The Vacation

It was the last day of an extended vacation. The vacation had been nice, quiet and much needed. With all the stuff going on at work and all the changes, it was nice to be able to get away from it for awhile.
We decided to go to the Safe Harbor dam for a day of hiking and picture taking. Well, that wasn't to be, I suppose. It started out really fine, a nice day, some lovely paths and areas that were new and waiting to be discovered.

It wasn't long, however, before the bifocals in my glasses ruined the day for us. They distorted a curb I was on and I fell, head first onto a bridge that crossed the Conestoga River. What a mess! I had a nice gash on my forehead and my knees, elbows and wrist were banged up nicely. I'm healing nicely now. The pictures above are of (1) the purple cherry tree in my back yard. The foliage is wonderful this time of year. (2) The Susquehanna River. This river is a mile wide in spots and the current is treacherous. (3) The Safe Harbor Dam. We discovered this dam to be only about 2 minutes from my home. (4) The Conestoga River at Safe Harbor and (5) The mouth of the Conestoga River where it empties into the Susquehanna. Everything in this area is virgin except where they cut the train track through and built the dam. Most of this area is owned by the electric company and kept natural. It is truly a lovely spot.

The Volunteer

We get a good many volunteer plants in our garden, mostly wildflower or weeds. (If I like the plant and the flower, it's a wildflower and left to grow. If I don't like it, it's a weed and I will pull it.).

All summer there has been a plant growing in a flowerbed right next to my native spice bush. It's been left because it appeared to be a nice bush, though very young. Today, I actually thought about cutting it down but decided that I should at least find out what it is. So, I snipped a nice piece of it and went to the internet. I found all kinds of native plants, but nothing that looked quite like this one. Then there was the fact that I wasn't sure if it was a woody perennial or shrub or tree. It looked like a multi-trunked tree but at just a summer old, it was hard to tell.

So I took my sample, bagged it and took it to the Lancaster Environmental Association at the County Park. They took one look at it and told me it was a mulberry tree http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/mulberry.html. They weren't sure if it is a red or a white at this time, but would be able to tell if it was a little older. They also told me that the fruit is really quite eatable though I would have to fight the birds for it and that's how they often got planted; the birds. I had an entire family of Orioles in the yard this year. They did warn me that we should make sure the berries are totally ripe before harvesting them.

I'm thinking I will replant this tree to a more suitable area. It is right next to the spice bush and we were told that should we have to replant one, replant the mulberry. Besides, the mulberry is younger and smaller.

A Beautiful Day

We try to get to Longwood Gardens every year. This year, it was part of a birthday present as my birthday is tomorrow. So, we went today because the weather reports said that it was to be nice. It was gorgeous!! I had a great time at Longwood Gardens and also at the picnic lunch that we had taken along with us. It was a glorious day.

Eye of the water. This is where the master pump resides for the waterfall you see above. This is just too cool!

Something Pretty

Chrysanthemum 'Jane'. This is a very pretty mum, rather large and has a tendency to get kind of leggy even with pruning. Still, it's well worth growing and it's appearance of delicateness belies it's strength. I have two bushes that are 4 years old. Each year I think they are goners and each year they make a beautiful appearance, though be it late. The flower petals do have a strong tendency to spot when they get wet, which is probably why this variety isn't seen as much. Yet, the bushes are full enough and replenish damaged flowers quickly. I like this mum. The flowers look like little tu-tus.

The Tragedy

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2006/10/04/491902.html

I morn with these people over the five little girls that died because of the shooting this past Monday. I grew up near the Nickel Mines and I knew the people who lived there. I attended a one-room schoolhouse as a child with some of these grandparents. This was a shocking blow to everyone in the county.

I've heard rumors that the Amish will either dismantle or burn the school. I don't blame them. Their surviving children will not go back there. Whatever they decide to do, they will put this horror to rest. Personally, I think I'd burn the school and till under the ashes to bury the entire thing.

This has been a sad, sad week.

The Baby Shower

Today was a good day. It was the day that stepson, Jim and wife Christina threw a surprise baby shower for stepdaughter, Jennifer. Was she surprised? You bet, at least by the look on her face as she came through the door this afternoon, carrying her own iced tea! Helping her in the door is her husband, Ron, and niece Abigail.

She is due in 5 weeks and has finally found out the sex of her baby. You know it really doesn't matter what the sex is, but to know ahead of time is to prepare properly. Until just recently, little Sarah Georgine wasn't about to let her mother know whether she was a boy or a girl, hiding from the doctor at each exam.

It was good to see both sisters sitting on the sofa, both very pregnant, laughing and enjoying the party. Christina is also due in about 5 to 7 weeks. Both seemed to really enjoy unwrapping the gifts and inspecting each one. Why of course they did! I would.

Even though I don't necessarily look like I was enjoying the party, I was.


