Gardening and other Stuff

Trees of interest

2011-06-15T06:28:00.007-04:00

We went to Hershey Garden Monday, mainly to see about photographing roses. The roses weren't all that nice this time of year, but we were able to get some nice shots of some interesting trees.

At my Open Garden Event, many folks were asking me about the beautiful pink tree in the middle of my back yard. It is a tricolored beech. The tree above is a mature tree in it's summer garb that grows at Hershey Gardens. It is about 30 feet tall with a lovely 20 to 30 foot spread. This tree is as impressive mature as it is in my garden as a young one. Ask me again why the beech (no matter what variety) is my favorite tree. I must admit to being more impressed with the mature trees than young ones anyway.

My new neighbors were given a variety of beautiful young trees as a house warming gift by friends who own a nursery. What a wonderful gift! There are a total of 8 trees for them. So far they have 5 of them planted. Three red maples, a weeping cherry and a young silk tree like the one above. They will be the first in the neighborhood to have a silk tree. The one shown is a mature silk tree. A lovely small tree that seems to get about 10 feet tall with at least a 15 foot spread. In the spring (early June) the flowers on this tree resemble in fragrance and look of a lilac. It is a really lovely tree! The three trees the neighbors were honored with but not planted yet (until fall as I understand) are Katsura trees. When I saw this mature one at Hershey, my first thought was that the neighbors need a bigger garden! Three of these on their acre of ground! Check out the adult people sitting under this beauty! There would be no room for the house! They were told they get about 30 feet tall. Yep, that's about right. But they were not told this tree has a 60 foot spread! This is one glorious tree but it does need ROOM! Whenever we go to Hershey, we actually seek this tree out to sit under to rest.

There are a good many beautiful trees at Hershey and when I was looking at planting trees, or whenever I'm looking for planting trees, I often go there to see the mature trees in the garden. This gives me an idea of what a mature speciman will look like and how much room to give each one. My estimate, at the moment is that when my trees are mature, my garden will be mostly shade with some sun around the house at mid-day and in the front garden over the drain field.

There are reasons I enjoy going to the public gardens, especially the ones with such good reps as Hershey and Longwood.

Relay for Cancer

2011-06-11T15:04:00.004-04:00

Today we went to a "Relay for Cancer" event and the Conestoga Valley HS track and field. It was a wonderful day, even with the brief shower. Today was a cross dressing event for the men. Tons of fun!!

Shortly before my mother passed, another family member, Jim Ziggler passed away from cancer. This spurred on many of the family members who were closest to him to join in the fun and try to earn some money for the cause.

We couldn't resist the temptation to take pictures of the guys in the "Ziggy Zone" as they cross-dressed for this event. The object was for them to go around the entire track and field area collecting as much money as they could for cancer research.

While there we also met other folks we knew who have retired from work. This was a very fun day!

There were quite a number of men dressing for this event and I must admit I was impressed with the individually and creativity they expressed with dressing up. They each seemed to have something different to share. Some were even brave enough to wear heels and strut around the field. Now there's a feat even I wouldn't want to attempt.

I'm not exactly sure how much money the "Ziggy Zone" made for the cancer research, but I do know they made it to the "Gold Zone". Great job, folks!

I do know I left there pretty much cash poor.

Yesterday

2011-05-22T09:07:00.003-04:00

After three weeks of rain, cold, raw weather, we finally had a nice day, just in time for my meeting with my rose club and the open garden. It was a pleasant day and the turn-out of folks was nice. There was more than enough food to go around for everyone. I was pleased, but as usual, even with both Bob and I working the room(s), it didn't seem like enough. We were both kept very busy. But I think everyone got out of the event what they really wanted to.

Later, after everyone left, just as evening was coming, a beautiful rainbow made an appearance. Actually there were two, but by the time we got the camera, only one was left. What a wonderful promise after all the nasty, unstable weathr we'd just experienced.

We also got some shots of the pond about 1,000 feet from the property and the lovely mist that was rising from it in the evening temperatures.

During the gathering, while walking around with one of the guests, Bob was able to snap this shot of the opening flowers of one of the viburman, All That Jazz. Very similar, except for the leaf structure to the Blue Muffin viburman (which I have two), All That Jazz also gets blue berries after the flowers that the birds will strip before they have a chance to drop off the plant.

The Blue Muffin viburman are only a year old, not very big but are producing an abundance of fower heads already. Something that All That Jazz waited to do for about 3 years.

One of the Finishing Touches

2011-05-14T19:48:00.003-04:00

One of the finishing touches to the hardscape of the property is a path that I've been wanting from the patio to the driveway, so guests don't have to walk in wet grass and mud to get to it from the outside.
I hired a handyman team to help with the initial digging of the pathway. They dug a hole 4 inches deep, 30 inches wide and 80 feet long and did it in only a few hours. I was impressed and very delighted with the work! Husband, who argued with me at first was so impressed and glad that we had done that. It saved him a lot of time and backache. They also dug up the rest of the grass between the path and the rose garden, giving me an area for favorite annuals and a serious punch of color.

Husband actually did the rest. He laid down the weed block into the hole. Covered it with 2" of rough stone chips and began laying the pavers with three inches between them, cutting the ones on the curves. This took about a week with good weather. Finally, with this done, he filled with the decorative stone pebbles I had gotten as a finish. During some breaks, we went to local flower nurseries and bought four flats of colorful annuals, mostly snapdragons (one of my favorites), marigolds (Husband's favorite), summer saliva in different colors, Gerber daisies, stock and a few other kinds of annuals.

The flowers have been in a week now and this morning I headed out to give them their first dose of fertilizer and saw several hummers busily working through them. I think this will be nice.

This is one thing I've been wanting done for a number of years - since we put the patio in anyway.

New Dawn is Dead!

2011-04-18T06:01:00.003-04:00

The highlight of my garden, the New Dawn rose, my grandmother's and my mother's favorite rose is dead! Don't ask me how or why, it simply died. This rose with a 17" diameter trunk on it, gorgeous blooms several times a year has done well until this spring. I am heartbroken. I truly expected this one to last over 50 years, not just nine. Now to get the thing off the arbor. This will be no easy feat. Most of the main canes are far to thick for even a heavy pruner and will need a chain saw. Most of them in my case are larger than both my wrists together. I'm figuring this will be the summer project. I think I do want to replace it with an own root New Dawn. The one on the other side was from Vintage Garden and is now three years old. They are harder to start, you need more patience, but maybe it will last longer than nine years. Right now, three main canes are over 12' tall but it doesn't have the mass yet as the other did. I will have to check with Vintage and Roses Unlimited about getting another. The problem with getting roses mail order, especially with Roses Unlimited, you need to purchase three roses and I'd want only the New Dawn. That is a downer. However, now that I think about it, Roses Unlimited also has Summer Wine which is another I would want, so with just one more, I could order three. I need to think about that quickly. All my roses in the back of the house took a hard hit this year. Many of my strongest roses froze to the ground. So far, I've lost just Ellen Wilmont that I can see. Even my most tender Crimson Bouquet survived. Then roses such a Marie Pavie, Charles Aznavour, Shaifra Asma, Ann Marie de Montravel, Rose de Rescht, Baron Prevost, Frau Karl Durschki, Bonica, Gruss an Aachen and all the climbers except New Dawn seem untouched. Even the very hard to root City of York, only two inches high when I finally planted it last fall, made it through the winter. It had just one 1/4" root on it after 4 months of diligently struggling with it to get it to root. Finally I had no choice last fall but to plant it. It's growing beautifully now. Go figure. I'll have to let you know what I do now, but there's no question that New Dawn is dead. Oh, I am heartsick about this.

Garden thoughts

2011-04-03T19:05:00.003-04:00

After showing you this gorgeous picture of Longwood Gardens weeping hemlock, I must show you mine... This little on is about hip high and has been in the ground close to 5 years now. It's average growth is about 1/4" a year and at this rate it should take about 200 years to look like the one at Longwood. I do have this one a bit close to my well, but at it's growth rate, I'm in no big hurry to move it. I figure the well will be long gone before the tree gets big enough to interfer with it.

My new and improved west garden bed. After we discovered that the forthsytia had a gull disease, we had them dug out and transplanted the area with other plants, most of which were planted last fall. I don't usually like planting in the fall because of the severe artic winds we get here, many plants that haven't had a chance to establish a root system will usually die. To make matters worse, the Douglas fir was a problem for the nursery man to get it dug. I'm watching this tree closely and making sure it gets plenty of water and fertilizer this year to keep it going. I'll know soon if this tree has made it or if it is a goner. There is some die back on it, but also there's some on the blue spruce as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Bones of Longwood Gardens Cont.

2011-04-03T18:47:00.003-04:00

The Bones of Longwood Gardens

2011-04-03T18:41:00.003-04:00

We went to Longwood Gardens today to try out my new camera and we did! 162 pictures worth. We also wanted to start using our new membership cards which I just received and I'm thinking we'll go there a lot more often now. Here are a few of the pictures we took today:

The Penn State Master Gardner's Symposium

2011-03-19T18:28:00.004-04:00

Today was the Penn State Master Gardener's Symposium. This is a once a year seminar that lasts one day. We make this one of the spring beginnings for the season each year.

Each year they have a number of speakers to talk about gardening from designing to vegetable garden and more. This year we heard from experts and doctors in their field for perennials, vegetable gardening, native gardening and we also had a local wild animal expert visit us.

Jack Hubley is a licensed falconer, with several licenses to keep and maintain several birds of prey. He often does shows mostly for children, trying to teach about the wildlife in this area and how they impact us and the gardens. I must admit he was the highlight of the day especially when he came with several of his animals.

He first showed us a skunk. He was trying to tell us how incredible they were when they weren't skunk pie in the middle of the road. And admittedly, I thought his skunk was actually delightful. This one was born a captive critter and had been desented at a very young age. Being born a captive critter, to be left in the wild it would become instant prey for the skunk's arch enemy (yes, there is an animal that will actually eat them).

He also brought us his red-tailed hawk. This little lady was hit by a truck on Route 30 some eight years ago when she dove after a meadow vole and into the path of the truck. A passing motorist saw the accident and called the Dover Wildlife Rescue and stayed with her until they arrived to rescue her. Her right wing was permanently damaged so her days as a free bird are no longer. She now visits schools and functions such as this one to show folks how magnificent her species truly is.

He also showed us the skunk's arch enemy - the Great Horned Owl. I know this bird as I see them at night around the house, especially when the baby rabbits leave the nest. Here he is showing the comparison size of the eyes of both human and Great Horned Owl. Not only do they eat rabbits, but cats and skunks. If you love your cat, you keep it in the house at night.

He showed us his male peregrine falcon. He did say this boy was a prima dona and the bird proved it every time Jack opened his mouth, the bird spoke up even louder. He told us about the birds and how they've been multiplying nicely, their numbers increasing annually - but not as good as the eagles. He also discribed the flight abilities of these birds and how impressive they are.

He also showed us a 6' black rat snake, a very common snake in this area. This is a snake you often see sunning itself stretched across the less traveled roads around here. Even though they aren't poisonous, I'd still rather keep my distance and allow them the respect they need.

He also showed up the white footed mouse (field mouse as we call them here) and the meadow vole, two of the most hunted animals on the planet. For being so tiny, these creatures are the corner stone of all predator life here.

The whole talk he was moving through the audience with his animals and only one person left the room when he got the snake out. The rest of us gardeners were able to handle all the mice, voles, snakes, skunks, and birds of prey he presented to us and could even appreciate them.

All in all, the day was incredible and well worth the money and the time. It started at 7:30 AM with coffee and breakfast and then a nice meal for lunch. It ended a little after 4PM because we decided to keep Jack Hubley and his animals a bit longer. It was a fun day and very enlightening. I look forward to next year already.

2010 Overview

2011-02-26T08:50:00.002-05:00

2010 turned out to be an extremely rough year for the family. With my mother's passing, September 27 and some serious illness with the rest of the family, it was hard enough. Add to that the deaths of four friends and an aunt on Christmas Day and all this made for a very rough year.

Even going into January of 2011, things still hadn't settled. But now, everything seems to be getting better, evening out and calming down. I certainly hope so anyway. I am in need of some quiet, restful time.

Now, however, spring in right around the corner and the early spring events have already begun to start. My weekends are filling up quickly. But I still have quiet time, like this morning and they feel good.

A New Toy

2011-02-26T08:30:00.006-05:00

Using some inheritated money, I was able to buy myself a new camera. I got a Canon 7D. This is a really cool camera and it arrived just in time to learn how to use it for spring.

I'm thinking I'm really going to need it this year.

Some winter pictures of my neighborhood.

The dog, Bratley no longer goes for walks with me anymore. His joints have begun to break down and even walks can get painful for him. So I opt to leave him at home now. He will still go to the mailbox with us and is actually beginning to enjoy car rides. He will be 12 in August.

I think I'm really going to like this camera. The sharpness is so totally on and I like the idea of using multiple points of focus. It appears to do really well in dim and low light as well as compensates with the white light for the sun. It has all kinds of adjustments for all types of lighting and has an extremely fast shutter speed for when we decide we want to photograph wildlife.

The sharpness brings out the depth of Tootsie's coloring in this shot. She is actually one of the prettiest diluted cocalicos I've ever seen. Even after three years, I'm still getting a charge out of this cat. She is silly, sensative and deeply bonded.

Something New

2010-10-20T19:23:00.003-04:00

There were some things that I didn't get when we built this house. It seemed that on some fronts I was out voted.

The first was the hardwood floors, which I now have. They were put in about 5 years ago.

The second was the master bath which was put in about 3 years ago.

Today was the front door. I had wanted a nice fancy door for the front of the house, but was out voted for that as well. Now I have it. This door has a light in it to allow natural light to enter one of the darkest corners of the house. It isn't finished yet as the new trim needs painted, but that will come fairly quickly.

This door was custom made since I wanted specific things with it such as the brass caning to match the beautiful lock set that I had bought when we built the house. I now also have my button doorbell that I bought when we first built the house but the electrician refused to install it. Instead he put up a yucky plastic thing that looked tacky and didn't belong to the rest of my house. Of course the door was a contractor's grade steel door too.

There are still a couple of things I would like to do to my house, but one thing at a time. With each thing I get done, the closer I come to having the home I envisioned when we first built this place.

Roadside America shots

2010-08-29T11:38:00.003-04:00

Traveling north along the Susquehanna River, we had to stop and take a couple of pictures of the river. This year has been hot and dry and the water level in the river is low and more calm than in other years.

Because of this, the waterlilies are in their glory! Along this part of the river it is rare to see them, expecially as they look here. We noticed them in the more calm spots all up and down the river as we sped along.

Egrets aren't usually seen along this river as well. They generally seem to like the more calm, shadier areas of smaller rivers and streams in the area, so to see several (there were six of them but three of them took wing before the shot was taken) in one spot on the Susquehanna River is something I don't see all that often.

As you can see, the river in this spot is relatively shallow and the water seems calm. In this part of the river there are small islands that peek above the water's crest and trees grow readily there. The bogs are above the water line as well and covered with grasses. In the foreground, the waterlilies happily help themselves to some sun.

Today, I was actually smacked on the shoulder by a couple of fighting hummingbirds! I was startled and amazed and had to check my should to make sure their wings didn't cut me. They continued to fly off still fighting each other. Those little wings felt like razor blades.

If you ask me again how I feel about where I am living, I might have to answer you. There should be no need for an answer. Just look at the pictures and discover how they make you feel.

This visitor

2010-08-26T20:09:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Husband was outside preparing to burn some garden debris when out from underneath the pit came a 5' black snake.

Apparently it had been under there to rest and Shed it's skin.

More Eye Candy

2010-08-20T06:32:00.001-04:00

Eye Candy

2010-08-20T06:21:00.005-04:00

These shots were taken with a 75-300 4.ISO USM lens

Treasures from the Vegetable Garden

2010-07-20T20:08:00.004-04:00

There are treasures from the garden. Here I have two Black Beauty eggplant, three Candy onions and two carrots that are two different varieties of three that I planted this year. Don't ask me what varieties because I remember not.

The rest of the onions will come out of the garden when I find a mesh bag to put them in.

One of the eggplant and the carrots are destined for the cooking pot this week. The onions, well, they really need that mesh bag and a cool dark place such as a root cellar. I have just the spot for them.

Let the feasting begin.

First and Foremost

2010-07-18T11:02:00.003-04:00

First and Foremost, 2010, Frank A. Benardella.

For a number of years I've been attending the "Mid-Winters" rose convention put on by the Penn-Jersey District Rose Society. There I had the opportunity to meet and get to know Frank Benardella. A lovely man, avid rose breeder, active and a pleasure to be around. He passed away this past February.

When I realized I wanted two more miniatures, I looked at the varieties that I didn't have and decided on the very last one Frank had put into production before his death. First and Foremost is turning into a very lovely, strong, active rose reminding me of him. I'm very pleased with this rose so far. How it takes my winters will tell me how strong this little rose really is. I have two of these, one on each side of a stepping platform from the garden to the patio.

Oh, if you're wondering about the cage. Bratley, my dog, seems to have issues with the stepping platform and runs through the bed to get on the patio. The cage is around the tiny, baby roses to keep him from crushing them. Once they're established and have some size, the cages will come off.

I find the cages help for a number of reasons, mostly animals. I use the cages to keep rabbits and mice away from very young trees that still have green trunks. Especially over the winter, rabbits and mice will chew on the trunks of saplings, hence killing them. Larger scarfs or wraps around the trunks of larger trees will help keep bucks from rubbing on them, again killing the trees. Once the saplings have the thick bark on their trunks the rabbits and mice will let them be, while the deer seem to like the trees between the rabbit and the "mature" stages. At least this has been my experience.

