August 27,2013

The garden is looking sad as the leaves yellow and blooms drop. Summer is quickly turning into autumn despite what the calendar says. I'm enjoying the cool freshness of the mornings. I am not a heat seeking gal!

Last week was the 60th birthday of a friend.  Her husband was away on business but had made reservations for the four of us Saturday afternoon.  They had been to The Melting Pot once before and it was our first time.  We were not disappointed!  We each had the 4 Course Experience and our server was incredible!  They did warn us it would be a big meal. I underestimated how big. Next time I'll wear my 'turkey pants'! 

It was a wonderful evening of laughs and friendship.  Happy Birthday my friend!


 

August 12 2013

Sunday morning was gloomy with overcast skies and the threat of a thunderstorm. But that didn't stop us from a busy day out in the gardens.

Joe had some work to do at the office so while he did that, I tagged along and kept myself busy deadheading and watering the planters at his office. I even had time to water the shrubs and pull weeds and quack grass around the cedars.  It looked very nice when I was done and I don't mind lending a hand when I can.

We then did some grocery shopping. We hadn't done any amount since early July so I was somewhat shocked at the price increases on most everything we buy. Oh well...gotta eat.

After putting that away and a quick lunch, we headed to the community garden for a tidy up. Our monthly meeting will be held there and we want it to look  its best. I was surprised to find aphids had taken over two of the petunia planters.  Will check with our president as to what action she wants us to take seeing as we are organic. Between the both of us we did about two hours of trimming, watering and weeding and left it looking marvellous. 

Got home to then work on our yards. Joe trimmed while I deadheaded, weeded and we both watered.  Found aphids won my petunias, so it seems to be a wide spread issue this time of year. I wasn't happy to find a huge grasshopper munching in my lettuce either. I rearranged some planters to freshness things up before our eldest daughter and youngest grandson arrive this Friday. 

After all the fresh air this weekend we hit the wall hard once we stopped moving. Supper was a beer can chicken only it was a rinsed out pop can half filled with a spicy water concoction, and steamed corn on the cob. Heavenly! To wrap up the weekend we popped in a DVD and kicked back. Awesome movie!

Hope everyone has a stupendous week. I'm off on a quilting retreat tomorrow and then vacation with Joe, Heather & JR. First stop, Calgary for a family gathering at Lesley & Aaron's. Second stop - Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, camping style.

Fertilizer Friday Jan 4, 2013

Surprise! I'm trying to FLAUNT again!

After an extended absence from posting but not from my love of all things green, here's what brightens my day! These were anniversary gifts from my sweetie last fall and they are still impressing me beyond belief.  Unlike Miss Glenda who's own orchids are budding out in her greenhouse, I have a long learning curve ahead.

 

Pop over and check out some other like minded folks today at TOOTSIE TIME and get growing!

...I'm back! lol

Well that was a long 6 months of non blogging! So what have I been up to? 

• We joined our local Community Garden project!  This was its second year at the church location and the first on newly acquired town property.  The second location is ginormous but our fearless leader had an incredible 3 year vision which is now 1/3 realized.  The biggest excitement was over the food bank circular plots.  Various business or service groups adopted and wedge, planted,cared for and then donated their bounty to our food bank.  Sad there is a need for this but yeah that they received almost 200 pounds of fresh organically grown produce.  We can hardly wait until next year.  As this was just barren unused land before, we didn't have ideal growing conditions.  This weekend we'll be getting more compost to add.
• Our home garden outproduced past years in tomato production. We had them ripening at a nice vine to plate pace.  With still many nice sized green ones still on the vine and frost forecasted, we picked about 5 pounds to ripen in the kitchen.
• We finally got the nerve to have our salmon coloured stucco painted and lovely greenish grey called aptly enough...Aged Stucco.  I love the change.
• We did a 2week camping trip with DD2, SIL, Thing 1 & Thing 2 in our motorhome.  At times it was cozy but overall, I could do it again.  3 generations touring around.  Next summer we are planning on doing the same thing but with DD1, SIL perhaps, depending on work, and Thing 3.  We have the winter and spring to work out the details.
• DH changed jobs...again!  There's nothing quite like going on vacation with no job to come home to!  I was stressed, he wasn't and it all worked out fine.  He was off for a month and now is making up for lost time!  Mind you he only works half days.  12 hour half days! lol  He's enjoying what he's doing, feels he is making a valuable contribution and difference.  And most importantly, he's enjoying himself.  Another blessing.

