  mysteriusly disappeared  from  the  springtime garden   display  !  Only,  it  was  broken  and so  I  disposed  of  it   myself-------not bothering  the  clean-up  crew.   So,  they  continued  to  merrily and  happily  play along.    More  weeding  insued  and ,  lo   and  behold ,  I  touched  a  large,  round  object  and  magically  pulled  out  a  basketball    ?   !     I  immediately called  my  grandson  over   to   me,   and  said,    were  you  missing  this  ? !      And,   he  looked  dumbfounded  and  stumbled   over  to  get  his  favorite  possession !    He  thanked   me  over  and   over  again,   and  wondered  where  it   had  been   all   this  time  !   By  now,    there  were  many mounds  of   weeds  behind  me,   so  it   was  time  for  a  break   and    for   the    clean-up  crew  to  dispose  of   the  mess.   So,    I sat   there,  resting  up  for  round  two.   My  assistance  crew  were  fast,  and  furious,   and very  efficient !   But  then,    they  are  both 9   years  of  age---------I  could  manuever  around  then  also,   as  I   remember  at   good  old    nine.     I  just  feel  lucky  now   getting   back  up   from  the   ground   at  this point  !     Well,  goof-off  time  was  over--------back    to     the     weed     jungle  !    I    wasn't   back  down  in  the  weeds  very  long  when   I   come   across  a  baseball  bat   and   I  thought----goodness-----  does  this  child   have  any  sports  equipment  that's  not  in  the  weeds  !    I   then,     yelled  out ,   hey,  to  my  grandchild,     have  you  been  missing  a  bat   by  any   chance  !    He   thought  he'd   hit  the  jackpot   having  his  sport  equipment  coming    back  to  him  !    And    just,    when  I  thought,    I'd    found  everything   I   possibly  could,   well,   I   found   an  entire  badmitten   set  yet  in   the  box   !      I    thought,    I    could   open   up  a  sports  equipment  store  !    Well,    the    kids  got   so   excited  with  this  new  discovery  that  I   helped  them  set   it  up  for  a  game  or  two till  I    again  needed    their   help.    And.   I    thought  time  for   another  quick  rest.   but  ended   up   playing  a  round   of    badmitten   !      But,   the recess  was  over,  and  back  to  those  never   ending   weeds .   Well,  I    found   a  few  other  stray   miscellaneous   items  as  I    weeded----------------a  few  nuts  and  bolts,   a  flyswatter,   brillo  pad,   a  few  aluminum  cans,    marbles,    a   quarter  and   two  cents,   toy  truck,   a   few  clumps  of   charcoal,   a   rusty  screwdriver,   couple  of   plastic   forks,  dog   toy,   dog  bone,  roll  of  aluminum  foil,    Macdonald's   happy   meal  toy  ( still  in  the  wrapper),    hair   comb,  the    neighbor's   cat --- hiding  out  from------the   neighbor's   dog,    an empty  kool-aid   package,   couple  of  bandaids  still  in  their wrappers,   bug   spray,   leftover  firecrackers,    ball  of  twine,   potholder,   matchbook,   and  then,   to  my  total  and  utter  surprise-------the  weeding  tool   emerged  from   the   depths  of  this  sea  of  weeds   !    And  I   thought  to  myself--------it  looks   brand  new-------imagine  that  !  

Herbie, the Toad, is a blabber mouth----that's his job !
Jul 9, 2009 | 8:39 PM PST
Well, for those not familar with Herbie, the Toad who lives in my shade garden, and who also happens  to be the night watchman,  well just look at my photos of my shade garden and there he sits in his little toad abode !  I think Herbie enjoys his night time job because  he sees all the goings on and blabbers to me ( actually tattletales)  the shenanagins of the previous night !  Just last night, for instance,  he witnessed yet again  the  neighborhood gang of raccoons steal my woodpecker block feeder ( cage and all ) for the umpteen time.  Then, that  darn neighborhood cat that comes uninvited everynight to my deck and makes himself  at home, is actually  blackmailing  my cats to sneak into the house to fetch him a bedtime snack including a saucer of milk !  I wondered why the milk was out on the counter about every morning !  I've had sour milk with my cereal more times than I can count !  And, remember the couple of alligators ( buddies of bsmitch),  well,  they never left from that day they fell out of  the Ark !  They  run around terrorizing all the dogs in the neighborhood  in  the early  morning hours,  till they have them all barking and howling, then sit back and laugh and laugh because it wakes up all the people in  the neighborhood.  Bsmitch you need to round these two troublemakers up and take them back to Lake Cumberland or wherever they came from or make some alligator stew !  Then, I found out why my bricks are disappearing slowly but surely from my little pathways-----the night time critters are building themselves----- a late night  hangout !   Well,  no telling  what will go on tonight, but I'm sure I'll get a full report again in the morning !  Dern them night time critters !

My Garden in 2009
Jul 7, 2009 | 11:58 PM PST

There are some more photos added to my album----- My Garden in 2009,  if anyone wants to  look.