Jennifer got a lot of really, really nice things. Her grandmother, Sarah, made her a beautiful blanket, bonnet and sweater. She got lots of diapers, a rattle, a couple more blankets and a variety of things. I was surprised at how calmly she seemed to be taking all this. Jennifer, even as a child, was always emotional. But today, after the initial surprise when she first arrived, she seemed quite calm. She didn't even cry when she opened her mother's gift, a model of the crib that her mother had gotten for her. The crib was to be delivered.

It wasn't until her Dad and brother, Jim brought out the other "big" gift that she got emotional. When we had decided on what to get her for this baby shower, I had told Husband what he should do. He was really unsure, but I told him that I always remember that she was very upset about Jim getting the cradle that both kids were kept in when they were tiny. Jim was the first married and the first with a baby, so he got Dad's cradle. Jennifer always thought that she should get it. So I told Husband, he had no choice but to make a second cradle, the same but different from the first. He did just that. As soon as she saw it, she knew he had built it, even though she still asked. I had gone shopping yesterday and found lovely cradle duds that I thought would suite, especially since I didn't know Sarah would be a Sarah at that time.

Not only was it a surprise baby shower for Jennifer, it was also her birthday, so we had to have a cake to celebrate both occasions. I have to admit, there were a LOT of candles on that cake.

She had a wonderful party and got a number or really wonderful things to start Sarah right when she arrives. Now we are counting down until we get to meet our new baby granddaughter.

Playing Hookie

Charles de Mills ~ Hybrid Gallica, introduced before 1746, dark red to purple depending on the light, rated 8.4 in the garden out of a possible 10, once blooming, extremely fragrant. This is a smallish bush only reaching about 5 feet tall. I have found that the canes like to droop and it's easy to peg this plant for a better flush. It will tolerate some shade and still do well. The biggest downfall of this bush is it, as do all Gallicas, blooms only once a year. It's bloom cycle is a long one however. It also doesn't last as long in a vase as the Hybrid Teas, but one bush will give you enough flowers to keep your vases full for the duration of the blooming cycle. And every bloom is perfect or near perfect. It isn't affected much by disease or insects. After all, it's been in gardens for about 300 years, so there has to be something about this rose.

This morning was to be a rose meeting. I usually try to go to these, especially when someone hosts them, which is usually the case. And even though this was the case this morning, I found it just to hard to move this morning. It's time for a break, I think.

I'm still adjusting to my new position and jobs. I really like the dayside shift much better than the night shift, but it is proving to be more of an adjustment than I was thinking. The work is somewhat different, though the same if you can understand what I mean. Except for the typing jobs, it's the same work as before but from a different viewpoint. Folks had been asking me what I think of it and I've been answering them honestly. I like the work, the position, but at the same time feel a little isolated because of where I am. Yesterday was a little different. The girl I usually type with was out for the day and I had a lot of visitors and got involved in a lot of conversation. Of course, the day was much lighter than the rest of the week, or the other weeks as well. It's just adjusting but it can still wear me down.

Still, I need a trip to the salon for a good neck massage and I decided to stay home this morning instead of visiting the group. Besides, I have a lot to do this weekend. I need to take care of some business, clean the house and get ready for a big party for family tomorrow. I will put a trip to the salon for the first available time I have, right around my birthday. My neck is very stiff. It's stress. It'll ease when I start to get used to my new job but who knows when that'll be. Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, I have a ton of stuff to do here.

Puppy Mills

http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/25867

This story is a pet peeve of mine. Mostly because in many areas I've heard it come up (Internet included), it's more about the ability to persecute rather than to make a statement or even to voice an opinion about a subject. I've been accused of supporting puppy mills or even having one with the folks who did the accusing knowing that I have one neutered dog. The reason for the persecution? I live in Lancaster County...therefore I'm a puppy miller. One Amish person asked a demonstrator why the Amish were being singled out and the demonstrator went on some wild explanation as to why without even knowing if the person they were talking to operated a puppy mill or not.

THIS ATTITUDE IS PERSECUTION!!! It is abuse in a much worse way than the treatment of any animal.

This attitude makes the demonstrators just as bad or worse than the people who actually keep hordes of dogs in obscene, filthy conditions.

These animal rights activists want to be advocates and not activists because the term activists bring to mind the right wing, over zealous people who cause more trouble than they're worth. But by rights anyone who accuses people of something because of their race or religious creed, are activists and are far worse than those who actually enact the crime they are accused of.

I had a friend once who was kicked off his internet service by animal rights activists because he told a 20 year old story of an incident that when 20 years ago attitudes were different. To me that is simply ridiculous. These people just don't know when to stop and they will keep it up until people get killed just like with the abortion protesting some years ago.

I don't condone puppy mills. I've seen first hand what these filthy, confined conditions can do to these animals. After all, the neutered dog I own came from one of these places. It took him three years to even understand what it is to be a pet; to know what it is to have a home; a place where he's wanted and can be relaxed and himself.