I do have to admit to really liking First and Foremost. I think it is a very lovely rose.

The Chaste Tree (Vitex)

2010-07-16T06:00:00.005-04:00

My husband mentioned just the other day that he wanted to enlarge the front corner bed to include a nice Autumn Blaze maple that is in the area. I just stared at him as he told me his plans.

Always in July the Chaste trees bloom. A very lovely shrub type tree that we generally keep as shrubs here. They are a large draw of pollinators as well as people, who stop along the road to view these lovely trees and often ask about them. The blooms will last only a few weeks, but in that time, they are covered with bees, wasps, hummingbirds, butterflies and all sorts of pollinators.

Getting back to my Husband and his ideas; as you can see, the Chaste tree in the picture is getting quite large and is planted far to close to the spruce behind it. I've been asking him for years to transplant the chaste trees and a variegated Japanese willow further into the garden, about ½ way between the spruce and the Autumn Flame maple. He always bulked at that saying it would make the bed far to large and the amount of mulch it would take to keep it nice would be great and at great expense. He didn't see what I saw and now he does. Of course, the three trees (shrubs) to be moved are far to large for him to handle now.

I'm not sure what we're going to do about these trees (shrubs) yet. There are three of them. Two chaste trees and one variegated Japanese willow. By moving them into the garden more, they will have more room to get large without crowding each other or the spruce and maple trees. They will fill in the entire corner of the garden, yet still be protected from the West winds in the winter.

I would still want to keep them as shrubs because they do want heavy pruning to keep up a good flower production and to keep them as trees with nice sized trunks, it might be to hard to keep them pruned at the top. Also I don't want them to big because the site calls for a more scrubby tree or shrub as they are now.

I will have to check with the local nurseries and see if they have the vitex (chaste trees) readily available. I might have to have these removed because of their size and replant new ones where I want them. That would be to bad because these are really beautiful show stoppers.

The only drawback to these plants are the long winter sleep. In my zone 6B garden, they are usually the first to lose their leaves and the very last to push them out in the spring. Often (and for the first two years anyway), I had to refrain from digging them out in the spring thinking they were dead. They don't push their leaves until the very end of May to the 1st of June. Yet, once they start, they don't waste a moment. My chaste trees are 7 years old, planted from a 2 gallon pot in the spring of 2003.

I will check the local nurseries to find out how readily available these plants are before I have these three removed. I want all three and if I have to I'll check into how much it would cost to have them transplanted by a professional who is licensed to do this kind of large shrub/tree transplanting. It might be too costly though.

I've included a link to Dave's Garden - a website that is an extensive database of plants. Here he describes the chaste tree as well as has reviews from folks who have them in their gardens, where to purchase them, etc.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/39966/

A New Rose

2010-06-12T10:54:00.002-04:00

A new rose for this year. Brigadoon. I have a feeling that this rose will do well in my garden. I've been looking at it for almost 4 years now and finally got it. I have a feeling that if it does well, I'll be considering this my favorite hybrid tea. I've liked this rose from the start and am happy to have it in my garden.

Another Photo Contest

2010-06-03T05:12:00.004-04:00

For the past week I've been getting ready for another photo contest. What makes this contest a bit harder than the others is the lack of current photos I have to work with. Even though this is the best flush of the year, I still have to go out there to take the pictures which takes more time than you can imagine. Then the countless nights sitting up reviewing all the pictures to pick out the best ones and prepare them for a contest.

Now, think that I'll take over 1,000 pictures to have 10 that I think are good enough to enter. The F-Stop, weather, lighting and all conditions must be absolutely right to get a good garden shot that will be a winner.

There are usually three contests that I will enter a year. However, the past two I've entered only two. This year I'm going to enter all three again. I have to admit I have some really great shots this year.

Some of the photos that have made it to the table over the years are:

Summer Wine - 2009 American Rose Photo Contest (Nat'l) 1st place

Water Bearer 2007 - American Rose Photo Contest (Nat'l) - Princess of Court

Summer Fashion, 2007 -

Best in Show Penn/Jersey District Rose Society 2007

1st place American Rose Photo Contest (Nat'l).

Margaret Merril 2006 -

Best White - York Area Rose Society Contest

Rosa Eglanteria 2006 -

Best in Show - Penn Jersey District Photo Contest

1st Place - American Rose Society Photo Contest

These are just the more recent ones that I can remember that made it to the winner's table. There are many more that hang on my walls with their ribbons. Usually only the court and best in show make it to the winner's table. The rest are displayed handsomely with their ribbons.

I'm hoping to have some winners in this group of 2010 photos that we are now taking. Prospects do look good. If there are any, I'll be sure to post them.

Today's News

2010-05-27T19:52:00.002-04:00

Today NBC did quite a long story on the oil leak in the Gulf. This entire affair does have me a bit upset as it appears to have many others upset as well. Why has it been a month with no sight to plugging this killer. Why has BP dragging their feet? The President is taking the blame for not plugging this leak yet. However, I think he's put himself in the hot seat to give BP time to figure something out. That's the impression I got anyway. It does appear that there are a lot of folks out there that are using him as an escape goat; too cowardly to own up to their own stupidity and greed. This seems to have been allowed to run rampart for far too long.

It's about 20 years ago, now, we bought a house in the suburbs of Lancaster. It was a cheaply built, but a pretty little house with a bit of property attached. I especially liked this property because of the 100 year old trees that stood in the boundaries. At the time, it was expensive for us, but we thought well worth it.

As settlement day came closer, we were approached by UGI about running a gas line through our property to the development behind us. They would gladly pay us $1,000 for the use of our property. It was tempting until I found out that they would cut down the largest and most beautiful tree on the property as well as most of the other ones. I changed my mind and told them "no". They would simply have to wait for the road to go through. Those trees supported some of the most beautiful and interesting wildlife, as well as some species of birds I still don't see in my present garden. I would lose all that. To me, those trees were worth well more than a mere $1,000.

How much are those wetlands in Louisiana worth to us...the people of the US? The wildlife it supports? How many species of animals will no longer exist should we allow this fiasco to continue? How are we going to teach our children that we need to take care of our planet for it to take care of us? Is this the kind of example we want them to learn by? Is putting up with the greed and false PR from folks who really don't care something we want them to use as roll models?

All those millions of dollars spent to clean up this mess, once the "powers to be" decide to finally clean it up, could have been spent on alternative energy that is clean and doesn't involve destroying the earth and those who live on it.

Our President stood before us today and accepted the blame for all of this. He said it was his job and that "the buck stops here." Personally, I think he is trying to do his best against odds that are overwhelming and against greed and deceit that has been rampart for a very long time. Maybe he'll be gone with the next election, maybe he'll be able to turn things around. But in all honesty, I think he is really trying to climb a mountain without supports. And he seems to be getting none. He came into office with a promise. A promise he seems to want to keep. A promise he may not be able to keep. But, he's been the most honest president we've had in ages.

When we built this house, we built it in a farmer's field. This was a place where the deer rested and the field birds flourished. When we moved in, I started planting trees. To date, I have 65 trees on my little property. It's home to numerous birds, both forest and field. The deer wander through it as do other creatures such as Snapping turtles, snakes and fox. Most of the trees I planted are East Coast native trees that produce the food and shelter the animals and insects enjoy. We're fugal with our energy consumption, using the shade of the trees to cool the house and property in the summer and less of the AC. I would love to put up solar panels on the roof to make my home self-sufficient but it is still priced a bit out of reach for us.

I am very unnerved about what is happening along Louisiana's Gulf shores. This was a huge mistake to think that we could drill for oil so close to something so tender and the wetlands that are sorely needed to protect the land from the ravages of nature. Our natural areas are so much more important than the pocket books of a few.

Maybe growing up so close to the Amish gave me a few hints on how to conserve, or maybe not. One thing I know I do have is a healthy respect for all life, no matter what form it takes. All things have a purpose and it isn't ours to chose who lives and who dies for a percentage of what there is to be had.

Just my personal opinion.

A Busy Weekend

2010-05-25T05:37:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday was a trip to Longwood Gardens. Set up by my rose group, we had a wonderful time with a master gardener of the roses of this establishment. However, many of the questions we were asking and discussing with him were not just of roses. There were other plants that interested us as well.

We were also interested in the volunteer work there. It was a wonderful tour of the gardens through the eyes of the master gardeners that work there.

Even as we moved around the garden with our tour guide, there was a lilium exhibit there the same day. As we went into the conservatory, your nose headed you in the right direction. The display was incredible! Thousands of lilies, many of which were the fragrant orientals and hundreds of varieties.

After going through the exhibit (or in my case, before), we headed down to the tent where Longwood had quite the collection of rare and exotic varieties of lilies for sale! Oh, what fun!!!!!

The group following our guide into the outside rose garden. We all had a great time!

Inside the tent, Bob and I had the opportunity to chat with the main curator and the lily gardener. He helped us to pick out four lovely varieties that would do well with my Casa Blanca lilies that I keep right near the deck where we eat when we eat outside. The varieties I got are:

Alessia - a lovely oriental of which with yellow striping and red stamens. No spots.

Bell Song - two-toned pink oriental

Eudoxia - a bright orange/yellow oriental with red stamens (a very unusual and new variety) I'm curious to see what this one does.

Roi - a double (the only double I have) oriental with red stamens and some spotting.

Mountain Laurel - Candy Cane.

After all that walking, we stopped at the Terrace restaurant for a lunch of mushroom soup (the best in the country), a Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich, and a chocolate cupcake that was large enough to share.

On the way home, we stopped by my sister's house to visit for an hour or so. We had a lot of planning for family get-togethers and other things so it was a rewarding stop. We also planned on the plant exchange that I'd been arranging with my sisters for quite some time.

It was a very good day all the way around.

Early Spring and Sinus Infection

2010-05-15T12:34:00.004-04:00

Shenck's Ferry Columbine. I found this little pretty at the Penn State Wildflower sale last year. I couldn't resist it since I live less than a mile from Shenck's Ferry Wildflower preserve. It is a really pretty columbine and seems to be quite happy under the locust tree among the giant hosta.

Other wildflowers I got there but not shown here are the little purple wild violets. I had bought six of them three years ago and they are colonizing the entire front bed, making a very lovely purple and blue ground cover. I do have to admit to being very happy with the wildflower I've gotten there.

We are having an early spring here. It is the beginning of May and the roses are in bloom! They are about 3 weeks early this year. As long as we can beat the Thrips, I'll be happy. There is blackspot every where though.

Leonie Lamesch, Polyantha. This little rose I got hoping it would turn into another Marie Pavie only in red rather than white/pink. The bush didn't get nearly as big, but this year is very exquisitely lovely covered in the flowers that first drew my attention to it. Such a beautiful little rose.

Hot Tamale, Miniature. This is an absolutely stunning vermilion red with yellow reverses. A smaller rose to maybe ½" across but the color is eyecatching. That plus the fact that it is continuously in bloom makes it a winner in my garden. It's sport, Ruby Baby is also in my garden but now shown. Ruby Baby is a slightly deeper red and without the yellow reverse. Still, everything else about the tiny rose is the same. Both command attention here.

Climbing Rainbow's End, Climbing Miniature. Just like it's parent plant, Climbing Rainbow's End is becoming a very stunning little rose on a very large plant. The flower usually ½" across is mostly yellow with the red edges, blooms constantly and climbs up the laundry poles very nicely. I really don't expect it to get as large as some of the full sized climbing roses, but it doesn't have to where I keep it. I have two of these (2 laundry poles) and they both seem to be quite happy there.

City of York, Large Flowering Climber. The fragrance of this climber will totally knock your socks off. I was sold on this rose the first moment I smelled it. Apparently there has been some trouble with the propagating of this rose the past couple of years because I've not been able to get a second one. This one is now big enough to take cuttings and make my own. I'll be doing that this year.

Blue Barlow Columbine. An old world looking columbine, this double is a very sweet little plant. I had gotten three of them about five years ago. Now I have the popping up just about everywhere. That's OK though. They are so pretty I let them naturalize. They don't seem to be so prolific that they would take over every thing, but they do fill in nicely.

It's nice having such a beautiful spring this year. I simply can't enjoy it enough.

A Sad Thing

2010-05-09T18:24:00.005-04:00

Yoshino Gawa.....

After 4 days of sustained high winds of 20 to 40 mph, we suffered a loss. My beloved Yoshino Gawa tree peony was grabbed by the wind and broken completely off just below ground level. It was a healthy, mature tree peony and always a subject of our cameras every year in bloom.

I had been so excited to be able to get this bush eight years ago, thinking and I still do, that it was a beautiful tree peony.

Yoshino Gawa flower...

Husband thought that maybe we could save it, but seriously, it was completely broken off the root. I haven't seen they Yoshino in a couple of years so I will have to pick another to replace it next spring.

Tree peonies are pricey and I'll need time to save up the money to buy another. That's OK. By next spring I will be able to get one. In the meantime, I still have Rimpo.

The Great Seed Production

2010-05-08T15:02:00.003-04:00

Today was the day for the Heirloom Seed Festival at the Landis Valley Museum. We go there every year to get young plants for the garden, especially herbs and tomatoes, all of various varieties of heirlooms. I enjoy the heirlooms better than the more common varieties that are sold in nurseries and garden centers because the older varieties were bred and raised for taste rather than diseas resistance.

This is a huge event that happens every year, the Friday and Saturday before Mother's Day. Normally by then the weather here is warm and usually sunny. This year, it was cold, windy but at least not raining.

For entertainment, they had a harp player who was really quite good. Husband thought she reminded him of one of the Celtic Women and I have to agree. Her choice in music as well as her look made me think of them too. She was selling CDs.

A woman checking the plants at one of the many vendors. I will usually check the tent first, then visit the rose lady in the event that she has any varieties (all from the late 1800s to early 1900s, usually once bloomers) that I might be interested in and today made a bee-line to the hosta man for a hosta I knew I wanted - blue mouse ears. I had a feeling the hosta guy would have what I was looking for and he did. There I got Blue Mouse Ears for my miniature hosta bed under the large oak and I also got a June hosta for under the Fringe tree (when it grows up).

At the entrance to the museum, there were a couple of vendors who had products other than heirloom plants and a pet sitter. Since pets weren't allowed into the museum, the pet sitters watched after pets who came with their owners. This way they weren't left in overheated cars to wait for their owners.

Besides having a pet sitter, the project also has a plant sitter where you can deposit your purchases and they will be tended to and watched over by folks until you are finished with your shopping and visiting and are ready to leave.

The Heirloom Seed Project is something that the Landis Valley Museum does to help keep and maintain the wonderful varieties of vegetables and herbs of years past. Many of these vegetables and herbs would be lost because many large plant nurseries will sell plants that are known to be heavy producers. Usually when you gain something like larger tomatoes, you lose something else - taste, fragrance or something that can be missed. In tomatoes, herbs or other vegetables it might be taste. In roses and flowers it would be fragrance.

I like the heirloom varieties of vegetables. This is also where I was introduced to the herb, Lovage. Not being a fan of the texture of celery, but loving the taste, this herb helps me get the best of celery without the parts I don't like.

Besides all the vendors and the Market Place, the entire museum is open for folks to enjoy. The little town has a museum, store, inn, several houses and barn where there are cattle, oxen, horses and other animals, a gun smith, post office and more. All the attendents are dressed in period clothing. The church now has displays of items of period as well as a documentary film of the Pennsylvania Germans and their symbols and beliefs. It is a wonderful place to visit and learn about the remarkable history of Pennsylvania.

Even though the wind really took the energy out of you, it was a nice day. For lunch was pulled pork sandwiches and of course the most yummy chicken corn noodle soup on the face of this earth. I can never go there without getting that soup for lunch.

A beautiful rainy day

2010-04-25T16:24:00.004-04:00

Today was rainy and overcast. Not to worry, it was still a beautiful day. So I had to stay more indoors and do laundry and straighten up rather than be outside planting, cooking out and traipsing around the county looking at plants I really don't need.

Because of the lack of sun, it was a wonderful day to be taking pictures as well. This one is of our favorite view of the house. It's nice to see things growing in now.

I remember being so happy when the house was finally finished and we could move in. But it still felt so barren and hot, almost like a desert. It was also dry that year, one of the worst droughts we had in years. There was no grass in the garden either; nothing to make the house feel like a home and none to come any time soon.

We struggled that year with the plants that came in tow. Many of them suffered horribly as we tried to get them in the ground as we laid out our beds.

I don't know if I would have done it any other way. We had the opportunity to lay out and form the beds before the grass came the following spring. The plants were in and the mulch was spread. There was no question how we wanted the garden to be seeded.

Nearly all the garden beds we put in that first year are still the same beds you see in these pictures. Oh, there were a number of them added in the back yard especially, but most of the front one are the same beds as when we first moved in and put them there.

We had also hired a service to help us bring in the grass seed once it was planted. He helped us for two years until we felt comfortable handling the upkeep ourselves.

Times does fly when you're having fun or have a mission to accomplish. I remember when we first moved in and how I wondered if we had done the right thing and if I would ever feel comfortable in my custom home.

Now, with these pictures, I can see how things have really grown in. How lush the garden is looking and my attitude about living here has changed greatly. I love it here. I'm content and can feel the stress roll of my back whenever I come here after work or being away.

These shots were taken today and I am pleased.

