What's Happening in YOUR neighborhood today #5

Well .. it has been 'A DAY' !!!
Early start .. got the flowers watered at the cemetery .. Lilly got in a huge walk .. and the woman on the other end of the leash did as well :-)

Went to a GreenHouse and picked up more Daylillies and some tomato plants .. I had to really hold back .. gosh .. everything looked so nice ... and the fragrances .. WOW !!

Weather has been unpredictable .. 2 bursts of rain .. thunder storms supposedly overnight .. maybe they'll scare the crows away ?

OH .. I got all my house plants outside and RE soiled'em .. as in .. I added soil .. boy did some need it badly .. here's hoping my Hoya will now bloom .. its been ON STRIKE for 2 years ..

Hope everyone has enjoyed their day ..

~M~

My black iris bloomed today and several strawberries turning from green to pale pink - 29 degree weather will do that. Just came in from hacking down my flowering almonds - the mice stripped all the bark from them last winter and they all but died. I think i see shoots coming from the root stock but it could be something else. Will give them a year before digging out. Now have a big space to fill

Oh My June .. sorry to hear about your Flowering Almonds .. the reason I bought the Azalea was because a friend had one and it was so amazing .. BUT .. 'VOLES' (Meadow Mouse) got at hers. She was going to dig it out .. but .. POOF .. it started to bloom .. I think you;re wise to wait a year ..

STRAWBERRIES .. Should be on the agenda here in the TBay area within the next few weeks .. there are several .. well three .. 'piclk your own' farms near us, and we're usually good for 4 to 8 baskets depending on the weather and the aches and pains .. LoL. .. I have a couple of 'standard recipies' and also make a few jars of jam .. have totally QUIT making like 20 + jars at a time .. we don't have a basement so storage is a challenge. Nothing nicer though than fresh picked Strawberries, of course unless it's RASPBERRIES ... delish .. but OH those seeds !!

Looks like it's going to be a rainy day here .. so housework looks like it'll be a priority .. unless someone calls and wants to go for BREAKFAST somewhere .. DH has his 'cronies club' today .. I don't know why I call it that .. it's just that a group of 12 guys .. teamed up and drinking coffee at Timmies every Saturday and Sunday .. well .. "cronie club' just seemed to fit. Not sure how old you have to be to BE a cronie .. these fellas are btw 52 and 60 .. either retired or getting ready to. An ecclectic mix of friends for sure .. and not an ELECTRICIAN in the mix !!!!

Enjoy your day wherever you may be :-)

~M~

This message was edited Jun 22, 2008 7:18 AM

Rainy here too. Bummer. Have lots of things I need to do in the garden. Might get some of them done in front of the house because the tree canopy will stop most of the rain.

Jeepers creepers .. what a crazy day in the Bay of Thunder !!! One minute it's blazing sun and hot .. then it starts to shower and gets muggy ..

Ended up going back to the cemetery .. my bud had several Canna Lilies left which she nicely let me have AND planted for me. It'll take til August for the blooms .. but .. anticipation is an intrinsic part of gardening :-)
Did manage to get 2 loads of landry done and dried .. the puttin away part can wait a bit .. time to break for lunch as I didn't have breakfast ... feelin a might peckish ..

Enjoy

~M~

Voles - hmph! I have them again this year too. The two years I was vole free had much, much colder winters. I wonder if milder temperatures in the winter have anything to do with the seeming population explosion?

Sunny and warm here today on Ontario's West Coast, but it rained so hard yesterday that we still have pools of water all over the place. NOT conducive to attempting any more landscaping efforts :-( Spent the day doing housework instead, which is probably a good thing. I think my dust bunnies had dust bunnies.

All 18 of my dahlia tubers have sprouted despite the fact that it started raining almost immediately after I planted the tubers and hasn't really stopped for more than a day since. That big gust of wind you all may have had was my huuuge release of pent up breath when the last one finally made a showing today! My fingers were beginning to cramp from having them so tightly crossed for so long too :-)

ooooooooo dahlias are so patient don't you find ginny lynn? they wait patiently til the conditions are right and then TADA!!!!!