However, I do not condone persecution either. I honestly believe that those who have puppy mills should be singled out, away from the general population and dealt with individually. Those who would rather condemn and entire enmity of peoples are worse than those who actually do the crime and should be punished the same way as the punishment they want to dish out. That means they should be put into exploding abortion clinics, burned at the stake, confined to 9'x4' dog runs or have their lives totally disrupted to the point where they couldn't even buy food.

I have positively no tolerance for persecution. I grew up in a world that had no place for me. I remember the pain of the same type of persecution because of something that I had no control over. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and despise anyone who thinks they have the right to do so.

Something Old

My friend, Sandy who is still working nights at the job place, presented me with a gift today of a catalog printed in 1907 from The Conrad & Jones Co., West Grove PA. I am so tickled over this, I'm almost speechless. In this catalog, Conrad is introducing new roses such as Yellow Soupert, Striped Reine Marie Henriette (MME Driout), Ever-blooming Uncle John, the Hybrid Tea, Cardinal. They are also featuring the new Irish introduction, Killarney, La France and Helen Gould. They also feature roses such as Frau Karl Druschki, Clotide Supert and Papa Gontier. And American Beauty. All are around $.50 each. Own root, extra large plants are $1.00.

The Conrad & Jones Co., West Grove PA would later be known as Conrad Pile Co., West Grove PA and then eventually known as Star Roses. This very old catalog states at the bottom of each page "Growers of the Best Roses in American". This is no exaggeration. Even in later years when the company was known as Conrad Pile Co., it was still "Growers of the Best Roses in America". This is also the company the kept safe from Hitler and nurtured Meilland's Peace rose.

This catalog is truly a treasure.

My first day on the job

Sexy Rexy - Floribunda, medium pink, double, introduced in 1984. Rated 8.7 out of 10 as a garden rose. Don'tja love that name!!!! This is the second Sexy Rexy I've had. I left the first one behind when we moved thinking that it was very easy to get ahold of. This one came out of the garden of a friend who had passed away two years ago and his wife was nervous about taking care of roses. She told me that this is what he would have wanted anyway. A very good rose in the garden, disease resistant and in almost constant bloom. The blooms are rather smallish as is with most forlibundas.

Yesterday was the first day of my new shift. Now, you'd think I would be quite comfortable with this as most of the people there already knew me, I know the job, what's expected and what to expect. But it still felt like a new job. I'm using my typing skills for the first time in almost 25 years and need to get used to that. My time-card is in a different place. Otherwise, it's pretty much old news, yet different. I'm working with my old boss from years back and it feels good. He has seemed to mellow out some over the years which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I want to give myself a week of getting up and going to work verses getting up and vegetating in front of the computer for hours. Then I'll know better what I think of it. Right now it just feels new.

Another Day

Perle d'Or ~ polyantha, yellow blend, very double. Introduced in 1884. Garden rated at 8.4 out of 10. A very old little poly that's stood the test of time. A strong grower in these parts, getting nearly 4 feet tall and nicely bushy. I've had very little disease with this tiny rose, even through the roughest time of black spot. It also seems resistant to insects. It wants to bloom for me in the regular HT type flushes, about thee times a year rather than the miniature all season bloom. The blooms are very small, maybe 1 1/2 inches across.

It's been raining here for the past three days and I'm not anticipating the sun to shine again for almost a week. That hurricane (what's it's name again????) is shooting up the East coast and we're expecting something from it. It is very rare that a hurricane has any force left by the time it reaches here and usually at best they are down graded to tropical storms. Hurricanes of note in the past century were:

Hazel (1954). Hazel hit this area the day I was born. Now you know what makes me the way I am!!!
Agnus (1972). Agnus visited the year I graduated from H.S. Ok, now I've dated myself. Of all the hurricanes, Agnus had been down graded to a tropical storm by the time it arrived, but it combined with two other systems right over us, causing extreme devestation and flooding. Entire counties were wiped out with this storm. Lancaster County being hit the hardest.
Floyd (1999). Floyd was the weakest of the strong hurricanes that hit this area. It left a lot of flooding in it's wake, but not much else. Oh, it did knock down an 80 foot tree in the neighbor's back yard in such a way that it landed on the roof of my house.

Between the raindrops, I was able to get outside to cut some roses for the house. I have three vases of roses. One for the dining room table, a beautiful yellow vase with brown stripes we found at Hershey Chocolate Factory filled with orange, yellow, apricot and vermillion colored roses. The apricot one is Just Joey, considered by the American Rose Society as one of the most fragrant Hybrid Teas. There's another clear and red cut glass vase with bi-colors (colors such as pink with white), shades of reds, pinks, salmons and purples for the sofa table. Last but not least is a tiny miniature vase, hand crafted by a pottery factory in the Poconos that sports one single miniflora rose, red with a pink reverse.