Happy Gardening !   mitzi

Bsmitch and mitzilou-2's second encounter !
Jul 5, 2009 | 9:04 AM PST

The facts and nothing but the facts--------------

1.  Bill arrived and we said our hi thars,  then we proceeded onto the side of the house, onto the deck to  view my garden  once again, and  along the way we asked each other how each other was-----about 4 times each. We finally figured out---- we were both fine ( memory problems ? ) 

2.  We viewed my garden in dead silence, then Bill said finally----more's blooming and I responded--- yep.  His one bit of expertise advice was that I needed to deadhead my globe thistle ( after he asked me what that plant was exactly  ),  and I said----yep.

3.  We turned to go into the the house and onto more important business----my dern computer ! 

4. My son and one of his friends were in the house, and they said their brief  hello's !  Then,  my son and friend left and I  was  in panic mode-----what if Bill needed to know something about my dern computer----I realized,  I  was up the creek without a paddle now,  for sure-----I   thought,  well, I'll just pretend I know what the heck he is talking about, and hope I can manage to pull it off !

5.   Bill made me take an oath----to not tell anyone on GG that he gave me a 19 inch LCD monitor and ordered for me a Cyber Acoustics CA-3001 Amplified Speaker System--------whoops------let that cat out of the bag------sorry Bill   !

6.  After the screen was put in place and all,  I then offered Bill----100% fruit juice or whatever,  Bill decided on and asked for 100% water,  and it  just so happened that the well wasn't dry and I had some on hand !

7.  Bill set to work on my computer liked a skilled surgeon, and I became the clueless assistant who handed over screwdriver,  flashlight,  etc. etc.  The operation was long but successful,  and now my computer has more brain power----good somebody does !

8.  Meanwhile, my daughter,  my grandson, one of  my grandson's cousins and Sir Bentley----( their family  pet  )  had arrived because  I  would absolutely  not let Bill leave without having our picture taken-----that's why my daughter was there-----it was on my prearranged agenda.

9.   Bill  meet my daughter,  grandson,  his cousin, and Sir Bentley-----Sir Bentley was giving Bill the eye  though.

10.   I   had one of my disposible cameras ready-----does that surprise anyone ?  Well, a  couple of  snapshots were taken but once again my brother will be asked-----by me----- to post them.

11.  Bill was tired from the major operation (  miracle )  performed on  that dern computer of mine and I could tell  wanted to head out of my neck of the woods !

12.  We  loaded up the plant I potted up  just for  him------an asiatic dayflower-----and he kissed my hand ( like   all southern gentlemen do  ) and said  farewell,  my  GG buddy-----made me take  the oath a second time   though about the  19 inch monitor etc. and he drove off in a cloud of dust actually it  was just plain cloudy that  day.      

As witnessed  by:     mitzilou-2 on this 5th day of July of 2009.

Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July  !  !         mitzi

 

 

Herbie
Jul 4, 2009 | 7:30 AM PST

My brother,  put my character, Herbie, from my children's book, in an photo album which depicts him in the four season's of the year.  These are my rough draft drawings.  I do have some color drawings of these also.  So- take a look- see if you want.  Everybody have a fun and safe 4th of July in your neck of the woods !   mitzi

PS.   Bill paid me another visit this past Thursday, and there will be a weekend update of the event soon to come !

Quote
Jul 2, 2009 | 4:19 AM PST

"   Show  Me  Your-----

                  GARDEN,

                           
        And    I    Shall    Tell    You-----

                           
                              
                              
     WHO YOU ARE  "            by  Alfred  Austin  G     1835

                           
                              
                              
   

                           
                              
                              
     

                           
                              
     

                           
                              
                              
      

A Pair of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers
Jul 1, 2009 | 9:21 AM PST
As I sit and drink my morning coffee, each morning, after filling my one birdfeeder, I sit and watch the birds for awhile.  Well, I've been noticing this pair of red-bellied woodpeckers who appear early and frequently to my feeder. And they do the same behavior everytime. There is one that looks exactly like the red-bellied woodpecker in my bird identification book that I use,  which is The Backyard Bird Lover's Field Guide by Sally Roth,  where it is shown on pg. 179.  But the other woodpecker, is absent of any red coloring on the back of his head, so that  puzzles me.  They are similar in size, but I wonder if the one with no red on its back of its head is a female or a young woodpecker from their nest.  Anyway, they both fly together to the light pole where my feeder is located, and then the one with red on the back of its head swoops down to the feeder to get a sunflower seed,  flys back to the pole, precedes to crawl up the pole to the other non-red head woodpecker, and cracks open and feeds the nut to it.  It is so sweet to watch.  Ok, in rereading the page here in the book----The female has red only on the back of the neck, not top of the head. so,  that must be the mother bird feeding the baby bird. The book shows a female and she has the red on the neck,  so, then the male must have red on the top of its head.  It saids also that in the wild their menu is insects, seeds, nuts, and fruit,  but at the birdfeeders they enjoy sunflower seeds, whole ears of corn, suet, and suet-based  foods.  All have a great day now,  mitzi