A beautiful morning, a beautiful day

2010-04-24T16:02:00.003-04:00

Today, instead of going to my Rose Society meeting, I decided to go to Tudbinks, a local greenhouse where I like to get my summer hangers. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conestoga-PA/Tudbinks-greenhouses/352988283486 Their hanging pots and planters are generally a good bit cheaper than other greenhouses around and I find the quality of their plants are comparable. Besides, it's a good bit closer than most of the more popular greenhouses. They are a diamond hidden in the mountains.

I ended up spending more money there than I had anticipated. Of course. Over the years they have expanded from annuals and baskets and hangers to perennials and now a few shrubs. They have five greenhouses and two covered open areas where the shrubs and perennials are.

After leaving there with our loot; one shrub, two beautiful hangers, several veggie plants such as eggplant, cantaloupe and honeydew, and several very nice perennials we went to the Conestoga Wagon for lunch. http://www.theconestogawagon.com/ There are several small eateries here that are absolutely wonderful, but I really enjoy the food at the Conestoga Wagon; move over Ruby Tuesday's. The "Wagon" is a tiny restaurant, country store, and gas station all rolled into one - the main hub of the town as country stores were 100 years ago. Nearby there are hairdressers, antique stores and a vet's office where I take the fur kids. The Conestoga Historic Society is also right next door. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacahs/index.htm

On the way into the restaurant, I over heard a woman telling her son "You can now say you ate at the Conestoga Wagon." This struck me as funny. It seems that only a handful of folks even know that Conestoga exists. I always thought this odd with the history of this tiny village. This town is home to the Conestoga Indians before they were slaughtered by the Harrisburg's Paxton brothers as well as the pre-train form of freight delivery, the Conestoga Wagon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga_wagon Move over UPS. You weren't the first! Nonetheless, we rarely get visitors here. As Husband puts it "We don't even have a stop light!"

Conestoga sits in the out-of-the-way hilltops of southern Lancaster County http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga,_Pennsylvania, however we are not without our benefits. We are home of the Safe Harbor Hydraulic Power facility as well as the Turkey Hill Ice Cream factory.

With all this history, you'd think that Conestoga would be better known, but I'm glad it's not. I love the openness here; the wildness of it. To sit on my deck and watch the birds and wildlife ramble through the property is quieting and wonderful. Husband mentions occasionally about selling the property. I always stare at him and then say "But you won't find another piece of heaven anywhere else." I plan on staying here a long time.

The day vacation

2010-04-24T06:27:00.005-04:00

Taking some much needed time off work, this is a bit earlier than I usually take, but like I said, I really needed it.

The stay-cation was mostly done at home being the time off that we set our sights to finishing the garden and getting it ready for spring. Usually this is done in early May. This year, however, since spring came with such a passion, a little earlier was called for. That's OK.

Of course, I can't leave work for any length of time without finding something to do to make it a bit interesting and breaking up the work around the house. Since yesterday was forecasted to be the last of the really nice days, a trip to Longwood Gardens was in order.

I've been finding going places and doing things other than the garden on really nice days kind of hard to do. My garden is starting to grow in now and I'm finding it very pleasant. But we also needed the break. Taking care of the garden does take up the majority of our time off, so this was a good thing.

We usually don't get to Longwood this early in the season, but it was pleasant since we did get to see plants and bulbs in bloom that we don't often get to see. The wisteria was in bloom, so of course we had to visit the wisteria garden. It is very pretty and very fragrant this time of year. The plants are impressive, though I wouldn't want them in my garden. They are to big and aggressive for me. Besides, the Japanese wisteria, as these are, will attract the bees, but not much else. My wisteria is an East Coast American variety that is somewhat different, smaller, less aggressive and blooms throughout the summer, though the blooms are smaller and more plentiful.

Longwood's spring bulb and summer annual walk is always spectacular! These two photos show the wonderful array of color that really draws the eye and begs you to walk through and enjoy the lovely fragrance and display. This is just one of the displays. There is a second one around the children's garden that is just as colorful. We also had to stop to watch the Blue Martins flying around the house, taking insects that might be a problem to the growing vegetables in the vegetable garden. That gave us ideas for our vegetable garden until we also discovered that you might want an owl guard for it at extra cost of course. We might have to change our minds about this. The owl is one predator that we do seem to have around here. They often go for the baby rabbits that run all around the garden, but if they also harass the Blue Martins, maybe it's best we not put one up. We'll think about this more.

We ended up spending the usual amount of time at Longwood but we didn't stop this time for refreshment at the Terrace Restaurant as we normally do. Nor did we see as much of the garden as we usually do either. It was such a beautiful day and we just leisurely strolled around the garden taking in all that we normally don't see when we're here.

We were drawn by the color, so everywhere there was color, we went. We were particularly interested in the daffodils and tulips, the growing new vegetables and how they had their berry vines such as raspberries growing. It was interesting to see while you could still see the skeletons of the plants and the way they had them growing on wires and trellises.

We stopped on the way home at the local nursery to pick up a new variety of dwarf lilac that sounded interesting to put in a hole that really needed something interesting in the garden. The variety is Boomerang. It is very fragrant and will be next to the deck and my office window where the scent will be greatly appreciated. We will hopefully get that in today before the rain comes. I also got two yarrows for the back perennial bed. We are cleaning that bed out now, getting it ready for the season and a lot of the stuff in there will unfortunately have to be dug up with the wheat that has taken over the entire site. I'm planning on broadcasting some wildflowers there as well in hopes of keeping the farmer's wheat out of that bed. Anything that is aggressive with spreading is welcome (except mint). The yarrow will prove to be a good addition here.

On our return home, there was a box on the front porch with two roses in it; Brigadoon and Falling in Love. Brigadoon I've been wanting for at least 7 years and now I finally got it. Falling in Love, I've been looking at for the past two years. These came from a company where I had a gift certificate to that I had won as a door prize at the Mid-Winter's Rose Convention in February. These were both lovely, large bare-root roses with really strong root systems. They got soaked and planted the same day.

I need to go as I can see the clouds pushing in overhead and I want to get some of the wildflower seed in before the rain comes. There will be more later.

More Spring Stuff

2010-04-22T06:15:00.005-04:00

I've been working on the garden this week. It's been fun, but also a lot of work. I also am taking the time I want to enjoy the garden and watch the birds. I'm surprised at the number of Chickadees we have in the garden this year. We've never had them in the garden before and this year we have two breeding pairs. They are constantly squabbling with each other even though one lives in the Crimson maple in the front of the house and the other pair lives in the little house under the beech in the back of the house. They are funny to watch.

Years ago, we were given a tiny Japanese maple of undetermined variety by the wife of a deceasd friend. She said that her husband would have wanted us to have this tiny tree, so we took it in honor of the friend. Six years later it is growing nicely on a hill, still in honor of this friend. It was a gift to him by another mutual friend. I'm pleased it is growing so nicely.

Not far from that Japanese maple there is another, almost directly across from it. This little Threadleaf Japanese maple, again of undetermined variety resides near the beech tree and is doing amazingly well despite the rough winter we had. We had found this tiny tree at a box store, nearly dead from abuse and neglect for $25. We brought it home, planted it almost immediately and kept it well watered. Well, Mother Nature did most of the work. This spring it leafed out very well and is now looking at being established. It is growing nicely as if it didn't know it was planted there last fall.

In between the two Japanese maples we are planning on putting in a pondless waterfall, hopefully next year, and a set of steps alongside to gain easy access to the upper level of the back garden. Although our garden will always be a work in progress, this waterfall should be the last of the major projects. We are also thinking of putting in a stone path from the driveway around to the patio, but this shouldn't be so expensive that we can't do it at almost any time.

We've been keeping up with the garden very well this year so far. I hope we can keep it up. We wanted another tree for the back garden and looked around at a few, but eventually decided on a sweet birch that was growing along the back fence under the electric cables. We moved it to the spot where we wanted another tree. It is in deep shock right now, but looks strong. I'll give it another dose of root-start and it should be fine. It is actually growing for me. I'm hoping that the immature roots it has will be able to sustain it until they are large enough to truly support it. I won't know the strength of it until next spring when it blooms again.

Husband wants to finish the last of the mulch today and I want to continue with the back flowerbed, preparing it for the wildflowers I will broadcast throughout it. This should be another good day and just in time for the rain that is coming.

The forsythia still needs serious attention and that will come. Then the garden will be up to date with the care. I did notice that the weeding needs to be started again in the front. It just goes round and round it seems.

Snow Fountain Cherry

2010-04-13T05:32:00.002-04:00

This spring has been exceptionally warm and beautiful this year. The garden has exploded as if it just couldn't wait for this wonderful weather. No wonder, after all the snow we've had.

Anyway, this was the 1st year in 7 that I've actually been able to appreciate my snow fountain weeping cherry. It's grown well, but blooms so early that I am still rarely outside to appreciate it - and it's beautiful fragrance. I never realized how beautiful this tree was before.

Everything is doing beautifully this year. I spend more time outside now (as much as possible). The roses are pruned and fertilized, the evergreens are fertilized and it's time to start with the trees and their yearly care. We've already transplanted a sweet birch to a place where it will be more appreciated and a few acquired perennials have gone in. My temporary greenhouse has gone up and my seedlings are in there as well as any plants that need hardening.

The nights are still cool and I find it hard to get up in the mornigs. The evenings are warm and waiting for me to return from the jobplace to work on the garden. Most weekedays I make dinner and then work on the garden for an hour before it gets to dark to see.

Last evening I planted my onions and finished the fertilizing of the evergreens. It's projected to rain today so my planting will be good. So far in the garden I have peas and lettuce and I'm sure the carrots are working on it. I should know soon.

Time now for the Garden

2010-04-02T06:27:00.002-04:00

Today I got my first of two rose orders. I didn't order much this year. Just a few plants which include 4 roses and three perennials.

The roses I got today were Fourth of July and Crimson Bouquet. I ordered these from Northland Roses, a new company to me because of a gift certificate I had won as a door prize at a local rose convention. I was impressed with the roses when they arrived. Well cared for, well rooted and very healthy. I have high hopes for these babies.

Yesterday I went to the local garden nursery and bought another pink dogwood. I seem determined to have a pink dogwood tree in my garden somewhere. The one I have has had a very bad couple of years since I over fertilized it. It's been going down hill since and it now appears to have lost the best part of the tree. So, my trip to the nursey was to get a repalcement. However, now that I've bought the tree, I'm not so sure about the little sick one. It appears to have improved this past day, so I will allow it the rest of the week and this glorious weather to prove that it truly didn't lose the best part of it. If that is the case, the new little pink dogwood will go to another spot that is crying for a tree like this. Or maybe I'll just plant it in the new spot and replace the other one should it finally succumb.

I'm working on the roses. Many of them were broken badly from the worst snow in 8 years but I lost only one of them. That one is one that seems to want to be an annual anyway and it didn't surprise me. Many of the others did though by surviving the winter with flying colors. I have most of them pruned now and want to finish them this weekend. I'd also like to get the fertilizing done as well.

We are right on schedule for the early spring clean up and will hopefully have time to do some other things to the garden we couldn't get to last year. We had mulch delivered yesterday. This is about 2 months earlier than we've gotten to it before.

The weather's been beautiful and the recession has been keeping us at home. This is a good thing for the garden.

Lately

2010-03-02T10:41:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I've been writing here. I hope not too long.

Anyway, it's been quite a winter for me. The month of February with it's 42 inches of snow, making the total for the year so far at 58 inches. It's been a mess. Now, I'm quite sick with what appears to be three different types of virus. YUCK.

I've been keeping myself busy this winter though. I painted the master suite; still working on the last two doors as well as doing some sewing. Those of you who know me, know I love to sew and will do so at every opportunity. Do I save money by making my own clothes? No. But you can tweak the garments some making them fit a little better sometimes. Here is the list:

This is a short sleeved shell, or at least will be when it is finished. I still have the sleeves to set in. They are made and this is the next step. After this, the hem and the shell will be finished. If you think I'm wearing it with the next garments, think again. That, in my opinion is a bit much blue and flowers for one outfit. I will wear this with a pair of black or white pants or a black skirt that I have in my closet. I may use the sash with it though. I'll see how that works.

This is a skirt and sash made out of the same material as the shell above. I had originally gotten this material for a skirt, then thought about a dress, but decided on the skirt. I order a really lovely banded bottom summer sweater to wear with this in black, but I also have a nice white sweater that will go well too. The sash was a plus. When I had gotten this fabric, I didn't realize that it was so wide and it made all three of these garments with only a small amount to spare. I hadn't planned on making all this but it is a lovely draping material and I'm glad I had enough for all three pieces.

This is a smock dress. The fabric is 100% cotton and a bit heavier than I had anticipated, but it is pretty. I had problems with the pleat in the front of the dress, breaking a couple of sewing needles before I finally was able to get it together. I am very unhappy with the instructions for this dress. This was the first time I had made one of these and followed the directions to a "T" only to discover that when it came time to do the pleat in the front there was so much bulk material to work around it was nearly impossible to get it done the way the directions said. So, should I decide I like this pattern, and want to make another, I will finish the front of the dress before sewing up the side seams. That way I can ease a lot of the bulk out of the way. This dress might still need some tweaking, but I will know that when I wear it the first time. It is pretty with big pockets and nice for more casual wear.

I found this material in my sewing trunk. I remember getting a bolt of this a couple of years ago and even thought I had made this shirt. I couldn't find it anywhere and was surprised to find the material in my trunk. Now, Husband has a really pretty summer dress shirt to wear to the theater when we go see "Phantom" in June.

This is another camp shirt I made for myself, again with fabric I found in my sewing trunk. More material I got at the same sale as the shirt above and never got around to making anything. I was surprised however to find that when I went to take the picture of this shirt that the button holes weren't finished. Amazing. I will be finishing it really soon.

One last accomplishment for this February. I won a 1st place for my picture of Summer Wine in the American Rose Photo Contest for this year. This is a very beautiful rose and a beautiful picture. I'm proud of this win.

March is here now, the snow is leaving us and the gardening will hopefully begin in a week or two or three. It will soon be time to prepare the garden and plant the peas, onions, carrots and lettuces. There will be a lot of heavy pruning this year as the deep snow has taken it's toll on the shrubs and roses. I see a lot of broken plants out there, but none that can't be saved. All my plant orders are made and I've ordered some new spring clothes. I'm ready to start the season as soon as I get over this virus that wants to harass me. I'm looking forward to a glorious spring.

Crossing the Conestoga River

2009-09-21T19:12:00.003-04:00

Bob was at the Conestoga River Bridge today and this is the movie he made. I think it's pretty good!

Following the Three Mile Island Generators

2009-09-20T20:08:00.004-04:00

In anticipation of tomorrows move, we went to see what was going on with the generators that are being towed to Three Mile Island and are now within three miles of my home.

The pair of huge cranes with cables that will support the Conestoga River bridge as the generators are transported across this bridge on their next leg of the journey. This road has been closed for the past month as PennDot prepared the roads and bridges for this event.

The two turbine generators are now parked at the Rock Hill Tavern, where many of the patrons park when they visit this establishment for the great beer and sandwiches this 200 year old tavern is known for.

These next photos are of the generators.

It was a beautiful day today. We couldn't just drive up to the generators, but parked a few hundred feet away and walked to the tavern and the generators.

The generators are accompanied by their envoy of police, and transporters including the travel trailers for the folks with them.

Shenck's Wildflower Preserve

2009-09-06T16:53:00.005-04:00

Not far from my home there is a Wildflower Preserve called Shenck's Ferry WildflowerPreserve. I visited there today. This first picture is a shot of the road we followed to get there. This is Greenhill Road right near my home.
As you travel further south on Greenhill Road, it becomes a one-lane country road. Here it is near the intersection of Shenck's Ferry Road.

You still go further south on Greenhill and follow the signs to the wildflower preserve, the road turns into a small cow path that is totally unpaved and cuts through the woods. This is a wonderful find! And a great place to hike. Taking a car on this road may not be such a good idea because the ruts are almost 1½ feet deep in places.

A wildflower with a bee

A pond near my home.

The typical government sign for the area.

An incredible find!!! Who'da thought! A tunnel in the middle of nowhere! It leads nowhere but maybe once it was a bridge over the road for a railroad. There is now no sign of any type of railroad any longer.

Looking through the tunnel.

The tunnel from the other side. The mountain runs over top of it and trees are growing nicely.

The plaque is hard to read but it says that the tunnel was built in 1905, probably before the horseless carriage came here. It also has listed the contractors and builders of the tunnel.

Another wildflower along the way.

A wild Widdow's Tears.

More wildflowers found along the way.

We didn't travel the entire length of Greenhill Road. It would be an entire day's hike and that's not the time to get there or climb the mountain to get home. We were out about 3 hours today and this is what we saw. It is lovely there.

See if this works

2009-09-06T16:21:00.003-04:00

This is home.

Roadside shots

2009-08-29T11:54:00.006-04:00

Between the struggles at work and concerns of family, I've been keeping myself fairly busy the past couple of months. This morning I went for a walk to just enjoy the quietness of the morning. Most folks don't know about the small cluster of homes on top this mountain. We are surrounded by woods that meander down the mountain and small country roads that wind through them. Each year I live here, the woods encroach a little more on this small cluster of home; something I don't mind at all. This morning the peacefulness of this mountaintop wrapped around me like a warm cozy blanket and the birds and insects serenaded me. It's a good day.

Some shots of local and distant areas I've been visiting.

Somerset County - many coal strip mines have left this area barren. The earth is healing itself, but is taking much time to do so.
The Safe Harbor Dam.

