Decisions have been made

Sweet Gum (liquidambar styraciflua)

Photo by: http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/2005/10/P10/

It's been a stressful weekend. Having two trees picked out for the garden, room for only one of them, this being the last large shade tree for the property - it had to be the right one. The decision was a difficult one - two beautiful trees; two completely different looks; both needing about the same requirements for strong growth and longivity.

We spent an entire Saturday afternoon looking at trees, questioning the nursery manager about all of them, finding these two and deciding that either would work and tagging both. After we picked out both trees, we called the nursery several times over the weekend with questions about each of them. Even yesterday, we called several times with more questions, spent the weekend online looking up everything we could about both trees. Pointing out the good points and the bad points of each of them.

Both trees were on my list of "must haves" but I couldn't have both without overcrowding the landscape. Both trees are very large when mature. Both are slower growers, though the sweet gum will grow faster than the oak.

The oak would still be standing when all the other trees in the garden, except for the beech, have long succumbed to old age. Of course, what would I care, I won't live to be 500 years old anyway. Most business, people and history buffs will go out of their way to save a mighty white oak, giving the tree a name, i.e. "The Memory Tree", "The Witness Tree", "The Heitage Tree", etc., when any other tree would be cut down. But then again, what would I care, I won't live to be 200 years old (when these trees are usually named and saved).

The sweet gum is a fossil tree, having survived from pre-historic times. It is called Liquidamber, dating the tree from the time of dinosaurs. It is just as massive and strong as the oak, though there is no age limit given with this tree. But then, what should I care, I won't live to be 200 years old. The sweet gum is a medicinal tree. The sap of this tree was once used (maybe still is) for chewing, helping headaches, colds and other common ailments. The autumn color of this tree is breathtaking.

Both trees can be messy. The acorns of the white oak are plentyful and eaten by everything that eats. This can be a good thing, with all manor of creatures helping to maintain the tree. The sweet gum has large spiny nuts that can be hard to walk on but where the tree is, these nuts will be noticed mostly by the lawn tractor. The oak will bear its nuts immediately where the sweet gum will need to mature to a nice ripe age of 15 to 20 years old before bearing nuts. The nuts of the sweet gum are eaten by songbirds, squirrels and wild turkey of which we have in this area. The sweet gum has fewer problems with pests and disease.

The decision was finally made. All our concerns were answered by way of the nursery manager and the internet. I believe we all had a major learning experience with this. Husband and I are both avid gardeners and put a lot of thought and care into our garden. We ask the help of those with more specialized experience for maintaining certain aspects of our garden as well as deciding what plants we want in it. The nursery manager at this nursery didn't seem to mind us tying up his afternoon or answering a half dozen or more phone calls from us about the trees of choice. This isn't the first tree we got from this nursery, and probably not the last either. I might still be putting some pretty understory trees in...who knows.

We altimately chose the sweet gum because it was different though a natural tree for this area. There aren't many of them but they can be seen at all ages. It is in a spot where the nuts shouldn't be the big problem that most folks complain about. It's far away from walking paths, driveways and roadways. It won't be able to throw it's nuts far enough to dent house siding, cars or anything else except ground. It will encourage songbirds and turkey into the garden to eat the nuts...squirrels too eventually.

So there you have it. The stressful process of decision making for something that will live to be hundreds of years old, if left to and the impact it will eventually have on the areas wildlife. The tree is in the garden, planted and ready to start it's life. It will need my beginning fertilizer that will help the roots strengthen, destress and give the tree the necessary fungus it needs to help it survive the first two or three years. It also waits for the much needed rain we hope to get this week. This is the last of the big shade trees. It now needs to grow strong and staight and provide the garden with all that it has to offer.

Our big shade trees are our biggest assets. They provide shelter, shade, lumber, food for all living things. They are the house and staple and oxygen of our eco system. There are fewer and fewer of them. Most homes now are on such small properties that it's not as ecomonical to have the large trees. They get to be to close to houses and the roots are as powerful as the trees themselves, braking up basement walls, sewage systems and underground utilities. Many folks opt for smaller trees with smaller root systems and smaller of everything else such as food, oxygen and protection. I'm glad I have a property large enough to maintain a number of these large trees. I have eleven of the large hardwood shade trees, each will average about 80 feet tall with spreads up to 50 feet as well as spruce and cypress in the garden. There's still plenty of sun, even after these mature, for growing roses. As my garden is growing, I'm beginning to love it more and more. It's getting to the point now where I can really enjoy it.

Shopping Spree

http://www.mahoningcountyoh.gov/NR/rdonlyres/BAA006E6-8DCB-43D0-B73C-4966F098B8F7/0/1bat.jpe

This is similar to the bat house I own. I'm beginning to think the bats have found it. Always before at dusk, you could see two or three of them flying around, but this evening, there were at least a dozen, flying low near the house and shed, always headed out over the corn field to the toad pond beyond. I hope the house has found occupants.

