Friday, May 31, 2013

What's Bloomin! The last day of May...

 Today is the fist day in a while that we have had some sun. It is also very hot and humid here for the last day of May, but the weather has gone wonky all over the world. I'm sure these are the "Earth Changes" the Native American Elders warned us about....For those of us that don't believe in climate change, it doesn't really matter because it is happening whether you believe it or not... Anyway...

i went out to the front garden this morning and found  my clematis ( Jackamanni) in full bloom right next to the rosa rugosa bushes, which are also opening up. It smells like Heaven out there.

 This old clematis vine belonged to my Mother in law Fran. She said she could not get it to bloom and so i took the scrawney little vine home with me, planted it, and it comes up bigger and better every year. It always reminds me of her.
 more Jackamanni in the bright sunshine
 and here's a closeup of some of the roses blooming with it. The bumblebees love these roses. I've written about this huge old bush before. We used to go to Cape Cod every Summer for a vacation with the kids, and we stayed at my old Boss' cottage on the bay side. The last year we went there she told me she was going to tear down all the beautiful vegetation around the cottage to make repairs and she was going to sell it. I asked if i could take some slips of the rose bushes that grew wild there and some wild honeysuckle, an this is that little slip gone wild many years later(The wild honeysuckle hasn't bloomed yet but i will post pictures when it does)
 I love my Japanese Maples...Here is the tree i have planted in the ground in the front garden. The picture doesn't show the colors well(believe it or not, too much sun!) but the leaves are a dark maroon and the little seed pod "helicopters" are a bright red and yellow color. Just beautiful!
 The wild geranium(cranesbill) is blooming all over the place but especially around the base of the tree stump that is my rock garden. The problem is i don't want it there, but it has a mind of it's own!
 In the back shady garden the columbine are blooming. Right now i have mostly white flowers in bloom
 Here is a hybrid honeysuckle i planted when we first moved here some 30 years ago. It's just starting to open it's blooms and blooms on and off all Summer long. It climbs the fence back there. The hummingbirds love this stuff...
 Here is a lovely deep blue/purple columbine that got blown about and tattered in the strong storm we had the other night. I wanted to show you the color. Hopefully more of these will bloom...
 more double flowered white columbine...
So that's it for the blooms for now! Next stop, the "dog yard" gardens for some of the flowering herbs growing there...Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Mary....



"Mary"

Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ashes
You're covered in rain
You're covered in babies, you're covered in slashes
You're covered in wilderness, you're covered in stains
You cast aside the sheet, you cast aside the shroud
Of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
On some sunny day and always stay, Mary

Jesus says Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place

Mary she moves behind me
She leaves her fingerprints everywhere
Everytime the snow drifts, everytime the sand shifts
Even when the night lifts, she's always there

Jesus said Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place

Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin
you're covered in secrets
Your'e covered in treetops, you're covered in birds
who can sing a million songs without any words
You cast aside the sheets, you cast aside the shroud
of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
on some sunny day and always stay
Mary, Mary, Mary

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Orchid Cactus bloom

 Years ago, while visiting a greenhouse, i took home a segment of this orchid cactus, just a small paddle, and put it in a pot of soil like my Grandmother Mary taught me, and sure enough it rooted. It started to grow and send off more paddles  that would break off (mostly with the help of the cats) and i would tuck those broken pieces into pots too. Now i have this type of cactus growing in lots of pots all over the house. But it is very hard to get to bloom. It's supposed to have dormant time in a dark  cool place and special watering schedules. I just never did that. But a few weeks ago i noticed a tiny bud forming on one of the original pieces...I waited and waited, and here is the flower...It is LOVELY! Let's hope more pop out!







Monday, May 27, 2013

i Remember....




Happy Memorial Day...

Secret Gardens
Words and Music by Judy Collins


My grandmother's house is still there
But it isn't the same
A plain wooden cottage
A patch of brown lawn
And a fence that hangs standing
And sighing in the Seattle rain
I drive by with strangers
And wish they could see what I see
A tangle of summer birds
Flying in sunlight
A forest of lillies
An orchard of apricot trees
Secret Gardens of the heart
Where the flowers bloom forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
Great grandfather's farm is still there
But it isn't the same
The barn is torn down
And the fences are gone
The Idaho wind blows
The topsoil away every Spring
I still see the ghosts
Of the people I knew long ago
Inside the old kitchen
They bend and sigh
My life passed them up
And the world passed them by
Secret Gardens of the heart
Where the old stay young forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
But most of all
It is me that has changed
And yet I'm still the same
That's me at the weddings
That's me at the graves
Dressed like the people
Who once looked so grown-up and brave
I look in the mirror
Throught the eyes of the child that was me
I see willows bending
The season is Spring
And the silver blue sailing birds
Fly with the sun on their wings
Secret Gardens of the heart
Where dreams live on forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sharing a spot of sunshine

