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11 years and counting

Timbo637

2024-10-31 6:49 AM

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Feels like hell week all over!!

Timbo637

2024-10-30 9:38 AM

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Roller Coaster Withdrawal

Timbo637

2024-10-14 12:28 PM

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Smile....and don't shoot the messenger

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2024-09-27 3:17 PM

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Therapeutic Effects of Gardening


11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Across the road from me is a field that I used to own. The dew is burning off so there is fog this morning. It is very pretty.
But it means it will be pretty hot again, not probably as bad as last week but still hot enough I have to water. My pond is covered in ugly brown (iron) pond weed. It looks like sphagnum moss actually and I wish I had a way to harvest it for mulch. One of those things that needs two people to work. There is a lot of Iron in this valley so the sand and everything else has a brown tint. 

My pole beans are twining around the Teepees I put in for them. They at least love the heat. Spinach doesn't, it got only two inches high and bolted. If I cut the flower spikes off it it may still grow. Today should be interesting. There were a few mosquitoes last evening that may be waiting for me this morning. There are also three Yellow Jacket nests in the eaves of the porch. I meant to get rid of them last night while they were in for the night. 

Jasper cat was on the deck this morning so I gave him some milk (besides his food) but he is still scared. Batteries in my camera died as I tried to take his picture. The camera has a mechanical telephoto so is hard on batteries. I better buy a charger and nicads. 

The sun is coming over the mountain behind the house so it is time to get started. I have bread to start before I go out too.

Think positive and have a nice day.

Davit

11 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I''m using a calendar to remind me of when to renew the fertilizer for the various seedlings I transplanted.  I look at that calendar for info for recycling, so it's handy for gardening too.  I also put a really old baby mattress, fortunately without resistance...busy,busy,busy
11 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I was watering in the dark, and pruning, since the garden is what gives mom hope.  When I got to my computer, I found there is some forecast for rain, but the weather stations are so unreliable, it's better to take the hose by the neck, and just get things done.  June and may were so generous with water.
11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
It is still 80F in the shade and I have to go water. I would prefer it cooler but I'm running out of day. Discovered today that the delphinium is going to have three colours. Next spring I have to move it. It is too tall for where it is. My lawn is popping up with little lilacs like they were mushrooms. They will be white flowered when they flower and I have a place for them. More than one actually. In a week I will cut them off of the main root so they can form their own. Then in a month I will dig them up and move them. That is the plan anyway. Did some more plumbing today so I am running all my hoses off the pond pump. 

Davit

Ps, Tiger lilies and monks hood would be bigger if I has of got water to them sooner.  You can eat the flowers of the tiger but the monks hood will kill you faster than you can say 911.
11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Today is the sort of day that even a grumpy person could like. The sun is shining and there are hardly any clouds. Everything smells fresh from last nights piddly rain. Birds are singing and there is a slight breeze. It is going to get hot again but maybe no worse than yesterday. At least it isn't muggy. 
Stray kitty has a name now. A friend thought Jasper so Jasper it is. Unless he is a female :-) . Now if he would come to me instead of being such a fraidy cat it would make my day. 
No plans for the day, a little of this, a little of that sort of day. I should take some more pictures. Of course there will still be watering since the rain wasn't much.

Davit
11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I stay here because my only other option is assisted living, with no garden to speak of. The money from this place would go for rent. The difference is that I like it here but can barely afford it. I could let everything go back to grass to make the load less but right now I'm okay. I need someone younger and healthier that wants to live this sort of life. No one is interested any more, it is too much work for too little return. You realize we are a dying breed. Easier to just buy it. But that takes money. So everyone demands more money and the cost of everything goes up. That is life at this point in time.