I went tree shopping today. I have room for one more shade tree without crowding the property. I went with a list of trees that have caught my attention. White Oak, Hickory, American Beech. There was one other tree that had caught my interest some time ago, Sweet Gum. We went to the place where we got our purple (white) ash. I had been totally impressed with their trees and knew they had fields of them. We got the attention of the nursery manager and began asking questions...all kinds of questions. We walked around the nursery looking at the dug trees, noticing that there was another white ash that was outstanding but far to large for us to handle. That was to bad too. However, they had the sweet gum there, two nice trees. So then we started asking about the other trees on my list. They also had the white oak. The manager took us around in his van through the fields to the white oaks that weren't dug. He had one that was just the right size for us to handle and was really pretty to boot.

I tagged two trees, telling the manager that I'd buy only one, but needed time to decide which one I wanted. I tagged the white oak and one of the sweet gum. Now for the dilemma. I really like both trees. The white oak will grow in this area as there are many in the woods right around my home. The sweet gum is pretty much to the more northern end of it's growing zone here, none in the wild as I can see, but specimen trees grow well and strong. White oak is hard to transplant and if it's happy will encourage deer as well as pretty much every living creature into the yard with it's acorns, and this little oak had lots of acorns on it. The nuts of the sweet gum will encourage wild turkey to visit as well as squirrel and songbirds. White oak gets a nice rusty look to it's leaves in the fall. The sweet gum gets vibrant red/orange in the fall. Both trees need LOTS of space. The white oak has a 50 to 70' spread and gets just as tall; so does the sweet gum. Both are hard wood and slow growing. Both like areas where there's less polution and both are indiginous to the east coast of the US. Oh, BTW, we do have wild turkey around here.

The sweet gum is already dug; the white oak is not. I did ask the manager to ask about getting the white oak dug and when it would be the best time for that. My understanding is that these trees should be dug in the spring (unlike most other trees) to help ensure the survivial rate of the transplants. They have a deep tap root that anchors the tree and must be treated with kid's gloves for the first three years. The sweet gum is shallow rooted, but spreads the roots over an extremely large area, similar to the Tulip tree which I also have in the garden. The sweet gum will have to be staked for quite some time until the roots set it.

I'll look at the spot where it will go again tomorrow. I have room for only one. I have a red oak in the garden, but no sweet gum.

More on tree decisions...

Sassafras tree

Photo by:

http://www.naz.edu:9000/~treewalk/sassafras/sassafrastree1.htm

Sunday was a good stay-at-home day and do things in the garden. I didn't get quite as much done as I had wanted, but then, I wasn't rushing but enjoying everything more. There were about 100 bulbs to plant which got done with the bonemeal in the holes. They'll be beautiful next year. They are scattered around the new beds where I knew there weren't any. Early spring will be dotted with tulips and daffodils. I need some crocus yet for the very front tiny areas and the garden will be set.

The Sassafras got transplanted. This one was a tough one. The roots weren't as deep as I thought they'd be, but were scattered through the garden. We tried to keep as many of them as we could, making the root system as wide as the tree was high. Still, we had to cut a few that reached under the patio and deck. It was transplanted near the compost to help shade it a little from the hot afternoon sun. The tree which is just above knee high, double trunked and very pretty, was taken to a hole that was awaiting it. Just a little adjustment and the roots were back in the ground within minutes. Still within the hour, it had begun to wilt some. This tree will be watched closely this fall and into winter to make sure it is well wet and has every chance to set into the ground before it succumbs to death. Where it is planted, it will be able to adjust slowly to a drier spot, well drained and very rich in nutrients from the compost bin. I'm hoping it makes it. Husband wanted to cut one of the trunks away, but I stopped him. The double trunk is right at ground level, it naturally grew this from the seed and I thought it was pretty.

Sassafras is known for not liking to be transplanted. About half of them that are, will die. Their root system is deep and the roots that keep the tiny feeder roots are few and thick. I wanted to get this one moved while it was still very young to give it the best chance of a successful move. It is one of a few trees that should be planted by seed. Another is the Sweet Gum. Another tree in the same family that has a similar root system.

It seems to be becoming more and more the way of things, to plant trees from seed. There is a fungus that is spreading among the grafted landscape oaks, killing them in a couple of years. The wild oaks don't appear to struggle with it, at least not yet. I'm thinking from the reports that the natural oaks develop a resistance to the fungus when the trees are very young, but the grafted oaks, usually grafted on non-native root stock, don't develop this resistance. Nurseries here are getting very tiny Sweet Gum, Sour Gum and Sassafrass trees that are started from seed in large pots to keep the roots in tack. They are sold as slips at a very expensive price. I looked at a very young sassafrass at a local nursery, maybe two years older than the one I just transplanted and it was almost $100. The one I just transplanted, should it make it, is smaller, but has twice the strength for it young age. I'm hoping mine makes it. I'll be watching it every day this fall and winter.

