Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from October, 2013 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 1:48 am on October 7, 2013 Permalink  

  The Notorious Potting Shed 

  

  The Notorious Potting Shed

  This is our notorious potting shed.  When we had a carpenter build our shed in 1994, it was just to be one more spot to store an extra vehicle. The total cost of it including labor was $2,000.  12 x 24 seemed reasonable for the pickup that Dennis had. Years come and go and our needs have changed.  The current pickup garage is complete with garage door and opener and connected to the garage porch with just one step down. Dennis can be out and about and mobile in a heart beat.  Opening barn doors is just way too confining for someone that needs to keep his finger on the pulse of the community.

  

  The Cavern Within

  As I began to enjoy gardening the gardening tools began to collect and what’s a garden without embellishments?  When we have traveled I have picked up a piece of garden art here and there. Once the fall season is here it all needs to be stored as nothing is sadder than to see my collections torn asunder by strong winter winds and then buried under snow.  As others decorate their homes I tend to favor the gardens as no weekly dusting is required.  Everything has a place and as I store them each season it evokes memories of where the items were obtained from. Priceless.  New shingles were put on the potting shed last week and after this rainy season passes the barn doors are on the schedule to get scrapped, primed and painted for a fresh look. Hmm . . . the bottom of our job jar never seems to see the light of day.  It does keep Dennis and me on our toes.

   
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  Noreen 2:25 am on September 8, 2013 Permalink  

  Our 2013 Tomato Crop 

  

  2013 Tomato Crop

  This photo is 50% of our entire crop of tomatoes this year.  We made sure we had healthy plants and found the best spot possible and we watered and waited.  We waited and watered.  Blossoms came and went.  We have one more possible tomato yet to harvest.  Perhaps we had no bees.  Perhaps we need to fertilize our soil.  Perhaps we need to be thankful we have a great farmer’s market in the town square three times a week.  The size of the tomato would make a tennis ball look huge.  Oh well – nothing ventured, nothing gained.

   
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  Noreen 3:03 am on August 5, 2013 Permalink  

  A Sure Sign of Fall 

  

  Tiger’s Eye Sumac Seed Pod

  Not only does the air feel like fall with a mild temp and low humidity, but the farmer’s market is going full bore with yummies.  My cucumber plant has blossoms that are setting, but the tomato — not so much.  One — one little tomato the size of a marble with no other blossoms evident.  The farmer’s market is in the town square three times a week and it is amazing the following that the three vendors have.  During this first of the season tomatoes I am treating myself to toasted tomato sandwiches on a regular basis for breakfast.  I can get back to my Greek Yogurt and frozen blueberries anytime but getting those wonderful fresh tomatoes is in real time.

  Dennis has been watering the gardens using water from the Koi pond.  The watering can is filled by a good dip and then each individual plant gets a good dose.  All of the great fertilizer can’t hurt.  Several years ago I noticed that the larger green houses sold condensed liquid fish fertilizer at a premium.  As I was toddling behind Dennis and checking out the backyards I couldn’t believe how the tiger’s eye sumac had sprouted their seed pods.  This is the first year I have noticed them.  Again, another sure sign of fall.  The lime green with the contrast of red is very eye catching. Take care and catch ya later.

   
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  Noreen 6:16 am on July 16, 2013 Permalink  

  July Heat Is Here 

  Just like Christmas the July heat comes every year but not with the same anticipation.  Dennis and I had a great time in the cooler temps in the Duluth area last week and having granddaughter Megan with us for the weekend prolonged reality.  In the early morning hours as I was coming to after a good night’s sleep I enjoyed listening to the Thrush family of birds as they serenaded in the large evergreen right off of the northwest corner of the house.  A great way to start the new week.

