Guests

When I got home from work today, Quickbeam and I went outside with our camera to see what we could find. We took some pictures of a new mushroom that looked like a doppler radar tower that appeared in the backyard.



We snapped a couple of pictures of my rain lily that *finally* started blooming.

We also got a picture of the Betty Corning clematis that is blooming.

Then I decided to go over to the crepe myrtle tree and get a picture of its new blooms.

When I got close to it, this is what I found:

There was a bird there that took off as soon as I got close. I didn't see any eggs inside, so I'm hoping I didn't scare it off. It makes me happy to know that it has made a home in our tree. I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

Bugs

This has to be one of the buggiest summers that I have experienced in a long time. There are dead june bugs littering the walkways around the house. There are spiders with webs all over the bushes. There's a huge thing that is slightly smaller than a rhinocerous beetle that is on my front rose bush. There are japanese beetles all over the rose bushes. There's a dead katydid on my back porch. Work is a similar graveyard for insects. They get under the front glass double doors and wander through the building. One of the rhinocerous beetle thingies got in and was walking IN FRONT OF MY OFFICE. I am feeling very creepy crawly now.

Scaredey Fish

The picture above is a scene from a feeding frenzy in my pond in North Carolina. In that pond, within a couple of days of being added the fish would swarm all over and practically jump out of the water to be fed. Contrast that with this, a picture of my pond in Alabama.

These fish have been in the pond for several months now and I barely ever see them. Once in a while I will catch a glimpse of a flash of white or orange but for the most part I may as well have an empty tub. I have pondered why this difference in behavior might be. The pond in NC was 180 gallons and probably was overpopulated. This pond is only 35 gallons and I have 4 goldfish in it.

I first got interested in ponds from a friend of mine at work. He talked about when he was setting up his, and how so many of his early fish died. So when I set mine up I expected waves of fish casualties. Fortunately for me, since I'd done my homework before I set it up, I had maybe one or two fish die. And then I think I was a bit too overenthusiastic and kept adding one or two here and there before I finally stopped. So I ended up with way too many fish in my pond.

When we set up the new pond I greatly scaled down my scope. I didn't want a big pond (yet), just something to scratch the itch. So we did a pond that is big enough for a few fish, a waterlily and a plant or two. I don't have the time or energy to take care of a big pond right now (yet!). What I didn't take into consideration was that I wouldn't get to see my fish very often, because they aren't in that competitive of an environment. Boo. Ahh well, maybe when I have time to sit out there more they'll get more used to me. :)

Reprieve...of Sorts

I started classes on Tuesday and got a call my my academic counselor on Wednesday saying that they had to drop my class. There has been a problem with the financial aid year and an overlap or something and I won't be able to start back to class until October. On one side I am actually relieved by this, because it will give me more time to do other things that I like to do. On the other side, the money from the GI Bill was very useful for a single income family and it's going to hurt some while we wait for October. We'll still be okay of course, just might have to cut back on the several times a week Starbucks runs.

In gardening news, we still have quite a bit blooming including this succulent blooming on my bird feeder.

We got a massive rain last night which was greatly needed, even though it made the drive home from work very, very slow. Ah well, time to go curl up with a good book, since I don't have to worry about studying. :)

When in the course of human events...

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Declaration of Independence"

I am thankful for those brave men and women who cast their lot against the strongest nation in the world at their time and risked everything for Liberty. I pray that those amongst us today stop taking their Liberty for granted and cherish this prize that was won for us by our forefathers. It is maintained by us today for our children tomorrow. Teach your children about how their country was founded and what those ideals set down by our forefathers have done to bring Liberty to the rest of the world. Happy Independence Day America!!

What's Blooming 7/3/08

Here is Gingersnap, still plugging away.