I will busy myself the rest of the day inside. There's much there that needs attention too. Tonight is my last night as an owl. Come Tuesday, I will begin the job in the daylight hours.

It's Official Now

It's official. Starting the week of September 4th, I'll be starting my new position in the prepress department at work, working days. This will be very different for me having worked on the night shift of the prepress department for 21 years. The day shift has a different rhythm and my jobs will be a little different. Most of them I've done before but there will be at least one new one.

The boss is a man I worked with for the first 10 years of my service there. Since there were no serious problems working with him then, I feel comfortable that there will be no serious problems now. I've worked with most of my co-workers before as well, but there are new ones there I've not worked with before. There are more co-workers. Right now I work in a team of 4 to 5. On the day shift I will be working with a team of 14 to 16.

The work load will be quite different too but right now, I'm not sure I can describe it. There will be quite an adjustment, not just having to get up in the morning to be at work instead of sitting on the deck with coffee but the entire job itself. As far as the morning coffee on the deck...I'm usually up by 5:00 am now and can enjoy a cup of coffee on the deck, do a load of laundry, hang it and still be ready for work by the 7:20 am drive to the job.

I'm looking forward to this change in the job and in the lifestyle. I'll let you know how it goes.

This Year's Garden Ideas Realized

Sweet Sixteen ~ Shrub. Introduced in 2002. Apricot blend, approx. 15 petals. Not enough comments on it to evaulate.

I've had this rose since it's introduction and have to admit that until this year didn't really like it. The color is lovely, leaning more toward a pink than an apricot in my garden, but as far as a garden specimen it seemed to be lacking. I knew I had it in a rather crowded spot, so I took the chance and moved it to a new bed we created in the early spring to encompus two tiny dogwood trees, three blue spruces and hopefully have enough room for a few roses and other plants. The bed is big beautiful and has lots of room for a number of roses. Sweet Sixteen has really blossomed since putting it in this new bed. It is blooming well and spreading nicely. It's form isn't as loose as Little Darling which is nearby but just as large and spreading. It also seems to be much more disease resistant than I had first thought. I am anticipating that in a couple of years, this one will be quite the beauty.

Now for new news...

This summer the developer along with his engineer and builder picked which lot next to be built on. It appears from the neighborhood rumors that this is the way things will be done from now on. The builder will build a spec home on the lot chosen by the developer and engineer and then sold. No more custom homes. That's to bad. It's one of the biggest reasons I chose to build here. I wanted my home. A home that reflected my personality, not a home of someone else's idea. At least eight of us got the home of our visions. It's funny, but none of these homes hurt the eyes. They all speak volumns about the owners and their tastes. They all look nice and add character to the neighborhood. Some of them are huge homes and others, like mine are more modest on the outside. We're all about the same price range although square footage does vary some. No two houses look similar and that's the charm we will lose in our neighborhood. That's the biggest thing I don't like about most neighborhoods. All the houses look almost identical...I call them cookie cutter houses. I don't want to look like my neighbor. I'm not my neighbor and don't want to go into a huge debt to live in a house that looks so much like the rest that the dog gets confused to which one he lives in.

Anyway, when the builder had the new lot surveyed, I realized that I had more room in the back than I had thought. The rear 100 feet of my property is an easement for the electric company right away. They insist that there be no permanent structures or large trees that could get in the way of them checking the lines. I keep a border fence back there that can easily be removed to display a variety of perennials that can take abuse and snap back should the electric company crush them. They're mostly wild flowers back there to encourage the birds and insects to visit. Then there's a vast open space where we can set up volleyball nets and such should we wish to entertain with games. A play area. As you get closer to the house, the shed and large trees have been planted.

When the surveyers laid out the new lot, I realized that I was a good 50' into the plantable part of the garden. Instantly I staked out a spot for another shade tree. The nurseries are now getting their tree stock for fall planting. I found a lovely Red Maple to put in the back, kind of off center between the tulip poplar and the beech, placing it at about a 50' angle between these two trees in a triangle shape. When all three trees are fully mature (about 50 years), they should just touch each other with the tips of their branches making a lovely area for a gazebo or other outdoor room. Also, long before they fully mature, we can enjoy the wonderful fall coloring. The tulip poplar gets bright yellow fall color, the beech gets a deep bronze and the maple will get a brilliant red to orange. Add to that the now tiny Japanese maple that will get a gorgeous bright deep red color, the red oak that will get a lovely reddish bronze and the purple cherry that will get a more brilliant purple.

Add to all this the other benefits of shade trees. They help with heating and cooling costs, offer shade to an area that would otherwise bake in the sun and offer the rest of the garden one of the best benefits of all ~ leaf mold. As the autumn leaves drop, we like to rake them up, put them through a grinder and use them as winter mulch. This is the best (in my opinion) winter protection there is. In early spring, with just a light raking, the leaf mold disappears and turns into fertilizer for the plants filling the soil with it's loam and minerals.

