with silver bells and cockle shells...

everybody needs a little fairy in their life.  How does your garden grow?

Not a gardener...

..am I.  I don't even play one on the tele.  Those green thumbs and grass stained knees have never thrilled me as it does many others.  I don't mind gardening but it often feels too much like yard work than something lovely and soothing.  I might enjoy it better if I was the least bit successful at it...well, maybe.

Here's my recent dilemma. 

These are growing all over the place.  Never planted them, don't know what they are but at the moment they are the only blooming thing in the yard!  Some of them have even planted themselves in empty hose containers and old bins. (not that I have any of that stuff hanging around my yard.)

and so, my bloggy garden guru friends, can you tell me what this is?  And do I have to spend the day tomorrow pulling them out??

Please don't tell me that it some noxious weed that will cause all kinds of mayhem if it isn't removed!  Thanks ya'll.

The Secret Garden...

...I remember giving this book to my daughter when she was a little one and the hours we spent reading it together, spellbound, is one of my favorite memories.

I have always dreamed of having my own secret garden, I suppose we all have,  or at lease a proper English garden would do.  I don't believe it to be an unreasonable dream especially since our weather is much like that of Merry ol' England!

Fourteen, a few years ago, after moving into this house I attempted to keep the dream alive.  The north side of the house is quite shady and damp due to lack of light, the grass doesn't grow, and for the life of me I have been unable to find anything that wants to thrive over there.  It is also the only place in our yard that gets a slight breeze in the summer, when summer shows up. 

About two years ago I asked my dear hubs to help me decide on what to do with this dreary space.  Sitting over there in a lawn chair on a hot day along with the garbage can and air-conditioning unit was not cutting it for me.  I looked through magazines~, tearing out pages upon pages in anticipation of my own special place.  Within a few weeks the hubs had built this amazing deck. 

 It solved all our problems with the damp, boring grass, and elevated our lawn chairs to a more suitable height.  It also became a place to put potted plants...lots of them, and hanging baskets, and all sorts of old, chippy, rusty yard art.

I am hoping that with a little research this winter, that next spring I will be planting some shade loving flowers, annuals and perennials, and maybe I will someday have a special, quiet, secret place to read.

day 6 of the 30 day challenge~ xo~mama pajama

The old switcheroo...

...remember that from the old "Get Smart" series??  gah, how old am I.  Anywho...

last winter in the midst of the season we call 'rain,' I was feeling a little blue wondering if the weather would ever improve.  This happens every year around February/March when it seems there is no end in sight.  (on a side note: the season of rain did not let up until July).  The hubs and I were in the Home Depot as I walked toward the garden area I spied bulbs.  Wonderful, beautiful, wondrous, easy-to-grow bulbs. 

I rarely buy bulbs other than Daffodils or Tulips but this year I decided to try Dahlias.  I l.o.v.e. Dahlias, and I had visions of beautiful, huge, plate-sized flowers adorning the garden outside my dining room window.  I bought two packages of five each, for $25.  Yeah, $25.  I have never spent money like that on bulbs before but the 'vision' I had was driving me forth to do so.

When all danger of frost had passed it was time to plant them I followed all the important directions, even checking my zone...I do believe we are zone 8.  The bulbs were planted on their sides, sprinkled with magic dust, and covered with warmish soil...now all there was to do was wait until July/August?/September to see all the lovely blooms.

I anxiously waited and waited and waited and what did grow looked less and less and less of a Dahlia.  There were no leaves, just reedy looking stems...no leaves, no buds, no flowers that resembled my beautiful Dahlias.

Here's what I did get:

Now, all you wonderful people out there. please tell me what this is.  I assume it is a Lily of some sort, it is quite delicate and the stems break very easily.  They have a soft, sweet scent.  Lily??

Now obviously the bags were mislabeled and I paid waaaay too much for these Lilly's, nevertheless, I rather enjoy them.  But, to ease my troubled mind I will be taking a trip at the end of the month to the Dahlia festival.  And if I get my way I will purchase some 'real' bulbs and get my fix next spring.

Day dreamin'...

...in twenty-one days it will be summer and we will experience the 'longest' day of the year.  Yet, I swear these last few days have been some of the longest I have ever experienced.

In a short break from the rain, clouds and wind, I took a little walk around my backyard.  It was a soggy, forlorn looking place, looking more like fall than three weeks from summer.  The vegetable garden looking much like it did three weeks ago when we planted it, no, I take that back, everything is squishy and slimey...like someone left the water on too long.  The bedding plants we planted are a soggy mess and will need to some out so we can start over.

I heard on the news last night that we have yet to reach 70degrees...the end of May.  It was 62degrees in the house when I got up this morning and I had to turn the furnace on...the end of May.  So, since Spring has decided to detour from here I thought I should go out and 'find' some spring.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  Just pretend that this is a walk in my backyard:

how about these geraniums?

rows and rows of the pretties.

maybe marigolds are more your style.

or sassy little snapdragons.

or my personl favorite dahlia's.

who knows what these are?

or how about a basket of begonia's

in my favorite color.

ending our tour with a hanging basket

of ruffled petunia's.

these are new to me this year.

How does your garden grow?  And if you are eating fresh tomatoes off

of plants you grew from seeds...

don't tell me about it.