A battered but still cheerful Black Eyed Susan

Sweet Alyssum in the gravel pathway

Thankfully the holiday weekend is here and I am glad for it. When I got home from work, Quickbeam and I went for a quick tour around the backyard to see what was blooming. My whole purpose with most of my plantings has been to find those that do well without a lot of water or attention and that seems to be paying off. Anything that needs a lot of pampering will die out quickly in my garden. :)

I have some plans to do gardening stuff this weekend, we'll see how far I get. I want to get some hoop supports for my floppy dahlias. I want to plant the items from the shade container at the back side of the flowerbed under my rose and camellia. I need to weed all around, and the filter in the pond needs to be changed out. I need to get some more bird seed in the feeder and get some mulch. So it is going to be a busy weekend if we get it all done. :)

Almost There

I can almost see the chorus of angels breaking out in song, and the fanfare of trumpets. This week is almost over, huzzah for holiday weeks. :) My boss has been out on vacation this week, so I've been doing her work, my work, and my second assignment work. It's getting crowded in my head wearing three hats. I am really over the whole thing. I am hoping that tomorrow goes better or I'll end up under my desk sucking my thumb. As enchanting as that sounds I don't think it would present a professional image. :) On the plus side, I stole a little time outside in the garden today, pulling grass out of the gravel in the pathways. Such a small thing, but an act of normalcy in this hectic week was dearly welcomed.

One for Book Lovers

I found this online over at Stray Thoughts.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? The first time that I specifically remember reading was when I was in grade school. The first books I remember reading were The Runaway Bunny and Ping the Duck.
2. What are some books you read as a child? The above mentioned books, as well as Alice in Wonderland, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlotte's Web.
3. What is your favorite genre? Fantasy and Science Fiction
4. Do you have a favorite novel? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter.
5. Where do you usually read? The bathtub used to be my #1 place to read, but now that I have an infant probably the most uninterrupted time I get is when I'm pumping out breastmilk at work. My #2 place is in my reading chair in the living room. It's big, and you sink into it. From it you can see out in the back yard and it's close to the fireplace.
6. When do you usually read? Most of the time I read later in the evening or on my lunchbreaks, as well as the aforementioned pumping breaks. :)
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Yes, I usually have several.
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? Not really, when a book gets me it gets me. Otherwise I'll make it about 1/3 of the way through and then I'll quit.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I mostly buy them. Amazon Prime keeps UPS at my door. :)
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them? I keep most of the books that I buy, mostly because I'm very lazy about taking them and trading them in.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child? I bought several Eric Carle books - The Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. She's still too little to pay much attention to when I read.
12. What are you reading now? The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee and Einstein Never Used Flashcards by Golinkoff, Hirsh-Pasek and Eyer.
13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list? If you want to call the pile of unread books in my library chest a list then yes. :)
14. What’s next? Those two will probably take me until the end of the year. ;)
15. What books would you like to reread? Walden by Thoreau, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (annual event for me, or used to be)
16. Who are your favorite authors? Sharon Shinn, Mercedes Lackey (earlier works, about to the Owl-Knight series), JRR Tolkein, JK Rowling

Swimming

I have always hated almost every kind of organized exercise from the time I was very young. I always despised team sports, probably because I was almost always chosen last. In my very small school the only sports available were basketball and baseball/softball, so there wasn’t much available. When I moved to Minnesota when I was in high school a whole new world opened up to me because there was a swim team.

I have always loved to swim since I was little. I remember taking swimming lessons on cold Minnesota mornings. They wouldn’t open the pool until the water temperature was 55 degrees or some other insanely low number. We would hang on the sides of the pool shivering. When we were in Arkansas the only place to swim was over at the lake, and it wasn’t that often. Sometimes my mom would take us to a swimming pool at a hotel in the next town over. Swimming is the only sport/exercise that I have ever truly enjoyed.

It’s been 15 years or so since I swam very often. But now I have the opportunity to go on my lunch break and swim some laps. There is a pool within 5 minutes driving distance, and the facility is wonderful. We took Quickbeam swimming there this morning and she loved it. I’m hoping to instill a love of swimming in her too. This was the first time I did a lap since high school and I loved it, falling back into the rhythm like I just did it last week. The smell of the chlorine, the sight of the sunbeams on the water and watching the bubbles follow the wake of my hands in the water brought back good memories. My body felt light and buoyant and *right*. I’m hoping now that I have gone it will keep me from putting off going back again.

So.....

