Wordless Wednesday

Counting My Blessings

As I sit at my desk this afternoon cool air drifts through an open patio door, bringing with it a hint of rain.

The sweet smell of a mayday tree perfumes my office.

Joyful shrieks tell of little neighbor girls playing tag next door.

Jada lays in the doorway, the occasional yip and small whine a testament to her dreams.

Butter, soft and yellow waits in the bottom of a mixing bowl, destined to become delicious oatmeal cookies.

Purple pansies bring to mind the carefree days of childhood.

After months of being confined to home and, for the most part, my chair, I've been pushing myself pretty hard these last few months, planting, creating and learning so many new things to bring my dreams to life.

But now. . . for a little while. . .  it's time to rest and count my blessings.

My abundant blessings.

God is good.

Spring In Alberta

Spring is Alberta can be elusive. Fickle even.

One day the sun shines, the snow begins to melt and your heart warms.

Spring is here!

Then the snow begins once again.

There are days, weeks even, where you become convinced that this is the year we will skip spring altogether.  Go straight from winter into summer.

Some years . . . it has nearly done just that.

The trick is to look closely . . . and quickly. Spring shows herself here in Alberta, you just have to know what to look for.

What is more fun in the spring than 'crack ice???'

 

Catching a few warm rays on a bench overlooking the river valley?

Jada's not too sure about that.

Her favorite spring activity is looking for the best grass to graze on once the snow starts receding. (We've tried to tell her she's a dog not a cow . . . but . . .  somehow. . .  when it comes to just the right kind of grass, she doesn't seem to care!)

Of course you can't find spring without looking every where. Jada likes to keep a close eye on the path leading to the river . . .

Spring comes slowly most years . . . but it always comes. And the snow leaves.

And the flowers arrive.

The forecast for this week is wonderful.  Temperatures are finally on the rise. Plants are moving into the greenhouse today and, if I have a few spare minutes, I'm going to snip back a few of those tired looking, dried out iris leaves in the front garden.

It's time to make room for a new gardening season.

Spring!

Bursting at the Seams.

We are bursting at the seams these days.

Plants have taken over nearly every corner of the house, not to mention all the other things we've been madly working on for next week's sale.

Things are coming to a head. I was planning to start moving plants into the greenhouse over the next few days but it looks like we're going to have one more very cold night. Since next week's forecast is excellent, Monday is the day.

And not a moment too soon!

Now it's time to get back to work!

Time Management

No time to blog.
No time to clean.
No time to do dishes.
No time to eat. (Unless it's an ice cream sandwhich. I've been eating lots of those!)
No time to read.
No time to sleep.
Just dig,dig,dig!
Prune,prune,prune.
Plant, plant, plant!
Whoo hoo!!!

How Can You Tell Rosa's Spending To Much Time In The Garden?

 The spiders got tired of her getting into every nook and cranny in the garden making it impossible to keep their webs intact, and decided to move their work inside.
I'd say they they are doing a fine job, wouldn't you???
I'm not so sure about me though. . . .

African Violets. . . Solace On A Snowy Spring Morning

Peering out of the dining room window early this morning, I sighed as I beheld yet another snowy start to my day.
It's spring. . .
In name only.
But wait!
What's this I see?

African violets

My African violets are finally blooming!

Solace for my flower starved soul.

A Walk In The Country

I had planned to bring my bus home today to get every extra minute possible so I could scrub the house from top to bottom, do some laundry (I had to use a dirty towel after my shower!) and maybe get a coffee cake in the oven.
However, my plans changed when Jesse met me at the bus this morning to let me know that two of the teeth he had worked on at the dentist's were really hurting him.
Whoops! I forgot to fill his penicillin prescription!
Went to the pharmacy, picked up Jada and headed back to school so he could take some medicine right away.
Sometimes it's not such a bad thing when plans are changed. . . .

After all, the house can be cleaned anytime. . . right???

Gardening Is Not For The Faint Of Heart!

Do you remember your mom telling you "If you want to look beautiful it has to hurt?" ( Usually said on a Saturday night while hauling a brush through the tangles in your wet hair as she puts rollers in your hair for Sunday. Which, by the way, you had to sleep on all night!)

It seems that goes for a beautiful garden as well. . .

This is what happens when you turn your back on the wheelbarrow you just loaded with rocks for the pond. . .

For crying out loud!

The garden's worth it though. . .

Spring Madness

I've been out in the garden most of the day.
The sun is shining, small bulbs are blooming, large bulbs are poking out and the plants that need to be moved need to be moved now, before the leaves really start budding out.
So I started moving things.
When I got to the peony, (yes I know it should be moved in the fall!) I made an unwelcome discovery.
Some of the ground was still rather frozen.
Heating that soil with a blow dryer crossed my mind. . .
Yes indeed. . .
Spring madness has begun!

Dear Lisa. . .

Dear Lisa,

Do you remember when, not so long ago, you came for a visit?

Do you remember how astonished and amazed you were when you went down the stairs and kept exclaiming that you had never, ever seen it as clean as that?

Which was true because it had never been that clean!

Even the laundry room was immaculate.

Please tell me that you remember how lovely it was. . .

Because that's all it is now. . .

A distant memory . . .

Jesse is painting his room and put everything in the hallway, someone put clothes out to bring to Goodwill and the laundry room, well. . .

Sigh.

I think that the day you were over is probably the last time it will ever look that clean.

Ah well, on the bright side, my plant shelves are filled to bursting which means spring is here and soon I'll have an excellent excuse, I mean reason, for not having a clean house. . .