Davit

PS, it is sort of raining and sort of thunder and lightning. About time. 
My stray drank his milk and has gone to the garage to hide now. I'd sure like to catch him.
11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Red

Your right in one respect and that is about the work. I used to do mainly garden and had a manifold system and six sprinklers. No hose dragging except for one flower bed under an overhang. Now I have six plus the spreader and grinder and I'm thinking about roses between the lilacs. That would be spaced over 60 feet. There are still the two green houses also. So it takes a while. Today I was watering off the well and used too much water. Laundry and water softener recycling added to the normal use and flower watering was too much, I lost the prime. No big deal. I wait an hour for the spring to fill the well again and prime the pump. It happens. In exchange I have a smaller garden. I used to give some away anyway. Now I summer fallow. My deer pasture is twice as much to mow this year also. It does look pretty though.
It was full of Indian Paint Brush. Daisies and dandelions haven't found it yet. It is 9 pm my time and I just came in from scraping the driveway with my little tractor. It isn't work like weeding, but it does take time. Most of these things are just so it looks good. Lawn is expanding too. I'm amazed at how much better I am compared to the last two years and more.
I used to have to hire and some times I had help for free mostly. Anyway I am managing even though I probably sound like it is a core. Mostly it is not doing any one thing for too long.

Davit
11 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Red

Your right in one respect and that is about the work. I used to do mainly garden and had a manifold system and six sprinklers. No hose dragging except for one flower bed under an overhang. Now I have six plus the spreader and grinder and I'm thinking about roses between the lilacs. That would be spaced over 60 feet. There are still the two green houses also. So it takes a while. Today I was watering off the well and used too much water. Laundry and water softener recycling added to the normal use and flower watering was too much, I lost the prime. No big deal. I wait an hour for the spring to fill the well again and prime the pump. It happens. In exchange I have a smaller garden. I used to give some away anyway. Now I summer fallow. My deer pasture is twice as much to mow this year also. It does look pretty though.
It was full of Indian Paint Brush. Daisies and dandelions haven't found it yet. It is 9 pm my time and I just came in from scraping the driveway with my little tractor. It isn't work like weeding, but it does take time. Most of these things are just so it looks good. Lawn is expanding too. I'm amazed at how much better I am compared to the last two years and more.
I used to have to hire and some times I had help for free mostly. Anyway I am managing even though I probably sound like it is a core. Mostly it is not doing any one thing for too long.

Davit
11 years ago 0 2508 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I have been cutting back over the years on my yard work..I removed a lot of oleanders about 11 years ago..They required a lot of trimming..If I had been in the country I would if left them and just let them grow with out trimming them. In the city you have to keep things trimmed back so it is a constant chore when growing oleanders or shrubs..
I had a 4 aggressive trees removed that were getting into my plumbing at that time too..Now I have small crape myrtles that get to be 12 feet and one fruit plum tree..I have dwarf citrus trees now too..The weeding it the hardest thing because of health issues, previous back surgery, kidney surgery and two hernias now..This three things make bending and stooping a real problem..
 
I am thinking more and more about selling my house and maybe getting a mobile home or a townhouse. If course it would mean I would have to pay higher property taxes being that I own my home and bought it 23 yrs ago..A new home would cost more than I payed for this one..So that means higher property taxes..and if I buy a mobile home in a park I would have to pay space rent. All or which would cost me a lot more than living the way I am now..Maybe a townhouse in a senior or gated community would do. I don't know..but I am not really happy where I am now and  I would really like something with less yard than I have now..Now that I am getting older I think I might like to live closer to my son and grandkids who are 9 and 14  now too..I don't know just thinking out loud about the future now that I am getting older. I have no family left in the city that I live in, they all passed 10 years ago so there is nothing keeping me here.. If I can swing it I think I would like to move and be closer to my family now..Swinging it is the tough part..Packing and moving..You can hire people to do that for you..
 
Red..
 
11 years ago 0 2508 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Davit,
Am I wrong or do you have more to water than you used to?  I don't remember you having all the flowers to water before that you have now. Was it more manageable before..?  If  the answer is yes..Have you though about tilling some of the excess under?
 
Just wondering..
 
Red..
 

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