I haven't updated in a while, mostly because I am:

a. Very busy keeping Ms. Quickbeam happy
b. I have a new assignment at work that is sucking out my energy
c. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do

So here's to hoping that I can settle down soon. I spent the last weekend working on getting the computer room closet de-junked. It was the last rat hole that I had left to do, and I'm happy to say that I got it mostly done. I have a few more items that I need to deal with, and basically it's a whole lot better. Most of what I had to do was go through all of the old paperwork that I had left to file from when we moved from North Carolina.

On the gardening front, I am not doing a whole lot. There's a lot of weeding, spraying and propping up that needs to be done. I never have had plants flop as bad as these are...as in leaning to the side not as in failing. My roses, my dahlias, my peruvian daffodils, everything and its brother is falling over. So this weekend I'll be picking up some plant support hoops and maybe we'll restore some order. :)

Gingersnap

Here is Quickbeam's rose, finally opened up. :)

What's Blooming This Week 5/28/08

This is my Arabian Nights dahlia, planted just this spring. That's why I love bulbs, they're so easy that just about anyone can grow them.
This is my Pentestemon, planted last year and relocated to the back yard this year. It is covered in white blooms.
My mountain laurel has buds on it! I'm very excited because I haven't ever grown one of these before. They remind me of summer in Northern Virginia, because I used to see them all the time when I went running.

Elle is still blooming away. It's one of the most photogenic roses that I have ever grown. :)

The Peppermint clematis blooms are still there, believe it or not. Some are a little worse for the wear but are otherwise okay.

I Made It!!

I'm happy to report that the family visit is over and I've survived. We went up to Arkansas to visit my mother and sister. We got some nursery visits done and lots of baby snorgling. We had a family cookout and it went pretty well. We had an awesome hotel room with super comfy furniture, high speed internet, a hotel pool and fitness room and a huge shopping center next door. I am not saying that the visit was perfect, but there was no blood loss and no one was harmed in the filming of this vacation. I also got some material for my book, so I'm happy. :) Now for the long trip home tomorrow, I hope it goes as well as the trip out here did. See you on the other side!

The Watched Pot

Seed starting has never been a strong point of mine, but I saw the packet above in Target the other day and knew that it had to be mine. I like it because of its decorative value, but also because I have always wanted a passionflower vine. So I got them and a little peat pellet greenhouse and planted them. And started waiting. And waiting.....still waiting every day and checking them. I think it's a bad sign that mold is starting to pop up on top of the peat pellets, but I still hold out some hope. The package says germination can take up to 28 days and it's been...um who knows, like I wrote down the day I planted them *snort*. We'll see if my faith will get rewarded.

What's Blooming This Week 5/16/08

Angel Face is still plugging away, in spite of a bad case of black spot. If you look carefully at the 3 o' clock petal you'll notice a small white spider that is peeking out. Unfortunately I think I got it when I was spraying it down with fungicide.

The Peppermint clematis is still blooming away. I'm waiting for the pompom in the center to open up, but the petals have unfurled and it looks more like a clematis bloom now.

This is my new Little Duckling clematis that I got for Mother's Day. Isn't she a beaut?

This is the Butter and Sugar siberian iris that I got last summer. I've had a devil of a time getting a good picture, because the white reflects back so much on the pictures that you can hardly see the yellow.

Oddities

Sometimes I am attracted to plants because they are just odd. One of the first plants that I got when we got our new house was the Peppermint clematis pictured above. It had a green center and whitish petals, and looked very different. We put it in the first flower bed that we built. Then we moved that bed the next spring. It started to grow and even got a few flowers, but then it died back. I thought it was dead so I dug it up and replaced it with a jasmine plant. But rather than throwing it out I put it in a pot and left it on the patio over the winter. Lo and behold this spring it started growing like mad, so when we rearranged the beds in the backyard I planted it by a shephard's hook with a windchime on it. It put on lot of flower buds, one of which you see above. This brings me to my quandry. The flowers are fairly small and they aren't brightly colored. I bought another clematis, Little Duckling, thinking to replace it, but I haven't. There is something that still appeals to me about Peppermint, and so it lives on in my garden. I think I'll plant my Little Duckling clematis under my other shepherd's hook with the hummingbird feeder.