Dressmaker's Daughter by Nora Corbett for Mirabilia Designs

Isn't this gorgeous?  My friend Felicity asked if I would be interested in doing this as an SAL. WOW!  Would I ever!  This will be my first time doing beadwork, but hey, I'm game.  We will be joined by Shelley . Fridays are our Show & Tell days.  Today I don't have anything to show...sorry ladies...I pulled my floss and got that organized this morning.  Next I'll centre the pattern and find my start position.  I can not wait to see this develop.  I was oohing and aahing to myself as I pulled the floss and laid them on the fabric...so yummy and decadent looking but...no calories!!!! I'm heading to the library this afternoon to borrow an audio book to listen to when I sit n stitch. 

This weekend we celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. I personally have so much to be grateful for and for that I am truly thankful. ♥ ♥ ♥ Until next time.

Fertilizer Friday Dec 11/09

A first for me!

Tootsie runs this and on such a cold winter day, it goes a long way warming my spirit. I don't have bulbs forcing into bloom, or beautiful cactus flowers.  I do however have a lovely memory of tulips gone past. 

These were White Dream  Triumph Tulips that were stunning in front of my ferns.  This lasted for 3 weeks, a clean pure white in the shade of the green fronds.  Stunning, don't you think?Today as the sun rises, my garden is asleep in this deep freeze of -20'C.  Tomorrow we'll begin the slip into the -31'C zone.  A winter wonderland I will appreciate from into the warmth of our home.  

I love reading your garden posts, so much inspiration and joy. Happy weekend.

My garden's delights!

Despite the toll it's taken on my hands, it's worth every crack, scratch, broken nail and ragged cuticle! I am so pleased with this little piece of heaven we have created in our back yard. Come, sit a while and enjoy the view!

Frost overnight!

I did a quick walk around and everything looks OK...I'll know more later in the morning.

Tuesday means Fred day!

Thanks Margaret for the info...I got side tracked with garden issues last week, didn't get any stitching done.

I checked out Blissful Creations, and seen how she has her Fred blocked out...I will be doing that later today. I don't like frogging! And frogging on black has to be the worst! As much as I would love to just jump in, I think the prep time will pay off in the long run.

I would love to have this finished this calendar year...it's been in my secret stash far too long!

OT - we are under a frost warning for the next few evenings/nights. Add to that all the wet weather we've had, I have Tree Swallows visiting and moss growing on the north side of just about everything! Traditionally this past long weekend is the time when gardeners put out their plants, but I hold back until early June. I still put them out for a few hours at a time to harden them off. We did plant our veggie beds last week and they are just starting to break through...fingers crosses that I don't lose the whole thing this week!

Just for you!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

TipNut anyone?

TipNut is a place to find all sorts of ingenious ideas. Today's hint...a recipe for homemade blackhead remover...ouch, sounds painful! However I am planning on trying that hint for dog spots on the lawn. i know I should water where she does right after she goes, but how do you do that in the winter when things are covered with 4 feet of the frozen white stuff. Anyways, the hint is to cover the brown spots liberally with white sugar - hey I have that! and then water. What do I have to lose but a little sugar, water and time! Will let you know if anything exciting happens!

Welcome Sandy to my blog. Any hint that will make life easier/cheaper is a good thing int the words of M*rth* Stew*rt! I love your blog, so am adding it to my list of fave's!

Like a kid before Christmas!

I find it too hard to concentrate on something like my stitching! The wedding cake for this Saturday seems to be all consuming...I just want the day to arrive so we can GIT-R-DONE! The supplies are ready to go, the decorations planned out....just need to be closer to Saturday to ensure freshness. The weather man is now calling for rain...pout pout...hopefully it would be pouring cats'n'dogs!