I'm still wanting one last shade tree for the back yard. I went for a walk Sunday morning and met a young fella who was busy cleaning up a mess on a property he owned. I stopped to chat with him a bit and found out that he is a naturalist and though he had plans on building on this property, he cut only enough trees to clear a spot for his house. He planned on keeping the rest of the large trees (some of which were at least 100 years old) and to naturalize the area with native wild flowers. We spent about an hour chatting about trees and native wild flowers. It was a wonderful conversation. I've also decided on a list of trees (husband will hate me) that I'd like to think about for that last shade tree.

Some of the more abundant trees in the woods are hickory (shagbark and shellbark), ash (white and green), poplar, birch, beech, basswood, maple, sassafrass, oaks (white, red, black, burr, and scarlet), elm. I've already planted a red oak, red maple, two sugar maples, elm, two honey locusts, beech, poplar and white ash. Husband would like another white ash as the last shade tree. It's a beautiful tree, even I think this and another one would be nice. In the autumn, the back yard would then be colored yellow, bright red, rust, rust-red, bright yellow and redish-purple.

Although another white ash would be very pretty in the garden, I'd also like to see about a white oak, American beech and shagbark hickory. The oak would have to be planted from seed to assure health (easy enough to find...acorns of all types are all over the road around here right now). American beech should be easy enough to find at nurseries, though very expensive. Maybe I can get this young fellow to dig up a sappling for me out of his forest. Hickory might be difficult. No one seems to want to sell hickory trees. Hickory might also encourage deer to come into the garden. I don't really want that but hickory is a beautiful tree. Husband says I'm picking out all the nut trees. Well, I just happen to like the native nut trees around here. Besides, they are the trees that will be able to withstand the strong winds that come across this mountain. Besides, where this last tree will be planted, I don't have to worry about the nuts. Only the lawn tractor will ever know they are there and only after the tree gets large enough to toss the nuts further than the planting bed that will be placed around it.

I probably won't be planting another tree until next spring, so I have time to look around. I might try planting a white oak acorn to see what happens. I'll talk to sister about starting some too. I think she would enjoy having a white oak in her garden.

A Must Read

I have room for one more shade tree. I want this shade tree to be a special tree; a native tree; one that would envoke the company of the creatures that live in this area. I'm figuring it will be some time until I find the tree that I want for my back yard. In my search I found this:

http://www.elmpost.org/chestnut.htm

I saw this tree and almost cried. I've never seen one of these trees before, not in person anyway and the majesty of it even in the picture is awesome. It's the story of the species of tree that is so very sad. After knowing what I missed, dare I ask if we have learned from history? To have one of these majesties in my back yard would be an honor, though it be a dream. Maybe my grandchildren will be able to see these trees in their mature form again, but I won't. Even if scientists are able to develop this tree with disease resistance, I could never live long enough to see them come to their mature state. This made me sad for never being able to know something this beautiful and for the eco system that perished along with it.

This really strengthened my resolve to plant plants that belong around here. Beauty Berries instead of Butterfly Bushes and native trees rather than the imported ones from other lands. In my area there are lots of woods. No more chestnut trees, but I live in one of those pockets that weren't infected by the Dutch Elm disease and the elms grow nicely and strong around here. I planted a wisteria, native to Eastern US, rather than the Chinese or Japanese varieties. It's not as fragrant, large, nor are the flowers quite as showy, but it still has the effect desired. I really like the plant. I'm also taking my shade tree selections from the varieties I see in our woods; Elms, Ash, Poplar, Oak, Maple, Sycamore and Sassafrass.

This story is about a loss that this country will never be able to recoop from. To much has been lost. Now, we're desperately trying not to loose another very important part of our eco system. I hope this time we are successful.

Night Shots

Back In The Day

Working days gives one a whole different look on the world. The team that I work with enjoys joking and sharing trivia mostly as well as knowledge. One girl who has since retired, always enjoy every question by asking Jeves (Ask.com). She was a wealth of information and trivia.

One of my favorite sayings that flies around the prepress room is "Back In The Day." I find this an interesting comment and it's usually associated with a time when I was young, single and before.

Name a few things that were "Back In The Day." A few things for me were....

The TV shows, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie and Bonanza
White Wall Tires
The soap opera, Dark Shadows
Going to hops
Music from John Lenon, Beach Boys, Monkeys, The Osmonds and Dianna Ross
The Moody Blues
Woodstock
57 Chevys and those back seats

All these things were "Back In The Day." Let me know what you remember.

All Partied Out

This little rose looks like Cherries Jubiliee, but I can't be sure. There was no name tag with it but it quite lovely and I do wish I knew the variety of it. I'd like to have it for my garden. That says a lot since I'm not much for striped roses.

This week was a week away from the job. Oh, I'd been planning things for some time for this week. It started out with a cocktail party at a neighbor's house. A very lovely evening was to be had. The following day, Sunday was a party with my family where we decided on some things that needed the attention of all of the siblings. Also, my sisters wanted to wander through the garden to see what I had planted there. It was another lovely day, but exhausting. Then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were days spent on repairs and finishing some projects.