The railroad that follows the Susquehanna River

Indian writing on the walls of the dam.

The burial site of Flight 93.

A country road.

A bridge over the Conestoga River at the Port of Lancaster.

The Holiday

2009-07-05T14:31:00.004-04:00

Yellow Daisy.

I spent most of my holiday around the house weeding and digging up volunteers that weren't in a good spot. I also planted a new shade garden under the oak. Very pretty. Nice weekend so far.

This is Oranges and Lemons Gallerdia

Mister Lincoln Rose

Asiatic lily, Kansas

Asiatic daylily, Grand Cru

Fanfair Gailardia

Baltimore Oriole daylily.

Daylilies in the garden

2009-07-04T09:06:00.004-04:00

Some of the really fine daylilies in my garden. I do enjoy these plants.

Wineberry Candy

Red Hot Returns

R&R Rose Crush

Night Beacon

Little Girl

Julie's Pick. This one is unusual because it is a cross between Pink Damask and King Porcelain. This is not one that you will find in any catalog as I call it this. I think it is a very lovely Daylily and it has been in my garden for the past two years. I have three fans of it now and will most likely divide it for my sisters. Maybe I should see about getting it registered if it holds another year.

Indian Giver

Forgotten Dreams

Barbary Corsair

Aurora Raspberry

From the garden

2009-06-28T12:19:00.002-04:00

Night Beacon Daylily

Electric Lady Miniflora Rose

Barberry Corsair Daylily

Aurora Raspberry Daylily

These are just a few of the wonderful flower bounty this year.

I know I've not been here much, but things have been happening. More on that later.

New Favorite Roses!

2009-05-24T12:01:00.003-04:00

Who says climber aren't as pretty as hybrid teas? These two older large climbers are topping my chart right now with the shear number of blooms, the amount of new growth and the strength of very good roses. The color of Summer Wine is very luscious as is the fragrance. There are few coral/pink roses that I really like and this is one.

Summer Wine ~ Kordes, Germany, 1984, Parentage Unknown.

Another new (for me) variety that has impressed me is City of York, a lovely white rose with very yellow centers and stamens and a fragrance that is extremely mouth watering and unique.

This is also an extremely vigorous rose similar to a rambler. The buds are a creamy yellow opening into a lovely white bloom with the bright yellow stamens. It was named after the city of York, Pennsylvania.

City of York ~ Tantau, Germany, 1945, 'Professor Gnau' x 'Dorthy Perkins'.

Both these roses were planted last year and allowed to grow a full year before they started blooms. It is normal for climbers to bloom on old wood, so they do need that first year to gather their strength and grow some wood for the following season.

I was also impressed with the strength and ability to overwinter in my area. Neither had any winter kill and started just where they left off this spring. I've been watching these roses as they pushed out this spring and budded up. Now I will get to see them boom in all their glory and wonder why I hid these terrific beauties back around the square foot garden. Actually it was the only place I had with a fence large enough for these large beauties to grow on. And when I thought about it, I spend a good many of my early mornings and almost every evening back in the garden tending it, so they will get seen and enjoyed on a daily basis.

I spent a year deciding on which roses I wanted for this area and another year as they got their start. It was a decision that I am not displeased with at all.

Mornings

2009-05-22T08:49:00.004-04:00

There are morning when I don't have to report to the office until a bit later. Those morning this time of year are my favorite. I get to do the things I love to do most - inspect my garden with my morning coffee and water the pot plants. The earlier it begins to get light, the earlier I'm outside.

This year my beech is looking exceptionally stunning. Usually a lovely shade of pink this time of year, this year it is a deep pink. Just beautiful.

The rhododendrons are beginning to be done now. This Roseum Elegans which was found two years ago dying in a Walmart parking lot, is now one of the most stunning of my Rhodies. Still quite small, it is just knocking itself out trying to let me know that it likes my care.

The trees are finished blooming now and the perennials are just getting started. I was very happy this morning, complete content as I picked the first strawberries for the season. I see good eating coming.

Spring

2009-05-16T20:39:00.005-04:00

Spring here is always lovely and sometimes heartbreaking. Last autumn we had a buck rub the bark off our Sweet gum tree. It was really bad and totally around the tree, so we replaced it with another sweet gum. This spring, the new sweet gum didn't even break dormancy and we knew it had died almost as soon as it was dug. So, we gathered all the paper work and took it back to the nursery and got another Autumn Purple Ash for back there. This one is in leaf and for the past week seems to be adjusting well to it's new environment. Of course there has been nothing but high wind and lots of rain. The rain is OK, but the high winds can be a problem. I really need to get out there with some of the systemic for bore for it. Then next month this time I will give it a second douse of the fish emulsion for the roots. Then it will be allowed to grow and establish for the rest of the season.

Every year I try to plant something interesting that we found somewhere. Three years ago I found a little rhododendron that was half dead from no care and sitting in the blazing sun in the middle of a parking lot at Walmart. I had gotten several plants that day, but this one looked interesting. It turned out to be a mismarked variety, was very, very weak but cost $1. Oh, what the heck, if it died, then it died. But for $1, I bought it. Today it is strong and healthy and gives me the most beautiful 'Roseum Elegans' blooms you could ask for.

Last autumn I was strolling through Home Depot looking for bargains when I ran across a cart that had a bunch of half dead plants on it. I checked out the plants closely than asked a clerk about the plants on the cart. She told me that they were headed for the "burn pile" and she would get me a manager if I wanted anything off that cart. When the manager arrived I had asked about a very tiny Threadleaf Japanese maple that had most of its branches broken off from the dry summer. So, for a few dollars, I brought home this small, sad looking maple that pushed out this spring and grew like it was completely happy. The original price tag was still on this tree when I acquired it. $79.95. This was quite the buy and I was able to save this little guy from the burn bin.

There are some things you will pay full price for but every now and again I do run across this wonderful acquisitions. This little tree has the makings to be a really beautiful, low, spreading maple which is what I want for this area. It came out nicely and is growing very nicely.

Changes Coming for Spring

2009-04-26T05:30:00.003-04:00

I think there will be big changes in the garden this year. It seems after a long evaluation that a good many of my roses didn't make it over the winter. That in itself has been happening over the past couple of years, but this year I lost or am losing four OGRs! These roses never die! The dead one was Charles de Mills a huge gallica that's been around since before we built this house. It lived in a pot for 2 years before moving here and being planted in the garden. I am sad. I'm thinking I might be able to save Red Rose of Lancaster. It is starting to push but is late and weak. But it must be moved anyway so I might sacrifice the blooms for this year to move it and hopefully get it thinned out and strengthen for next year. Last but not least, I'm extremely worried about Wild Spice. This rugosa has been growing like gangbusters in the garden for the past 4 years and all of a sudden, this one becomes so weak it's frightening. It's in a prime spot in the garden too. But it does seem to me that we've been having trouble, until this rose growing things in that spot. I might have to save up my money and see about a nice BIG fountain for there. But first I'll wait to see how Wild Spice does. Frau Karl Duschki is looking more than a little sad this year. It never did good for me and this one was the last hold out of the roses I got from Antique Rose Emporium. Their roses just didn't do all that good for me.

There were two other roses that were lost that make me sad. Artistry, a large HT that has done very well for me in the past has been failing for two years and finally died. And then Chicago Peace, my favorite pink. That one might have to be replaced but not this year.

Other roses lost this year were Gemini, Irish Creme (this one was amazing that it lasted 5 years in the garden, being a tender rose), Vasuzious, Arizona (I finally gave up on this one), and two Scent from Above (They started growing out of the root stock).

Roses that I'm not so sure what I want to do with or on the near death list: Sunsprite, Love and Peace (I really don't like this one anyway), Touch of Class, Chihuly (I really don't care for this one either, it's not a nice plant), MME Paul Massad (probably will go) and Pink Gruss an Aachen (I might move this one first).

There are two roses slated for moving. Red Rose of Lancaster if it continues to improve and Happy. Poor Happy is crowded under the huge canopy of a very large Marie Pavie and needs out from under her shade. I will have this little one moved to a nice sunny spot with well drained soil where the roses are doing exceptionally good.

So far this year I have two Tahitian Sunset roses one of which is planted, the other will be planted today. Two Sunny Knockouts and three miniatures for a pot. I also have a Peace rose and a Pink Peace in pots and a Mister Lincoln planted. I have three miniatures to go into pots this year, Jennifer (which isn't a good overwinter rose), Sweet Hanna, another delicate rose and Lovely Lorri which doesn't seem to do well in the ground but is wonderful in a pot and is winter hardy.

I also have coming yet, 2 Dublin Bay climbers for the one arbor and a Julia's rose for a pot.

I've replaced Charles de Mills with a small crabapple tree that is such a lovely color! If Frau Karl Druschki dies, I will replace that one with another Hybrid Perpetual. That one just was never all that good for me. Yet my other Hybrid Perpetuals are wonderful. I'll check Landis Valley this year and see what I can find.

I have been getting away from the grafted HTs more and more over the past couple of years and going with the own-root shrubs and OGRs more. I find the shrubs and OGRs actually do better and live longer for me (until this year!).

And wait until you see what we do with the back perennial bed! Most of that stuff is coming out and we're going to weed block it and replant any of my precious perennials that we can find. Most, however will be buried along with the wheat grass from the farmer's field. Some of those plants are getting scrappy; others want to take over; and the weeds, oh the weeds. That bed has been killing us for too long now. The grasses will stay; the roses will stay; and I'll just replant the perennials that I like. The bulbs will be dug out this season, dried and replanted in other spots in the garden. It's time for this to be done anyway.

It's a lot to do in a week and it probably won't all get done. But I do have the summer and it will get done. Right now, I'm mostly planning on planting the garden with my flowers I have waiting.

Sandcherry

Crabapple tree - Flame

Camellia, April Remembered

Pictures of Spring

2009-04-20T04:53:00.005-04:00

Lemon Yellow Columbine

Lemon Glow Daffodils

Flowering Quince 'Toyo-Nishiki'

Epimedium 'Pink Elf'

Periwinkle, Creeping Myrtle, or Creeping Vinca. Three names, one plant.

The garden is starting to come into color now. Every day brings something different.

A Stress Breaker

2009-04-09T19:48:00.003-04:00

With the situation at work, I need a stress breaker when I get home. Remember now that my Husband is going though the same thing at work and his stress release is to talk about it ALL THE TIME!

Tonight when I got home, in mid sentence AGAIN! I grabbed the camera and went outside.

The grass has turned a rich green and color is beginning to pop up all over the garden. I have yellow and dual tone daffodils; very lovely deep blue native violets with very deep purple leaves.

The wee tiny bright yellow flowers of the spice bush, show here with a fly resting on one. This is a native bush to this area. When a bird planted a mulberry tree right next to it, I asked a environmentalist which I should move. He said the mulberry tree as it is not a native. But whatever I do, DO NOT disturb the native spice bush. He mentioned that they were rare.

Then there is the very lovely Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry. This little tree is very happy with it's home and grows and blooms wonderfully.

Last but not least are my little primroses. I simply love this little flower and use it as a ground cover. If they make it through the first summer and winter, they will return to a very thick colony and be better than ever. I have several that are a number of years old now.

It was so pleasant walking around the garden today looking at all my plants. I still have some work to do out there and yes, it will get done, eventually. But right now, just watching them bloom and watching the birds in the garden are all I need.

Early Spring

2009-03-30T05:07:00.004-04:00

Flowers on the red maple

Crocus

Black Pussy Willow in full bloom

The 1st thunderstorm of the season

More of the thunderstorm

It was a very unstable day, but I was able to get outside and do some work in the garden. The weather is like this through March and early April. Everything is feeling the effects of early spring. Even the toads.

A Frog's View

2009-02-28T08:32:00.002-05:00

When our tiny development was first started, there were these lovely drainage areas built. They are all over the area, including the next development over. They are necessary as we are on the top of a hill and there is a lot of water up here. People have a tendency to like dry basements.

Over the years these drainage areas have filled up and are even now being fill by ground water as well as run off water and have turned into bog areas and ponds. You know what they say "Nature always finds a way."

You can just see the roof of my house from the outside banks of this pond. Also note the bluebird houses that are installed around this area.

This was left go natural and is teaming with life, even in the dead of winter. The bluebirds are always hanging around as well as the red-winged blackbirds. Water fowl come to spend the nights here.

Each year this little pond gets prettier and prettier, wilder and wilder. Now we have toads, snapping turtles, bullfrogs and any variety of insects living there. There are also a large variety of bog, water and field birds living around this pond. The deer visit her regularly and can often be seen from my deck playing here.

This year, at the finch socks, I'm getting the regular gold finches that are here year round. Lately I've heard a lot of noise and squabbling out there and noticed another species fighting with the gold finches. These had to be finches too, as they wanted the seed in the finch socks. It turns out they are pine siskins, here because of a seed failure to the north. I don't get these interesting little finches very often, so it was nice to see such a gracious flock of them. Besides the pine siskins, the redpolls have also come to visit for the same reason. Both of these are northern birds that consider this area a bit to far south to inhabit. There is seed here for them. And it's nice having them here.

Finally Home!

2009-02-15T21:01:00.002-05:00

Finally, after almost 2 months, Mom made it home. All those antibiotics that weren't doing her any good and all what we went through until the doctors finally decided to listen and saw she was severly reacting to the antibiotics, taking her off them and watching her get better in leaps and bounds. She is finally home and glad to be there.

A Cry for Color

2009-02-12T20:20:00.003-05:00

It wasn't so long ago - or maybe it was - that my house cried out to me for more color. When it was first built, I had some colors painted on the wall that I truly liked (in my other house). Well in this house the color looked gray and grayer and it didn't impress me the way I thought it should or would.

Now, 7 years after building it, I've finally decided on a color. The decision actually came when we remodeled the bathroom. (It's been 7 years! What remodeling could the bathroom really need?) Well that's a whole other story. Anyway, in remodeling the bathroom, I decided on a color to match the tile we had installed and that led me to decide on a color for the rest of the house.

Well, now it's finally getting there. I'm not rushing this project at all and do it mostly on weekends or when I have the time. It's the peaks of the cathedral ceilings that are the bugger. To do those, I had to enlist the help of Husband. He did a really good job too.

I've always hated Husband picking up a paint brush in my house (my toy) because he had a tendency to kind of "slop" the paint on and it did horrible things to my sensibilities. But with these peaks, so high and near the clouds, I had no choice and he actually took his time and did a really good job. Hats off to Bob.

Now my house has color. Lots of color. I went with a Southwestern theme, not intentionally but that's just how it worked out. The ceilings are still the original color and that was actually what dictated what the rest of the house would be. The color is neutral, but a bit darker than my regular pallet, but it is just so lovely! Everything matches it nicely and I think all my accents stand out against.

There is one more peaked wall to paint and after that all peaks will be painted. All that will be left are the private areas of the house. Although, both bathrooms are painted and both halls. The next thing will be the master closet. I have already enlisted Husband to build the closet organizer (Another thing I was voted against when the house was built). So I must prepare it for this undertaking.

My guess is that we have about 20 years to get this place finished before we have to sell it. Who knows, maybe one of the granddaughters will inherit it.

The Morning Commute

2009-02-04T12:46:00.002-05:00

It started late last night. I had been watching TV and drifted off to sleep only to wake up to the late news. "It was a surprise", I heard as I woke and realized they were talking about a surprise snowstorm. They indicated that Lancaster County was hit pretty hard and show the Doppler. I ran to the window and saw....NOTHING!

In the morning I started out of the garage to a light dusting of snow. Oh, so it did snow after all! The roads seem basically clear though wet. I had no problems with the roads where I was but as I got into the city, they became icy and treacherous. Once on a main street, going was a little easier but I did notice that traffic seemed heavy for that time of morning. I got up the the intersection that would take me to the company's parking garage and a tractor trailer blocked the path ahead with police everywhere directing traffic. Luckily I turned and didn't have to try to find a route around the blocked road.

Once I got the car parked and inside, I went to a window that showed the blocked street. A trash truck that was trying to get up the road and slid into the side of the very building I was standing in. There was the trash collector pinned between the truck and the building. The entire street was very busy with fire trucks and ambulances. People were everywhere.

At first reports I was told the that trash collector had died, but on following reports was that he actually hadn't died but I don't know what condition he is in.

The city was riddled with accidents of all types this morning. I was thankful that I was able to get to work without incident. Right after I got into the garage another car, a smaller sports car skid into a bunch of parked cars on the same street that I took and blocked that road as well. It was a mess on the streets this morning.

The sun is out but the temps are staying rather cool. The snow and ice are still here so I'm hoping that things are better by the time I want to return home.

Stuff

2009-01-18T17:22:00.005-05:00

I've been keeping myself busy still painting the house. I will continue to work at it until it is all done.

Husband looked at the rooms I have finished and commented that he really liked the color. "It looks like butterscotch but with a hint of gray in it." I have to agree and the cream colored trim also has just a hint of gray in it and compliments the paint color gloriously. It's a beautiful warm color that is inviting. My house seems to really like it.

All the rooms except for the great room will have crown molding, so now that I'm starting the great room, I will have to be seriously careful about the ceiling lines.

Friday the doors to the master suite are supposed to come. These were custom made because of a french door in the bedroom that opens to a secluded deck that I have set up to accept a hot tub should I ever decide to put one in. The interior door into the suite interfers with that lovely french door, so it's out with the hinderence and the custom doors should not interfer at all with the french door, nor the laundry closet in the hall.

