Apropos of Nothing v.17

Thank you all. I appreciate your support immensely.

Bea - what beautiful daughters! Do they like gardening???

Yes, Holly, support system up and running full-steam ahead.

Beautiful girls, Bea. Just like their mother, I'm sure. Enjoy this girl time!!!

Yay for Tagro!!! Have fun

Yes Holly hoping your difficult time will be a short one.
Winston Churchill said, "When you think you are in hell, keep walking."

Emerson wrote, " In the muck and mire of things, always, always something sings."

Patricia - those are good things to remember. I think I'll write them down to reread, as well.

I'm keeping on walking. The muck and mire is getting less sticky. Hopefully there are no sinkholes ahead. Can't quite hear the singing yet. I think I need to make my heart still to listen for that.

Thanks all for your nice comments about my daughters. They do not like gardening sadly. They like to have vases of flowers and fresh veggies, but get their hand or clothes dirty...never! The youngest hates all spiders too and can spot one a mile away... Maybe one day when they own their own homes they will come crying to me to help.LOL!

My daughters BF and his dog Roxy came to vist us at our art & the park booth today. My daughter put one of the hydrangea princess crowns on the dog and walked around the park to drum up some sales.
The dog was a hit..sales not so great today!

I tortured my two sons with nursery trips throughout their childhood. One, amazingly enough, became a landscape architect. Yahoo.

Awwww, so cute!

Inspired by Pony's new beds, and listening to previous advice on this forum: "Lawn is overrated", I realized that I had a couple of areas that would provide my plants more sunshine than most of my world. Yesterday I started carving out sod. It took me at least a half hour to figure out how to do it reasonably efficiently.

This morning, Rarejem and I (and the Kubota tractor) finished the border and filled the bed with a combination of compost and Tagro. Rarejem did a lot more of the rock moving than I did, and the dolly helped for the really big ones. Needless to say, after the morning and a turkey soup lunch, we were pretty much done for the day. Nap time!

Very nice!! I have rock envy. What are you going to plant in there?

Oh wow- that's so awesome! Nice work, ladies! I have rock envy too- those are beauties.

The new bed is lovely, your plants will be happy - but what I am most impressed with is that you knew when to call it a day - perhaps you could give lessons, bullet point review at the end, guidelines of how to recognize that state, and how to cope with, and overcome, 'gardener's guilt'. That looks good, and you report that didn't kill yourself in the process - I think that is definately worthy of gold stars on your gardeners boots!! Buy yourself some plants!

Hmmmmm, dog with tiara. Now I do think most dogs deserver a good tiara, a simpler crown might do for some, but that one - (intake of doubtful breath) - policeman's helmet? Trilby over one eye? Watchcap possibly, but tiara - a definate fashion faux pas.

Female bull dogs for some reason are always thought of as males. Roxy a female was just trying to be a bit more girly as she hates being called "handsome". She loved the crown ,in fact her human took it home for her. LOL!

This lovely beast came to the park yesterday and spent a lot of time resting near my booth. My chihuahua's could be fleas on this dogs. She was massive to large to buy a crown! She is a grand pyrenees dog. Sweetest owner too!

Then we had this visitor. Only in Oregon. :)

Apologies to the bulldog for thinking she was a he - with a name like Roxy I assumed she was he. I am now better informed. What was this park party? It seemed to consist of bedecking animals in jewelry. And brave kitty to be out amongst so much doggie flesh! Sheesh. fingers crossed for an absence of Terriers.

What to plant in the new, sunny bed?????????????The possibilites are endless, but first I am going to start with some of my pot ghetto. I still have a couple of peonies from the spring co-op and a few containers of winter sowing yet. But the main purpose was a new and sunny place for some of my really good daylilies that don't get enough sun where they are right now. And now we have the best of Julie's daylily babies to get in the ground somewhere to properly evaluate them. And, oh, I just had to order a few new ones from Maryott's BOGO sale, too.

Laurie, deciding when to quit is easy for me. When I can barely pick up my feet in my muck boots and I have acquired a blister or two on my hands, I grudgingly give in. Having a good mystery book waiting by the couch helps, too, as well as knowing there is another free day tomorrow. This is the "another" free day now, however so I had best get out and get some stuff in the ground.

Sharon & Julie, you are both such hard workers. I can hardly wait to see the new area planted! And the rocks - I also have rock envy. Where did you get all those lovelies?
My own poor garden, small as it is, has been woefully neglected as I study for my Oregon license. My back yard is in shade this year because the tree in the yard behind mine has grown so big. The owners are very cool and we shall do an evaluation to see what should be trimmed in time for next season. Meanwhile, I have few flowers and tomatoes. But I have discovered that I am liking a mostly green garden, and the contrast of textures and shades of green.

Julie, what did you find was the most efficient (easiest) way to get the sod out. The area looks lovely! I also have major rock envy - those are beauts. Where did you get them.

Judi, way to "dance with who brung you to the party."

Good job on the new bed. Looks real good.

Love the the pyrenees.

But Gwen what if who brung you to the party is lookin ragged and you spy something so fine from across the room.......

Sharon-Beautiful job what fun...do you happen to have a trailer for your Kabota?

Judi - LOL

I'm gettin' old you know, and I don't have time to waste on ragged plants or ragged men.

PORTLAND!! Please don't be getting old - you always sound so young!!!! And too true about ragged men, go for the 'across the room'! Never, ever, miss an opportunity!