  After I was up long enough to get some coffee to take out to the patio I saw Dennis walking the backyard.  Yup, I knew reality was back.  With several rain showers since we had last mowed the yards Dennis had that gleam in his brown eyes.  Dennis loves nothing better than tidy yards.  The only saving grace to prolong getting the mower going was the heavy dew but the promise of the day getting hot early in the day made choices slim to none.

  

  Yellow Lillies Do Not Mind the Heat

  I did take some time to see what there was to enjoy for blooms.   The joy of perennials is that at any given time there will be something that is showing off.  As I poked around I also poked loose mosquitoes – lots of them.  As there is no way I feel comfortable letting Dennis tackle the acre by himself I got into my finest garden garb to assist – after I was totally infused with spray that contained Deet.  I use the push mower to do our original yard and use the trusty weed whip to trim anything that either mower can’t get close to.  Dennis is in his grove using the rider to mow the remaining area that makes up our acre.  The end result made Dennis a happy camper: he had a tidy yard.  It might have been a hot one today but the results may last a bit as the grass is showing it’s July tendency to rest and conserve moisture.   Catch ya another time.

   
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  Noreen 3:24 am on July 6, 2013 Permalink  

  True to Their Names 

  

  Fire Cracker Lily

  The Fire Cracker Lily does not disappoint.  Regardless how hot the sun beats on them they show up ready to bring the brightest of red.

  Of course I would have this particular lily as I already had a fire cracker of a son.  Kevin was born July 4th, 1968.  He decided to become a part of the celebration on a great day that Carrie and I were taking Orlin’s mother to Redwood Falls to see her good friend Mrs. Conners.  I am here to tell you that neither the plant nor the child show any signs of loosing their fizzle.

  Just as I look forward to the plants that return to me each spring I have the same enthusiasm as I sit back and see what Kevin is going to be up to in his fairly new roll as head of his household.  It’s a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 12:54 am on July 3, 2013 Permalink  

  Blooms at Their Best 

  

  Weigela in Full Bloom

  July is often a month when the garden is left on its own.  More importantly are the family vacations that need to get squeezed in from all the summer activities that school-aged kids look forward to and get enrolled in.  I must admit that I do feel as if I am in a generation gap.  In my youth, aka: the dark ages, summer months were when my Dad had us kids fixing portions of the cow yard fences, painting the out buildings on the farmyard and hoeing out and pulling up unwanted weeds from the oat and bean fields.   Those items speak to me from being a farm kid through and through.  The fun part of the day was after the evening milking was done we would be taken to Lake Allie and cool off swimming in the lake.   Truth be told, I don’t think there are too many lakes in today’s world that I would want my grandchildren to swim in.

  I may not be spending a lot of time out in the dirt  now as the tomato and cucumber plants are just now setting blossoms.  With little time invested at this point, my garden in July never disappoints as the Weigela bushes spring forth with a gala of color that makes me smile each and every day while they are in bloom.  The bushes have hardwood branches that do need pruning every so often as they get a bit wild with over growth.  The Weigela picks up right after the last of the lilac varieties have brought color – sorry, no aroma but it sure makes up for it in the bright color.

  Catch you another time.

   
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  Noreen 5:59 am on June 29, 2013 Permalink  

  Two – As in a Pair 

  I can honestly say that Dennis and I can be called “a pair to draw to.”  Dennis retired several years before I did and I could have filled a notebook with all of the advise and warnings that we were given when there would be a pair of retired people living in a relatively small home. Silly people.

  The day came when I did I retired and the sky did not fall.  Dennis and I each have our interests and surprisingly our home is large enough that we find ourselves seeking and searching the other out at times.  Dennis has several garages complete with work benches in each and of course I have my sewing and craft area in the basement.  The porch off of the garage is the mutual space where we sip coffee twelve months out of the year, watch a bit of television, keep tabs on the Koi in the pond and enjoy a yard that has had a lot of man hours spent on it.

