I hate when the body complains of which mine does CONSTANTLY.

The burger was good - tasty start to the bbq season. I made a mess of my onions. So next time I'll try again and see if I can do better.

We'll be heading to see the lights if we can.

So tomorrow a quick run to town. I'll hit the hoblob and the goodwill. Never know what one can find. Maybe the dollar store. Looking for succulent pots there for kid1 and her collection.

Alrighty well I'm off to make sure the camera is charged and for some sights this evening!

Mornin all!

Today hopefully will find me spreading the rabbit poo in the garden. Then it's planting the rest of the planters (I took yesterday off) and then need to consider the beds and what to tackle first. I should also haul up the rest of the dahlias to the porch. I think I'll take care of the smaller beds with weeding and plant the few things in each and move the compost to the south side to help nourish and keep moisture around the plants.

I've a lot to do but I'm slowed down by my body. Found a new spot that's been bothering me has changed some visually ie a mushy lump on my Achilles. I'll have to have it checked out. Why can't my body behave?! I know I'll be told to loose weight as a first course of action. That's difficult for me to do. I turn to sweets when stressed, tired or I hurt. And I'm sure that's a big part of my issue.

So I keep trying. Not sure any of this will look good ie the beds. Plants look incredibly small yet. Hah. With time they'll be big, and hopefully full of blooms. The dahlias - those will be my last into the earth I think. I hope I have the zip and vroom vroom to get it done.

Happy new week ahead to you all! I need to get everything moving even this early in the day. The lights last night were there but very faint by me.

Lovely outside other then the haze in the air that makes my eyes itch.

Waiting for the store to open so I sit here researching and thinking. I'm also helpful I can find something that will help in my support system for some of my plants. Who knows what one can find to do so - at the goodwill so I'm hoping I find some things that might help the plant things in my life.

My job today once home:

Planters finished

Rabbit poo in garden

Plant cukes and put up climb trellis for them

If the hands remain, then I will work on the iris by the dahlia bed and be done with it. Tomorrow maybe one of the bed plantings but that's up in the air.

Planters done. Just need to move the poo to the garden but maybe I can convince kid2 to help me with that or it's a tomorrow job. Might just be a tomorrow job. Need to think of something for dinner yet. I have too of asparagus to use from my mil.

My list continues.

It's hazy out. I'm tired of canadas smoke. Ugh. It makes my eyes itch, it causes breathing issues for kid1 w more reliance on her inhaler, it drives kid2s allergies, and I'd really frankly like to be able to see the sun. Not through the haze.

Anywho, I'm tired. Maybe a nap first.

Looking at the skies today, felt like I was back in SoCal in the 70's, sans the beach and mountains.

RJ: are you talking about the 70s smog? Or was it clear skies by you?

It's kind of chilly right now. Only mid 40s tonight. Tomorrow I hope to get the front bed planted. Might as well get that one done. It's free of chick weed and the bulk of the annuals I bought that aren't planter related to there so into the ground that can be. Maybe it will go quicker than I think. I can hope.

Planters done.

My mom is giving me troubles. Aack. I think we are having some cognitive decline. I could be wrong but …

Need to haul up the rest of the dahlias. Not sure that's a tomorrow job or not.

Made soup for dinner, it was good but I have clean up. Everyone is running but me. One day I'd like a dishwasher again. I had one when I was single. That was it. Never in my married life. Hate my kitchen. It was designed by a person who only made frozen pizza I think. So I will deal with dishes again. Yuck. I seem to feel right now like I'm on the gerbil wheel going no where but circles.

Alrighty well the dishes need to be done and I'd like to run away so I best get them done before I have to pick up kid1 from the ballgame.

Scarlet, I am right there with you. I am so far behind this year, actually since last August. I have so much that I need to do, sometimes I am not sure what to do first and so on. I catch myself doing a little here and a little there and never really finishing anything.

Today I went out and was going to plant some Iris from pots into the raised bed, But instead, I got weeding around the raised beds in the Vegetable Raised Bed Area. It is full of that weed I think might be called wild lettuce. (Don't quote me on that.) I spent about 2+ hours on it and got quite a bit of it done. Now I need to go back and pick up the piles of weeds left behind. I am going to lay down carpet from my house when I replaced it in Nov. I am hoping it is going to work the way I want it to.