Thursday, we had old friends over for dinner. Oh, what a lovely time we had. This particular friend was someone I'd lost touch with for many years. I think it was decided that we shouldn't lose touch again, because we immediately set a date for the next dinner party. Dinner, Thursday, was held out on the deck with Linda and I wandering around the garden for at least an hour before settling down to eat. Dinner lasted for about 3½ hours before we said our goodbyes until the next dinner, next month.

Friday was a trip up to Hershey Botanical Gardens on a camera run. We have a huge National photography contest coming up and we needed material to enter. I have a lot of roses in my garden, but none that I would want to enter, so we took this trip to Hershey Botanical Gardens to get some material. We took 124 photographs of roses, and going through them I've gotten a good number of possible entries. I was surprised to see that Hershey Botanical Gardens had raised their price of admission this year from $5 to $10.

I was impressed with their roses this year. Usually when we go, I find only one or two that I think I would like to have in the garden. This year was different. I don't know if they started spraying their roses, or if the dry year has been good to them, but those roses, all 2000 of them looked great! Husband and I were in agreement when we saw several that MUST be in the garden. We also got some great ideas for annual beds. Right now, though, I have some tulips and daffs that need planted and they will come first.

Friday was also the day that everything else happened. The contractor who had done our bathroom remodel for us came with the finishing touches. The repair man showed up with our lawn tractor that had been in the shop for service. It was a busy day.

Tomorrow, Sunday again, will be a party with the kids and the grandkids. This too, I'm sure, will be a wonderful party. But, I must say, after this, I'm going to be partied out for awhile. There is a lot of getting ready for entertaining and I'm quite tired.

Tuesdays will be back to the job. Maybe the next week off the job we'll go to Longwood Gardens. I'd been there only once this year and another trip is warranted. We'll go on a Tuesday when admission is discounted. Admission is a bit pricy at Longwood, but it is well worth it. The place is wonderful.

Fall Roses

Tomorrow is the auction for HOSPICE. I plan on attending that. Will there be roses there? I don't know. If there are and I'm interested, I'll bid on them. Actually, I'm going to take a chance on the door prize -- a car. The car I have is a good one though it is 11 years old now. But if I could get a new one for the same payments that I have now, I'll take it. Oh, BTW, my car has been paid off for the past 6 years or more. Any plants I find that I want for the garden is just an added plus.

However, it has been decided on two new roses beds for the garden. They are small ones. Husband is building an entry arbor for the patio. There will be room for one climber. For this spot, I've chosen Dublin Bay - 1975, McGredy, Bantry Bay x Altissimo. http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=1635

The other rose bed will be the border of the garden (that will soon be turned into a nursery for beginning plants). There might be room for four roses there, but for now I've chosen two to put back there.

City of York - 1929, Tantau, Professor Gnau x Dorothy Perkins http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=1205 I love the fragrance of this wonderful climber and have been searching for a spot for it for years.

Summer Wine - 1985, Kordes, parentage unknown http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=6022, yet another rose that I discovered years ago and have been looking for a place for it.

For the new patio arbor, Husband wanted red. We have two beautiful yellow growing nicely and starting to impress me called Scent From Above - 2005, Chris Warner, Laura Ford X Amanda (Breeder unidentified) http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=46190 as well as my most precious, light pink/white blend, New Dawn - 1930, Summerset Rose Nursery, Sport of Dr. W. Van Fleet, http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=4460

I told Husband I wouldn't order these three new roses until after the HOSPICE auction, but I just might go ahead and order them anyway. I want these three roses for the garden. Two of them I've wanted for years and the third, well, that might be the only one that could possibly be donated to the auction, but I don't think so. Even so, the ones I order will be own-root which I strongly prefer anyway.

Today's Job

Queen of the Prairies, found rose, Hybrid Setigera.
Hybrid of Rosa setigera Michaux, (1843) by Samuel Feast.

It was two springs ago. I was at a usual haunt, the Landis Valley Historic Herb festival always held Mother's Day. There are tons of vendors there selling just about everything that has to do with gardens. I love going there. Lots of plants of every kind, but especially herbs. I get many of my speciality herbs such as Lovage and the lovely yellow tomato, Golden Queen.

One of the vendors there is an heirloom rose grower. He comes every year and sells such beauties as New Dawn, the Apocarathey's Rose, Rose de Rescht, and others. Two springs ago I got a found rose called Queen of the Prairies. It was the only one he had so I got it. Being a found rose, there is no record of it's history, or it was once lost and then found again in someone's homestead, back 40, completely forgotten about until a rose lover found it one day and took cuttings. It would be a rose no longer in production.

It's amazing I even bought it. The woman who sold it to me had very little knowledge of it and was very vague about it's origination. She said she found it in someone's back yard and took a few cuttings. It intriqued me. It was so very tiny Husband was afraid it wouldn't make it. I knew it was an old rose, but really wasn't sure if it was a climber, rambler or what. I planted it in the back 40 of my property where it was instantly forgotten. On occasion I would remember it and check on it but in all honesty, it more or less was neglected (and I don't hardly ever neglect a rose).

