flowers — Page 105

Blogging & Life

July 14, 2019 at 10:11 am by Claudia

I thought the spent hollyhock blooms that have fallen to the ground deserved a little tribute. They really are quite beautiful. As is everything in the garden, no matter what stage of life. (Except whiteflies.)

I’m taking the day off today as my allergies have left me feeling sickish. I just turned on the A/C and I will water everything as soon as I finish this post, but that’s it for outside chores for today. Don is portraiting at the farmers market and, as he left for the day, he told me to STAY IN THE HOUSE. NO GARDENING. REST.

Okay, Okay!

I have titled this photo “Nothing Happening.” And there isn’t anything happening with this project at the moment. I think about it. But I don’t do anything. That’s because the outdoors calls to me and at this time of year, the gardens and the porch are my priority. I’ll get back to it.

I am going to take the occasional day off from posting. And I stress occasional, as in ‘rare.’ Sometimes I’ll take a day off simply because there isn’t very much going on here. But I love writing my posts and taking photographs. I also need the ad income. So it won’t be very often. All this is to say that if I don’t post one day, don’t worry!

For a couple of years there, we were very busy; traveling to La Jolla, driving across the country, visiting New Orleans and Chicago, and then six months in NYC with Margaritaville, plus a trip to Europe. A rare and wonderful and exciting time, which was fun to blog about. Now, it’s back to reality and our reality is a simple one, much the same from day to day. Although, we’re craving some adventure; a road trip, another trip to Paris. That’s for the future, hopefully. Right now, we can’t afford to travel.

So, I hope you don’t mind little snippets from the garden or the cottage. That’s life at MHC right now.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday Morning

July 13, 2019 at 10:04 am by Claudia

Pretty porch views from this very morning.

It’s a lovely day. Right now, it’s about 72 degrees which would be a perfect high for the day. But it’s going to be about 88 degrees, so there you go. Nevertheless, it wasn’t nearly as humid this morning as it was yesterday morning. As we sat on the porch for our second cup of coffee we were greeted with birds singing, sunlight, and a slight breeze.

Both of us were outside yesterday spraying water on the whiteflies. Don insisted on helping me, which was much appreciated. He also mowed the lilac side of the lawn. We did a lot outside and by the end of the day we were so tuckered out that we deliberately watched a movie that we knew was going to be laughably bad: The Brain that Wouldn’t Die found on TCM On Demand.

Oh my heavens. It really was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I won’t even go into the plot, what little there was. It was so amateurish – and that’s not being fair to most amateur filmmakers who would do a much, much better job of it – that we were laughing out loud for most of the movie.

Also from this morning: a spotlight on the hydrangeas.

I finished When Will There Be Good News? this morning. Kate Atkinson is such a good writer! And now I’m starting on the next, Started Early, Took My Dog (perhaps my favorite book title ever.) I put a hold on two others through our inter-county library system; her first Jackson Brodie mystery, Case Histories, and her newest, Big Sky, which was just published.

Don’s off to take some portraits. I’m going to do a little gardening and weed whacking. But not too much, as my allergies continue to be a pain in the tush.

I hope all is well with you.

Happy Saturday.

Monarch

July 12, 2019 at 10:50 am by Claudia

I briefly contemplated taking the day off from posting, but then, as Don and I were sitting on the porch talking, we saw this:

Our first monarch! Actually, Don saw it first. Yesterday, I saw an eastern swallowtail, so I initially thought it had come back. But it was a monarch – feeding on the milkweed.

He was moving quickly, so I did the best I could with my iPhone.

We were so excited!

I spent at least three hours shooting water at whiteflies yesterday, after discovering they were everywhere in my garden – even in some of the potted plants – which is incredibly disheartening. I found an insecticidal soap – made by Safer – that is used in organic gardens (I happened to have it in my cupboard) and is meant for aphids and whiteflies. I’m planning to use it on some of the problem areas, but not everywhere. One of my fears with this kind of thing is that I’ll also kill beneficial insects and I hate doing that. I’ll definitely not use it on the milkweed, but will continue to spray water on the infestations, because I don’t want to kill the beginnings of a monarch. I’m going to do some more research in the meantime. I don’t want to see all my plants destroyed by these dang whiteflies. So I have to figure out how to eliminate them without huring other bugs and/or my plants.

Any thoughts?

Meanwhile, while I was standing near the side of the porch, I saw this:

And this:

The garden beds on the side of the house are exactly what I want: very densely planted, full of cottage garden flowers. Now, if I could get the other beds to do the same thing, I’d be a happy camper.

I think this bed does well because it’s partially shaded. So was the big garden bed until we lost that huge limb on the maple.

Anyway. The water battle with the whiteflies will continue today. It’s tedious. But I’m like a mom protecting her children. Don’t mess with my babies!

Happy Friday.

Blogging & Life

Saturday Morning

Monarch

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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