Today I painted the wall of windows in the dining area. That's all that needs painted on that wall since what wall is there is stone. So, now I will start the short wall between the wall of windows and the fireplace, including the french doors that lead out to the main deck and patio.

I've called my mother a couple of times this week, all at different times. To me she is sounding very weak and tired. Then I found out that they gave her medicine that she wasn't reacting to very well and no one bothered to notice. When they finally realized it, they did take her off that medicine but they never started her on the regular medicine that she takes for her lupus. She is continuing to fail and will do so until they start up the meds for her lupus again. This hospital is really getting on my nerves. Believe me, they don't want to see me and my sisters.

Today, my niece Rachel, her husband, my mother's husband and the baby went to see her. Before she got there for the afternoon visit, sister Lori gave her a call and asked that she inquire as to why Mother wasn't getting the medication she needs and to make sure the hospital knows that we are all keeping tabs on them, even with 1400 miles of distance between us. Rachel did say that she would inquire and let us know what the answers were to our questions. We are now waiting to hear.

It's been unusually cold here for the past week. On the way to the grocery mart today, I watched a group of kids ice skating on the pond. I remember doing that on a pond near my parents house when I was a kid and I enjoyed watching the children as they skated and played. It was truly a Norman Rockwell moment. It actually looked like one of his paintings where the kids were ice skating and one was on a sled in the middle of the pond. Do you know that one? It was the sled that really made an impression on my mind and when I saw that sled at the exact spot on this pond as the sled in that painting, it too made the same impression. It was almost De-ja-Vu.

All in all it was a good day. I will now make dinner - ham steak with rolly-polly potatoes sauteed with parsley and pepper and greenbeans. Then I will have to start to tape off my wall so I can paint the trim as the week goes on and hopefully start the wall color next weekend. The house is far from done, and I'm hoping to start the master bedroom very soon. I will start with the closet since Husband is about ready to start building the closet organizer. Then I should want to move on to the rest of the bedroom so I can choose the new carpet when the times comes.

Update on Mother

2009-01-04T05:52:00.002-05:00

Mother is now out of SICU and in another room. At least this one has a phone in it. Now her doctors are suspicious that she has an infection. I thought it funny that when my sisters and I called after her on Thursday, she was still in SICU after a week and the very next day moved into another room. It makes me wonder if we call again, if her infection will mysteriously disappear.

It also makes me wonder how much bullshit her nurse was trying to feed us. The story we got from her and the story we got from Mom's husband, Ralph, were completely different. Now, granted, Ralph is no doctor, but baby sister, Cindy, is.

If Mom does have an infection, it is suspicious that she might have gotten it from the hospital. She didn't have it before she went in there. Sister, Lori, and I are debating on whether we want to go down there or not. We'll wait and see how Mother fairs in the next few days. Maybe Cindy will join us if we go. If that happens, the hospital better take this time to make sure all the eyes are dotted and the tees crossed in all the paperwork.

That's all the news to report right now.

More on Mother

2008-12-31T19:53:00.002-05:00

Last evening I called the hospital where my mother is staying. Since there are no phones in the patient's rooms, I spoke to her nurse. It appears that this hospital does put surgery patients in SICU right after surgery and with my mother's condition and age, it was taking her a bit of time to recover. Of course this frightened the family.

I liked Mother's nurse right away and we chatted a little, talked about my mother some, and this nurse was very informative, not leaving anything out as well as being patient will all my questions. She told me that she was hoping that my mother was moved into a general room in the AM, this morning and that she was doing quite well now, was chatty and a pleasure to be around. This nurse also told me that there was a good chance Mom might be going home by Friday. We chatted a bit more and I found out that this nurse was a Florida transplant, originally coming from Pittsburgh. We exchanged pleasantries and holiday wishes before I hung up.

I will be calling my step-father this evening to see how Mother is doing. If she was moved, he is probably the best person to speak with to get information about where she is and her phone numbers. I will probably be posting an update a bit later.

Today's Emergency

2008-12-29T19:06:00.003-05:00

Christmas Eve my mother went into the hospital with a very serious case of diverticulitis. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diverticulitis/DS00070 Today she had surgery to remove the infected part of her bowl. She came out of the surgery good, but then became unresponsive. She is now in SICU and they won't let any of the family there in to see her. Once again my blood pressure rises.

This is all I know right now. I hope to know more later this evening.

A story

2008-12-27T14:57:00.002-05:00

Though this was not meant to be a Christmas present, it came at Christmas this year.

Almost 7 years ago I decided to retire my 20 year old Kirby vacuum. It was a big heavy upright vacuum that was very powerful and when I used it I actually felt that my house was clean. It had all the attachments as well as a carpet shampooer. Yes, I like this vacuum or I wouldn't have kept it for 20 years. The vacuum before was a Hoover canister that lasted me all of two years before I gladly sent it packing.

My Kirby was old and well beat up. I used it for cleaning things like the outside mat, the attic that was full of debris and just about anything I wanted to clean as well as the carpets and wood floors in two homes that I owned. It was big and heavy and the furniture zip didn't work anymore (that was the second one I had used to death) and the beater brushes were dying (again, the second beater I had used to death). Just about every 5 years I was replacing the hose on it. Actually, I really liked that machine. I liked how it cleaned and with two cats and a Newfoundland dog, I needed that machine. My house always looked and smelled clean.

When we moved into this home, I decided it was time to retire the Kirby. The hose had a hole in it again, the furniture zip wasn't working and hadn't for some time, and I couldn't find another one to fit my machine. The power beater was almost dead. We took a trip to the local vacuum cleaner store and I told the salesperson what I wanted. I wanted a light weight upright vacuum that could just as easily keep up with hardwood floors as well as carpets. I told them I really liked my Kirby but it was getting harder and harder to find replacement parts. I also wanted one of those new bagless models thinking it was less likely that I would lose power as the bag became clogged. They insisted on a Meile canister machine. My first reaction was "NO" because first and foremost I wanted an upright vacuum. They insisted it was the best on the market and I would love it.

Well, with all the pets now gone except for one cat and the carpet being brand new, the Meile worked fine for a couple of years. Then Bratley came to lived with us and I found the canister to be exactly what I thought it would be. It was OK before but now it was proving to be not what I wanted. Still, I didn't want to spend the money on another vacuum. So I lived with it and did extra cleaning to try to keep up with things. Then Tootsie came to live with us. Now the Meile was proving itself to be totally unable to cope with all the pet hair and dander. My house smelled and looked dirty even after spending a day cleaning. I felt cruddy and dirty after spending the day cleaning.

This is when I started seeing the Dyson Animal advertised. It looked interesting, it claimed to be maneuverable and also laid claim to do wonders with animal hair. Still, the price kept me from taking the leap. The Meile just simply had to do. So one fine day, I came home from work to find, sitting in the bedroom a Dyson Animal with it's canister full of animal hair and dander. Husband said he was it on sale and had to get one. Then he told me that the animal hair and dander in the canister was just a light vacuum of the bedroom only. The room actually smelled clean and the carpet looked about 5 years younger. It came with all the attachments including a furniture zip brush that I missed so much; the Meile didn't have one.

It is so nice having a house that feels clean again! We used this Animal 3 times in the past week and I think we're finally getting ahead of the dander and hair. The house smells fresh and I can see that the carpets really don't need shampooed. I haven't seen them look this clean in years. I may even decide to keep carpet in the bedroom and office.

http://www.dyson.com/store/product.asp?product=DC17-ANIMAL

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T13:38:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's a quiet day here today. Just me and my husband busy doing absolutely nothing. The day is beautiful. He's outside washing the cars and I spent a good bit of the afternoon lingering in the garden mostly just inspecting my plants, making sure everything has survived the ice storms this month and that all are looking strong and healthy. All but one, anyway. I see a mess come March when it's time to prepare for the spring but that will come when it comes. Right now, it's a pleasant day and a holiday and we plan on enjoying it just doing things we love to do. I even got a nap! How about that!

I did make phone calls to the family. My mother's Christmas could be better. She's in the hospital 1400 miles away. Right now she's not feeling the best, but there is family near her and they were on their way to visit as I talked to her. So she hasn't been alone. My other sisters have been calling her as well. Everyone else has their special plans for the day.

Husband got me two gardening journals and both are an absolute treasure. One is a 1-year Pennsylvania garden journal with plenty of places to scotch tape pictures of my garden; a vendor area for plants that I am planting new in 2009 and a weekly journal to keep account of all the plants and how they perform. I've been keeping this journal every year since 2002 when I started this garden. The other is a 5-year journal with a place for vendors, new plants and a brief update on the week and how plants performed. There is also a lot of room for pictures of the garden as the weeks and months change it. He got a couple of flannel shirts to keep him warm over the winter.

So far the day has been quite lovely and restful. Isn't that what holidays are for? Husband does work tonight. This will be a regular shift for him. He doesn't mind though. The paper pays well for those who work holidays. We just posponed our holiday celebrations until the weekend. All is well and fine. I hope everyone has a joyous holiday.

2008-12-13T07:02:00.003-05:00

Winter in this area can be a wonderland. I love winters here just as much as spring summer and fall. The only difference is driving the other three seasons is much better. Not having to drive in the weather conditions we have here would be a plus.

Still, the scenery is breathtaking.

I do have two 4x4, having finally (after 12 years) sold the Sebring. Husband finds it nice not to have to clean off the truck or car before leaving for work in inclement weather. That was just another plus to doing what I did with the cars. This way we keep both cars in the garage which is nice for both of us.

If you recall I often mention the toad pond behind my house. In this earlier photo, my property lies about 1000 yards off the right of the picture. This is a manmade drainage ditch for the homes on the mountain that aren't built yet. This pond is one of about 4 on this side of the mountain. Something happened here and it is no longer a drainage ditch, but an actual pond. It is a watering hole for the many deer and other wildlife as well as a stop over for the geese, herons and ducks. Toads and frogs live here year round now and the eagles and hawks watch this spot closely. Swampy and unusable for crops or development, this area which is about 2 to 3 acres is left wild for the creatures of this area. There is another within 1000 yards of my house but that one isn't as nice as this one. It hasn't filled with water but is still a bit swampy and supports all the swamp vegetation that provides so much food for the small song birds here. There is a third one in the woods about a half mile from my house and this one is just beginning to fill up with water. That one so far seems to be clear of overgrowth and will probably remain a water pond. Thr 4th is just over a 1/4 mile and is a pond where you can often see geese and ducks. That one is filled with mostly bull frogs and supports bull rushes as well. All four ponds do seem to have all the proper natural cleaning and filtration. Underground water seems to flow freely into them and they drain into one of the many rills all over this mountain. There were also manmade filtration systems installed. They are all beautiful spots to visit.

I get all kinds of insects and wildlife in my garden and now you see why. Deer bed down right behind my herb fence at the back of the property. I get fox, opossum, skunk, badger, mice, groundhogs, snappers and a whole variety of beings wandering through the garden. Some of them stop for a bite (rabbits!), but most of them don't.

The earth has taken over something that man has created and challenges man to take it back, but the residence of this neighborhood enjoy the wildlife on this mountain and are willing to give these 3 acres back to the earth.

I went and did it now!

2008-11-25T03:51:00.002-05:00

We're always doing something around here. For some reason we just find it hard to sit still.

It all started when we got a note from GM about the Canyon. In the note they boldly stated that they wouldn't honor the contract we signed when we leased the truck and that we were to take it back to the dealer at the end of the lease (coming up) and turn in the keys. None of this made much sense to me. But then, in the contract, they were supposed to move the lease into a buy without changing anything like payment and such and I guess they decided that they weren't going to do this any longer. But still, it was enough to make someone very angry.

We went to the dealer because they said they had an Envoy SE, certified used, for about the same price as the value of the truck. I really had my doubts but we went to look. I questioned Husband about it because it would mean giving up the truck with the pickup bed, the insurance on it and the high cost of registration. But he really liked that truck and it did serve some purpose. It was Husband's decision if he wanted to keep the truck or get another car. The Envoy is an SUV but it still won't haul some of the really big stuff we've hauled with the pickup. He decided that we could live without the pickup since we have most of the really big, heavy and dirty stuff we get delivered anyway.

When we bought the truck, we had to consider that it was new and that the other cars we had were older. I've been telling Husband that if I buy another car, I wanted a certified used one since we don't drive our cars hard, keep all the maintenance up on them, etc. It wasn't worth taking the huge hit on depreciation for the way we used them.

So we went to the dealer. When we got there, I told them where I stand with this, that I was angry about it and I didn't want a car salesman breathing down my neck about it. We went in with a print out of the contract we signed when we bought the Canyon, a print out on where the Canyon was as far as mileage, etc. and a print out of possible loan for buying it should we want to, including interest. I also told our salesman that I would leave that day without buying anything and if he wanted to sell a car, he'd better not give me a hard time about it. I am a car salesman's nightmare.

We looked at the car. We test drove it. It was nice, heavy, solid, missing some knobs to make some of the features work which I showed to the salesman when we returned. It was rather plain, without fanfare or bling. That was OK. It would sit outside anyway, so we didn't need the bling.

Then looking around we found a very nice looking (the color was perfect) Envoy Delani, same year as the SE, almost the same mileage but it was priced several thousand dollars more than the SE. But I wanted to see that one too. We took it for a test drive. It drove a little nicer than the SE since it had a larger engine. It had all the bells and whistles and bling you could want. It did seem like a bit much for what we were looking for, but I liked this car. It was pretty, classy and in a different category than the other one.

We talked to the salesman a little bit more when we got back and decided we needed time to think about this. We left the dealership and decided to go to the market while we thought about it. It was there that I came up with the unthinkable.

I presented to Husband the idea that we trade in the Canyon (since we didn't seem to have a lot of choice there) AND my 12 yr. old Sebring on the Delani. This was an option that just blew Husband out of the water! He figured I really liked the Delani to want to trade in that Sebring. I bought that car out of the showroom all those years ago and have really liked it and I've never gotten tired of it. It is a good running car, well kept, and still in perfect showroom condition.

Still, the Sebring is 12 years old and the possibility of it beginning to cause problems is very real. Our third car, or the workhorse, is a 2000 Cherokee Sport we found. This car is now kept in the garage since it fits better than the Canyon. We bought this one to replace an old Wagoneer that was beginning to show it's seriously old age and was falling apart around us when we tried to drive it. The floor on the driver's side was gone, the engine was beginning to need expensive repairs but the day I decided to drive the Wagoneer and everything went with me except the entire exhaust system, it was time to replace it.

Since we have a tendency to keep our cars until they literally fall apart, buying a new one on a lease wasn't a really good idea. This Delani would be a nice choice since it was fairly new, low mileage, certified with a very good warranty and it was a buy - no mileage restrictions, insurance would be discounted as well as the price of the car. Trading in the Sebring (same as cash) as well as the Canyon could hopefully bring the dealer's price to where we could easily afford it. The Delani was also a step up and wouldn't be an embarrassment. The Sebring, in it's day, was top-of-the-line with all the bells and whistles of the day. I wanted a replacement that had the same quality as the old one, if I decided to trade. Remember, that Sebring was what I wanted when I bought it and I've never gotten tried of it. This trade would also bring down the price of insurance, inspections, registrations, etc, and all our cars would fit into our garage. I like that idea too.

Right now, I have the Delani in the garage to drive it for a week before taking it back to the dealer to finalize the deal. They have my Sebring. We will drive around the Delani, get used to it, etc. We've already found that it does indeed fit in the garage (very important!). I'm pretty sure right now that we will buy this car. I really like it and it has everything except for the TV. That I really don't need.

A project in earnest

2008-11-16T17:54:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we started a large project in earnest. Painting the house. About a year ago (summer of 07) we remodeled the bathroom into a bathroom that I wanted from the start. With that finished, I had to paint. So I pasted a whole bunch of sample on the walls while the guys finished the construction and spent evenings just looking at the samples. When I finally decided, I chose two shades of taupe. In the end I really like the color I chose for the walls but not the trim.

When I decided that the entire house needed a face lift, I wanted paint the same color or very close to the same color I used in the bathroom. However, the paint I used in the bathroom wasn't the paint that I like best. So I had to choose a color that matched as closely as possible.

Since I like Benjamin Moore paints, I went with a lovely Broken Arrow color, a medium taupe for the walls and a nice cream color for the trim which I liked much better. I chose these colors because they were close to what I wanted and also matched the ceiling paint called Kitten Whiskers.

For the kitchen I wanted something a little different. I had a nice wallpaper on those walls that resembled a sponged look. I liked that for my kitchen but Shalimar didn't like the paper and kept ripping it off. So we removed the paper and painted the exact same thing back on using the colors I had chosen. The only thing to be done to the finished wall is the ceiling border paper that will tie this in with the rest of the house. I cannot put crown moldings in the main part of the house because of the cathedral ceilings. So this wall will get the border paper to even out the top line.

So far we've been doing good with working on the painting. Other than the border, the finished walls in the kitchen are sponged nicely (one project piece complete). The all (except for the laundry closet doors) are all painted including the trim (another project piece complete).

Now, the question is, do I paint the kitchen wall against the garage? Now that's a tough one. It will need to be done as it is part of the house. The problem is, it is also 16 feet high at the peak.

Then there is also an artwork hanging there that will need to be brought down. This Divan was put there when we first moved in and hasn't been touched since. I wouldn't want to be the person responsible for taking it off that wall! The thing weighs over 50 pounds and has been bolted to the wall, straight through to the attic wall and supported on two different joist. It's a beautiful piece and fits there so nicely it's almost like we built the house around it. But to do this job it will need to be taken down, the wall painted and it replaced to it's original spot.