Veteran's Honor

Is that not the most absolutely perfect rose blossom that you've ever seen? Strategically captured with droplets of water from a passing rain storm? :) Thank you dear One Truth for the lovely present. It looks lighter in the picture than it actually does, in person it seems to be darker.

The Joseph's Coat rose is still going gangbusters. I can't believe the variety of different colors on the plant. We're going to get a trellis for it this weekend because it's starting to flop over now.

There was a line of powerful storms that tore through Mississippi and Alabama today. Thanks be to God that it wasn't worse than it was. Tornados were sighted right south of the airport, which is right across the street from where I work. So things could have gone much differently today.

Maintenance

Now that we have our beds set up and plants planted for the spring it is time to maintain it all. So when I got home from work tonight I strapped my trusty sidekick to my chest (Quickbeam in her Baby Bjorn carrier), took my pruners and headed out to the garden. I trimmed all of the old blooms off of my roses and cut them back some. They have some black spot issues so Mawavi treated them. We also cut the dead wood off of our poor crepe myrtle trees. For those not in the know, when we bought the house we had them trade out the old dead trees for some crepe myrtles. But a late spring freeze killed the tops of them. I thought they were gone, but they came back in the bottom part of the tree. Now they are looking like they were butchered while we are waiting for them to recover. We puttered around for a while and enjoyed being outside. It was perfect weather today and I want to soak it all in before the hot humid weather gets here. Here's my Veteran's Honor rose bush, getting ready to bloom.

What's Blooming This Week 5/3/08

Welcome Home Rose

Neptune Rose Elle Rose Joseph's Coat Rose Acadian Miss Louisiana Iris

Enough

Over the weekend we finally reached the point that was Enough. I thought that we had already reached Enough when we finished off the back yard garden. But when we put up the bird feeder that my dad made for me, it looked awfully bare. So I decided that we would put in one last big effort and do a bed around the base of it. I had a couple of plants left that were sitting on the concrete patio in the back, and on thinking of it decided that they would make great plants for birds, butterflies etc. So we made up a list before we headed to Lowe's of everything that we could possibly think of that we could possibly need. Because I know me and I know my husband I also added '1 plant' to the list. That way when I picked up an impulse buy and he made a snide comment on whether it was on the list I could say "Well yes, as a matter of fact it is on the list, right here, 1 plant". It didn't come down to that though, because look as I may I just wasn't interested in buying plants. Okay, I'll pause long enough for you to pick yourself off of the floor. :) I may still pick up a few plants here and there throughout the summer, but when you transplant after it starts getting warm outside the plants are really need and require a lot of attention through the season. Watering all the time, protection from some of the sun etc. So I think that I'm probably finished until this fall when I start up again. :)

Succulent Feeder

When I found out that my Dad was going to come for a visit I asked him to make a project for me. I had seen it in a gardening magazine, and it's a bird feeder that has a living roof that is covered with succulents. When I saw it I knew that I had to have one, and here is the one that he made for me. I got it planted with some plants and it's sitting under the back yard until the threat of rain passes. I'm going to try to keep it on the dry side until the plants get established and grow more roots that will hold the soil in place. Isn't she a beaut?

There isn't a lot of gardening news this week. We have the beds in place that we had planned for this year so now everything just needs to get settled. We might do one more under the bird feeder, because it looks kind of bare. I have some blackberry, blueberry and a couple of flowers that are still waiting for homes so they may go there. Here are some pictures of what's blooming today. The Butterscotch Jasmine pictured above was planted at the end of last year after the Peppermint Clematis looked like it keeled over. This seems to be doing very well and enjoying its new home.

The Angel Face rose is the first one out of the gate this year. Being moved a few weeks ago doesn't seem to have set it back much. Hopefully they will all get settled in and be happy.

The Pink Chintz thyme that is planted in the scree garden (the gravel around the paver stepping stones) seems to be right at home. Some of the scree transplants aren't too happy right now and I'm hoping that they'll recover. We'll see. :)

It's Like Peas & Carrots

Today I finally got around to trying to make a new dish. Quickbeam got baptized on the same day as another little girl in our church. This girl's family is from Tanzania, and after the ceremony they had a potluck featuring foods from their homeland. One of the dishes featured peas & carrots and had a haunting fruity taste. I spent the meal trying to figure out what was in it. This is my attempt at making it.