Thanks for taking this little fantasy trip around my backyard with me!

Enjoy your Tuesday and remember....

it's a short week!

jj

It's Tuesday somewhere...

...just some random Tuesdayness Tuesday Randomness.

*I want to be all things for all people, the blog to end all blogs, have all the answers~the stylish home~apron on~dusting done~coffee and dessert at the ready.  Yes, it's the awful "catholic, oldest daughter middle child syndrome" rearing it's ugly head again.  Please, please, please pick one thing and stick with it.  Perfectionism is not for you (me).

*I listen to a 'sappy' radio show in the evening when I am well, let's just say, getting ready for sleep.  The DJ on this show is a very sweet woman with quite a history, she is legend around here.  One of the sayings she has, when talking to a caller, is "Who is on your heart tonight?"  Isn't that just the best?  Anyway, she asked the caller and I silently said 'my mama.'   The very next song she played was my 'mama' song...the one we picked out together, that would be our forever song, that I would hear when she was near and watching over me.  Everyone say it with me now..."awww!"

*I finally planted my wildflowers today.  Seeing as they are just mats full of seeds that you simply roll-out and water, I can't imagine what took me so long.   Also planted some broccoli, squash, peppers, eggplant and cucumber seedlings.  I (we) even planted a yellow cherry tomatoe plant in the topsy-turvy.  We have not used this contraption miracle of modern man yet so I am anxious to see what happens. I still need to get some annuals for the front yard~maybe this weekend.  So, how does your garden grow?
jj




*Bunny, if you stop by,  your package is on it's way.  Sorry it took so long.  You probably forgot by now that you won my giveaway!

A little ray of sunshine...

...if you are like me, and always complaining that time is flying by, then welcome to January where time seems to s-l-o-w way down.  I don't know if it's the let down after the holidays, the longing for spring, or the cold, dark days that give rise to contemplation, re-evaluating, and sometimes just plain old depression.

January is a lonely month...there are no big festivities as in December or cute holidays as in February.  Unless you have a birthday in January then it is seemingly long.

When I was at Target the other day I saw some Amaryllis on clearance and thought I would pick one up.  actually, I did pay for it! I've always liked the Amaryllis flower and they are quite easy to grow.  They are quite interesting to watch grow too!

this is the one I chose, a light pink color, the only other choice was red and I always end up with red.  Time for a change.

it comes with everything necessary...a nice ceramic planter, the growing medium (dirt), and the bulb.  This one was already sprouting in the box.

after making dirt soaking the planting material for a few minutes (outside, in a bucket) it was then transferred into the pot with the bulb...here it is all ready to go.

These babies grow pretty darn fast, the one up top there was about 2 inches after it was planted and the one below, measured a week later, is about 5 inches. 

I will measure it every week and we can watch it grow up and bloom together...just a little ray of sunshine for an otherwise drab January.  And hope that spring will come soon!

Raindrops and Hydrangeas...

...as I left the doctor office today, there was no denying that fall is in the air. As much as I want to push it back a few weeks and enjoy this wonderful summer, I will have to admit that it is September and soon the frost will be on the pumpkins. Meanwhile, I take a walk around my garden and savor the beautiful blooms that will soon be gone for another season.
I just love this Hydrangea. I received it as a Birthday gift this year and the color is one that I have never had before. It is such a deep, rich lavender- pink that the photo does not do it justice.
I would love to dry these blooms and enjoy them all winter long. In searching the "bing" I have come upon three different ways to do this. One: cut the blooms and hang them upside down in a cool-dark place. (I've tried this with other flowers before without much luck) Two: just let them dry on the plant and cut them before the first frost. And Three: cut the blooms, place them in a vase half full of water and let them stand until the water has evaporated.

Have any of you tried either of these ideas? I'm wondering which one works best and whether or not you were able to maintain the gorgeous colors. I also have a blue one, and another that is a very, very pale lavender. I would like to try drying these also. Any tips would be helpful...
So, here we are at the last holiday weekend of the year. (don't know why the font, color and underline changed) and the official end to the wearing of white. Does that old saying still exist? We will be heading out to a nearby street fair and hopefully the farmers market. I also want to work on my DIY project so I can show it off next week. We will probably be grilling something yummy and watching some baseball too. What have you got planned?

stay safe and be kind to you!
mama pajama

Glorious Asparagus

fresh from the garden. NOT my garden, but I do know the person who grew it! (My father-in-law who could grow dirt if it was absolutely necessary). No........this is my garden:

see there, there? between the lovely dandelions, moss and gawd knows what else?That's my Asparagus. How freakin' pathetic are we?

Today was the opening day of the local farmer's market season. I had big plans for today. I had my market bag and walking shoes all ready to go. I could imagine the fresh Asparagus, the warm from the oven breads, the fresh vegetable starts, the lovely flowers that I would buy and carry in that awesome bag. (A gift from baseball-nut). But then came the dark clouds, and the thunder, and the lightning, and the rain, and more rain, and it's still raining..........still. Thus, I had to rethink my plan. So, we ended up going to Sears to buy a line trimmer. Why?? Apparently, baseball-nut is an optimist, hopeless one at that. He's pretty sure it's going to be spring one of these days and those lovely dandelions, and l-o-n-g grass will meet their match. Maybe then, just maybe, my Asparagus will stand a chance.