Spectacular day, cannas are doing well, mowed the lawn for the first time this year! Most of the Hostas are up, some took a hit from the voles.

ST the med conference is in Utah this year.

I don't think I've been to Utah. I have a cousin out there or had been out there career USAF and then civilian doing the same gig at the base. Retired now to a warm spot. Where I can't recall.

I hope it's a fun trip for them both.

AM: the treat turned out well but it's taking some time to cool and dry out. Ah well. Well stay until it's about ready to store.

Still haven't figured out what tomorrow will bring for me. I have so much to do and hope I have the entry to match. One of which is making sure I have the sheets to put outside. I think I'll just cover everything. I was back and forth and I think that's just what I'll do.

I may get up early lots to do, hubs is working from home so that means if I wanted to use my computer no dice! I would be perfectly fine if he went back to the office 100%. But they are keeping this weird hybrid.

Well, hoping all looks good tomorrow and I can find the energy to get it all done.

Plants look good, even the ones I haven't been on task with as well as I should. Don't ask about the chamomile!

Stay well, keep an eye out for a frost possibility Thursday into Friday.

Mornin friends!

The day has begun early for me and all I'm doing has moved myself to the heating pad. My body is not happy! This is not the time I need a hurty body. I should just stay on the Celebrex and be happy it kind of helps.

Got confirmation on my sketchy looking dahlias. So out they will go. I'm not going to let disease flourish if I can help it.

Today with rain - I'll stay in, I need to get my flannel sheets ready to cover the plants tonight. I'll tuck it all as close as I can to the house wall. I'm not bringing them into the house.

The hubs plans to mow for the first time. I usually like the first few grass clippings for the heap but I haven't moved the existing pile yet. Go figure.

My rooting project has decided not to root as quickly as I had hoped. Grrr. Coleus are usually pretty quick. These guys are not!

Maybe I'll also drag the planters out today. So much to do! I should be doing these all right now instead of sitting here on my phone.

Which reminds me I should go fire up the Mac and get the dahlia chart reprinted as I'm making a row change. And the hubs is working from home which precludes me using the Mac. As I said yesterday, I'd be perfectly ok with a 100% return to the office for him. Or a lottery win, which I'd plan a house with a dedicated office with space for two desks. But since I haven't won more than $4 of late, I get up early to use my stuff out of his work day time.

Well here's hoping the day goes well. Hope everyone is looking forward to growing some lovelies. Find some good today! I'll be trying I hope. I'm having a hard time of late, I read I could be experiencing anticipatory grief. That stinks big time. Then it reminds me I'm not getting younger, but older. Lots older. Who needs that?!

Find some good! I need too.

Boy, did I sleep in this morning. I got up at 8:30. I must have been tired.

It must have drizzled overnight. It was starting to sprinkle a little a while ago. I should go out and look for new Iris blooms before it starts raining.

I'd like to plant Iris in raised beds today but I don't think the rain will let me. Looks like a lot of days with rain in the 10 day forecast. I would like about a week of dry weather so I can get those Iris in the ground.

Have a great day.

I'd love a week of dry weather here too. It's raining again.
Scarlet, my Dad used irises in the biology classes he taught for genetics. SDB Demence is a surviver from that. He had fun doing it. Mom started as Dad refused to use a lot of names and crosses she suggested.
I put zippers in the legs of cathartic overalls this morning. With the rain, I'll be sewing.

Well now twice I've gotten pulled away and did not get my post posted. It's one of those days!

Lots of military planes over my house today. Wonder what today's training is for. At least I hope it's training. It's like last night I watched Nova on the bridge in Genoa Italy that collapsed and when you stop and think however many times you've gone over bridges how they have wear and tear and age like everything else. Anywho - sometimes not knowing things is bliss.

Got the small tilling done and I did all 3 spots. The dahlia bed, garden boxes and the larger of the front beds. The dirt looks great! It's maintaining some moisture and the rabbit poo leaf concoction seems to be working well. Is the soil in the dahlia bed bad if I sink down a few inches? I don't know, lots less sand in all of it which was the point of adding the poo to it.

