flowers — Page 182

Working Outside

April 21, 2017 at 10:00 am by Claudia

Soon. They’re getting bigger and plumper.

I ended up hacking away at the brambles yesterday. There is no way I can take them all on, or even 1/16 of them. And, though they’re a pain, when they bloom they’re gorgeous – because they’re actually wild roses. But they have a tenacious quality that requires trimming them before they take over everything.

I started over by the now dead shag hickory where the crabapple I discovered two years ago is about to bloom. Thinking in practical blogger terms, I knew I couldn’t get close to it to take a picture unless I pruned a lot of the brambles. So I did.

Then I moseyed over to the other crabapple that I discovered a couple of days ago and decided to hack through that to clear a path to the tree. There was already the beginning of one, it just needed my pruners, as those pesky branches were trying to reach across the opening and block my access.

Two hours later, I was exhausted and there’s still a pile of cut branches that I need to move.

Another day. As today is rainy, so I have the perfect excuse to ignore them.

I tried to take a picture but it’s hard to see the tree among all the other trees.

It’s clear there was a rock boundary along the area where the path begins. You can’t see it here, but it’s there. So I’m going to try to keep pruning this area so it doesn’t get more out of control than it already is. I remember when we first moved in our neighbor told us that the previous owner tried to keep the brambles under control to no avail.

I hear you, former owner.

I took my second shower of the day after this adventure and treated myself to homemade “cloud biscuits” for dinner.

Any day now, the leaves on the maples will be providing beautiful shade. I can’t wait until there are green canopies everywhere.

Barnaby – side view. Equally adorable.

Several people have suggested making the bunny egg cozies and selling them on Etsy. Here’s why I’m not doing that: first, it’s a pattern that was created by another blogger, which she sells on Ravelry. Though I purchased it, of course, I don’t feel right about selling a creation that I am able to knit only because of her wonderful idea. The scarves that I sold were from a pattern that was all over the internet, sort of in the general domain, with no one credited specifically with the design. So I felt that was okay.

And, the last time I made a slew of scarves to sell on Etsy, I had a holiday deadline and I made so many of them that my right wrist suffered. It’s much better now, but I have to be careful how long I hand quilt or knit or crochet. Too much of any one of them is not good.

So…no selling on Etsy. But thank you for the compliment of wanting one! I really appreciate that.

If you ever get any bounce back emails saying your comment wasn’t accepted (I don’t know if you get them, but I do, both when I leave a comment on another blog or when I receive emails about your comments on this blog) ignore them. The comment always goes through. It has to do with AOL, in my case, not always ‘accepting’ those notifications. I called my host about it yesterday and they said if that happens, they just ping the comment again and it goes through. In fact, in every case where I receive an email saying something wasn’t ‘accepted,’ I get another email at the same time saying it was. I’ve noticed this phenomenon for some time when I leave comments on Blogger blogs. Same thing. It says my comment wasn’t accepted, even though I can see it right there on the blog post!

Hope that made sense.

Happy Friday.

Investigating

April 18, 2017 at 10:06 am by Claudia

The wind has died down, thank goodness. We had about three days of it, which is three days too long for yours truly. Today is coolish and sunny and still. Good.

I moseyed around the property yesterday as I checked on new growth. Everything is taking off. I haven’t yet cleaned out the area around the peonies, but I see the red stems coming out of the ground.

Two of these beauties were dining on some clover in the lawn. They were very small – maybe an inch and a half to two inches wide? I thought they were moths, but my investigation (I use that word loosely) tells me they may be Painted Lady butterflies. They migrate from Mexico to Canada in the spring. I’m going to settle on Painted Lady unless someone has more information?

The maple right outside the kitchen door is leafing out. Huzzah! The big sugar maple always takes a bit longer, but it’s on its way.

Yarrow in the big garden bed. I love those delicate, lacy leaves.

The hyacinths are so beautiful. I found these bulbs – mystery bulbs to me – when I created another garden bed on the side of the house. I didn’t know it they were viable, but I took a chance and planted them here in the big garden bed. I was so delighted when I realized they were hyacinths!