Tanzanian Peas & Carrots
2 Tbs. butter
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small thin pieces
½ onion, finely diced
2 c. chicken broth
½ c. dried apricots, very finely diced
2 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
Salt & pepper to taste
2 c. frozen sweet peas

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot and onion and sauté until they begin to soften. Add the stock, apricots and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about five minutes. Add the peas and continue to simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until peas are very done and the carrots are soft.

Froggy Bottoms

Before we left from North Carolina my best friend Mel gave me some stepping stones for our garden. She is very well aware of my frog obsession, and the stepping stones are pictured above. One of the best things about them is that they feature some..bottoms on the frogs. I didn't want to put them out just anywhere, it was important to me to wait until we had our backyard fenced in and a good place to put them. I know that there probably aren't people lurking around ready to steal stepping stones, but I'm clingy with my possessions. ;) So after we got our garden area finally finished I wanted to set them out, so here they are, finally at home. :) Thanks Mel!

Gardening

We were able to get out this weekend and work on finishing up our gardening efforts for the spring. It might seem that it's a bit early to be finishing up since it's only mid-April, but today's 80 degree weather is an indicator of what we'll be getting soon. We want to get the heavy lifting and work done now while it's still pleasant outside. Through the summer I'm sure I'll still be picking up plants here and there, but no major landscaping efforts.

We started out the day by going to Across the Pond and getting some fish for the little pond that we're putting in. We picked out two Sarassa Comets and two Calico Fantails. I picked up a couple more plants at the nursery by our house - some purple Sweet Alyssum and two more varities of thyme. One of the thyme is a light variegated one and the other is Elfin Thyme which has tiny little leaves. I also got the bigger plants that I got for around the pond put in. We have an Umbrella Palm, Dwarf Papyrus and some Horsetail Rushes. So the pond is basically finished for now, we just have to let it grow in.

Mawavi spent his time working on cleaning up the beds in front of the house. I had planted a lot of perennials there last year, but they just didn't look right. A lot of them tend to look a bit weedy, and it makes it look like we haven't been taking care of our yard. So we moved most of the perennials into the back yard flower beds and put down some new mulch in the front yard. Coincidentally while I was planting the perennials in the back flower bed I almost stepped on our backyard visitor pictured at the top and almost gave myself a heart attack. He didn't seem to be too concerned about me though. We also got a new trellis and moved my Betty Corning clematis back to grow on it. It had started totally dwarfing the little trellis that it was on and growing all in the rose bush. So now it has plenty of room to grow in. So overall the front of the house is looking much better now.

So that takes care of our major gardening efforts this spring. Now we get to have fun with the challenge of keeping them all alive this summer. :)

May Night

I was walking out the front door a few days ago and noticed a flower blooming, which is pictured above. I hate to say it but I had no idea what it was. I went in a frenzy of buying at the end of last summer and got the things planted out. I kept the plant tags out in the garage so I would be able to find them later. So I faced digging through the pile of plant tags to try and figure out what it was. Fortunately for me, when I was in Lowe's this afternoon I saw some of them. They are May Night salvia, and are really beautiful. Mystery solved. :)

We did some work on the back yard garden today, made a visit to the pond store and got the rest of what we needed to set it up. I got the water lily and iris potted and put in the water. Tomorrow I will add some salt to the water and get the quality settled down. We're supposed to have a couple of nights this week that dip down in the 30's, so I want to wait until it settles a bit before I put the fish in. As soon as we finish with the planting I'll get some new pictures up.

Flashback

Before I start on my flashback, here is my Mt. Ash a.k.a. Quickbeam tree. We planted them last week and the buds on it are already starting to open up. I can't wait until it gets leafed out. :)

One of my favorite shows to watch on TV is ‘Til Debt Do Us Part. For those who may be unfamiliar with it, it is a TV show that comes on here on ALN channel on cable. It features Gail Vaz-Oxlade the host who visits and helps a family a month and helps them to tackle their debt problems. I am constantly amazed by the situations that people get themselves in to. Mostly amazed I guess because Maw and I started out our marriage in that sort of problem, had a wake-up call and are mostly back on course.