And Sharon, thank you for filling in the rest of the 'knocking off' signals - I am re-normalized. I was really afraid that, developmentally, I had missed a step in my gardening growing up - right, so when my knees buckle, my hands can't grasp, and I am panting with exhaustion that is the normal time to go in and read my murder mystery. Got it.

One of my mother-in-law's expressions and mottos in life was 'take your cookies when they're passed.'

Oh Gwen you have some good sayings! Love the cookie one. Laurie, a man with a bit of a ragged edge would be ok - I'm still looking for my forest ranger who writes poetry and reads McEwan.

If you go out in the forest today you're in for a big surprise tada tada.......

Is adenium obesum the slowest growing plant ever, or is it just mine? I started one from seed many months ago, and the silly thing is still only a few inches tall! It looks really healthy, but it just doesn't groooow.

Willow I didn't go in the forest today but I did go to the farmer's market. No forest rangers with pen in hand, but I did find some nice blackberries.

(I'm whispering this, because it is sooooo uncouth - but I hate poetry, other than ee cummings "If a panther calls, don't anther" - who needs more? Rhymes, its informative, and has a nice rhythm when reading or speaking. And I can remember it.)

Pony, some plants do little top growth in the first year, but put down a good root base to survive the first winter - tap it out of the pot, gently, and see if its working below ground.

Thanks, Laurie, I'll check that. I did a little looking around, and I think the problem may be that it isn't getting enough direct sun. It's a tropical and apparently prefers all day sun, but I can't offer it that inside our house. I only have one "kitty safe" window, and it only gets a little direct sun each day. Argh.

Laurie, I always though ee cummings was great, too. (But I also love Longfellow.) And I see we share the same approaches to knowing when it is time to quit in the garden.

Judi, go for the "fine" and find one for me too. But subtly, of course.

Gwen, I cut the sod into about 18 inch squares with a sharp shovel, then used a flat-bladed shovel to skin it up off the ground.

Linda, no trailer for the Kubota, but you can come play with it here if you want to.

Laurie - what about the imagery of the romantics?

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree . . .

Or the musicality of Robert Burns?

My luv is like a red, red, rose.

Or one of my favorites, the Alaskan poet Robert Service, who told wicked stories of tragedies in the Last Frontier.

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was hi light-o’-love, the lady that’s known as Lou.
When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare,
There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear.
He looked like a man with a foot in the grave, and scarcely the strength of a louse,
Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for drinks for the house.
There was none could place the stranger’s face, though we searched ourselves for a clue;
But we drank his health, and the last to drink was dangerous Dan McGrew.

I love Ogden Nash. He is sooooooo funny.

Agent59 I was not familiar with the Dan McGrew poem. I love it! What do you suppose "tilted a poke of dust on the bar" mean? I am going to look up Robert Service.

Sharon, I'll keep my eye out for a few worthy ones, but don't hold your breath! They seem to be few and far between in my 63 year-old age group. And I don't do the younger man thing. I once dated a very nice man a few months, a Welshman who used to play soccer for Manchester United, then he asked me to have dinner with him and his son. I said sure, it will be fun. His hair was grey and he seemed about my age. My youngest child at the time was 16. I arrived at the restaurant and was greeted by his 4 year-old son, and it turned out that my friend was quite a bit younger than me, and he had no idea how old I was. All that soccer (football in his terms) had taken a toll and he appeared older than his years. That was the end of that - he was closer in age to my daughter! But he was fun and we have remained friends and laugh about it now.

Behind as usual here. soo.....
Glad people enjoyed the photos. Yes, very, very, very difficult to come back. If only my dh were not so darned RESPONSIBLE! How does this man enjoy life (which he clearly does) with this much responsibility in his body? You'd think that the world would just FALL APART were he to simply abandon his job and run away with me. Pooh. Just when I thought I had convinced him that we could live on love alone. Apparently he will need more convincing.

Holly - you are in my thoughts for a speedy passage through this time in your life. Keep your eye on the light. And your heart, too.

Pony - Ouch on the surgery! I hope it fixes the problem and that you can wait until winter to have it so that you can recover during the long nights. Adenium obesum hates it here. I am impressed that you grew yours from seed. I had one for several years and it existed in time and space, but never really thrived. Try using one of those cheap lamp fixtures that are meant for worklights - they have a huge clamp on one side and a large metal shield for the light. Lowe's or Home Depot, less than 10$. Fix it up with a full spectrum light that you screw in. It should do the trick providing both heat and light. If you do it, expose it to the light slowly so it doesn't freak out. If you like succulents, I have a ton of them and they are taking up way too much room in the greenhouse for me. I have to get tough and get rid of some.

Sharon - Nice bed! And yes, lovely rocks. Must be nice to have machinery.

Laurie - can I play with you in the quiet corner of the 'no poetry' room? I just cannot get into it, frankly. It's my secret shame, especially since my dh is a wonderful poet, and also my dd. I guess she got the poet gene from her dad because clearly it didn't come from me.

PNWMountainGirl-Thanks for the offer but since I have never been on a Kabota I doubt if you would want me trashing your beautiful yard trying to learn how to maneuver it. Ha

Yes, Judi - check out the Robert Service poems being recited on youtube. The fun is in the live recitation. The poems are macabre and really capture the brutality of the harsh wilderness, even though they're written tough and tongue in cheek.

Here's another favorite - the Cremation of Sam McGee:

http://www.birdsnest.com/rservice.htm#The%20Cremation

Agent59