You guessed it. I like trees. I need trees. My fair skin won't take a lot of baking from the sun and I need the escape the trees offer. The trees I mentioned are just the ones in the back yard. There are more, you know.

Colors

Sultry, Hybrid Tea, introduced 2001, interim rated (7.6); there's not enough ratings to give it a full rating.

This isn't the best shot I've ever taken, but it's still OK.

This rose was very slow to start for me. I was afraid of losing it altogether last year. This year it was much better. It seems that this one wants to establish first and give roses second. That's OK with me. The other one in this color area is Marmalade Skies which also was the same way. At the age of 3, Marmalade Skies is doing beautifully and one of the nicest roses I have.

What I like about Sultry is the color. Even from a distance, the color stands out and attracts the eye. In my garden this year, it seems to like the hot, humid days of deep summer over the wetter, cooler days of spring. It is a nice looking rose this year and is blooming heartily right now. But again, it's the color that I find so attractive. The apricot color is slightly bolder and the substance of the petals is better than Just Joey. This rose also has a nice fruity fragrance as well. Next spring I will take several cuttings of this rose and hopefully get a few more for the garden.

We each have a rose which we are drawn to by it's color. The two that draw me the most is Sultry and the pink of Chicago Peace.

What's your favorite flower color? Name the flower and the color. It doesn't necessarily have to be roses. The rose is my favorite flower.

Gifts

I received a beautiful card and note in the mail from a dear friend yesterday. I love receiving mail from friends and family, not just for special occasions, but anytime such as this one. I feel closer to friends and family when I get these. Email is nice, but the cards are something you can touch, feel, rub your fingers over and linger for as long as you want. You can hide them away, as I do, in a cedar chest for safe keeping just to get them out every now and again to muse over the relationship since it's beginnings; to watch how it's grown over the years.

Knowing this friend, the card itself is an older one having a copywrite date on it of 1935. But the card looks in pristine condition. Inside is a beautiful poem from a favorite book and a hand written note. Even the envelope is a gift with it's decorative stamps. There's always to much postage on it, but if you look closely at the stamps, one of them is probably as old as this card. All this makes getting these small gifts very precious.

Thankyou, my dear friend, for thinking of me.

Today Birthdays

Today we celebrate two birthdays!


Our sweet Bratley is seven today. No more young dog things for him!

My dear Shalimar is two today. She still acts like a kitten, looks like one too.

I think it's ironic that both animals have documented birthdays on the same day, though we got them two years apart. Bratley has his birthday listed on his pedigree and Shalimar's mother gave birth while in the care of the Shelter and so her birthday is listed on her adoption papers.

It's Not Sleepwalking but...

I had a rough night last night. Reason?? Don't know. I got home from work the usual hour but lately I've been struggling with these late nights. As usual I wasn't really fit to be driving even if it was around 1 AM and no one was on the road.

Anyway, I got home and decided to go right to bed. Of course, I turned on the tube to watch what I would of Animal Planet. I usually watch about 5 minutes of it before drifting off. This was the case last night. I woke at 2:13 am. I even looked at the clock and noted the time. The TV was flashing noisely so I grabbed the remote, flicked it off and stuck the remote in the drawer of the nightstand so the cat wouldn't knock it down and lose the batteries.

I woke at 4:08 am. I even looked at the clock and noted the time. The TV was flashing noisely so I grabbed the remote, flicked it off and stuck the remote in the drawer of the nightstand so the cat wouldn't knock it down and lose the batteries.

This is no lie!!! Husband told me the TV was singing sweetly when he got home from work but was off when he came into the room. This means I have no idea what time I actually turned the thing off. He usually gets home around 5 am.

I finally got up at 5:35 am when Shalimar wouldn't let me sleep anymore. It turns out that she had an accident with her food dish and needed me to clean it up for her.

This morning the remote was in the nightstand drawer so the cat wouldn't knock it down and lose the batteries.

A Love of Growing Roses

New Dawn ~ Large Flowering Climber/Rambler. Introduced in 1930. A sport of Dr. W. Van Fleet. Light Pink. Rated 8.6 out of a possible 10 for garden roses. It is also one of the cleanest roses in this area, getting virtually no disease and not pestered by insects save the Japanese beetle.

This particular photo won a 2nd place award in a national photo contest.

I've always loved roses. I loved getting them from suiters as well as seeing them in the garden. As a child, my mother never grew many. It always seemed that they were nice for a year and then, the next year would come back a different color and shape. She was always told they went wild. What happen, however, is that most roses sold in nurseries and even the box stores are grafted roses. It's cheaper to produce them this way and much, much faster. Because of this, most all roses have a graft at the bottom between the roots and the plant. If this dies, the plant dies, but the roots can live on sending up sprouts of it's own. Hence the "wild" rose. New Dawn, as are most old roses, is easily started with it's own roots; roots to China and is ironclad.