So to keep myself sane, I've been in the garden. I have all 9 flower beds cleaned out and I'm pleased that most of my perennials seems to be waking up. Unfortunately there is no such indications in my rose bed. That may be a huge loss, but if it's so, it'll be an opportunity to try something new.

Monday I turned the veggie beds, and DH helped me get our new irrigation system started. That should be complete tonight. We are trying for more efficient watering, less waste. The rain barrel on the side of the house is working well for the front flower beds. We have yet to install the gutters on the greenhouse and once we do, we'll have the second barrel up & running. We are trying to be aware of our usage/waste and do our part of reducing our environmental footprint.

Thanks everyone for stopping by...I hope you all have a great week doing what you love to do!

I'm not stitchin'!

Freecycle has proved frustrating this time. The bike helmet was pickup within minutes of notification. The louver doors, well, the person thought it was in another part of the city in which I DO NOT live. One of the rules is to post where the items are...someone wasn't thinking when they were reading. the pick up is set up for Friday, so we'll see what happens.

So I've been playing with my plants!

Can you see my first tomato flower starting to open???? I'm so excited!

My lilac shrubs are coming into bud, hopefully there will be loads of flowers. They are a favorite of mine!

My day so far!

I moved my 2 biggest tomatoes into the greenhouse...they simply got too big!

This is my work table in the greenhouse. Right now I'm using smallish bags of mix...the shops don't have the big bulk package ready for sale yet. Fingers crossed for later this week, because I have a lot of plants that need bigger accommodations!

Friday eve, we picked up 2 used pickles barrels. I'm hoping that the one inside will work 2 fold...water for the plants or at least it should help modulate the temperatures at night...a kind of solar heating. The outside one will eventually be set up with the rain gutters from the greenhouse itself. These will be recycled from the A frame shed, which is going to come down one way or the other!

In keeping with yesterday's Earth Day, I'm now hanging out my laundry to dry. Note...no underwear...I do have some pride...that is hung on my indoor line in the laundry room. I noticed a online thread in my travels where this type of thing is called flags of poverty and very much frowns upon. I take it as a badge of courage, to do my part to reduce our ill effects on this world.

Slightly off course

I needed a break from tax schedules and constant ream of numbers running through my head, so I headed outside with our dog Cody. Well, one thing led to another, a little pick-up, a run out the back fence. The next thing I knew, I had a rake in my hand!!!!!

It felt wonderful, the fresh air, the manual exertion compared to wrestling with papers & numbers. Some parts of the back is still covered with snow & ice, but I did manage to get most of the snow mould areas raked and they look much better. I also added a lots of wet leaves to my compost...we got snow well before all the leaves had dropped. What a difference an hour cam make in the overall picture. I can't wait to get out there again today!

I heard Martha Stewart once say that she never says she 'works' in her garden. She can't call something that she loves that much, work...it's a pleasure! I concur! Have a great weekend everyone. We are off to what may be the Fort Saskatchewan Traders last home game. They are down 3-1 in the AJHL finals. The team's new home town will be St Albert, beginning the 07/08 season.

So this is what spring looks like!

This was the sight out our back door April 3, 2007.

Kinda cool for spring, don't you think?

Come on inside and you'll feel the difference!

These radishes don't know the calendar date or the outside temperatures!