Today promises to be a warm AND sunny day here in Thunder Bay. Good thing as there's lots of catching up to do re yardwork and, of course, GROCERY SHOPPING !!!
I do believe the full moon has brought us SUMMER .. I'll take it :-)

Remember Dahlias .. my Mom loved'em .. used to plant (digging back in time here) "Dinner Plate Dahlias" they were Maroon and gold .. beautiful ....
Have never tried them myself .. maybe next year .. even though I am going to try and STICK to perennials..

Hope you all have a splenderiferous day !!

~M~

All of you Ontarians cuurently in and around the Toronto area keep your eyes open. I just received this weather watch:

I was a naughty lady yesterday!
Past weekend was the Alberta Ballet Home and Garden Tour fundraiser and Lougheed House was open and I was working on Sunday. Just to set the scene:
I was given a 'new' outfit to wear - a gorgeous burgundy day dress - long sleeve straight skirt with wide tucks from shoulder to hip, worn with a stiff broad brimmed black velour hat with a single black ostrich feather, narrow ribbon black bow and a tiny pin of rhimestones. Plus pearl earings and necklace. Looked rather super ( sorry dont have a pic yet)

Anyway we dont tour these folks, we are just stationed in one or two rooms to answer questions. After a while I noticed many people really did not 'see' me standing or sitting in the room unless I smiled and spoke and it seemed also some people did not realize I was not a mannequin if I did not move.

So late in the afternoon I was sitting quietly, hands in lap, on the banquette in front of the Drawing Room window and a couple came in, she looked at me briefly and passed by , he looked, turned away and looked back. I did not move! He tipped his head back and forth and then sort of leaning forward with a puzzled look on his face approached me slowly. When he got about two feet away I suddenly smiled at him! He jumped ! We had a good laugh. He told me he does not see clearly at close quarters so he was not at all sure if I was alive or not. We had a good laugh and so did the rest of the staff when I told them. Think I might try that again sometime!

I have a new granddaughter! Born early this morning in Vancouver. 7 lb, 13 oz. As yet, unnamed - I believe they are trying a few names out this afternoon. All are doing well. :-)

Aside from that long awaited news (she was due on the 14th), I did aquafit and coffee, tried to get an allergy shot, but there was a last minute cancellation because the Dr. couldn't be in the office, and I got emissions test done on my car. It passed with flying colours even though its 11 years old. I didn't renew the registration because I decided the line-up was too long. No urgency and I'll go back another time.

Ann

comgrats on the new grandbaby.

Just on the computer for a moment, we're moving today and wednesday. today it's all the plants and whatever else we can fit in the pickup. High overcast, warm and clearing.

Believe it or not, I got a picture - sent from cell phone. Here she is.
Ann

Congrats to ALL Ann :-)
I remember well when my Granddaughter was born .. I was first to visit the 'new parents' (my son and DIL) they asked me if 'Brooklyn Irene' was an OK name ... I was sorta taken aback by Brooklyn .. but about cried re "Irene" .. that is my Mom's name and she had passed away just a year before .. I have since gotten used to 'Brooklyn' .. MS. B. (as myself and DH) call her is approaching her 10th BDay :-)

Good luck re your move MG.. better you than me !!! DH is somewhat of a 'pack rat' moving would be a HORROR !!!

Weather here today was PERFECT .. 24C .. sunny. Got some grass cutting done after we got home from grocery shopping .. tomorrow I have lunch with some nursey buds and a sort of Hospice/Palliative Care workshop ..

Lilly has her WOOFER in high gear at the moment .. best go and see what "MONSTER' has dared invade our space !!


Stay well all :-)


~M~

OH ANN !!! ... She's WONDERFUL !!! Want to just kiss her :-)

CONGRATS to the max !!!!!

~M~

Congratulations ViolaAnn,.. and to all the family.
Sweet photo.
Is this your first grandchild?

Good morning everyone,

Starzz - first child for DD#2. DD#1 has 6 yr old twins - one boy and one girl. They live in the other side of Ottawa; so we see them often.

It appears to be a decent day here. Will skip aquafit and get busy in the garden. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Ann

Congratulations ViolaAnn! What a darling little girl. You must be so proud.

Good luck with the move Linda. I hope both your sanity and your possessions make it intact :-)

It's a "who knows" kind of day here today .. cloudy and looks like it'll rain any second, however, the POP is 30%.

