Hackberry Trees, etc, #6

Same goes, my friend.

I am definitely not the same person I was on April 13th, 2009. April 14th changed me forever. I'm still trying to pull out of the mire but can't seem to catch hold of the branch.

I think the branch is a long one, Christi, and it will be there for a long time. When you are ready just reach up for it and we'll reel you in.

Finally finished my story segment, now to get it where it needs to be.

You all have a good night if I don't get back.
I have some interesting things to tell you when I get a free block of time.

Now if that doesn't leave you hanging without a clue, nothing will.........

Further to Sharon's comment:
Same goes, my friends.

You're still close, in time, to the tragedy, Christi.
You'll catch hold of the branch.
You can be sure that your grandson would want you to.

Will also, of course, be thinking of you tomorrow.

Your friend,
Charlie.

Nite Sharon. Nite Christi.

Goodness! I wish there weren't so many miles separating us.
Good nite.

Hi Sharon and Christi,

Carol's brother, John and wife, Chris, here overnight on way back from cottage to B.C. Tim came up from Toronto, after work, to see them.

Sitting in the garden, today.
Evening flight.

He reminds me of my brother, but looks as if he's wearing your crown in that first photo, Charlie.
Glad you are enjoying your family this week.

Your home is lovely, inside and outside.

Houses are great. But they tend to be money sink holes.

Carol read recently that a home owner should expect to spend $3,000 to
$5,000 on average, annually, just to attend to routine house maintenance.

The way the houses are being built here certainly doesn't help. This is an area of very rapidly disappearing farm land and very rapid construction of housing developments. We fortunately live in a part of town which was developped about 25 years ago, when house lots are a bit bigger, and where there is woodland which can't be developped.

As to the quality of house construction, one of our neighbours went into a house under construction to ask a bathroom tiler a question. The workman replied "I don't know. I'm just an unemployed fisherman (from Newfoundland)".

Developpers are quite powerful here. David has been very active politically in trying to retain some wild areas around local wetlands (with migrating birds in mind). David, the Mayor and Council were unfortunately recently overruled, at a higher political level, in favour of developpers.

Now that I hate to hear. And you don't want me to get on my soapbox about it. Where will we be when we have no vegetation and no wildlife. We won't be, that's for sure.

OK, I don't want to rant and rage, but still....
$$$$ for developers......and what a cost to our environment.
Sheesh.

We're on the same page, Sharon.

Also: We've been told that the land, for about 100 miles north of Toronto, is the best farm land in Canada. Now year after year we have fields of houses and box stores, under construction, to replace fields of corn.

Hurts my heart.

Hi Sharon/Christi,
Working on own garden today. Pulling part of one of the beds apart.
Hate to disturb a bed that still looks OK, but know that next year, without a hachet job, it'll be overgrown.
I now know that cheddar pinks can compete very well against irises and that a ten-year species culver's root requires a spade to chop it up!

Hello Charlie,
I have an article on culver's root coming up, so I know very well about their roots. It is an interesting plant, and at one time was thought to provide strong medicine.

I need you here to revamp my beds. My daylilies have exploded into a profusion of madness. A couple of years ago there were about 2 feet between plants. No longer. And there is bindweed weaving everything all together so I can hardly tread safely there anymore.

I do have a gorgeous patch of the old old plant that is much like spiderwort. Can't for the life of me remember its botanical name. The bloom is very light blue and tiny. Anyway, it is quite prolific at the moment.
Aside from that and the roses, no blooms. Sigh. Oh...forgot the balloon flowers, and one butterfly bush.

Sharon, would certainly help you, but you'd have to move A LOT closer.

Know bindweed is a difficult one. Have a bit of it, I think, which I've been fighting in the large garden for two seasons.

Spiderworts are Tradescantia. Once planted Tradescanti commelinus in our back garden. Seeds like crazy. Has got behind the air-conditioning unit and I've been pulling it out ever since. It frightened me off spiderworts, but I've found Zwanenberg Blue to be so well behaved that I'm now moving it around. It blooms a long time.