This spring I wandered back there to start the spring clean up which was horrendous. Since I had switched shifts at work last year, I had completely neglected that entire bed. I began cleaning out the weeds and ran across this tiny rose. I was totally amazed that it had not only survived the winter, but had no winter death on it at all. It had already begun to grow, even from the utmost points of the two little canes.

This morning it was time to tackle this now monster as it grew way out of control all summer and was throwing canes up to 20 ft. long everywhere! Husband tried to tie it to the fence but to no avail (he wouldn't prune the thing) and ended up running over some of the longer canes with the lawn tractor. I went back there armed with gloves, twine, sissors, pruners and a shovel. This rose was between to maiden grasses and a ton of weeds, some larger than myself. The shovel was for the largest of the weeds. The twine was to tie up the rose; the sissors to cut the twine; and the pruners to prune the long, thick canes.

The longest of the canes that were sheared off by the tractor, were pruned to good growth and tied to the fence. The wayward canes that simply shot out without any kind of mission, were pruned off completely. Canes that didn't seem to want to go where I wanted them to were also pruned away. In the end, I had a huge rambler of about eight canes that stretched over 25 feet of fence on two rails.

It did bloom for me this year, though it was so out of hand, the blooms were hard to get to. I do understand that as this rose grows and matures, it's blooms will get better. For now, it's turned out to be one amazing plant. Like my every precious New Dawn, the Queen doesn't get black spot, powdery mildew or seem to suffer from the usual insects. All it does is grow. This year it has bloomed only once but if it is what I think it is, one a year is all the bloom cycles I'll get from it. But it blooms before the grasses get going and it will undoubtedly be quite the beauty next year.

Husband wants a bunch of the Queen simply because of the amount (or lack of it) of care she's needed. Though not many prickles, she is still a handful. I'm really glad I did buy this rose. I will return to Landis Valley next year to seek out the Heirloom Rose grower and tell him that the Queen of the Prairies I purchased two years ago turned out to be one of the best roses in this area since New Dawn.

I am very impressed.

The Last Week of August

This is the last week of August and I have one week to get the garden together before the start of September. Why??? I've spent the last five days, deciding on which party when. Right now, I have two major garden parties planned for September and a baby shower. There are still arrangements to make for two other parties. So, I'm busy.

I have one week to get ready for the first party. But with working, I find that I don't have a lot of time to get the garden ready. Husband has been doing his part. Today he edged all the garden beds. That was enough believe me.

Well, I still have a week and even if I don't get everything done, i.e. the rose in the very front of the house by a storm drain was struck by lightening over the weekend and is still there. I don't have the heart to send it on to heaven as it appears right now to be growing strongly and is actually getting ready to bloom! I'll allow it this time left to it. I'm sure the winter will finally take it and next spring I will dig it out for compost. The mint sprig I planted last year has gone crazy this year and moved into my Bayse's Purple rose that is trying to get started as well as my poor wild indigo. I am not happy about this and have already started to cut the stuff down, after which I will take a shovel to it. Bees, lots of bees love this stuff so I have to do this right at dusk so as not to get stung. There is also some other nasty weeds that need to find heaven. Mostly though, about an hour a day after work and the garden will look quite good. The weeds that are there are large and easy to see and pull. We've had enough rain here to keep the soil moist for now.

I also have to start planning my menu. Oh, my, that truly depends on what the weather is forecasted to be. If it rains, the dinner will be inside. If it doesn't, the dinner will be a garden party. I have a firepit that I will light, as well as a chimena that will also be lit. Then there are several Tiki torches around the deck and patio. All smoke nicely and will keep the bugs away. They'll also keep the hummingbirds away. They can be little devils, scrapping with each other and ending up on your dinner plate. No kidding! A pair of them were so busy scrapping that they both fell onto my dinner plate as I sat at the patio table eating. All three of us just sat there a moment and stared at each other. The tiny birds got their wits back and off they flew, buzzing right past my ear. But it would be nice to have this thing outside. My deck is so private now that the wisteria has grown in.

Starting next year, I'll be putting pots of bogonias out in the alcove on the deck beneath the wisteria. That spot has finally grown in and is now ready for my lovely, shade loving bogonias. It's so pleasant out there now. Eventually the patio will be the same way. I have a lovely yew that will afford privacy as it grows near the entry to the patio and a dragon holly that will provide shelter from the neighbors as well as the west winds. Both plants are slow growers, so that won't happen for a few years.

It will be nice having parties in my lovely garden. I won't be ready for winter this year, I'm sure. I want summer to stay.

Finally Finished

After 5 weeks of construction people and my bathroom torn up, it is finally finished and moved into. It is nice, really nice and I think a much better use of the space than before.