I can not believe how fast each day goes. I wish time would slow down and let us get caught up.

The smog in the 70s

I'm torn between sewing and weeding. Lots of dandelions at the moment. Working on prom dresses too.

Tomorrow I think I'll tackle the front bed. I've got some seeds, dahlias and annuals to plant in there. The annuals are heliotrope, snapdragons, cannas, lantana, salvias. If I do the southside it's also got some annuals going in like new to me coneflowers and galliarda, liatris and hyssop. Of course if I do the southside then I'm hauling finished compost and I also still have to add the poo to the garden box.

Maybe I should just dream tonight if something nice.

If the coneflower is a fancy hybrid it's definitely an annual otherwise it's a perennial. Liatris is also super hardy. The other two just depends on how happy they are.

I can't recall the coneflower name it's not a traditional purple one but it's not one of the crazy lovely doubles.

I am trying to get my body ready to move but getting out of bed made me feel decrepit. I hope that changes soon! I have a ton to do this week. But I have to pace myself or not move at the end of the day. If it doesn't settle down he. The next step for me are injectables they say and I'd rather not need those.

My plan today is move the compost to the skinny south bed and get some of those heartier plants in the ground. I still need to get the rabbit poo in the garden and the cukes planted. I'll have to go through my seeds this morn and see what I can get done and pulled forward and in the ground.

I hope I'm successful.

Suns coming up and it's craptastic hazy here too. I really wish they'd get that under control. After seeing how much cleaning out of the state land by us has been happening and the private land, I don't know if they have an aggressive plan in place to keep us as safe as can be? I haven't been able to find anything on it but I think they may say "remember Peshtigo" and maybe they don't want something like that ever again. I understand the sentiment. If there was a fire it'd take out this town. 90% of the homes are built at the turn of the last century. So we'd be pretty crispy and quick to burn I guess as they are stick built. And yes I think if this everytime we have brushfire nearby. In fact the last few years they scramble multiple area depts as precaution with pumpers.

My mom is driving me bonkers. She doesn't want to go to her doctor appts and she's just kind of getting where everything is a no. Now mind you I'm hours away but I keep getting calls from there, or the sibs or texts. It's a bit too much. The consolation is my cousins are going through the same w my aunt and it's funny how alike the siblings are in their actions and outlooks about end of life (mom/aunt for having lived miles away for over 60 years… they are so alike it isn't funny).

RJ: before I forget, isn't this your time of year to make your mom's trifle recipe?

Jeanne: how's the iris population? I should head out before the bus comes but I'm moving slow. I look forward to seeing your TB varieties as well! Don't know if new to me last year will bloom this year? Just curious.

Lucy: how are the dresses going? Prom up in this area is mostly in April. Yuck! Too cold and everything is brown. Hope they go easily and out of your hair so you have more garden time.

AM: so I'll head out and see what I can get done. I hope it goes easily and I can still move when all is said and done. I think I'll try to plant from my rolly cart. That would be a help. But will see if it's too high for me to do this or not. All the modifications one does to ease working in the garden when your body doesn't want to flex and move. It stinks.

I'll try to take some photos today if all goes well.

I can't recall- should I be picking rhubarb now? I also need to blanch some asparagus. And chop onions for the freezer. We are out. I didn't do enough this last year w the hubs making his pizza weekly.

Lots to do. Let's hope I can plow through it all. Once that's done it's dahlia time.

Happy planting in the purple haze! Ok that was my Jimmy Hendrix thought this morn. But haze it is. Darn Canada.

I am still in my pj's drinking my 2nd cuppa. It is a little chilly outside this morning. I was just out feeding jelly to the Orioles. They were flying into the window wanting their jelly.

Here are a few Iris that I have not posted on here yet.

TB Gold Reprise

TB Aunt Mary

TB Mariposa Autumn

Border Bonjour

Intermediate Bearded Man's Best Friend


I had better get dressed for the day and get my outside day started. I have a dental cleaning this afternoon at 1:00. DH's cousin Stuart is coming to help DH do a few things around the farm.

