Pond Re-Do

The pond is officially in RE-DO mode. Scott finally got tired of the leak in the spliced liners.

 He is taking out the "mote" and making the pond a bit smaller.

 The entire water fall and pool above it is being reconfigured.

The yard is not a pretty site right now. Between piles of leaves, piles of rocks and piles of liners. I just close my eyes and look the other way. I know the finale will be worth it.

Waiting patiently.

Trying to Hide a Tree

There is a huge rootball and roots shooting out from around this Mulberry Tree. Plus the lawn slopes down toward the house at about this level.

So decided to create a visual point.Maybe a little garden box around the tree. We seem to have no problem locating broken concrete, so we started stacking today.

  

Well, I should say, Scott started stacking and I directed. Really, I did want to help more, but he said there was thinner and thicker peices and I could not tell the difference, so that sort of kicked me out of the placement job.

They are pretty close to sitting height. We will fill the middle in with dirt then put some shade growing plants, probably baby's tears and such. Actually we cheated a bit. Scott had piles of leaves around the yard, so I threw that into the hole for a start :-)

Cant wait to see the progress!

Our Friends

The back room of the house, our office/craft room is one gigantic wall of glass. The bottom portion is glass blocks, the top portion panes of windows. It is a bright room and wonderful see outback to watch the plants grow, weather change and birds fly by.

However, sadly, on occasion, a bird will go off his radar and fly into the window. I will be typing on my computer and hear a loud "THUMP", which sends me to the ceiling at first. Then I realize it was a bird and not a ball or bullet.

The past couple weeks, I have been bugged by all the bug muck on the window (bugged? HAH! I made a pun... get it?), so I wanted to get some of the windex cleaners out and get it cleaned up. But, I guess for the birds, it is clean enough, as today I had another one hit the window.

I'm typing away on the computer and SMACK! I knew right away, guess I am getting used to it. So went outside to check, and sure enough, a bird is sitting under the window looking dazed. Poor baby. So I got a little shovel and moved him to higher ground (safe from cats). I noticed it already has a growth on it's beak, so I wonder if it has flown into window's before. There are some blood spots on the growth, so he probably hurt it again. Poor thing. But of course, I think, "This is a BLOG POST!", so I run and grab my camera and add to it's humuliation and take a shot. To redeem myself, I grab a crust of bread and little cap of water and come back to leave for it, but it takes off in flight.

Guess all is well in the bird world again, as I notice about 10 other birds flying about the yard.

I come back in to share this on the blog, and I hear a lot of chirping out back. I will accept that as my...

THANK YOU!

Fruits of Our Efforts!

The Harvest has begun!

• First 2 cucumbers, taste GREAT!
• Tomato's (Celebrity and Early Girl) are finally starting to ripen. Have already enjoyed a pasta salad and a capri salad. YUM!
• Strawberries are still a bit small, but still worth tossing into a vanilla ice cream concoction.
• Basil is hanging in there. The leaves arent as big as Trader Joe basil, but enough to add flavor to my salads!
• Garlic was harvested on June 22 (2nd day of summer) as instructed. Very puny cloves, but have tried in salads and on homemade pizza and just as flavorful as the store bought big cloves. Not sure if we will harvest again, as it is not expensive to buy throughout the summer. They were a bit of a dissapointmnet when we pulled them out. Looked more like green onions than garlic.



The Reveal

Remember when we started?

I was the inspiration for this nifty gadget to hold the spa lid when spa is being used.

Our new new oasis!

Step inside and check it out...

Tonite we CELEBRATE!

Proud Mama

The babies are arriving! Arent they cute!

News Worthy?

The strawberries are ripening, but the pill bugs munch into them before I can pluck them. UGH!

So read about some different suggestions, one discussed using a weed barrier. So trying the old newspaper trick. I cut slices in the center of the paper, gathered the plant and brought it through the center. Now the berries are laying on the paper, not the ground.

 One theory mentioned in my many readings, was that the pill bugs will only eat them if they are laying directly on the ground, they wont climb up the plant to get to them, so a few other plants, I moved the unripened berries to lay on top of a leaf.

Experimenting to see what works best. Shall we start a wager?

Pond Guest 2011

Back in 2009 Rumplestillskin came to visit us. Remember him?

I hear that the lifespan of a dragonfly is not very long and of course we havent seen him since, but we have new visitors each year.

Today I ran across this guy.

He was actually sitting in the grass and didnt move when I came near. So I grabbed a stick and he crawled onto it, so I could show him to Scott. Then he flew off, sort of crooked into a plant on the other side of the yard. So I got him on the stick again, and took him over to the pond, as he flew off, swooping over the pond, I cheered, until he landed in the water, just below the water fall and began to just float. OH NO!! Do dragonfly's swim? I dont know, but he wasnt moving around. So I ran around to the other side, leaned over as far as I could (Am I REALLY doing this for a dragonfly?) and sent a stick to save him. He grabbed on, and I brought him up to a rock. I am guessing he is an old DF and maybe on the last of his flights.