Lucy: how very interesting and I think it's great your mom said she'd join along! How fun. What's your favorite of theirs? Did they mostly stay out East or travel the country in sales?

AM: glad to have the till done. I will have to head out early tomorrow as we should have rain in the afternoon they say. So I'll try to get the garden planted instead of the planters. Of course I could work on cleaning pots and such. And narrow down what will go in what.

Or just not get ahead of myself and let it all be organic and go about how the spirit moves me. Hah! As you can see I'm back in my recliner! I've turned into my mother.

I need to find a series of stretches to settle down my back and hips. Good grief it feels like a tightrope. Not the time for this nonsense!

I went out this morning looking for new blooms that might have opened. NONE....of well, they will soon enough and lots of them.

I wrote down names of Iris that I have to make markers for. Right now it is only the ones that are blooming. My label reads for example "Teagan" on the top line and underneath it says "SDB 2024". That way I know I correctly IDed it with its 2024 bloom. I will go back later and lift the ones that are duplicates to ones that are in other beds. I will be keeping only one planting of each Iris. Extra ones will be kept in pots and sold or given away. So far on that list is:
SDB NoID yellow
SDB NoID purple
SDB Teagan
SDB Fires of Fiji
SDB Raspberry Jam
SDB Blazing Garnets
SDB What Again
SDB Forever Orange
SDB Pele
and maybe
SDB Two Thumbs Up
SDB Double Byte

So far 15 SDB's have bloomed of which 3 are NoID. I think that might be all the SDB's that I have unless there's a new to me yet to bloom.

Doubt I will be doing much outside today except to pull some weeds. The raised beds are too wet to be digging in. I think I will also try to lift a few of the SDB Iris clumps while I know where they are; such as Pele, Summoned Spirit, Sea Monster, Charmed, and a NOID burgundy which is this one.


DH and I are taking our Schnauzer, Smoky, in to my groomer this afternoon. I'd like for her to groom him once more before I attempt to do it myself. I don't want to ruin him with my impatience.

Have a great day.

Plants all covered! We have a frost warning tonight - ready for frost to take a move on out of here! I brought the tomatoes and dahlia seedlings in. The rest will have to deal and hopefully do ok. It's also windy. And the rains never came. They now say rain tomorrow. I'm just not getting stuff done as I had hoped.

Maybe if it doesn't rain right away I'll get a few things done tomorrow. Who knows. I'd love to wave a wand for a bunch of the albatrosses hanging around my to do list! I'm just not feeling the excess home projects. Does anyone really like to come? Let alone hang onto paperwork for so long?!

The hubs and kid2 are mowing. I hope they whip, they probably will not. I may have to do that myself or convince the hubs to do so tomorrow at lunch.

Well springs moving!

I have so many weeds to pull it's not even funny. I haven't had energy to tackle them the way I need to this week so no progress on that front. Maybe this weekend I can make another dent in them. Was hoping next weekend but next week is rain all thru Thur. Be too wet unless windy at end of week again (like today).

My parents have most of their plants for sale @ Winterberry Iris Garden in VA.
My daughter has a bad cold, so I went to help with evening chores. There are 17 horses and 1 donkey to feed.

I haven't posted in a while as I've been very busy, but sadly, I waited too long to plant my seeds for my veggies I picked out. There's always next year, I suppose.

Lucy: I'll have to take a look! Good luck w the donkey

Abby: well you can always buy some plants unless they are all herbs but Bonnie plants (HD, Menards, Walmart) have a ton of herbs, they are just kind of pricey I think but if you want plants sometimes you have to make accommodations.

AM: dahlia lay out done, laminate (for the second time! Chinese companies don't get what letter size is in the US), we are not A4 or bigger. I got the porch babies tucked in the for the brisk morning. Hope they do ok. And then hopefully the rain holds off tomorrow so I can get some things done outside. What I have no clue. I have to be kind to me first and then see what I can get done without turning hurty. The goodness is my new cart is tall enough I can scoot around I think on it with no issues. I'll tether on a 5 gal pail in case I can't get up though.

Hope all is well!

Scarlet, can you take a picture of your cart that you said you would be able to scoot around on? Sounds like something I could use.