Have said before, but think a mixed perennial bed is good for about five years. It's best in the third ear. Needs to be pulled apart in the fifth. A Victorian approach! Think this is too labour intensive for people with jobs or people with varied interests ( = normal people!). I tend to think I cut "avenues" into large mixed perennial beds and renovate these portions each year. As you know, avoiding invasives is crucial and intensive ongoing cultivation can handle almost all problems. Nevertheless, it's still a bit like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke.

Great analogy, Charlie.
You nailed it that time.

Going to look for a picture of Tradescantia...
Back in a minute.

I must be wrong.
I thought this was the wildflower, but if it is, it isn't listed in PF.

I'll get out and take a picture of it tomorrow.
But like spiderwort, it loves to grow around the airconditioning drip.

Am unlikely to know what it is, Sharon, but will certainly be interested to see the picture.

Hi Sharon and Christi.

Still lots of colour in the garden, but not enough variety of plants.
Am now getting Boltonia in bloom:
Bottom centre is a hybrid: Jim Crockett.

New England Aster in centre is not in bloom yet, but the tall light pink (looks white) Boltonia to the right is claspingleaf doll's daisy. Got two of these about six years ago and soon lost one. Very pleased the other settled in. It's a Mississippi floodplane wildflower, which only occurs in Illinois (where it is threatened) and Missouri (where it is endangered).

Picture does not do credit to the colour of this new hybrid gentian (True Blue).

Oh. That Mississippi floodplane wildflower is breathtaking...so's the entire photo. How beautiful, Charlie. You captured so much beauty in that shot.
Made me smile out loud again.

My little friend.
Any tones you note in the carpet are his work.
As implied Buddy subscribes to the Roman orgy concept;
eat - bring it up - and then eat some more.
We won't be buying new carpets until Buddy passes on.

Seems odd that this wetland type wildflower that is threatened by habitat destruction grows well in our garden. Can only think it to do with our watering.

'Little Friend'......

Somehow Charlie, I think you are not seeing Buddy as I am seeing him.
Ummmmmm, little is not the word i would use exactly....

Exhausted again .
Going to have to call it a night.
Tomorrow maybe I will wax eloquent about something...but not tonight.
Talk with you tomorrow...my friend.
You take care.

I am asleep by 9 PM almost every night. Never around when you two are chatting. We have a little Schi-Tzu that has the same habits as buddy...Roman style. Several years ago we put ceramic in almost the entire house because of the dogs. Have an area rug in the tv room. Guess where Mattie chooses to be "sick".

Yesterday we cut down some 15 Castor Bean plants that had reached 10-12 feet. Trying to get to them before they explode the seed pods. Have a beautiful Lady Banksia Rose that has almost demolished the arbor/trellis it is on so we have started cutting it way back also. Odd how we work so hard to encourage something to grow and then it gets huge and has to be pruned or taken out.

Hope it is a good holiday for all.

Christi

Good to see you, Christi,
Been a while and I missed you.

We have clouds and cool here today, I already went to the grocery about 5 miles away and across the lake, near the marina where we boated. They had a craft show going on in that little town, so that was fun for a few minutes, then I shopped. Now I am home again and it isn't even noon. I could be out weeding, but I got this wild urge to do something different to my living room. I never use that room, and often forget it's there. If I could only move the piano, sigh......

Anyway, I can move every thing else, though, and think I will.
Holiday weekends are a tough time to be alone, so I think up projects that will wear me out enough so that I don't think. Hence, the living room.

If y'all don't hear from me for awhile, it's because I decided to tackle the piano.
Maybe I won't, because it would win for sure.

Later....hope your day is beautiful.

Careful with the piano. I have been moving them for almost all of my life. Back surgery last year to show for it. I'm lots more careful about what I tackle these days. I have always loved to move furniture and rearrange all the do-dads. Am a fan of Mary Englebrite and have all of her books. One is of her home with one room done 5 different ways. Not just for the photo shoot, taken over a period of time. She moves some little thing on every trip through the house. I'm not quite that bad anymore. If something is moved, it disturbs the dust and causes a lot more work.