Wherever i go, Zinnia goes...and wherever Zinnia goes, Safou is close behind. There has been so little sunshine here this last whole week, so any little bit of it coming thru the window is greatly enjoyed! I think Safou has a bit of a crush on Zin, but unfortunately the feelings are not mutual. That big parrot beak has taken a few nips out of her when she is not watching him, so she is usually facing him whenever possible. I'm sure those nips are a parrot sign of affection tho by her reaction, Zinnia doesn't see it that way!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Friday, May 17, 2013

New Rosaries

  For the last few months i can do nothing else with my free time, than make rosaries, prayer beads and chaplets. It's all i want to do right now, so i'm going with it!
 
 This full size rosary is devoted to St Jude. I prayed to him a LOT when i was a girl, and it seemed like he always listened. It is both hand chained and the Pater beads are wire wrapped to make them stand out from the Ave beads.
 The Ave beads are a nice earthy Jasper and the Pater beads are Hematite.
 You can see the different wire works in this picture...
 This little pocket rosary is a Three Hail Marys Chaplet
 SOLD
This little chaplet is called Mary's Garden, and it is all wire wrapped and has bronze components
 This is another wire wrapped chaplet in bronze and the beads are Chinese Rhodonite.
 SOLD
This little rosary is non traditional. It's a devotional to Quan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion and Mercy...I love Quan Yin...
And last, but not least, this one is called Mary of the Snows, made of bronze, wire wrapped, and the stones are crackle quartz, which to me looks like ice. They are all waiting in the shop here!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What's Bloomin in the Garden!

 I have been an absentee blogger as of late. I've been away for a number of reasons, but a big one is this! I've been working in the garden. My old raised beds were just not working so I finally decided what kind of raised beds i would set up in the side yard (better known as the dog's yard) I went to Tractor Supply and bought three cattle troughs and my daughter drilled some drainage holes in the bottom of the tubs, and i filled them with good soil and planted my herbs. Here are a few photos i took just last week.
 Since these pictures were taken we've had quite a bit of rain and even a few frost warnings, but things are really coming along! In this tub i have my chives and sage and some parsley... The orange buckets have potatoes growing in them.
 The other two tubs have lettuce, green onions and garlic planted so far. I've given up on growing any kind of grass or ground cover on the ground in the dog's yard. It's just not happening with all those paws hitting the ground. So i am laying down lots of mulch and straw little bit by bit.
 As you can see, Little Honey loves to roll in the cedar mulch. I use cedar to control fleas and ticks. They don't like cedar at all...
 Here is my crab apple tree called "Prairie fire". Since these pictures were taken the flowers fully bloomed and got knocked off by a hard rain before i could take more pictures...
 I love flowering trees in the Spring

 My little mini Japanese Maple made it thru another tough Winter. (The newer, smaller one didn't make it tho...) My daughter Katie and her husband Ben made me some wooden boxes with open bottoms to replant the small trees in. This will keep them above the dog's level, but will allow the roots to go down into the ground and be better protected in the Winter months.
 Here are my strawberry plants!

 
 In my front yard garden my flowering almond bush took a beating this Winter, but is still blooming...
 And here is my lilac "Pocahontas". It is a dark purple, highly scented lilac. I missed these lovely blooms last year while i was in the hospital, so i am really enjoying them now!
So that's where i've been...busy digging in the gardens! More photos to come! Now i think i will go visit all my blog friends and see what you've all been up to!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

What's Bloomin? Everything's Comin up Yellow(with a little bit of blue too)

 Happy May! Spring is HERE!!! And the endless work in the gardens begins....

 The first thing to bloom in my gardens after the long Winter is the forsythia...

The only other color in the garden besides green and yellow is this little patch of blue...I planted these tiny bulbs years and years ago and they come up every year. I can't remember what they are called. Anybody out there know their name?

 We have a few daffodils that still pop up too. Somehow the squirrels missed digging these up
 I've got the deck set up and swept, and this week i'll plant some geraniums in the pots out there. I have some perennial herbs to put into the new raised garden beds in the dog's yard too...

It's so nice to have flowers in the gardens again! It looks like maybe next week the flowering trees might bloom!