Getting up there to paint that will will be a feat as well. But once we get this wall as well as the wall at the opposite end of the public area, I will be happy. I'm simply happy we're not painting this ceiling which is why I had the house painted the Kitten Whiskers when we built. I simply didn't want to have to try and paint that ceiling. And I still don't.

With further thinking about the project again today, I've decided that I would like to sponge the guest bathroom. We should have enough glaze and wall paint to do that room too. I don't have the crown molding there yet, but that shouldn't stop us from painting the room and get it ready for the crown molding.

So I think the order I will continue with is to finish the moldings in the kitchen. There's only one door and two very short baseboards there. I can do that in an hour or so. Then move into the guest bathroom and do the trim and the walls since the whole thing will get a good shot of the same color. Then put on the darker sponged glaze. Since we're doing this on weekends only, it might be a few weeks until we get it done. But it will get there.

The crown molding should be easy to save up for. It's the hardwood floors and closet organizer that will cost some bucks and I will have to put away for that. Since both those items are for the bedroom suite, the bedroom will have to wait until I can afford the wood floors. The organizer will also cost some bucks. I saw the perfect one for my closet at a True Value today. Of course, Bob will build it but I will have to go look at it again so I can sketch it and take it home to see how it will fit in my closet and give him a plan. The closet will also get painted the house colors, but it will not get the crown molding.

I have the border paper for the kitchen, but I won't put it on until the paint has had a few weeks to cure. I don't want to put it on to early should we ever decide to remove it for something we like better.

We will do what we can over the winter but when spring comes, we'll be outside taking care of the garden. I'll see how far we get. We'll just keep working at it until it's done. The house is screaming for a new color. The color it is was nice in our other house, but not this one. The warm taupe and cream trim seem to be the ticket for this house. There are just a few areas where we need to be really brave.

Shalimar's new lease on life

2008-11-15T16:33:00.007-05:00

Tootsie

Shalimar is doing very good now. It was a long, scary 5 weeks, but I think she is back on track and maybe even a little better than that.

I has to visit the vet's office yesterday to get more of her asthma meds, but I didn't take her along. Instead I did talk to the vet and told her about everything I was doing to help this cat and that she has finally improved enough to set up an appointment for her annual shots. Dr. DaLuca read through the book that I'd taken with me, listen to what I was saying and said that I obviously did something right that Shalimar had made such good progress. She also said that she's never used any alternative medicines before so this was interesting.

Today, Shalimar was coughing here and there. A dry cough and usually only one at a time. There has been no sneezing from her in over two days now. Her eyes are back to normal and she's been quite visible. The past two nights she's been sleeping in the bed with me. She's also been up to her usual attitude around Tootsie - "I'm the Bombay. I'm the beauty. I'm the boss."

She is definitely feeling better.

What do you think?

2008-11-15T16:27:00.002-05:00

If you saw this picture of this rose and were in the market for a rose, would this picture make you want to investigate this rose a little more? Personally, being a rose lover and especially liking the polyanthas, this rose would definitely tweek my interest.

It actually did tweek my interest and this rose is in my garden. It is more than lovely, it is exquisite.

Pet Issues

2008-11-04T20:58:00.003-05:00

Well, Shalimar is still sick. Can you believe this? However for the past week or so, I've had her on her aminophylline for her asthma and as a treat after taking the pill, I've been giving her about ¾oz. of moist cat food laced with stabilized oxygen (vitamin O). After about 7 days, she is showing stong improvment. She still has episodes of coughing and sneezing and snotty nose, but they are becoming fewer and farther apart and not as stong. For the past two days she's even played with Tootsie, becoming bolder each day.

If she doesn't continue to improve, I will be taking her back to the vet and see about something stronger for her asthma. I really don't want to do that. I would really like to see the stabilized oxygen begin to take over handling her condition and get her off the drugs. But right now that simply can't happen.

I want this bought with this asthma over soon, for her sake as much as mine.

More on Shalimar

2008-10-28T08:39:00.002-04:00

It's been three weeks now and Shalimar is still sick. She's been to the vet now three times as well as the pets emergency. She still has horrible stifling sneezes and coughs almost constantly. It is now time to think outside the box.

I read up on everything I could find about asthma in cats and found that she is having a severe asthma attack that even though the underlying infection is gone, her asthma has not eased with that. This, apparently, isn't unusual. So the question is, what to do about the asthma. Steroids do work, but they will stress her already challenged immune system. Besides, getting a pill down this cat's throat is almost impossible. And fighting with her for 45 minutes stresses her out even more.

My niece sent me a book about alternative medicine for pets and I'm thinking this is worth a try. The book that quotes several well known vets, had a chapter in it about asthma in cats and what might help. So I'm going to try stabilized oxygen which is what is suggested. I found some at the local GNC store and will add one drop into her tiny amount of canned cat food that I've been feeding her to help beef up her calories.

Shalimar has been due now for her annual vaccinations, but because she's been so sick, I've held off getting them. If this works, I will take the bottle of stabilized oxygen along with me when we go for her annuals and I will then discuss this with my vet.

My fingers are crossed.

What a Week!

2008-10-19T17:00:00.002-04:00

Now with Shalimar on the mend (finally), this week off work I was able to turn my attention to other things. Last month I determined that I wanted to change some things about the bedroom wing. We started by hiring Dan Emery to come and put up some crown molding in the bedroom, bathroom and the hall in the east wing. I had also determined that since Shalimar doesn't like wallpaper, we would remove the wallpaper from the kitchen and do a paint wash.

Well, Friday, Dan came and put up the crown molding. He was one of the few people we hired to work in the house that actually impressed me. His work was accurate and quick. He was in and out in an hour and I have no complaints. He did offer to do the painting for me too, but I do enjoy that so.

With nearly the entire day left after Dan had gone, we went to the paint store. I had in mind what I wanted since spending last vacation at the paint store trying to find just the right paint. I wanted a gallon of the trim color, Benjamin Moore Pearl Finish, #1024 Tucson Winds. This is used for the trim in the pictures as well as the base coat for the kitchen wall. I also got a quart of #1026 Broken Arrow, again in the pearl finish as well as a quart of glaze. My main purpose for this paint was for the kitchen, but I also wanted to start the trim. The bathroom was where I decided to do the trim since the wall color, though not the Broken Arrow, was nice enough to stay. I was really curious as to how the trim paint would blend with the rest of the paint. I was not disappointed.

I'm taking my time doing this painting. Yesterday I did the crown molding and the picture window above the tub. I was using the tub and a stool and wanted to get off of it asap. I was planning on doing the other window today, but it was such a beautiful day I decided to work in the garden instead. I bought some plants for the last flowerbed at deep discounts and got them into the ground. I got three white saliva for $.75 ea, a 2 gallon daylily I'd had my eye on all summer for $10 and a miniature lilac (Tinkerbell) for $3. I also got a bunch of tulip and daffodil bulbs that weren't on sale. Also in that bed will be another miniature lilac that I must move or lose (Josie) and two roses, one of which is another that I must move or lose, Frimbriata and Red Rose of Lancaster. I will have Bob move all these plants soon, as I am expecting my new little Sourwood tree to make it's arrival in the next few weeks. I will also want a beauty berry but that may not come until spring.

Oh, BTW, we did wash the wall under the kitchen bar. We figured that until we knew what we were doing with color washing, this would be the best choice. It turned out great! It looks very much like the wallpaper we took off. At least there are no seams now that Shalimar can loosen and run through the house with, leaving big gaping rips behind. This always reminds me of when I was a kid. We had two family cats, Marvin and Willy. We had also just moved into a house my parents built. Mom had just had the walls papered. When I would return home from school, I'd find Willy hanging on the wallpaper at the ceiling. He'd see me and slide down the corner, taking long strips of wallpaper with him. Mom was not pleased. She kicked him outside where he lived for about 2 weeks before getting smashed by a car. He had a short life.

Tonight for dinner is Italian meatloaf. Yum. But I'm also trying a new recipe out of my recipe book I got for my birthday. The other night I made the beef barley soup which was fabulous! Tonight I'm going to try the brown sugar oat muffins and serve them with dinner.

More about Shalimar

2008-10-06T18:38:00.002-04:00

Shalimar went to her regular vet this evening. It turns out that she has a severe sore throat. This is what has been keeping her from eating and drinking. The antibiotics have helped some and this morning I took her into the bathroom while I took my shower. The humidity really seemed to help her.

When I got her home from the vet, we changed her eating to soft cool food and ice water. She was one hungry, thirsty kitty. I'm to keep her on the antibiotics for the duration but my vet thinks she should be eating her regular food in a day or two. But appears now that she will get better.

What Kind of Emergency Room is this???

2008-10-05T18:02:00.003-04:00

It started last evening around 5PM. I noticed that Shalimar seemed to have the hiccups. She gets the hiccups a lot, having to do with her asthma. However, this time they didn't go away in the few minutes they usually do. I began to worry.

This morning, she still had the hiccups and now she could neither eat or drink. The more she moved, the worse they became. By 8am, I simply became scared and decided to take her to the pet emergency. She fought me horribly as I tried to put her in the crate. She seemed strong, but I was afraid that if I left this go, it could get worse and if she became to weak, she may not be able to rebound. So off we went to the emergency.

We were there for three hours. They gave her the works...blood, X-rays, the entire nine yards. They told me her asthma was constricting her breathing, but that she also seemed to have an infection too. They put her on an asthma control as well as an antibiotic and sent her home with a hefty price tag. It seems that pet emergency hospitals are just as expensive as people hospitals without the benefit of insurance. I'll try not to take her back there. Besides, it's just to far away.

Now, she's acting like a little snit. She ran under the bed when we got home and hasn't come out yet. Well, if that's how she wants it. Of course, Tootsie is worried and keeps going into the bedroom to stare at her from across the room. I figure when she gets hungry enough and thirsty enough, she'll come out. But here's the problem. I need to give her medicine this evening and if she stays under the bed, it will be nearly impossible to get her out.

She is still sounding not right, though the "hiccups" do seem to be less. I will be taking her to my vet tomorrow. Oh, she's going to LOVE that! But what must be done, must be done. At least the emergency clipped her nails so she wouldn't nail them. They did tell me she was sporting daggers.

Website Updating

2008-10-02T04:28:00.002-04:00

http://www.geocities.com/jsaurbaugh/byjuliesdesignindex.html

I've been updating my card website. This has been keeping me busy for the past few days and will continue to do so into the near future. Check it out. I've been mixing my new cards in with the old so you will have to hunt for them.

I did take note of my prices and am happy to report that the pricing hasn't change yet.

The Destruction of a Tree

2008-09-30T06:33:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning I was getting ready to leave for the office when I happened to look out into the back yard. Everything looked good except for the Sweet Gum tree that took such a long time and consideration before I bought it. This tree also housed those wonderful Orchard Orioles that are rare in this area. Their nest is still there waiting for their return.

I swapped my shoes for boots so I could go out in the dewey grass to see what was going on with this tree. I was appalled when I got there. All the bark on the trunk from about 6" above the ground to about head high was laying on the ground in strips and dust. The ground around it was churned up with some imprints the size and shape of a deer.

I had to be at work, so I left Husband a note to get in touch with our tree guy and ask about this. He returned the call in the evening so I got to talk to him. He said that if this would be any tree but the Sweet Gum, he would say the tree is a goner. However, the Sweet Gum is an ancient and very strong tree and there is a chance, though it be quite slight, that it might survive this rubbing. He told me to protect it from more rubbing and wait until spring to see if the tree survives. If it leafs out in the spring it will surely live. He also told me to protect any other trees with a less than 3" diameter trunk from rubbing. Apparently there is a buck in this area that has decided that my property is in his territory and killing my trees is his way of proving it.

OK, if this is to be a territory battle, I'll show him who owns what here. Where's my gun! At this point, those big boys around here with the 16 point racks don't impress me, especially the one who attacked my tree! But the idea of venison in the freezer does impress me.

I can only wait to see how and if this Sweet Gum survives the winter. In the meantime, today, Husband will be going around caging all our smaller trees until they get to big for the deer to want to rub. We did put coyote pee on all those yesterday to protect them until today. My back yard smells awful!

More On the Bedroom

2008-09-23T15:49:00.002-04:00

Last year I had all this work done to the bathroom. Now, I want to finish the entire suite including the flooring, paint, trim, and closet. That's a lot of finishing.

I want to put up a crown molding in the bedroom and am seriously considering a wainscoting as well. I want to get new baseboard that is 6" high instead of 3½". There will be a new oak floor in the room as well. There's a problem with the floor. The flooring we put in the rest of the house is no longer available, so we will have to find another floor very similar. Finding the natural oak is easy, but the manufacturer no longer carries that type of floor. Right now I'm leaning toward a Bruce plank floor about the same thickness. My next time off the job, we'll be heading some distance away to Lumber Liquidators to see what flooring they have. Yes, this will turn into quite a search before we finally find what we are looking for. Then installation will have to wait until we have other time off the job.

I want tile flooring for the bathroom and a new vanity. Then the bathroom will be considered finished unless I decide I want to paint it again.

Last but not least, I want that bedroom closet redone. I want an organizer (a nice one) fitted in so that there is no mess or junked up floor. It is a beautiful, very large closet that is a mess right now. Husband is having a conniption right now because of the price of the organizers I'm looking at. This is my house and I want it the way I want it.

After all this, I want to finish the rest of the house, probably with the same paint colors. The girl at the paint store did give us an idea for the kitchen which will probably be done almost first. We want to color wash the one wall in there and the half wall under the bar. She said we could use our chosen colors to do this with just the cost of a glaze to mix in.

I'm excited about getting started on these projects.

Let's Talk About Paint

2008-09-23T14:57:00.002-04:00

OK, now that summer has turned into autumn and the garden is on it's down side for the season, it is time to get ready for the winter projects that will help wile away the hours until spring. This winter, I'm planning on redecorating the bedroom.

"Oh, you say. But you've only been in that house for almost 7 years." Yes, this is true, however, when I first built this house the paint color was one I loved in another house. In this one, it looks drab and gray. It's also been almost 7 years since the 5 yr. carpet was put in and it really needs to come out! The carpet in my office smells like dirty dog and yes, I want it out of here!

So, we are now looking around to see what we can do and can't do with the master suite. I want that room done first since I spend a good deal time. Besides, I already have the new bedroom ensamble.

I have picked out the paint colors which involved two trips to the paint store for paint samples and chips. I think I've finally figured out which colors I want for the bedroom. Of course, the paint will be from a line of the Benjamin Moore paints. I tried the one from Lowe's and am so disappointed with it, I'm ready to give up on that paint completely. I don't care if it's half the price of Benjamin Moore. I have heard from friends that Home Depot's paint is even worse but I don't see how that could be. I guess it's just that if you've used Benjamin Moore once, you're spoiled on it. http://www.benjaminmore.com/ At least I am.

The biggest problem that I ran into is the fact that I have the house already painted in a Benjamin Moore color called Kitten Whiskers #1003 http://www.myperfectcolor.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=MPC0005353. It is a an off white taupe and needed something that would blend seamlessly with this color since I was planning on keeping it on the ceilings where it is now. It has a touch of gray in it which makes the entire house look gray and I'm not really pleased with this color. Husband has already told me he wasn't painting the ceiling and because of a problem with my neck, I simply can't. So, I had to choose colors that would compliment my new bed ensamble http://www.boscovs.com/StoreFrontWeb/Product.bos?quantity=1&itemNumber=46660&type=Product Croscill Ashwin Comforter Set. I also got chocolate shimmer drapes to go with this and a valance to finish each window. I have to get the blinds that will probably be custom made from JCPenney and I need to find a chocolate door panel for the french door.

Anyway I regress. After three tries, I finally think I found the paint colors I like. I picked out a wall color called Broken Arrow #1026 http://www.myperfectcolor.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=MPC0005378 and a trim color called Tucson Winds #1024 http://www.myperfectcolor.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=MPC0005376. Now, I have to decide what finish for each of these paints; Eggshell, Satin or Semi-gloss. That could be another three trips to the paint store. What I like about this paint store is, not only do they sell the paint that I like, they are very helpful with ideas and familiar with the types of paint. Right now I'm thinking Satin for the walls and Semi-gloss for the trim. But, I haven't purchased anything yet. I may change my mind again until I finally buy something.

New Artwork

2008-09-07T07:42:00.003-04:00

I've gotten a rare order for cards. So, at least someone likes them. Anyway, since I don't get many orders, I do a lot of custom work.

I've hesitated about putting these on because of friends who've had trouble with folks copying their work and plastering them on other websites, or in once case, the front page of a local newspaper! I've been getting pretty lax at signing these pieces, but for the sake of this blog and my website, I'll start doing that with small pics I put on here.

Anway, with all that said...
For those of you who love Sunflowers. The mirrored sunflowers on the background are flowers from my garden which I deemed not all that good for the main subject.

This rose is Brigadoon. I don't have it in my garden - yet. But believe me, it's one of the few Hybrid Teas that I will be getting. This is such a lovely rose and I understand that it is fabulous in my area. Like Gemini, this rose is a must for my garden. The picture of the rose was taken at Hershey Botanical Gardens and though it didn't place for me in any of the contests I entered it i, it is most beautiful for my cards.

This card was made with a picture I took last summer at Hershey Botanical Gardens. It is also the winner of "Princess" (a court win) at the American Rose Society Photo Contest this spring. To date this is my top win. So, of course, I had to turn this lovely photo into a card as well. I think all of my new cards are lovely. And if you notice, they are all signed.

