A dark and damp December day

I don't do dreary well and since I've been grazing on my lettuce patch rather heavily, it seemed the logical thing to do would be to visit my local nursery to replenish the crop. The lettuce was the main reason for stopping at Windmill but you know, you can't just dash in and dash out of a NURSERY! Ya might miss something!

But dash I did..ok, it was a sprightly mosey..but these Primulas caught mine eyes as I headed out the door with the lettuce. They're just too cute, don't you think? And they are now safely potted up in Phoebe's yard where the deer can't eat them. Dunno why I didn't get four of them, which would have fit perfectly in this pot. The little Billbergia wasn't very well seated with its siblings so it got to move in with the Primmys. Looks rather silly there. I like that.

Phoebe was hoping that I'd brought her yet another treat. Fortunately, she hasn't made the connection between what is growing in the half barrels and what she licks up from my "empty" salad bowl. Yeah, my dog does my dishes. Wanna come over for lunch? (just kidding. She "rinses them" and I do wash them with real soap and hot water.) Really. I do.

This half barrel grew basil and tomatoes over the summer. It probably should have some peas growing in it too.

Remember! Don't drink and drive!

little did I know

that the old poem "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple..." would be changed, in my world to "...I shall grow purple..."

needs a caption!

I need a good laugh. Help me come up with a caption for this picture. Please?

and roses. the roses are still blooming too.

Blooming this 9th day of December, 2007

cleaning gutters

Cleaning gutters used to be kinda fun. I'd just get up on the roof (its flat), enjoy the view, spy on the neighbors, and toss the leaf matter to the ground. But then getting off the roof and back onto the ladder became just too scary for this challenge-challenged gal. I haven't been up on the roof for years. Now I force myself to climb the ladder to "dip"into the gutters and sling the leafage ...only because it isn't really calming to watch waterfalls flow down

in front of the windows when we actually DO get rain.
Gutter compost does not have a nice earthy smell. This particular "brand" smells more like rotting olives. Do you suppose that is because the gutters are filled with olive leaves? Go figure! Anyhow, I finally figured out how to get self-cleaning gutters! You simply don't have them replaced for 50 years!

(In my defense, the sad truth is that the developers who bought this property will tear down the house so there is not much point in putting up a new gutter.)

Safety in numbers

I felt really, really safe one day last week when 8 officers parked on either side of the door of my workplace. The fact that they were all 100' away and enjoying lunch was still ok....their presence was duly noted by all. :>)

Many times a week "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" plays in my head even though these kids have never challenged me.

If only they would pig out on the chasmanthe, the vinca, the Bermuda grass, the nut sedge.. and leave the potted plantings alone!

Buckly only comes to visit for a few weeks in the fall but Doereen and her sister and the kids can often be discovered resting under the rose bushes or between the bamboo grove and the Azaleas or on the front lawn, dining on potted plants. Last week they ate an Aeonium.

little tree hugger

I've half a mind to make a whole herd of these "little people" and attatch them to each and every tree on the place. However, as there are over 200 trees and I have more pressing things to attend to, she will have to speak for all of us.

does that mean....

I was hoping that this sign "Fire Protection Available" posted at the nursery meant that we could look through one of the Firemen's Calendars and choose which fireman we wanted to take home with our tree. Alas, such is not the case. But wouldn't it be a grand idea? "Yes, I'll take three trees and three firemen; June, August and September. Thank you very much."

the missing photo from last blog

I'll never tame the wild gremlins that live in my computer.
THESE are the Ikea finds and the disco ball that go with the caption below.. why, WHY don't these things appear as they did when I hit the "publish" button? Gremlins I tell ya. Gremlins. (Won't it bu funny if THIS picture doesn't show up?..or the photo without the verbage.... arghhhhhh!! I am SO technically challenged!

More fall foolishness

Awwwwwwwwww

Ikea finds. Well, not the disco ball. Can't remember where that came from.










Persimmons

















WHAT a sweet face!

November nonsense

Having some fun with pupils....


Mr Rootie-tooster having a bite of cracked corn. Probably tastes pretty good after a diet of snails.











(They always think its spring in November!)

Pokeberry (Phytolacca)

10 years ago Mom and I took some of this plant to a nursery to find out what it was.
The nurseryman said "Its a nightshade, get rid of it."
Well, Mom and I both thought it was just too pretty what with those red stems and purply black berries so we left the plant.

It is now all over the property but these pictures are from the origional site.
I forgot to see if Phytolacca is indeed a nightshade but I do know that all parts of the plant are toxic to mammals.

Some folks in the southern parts of the United States still do eat "poke salad" but I think I'll just feast with my eyes, thank you very much.

The birds eat the berries but are unaffected by the toxins because the small seeds have very hard outer shells which remain intact in their digestive system and are eliminated intact. This explains why there are now plants all over the property. The
root systems are ginormous so lots of new growth rises up from them too.


The most interesting fact unearthed about this stuff is that the Declaration of
Independence of the United States was written in fermented pokeberry juice! (The plant is sometimes called inkberry) Many letters written during the Civil War were written in this "ink".

Native Americans used the dye to paint designs on their horses.

The fall color of the leaves is exactly as you see it here in the last two pictures. I don't have Photoshop (and wouldn't know how to use it if I did) and I didn't tweak the color in Picasa.