(a borrowed picture from helpmefind.com) Candy Stripe

About 12 years ago, Husband thought it would be a good idea to get involved with a Plant of the Month club and the first thing he bought was a rose bush for me. It was a little rose called Candy Stripe, a sport of the Peace rose and introduced in 1963. The company that was sponsoring this club was a company I no longer deal with because of their reputation. This will explain the next statement of this rose which I new nothing about at the time. This rose is rated 6.1 out of a possible 10 as a garden rose, which is considered way below average for overall strength and disease resistance. This rose has since died for me. On receiving it, I decided I needed more roses to make a rose garden. We went to the local Lowe's garden center and found roses! I got a HT by the name of Rio Samba; an antique rose called Anne Marie de Montravel (which turned out to be an imposter), the Peace rose and another Hybrid Tea called Mister Lincoln. At the same time I also got on line and found a group of rosarians on AOL who gladly helped me with the rose care and I was sunk. Having always liked roses, I now had a passion for them I'd never known before. I found the different classes of roses, the history and being able to grow them to be fasinating. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the most interesting and wonderful characters ever. For me, it's a journey well worth traveling and the journey is far from over. Who knows where I'll go from here. I have yet to exibit, though I do the photography. We'll see.

Creativity

Starting at the ripe age of eight, I was entered into the 4-H programs that the area sponsored. In this area I was taught how to sew. If any of you know about the 4-H programs, they usually encourage compitition which comes during the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show in January. I've always steered clear of this, not wanting to put my sewing on display.

When in high school, I also took some of the Home Ecomonics classes to refresh what I learned in 4-H with the sewing as well as learn nutrition and how to prepare it. I'm sure the cooking part is all basically the same everywhere, but different in the area you live. In this area when I took the course, cooking was in mostly preparing garden fresh vegetables, canning and cooking for a meal, processing fruits and gourds such as pumpkins directly from the garden for storing and prepration for food and great desserts such as pumpkin pie. The sewing was a bit more of a challenge for my teachers than for me. Having had started it in 4-H and prepared for compitition, though I never entered anything, my HS teachers were at a loss to find something that I could learn. So, instead of letting me use any of the new nifty White sewing machines they had, I had to make a complete garment, dress and jacket, just as they were made a century before - before the age of the sewing machine complete with zippers, hooks and eyes and ric-rac. This took me an entire semester to complete, but I have to admit, the garments never fell apart, ripped (at the seams anyway) and I eventually gave them to Goodwill because I out grew them. These were not only put on display in the lobby of the school, but I also was asked to model them at the annual fashion show the school put on in it's auditorium. This was my first compitition in anything. The grade I got didn't hurt either.

Today, I still enjoy making my own clothes and do so. I like being creative and making something that not only fits better than the stuff you get in the department stores, but is also unique in that you may not find another garment like this one anywhere. And I wear everything I make.

When I was 14 and doing the hand sewing in school, my mother couldn't figure out why I didn't sew more. She thought that everyone liked doing things they did well. Not me. I was 14. I had a whole world in front of me that was hugh and new and needed exploring. I wanted to explore it, not be tied to a sewing machine for the rest of my life. So I set out to see what was out there and try my hand at everything that interested me. Sewing was only one part of that world.

When we built this home, we chose this neighborhood because there were custom built homes here. I wasn't interested in the cookie cutter homes other developments offered. I wasn't everyone else and didn't want to look like everyone else. We were given limits to how small a home and how inexpensive we could build, but I still got to create out my own house plan according to the rythem of my family. Since we've built here, the developer has gotten another builder for this area who has said he would not build custom homes, but will construct a couple of cookie cutter homes a year to sell. There goes the charm of the neighborhood. I think it's sad that a builder, who probably knows nothing of creativity, has the nerve to tell people what rythem they should have. It takes away from the interest of the area. Right now, no two properties look alike. As a matter of fact, each and every one is completely different in style and rythem but none look out of place of junky. I have a one-story with an European flair. My next door neighbor is much more formal with a large Cape and classical landscaping. The other neighbor has a one-story, multilevel roof line contemporary with a comtemporary flair in her landscaping. The neighbor across the street is totally traditional. I think it's sad that this will now stop.

Well, back to my sewing. Right now I'm making a pair of shorts.

A Rose in Review

Sweet Sixteen - shrub. Introduced in 2002.

Each year the American Rose Society has a little judging called Roses in Review. They are actually asking their members to evaulate certain roses that haven't been evaulated, or they don't have enough info on the roses to rate them for garden and show.

Last year I was surprised to see that they had rated Sweet Sixteen rather high for the garden. I've had this rose since 2002 and frankly haven't had a really high opinion of it. But I was also aware that I had it squashed between six other roses. For three years it continued to flounder for me.

