Wednesday, February 22, 2017

happy dog days


Monday morning we were woken early by lightening and thunder and hard rain. The dog was instantly in panic mode, panting and finally hiding in the closet. It continued to rain til early afternoon. She calmed down but being in panic mode is exhausting and she slept all day. I don't blame her. It was a dreary day and I myself was totally uninspired and I sat on the couch and read. Didn't even go to yoga though it was clearing by then.

Yesterday was a happy dog day. Clear blue sky, not humid, nice little breeze, warm. Did I mention it's full blown spring here? The tallows and gingkoes and crepe myrtles and ashes are leafing out. The red buds are pinking up. The birds are chirpy. The bluebonnets and other wild flowers are starting to bloom already! The horticulturist on the radio said it's about 6 weeks early.




Remember this list from the deep freeze?

*rangoon creeper that I planted three years ago and bloomed for the first time this year – not so far
*shrub that I can never remember the name of with the long spikes of small pink flowers – nope and the root is very loose in the ground
*Mexican bird of paradise – so far has not come back
*shrimp plant – yes!
*night blooming jasmine – yes!
*yellow angel trumpet that I didn't think to take a cutting of – yes!
*plumbago – yes!
*upright rosemary which still has some green needle leaves but looks terrible and is struggling – still looks terrible
*angel wing begonia – yes!
*all my succulents and cacti except for the hens & chickens, the big aloes, and the century plant – muertas except for the three exceptions
*most of the walking iris - dead
*butterfly weed- yes!
*pony tail palm – lost all it's 'heads' but has two small sprouts
*purple orchid tree which I just planted this spring – yes!
*white orchid tree which is in a pot – not so far

 ponytail palm


not on the above list...

*my poor struggling peach tree - has three flowers
*bulbine – muerta
*beauty berry – nothing so far
*morning glory bush – yes!
*confederate rose – yes!
*periwinkles – nope

My potatoes are starting to sprout, the tomatoes are looking and growing well. Can't get the onions or anything else in til I get dirt for the new bed but it's still too wet. I have two more cauliflower heads to harvest and when I do I'll pull out the remaining broccoli. Not sure what I'll put in it;s place.

Because the ground was too wet to do anything outside I got some wax sheets made and worked on the driveway guardian/bottle tree/totem that I started with my grandgirl Robin last summer. I got the sanding done and I'm starting to assemble it, playing around with some stuff to fancy it up.



I haven't fastened it all together yet and not sure I'm happy with the wings as they are pretty short for the height which is 8'. There will be bottles all down both sides albeit without the labels.




14 comments:

  1. The totem is looking good, although you'll have to knuckle under and start putting away more wine. Tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

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  2. You have many positives, time is on your side for the possible, and the walking iris (never heard of that one) just traveled away. That is a pretty good report card.

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  3. Love the totem - it's such a cool idea!

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  4. I can't believe all the blooms, very nice.I looked around the farm and home and not seeing anything coming up.

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  5. Aww, the bluebonnets. Can get them except in pots here. My favorite TX memory. I'm planting lilies today and a raised bed, but so far, no blooms. Early spring here too.

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  6. Things are blooming and coming back here too. Definitely not much of a winter.

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  7. I'll take six weeks early. In fact, I have it. Only one day of sunshine in this week of sixty degree temps. Friday will be lovely, it seems, and I will re-introduce Laura to some weeds Friday after school. Also, some dog dumps in the garden. Now, those make me angry, especially in light of the hand delivered letter from management today, reminding us to look after our less than 35 pound pets. It doesn't mean them.

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  8. We haven't seen any flowers yet... I'm waiting (im)patiently.

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  9. I just realized the connection between your garden and your glass work. Monet once said that the greatest art he ever created was his garden.

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  10. It sounds like more survived than not, so that's a good thing. I bet some of those others will still come up. As for bluebonnets, they look just like our lupines -- I wonder if bluebonnets and lupines are the same thing? I'll have to do some research.

    The totem is a cool idea. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

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  11. That totem is certainly interested and will be remember by your grands! Are you going to attach the bottles by wire? You do have warm climate if your begonias can weather the outside. 6 weeks early, damn, damn, damn this climate change.

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    Replies
    1. I drilled holes about 1.5" deep in the sides of the 4 x 4 for the bottle necks to go into and that holds them in place.

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  12. We are warm today and all my trees are budding, but we are supposed to have some below freezing nights coming up. Spring always makes me happy.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.