Yard Work and Stuff

This is one of those days when you can't sit inside.  I mean, the sun is shining, there's the tiniest of breezes and its about 70 degrees outside.  The yard calls.   Hubby helped and we trimmed up some plants and shrubs that had been neglected.    My fatsia bush has been overtaken by sooty mold and was looking quite ragged, thanks to old age and disease.  I whacked it down to the ground where new shoots are already appearing.  I also thinned out the ragged cast iron plants next to it.  Now, I have to treat both areas with some kind of horticultural oil in hopes of killing whatever is attracting the mold.

The fatsia is the big plant right behind the tree.  Didn't look like that now, though.  This picture is from May 2010.   I love those plants.  The stand up to our heat and humidity well and to our cold weather, too.  Although I think the extra cold we had this winter helped speed along its demise.  But, the thing is about 13 years old, so I'm not complaining.  And the little ones are sprouting up already.    I'd recommend both the fatsia and the cast iron plant because they thrive on neglect and in shade.   Once a year or so, I'll do a clean up and throw a handful of fertilizer of some kind on them and forget about them.  My kind of gardening.   

We're trying to empty out the garden house and use up the bits and pieces, but I ran out of fertilizer, so had to make a dash out to get some more so I could finish feeding all the plants outside.   I am so lazy.  Shoulda put out some kind of organic compost during the winter but didn't do it.  I have access to free horse manure and I'd bet he'd even haul it down here, provided I took a truck load.  But then, what the heck am I gonna do with a truck load of manure?!?!?   (Oh, he's my brother, so he could be called on for that kinda thing.)  I don't know if he still has these two horses or not.  You know how horse traders are.   But, he'll have horses till his dying day. His wife, too.  

The oak leaves are falling like rain.  We've already raked the west side of the yard about four times and it may need another one to finish them off.  The trees don't lose their leaves at the same pace, so we're raking leaves in the spring for a good two or three months.   I sure hope the oak blossoms hurry up and finish doing their thing.  Hubby has a real problem with them.  He's wearing a surgical mask for the first time this year and it is really helping.  

I have absolutely no pictures to fit in here but what the heck.  Here's an oldie that I like. 

This child (oldest granddaughter) is now a freshman in college!!

Y'all take care and I hope spring gets to your house real soon if it hasn't shown up already!!

YES, I'm still around............somewhere

I'm still alive and well, just on the road yet again and with no reliable internet service except intermittently.  So, I'm behind in posting and reading of blogs. 

Hopefully, that will change this next week.  Meanwhile, enjoy a few pictures. 

Tulip poplar blossoms, Missouri 

Does this look like trouble?

Purple leg tutu, anyone?

Back soon.  Meanwhile, y'all take care. 

Here and There

Hello my dear friends.  I'm going to be all over the place here, so hold on. 

I have always accepted comments from anyone since I do comment moderation.  However, I'm getting very frustrated here of late with someone attempting to comment anonymously and it is very obviously spam.  I've marked it as spam, I've just deleted them as they come in and yet it continues.  I don't want to change my settings to block legitimate readers from commenting but if this doesn't end I may be left with no other choice.

Previously there have been a few instances where someone did not want to post a name and commented anonymously.  I allowed those because the content told me who they were from.  So be forewarned that henceforth I will not publish any anonymous comments.  

Being spring time, that means strawberries are ripe.  My hubby would be appalled at the thought of eating anything but my homemade jam.  How in the world did I ever  wind up creating that monster?   Anyway, 27 pints of jam were made and now he's a happy boy. 

Strawberry Jam 

He's already wondering about the blueberries.  He eats those EVERY day on his breakfast cereal.

My squirrel population has increased since the neighbors behind me moved away.  There's no one there now to feed the squirrels --  uh, the birds -- so they've simply decamped to my yard.  They can be a pest for sure, but I've rearranged feeders so that they can't bother them so much and are reduced to ground feeding, which is fine.  They help the doves clean up the leavings from the other birds on the feeders. 

Five furry friends 

We've also had a ton of birds visiting our yard this spring.  The chipping sparrows are still here, as are goldfinches.  I'm surprised that goldfinches sticking around this long, but I'm sure they'll be out of here any day now. 

The normal backyard birds are busy picking nesting sites and defending territories.   They include Carolina wrens, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, doves, titmice, mockingbirds and brown thrashers.  Oh, we also have bluebirds.  And who knows what else stops by on any given day.

My poor yard has been neglected for years but  I decided it was time to get started on it.  We called on the muscles of our lawn/yard guy last fall to remove these really overgrown plants. 

Overgrown monsters 

We wanted lower growing plants that would not hide the 4 foot hydrangea that's behind that sago! 

All planted

I got all the plants in the afternoon before we got some really good rain, so they should be settled nicely.  With the warm temperatures, they should be happy.  We'll see how they look in a week. 

The quilt top for my granddaughter's quilt is finished and now needs to be sandwiched and quilted.  That is my least favorite thing to do. I guess that's because I'm still intimidated by machine quilting.  But it must be done and I need to just suck it up and get on with it!! 

Under construction

Y'all take care.  

Rambling on the road, and here.

Oh, this road trip is very tiring!! We are in Hannibal, Missouri tonight and will finish the trip tomorrow, thank goodness!! I have decided that I really do not like traveling via interstate highways. Everybody is in such a hurry and you wind up being stressed out all the time. I like to look at the scenery and whatever birds or critters are along the way. I've driven in Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Tucson and other cities all over the country but sure wouldn't want to do it any more. I guess my laid back lifestyle these days is evident.

We'll get to see the kids and the new granddaughter. She's 2 1/2 months old now so should be fun. And today is the oldest granddaughter's 15th birthday. I cannot believe that child has gotten to be so old!!

I'm so glad that the temporary cap on the oil spill is holding. Now to make it permanent!!! And to get on with the cleanup!! It will take years and I hope that the effort won't be abandoned as time goes by. The equivalent of that old adage about "out of the news, out of mind".

Y'all take care.