Outside I go. 92 and humid

Hi Sharon and Christi,

Buddy goes in a two week cycle: first week fine, second week is sick every day. Did it after dinner last night and twice after breakfast, this morning. You can't image how many times we've threatened to send him to the knacker's yard, but it does not work. The truly annoying thing is that he pesters you for more food very soon after he's been sick. Thanks for the advice Christi (ceramics and area rug). We're now thinking along those lines, but Buddy doesn't seem interested in paying for it!

He used to be 28 lbs, Sharon, now not the man he was. He's dropped many lbs on the diabetic diet that really seems to be good for his (if not our mental) health.

Carol has several strong interests in common with you both: loves home decorating, staging, etc. and loves craft shows. I wish garden centres were more than five miles away so I wouldn't buy so many plants. Mind you I don't mind driving two and a half hours to get to the cottage, because Dwight has a wonderful garden centre.

Interesting point Christi makes about planting the stuff, encouraging it to grow, then cutting it back, removing it and the like. Think that makes us gardeners! The stork dropped us one too many times on our heads in a garden. Sound like Mike's a gardener too.

Sharon, don't do too much. Sounds like Christi's better at pacing herself than either you or me. My pacing mechanism is probably to only keep one ball in the air at a time.

As Sharon said, would be fun to live closer. Obviously weekends would be the time to meet for coffee and the like.

Holiday greetings.
When is a holiday not a holiday? When you're retired. But it's certainly the best life style.

Charlie.

Pacing...pacing to me only means moving a little faster than a fast walk.

We are only given so many hours in a day, gotta fill them up, don't you think?

Dreary and rainy, so I am playing in the living room, eyeing the piano, but so far it's safe from my efforts.
Back later.

Feel exactly like you, Sharon, about using time. For me, the intent tends to be mindless, but beginning to think I should think about important physical mundanities more.

Example: the soil level in my flowerbeds tends to rise, over time, from the use of weedless compost. This means there is a rise to get into the bed. By summer the bed is crowded and many of the plants staked. Consequently, I've tripped several times in backing out of a bed. The beds don't have rocks in them, but they have lots of upright bamboo stakes.

Slowing down and taking time to think: I now always turn round in a bed, even if there's a tiny bit of trampling and come out seeing where I'm going.

I'm now finding the look-where-I'm-going approach also works very well on that little entrance slope when the clay-based soil becomes compacted and wet.

What I'm saying is fill your time, my friend, but do it carefully.

In my case, it would also help if I had a bit more self-discipline. I've still got to work on that one!

I did not move the piano.
But I tried, I really did.
It simply would not budge. So I did very little to my living room.
Sigh.

I did fill up my bird feeders, and I did think seriously about weeding, but by the time I got all organized, it started the rain thing again, so there was no progress there either.

So I did an afternoon of nothing, which is very difficult for me to do. All in all, after grocery-ing this morning, then playing in the living room this afternoon, I guess it was not such a wasted day. Oh, then I played with Cupcake in her garage domain. That was fun.

And that's it for my day.
Hope yours was much better.

Oh, I have weedy vines in my daylilies, trip me every time!

Sounds like a useful day, Sharon,
did something that had to be done and then relaxed.
Way to go!

And Cupcake's a cutie.

Got to be easier on ourselves.

Nite my friend,
Charlie

Nite, Charlie.
Have a great day tomorrow.

We have been working on the Lady Banksia for 3 days now and still not finished. I won't let it get this wild again. Although, the blooms last Spring were to die for.
shoot, can't find the picture

Find the picture, LouC...I wanna see.

Me too, Christi.

Having a really difficult time finding all of my photos since I changed from windows to mac, They are here someplace but danged if I can find them.

Christi

Don't worry about it, Christi, when and if you find them is great.

Are going to need to get a new computer ourselves soon, as said. Maybe as said, we'd feel a lot more confident about it if our computer literate son, Tim, still lived here.

Charlie