I will freely admit that most of the problem in the financial arena came from me. I had no concept of saving or budgeting when I got out on my own and freely embraced credit. We had almost reached the breaking point in our relationship and our finances when we got our reality check. It took us a good part of ten years to get debt free, and aside from my student loans and a bit of credit we ran up during our move we’ve maintained it. Watching the show reminds me of where we don’t want to go back to, and is a reminder of how far we have come.

Tauren Chili

Today we invited the Gunny and his wife over to our house to celebrate Mawavi's birthday that was Thursday. We got up early this morning and went to the grocery store to go shopping and get the things that we needed. Maw and I love to eat and we love to cook so whenever we have these two over we always tend to go overboard cooking. I had a recipe that I wanted to try from the Food Network and Downhome with the Neely's. It is for Frozen Lemonade Pie and it turned out just amazing. I also found some ground buffalo meat at the grocery store and wanted to try it out in chili. I'm happy to report that it was really good, very lean meat and this was organic so no chemicals. I made coleslaw, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas at Maw's request because they are his favorites. He rolled some lumpia and grilled some pork on the BBQ.

After we ate the boys went in the back yard and christened the new fire pit with its first official fire. Apparently cardboard boxes, newspapers and the leaf blower were involved but I didn't want to ask. I stayed in the house to take care of our very attention needy baby girl. I'm hoping that it dries out some tomorrow, because I still have some irises that need to get planted tomorrow. The rowan trees are also starting to open up, and my jasmine vine has flowers on it now. So I'm ready to get outside and see some things, hopefully we'll get some sunshine!

Here's the chili that I made. It's pretty warm even though I cut the hot ingredients by half from the original. Tailor to your own taste. :)

Lythrum's Tauren Chili Verde (adapted from James Villas Stews, Bogs & Burgoos)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. ground buffalo meat
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tomato, diced
2 Tbs. ground dried hot peppers
1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1 Tbs. chili powder
3 c. stock
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the buffalo meat, onions and garlic and brown. You shouldn't need to drain it because the buffalo is very lean. Season the meat with salt and pepper as you cook it. Add the remaining ingredients into the pan and cook over low heat for 1/2 to 1 hour.

New Garden Update

Here's the latest update for the backyard garden. We got the gravel spread and some creepy crawly plants tucked into various corners around the pathway. This weekend we're hoping to get the fountain running on the pond and get the plants put in. The fish at Across the Pond are still in quarantine for a while so we're going to have to wait a bit for that. But that's okay because the pond probably needs to settle for a week or two before we add them.

We got the rest of the rose bushes planted out - so that brings up my total count to 8 now. We have Angel Face (lavender), Lady Bank's (pale yellow thornless climber) and Joseph's Coat (multi-colored climber that I've lusted after for years) in the back yard. In the front yard we now have Veteran's Honor (Thanks Mel!! Dark red), Welcome Home (yellow with gold centers), Gingersnap (coppery colored for Quickbeam), Neptune (lavender) and Elle (pink with yellowish centers). I got a strawberry pot that I planted some succulents in, and have a container to plant my strawberries (Tennessee Beauty) in.

So that takes care of most of our gardening for the spring. We have two clumps of decorative grass that got displaced for the roses that I need to find a home for in the back yard. I got in the box of irises that I ordered earlier this year that I need to get put out. I originally planned to put them along the dry streambed that we are going to do in the back, but we aren't going to get to that until next year. So I think I'll just plant them in the new flower beds above and divide them next year. After that I think I'm done for a while, I'll let things grow in and stop spending for a bit. :)

Lotus, Take II

Despite it's unassuming appearance, the picture above is my second attempt at lotus growing. If you recall, the very first post that I made on this blog included a picture of the lotus in my garden in North Carolina. Getting it to bloom was my biggest gardening achievement. So in my new back yard I wanted to grow another one. So I ordered a Chawan Basu bowl lotus this spring and have had it rooting out in the bathtub. The roots finally grew on it and now I've transplanted it into a container outside to grow in. I'm really hoping that it will make it. I bought this one from Bonnie's Plants, and it came in with three growing tips on it so it's a really good one. Time will tell. :)