Off to get ready for the workshop !!

Enjoy your day :-)

~M~

Congratulations Ann, thank goodness she was a little late as you were way 'south'..absolutely the cutest..how proud you must be..love the name..another friend on DG who became a grandmother over the weekend hasn't posted photo's as yet but her beautiful new grandaughter is called "Isabelle Rose" and now "Brooklin Irene" aren't they both the loveliest of names...

"M" didn't get to talk to Dougie and his gang as to how they fared in your neck of the woods...must call them...perhaps the mosquito's and black flies carried them away..

Good luck on the move as well MG..hope the plants survive the move..

Hi Carol, nice to see you drop in..

OMG Fancy, that must have been something..imagine, someone not knowing if you were real or mannequin..The most amazing part about Disney and Epcot is going to the theatres that have electronic mannequin's .. sometimes I keep looking as I feel they must be real..such slow movements to some..did you all get the gardens cleared at the Lougheed House..

Noticed at Canadian Tire in Barrie yesterday morning that they had Canada Day petunia handing baskets, $6.89 - don't think they are waves though..but pretty..should pick one up, add some potato vine and enjoy on Tuesday...

Anything special planned? We were given Monday off so with working only 1/2 day Friday it makes for an enjoyable long weekend..might get some boating in..I'm hoping providing weather co-operates...but if it doesn't I have a muskoka chair class scheduled for the 5th and need to do my homework on it..either way, I'll be busy..

Know our community fireworks etc. are slated for Sat. night..odd because when I arranged for the firework display and got grants' from Canada Day granting system they had to be held on "Canada Day" only..but this makes more sense, if it rains you can have alternate dates..

Ginny did you get hit by the bad weather yesterday..we were at lunch when it hit, got back to the office and it was sunshine..checked my new plantings and some were trampled down by the heavy rains on Saturday night..let's hope they survive..

Imagine, in March I order 2 loads of topsoil..waited/waited for the arrival, wouldn't you know, I got home last night and there it was...so guess I've work ahead of me..won't overdo..a couple of wheelbarrels at a time..no hurry now that gardens are almost in their prime..

Now I do want to start an area out back for my DG friends, stained glass walking stones, directional arrows with names and mileage etc. - at a garage sale I purchased the garden cloth..do you think if I just lie newspaper down, the cloth and then earth and plant it would do the trick? would save me getting rid of all the grass in the bed area I'm planning...

YOu can get rid of the grass just with the newspaper and topsoil method ( called lasagna gardening)
Why the garden cloth whatever that is?

I got 2 c.yds of compost delivered in May and then it rained- and rained- and rained! I started spreading it a couple of weeks ago, a few wheelbarrels at a time but still have to finish the front yard - of course the compost is in the far back! Goal is to get it done by this weekend. A friend was going to come help this evening but it looks like rain pretty much all day. Maybe I should retreat to the basement and get to work sewing the cushion covers for the willow chairs - got ithe faric and foam last summer and haven't touched it yet! That is another goal - get it done before judging weekend - 2 1/2 weeks now!

Betty, it darkened up pretty ominously a couple of times but then just gradually faded away again - we never got hit with a thing.

Now the storm on Saturday night was a whole different kettle of fish. No plant damage, but I surely did discover where I was a little stingy in my application of the Cypress Gold mulch in the newly landscaped area. A couple of spots have shown a little bare, but I think 2 or 3 more bags of mulch should take care of it :-) I have my fingers crossed for you that all of your plants survive to thrive!

I'm sure we're in for many more of the same type o f storms..yuk, calling for bad weather this weekend, wouldn't you know 4 1/2 days off and rain...

Well ... I spoke with a realtive in Belfast last night. We have now had more rain than them and June (May/June) is their rainiest time. So .. I am fully anticipating the forecast for the next few days to be truthful and honest and the forecast is for .. RAIN .. you'd think it'd wash away the skeeters !!!!!

On with VCARS today and planning to stay home .. lots I can do .. got so much info yesterday at the workshop I should really sit and go through it again. I also got LOTS of pens :-) I LOVE free pens and, it seems, the drug companies LOVE giving them away :-)

One of my Lavatera is going to bloom today :-) WOOOO HOOOO .... was given some Forget Me Nots from an ages old garden yesterday .. will try to get them settled in their new home.