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

At least laundry is sorted and in. Gathered up the possible seeds for the front bed. Mostly will be nasturtium as it's my go to filler and make it look lush as it's all at different speeds for growing. Sometimes too slow for my taste. But it does look good as time goes on.

I had bought a peach amaranth and now I can't find my packet. Why do I do this to myself?!

Alrighty it's time to change the wash loads, gather all my stuff and head out for 38 mins until the next load is done. I hope w the back and forth it keeps me moving ok.

I wish I had answers. Ambiguous diagnosis sucks and frankly I never present as I should w anything I've had. But no one listens to me.

I hurt but I will try to conquer today.

2 dresses done, one to go. Prom is Saturday. I have a couple of dresses for a week later(no brides this time).
Hope to get into the garden today before any rains show up later.

I got the front bed planted! I was going to do the south bed but I think I'll hold that until tomorrow morn when the sun isn't forebore on that side. Maybe this afternoon I'll load up the compost over there and then apply to the front bed too. And put the rabbit poo in the garden. But for now I'll take a break.

I'm pleased with the planting and of course everything is kind of small and will grow with time. The irises are looking good but only the one type out front is visibly bud making. The rest are just growing well. Well most of them. I do have some small ones and they are trying to get themselves going.

Maybe I should have some lunch and contemplate my next move. I'm a bit sore but I think I'll be able to do a bit more after a break if I slowly keep moving.

Lucy: yay for dresses being done!

Lucy, you sure do accomplish a lot with all the different things you are involved in.

I just got back from an hour in the dental chair getting my teeth cleaned.

This morning I pulled some weeds and then planted 16 potted Iris into raised beds. I planted 14 in one raised bed and filled in 2 where plants were missing in another bed.

This afternoon I hope to get all of the weed piles picked up from yesterday's weeding. Then I want to get another raised bed planted with Iris's that are also in pots. There is already one large Iris there so I will add around 12-15 more. Another thing is I would like to put some grass clippings around the newly planted Iris'. I have one pile of grass clipping raked ready to use.

Have a nice rest of your day.

I did get some weeding done this afternoon after talking with Mom on the phone( she's 3hrs behind in WA). I weed into a 5 gallon bucket and take my weeds to my compost bin. Hubby hates piles left behind when I weed. It does give me small breaks while I weed.

Well I rested, ate my lunch and then said what more can I do. So I loaded up 5 wheelbarrows of the darkest black compost and dumped it on the skinny south bed. I spread it lightly and when I plant tomorrow I hope to get some worked in and most on top and fairly even. I hope this does the trick on that side for helping keep things growing. In that area it's only my butterfly weed and rhubarb that have been constant. Hah.

I'm going to see if kid2 and the hubs can load up the wheelbarrow and pull out one of my tarps and dump 4 barrowfuls on it so I can give the beds a top off and be done with it.

Tomorrow I'd like to do the compost top off, get the 6 short dahlias planted in the front bed. And then get the skinny south bed done. Or that goes easily (which it should) I'd like to get the larger south bed weeded and then the few things planted there lisanthus, coreopsis and liatris and some salvia and lavender (which won't winter but I love the smell in the flowerbeds).

And then the end of week I think I'll begin the dahlias. I need to see if my kids will help me haul the rest outside. Might be a loosing proposition but I can see.

So I'm feeling a smidge accomplished. Whether or not I really am is another question for a later day.

Jeanne: look at you go! Any new ones for you this year? How's the trampoline bed look?

Scarlet, it sounds like you are getting lots done. Go girl!

I got the grass clippings picked up and put around the newly planted Iris in a raised bed. Happy that is done. Then I proceeded to pull all the large weeds between the 8 raised beds in that garden which is called "My Flower Raised Bed Garden". I picked up dead weeds from yesterday when I was in that garden. There is only 1 raised bed in that area that is left to put Iris into but it needs to be amended first.

Right now while writing this I am eating a hamburger that DH made. Then I am headed back outside to pick up the rest of yesterdays pulled weeds and whatever else I can squeeze in.