Yard, Gardens, Birds and Critters

First of all I was up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.  It was around 3:30 when I finally gave up and No, it wasn't Chief's fault.  I have so many things I want done and I kept thinking about them and how I was going to be able to do them and how should I do them. I had the coffee going by 5 a.m.  Hate to start it too early!  I was on the computer playing a game, checking email and all that stuff.  Then I decided I was hungry. There were two pieces of bacon left so I zapped them and grabbed some peanut butter crackers. I had a cup of coffee, ate and then headed out. Downstairs I put a load of wash in. Out the backdoor and got the lawn mower and pushed it towards the gate. Was just getting the gas, when a mouse ran out from under it.  Not a good place for a home!. Then up to the front and mowed.  Got the front and part of the side done.  I had started my project in the front of the house. There was an area there I was going to put down that rubber mulch and move m

My flowering crab fell in the tornado. Under it was an Azalea, Hosta and Lenten Rose. All of which need shade. There was a small flower bed on the North side of the house that I had Heuchera (Coral Bells) and ferns, All died out due to the soil and the heat for the past couple of years. I decided to weed out the bed add some soil and plant those plants in this bed. First I dug out the plants. Then dug out a couple of weeds that are spreading like crazy. Went to get the wheelbarrow, flat tire. Couldn't find the attachment to the compressor hose. Had to wait til hubby got home. He bought a new come-a-long to take out the stump of the flowering crab. I cleaned out the grating at the end of the drive. So much debris no water could possibly get in there. Instead the water flows down our drive and makes gullies in the yard. Plus I found more of the insulation and Styrofoam around the yard. Jim got the tire blown up so I loaded the bucket with the hosta, the shovel and one of the pa

One of the first things I do in the morning is check the weather. I figured I was okay to work outside and they didn't have rain in the forecast until Tuesday. Off I went. Grabbed my loppers, clippers and new collapsible container for leaves and stuff, plus my little shovel. The Burning Bush shrubs in front to the lattice was basically covered up by those wild grapevines and the Virginia Creeper that grows everywhere. When the neighbors pine tree fell the weight of it made the lattice fencing bend over and the weight of the other was too much. I knew I had to do a lot of cutting/trimming and lopping of of branches. I was going to fill the garden bag and then, knew there would be way too much. Started in building a pile of brush. Clip, clip, pull out, clip more pull more. I got to some heavier branches so started using the loppers. They were so dull it was awful. I kind of cut, then twisted some and then took my hand pruners and finished the job. It seems I can't go out

The tornado changed the squirrels life at my house.  They had a regular routine to get to my deck.  That routine has been totally disrupted. First the route they took from their nesting areas in the back was jumping into the locust tree and using the two branches to jump to the roof of our shed.  Those branches are gone, thanks to the tornado! Then they would cross over the shed roof and come down the lattice that hid the shed from view.  That lattice has been knocked down by the pine tree of the neighbors. Again, tornado damage! Then they would run up our chain link fence and onto the 2 x 4 frame of lattice that was on top of the chain link fence.  There is a story behind that. We had a dog, Cadillac, that jumped the four foot height of the chain link fence. So hubby put in 2 x 4 posts and a top frame and put up lattice all the way around the dog yard so she couldn't jump the fence anymore. It worked. When our bigger dogs died, we eventually took down the lattice all except the d

I went over the other day and dug up my peppers but not the tomatoes as I really have no place to put them. I do now though! A tornado came through and knocked over my tree and now I have some sun! Oops, too late! The tornado was on the night of the 22nd and the flood waters covered the garden on the 23rd.  Have no clue how long the waters will be there and if the plants will survive. It's a wait and see type of thing. I still feel Blessed as the tornado didn't do structural damage to my home. Just the tree and a portion of fence and lattice that was in front of the shed. Neighbors pine fell on it. My damage was relatively little compared to a block away, where businesses were destroyed and homes destroyed farther along the line of the tornado. Hopefully the flood doesn't get worse and do a lot of damage to structures. There were some people that lived in that area that had to be evacuated and some businesses too! Here is a picture where my garden is supposed to be

Got to the gardens early and thought I would move some dirt up around the potatoes that are sprouting. After doing it a few minutes I figured I would use my hoeing skills to plant the onions that hadn't been planted yet.  Hoed a big hill and then poked in the onions.  I forgot the kind, started with a G. They are a white onion. Then I planted most of my "Candy" onion. Leaving space to plant my garden buddies few onions that she had siting here in 4 inch pots and some in 4 packs.  I found some potatoes left over from my potato planting so thought I would put them in. We had a couple of potatoes come up volunteer from last year, in a nice row. One at the beginning and one at the end.  I planted mine in the middle.  Trying a new way. Laid the potato on the ground and hilled the dirt up and over the top.  Normally I dig a trench and put in the potato and pull the dirt up over the top. We shall see. I also hoed the edge in case we want to put in some flowers. Next order of bu

Getting old is not for gardeners.  Good Grief, I think every joint I have aches and didn't sleep well last night but never fear, I am one of "those" people! Gathered up my plants and off to the front yard for more gardening!  Can't resist getting more aches and pains. LOL!  I planted up my planters on the front porch then weeded and planted down the sidewalk, throwing in a fern at the far 1/2 whiskey barrel.  I finally planted some little grape hyacinth that my Avon Lady gave me. She also gave me some small iris. Will be happy to see those next spring.  After planting those I had a decision, should I plant the Crossandra or trim the dead wood on the dogwood and the flowering crab.  I decided to do the trees.  Boy, should I have waited.  I had that neat saw I bought Jim years ago. It's a Japanese Pull Saw.  I love it. Anyway, I knew which branches I wanted to cut. I thought! Started in and cut the branch off. Oh, no, there was a whole live section. I messed up! You

First, I couldn't go in the garden or basically do anything outside. Cold, windy and rain and more rain. We had over 7 inches of rain at my house in the first 3 months of the year! The cold damp weather continued into April with another 5 inches of rain. I finally did get in the garden and planted those potatoes and the green beans, which are coming up. Since then I haven't been in the garden. I bought tomatoes and peppers and some herbs at the plant sale. They were all piled up in the garage. Finally I took them outside. The temps went down to 44°F. Not good for tomatoes, herbs and peppers. I looked around my yard and saw all the things that needed to be done. It was totally overwhelming.  Hubby, who is still having lots of issues with his legs, went out and got on the riding mower and did the flat area in the far back. I figured I had better get busy before he attempted more. So, I did the dog area then mowed the front. Got the trimmer and trimmed the dog area, down the fe

Do you know what a 75 year old woman looks like after working in the garden for 5 hours.  It's not pretty! I checked on the garden on the 6th and found that very few of the beans came up. The weeds were growing with vigor as were the volunteer sunflowers.  The sunflowers were everywhere.   My first order of business was to take several of the sunflowers and transplanted them on the back 25 foot.  Then I started to till with the small tiller.  The wilted plants are the transplanted sunflowers  I couldn't get the blasted thing started and was going to start hoeing.  Finally gave the tiller one more chance. Yippee!  It started.  There were so many rock and other stuff like the old corn stalks. I was doing some pitching into a pile, putting rocks in the road and pulling up the rest of the large weeds to put in the pile.  I saw some marigolds that came up volunteer also. Transplanted them too.                  The rocks even grew over the winter