Gardening season!

Whoo Hoo!

3 Weeks!!

Good grief! It's been three weeks since I've posted anything!

Some of you might be wondering if I have casts on both hands or perhaps think I'm lolling on a warm sandy beach somewhere.

Oh to be lolling!

We have been enjoying an early spring and my allergies are out in full force this year, leaving me rather limp and worn out.

Sensible people of course take it easy in these situations, but I have never been accused of being sensible. . .

I've had company,

(Here's a Grandma who will do anything to get a laugh!)

worked on spring cleaning (with some welcome help from mom), started some new projects and finished up a few old ones.

(Henry did an awesome job of putting up new shelves in my 'computer' room. I feel inspired to make things every time I come in here.)

Okay. . .

I must confess . . . there were also a few days in there where I drove the bus, came home and slept or did nothing, drove the bus again and came home and did nothing and went to bed very early.

Once in a while I can be sensible.

Ev and I went out to lunch for her birthday this week and ended up in an excellent little restaurant where we were delighted to discover many menu items were made with local food.

I forgot my camera and Ev forgot to take pictures! What kind of bloggers are we anyways?

I also have a shocking admission to make. . .

I have not started one seed.

I'm not quite sure how that happened but I'm way behind and I'm hoping some time out at Marlene's greenhouse fillings pots with soil will inspire me.

(Marlene's greenhouse last spring.)

Tam and Byron will be out here early next week and I'll get a sneak peek at this spring's fabulous new planters.

More inspiration.

And for one last picture. . .

Ev and I enjoy our Seed Exchange. . .

To My Cousins. . . Yes, It Is Wednesday Night!

As my cousins Chandra and Marie pointed out, it is now Wednesday night which means my promise is no longer just bent, but fully broken.

Sorry about that Tam!

And on that note, I will now regal you with the fuchsia story. . .

A few weeks ago Tamara wrote a post about the fuchsia baskets they were growing over at Darvonda. http://thegreenhousediaries.blogspot.com/2009/04/hooked-on-hanging-baskets.html

Now I have a tricky growing spot on my back deck, as it gets morning sun and a little bit of afternoon sun.

This makes it too sunny for most shade loving plants and not quite sunny enough for good flowering from sun loving plants.

I had a couple of fuchsia basket stuffers one year and not only did they do well, Henry loved them.

I'm not sure what is was about a plant as girly as a fuchsia that appealed to him,( they always look like little ball gowns with frothy petticoats to me) but I'm always looking to include the family in gardening choices.

I asked Tamara if the fuchsias were coming to Alberta.

Nope.

But she was more than happy to send me two to hang from the back deck.

Luckily for me our dad is one of their drivers and often does the Alberta route. He brought them up and I met him at the gas station to get them .

He opened the back of the truck and I hopped up and grabbed the first one.

Good grief that thing was heavy!

I struggled to get both of them into the back of the truck.

Once I brought them home, I took them into the greenhouse to hang up.

I took the plastic sleeve off.

And beheld the most enormous fuchsia I had ever seen!

I tried to hang it up but the branches hit the roof, while the basket hanger was a good six inches away from the hanging bar. (This picture shows you what it looked like after the branches had relaxed quite a bit.)

What to do?

I had to bring it inside.

The only problem I had was getting it through the door without breaking of all the branches!

When Henry dropped by for lunch the next day I asked him to help me hang the baskets up on the deck.

They are so big that not only can you not see into the garden, half of the one basket blocks the stairs down into the garden!

Yikes!

Darvonda sure knows how to give good value for your money.

And we all know Tamara likes to do things in a big way. . . http://thegreenhousediaries.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-build-chandelier.html

Thanks Tam!

Please, Don't Judge Me!

It's been very busy around here, with me spending much of my time doing rather than writing about doing.

I've been on a field trip. (which I will one day blog about on the Potting Shed. Sorry Marlene!)

Tried something new while baking bread.

Been hard at work in my own greenhouse.

Started ripping out much of the plant material in the back yard to prepare it for my new interests. (Fruits and veggies!)

Attended meetings to get the new community garden going.

Been biking to work whenever I can.

Had a birthday.

And spent yesterday in the garden.

Digging, transplanting, watering and. . .

Pruning the topiaried cedar I purchased for $24.99 at a big box store a few years ago.

It wasn't the perfect specimen with the top being rather wonky, but at that price I was not going to be too picky!

It sat in a lovely blue pot on the front steps all season. Fall arrived and I knew it had no chance of surviving through the winter in the pot. The front garden wasn't ideal either as it tends to be quite windy during the winter.

But that is where I had always dreamed of having a topiary and for $24.99 I figured it was worth a try.

It survived!

And grew.

Now I have to tell you that pruning is not my forte.

So I didn't prune it at all last year.

This year it had to be done.

Courage in hand (as well as sharp pruners!) I approached the shaggy cedar.

After a while I gained a bit of confidence.

Whoo Hoo!

It looked like I knew what I was doing after all!

The time had come to finish it off.

Following the spiral I began working on the wonky top.

I began to clip and snip.

I stood back.

Surveyed my work.

And had the fleeting panicked thought that you can't glue branches back on once they have been clipped off.

Because you see, I hadn't followed the spiral properly.

So. My topiary is now a spiral topped by a little pompom.

And every time I see it I giggle uncontrollably.

Because, well, it looks ridiculous!

The big problem however, is that I have, without remorse, mocked badly done topiary in the past.

So all I really want to do is put a big sign beside my topiary saying. . .

Please, Don't Judge Me By My Topiary!

Giggle.