A Pleasant Evening

2008-08-29T06:54:00.004-04:00

Last evening, my SIL and niece with baby Julia came to visit to see the house, garden and for dinner. We had such a pleasant time! The garden was looking fairly nice and dinner was really good. I made meatball subs with salad that was dressed to the hilt with almonds, bacon, croutons, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and cheese. I think that's everything I put in the salad. It was a quick dinner because everyone was hungry and we wanted to spend as much daylight out in the garden as possible.

Along with Carol and Rachel and the baby, came Rachel's dog, Jazz. He is an elderly Dachson, 10 years old. It was a slower process to introduce him to Bratley, but they seemed to get along quite well. Bratley just wasn't sure what to do with company. Rachel is talking about moving here because it's closer to her family and John (her husband) really likes this area. If she does, maybe Bratley will have company more often. This would be good for him.

It was a great time for all of us. It was nice to entertain my SIL and niece. The baby was a bit fussy, but she'd had a big day and of course, nothing was familiar. We finally put her down on the bed and Shalimar was under the bed purring. Julia heard this and fell instantly to sleep. I was a little nervous about the cat being in the same room with the baby, but Shalimar stayed under the bed and purred while the baby slept peacefully on top. We had the bedroom door open so we could hear her and checked on her occasionally.

During dinner when Julia was in her carryall on the floor, Bratley gave her a curious sniff, but for the most part, left her be. He knows company that small as he's seen a number of the granddaughters when they were tiny like this (well, maybe not quite this tiny...Julia is 4 months old) but he probably figured this was another of those granddaughter things. Besides, Jazzy seemed very acceptable of this baby. Shalimar is used to having small children around the house on occasion as well. She usually spends her time under the bed when the grandchildren are here, and I will tell them not to bother her when she's under there. They don't either, so to Shalimar, this is a safe haven.

All told, this was a wonderful evening. I'd like to do this again, sometime.

More New Stuff

2008-08-23T12:43:00.003-04:00

Choke Berries (stabilizing zoom lens)
Beauty Berries (50 mm fixed lens)
Peachs N Cream miniature rose. (stabilizing zoom lens)

Adding to our camera equipment, we got two new lenses. One I wanted and one Husband wanted. Both are exceptional and both are assets to our equipment. There is a lot of difference on how to shoot these, but the results are both very, very stunning.

In all honesty, I see a difference between the two. The Stabilizing zoom lens take very clear, sharp pictures. The 55 mm fixed lens take pictures with more clairty. I'm not sure if you can see the difference here or not, but I can really tell in the full size pictures.

The Book

2008-08-16T09:46:00.003-04:00

Lately I've been doing some work for my mother. She has, in her possession, a family Bible from her previous (now deceased) husband. It is a glorious large tome published in 1736. She was thinking she wanted to know what she could do with it.

Keeping it in her house is the biggest issue. She doesn't want to keep it there since she has that house shut up for a good deal of the year. So she asked me to help her goet it appraised which I did. I was able to locate a wonderful appraiser of antiquities and he gave me an honest appraisal and has offered to help my mother try to sell the books if she desires to do this. He has also helped me to understand this world a little better and has patiently answered all my questions.

Personally, I'd like her to see if she could find a museum or public library or someone in these fields who would have the proper facilities to care for of book of this stature and age. Ultimately, however, this will be up to my mother.

It's a beautiful day today, cool for August. Without a lot of plans, I'm thinking this will be a good day to be outside.

Breaking in a new camera

2008-07-26T20:24:00.002-04:00

Dublin Bay Large Flowering Climber

Ok, so we can't live with just one camera. We had to get another. This is a test to see how it does. So far, I like it.

Julia Childs Floribunda Rose

Red Hot Returns daylily

Tootsie

As of Wednesday, Tootsie will be with us for 8 weeks. She and Shalimar are getting along much better and will spend time playing now. Lots of ambushing going on in this house, but they do appear to like each other somewhat. Tootsie is still learning the ropes of this household and she's somewhat nervous, but not as much as she had been.

Garden Pictures

2008-07-23T18:43:00.002-04:00

Some Daylilies

2008-07-12T20:44:00.005-04:00

Pink Hollyhock. I have no idea where this plant came from. I certainly didn't plant it.

Yellow Hollyhock. Another hollyhock tat was never planted.

Daylilies...
Joan Senior

Little Girl

Lori Goldston

Wineberry Candy

Another pink Hollyhock.

Big Purple

Cotillian

Crimson Pirate

Drawf Double Pink

Indian Giver

These are really just a few of them. The others either weren't open yet of the flowers were spent. There are also two mix breed varieties that have begun to grow. I call these Julie's specials 1 and 2.

I had a rather difficult time getting the picture of the Big Purple because I kept being attacked by a smallish bird. Then I saw why...

A baby Orchard Oriole.

I think there's still one in the nest, but it's hard to tell. The nest is very similiar to every other oriole, but it's in a dense tree and hard to see. This little one fledged early this morning and now seems to have pretty good control of his wings. This is a good thing because in a couple of weeks, he must make a very long trip to Brazil with his parents and other siblings. I'll be sorry to see them go. They are such pretty birds and decorated my backyard nicely. I can only hope that they will return next year.

Emergency Room Experience

2008-07-04T03:48:00.003-04:00

Wednesday night I spent a good bit of the night in the emergency room with kidney stones. If you've ever had an attack, you know the kind of pain involved. This was my first attack and I had no idea what was going on.

I called Husband about 1:30 at night. He came home from work immediately and called an ambulance. They took me to a hospital of his choice and when we finally got there (it took forever with the pain and dry heaves), they told us emergency was full and I'd have to wait in triage. The ambulance attendants weren't happy about that and argued with the receptionists, but the emergency room would have none of it. They put me in a wheelchair and left me at the admitting desk. I liked the First Responders. They were folks from my hometown and were very empathic and caring. I can't thank them enough for what they did for me.

When Husband found me, he asked why I was there instead of in ER with a nurse? He was disappointed because he'd been at this hospital before and was always impressed with it. I told him that I wanted to go to the Regency because even though they didn't have all the nicest ER rooms, they were less busy and you got better attention. The General Hospital was well known for pushing patients aside, sending them elsewhere, or closing their doors to patients. I was feeling very pushed aside even though I also have very good insurance. (Husband told me later that the receptionists overheard the conversation about the Regency and was on the phone as soon as she heard it).

Almost as soon as I said that, a nurse was by my side asking where the pain was and how I was feeling. I was sitting in a wheelchair with a vomit bag in my lap for the dry heaves. I wasn't feeling good at all. She took me to an ER room and stayed with me, asking questions which Husband answered for me. When she left, I had all the monitors on as well as drugs for vomiting and morphine for pain. Shortly another attendant came in and took me for a CAT scan. By this time the morphine was kicking in and the pain was easing.

All tests were pointing to kidney stones and the CAT scan revealed the little thing. No, I don't drink Turkey-Hill Iced Tea, any tea, coffee or soda. But my mother has had problems with kidney stones for many years. With the morphine working, I was able to get some rest while waiting for the test results. The nurse even told me how much better I looked after the morphine started working.

The doctor came in later with the test results and told me what was going on and that he was putting me on a pain therapy until the stone passed. Then I should go to my family doctor (of course) for a follow up.

I was please with the service and attention once they started giving it. The ER room was nice, complete with a TV for entertainment, though I wasn't interested in it. I told Husband to watch some so he could be entertained. I was mostly just tired after the pain left. I didn't like the IV all that much and am now sporting a nice bruise from it. I thought it was somewhat painful and I kept knocking it whenever I tried to move my arm. I liked my nurse and doctor.

Today, I mostly slept. I was totally worn out from all the pain and everything that it was nice just to sleep. Also, it seems that taking the painkillers the doctor prescribed will knock me for a loop and I will sleep for about 4 hours. They do work, but I think a bit strong. I found that Advil helps just as much without the grogginess.

We got home about 6:30AM, I called my boss to tell him I wouldn't be in and went right to bed, sleeping most of the day. Husband fed me soup for dinner around 3PM and that was it for food. I am definitely feeling better now, but still have some pressure in my flank, telling me the stone is still there. I hope this doesn't become a common occurrence. This was quite enough pain for one year.

Silent Victims

2008-06-25T20:27:00.007-04:00

On the evening news a story was done about the silent victims of home foreclosures. Naturally, they are the pets. I've heard stories of them being abandoned in empty houses, left lose outside with the thought that they could get along OK (especially cats), only to be ostrasized by feral cats or taken to local shelters simply because they had no where else to go.

It's a sad situation and these animals are left confused and suffering from separation anxiety. Many of them are considered unadoptable because of their age. To add another nail, pet adoptions are down because people are so uncomfortable with the economy right now.

This is my little "owner surrender". It's been almost a month now since I first brought Tootsie home. She is learning, but yes, she had some issues she had to overcome before she could begin to function in this household. She still isn't as comfortable as you would think she'd be, but she's getting there.

Tootsie and Shalimar, my older cat, still have trust issues to get over, but most of the serious fighting has stopped now. Still, there are a couple of major spots to watch out for. One of those is the master bedroom. Shalimar will do fine with Tootsie in the room except that Tootsie, being a young cat, wants to play and unnerves Shalimar. Then you have the fights.

After talking to a pet hotline from a local no-kill adoption center, I decided to give Tootsie a full chance at becoming a family member. They told me that it could take as much as a year, maybe more for the cats to become friends but should reach a tenative stalemate by the end of 3 months. I was also told that from my discriptions, this could be a good match.

In this one month, this sweet little cat has made friends with the dog; is getting more comfortable with being in the house; fusses with Shalimar less and less. Still, she cries when you leave her alone for any short amount of time. She is always nearby, seeming to feel most comfortable when she can be with someone. She loves the windows, Shalimar's food, visits the community water bowl (the dog's water dish) regularily and finds Shalimar's self-cleaning litter box to be the "cat's meow"!

On the nights I let her out and about all night (mostly on weekends now in case the cats want to keep me up all night), I'll often find the bed toy ridden. Tootsie has her favorites and they are always on or in the bed. I keep a basket toy box of cat toys and I spend a good part of my early mornings locating and picking up the toys that are scattered about.

She's a sweet little cat and though it's taking much longer for the two of them to come to terms, I think this will work out for the best. I think she is a good match here. She still has some issues that we are working on, but she'll be fine. This little "owner-surrender" found a home.

Oil Companies and Their Greed

2008-06-15T05:54:00.003-04:00

OK, I've now had totally enough of this spineless president. He should be out of office NOW! I'm not even sure I can wait until November.

He knows he's on his way out, but still doesn't have the backbone to stand up to these thieving oil companies that he gives them the right to kill polar bears in search of oil instead of alternative fuel sources. He is the world's biggest joke.

The oil companies think they have so much power that they can abuse and rob people and now kill the things we love. Are we going to stand for this? Are we going to allow them into our homes and destroy what they wish?

They are no different than that Homeland Security piece of shit that thinks he has the power to destroy whatever he wants and force us into something worse than what we despise just because he thinks he has the power to do that. He hasn't figured out yet that shouldn't or can't be done.

Lining these despots up in front of a stone wall and shot would be to easy. We need to bring back some of the old ways for these folks. Stockades or stoning come to mind.

Well, they'd better enjoy their sadism now, because when we finally break out of this (and we will), their worlds will be completely destroyed without a speck of dust left. I hope it's soon because I'm getting extremely tired of this.

The way people are beginning not to travel or visit the gas pumps less and less, the oil people should very soon have such a stock pile of oil that they will choke on it. Personally, I'm considering going to solar for my home. This looks like a good self-sufficient path right now.

Recent Days

2008-06-10T05:21:00.003-04:00

Last weekend was prom night. Since all my children are past that, I don't pay much attention to it any more. However, last weekend, a neighbor whom we aren't necessarily close to, stopped in to ask if he could use our front garden as a backdrop for pictures of his daughter and her prom date. We said sure, but first he might want to look at the back yard before deciding where he wanted to pose his daughter. They did choose the back yard and have promised to soon be by to show us the pictures. I'd like to see them.

Then, this weekend, I invited my mother and step-father for dinner. Because of the heat, I made a spaghetti dinner which was totally enjoyed. During the meal, the conversation came up about the higher wages that certain folks make. Things always turn political with my step-father. He hasn't learned that there are two things you don't discuss -- politics and religion. Anyway, he asked a question worthy of some thought...

"What would you do with a yearly $900,000 salary?"

Would I move? No. I like this property. It's my dream. The house is small enough to easily take care of, the property is pretty because I made it that way. It's also easily affordable but would be paid off with that kind of money.

What I would do is take some of it salary annually and buy up property being sold by individuals or by developers who are going under with the extreme falling of the property values. I would take these vacant lands and turn them into nature preserves. I don't feel we need more housing. The baby boomers are beginning to die off and the next generations have an influx of housing to choose from. We don't need more housing. We've already stressed out the environment enough. What we need is to allow the environment to return itself.

Personally, seeing a lot of empty houses isn't all that nice. I want the birds and the bees and the wildlife. How does the song go? "You paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I'd like to change some of that and even though the amount I could do wouldn't see all that significant, it would be a drop in the bucket that wasn't there before. This would be my way of giving to future generations something they might otherwise miss; a nice stroll in the woods and see wildlife and plants they might otherwise miss.

The Newest Member of the Family

2008-05-31T20:05:00.003-04:00

This is Tootsie, the newest family member. Just look at that face! This is how I was looked at every time I visited the animal shelter. I've never been fond of the diluted calico or torties because I thought they looked muddy. But as you can see, she is more vibrant than most with her shimmering white. But it was her personality that won me over. She's been with us since Thursday and is now beginning to relax. She is such a lover and wants attention and to be petted...a lap cat to be sure. Now to get Shalimar used to her. So far, Shalimar has done her hissing but hasn't been aggressive. I will put Tootsie in Bratley's carry crate and allow Shalimar into the room to meet her. Tootsie is being kept in the family room until she sees a vet on Monday. Once I've been told she has a clean bill of health, I'll be gin switching the cats for an hour at a time to get Shalimar used to her smell and give Tootsie a chance to explore the house. The only problem with switching the cats is that Tootsie won't be satisfied with just in the family room any more and will want out all the time. Today, she tried to follow me out. She's starting to feel much more relaxed and is beginning to be anxious to be a part of the family. But the animals need a little more time. Bratley already met her, but she's not sure about him yet. He's fine with her though. Shalimar is more difficult. It's only been two days. For some cats it may take two months. I certainly hope not.

Because Tootsie is such a lap cat, I find myself drawn into the family room to watch TV and stroke her while she purrs. Chloe was like that and I wasn't aware of how much I missed that. Shalimar isn't cuddly but shows her love in a different way. I hope they get along soon. I'm anxious to get Tootsie acclimated into the family. Shalimar is definitely interested.

Today

2008-05-27T21:56:00.004-04:00

Today I took a couple of hours off work to go to the Memorial Service of a friend who passed away over the weekend. He was a good friend and will be missed.

pictures of blooms, etc.

2008-05-26T06:56:00.004-04:00

An Unnamed Variety of Viburnam

Wild Spice - Hybrid Rugosa, 1999 - Sport of Blanc Double de Coubert - 1892

The fragrance of this rose is aluring. It has a nice repeat anda beautiful orange hip. This is a rose that require little to no care.

Peach Flombae Huchera
Rachel - Miniflora 2005
Species Hosta
Japanese Painted fern - Usurla

Caramel - Huchera
Fimbriata - Hybrid Rugosa - 1891
June Hosta
Little Sunspot Hosta
Peach Melba Huchera

Let this be a lesson...

2008-05-17T15:11:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how this happened, but my computer seemed to have dropped one of the images from Longwood. I was able to retreive it, but this isn't what this story is about.

About three years ago, at a local nursery, I found this scrawny, little weeping hemlock, looking so sad in the dump area. I inquired about it and it was sold to me for 75% off. I knew nothing about the weeping hemlock and was told that they don't get more than 10 feet tall and were very slow growing. Well, that was simply perfect! I wanted to plant it near my well and needed something that wasn't overbearing.

While we were at Longwood Gardens we saw a mature weeping hemlock. I stood there and stared at this thing. The nursery had been right. About 10 feet tall; this one was maybe 12 feet. Close enough. Slow growing too. According to the information on the plaque this one was nearly 100 years old. OK, no problem there. But what the nursery failed to mention was that the tree gets 50 feet wide!!!!!! Oh, my Lord, I've got to move my weeping hemlock!
The moral of this story is that you can't always believe what you're told in a nursery either. They either didn't know that it had such a spread or they failed to mention it. Now I have to find another place for this little tree. There's no rush to move it since it is so tiny right now and grows ¼ inch tops a year.

I've had mine for three years now and other than looking a little fuller, it's not much larger than it was when I found it. I figure I need to find another home for it in the next 5 to 10 years (hopefully sooner) before it gets large enough to become a danger to my well.

I like this little tree and really want to keep it. I will find a home for it. I will. I will.

Fountains and Other Stuff at Longwood Gardens

2008-05-16T11:31:00.005-04:00

These are just some of the other fountains, paths and structures that we encountered throughout our day at Longwood Gardens.

These are the main fountain displays for the estate. They run at intervals throughout the day in a fountain display that is gorgeous. There are wonderful views of it from the main conservatory area.This is our other favorite spot. Taking photographs of the hidden gazebo. While we were here, we met the most wonderful couple who were there, like us, to take pictures of this beautiful spot. We do have a tendency to linger here.
The annual walk and fountain. This is a path that leads you to view a variety of mass annual and bulb plantings. Always a huge punch of color and textures.
The fountain in the woods. This spot almost looks like a runway with a fountain at the end. A single straight up shot of water. We like it here to sit and rest on one of the many benches they have along this strip. It is very inviting.