The Remodeling project continues

My bathroom is almost done now. I spent the day painting it yesterday (I won't do that again anytime soon!) and spent the evening cleaning up at least some of it. My poor whirlpool tub was so dirty and somehow managed to get drops of paint all over it even though it was cover with a drop cloth. But once the cloth was removed, it looked like the workers had sanded spackling and everything else over this tub. It took me an hour and a half to clean it. It looks great now. The toilet was even worse. I got the wall plates back on (very pretty) and both fans/lights up. The light over the sink is back up but I still need to put the recessed lighting up (royal pain). Then to move in the rest of the way.
I have to admit that I like the look of the paint in that room. The ceiling is a very light taupe, the walls a medium light taupe and the trim is a medium/dark taupe, all three shades a very different color of the same pallet. It gives the walls a plastered look which I really like and matches the marble look tile of the shower and tub perfectly. I also used my artist hand to do the edging of the wall and ceiling colors which add to the look. The border paper I have to put up there is a Victorian floral pattern of pink roses, purple hydrengas and small flowers of various colors on a very light taupe background with medium taupe Victorian swirl edges. Unfortunately I didn't have enough here to do the entire room, so I had to order more. That will go up when it arrives.
Today I will plan on spending most of the day, or a good part of it, on my hands and knees with a bucket of floor cleaner and a scrub brush, cleaning up the paint drops, grit and dirt off the floor of this bathroom. Then it will be cleaned up and ready for whatever decorations I choose to put in there. The shower door isn't here yet but should be coming in about a week or so, then a final inspection with the contractor who wants to take pictures for his portfolio.

I am really pleased with the bathroom at this point.

Mists

I’ve been suffering from stress and headaches again. I think it’s because of the bathroom remodel. When this is finished, I’m not sure what I want to do first, use the shower or the whirlpool. I need the jets for the knots in my back muscles but I also want to try that really cool shower. It’s going on 5 weeks now for a remodel that was supposed to last 3 weeks. Par for the course. I’m not upset about this but it does appear to be taking it’s toll anyway. I’m hoping this will be over soon, not because I am upset with the builder, but just because of these headaches.

I went to see an old friend, Linda, this weekend. It was so nice to see her again and to rejuvenate the friendship. It’s been far to many years since I’d seen her and so much has happened in both our lives. While I was visiting, her oldest daughter stopped by. I was surprised that Colleen remembered me. The visit lasted all afternoon and we left with her wanting to come and visit me. This is a good thing. I found out that she works at the local market that is just across the street from where I work. I may have to visit her at her stand over my lunch break some day soon.

My relationship with Linda kind of reminds me of that bittersweet chick-flick, "The Pond House". We run the same circles, the same areas but just seem to pass each other in the mist. Now with this conscious effort to meet again, maybe this fog has been lifted and we’ll be able to regain that close friendship we shared so many years ago. Oh, it won’t be the same, so much has happened both good and bad, but maybe the friendship will be just as strong. Only time will tell.

The Housing Slump

With the housing market beginning to slump, of course, I've decided that keeping my house up-to-date is more important right now that thinking about selling (no, I'm not nuts. I love this place). So, the bathroom project is moving along. There isn't much more expensive stuff I want to do once this is done. This is the bathroom that I wanted from the start and am finally getting it.

My whirlpool is being renovated. The shower head is now gone and the plumbing has been refitted to make this just a tub. The ceramic surround matches the shower. There will be an oak molding that will go around the tub to tie in the oak surround and finish the look. The raised decorative border is a very important part of this design and the single stone with a pewter rose and edges in the center is a tile we found hidden behind other stuff at a tile place where we visited. This tile is a one-of-a-kind and I thought would be perfect for my bathroom. It is in the center of the picture window that will overlook the mountain,if that window ever comes! We're now looking at about 20 days backordered. The oak trim pieces will go on early next week. Husband will be putting that on and got the adhevsive he will need from our tiler.

Once a 5x5 walk-in closet that wasn't used in 5 years, this is now a custom shower that really adds to the bathroom. Other than the plumbing fixtures, a grab bar and a glass shelf that will not be seen until you are actually in the shower, and of course, the door, it is basically finished. Some baseboard will need replaced and the painting done, but it shouldn't be long before I get to use my bathroom again.

My luxury bathroom is starting to come together. I think it's really quite nice. I can hardly wait to use that shower!! Did I tell you this will add about 125% of it's cost to the value of my home?

The Continuing Saga

Well, the bathroom remodel started off on the wrong foot. Our handyman, Meryl, caught us so off guard the first day and had my already overwhelmed husband in a total tizzy. I got home from work that day just in time to avert a potential mess. I came within a hair of throwing Meryl out of my house. But I didn't.

Three days later he was back again to work on the job he had started. I didn't have to report to work until later in the morning and had a chance to chat with him some. We discussed a few things like how he was going to approach this particular job and with that understanding, I ran off to the workplace.

He's been back several times since then to continue working on the demo of the closet that will become a shower room and we've been doing a lot better. Husband figured out that he should keep himself busy and away from Meryl who does a rather good job when he's not bothered. His demo and prep work is almost complete now. We are expecting the mason's to arrive within the next week or two when the tile comes in. We're also waiting on the picture window that will be installed over the whirlpool tub. Once everything is here, the bathroom should come together rather quickly.

