Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A Blogging Hiatus

Good morning friends. .
Wanted to jot a quick note. .
to let any interested ones know. .
We are alive. .
And well. .
It seems as if I have taken an unintentional blogging hiatus. .
And it seems. .
That it will continue for another few weeks. .
although. .
I am ITCHING to post some pictures of the garden. .
The cooler temperatures and rain last month helped it tremendously. .
As did the fact that I was able to spend nearly FOUR hours hacking down and pulling up lots of stray grasses and T-A-L-L weeds!
I have a few current priorities in my life that need to take what blogging time I had. .
But I hope to be back one of these days. .
Until then. .
Be blessed!!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Favorite Picture Parade

Well. .
I know at least a few of you have been waiting for this post. .
It’s my FAVORITE vacation photos!!
Some of them are silly. .
And some are sweet. .
And at least one. .
Will just make you roll your eyes!!
I’m taking a poll. .
Which photo will be YOUR favorite??
This is a Stick Up!!
The Backboat boys. .
Just rockin!
The love between a father and his daughter!
Sweet, sweet summertime.
I’m. .
 too sexy for my nose plug. .
By the way. .
One of his best smiling photographs of all time!!
Sad, really!!
Candid Cameras. .
I’m too sexy for my brother. .
Who, by the way, is landing a really niiiiccccceee jump in the background!
Things that just make you go. .
Hmmmm. .
(PS. .He was NOT in trouble!)
I get up. .
And nothing gets me down. .
(lyrics to Jump by Van Halen, for those of you wondering)
Silence!!
(we actually had to tell her not to sing so loud. .
because we thought she was screaming at us to stop. .
Turns out. .
She just liked the song!
We should have known though. .
Cause her universal signal to stop is her hand held up, palm facing out. .
With an angelic expression on her face. .
For real!)
Never. .
Gonna. .
Catch me!
Look ma. .
No hands!!
Just kiddin. .
He really was using his hands!!
Thanks for humoring my bizarre mood. .
But. .
I am curious. .
Which photo was YOUR favorite??
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

A Little August Color. .

It seems very difficult to believe that it is the middle of August. .
Not only because we have had over 7 inches of rain in the last month
(which to some of you sounds like no big deal. .
but to us in Western Kansas. .
In JULY/AUGUST. .
It is a HUGE deal!!)
But also because the temperatures for that same length of time have been in the 70-80’s and a few low to mid 90’s!!
This time of year is when we USUALLY have our multiple 100 degree days!!
Now don’t hear me complaining. .
I am NOT!! It just feels strange!!
The flowers are LOVING the weather. .
So I thought I would give you a quick tour!!
This is a little clump of purple salvia that I moved from my mom’s gardens after she moved. .
The bonus was. .
The pink sweet William in the front!
Across the sidewalk from that is my lil’ veggie garden.
The tomatoes have been a total bust!! Not sure why. .
According to all the messages in my In-box. .
Everyone else who bought these grow boxes have PHENOMENAL results!!
Grr!!
The basil and peppers have started to really look nice though. .
And the cucumber vines have grown well. .
The ones that survived the kittens did anyway!!
The three galvanized tubs that were salvaged for herbs are doing well. .
Dill compacto on the left is blooming!
I think I will let it make seed and hope that a few will come up in the straw area next spring! There is also some lemon thyme in with it. .
The chives are in the middle with a clump of regular thyme. .
And something LOVES oregano other than us. .
Cause it has nibbled the clump in the right pot down to the quick. .
It’s just now regenerating!

Grant and I are hoping to make some raised beds in the background to grow beets, garlic, and okra, and put the tomatoes back into the ground, using the grow tubs for peppers and smaller things. We also intend on moving the rhubarb and blackberry plant to the same area. .
Adding another blackberry bush and another raspberry bush as well as two grapevines.
The garden has sure been handier to monitor for this busy gardener when it is right under my nose as I leave every morning!
These little self watering tubs are working better on the flowers than they are on the veggies. .
They have just been slow to take off. .
Usually, we are eating watermelon by now. .
At least we have the promise of watermelon to come. .
Cantaloupe too!!
That will be wonderful!
The nice thing will be. .
That I will pick up the tomatoberry plants that are producing. .
As well as the established pepper and basil plants. .
And move them straight to the greenhouse in their grow boxes.
I am excited to see how that works out.
I also started some new tomatoes, some swiss chard, cilantro seeds, and Diva cucumbers. These will be my winter greenhouse crop.
The moonflowers have reseeded in several areas of the garden. .
They sure do shine in the moonlight and into early morning!
Tristan even picked one for me and brought it into the house the other morning. .
They don't last well in a vase. .
but he didn't know that!!
This was a volunteer Russian sage from my Russian garden. .
I transplanted it to the memory garden last spring. .
It is doing well here and the bees love it!
In contrast. .
Here is my Russian garden!!
Not only do the flowers love the rain. .
So do the weeds!!
This bed was cleaned out not long ago!! The Texas red yucca are just now big enough to have had one bloom on them. .
I think that in the next year or two, that color combo will be really stunning! This bed has had no additional water, even earlier in the summer when it was hotter and things seem to be holding their own.
Back to the memory garden. .
There is a HUGE patch of these cute little mini hollyhocks! Behind are all the dried blooms from the Monarda!
My favorite Grandpa Otts morning glory. .
They are rambling up the fences now!
Right down from those is this transplanted clump of Karley Rose grass. .
One of my very favorite grasses with purplish plumes and a medium height.
The patch of purple is a sedum from my mom. .
Possibly blackjack.
When we moved plants from her yard, she remembered how much I loved the black sedum and asked me to take that clump. It has established well. .
And I’m not sure that I had ever really been to her house this time of the year. .
Because the stem color has darkened dramatically. .
And I love it even more now!
Can’t wait to propagate that into some new clumps!
Last bloomer in the memory garden is this Guava ice coneflower that I got on clearance in mid June!! Loving that!
Grant’s zinnias are blooming. .
And look nice with Salvia shared by Gardener on Sherlock street. .
As well as near the goldenrod that has been blooming for about a month now!
One naked lady left. .
The clump was gorgeous. .
And there were several clumps that I found.
Those reestablish sooo slowly after moving them, that I still find new clumps each year!!
I tried to grow gladiolus this year. .
I’ve had mixed results. .
There were several that died. .
Though I’m not sure what made the difference.
I’ve had a handful that bloomed. .
Some that bloomed also had the bulb next to them die. .
Go figure!!
The pitcher pump has run water all summer!!
Seems the magical cure was to get it out of nearly all of the wind. .
I have absolutely loved it!!
My large galvanized tub. .
With purple fountain grass, lemongrass (which I STILL don’t know how to cook with) and sweet potato vine. .
There are still some purple petunias in there. .
But the other stuff is edging them out. I do like the contrasting colors and foliage!
The $2 clearance canna bulbs are starting to bloom in the pond. .
I'm hoping to salvage those in my garage this winter and use them again next year.
And this little blue pickerel water plant has also been throwing purple flowers out for about 2 months now!
The corkscrew rush has been naturalizing the pond since the pond’s inception. It looked really neat with the rain drops still on it’s stalks!
As did the backlit Mexican hats!
I love sooo much the colors of later summer and fall. .
Everything is fuller. .
The butterflies are visiting in full force. .
And the weather promises cooler temperatures (eventually)
I’m sure there will be a few more blooms to showcase before the end of the season!!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A Win-some Weekend