I am headed to bed cause I have had a headache most of the day and a bit ago I had an upset stomach. Tomorrow is a therapy day so no sleeping in for me tomorrow.

I'll be praying you feel better, Jeanne.

Jeanne: since my boxes are 4 ft wide, I can sit and reach to the middle and it keeps me from being on the ground directly.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHRLLPRT/

The hubs got it for me for Christmas.

So far it's 44 they say the dip will arrive around 7. Really?! They'll stay covered until I'm guaranteed we are closer to 50. Then a good soak is needed.

I'll head out and see what are some things I can do to ease into today. Took the Celebrex last night. Sad when you are dependent on something for your body to play nice. Grrr.

I think the garden boxes are my first stop. Hopefully that goes well.

Happy day all!

Currently 42!

I think I may try eggs in purgatory this morn. I need to make a change with my eating and figured maybe this will be protein filled to power me through until lunch.

Awaiting that dip in temp. They say close to 7am. And then by 9 we should be to 50. At that point I'll head out I've got garden planting, maybe I can have the hubs drag my table out so I can do planters tomorrow. I need to spray paint my baskets for a refresh and see about making new liners in prep for a new season.

If my life would slow down! It hasn't and my mom just keeps giving me crap to worry on things that shouldn't even be a thing. This whole memory issue is difficult to deal with let alone some of the stuff she's pontificating on. Parenting the parent is difficult. The doctor says she's fine, I think she's getting stranger in thought as the days go on. What does one do?

Anywho - I hope the garden is a respite for me. And I hope I harvest well this year. The last two I have been terrible. Like to point of wasteful. That's dumb! I have just been so busy and it's easy to push off. So I think I need to make a note and time to just check and pick every few days.

I didn't even bring in grape hyacinths and I love those by the bedside! They smell so nice. But they are spent and I guess I'll have to wait until next year. Always next year right? Ugh. I want life to slow down and be calm.

So I'm hoping things go well as best they can.

Maybe the breakfast will help me out and give a good outlook for me. I hope.

I'm pooped!

The garden boxes are planted. The iris box is weeded and fertilized. And I have a huge shout out for rabbit poop! OMG I have not ever seen so many worms in my gardens. Every time I stuck my trowel in the ground out came 2-3 worms. Oh I was delighted. These are some big old fattys. It was great to see.

This is some from the other day in the front bed:




I've already reached out for another delivery, this one will be maybe 3-4 buckets and then once the heap is emptied I'll do a bigger delivery. I'll put the fresh along w the plants in the garden. I'm not seeing too many rabbits in the yard, maybe what the old gent told me is true.

Fine by me. I loathe rabbits.

I used my little sit on cart. Seemed to work pretty well, the seats a bit wobbly but otherwise it worked as I had hoped and it kept me off the ground. It's high enough I could work from it and reach where I needed to. And - I WAS EASILY ABLE TO get to standing. So a win in my book. Is it perfect? No, a bit cumbersome but as I was using it I was figuring out what might work better. But a good gift for me. Not as much wear and tear on the joints.

So tomorrow I think I'll work on the planters. Not 100% will see what the weather brings and how I feel. I may just reuse the fabric liners for one more year. They work, they are just a tad limey.

I should water everything on the porch. I've got a problem w the hose and the spigot over spraying. I wonder if it needs a new inside thing. It's one of the odd spigots with the cap on top. I don't recall its purpose. Anti siphon valve! I told the hubs he can check at Menards and maybe we can fix it ourselves.

I'm tired and sore and I wanted to share the worm story.

Wow! Those ARE some fatties. That's great

ST, if nothing else find your valve on Youtube and see if there's help videos for repair so at least you'd have an idea on it.

Started working digging up irises today. Really need to thin out my yellows so that's what I started on. Filled a tree pot pretty quickly since I didn't cut leaves. Have alot more to thin out but at least I got some pressure off some of the other colors in that row. Will finish them tomorrow then hit the purple/whites behind them and knock their numbers in half. That will free up space for some of mine still in pots. Still working on making more room but that involves alot of weeding.

ST, anti-siphon valve, unscrew the top, clean it up, probably just clogged.