The tile I picked out is a light cream with a gray swirl going through it. It has a lovely embossed taupe decorative tile that will also be used around the shower and the tub. Then there are lovely "buttons" of the same cream/gray with a nice Fleur in the taupe and a light turquoise to break up the tiles. I'm getting eight of those.

I'm planning on stealing away with one of the tiles while the mason's are installing it to select paint for the bathroom. I'll be the painter. I have some eggshell paint that is the current wall color and I will keep that for the ceiling. Even the ceiling inside the shower will get this paint. As far as the walls -- I've not yet decided. I'm thinking of something like a faux stone look for the bathroom. We're also planning on ceramic tile on the floor in the future. But that is something easily done by the homeowners. I've also see a lovely idea of stencil around the picture window and maybe the side window as well.

Since my colors in the master's suite is a cream/taupe with splashes of plumb and hunter green, I'm think a nice grape arbor stencil around the windows and mirrors would be wonderful. It will be decorated with ferns and other moisture loving plants at the picture window and the shelf that opens at the top of the shower.

I'm figuring this will take the rest of the summer. But it'll be nice when it's done. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I'm using the spare bathroom and it's just so small compared to the master.

Garden Trees and Birds

When we first built this place, 5 years ago, it was a field of weeds and soybeans. Even the next spring, the farmer planted soybeans right up to where the builder was building my house. When it came time to grade, the builder said to wait until the farmer took down the beans. Well, he didn't take down the beans until mid December. I was furious! It was the driest, hottest and most uncomfortable summer there was and I had approximately 200 plants that needed (and I mean NEEDED) to be planted and the grading wasn't done!!!! We finally forced the builder to at least grade the front to the road so we had somewhere to start. However, he did refuse to plant grass -- too hot; too dry.

We planted eight trees. Three of them a good size and the rest very tiny. All but two were shade trees. I wanted native shade trees because that would draw in the birds and wildlife. Or, hybrid varieties of native shade trees. I planted a beech, red oak, Norway maple (OK this one isn't native but I liked the color), spruce, locust, poplar and two dogwood. That year we had chipping sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, ravens, bluebirds. The only squirrel I saw that summer was a dead one that somehow got into the soybean field that encroached all the way up to the beech and poplar trees that were planted 70 feet from the back of the house. I wanted those beans GONE!!! I saw a couple of field thrushes and our very friendly tree swallows. We learned quickly to keep the garage door shut after getting a couple of the swallows in the house, driving the cat absolutely nuts. We shouldn't forget the Hummingbirds either. They started coming around almost immediately, so for the first time I actually put out a feeder for them and could watch them. I got at least three a day.

That was 5 years ago. Today, I have exactly 55 trees in the garden, the soybeans are gone and the grass has been planted. I'm still keeping the big shade trees as close to native as possible. The woods around me have a good number of American Elm that seem to be doing OK. But the threat of Dutch Elm disease is still a very big threat. I wanted an elm, so I planted a Chinese elm -- not as pretty or majestic, but with a root system that suited the area better; deeper and more narrow than the American elm, and is much more resistant to Dutch Elm disease. I now have two nice sized red maples and I just planted a white ash, both of which are also strong trees in the woods around me.

The birds have also increased in numbers. I still have the chipping sparrows and tree swallows, blue birds and red-winged blackbirds. But this year I've seen a red-bellied woodpecker frequently checking out the oak and beech. There have been over a dozen hummingbirds that visit the feeder, house sparrows have moved in, purple finches have visited enough in large numbers to make me wonder if they are considering nesting in the garden, gold finches are nesting in the garden, Robbins and cardinals are becoming frequent visitors. A pair of mud swallows have a nest above the front door. If I leave the nest there, they will raise their young without making to much of a mess of my porch. And this morning, orioles visited, playing in the forsythia and in one of the largest of my rose bushes.

I have room for one more shade tree. I haven't decided which tree I want there so I may spend a couple of years thinking about it. But I am now working on the shrubbery, trying to plant natives that would add to the garden as well as draw in the wildlife, especially butterflies and birds. One of the plants I've found by accident is the native milkweed. It's a weed (or a wildflower since I really like this plant) with a fragrance that is heavenly. It is the only plant that the monarch butterfly will lay it's eggs on, and it's also quite pretty and tall. Two seeds ended up in a garden patch last year and I let them grow. This year, yes, they spread and I now have a patch of milkweed. Of course, I have hybrid varieties of milkweed throughout the garden as well as some native varieties that are somewhat different from the one that just grew. But the hybrids don't seem to be visited quite as much. The wild one is covered with butterflies and bees and is intensely more fragrant than the hybrids. I'm sure I'm going to have to weed it out eventually or it'll overtake the entire garden, but it is a plant that has won a place in my garden and I will keep some. I had quite a number of generations of monarch butterflies in the garden last year with just two plants. I hope I have more this year with more plants.