This was going to be our big annual camping trip. .
It didn’t work out like we had planned. .
And we ended up with a free weekend instead!
With 80 degree temperature slated. .
The boys thought racing would be a fun day trip. . 
With the races being close to my friend. .
And since our planned trip to visit her last May was foiled by the stomach flu!!
It seemed like the PERFECT opportunity to me!!
We enjoyed the quickest house and garden tour Cami would allow us. .
All while Devin talked the ear off her wonderful husband!!
But we enjoyed lingering over lunch at a Mexican restaurant that I hadn’t eaten at in over 20 years!!
Devin was my photographer. .
And he got distracted from our pictures. .
To taking some of his own photos of her garden!!
It was a fun side trip for a short impromptu visit before heading to watch the boys race!
And with skies and good ole Kansas color like this. .
And delicious temperatures. .
We couldn’t have gone wrong!
The old cars that are there are always fun to watch. .
At least for a little while. .
And this race found some fancy cars to watch!!
And a few fast flying, loud motorcycles!
My boys were sure that I had jinxed them. .
As they BOTH had ROTTEN days. .
But not any worse than any other racer. .
As far as a novice like me could tell. .
Red lit. .
And broke out. .
Were heard frequently from the announcer describing various racers. .
And you don’t really want to do either of those things!!
Tristan’s car even flooded out during the race. .
And they had to push him back off the track!
So even though there were no wins taken home from the track. .
We enjoyed the company of friends and our family. .
Enjoyed God’s beauty in His creation. .
And still made it to bed by midnight. .
AFTER I manually threw 19 baby chickens into their coop. .
AFTER I caught them first. .
Long story!!
Thanks for stopping by!!

Monday, August 12, 2013

It Really Happened!!

With my last two children. .
I got to enjoy about 4 months of 1/2 day per week all to myself!!
Then another baby showed up. .
And consumed my time again.
But today!!
TODAY. .
Marks the first of MANY. .
FULL days. .
ALL. TO. MYSELF!! 
This girl. .
Was so nervous yesterday. .
That her tummy hurt!!
AND. .
Saturday evening. .
She was bit on the forehead by something. .
I think a spider. 
This morning her eye is nearly swollen shut!!
I THOUGHT we were going to have a MAJOR meltdown about how "ugly" it was. .
And I didn't DARE laugh at her crazy antics of pulling the eye open with her fingers, or getting as wide eyed as possible while examining herself in the mirror!
I told her that if she was a pretty girl on the inside. .
That no one would care that her eye looked crazy!
It must have worked. .
Cause as she followed me out of her room. .
She said in a pouty voice. .
"When I smile, I look like an Oaf"!
And then, she stated in a more positive tone. .
"But at least I can wink now"!!
And all was good!
Of course. .
Par for our course. .
I was only able to get one decent shot of the kids. .
Without someone pulling something silly!! 
So. .
We have. .
Junior. .
Sophomore. .
5th grade. .
And Kindergarten (full day) 
And. .
After everyone left the house by 7:30. .
I had enjoyed several cups of coffee. .
Took photos in my garden. .
Went for a 3 mile walk/jog. .
Enjoyed my husbands company for a few minutes in the shop. .
Pulled 2 weeds. .
And uploaded my photos to keep you all current with our happenings!!
 
You can tell by the car lot. .
That some people will have to work hard today. .
But THIS girl??
Let's see!!
I could refer to the growing list in my mind. .
of ALL the projects that I want/need to complete in my spare time??
Nah. .
But I better decide fast. .
Because school is out by 1 today!
I'll have a plan by my NEXT full day without kids in 2 weeks!!
Come back soon. .
I have some fun photos from our weekend. .
A flower show for you. .
And I STILL haven't showed you my favorite vacation shots. .
Not shown anywhere before!!
Happy Monday Friends!!