Hope everyone enjoys the day :-)

~M~

Sun is shinning, for now at least but weather forcast for Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue. well you guessed it, rain/rain/ and more rain oops Tue. our Canada Day they are also calling for thunderstorm and lightning..so, get those indoor projects marked down, you'll get to cross many of them off your list this weekend...lol

I DO NOT do roses well, but this poor little darling survived...

My walking the gardens this morning I saw some spring color bidding me goodmorning...

also saw the 2 loads of topsoil that got dropped off as a reminder that I've more gardens to create..don't mind the creating part it's the loads of wheelbarrel movement that makes me sore..

Enjoy your morning, just getting ready to leave for the city..accidents all over again yesterday..makes one wonder...

I think Dave the gnome would look lovely in the above photos. Iit's already sunny and warm at 0615. Today is the big move, so this is the last contact till I'm hooked up again, hopfully later today. I"ll send some sun your way to those that are awash. Enjoy the day.


Linda

Don't overdo Linda...not sure when Dave the gnome will be visiting my home, let's just hope it's not in the winter and he's lost in a blizzard...looking forward to that sun you are sending...

Thanks Linda .. and BOY O BOY are we 'awash' .. huge thunderstorms rolling through .. the house is even vibrating with some of the claps of it .. and I am sitting here hoping the power does NOT go out !! Have a battery backup for the puter (learned the hard way 2yrs ago) ..

Good luck with the move and I SO agree that the Gnome would look splendiferous in Betty's garden :-)

Am battening down the hatches here .. gonna be a rough ride methinks !!

~M~

"M" PLEASE, please don't send it our way..

BOOM BOOM BOOM !!! The storm let up for a smidge, but is coming back anytime !!!
Sorry to say .. looks as though it's eastward bound.
DH had Lilly out for her evening constitutional and he said the skeeters were ferocious .. for HIM to say that .. well .. it has to be bad .. the bugs seem to teem before a storm .
I am showering and crawling into bed with James Herriot :-)

Night all

~M~

Hi ..

Thinkin everyone is busy outside .. I was .. came in to see if I can figger out the A/C ... guess I have to call someone and have them walk me through it .. the fan on the furnace is goin .. but the outside unit on the patio is not whirring or whatever it is supposed to do .. actually warm enough today to have it going .. I am totally 'dah' and DH (who was non too thrilled with my purchase) is out mowing the lawns .. he gets a might 'twitchy' when asked re the workings of the digital thermostat .. I have followed the directions but am gettin NOWHERE fast .. oh well .. that's what GUARANTEES are for I guess.

Flowers are busting to bloom and the ones IN blooom are amazing ..

Hittin the phonelines ..

Stay safe and ENJOY

~M~

Morning everyone, weather is heavy this morning, took a walk through the gardens and what beauty .. even got to cut a few bouquets for the house, nicest time of year..takes your breath away..some earthly angel came again yesterday and cut all my grass..now that's 3hrs of work that I don't have to do, amazing...

Thought I'd take a few photo's this morning...

Too close to the flowers, the yellow ones have lost their beauty..

Had meant to take a photo of my rose bush, but these elegant Canada Geese stood tall and proud, thought they were worth a photo..

Very nice! I'd find your gardens a very peaceful place to relax.

Lovely photos of your garden Betty. The painting on your bird feeder is spectacular.

Joanne

Thank you, sure do enjoy the gardens early morning...think tonight if it's not raining I just might go have supper in my secret garden..thank goodness for the other 2 side arbors as I've not wanted to disturb the flowers in front of the entrance doors..much more to plant and of course that 2 loads of top soil is waiting for me this weekend and they are calling for 4 days of rain...so sad..lol

Incredible bird feeder betty! Wow I wish I had even a smidge of artistic talent sigh.

Dull and humid in Ottawa. Have an appointment at 2:15 and another at 4:15 and DH will have our grand-twins here for lunch now that school has finished. Not likely to get into the garden until evening, but it will probably rain.

Betty - I also enjoyed the pics. I hope they are wrong about the 4 days of rain.

Ann