This year, I had this new very large bed around some spruce trees that I was planting in roses. I pulled several roses out of the over crowded bed and put them back in the new bed with the left over munchkins that had made their way into my garden. Sweet Sixteen was one of two of these roses that went back there to flouish. I can see now why the ARS gave it a high rating. Since it settled it's been nonstop blooming and the bush is compact and well leafed. It also appears to be quite disease resistant. All my roses back in this new bed are doing very well.


Little Darling - shrub. Introduced 1956. Rated as 8.2 out of 10 as a garden specimen.

This little rose is also in the same bed with Sweet Sixteen and is doing exceptionally well. However, Little Darling won't stay little. I understand it gets to be a massive bush. This one was taken from the garden of my deceased friend, Bob Sanders. When he passed, his wife called me and asked that we come and get the roses and a couple of trees. Of course I said yes and that's now Little Darling came to live with us. This rose is growing like gang busters and I'm hoping it'll show me it's true worth nex year. Right now, I'm not complaining.

Mid July

Anne Marie de Montravel. Polyantha. Introduced in 1862.

This morning, bright and early around 7:00 am, I was outside as usual to water the potted plants and to repot a new rose. This time of year, I'm usually out very early, if I'm out at all because of the intense humidity. The time now is 8:30 am. The temperature is 80 degrees with 80% humidity. There is a possible thunderstorm predicted for these parts today, but that won't happen until late afternoon when the temperatures start to drop. It's going to be a hot one.

My water barrels are full which is a good thing. My potted plants will die in a day without water and I have enough to sustain them for about two weeks if I don't try to water any of the garden plants. The garden plants shouldn't need it though. The subsoil here is clay and holds the moisture nicely. Since we've been living here I haven't had to water established plants.

In the past four years, folks have asked me to root them speciality roses. Oh, some of them are easy enough to get, but the ones I've been asked for have special meaning....New Dawn, a lovely rambler requested by a family member in memory of our Grandmother who kept it growing over her front porch. Gruss an Aachen, a floribunda requested by a friend who wants one started own root rather the the grafted ones that die in a few years. Anne Marie de Montravel, a polyantha asked for by a club member who loves the exotic and hard to find roses. I've been trying all these years to get some cuttings of these roses with no luck. Actually, New Dawn did root once for me. It is growing nicely in a starter pot waiting for me to turn it over to it's new owner and new home. I will do this the beginning of August with instructions on how to get it started before winter.

All three roses are considered antique roses by their age and history. Usually these roses are good starters but I simply haven't had any luck with them. The cuttings would go almost 8 weeks and finally die instead so setting new roots. On a whim, and seeing something a little different in an unusual catalog, I ordered some rooting cups to try rooting these roses this way...

It's been six weeks for New Dawn. I'm watching this rose closely. It has shown a change in the strength of it's leaves, not loosing any and the little bud unions seem to be fattening like it wants to send new growth. This is a good sign that the plant is making new roots.

It's been four weeks for Gruss an Aachen. Again I'm watching this one even closer. It too has shown me a change of strength in it's leaves, not loosing any and the little bud unions have new green canes starting. This tells me that there must be roots in the cup somewhere but as of yet, I've not seen them. So, I leave the new plant where it is for the time being. I'm hoping to see new roots against the cup's sides very soon and will repot it into a starter pot and prepare it for it's new home.

It's been five weeks for Anne Marie de Montravel. This morning it was repotted into a starter pot and placed in a shady spot out of the heat and direct sun. The roots it was growing were large, white and healthy. I saw six of these roots climbing into the water wells of the cups and knew if I didn't get it out of there, I could end up damaging the roots severely. When I took it out of the cup, I was pleasantly surprised to see the cup fairly full of these white healthy roots. The canes have new growth starting at the bud unions but so far haven't developed into new canes. Needless to say, this one will be watched the closest especially since it's progressed to the next phase of it's development.

Seeing this makes me wonder if Gruss an Aachen may be in the same state of growth. But, without seeing the young roots, I'm not sure I want to take that chance. I will give it a little more time. If it starts pushing new life, then I will be fairly certain that there are new roots growing. And this one does seem to want to do this.

I am disappointed in New Dawn. This one has always been extremely easy for me to start. I did get one plant from the parent, but not with the rooting cups. I'm hoping it's just slower to start but it can't wait to much longer or it will not survive the winter.

In the meantime, I will be staying indoors mostly, out of the sun, heat and humidity. I have new clothes I want to make for my new position at work and will keep myself busy with that. I have cloth for three skirts, two tops and have discovered that I have enough cloth left to make matching scarves and sashes for the skirts. I still don't know when I'll be moving into my new position but am getting anxious about it. The time is coming closer and I can feel it. I'm ready.

Early July

As July 4th rolled on by, the garden made a change in scenery. The strawberry have given way to the raspberries of which I couldn't resist a pie. The roses have finished their first flush and are now inbetween flushes of bloom; a good thing since the Japanese beetles are raging right now. Now, we have the lilies of all varieties coming for a show as well as the coneflower, sunflowers and black-eyed susans. The hosta are showing their flowers as well as the hollyhocks, mallow and daliahs. This time of year is just as pretty as when the roses are in bloom.