Both of these pictures are along side of grass and gravel paths through the woods.

Above is a water fall that feeds the Italian garden fountains below. Although I find the Italian Water Fountains a little to formal for my taste, it is nonetheless most impressive. The water fall that feeds this exhibit does draw my attention.

This is a treehouse that we stumbled upon. This is a new exhibit this season. I liked this treehouse and if it were finished inside, other than for a treehouse/play area, I could actually live in this!!!! Except for those steps.

I hope you enjoy this tour of Longwood Gardens. We spent the day there and took almost 300 pictures so this is just a small spattering of the images we have this time.

The Orchid Room at Longwood Gardens

2008-05-16T11:02:00.007-04:00

This post needs no further information other than your nose leads you to this most unique inner room.

More on Longwood Gardens

2008-05-16T10:06:00.004-04:00

The conservatory is a grand, large scale greenhouse complete with several reception areas that lead to a grand ballroom where parties were always held by the DuPont's. Now, for the 2nd year, the grand ballroom is on display with the rest of the conservatory.

There are founds and ponds and all sorts of waterways running throughout the conservatory, long, decorated paths of ferns and flowers that lead to one greenroom after another. It's an easy place to get lost in. There is a lily pond area that wasn't open to the public yet, a children's garden, bonsai room, tropical room, dessert room, a florist room where they keep florists roses, hibiscus and other interesting florists plants and flowers. All of these rooms are quite interesting from the cactus to the bananas.

We were honored to explore part of the way with a local Red-Hat Society that were visiting the same day. They were an interesting group of ladies.

The next post will be one of our favorite places to linger and take photographs. This is the part of the conservatory we spend the most time and is the most beautiful to view and smell.....

A Day At Longwood Gardens

2008-05-16T08:35:00.005-04:00

It has been determined some time before my time off the job that we'd spend a day going to Longwood Gardens. Here and the Hershey Botanical Gardens are where we visit at least once a year if not more. Usually Longwood just for relaxation and to lower the blood pressure while Hershey is for a photo shoot of their roses. That's not to say I don't take photographs of my own roses, it's just that they have about 2000 more varieties than I do. A formal secret garden on the far east end of the estate.

I usually like to go to Longwood on a Tuesday. It has always been that Tuesdays is discount day an any time to get a few dollars off the regular price is a good thing. This year, I wasn't sure about going this vacation. The desire was there, but if the weather was good, working in my own garden takes top priority this time of year. However, this time the time off started out with some really nasty weather and rain, rain, rain. It was beginning to look like this weather would last the entire week. I was feeling disappointed. A secret path that leads across the front of the east side of the conservatory, hidden by tall pines and other trees. The quiet walk is lined with Mountain Azalea and Rhododendron. It ends at the entrance of the Secret Garden.

Tuesday morning, the clouds began to break up, though it was still quite overcast. The temperatures started to climb and it was beginning to look like a wonderful day. I thought it would be nice just to stay home and enjoy my own garden, but it was just to wet to play in the dirt. So the day was set. Off to Longwood we would go.
To the west side of the secret path, it ends with a circle of Mountain Azalea and Rhododendron. Still in front of the lower level of the conservatory and surrounded by large trees. It's a beautiful place to sit in the grass and just chill.
There is a small area, near the perennial garden that is set aside for vines and climbing shrubs. This is one climbing shrub that really caught my eye. Being into everything natural for the East Coast of the US, I had to check out this American Wisteria. This one is called Longwood (I'm sure the variety was developed by the Longwood masters) and is about the same age as my Amethyst Falls. Personally, I didn't see much difference in the two varieties, but until the blooms actually open I can't be sure. Mine is a lovely sky blue with a white tongue and an orange dot in each individual flower. They are small flowers and not as fragrant as the Asian varieties. The plant itself isn't as aggressive and overbearing as the Asian varieties and it blooms from it's first year instead of waiting 6 to 10 years to mature. My plant is 3 years old now and it covers a 12 foot arbor, offering repeat blooms every summer as well as privacy from the neighbors. When folks from my rose club come to visit, they hover over it as much as the roses.
The topiary garden is very near the entrance to Longwood Gardens. This is a very unique garden that is fronted by the formal rose garden. It's proper that both these gardens be kept together as they both seem to require a lot of work. The topiary garden is very interesting and very formal, but I can't afford an army of gardeners to keep it looking like this one. It's fun to walk through and see all the different shapes and animals they have these yews trained into.
This is the bridal path. It is one of the gardens several bridal areas and one of two gorgeous gazebos. Walk though the gazebo here and you walk down a grass path edged with tree rose of sharron and a lovely bluebeard called...you guessed it...Longwood. The bluebeard is fairly easy to get anymore. I have one (had two but one died when transplanted), but it's variety is First Light. Personally, I like my variety a little better. The flowers of Longwood is a nice sky blue but First Light is a deep, more royal blue color which in my opinion stands out just a little better. The bluebeard isn't in bloom yet but will be by mid June to early July. It is an outstanding woody perennial that attracts butterflies and bees by the groves.
This is absolutely one of my favorite photographed areas of Longwood Gardens. This is the Chimes tower and it reminds me of the nursery rhyme Rapunzel. Or maybe a medieval European tower. Your imagination is the limit here. The tower is an outstanding garden spot with a number of observation areas shown below. Surrounded by an overgrown waterfall and pond, the tower itself is open part way up but is blocked off at the chimes. It chimes every hour and believe me, you don't want to be inside when they ring.
This is one of the observation spots overlooking the water fall and woods around the Chimes Tower.
This is another observation spot that overlooks a path around the Chimes tower that takes you to the Eye of the Fountains. This is the spot where the pumps are housed to make the fountains in the estate work. There are fountains all over the estate as well as inside the conservatory and lily pond areas. I'm sure there are supplemental pumps at each of the fountains, but the eye is where the water is pressured.

There will be more in another post.

A Garden Wish

2008-05-14T18:40:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day! But it had rained almost non-stop for three days so there was no denying that playing in the dirt would be impossible. So instead, we took a trip to Longwood Gardens. I love going there. This should be my garden!!!! Oh, wouldn't I be in heaven!

One of my most favorite trees is the beech. Above is my beech tree. It's always the last tree to come out in leaf and always the most beautiful though it is still very small. Below is one of the river beech at Longwood garden. I want that!!!!! I want my beech to look like that! My beech is growing nicely, but it will be a very long time until it looks like the one at Longwood.

This massive tree at Longwood is their last surviving American Elm. This is one impressive tree and I want it in my garden. The tree in the foreground is a White Oak, another of my favorites. When we went to choose our last and final shade tree, it was a toss up between the white oak and the sweetgum. The sweetgum won because it was already dug and has less chance of transplant shock killing it. White oaks are hard to transplant.

This is my elm, though it isn't an American Elm. It is a Chinese elm which is more resistant to the Dutch Elm disease. It doesn't get as big or impressive and the American elm. Most all of my trees, except for a couple are native to the Eastern US. I'm really funny about this. I want our native trees. I think they are more impressive than anything else I've seen coming from other countries with diseases and insects that are hurting our eco-system.

A Nandina at Longwood. I saw this and was really impressed. Makes me wonder what to expect with my own.

This is my 3 year old nandina.

A great time was had yesterday. We walked over 10 miles until we were ready to leave. We also shot over 250 pictures. I will post more pictures when I have them ready.

The Visitor

2008-05-12T08:04:00.002-04:00

From time to time we get a visitor . The one yesterday was a little different from the usual. The first thing was the motorcycle that we thought had hit a ground hog. After the motorcycle left, I went to inspect the body on the the road. It was a snapping turtle, scrunching into his shell on alert by my presence. It looked fine and wasn't hit by the motorcycle at all. They had just stopped to inspect the creature on the road.

I left to return in a few minutes with Husband to show him the snapper. It was gone, but found easily in my most front flowerbed. There we could leisurely give a closer inspection of it. It was, in my guesstimate, about 1 year old and weighed around 5 to 10 pounds. NO, I didn't try to pick the thing up! I've seen much, much bigger snappers. We left it then, getting the impression that it had an appointment somewhere. Husband thought we should trap it and take it back to the frog pond behind my property, but I told him to leave it alone. It could make it's own way. Besides, by moving it, we might not be doing it any favors.

About a half hour later or so, I was working in the garden when there was a ruckus by the neighbors Huskies. Here, the snapper had worked it's way back to the middle of my back garden. I think it was headed for the toad pond about 500 feet from my back property line. The dogs startled it and it scrunched back into it's shell and stayed there for a very long time. When the dogs went into the house, the snapper raised it's head out of it's shell, looked around and disappeared.

It's not to often we get visitors of this nature. But, I did enjoy it's company while it was here.

Is this truly May?

2008-05-12T07:55:00.002-04:00

Today we're busy with the early March winds and the raw temperatures of early April. It's hard to believe that it's May 11th. May is supposed to be in the upper 70's to low 80's with night temperatures in the low 50's. I don't know where this weather came from but it's putting me in a very grouchy mood. This is the kind of weather that gives me severe headaches, penetrates my sinuses and makes me sick. This type of weather should have been done a month ago.

A Good Holiday

2008-05-11T10:43:00.001-04:00

To all mothers who read my blog..."Happy Mother's Day".

Weather

2008-05-10T08:29:00.003-04:00

The weather the past three days (including today) has been more like the early to mid April weather we usually get. It's been raw and rainy with temperatures barely reaching 50. The plants don't seem to mind at all. There's very little to no chance of frost so they are busy growing and the roses are getting ready to bloom. It just seems strange to have weather this raw and cold this time of year. And just think...I was getting used to shorts!!!

With each passing day, the garden is changing now. Right now the lilacs are in bloom and as long as the weather stays cool, over cast and wet, they may extend their bloom time.

Everything is in high color right now too. The brilliant leaf color of the spring is always sensentational. The dogwoods are about done, the cherry trees are done. My tri-c0lored beech is just coming out and I'm sure it really wants to roll up it's leaves and go hide for another week. This and the Vitex are the last trees to come out in the garden.

I look out my window and see only one rose, a hybrid perpetual called Baronne Provest. This large OGR is now about 7' tall with a spread to match and I've lost count of the fat buds ready to open. Each year when I prune the roses, they get what they need. Last year Baronne Provest needed a deep interior pruning. It slowed the flowering down somewhat but this year the rose promises to be more than gorgeous. When those buds unfurl, I'll open my office window and allow that intense fragrance to waft through the entire house...and it will. Of course it has the help of two other of the most fragrant OGRs I grow, Charles de Mills and Rose de Rescht. Charles de Mills is slotted for a deep pruning this summer after the blooms are done. Since Charles de Mills is a spring bloomer, I'm hoping I won't ruin to many of next year's flowers. Rose de Rescht was another that got the deep pruning last summer. The fourth OGR, hybrid perpetual, Frau Karl Durschki, is such an open, flouncy rose and it needs these deep prunings every March. It is a repeat bloomer, so it can take a serious pruning without skipping a beat.

The only problem I have with Frau Karl Druschki is thrips. Having a very large, dinner plate size white flower, the thrips have a field day with it. I've started using a systemic with it every year to help control the thrips. It seems that thrips love the lighter petals and will generally seem to leave the reds, mauves and oranges alone. The whites and pinks are the roses attacked. At least in my garden anyway. Oh, BTW, my favorite rose color is white.

I regress here. I was hoping that the sun would burn it's way through the cloud cover today. The Landis Valley Historical Society is having their annual heirloom herb festival today and I always go. This year I'm taking my friend Linda who's never been there and loves all old things. Most of the plants sold at this festival today must be a registered variety before 1940. Personally, I like the taste of the heirloom vegetables better than what is common to grow today. Oh, you do have more problems with bugs (they eat too, you know), and there's not a whole lot you can do about that. I've found that if I get out at the crack of dawn and harvest, I can get to the produce before the bugs do. I also encourage lots of birds to come and help themselves to the bugs.

I'm also funny about tomatoes. I can eat citrus but in only small amounts at a time. So, if I want to make hamburgers, I like a tomato that is fairly acid free. The very best tomato I've found for sandwiches and eating raw is a lovely smallish yellow called Yellow Queen from the 1800's. So far the only place I've been able to find this plant is at Landis Valley. Each year I plant one and it produces the most perfectly round palm size yellow fruit that doesn't seem to split or get blight. The taste is sweet and it's easy for me to eat.

I also get my herbs there. Since neither my husband or myself like the texture of celery, I plant an herb called lovage. It has the same taste as celery without the strings. It is a perennial herb but I will harvest it for two years as strawberries and replant it before the plant gets old and tough.

About three years ago I went there and got talked into a found rose, a rambler called Queen of the Praries. It is registered as being introduced in 1843. I took it home and planted it across the back fence in the back 40 and completely forgot all about it. It got no care at all. The next spring, I was back there to dig up some alfalfa that seeded in the bed and found this little rose. It was the most magnificant rose I've ever seen. No winter kill, extremely drought resistant and growing handsomely. It only gave me three small flower last year. I researched it and found that this almost lost rose will bloom better as it ages with a lovely fully double, fully fragrant pink rose. Right now, at the beginning of the growing season it spans 26 feet of fence. It has quite a number of tiny buds and I don't expect it to bloom until around the end of the month. After it blooms this summer, I'm planning on rooting some cuttings to extend it to the far side of the fence. This fence I'm referring to crosses the back of my property of about 130 feet. I'm figuring that one more rose will do it. There are few roses that I recommend that are as good as New Dawn and Dr. W. Van Fleet, but this rose is even better in my opinion. It just doesn't falter.

It's a bit early for the roses, those some of my rugosas are coming into bloom. It's time to clean up the cameras and get them ready for another year of photo shoots.

Hosta

2008-05-07T07:48:00.004-04:00

Out of the blue and from a source I no longer remember, I got this hosta. It does seem to me that I got it at an auction, without knowing what it looked like or where I was going to put it.

This hosta is called Liberty. For the first two years I considered losing it; it was so tiny and not all that nice. Then about three years ago, it simply started to strut it's stuff and has been a highlight for anyone who visits the front door.

It borders a blind path through this garden which is 35' wide and 70' long. Around it is purple bug-bane, ferns, bloodroot and a white rhododendron.

Liberty is a great stand-out hosta for those semi-shady spots. It will tolerate some sun, but prefers mostly shade. It averages about 2-1/2 to 3' tall and wide and so far has not needed divided. It literally glows. I've not had it plagued with bugs or slugs so far.

I keep impressive hosta throughout the garden, some in spots where hosta are known not to particularly like, but they all do good for me. Liberty, however, is extremely happy where it is and continues to impress me.

Introducing the Newest Family Member

2008-04-27T18:11:00.002-04:00

Introducing the newest member of the family. My niece Rachel is seen here with her new daughter, Julia Alexis.

Isn't she a dear?

Julia Alexis
April 21, 2008

Images of Spring

2008-04-25T09:59:00.005-04:00

Camellia - April Rain

Crabapple - Flame

Flowering Almond

Purple leaf cherry. Notice the purple leaves with the pink Kawazanaa cherry type flowers.

Purple Sandcherry.

Yard Art

2008-04-20T13:04:00.003-04:00

Today is a rather strange day, offering up cloud bursts every so often (whenever I venture outside to prune roses). I did get quite a number of them done before it began raining. In between cloud bursts, the sun shines brightly.

However, this does give me some time to catch up on other things that need done around this house as well as time for some pleasure.

One of the things that Husband is basically against is yard art. He thinks it makes a garden look junky. And, I must agree, there are places where we've been where there was simply to much in the wrong spot.

But the size of our garden beds cries for something other than plants, so some garden art is wanted. Here is a new little resin sculpture that I call "Little Man". He's holding a shallow bird bath that the little tree sparrows simply love! Because he is resin, he will be antiqued lightly and Husband will fill his empty cavity with some cement to give him some weight and help keep him from breaking apart through the winter.

This is the Service berry in bloom between the forsythia. This tree, though almost done blooming now has already attracted an assortment of tiny song birds. It's almost like they know what it is and have come to check it out.

At the base of this three multi-trunked tree, you can see St. Francis standing.

The best angle to see St. Francis is from my office window. He was placed there for this view. He is on the side yard under the Service berry holding a bird and another on his shoulder. St. Francis is a solid cement statue and resides in this wild, native area close to where my cat, Chloe, is buried. It is appropriate that he be here. The Jacob's Ladder and Barron wart will grow around him and by autumn he'll probably look like he's always been there.

Last but not least is my "Little Woman" with the butterflies. She sits on a rock covered with Waterperry Blue creeping saliva. The saliva isn't showing yet, but it's coming. When it's it bloom, she will be sitting in a sea of powder blue tiny flowers with yellow eyes. Behind her is the flowering quince right now. Along with the Waterperry Blue creeping saliva, there will also be two large beds of bearded iris around her.

"Little Woman" is a resin sculpture that isn't fill with cement. She's broken for us a number of times and we've simply glued her back together. This gives her a rather interesting patina. So far this year she looks intact. She was our first sculpture for this garden. There are other spots that cry out for more art, but just a little at a time.

We also have two bird baths that I haven't shown. They are the usual bird baths. Then there are also two cement benches, strategically placed so one can sit down and take a rest while either working in the garden or just exploring it.