I found another crabapple tree in the middle of an area of brambles which is close to our property line but very near to the kitchen window. There were so many brambles that I didn’t dare try to get close to it, so I ran inside for my new lens.

After almost 12 years here, I still find surprises. It’s a nice sized tree, so I imagine I’ve somehow missed it because it’s in an area that I usually leave to itself. Brambles and I don’t get along, though I have to do some trimming today. Wish me luck.

There’s also a baby tree springing up right outside the kitchen window – that’s what sent me outside yesterday. I saw two little flowers blooming and knew I had to investigate. That little sapling led me to the bigger tree.

If I have misidentified this, let me know. There is another crabapple that I’ve spoken of on the other side of the property, down near the street. I see that it’s budding and here’s my quandary: that crabapple has a pinkish color of unopened flower bud and when the flowers finally open, you can see traces of the pink on the back of the petals. I don’t see that with these flowers. But I’ve searched and searched and the only possibility I can settle on is…crabapple.

Once things start taking off in the gardens and on the property, there’s always something new to investigate! Maybe instead of Nancy Drew, I should invent a character named Nancy Grew…

Happy Tuesday.

Miracles in the Garden

April 16, 2017 at 10:37 am by Claudia

Whatever you are celebrating today, I send you my best wishes for a happy and joyous day.

Here in my neck of the woods, the temperature is going to reach 81 degrees and then, as is the case in the Spring, it will drop back down to a more moderate temperature tomorrow.

My beautiful lilacs are coming along nicely. I took this a couple of days ago, so I’ll have to do an update later today.

This is the season of miracles. Plants that were thought lost are back again. Old reliable friends have spread their beauty into other parts of the garden. We’ve made it through a month in which there were balmy days and then suddenly, snow and frigid temperatures. Still they survive. And thrive. Amazing and truly wondrous.

Back after taking a year off:

These beauties. In a garden filled with green and brown, this splash of vivid purple makes me smile.

Yesterday I took a little ride and then came home and decided to mow the area of the lawn that is on the house side of the driveway. Since we’re on a slope, rain water flows down the slope and portions of the lawn grow very quickly and densely. In April and May, we usually have to stop the lawnmower and clear out clogged grass, then start it again and this can go on and on. Since I’m handling this on my own, I decided to mow early and often. As I opened the shed to get the lawn mower, I noticed the bins holding the air conditioners had fallen forward (they’re fine) onto the snowblower.

Crap. I knew I would have to move them, as I didn’t want any damage to occur to the snowblower. I moved the lawnmower out of the shed and lifted each bin off the pile and down to the floor of the shed. But that left no room for the lawnmower. Since I wasn’t sure how to reconfigure the shed contents on my own, I took two of the bins outside the shed. Then I wheeled the lawnmower down toward the lawn and mowed. That in itself was tiring. When I finished, I looked at those bins and figured I might as well drag them toward the house – which I did – and move them inside.

And then, despite what I knew Don would say, I proceeded to install the kitchen a/c unit. It’s the heaviest and most awkward of the units and it wasn’t easy. Lots of heavy lifting. At one point in the middle of the process, guess who called? Yep. I fessed up immediately, explaining that I had no idea where to put them after I’d had to haul them out of the shed. He wasn’t happy, but he understood.

Then I moved the bedroom unit up the stairs one at a time, by pushing it up onto each step. Once I got it upstairs, I could easily move it into the bedroom. This one is the scariest for me to do on my own because I’m so afraid that I’m going to drop it and it will crash to the ground. In the middle of the whole thing I almost gave up. But I somehow managed it and it’s a done deal.

There’s still the unit for the office to install but that can wait.

I was really, really exhausted at the end of the day. A nice hot bath helped.

So, I’m taking it easy today. Really, really easy.

Enjoy your day, friends.

Happy Sunday.

Working Outside

Investigating

Miracles in the Garden

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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