I love my new camera, I can get in close so you can see him. There is a baby dragonfly on the other side of the rock. He keeps raising his tail, I assume, trying to fly, and hasnt gotten far. We have lots of these around the pond right now.

Did You Know...

I bet you didnt know that today is:

Yep, truly it is. Read how to celebrate it here!

And ironically, without knowing this, DH had already promised to start on the deck for the spa today. So, without further adu...

 The Beginning

Don't forget the BEFORE shot.

Mystery Guest

While out weeding, I ran across this interesting guest. Since it looks like a vine, I decided to save it and see what grows. It would be an odd weed. As far as I recall, no plants were put there last year, about 3 yards away I had tried watermelon, but nothing fruited.  There is a lot of shade in the this area, so will be fun to see who it is.

 27 days later and tomatoes are growing nicely. A few blossoms are popping out.

Look Who Came to Visit?

After reading an article in a magazine about watching Amarylis grow in a vase at Christmas, I sent away for one. I took the bulb and vase to work and everyone enjoyed coming by my desk to see the progress of the growth. This Amarylis was called Dancing Queen, so we nicknamed her Abba. Each day, I would be asked, "How is Abba doing?" For the longest time she was just a long stalk, with a closed fist at the peak. There was a temptation to just cut her open. I remember that Christmas season fondly as it brought us co-workers a shared conversation peice. Abba did not bloom until the week after Christmas, but what a BEAUTY! Everyone was impressed. I brought her home and planted her into a pot and set her in the front garden. We havent seen her since. That was 3 jobs ago, back in 2008.

Yesterday, we received the surprise of this BEAUTIFUL bloom! I didnt even notice the stalk growing. I admit I feel like a negligent parent. But I am also enjoying the fond memories of her first Christmas and that last job, which I do miss often.

Also new in the yard this season: Four Cucumber plants. Last year the cucs were too close to the Zucchini and got crowded out. They did try to choke some of the Zucchini, and after the HUGE batch I ended up with, I wish they had succeeded with at least one of those plants (did I say that out loud? Oops!) This year, I got creative making a trellis from an old window that I refused to let Scott take to the dump, because I just KNEW that ONE day, I would be able to use it for something creative. Cucs.... meet.. CREATIVE!

 I ran out of room for planting, so moved to a different part of the yard. To the side of the spa is a nice long patch of area that seems to only want to grow weeds, not grass. So I cleaned out the weeds, and planted Yellow Crookneck Squash. Not that I need that much squash, but how could I pass up the deal, 4 plants for $1.99! Will be fun to see how this area grows.

Changes Everywhere!

Since the garden was moved, now we have a big blank slate of dirt. Oh what to do? Wait, I have a FRUGAL idea!

Use those FREE tiles Scott brought home from a job. Additional patio space! YES!

And a GREAT place to put the FREE Wicker Furniture Scott rescued for me.

How is THAT for a Frugal Space?

TTTTTAAAAAAA DDDAAAA!

Salsa Garden on the way

Started planting the tomatoes this weekend. They were on sale at Lowes, 2 for $1, Celebrity and Early Girl. So I bought 3 of each.

 We moved the planter box from it's old location, as DH thinks there was not enough sun. This spot seems pretty sunny. It gets sun from noon until evening.

 Pretty Start!

 Also got a good deal on a Lime Tree. Already smells good. Will have to be patient and wait for fruit next year.

I held off harvesting the Meyers Lemons this year. It was just never warm enough to make Lemonaid. DH told me the brances were almost touching the ground, they were so heavy. So had him pull off half of them. They filled the sink!

 They were HUGE! But there was also a thick rind. After trying to juice 1/4 of them, I gave up, and went out and bought a juicer. I am in LOVE! It zipped through those babies. Now we have half a gallon of Lemon juice to make lemonaid on demand! YAH!  :-)

Garlic is still going strong. The peppers continued to fruit throughout the winter, so we are going to wait and see what happens this summer. Maybe plant a few more along with some sweet peppers.

Cant wait for summer!

DEEP IN THE GARDEN

I've noticed something about gardening. You set out ot do one thing and pretty soon you're doing something else, which leads to some other thing, and so on. By the end of the day, you look at the shovel stuck in the half-dug rose bed and wonder what on earth you've been doing.
~Anne Raver (1995)

GARLIC!

After asking around, I got a great tip on planting and growing garlic.
Plant on the shortest day of the year. Check!

Harvest on the longest... That is Scott's birthday. Great reminder!

Well, I got the advise shortly after the longest day of the year, so I was a couple weeks behind, but I planted again. And here is the outcome a month later...

sure looks pretty. Now I need the patience to wait 4 more months!

GROW GROW GROW GROW!!