As my garden grows and the trees start maturing, I'm seeing more and more different varieties of birds here. I still haven't seen the larger woodpeckers that I can see in the woods, or the bluejays. But they will come, I'm sure. I have rabbits now, though I think I'd rather eat them than let them eat my plants and they will draw in foxes and other predators such as hawks. The squirrels will eventually come when the acorns and beechnuts become more plentiful. Right now I'm just enjoying the growing number of bird species and of course all the babies that are learning to fly in my back yard.

Old Friends

I found an old friend last evening and called her. We had worked together so many years ago and had celebrated each other's weddings, birth of children, divorces, family deaths and heartaches. She and her girls accompanied us and our Captain to Newfoundland swim meets and made applesauce together. After I had left Historic Strasburg Inn, our get-togethers became more spaced until we finally lost touch. I was so glad I found her. I'd been looking for her for some time but last night, trying to locate her again, I came across a name I'd not seen before. She had gotten remarried and this strange name is what led me to her. It was a stroke of luck. I spent an hour on the phone with her doing some basic catchup but we're planning on getting together once again for more indepth catching up. We haven't decided where yet, just a date. I'm looking forward to it. There's a lot to talk about. We've been through so much together and could only scratch the surface yesterday.

A Rose Show Photo Contest

My rose society had our annual rose show and this year a photography contest. It does appear the the photo contest did stimulate a good deal of interest from the general public.

We had about 4 folks who entered the contest this year. The winnings were varied, but here's mine:

Honorable Mention: X-Rated, miniature, introduced in 1993. This is a nice little rose and was exceptionally nice for me this year. (Ribbon)










Third Place: Sweet Dream, Floribunda, introduced in 1988. This surprised me as I had always thought that Sweet Dream was a miniature. I had to change the class and status of this rose in my garden. It's a sound rose, with very small miniature sized leaves and blooms that resemble the miniflora (which is where I think this rose should be classed). (Ribbon)






2nd Place: Baronne Prévost, Hybrid Perpetual introduced in 1842. A very lovely, very BIG OGR with the most beautiful fragrance. It is a bit susceptible to black spot, but with a little care is strong and disease resistant throughout the growing season. (Ribbon)







1st Place: Soroptimist International, miniflora, introduced in 1995. A splendid miniflora that can be extremely good. It hold good form longer than most other miniatures and is a very bright and cheery color. (Ribbon)

Best White: Margaret Merril, Floribunda, introduced in 1977. When this rose is good it is really good! I usually have problems with thrips with this rose, often destroying the first flush of the season. A real headache for me. Thrips has got to be the one bug I seriously hate. Margaret also has problems with black spot, but this is easily controlled. Still, she is not a maintenance free rose, but I love her. (trophy award)

Best in Show: Rosa Eglanteria, species rose, introduction actually unknown, but somewhere before or around 1500. This fabulous rose is a show stopper when it's in bloom but it's the leaves and not the flowers that actually harbor the interest. The leaves when wet smell like Granny Smith apples, especially after a rain. When I first got it from a friend who was ill and wanted a good home for it, after a rain I'd walk outside and wonder who was baking the apple pie. In winter the plant still continues to shine with beautiful orange hips which the birds enjoy and can also be used to make rose tea. (trophy award)

I've gotten a number of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and honorable mentions, but this is the first time I'd gotten trophies. It feels good. The winning ribbons and the matching photos will go on the wall with the others. The trophy winners will be put on a different wall to stand out.

It's been a good day.

Feeling Abandoned

I grew up in a world where a silent religious war raged. Being somewhere inbetween the two waring factions, I've always felt pushed away, never really belonging to either. It is something that I've had complexes about, but I've learned to deal with them or at least surpress them.

Lately I've been feeling abandoned. At this moment, I'm not sure which feeling is actually worse, being pushed away or being abandoned. I'll figure it out. I always do, or at least manage to find a way around it.

A Huge Difference

This morning started out the same as most Sunday mornings, but as I was spraying the roses for fungus, it started to drizzle hard enough to send me inside. Later, I finished the spraying and came in just in time to help Husband.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided on which contractor we wanted to remodel the bathroom. This particular contractor came in 20% lower than the next leading, qualified contractor and even gave us more than everyone else. We checked him out thoroughly before signing any contracts. Even with all this, it appears right now that we'll have more than enough money for this project. So we decided to go and splurge on the one thing that the house desperately needed -- a ceiling fan for my office. We went to the local home improvement store and found a Hunter fan that fit the bill. It was only $100 out of the loan package, so it shouldn't interfer.

We put this fan up today. It took us a couple of hours until it was up and running but we were in need of bulbs for the light and fan pulls which is how I will be turning this thing off and on. Actually, the ceiling fans are basically left on 24x7 unless we turn them off to change the season setting and clean them.

The past couple of years, I've spent a lot less time in my office over the summer. The computer here gets so hot and if there's not enough air moving, or the A/C is on, it gets so stuffy in the room that it's hard to breath. The ceiling fan creates the air movement that is needed and helps to keep the computer cooler. It's actually pleasant working in here now.

Now that the pulls are on, the bulbs are in and the house is cleaned up from our construction, this fan looks like it's been here since day one. Being here makes a world of difference in comfort.