Up, Down & all Around

This is a shot of the lil greenhouse, sitting in front of the window - hence the bad lighting...but the plants have priority! The top shelf has the tomatoes & green peppers, already potted up. the nest shelf has my flower annuals - marigolds,(3 types) lavatara Mount Blanc - a beautiful white with a blush of pink just before they open. These also grow tall ~ 4' if they get lots of sun. I also have a tray of alyssum - snow carpet, Jacob's Ladder. The blue container is a trial - peat pots on a capillary mat - I have a new to me annual which I forgot how to spell but it will have blood red furry flowers, some summer savory and some sunflowers. Maybe the grandkids will want to adopt one each. The next shelf has 11 pots of dahlias - 6 creamy white and 5 light yellow. I also have 2 pots of 1 white & 1 yellow begonia...these will go on my front porch if they do well. On the bottom is a trial...some of the tubers on the dahlias broke off, so I planted them to see if I can get some freebies! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This is the best developed tomato so far, but the others aren't far behind. I restrained myself and only planted 12 seeds of the Manitoba variety. Lucky me 9 are still hanging in there. Both girls will have their hands full this summer with family reunions, new baby, garage building, holidays etc. So as the Soup Nazi said...'No tomatoes for you!'


These are my gotta have's - CrackerJack Marigolds. They grow about 3' tall and have blooms all summer/fall long until the frost takes them.

The main outdoors greenhouse has seen some growth. I have some sprouts just starting to poke their heads through the soil. The bad news is we are expecting a deep freeze early next week with temps to -17'C - I may lose them but I did move everything away from the south facing wall and into the center where they should have the best chance for survival.

We definitely missed the mark with the gravel for the floor...the lawns is so saturated and moving wheelbarrows of that stuff will tear up what lawn I do still have. So I will go without until things dry up.

On the VOLE not mole problem...it trails are much smaller - indicating voles aka filed mice...Joe and I toured the neighbourhood and everyone with a lot on that green space behind has some amount of damage. We are probably not the worse off so that is the good news. But again, we have to wait for all the snow to melt to reveal the true extent of the damage and go from there.

I need some gardening help!

In the 8 years in our home, I have never had this happen before. I know it's from mole activity over the winter underneath the huge snowbank...but now what do I do? My neighbour also has some damage appearing from under the melting snow.

Do I look for a tunnel which could be their new squatter's home? How do I shoo them away? I have pets so that's am important factor. How should I repair the damage? Rake and apply new triple mix and seed?

And to think I was so happy to see the snow melting! Oh well, I guess I'm learning something new today!

Got the gardening bug!

It's becoming a beautiful day after a little rain shower this morning. I can't believe how much snow has melted. I'll have to pull out my rubber boots today!

I'm been monitoring the greenhouse temps and my dish of water hasn't frozen overnight, so here goes nothing! I'm planting lettuce, both romaine and a mesclun mix along with radishes, bunching onions and swiss chard. I can almost taste them...mmmm!

I'm keeping a gardening journal - which may prove to be invaluable as the years go by. This is my first growing season in the greenhouse. I have so much to learn and so much to look forward to. It's a good thing we have a cordless phone because I don't plan on spending too much time inside the house unless I'm stitching!

So if anyone has some good tips to pass along, I'm all ears! I hope your weekend is as good as mine is turning out to be...we wrap it up Sunday evening with the Eric Clapton concert. I am so fortunate. I wish the same for you and your family.

It's time to start living the life we've imagined.
Henry James

My dilema

Stitch, quilt or garden???

Well garden won out...my tomatoes were almost pot bound! I tried the Lee Valley self watering seed starter for my tomatoes and green peppers, and I'm very impressed on how well it worked. I will definitely get more!

Now to go find the nail brush - I have dirt under my nails This isn't a complaint, I'm bragging!

Quick update

Just need to do the back stitching on Moonlit Cabin! Today is overcast so I hope tomorrow will be bright...hard to see those little holes with all those stitches!

Shower project done...just need to post some pics.

Gardening...I filled 2 trays of 8 9-cell packs with seed starting medium. Will be planting tonight. I set up my indoor green house yesterday, but one of the zipper closures isn't working so I have to get a replacement put in. Because I don't want to sew on the plastic greenhouse cover, I will just stitch the new zip on the fabric tape of the old zip. It'll be looser but at least there won't be a bunch of new holes made.

Did some other mundane household things like laundry, errands, pay bills, organize more T4's we received today - I have 3 tax forms to file...mine, DH's and my Dad's - I'm Trustee.

I hope you had as productive a day as I have...I feel great!