The lilies are the show stoppers right now. The lovely salmon colored lily is called Lori Goldstron. This year, the plant isn't looking all that great, but the beautiful flower belies the idea that the plant is weak. I'm thinking that it is weak due to the hail storm last year which nearly killed it but hopefully next year it will finally show it's strength.

One of my favorite day lilies is Indian Giver; a lovely deep purple with a yellow center. It's not the largest day lily flower nor the frilliest but there is simply something about this flower that draws my eye even from a distance. It must be the color.

Only just a few here from a fairly large variety of lilies. I like them all such as Grand Cru; a medium yellow with orange centers and lightly spotted with brown.

Each season has it's own beauty. Just wait until the oriental lilies are blooking!

A Rainy Day

Patio Pearl. Floribunda. This rose was introduced in 1990 under another name and class. It started out as a miniflora called Pearl Palace. However, it definitely was misclassed. This bush gets far to big in every way to be classed as a miniflora and does seem to fit better in the floribunda class. When this rose is at the top of it's game, it is outstanding but the conditions must be perfect for this to happen. Beautiful as it is, it's petals often water spotted, burned and the leaves are almost always disease spotted. It's actually a very strong rose and has good winter health. It doesn't appear to like the humidity we get around here. It blooms like mad.

Today is another rainy day. It isn't like we've not had many of these lately. I shouldn't complain. When we first built and moved into this house we had the worst drought in history for this area. This past week we managed to survive about 19" of rain and it's raining again! It's beginning to look like a rain forest out there. All 36 of my trees aren't complaining I'm sure. Oh, that's 39 trees if you count the ones the neighbor planted on my property. Don't worry, she knew she was close to the line and asked us before she planted them. Then when they arrived, the nursery man realized that to plant them where she wanted them would be to close to her drainfield, so he planted them on my property.

Since it was raining today, the kitchen was the optimun place to be. I made dessert for dinner tonight and a batch of raspberry jam. The jam was made a little differently this year. It was more work but I think it will be well worth the effort. For dinner is Salmon with a dill/lemon butter. I never used to make this, but once while visiting in California, my friends, Jane & Mack made it for me. It was so good that I started making it at home. Husband doesn't eat salmon, so I will always make him something else. But it's now my favorite fish. I usually make it with tater tots and salad.

My 4th of July was a quiet day. I hope yours was too.

Musings

Lavaglut. Floribunda rose. Dark Red. 24 petals. Introduced in 1978. Rated at 8.7 out of 10 as a good garden rose. I have to admit, it's impressing me! It's a smallish rose with just as small blooms but it's a true workhorse in my garden. I have two bushes that I had gotten from the garden of a friend who has passed away and this year, each bush has been covered in bloom, rolling from one flush to the next without a break. The disease resistance is also impressive. Of course, I still spray it for blackspot and mildew but it is still cleaner than some others. I recall my friend telling me that these bushes are own-root, having gotten them from a nursery we commonly know for having own-root roses. My friend had them for one year, but never took care of them because his health wouldn't allow him. I've had them for one year, they've doubled their size and are looking very healthy.

I spent the weekend relaxing. No cleaning for this girl. Instead, yesterday we took a ride to the stepson's to pick up some barn siding he had for his dad. They live in a rather small bi-level house with three bedrooms which stepson had one for his office. Well, with a third baby coming, they need the office as a bedroom so he started cleaning it out and tearing it out. They will redesign it for the second daughter, Hanna, who will be 4 on her next birthday the end of this month. Any more babies and they will need to get a bigger house. It's hard to believe how rapidly these children are growing. Abigail Marie is 8. It won't be long until she's a teenager and driving. She's already had her first driving lesson at the age of 2. Abby has turned into a lovely sweet child. Hanna is a bit more tempermental. She has a temper that could melt lead and hasn't figured out how to handle it yet. When she finally starts preschool which should be soon, she will mellow out some.

While out, we also made the rounds to the local Home Depot and Lowe's. The last time we were at Home Depot, I was rather disappointed but this time I actually found two shasta daisy's that looked quite healthy so I got them for the back perennial bed. At Lowe's, I found a Julia Child rose, the very last one, on sale for half price and being a rose fanatic, I couldn't leave it behind. On returning home, we planted our new arrivals and got them safely secure before the storms came. They are doing fine today.

I've gotten a good bit of the deadheading done, but still have a good bit to go. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it this week and start over again. Weeds, deadhead, weeds, deadhead, weeds, deadhead and so on.

A Friend Visits

A Zebra Lythetail butterfly came to visit the very vibrant orange butterfly weed the other day. This is an older butterfly. You can tell by the tear in his wing. As the butterflies age, they carry the battle scars of life. They will also loose some of their brilliance as well. This one, however, still had some beautiful markings.