  

  Rocking Chairs Getting a Break

  One thing we agreed upon immediately when we were visiting the Sam’s Club in Mankato were the rocking chairs that were on display.  It’s always a good thing to run errands with the pickup as you never ever know what you are going to find to bring back home.  The pair of rockers for the elderly folks living on Stauffer Avenue rocked happily in the back of the pickup on the trip home.  If we were able to receive the amount of cents per mile that can be claimed and payed on business vehicle use, the amount of miles we have put on our rockers in the last three years would enable Dennis to add onto the garage yet another time.

  Today I went out, wet my finger in my mouth and held it to the air and there were no cotton balls flying off of the huge Cottonwood tree in the neighbor’s yard.  The breeze was strong enough that the biting bugs were nonexistent in the shady area of the yard.  The humidity was less than it had been in weeks and this was my day to give the pair of rockers a coat of much needed oil.  Tomorrow Dennis and I will be back in business whiling away some part of the day enjoying our rocking chairs.

   
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  Noreen 10:48 pm on June 26, 2013 Permalink  

  The Ah-Ha Moment 

  

  Prickly Pear Blossoms

  Every gardener has that moment when a plan does comes together.  Renee Nett shared with me a bit of her Prickly Pear Cactus several years ago.  I put it in a spot that I soon realized was a bad choice as I never checked in on it.  Each spring I would acknowledge that it had made it through the winter and then off I was to plants that were more fun and less hurtful.  I mean to tell you if you get some of these prickles in your finger you know they are there but they are almost impossible to take out with a tweezers.  The prickles are finer than the finest of hair.

  Realizing that I was missing out on the blooms, I have transplanted them under the south west corner of the house so I can keep an eye on them.  The heat is intense and the overhang of the house makes it almost impossible for them to get rain water.  Earlier this year Dennis noticed one of the plants had broken off from the parent plant and he was going to put it into the garbage.  I got a pair of gloves on and made a bit of a hole and stuck the plant back in the dirt.  The photo is of the plant that almost had been part of Waste Management’s pick up.  It is such a perfect bloom it could pass for wax.

   
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  Noreen 2:49 am on June 21, 2013 Permalink  

  The Last of the Lilacs 

  I am going to miss the lilac season.  Nothing can inspire garden work more than being surrounded with plants that smell good.  Long gone are the blooms and fragrant grandma type lilacs.  Years ago our Pamida Store was weary of watering their garden hoop plants and of course I had to scope it out.  I brought home the Miss Kim Lilac that looked more like a cast off that had been sitting next to the Christmas Tree that Charlie Brown had chosen in times past.  One stem had some snap to it when I bent it over.  The remaining ones broke off right down into the root ball.

  

  The Miss Kim Lilac Tree

  I had been doing some reading and knew that with vigilant pruning of sucker sprouts that come from the base of a shrub a tree could be developed from what had been sold as a shrub.  The wonderful aspect of Miss Kim is that she blooms a bit later so the season of a great smelling yard can be expanded.  The blossoms are a delicate lavender that often passes as white.  The grandma lilacs that I have show bold blossoms and Miss Kim’s have a look of lace.

  This morning I was out splitting some of my hosta and Miss Kim kept me going with inspiration in spite of the big black flies that would bite.  I applied two different bug sprays, one complete with deet, and they just seemed to lick it off my legs before they feasted.

  As I was on the highway last weekend I did spy my next year greenhouse score: a late blooming lilac that had blossoms of red.  I do brake for plants — after I check my rear-view mirror.

   
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  Noreen 1:54 am on June 17, 2013 Permalink  

  Snowballs in June 

  

  Snow Balls Complement White Hair

  What a great sunny day for Father’s Day.  I had to snap a photo of the snowball bush as the wind has really been raising cane with the blossoms.  For the longest time the blossoms were that premature green and the cool temps held them at bay.  The sun came out Friday and the blossoms did not disappoint.

  While I was gone to a graduation reception yesterday the clouds opened up and out came the rain and down went a flutter of snowball petals.