Chasmanthe

Though I complain a LOT about all the chasmanthe that I unwittingly spread on this place, it IS definately a swath of bold color beginning in February and lasting through March.

 

Yesterday I discovered another reason to like Chasmanthe; the birds like it! There were several Yellow-rumped (Audubons) Warblers drinking nectar from the blossoms. Hummingbirds also enjoy feasting at it, no surprise there.

 

Phoebe, however, isn't overly impressed by the sticky spots on her face and head from the nectar splashing her as she bounds through the Chasmanthe maze.

 

I probably wouldn't mind the stuff so much myself if it didn't require mowing before it turns into a fire hazard.

Phormium "redheart"

I was only going to look for one "little something" at Windmill Nursery this morning but then Taylor just HAD to show me this Phormium. It was not a well behaved plant; When I told it to "sit! Stay!" it leapt off the shelf and into my arms. How could I refuse to take it home with me? Besides, it isn't often that I've found a georgeous Phormium in a one gallon pot. It didn't even cost me an arm and a leg.

 

 

 

oops

That's "Impatiens" not "Impatiend" ...one wouold think I'd learn to spell check BEFORE publishing...but noooooooo....

Bloom Day

dare I say Brrrr?

It seemed quite cold to me this morning what with the frost on the neighbor's roof tops and the ice in the birdbath but then I read the weather report for Rugby, North Dakota and decided that its quite balmy here.

 

 

The Stellata magnolia continues to welcome Spring/

 

Fantabulous Spring Day!

It was hard to stay "on task" today because there is so much to do and there are so many distractions. Inbetween exercising the weed-whacker and the rake and the electric leaf blower, the camera got to be handled (with dirty fingers)and a few things got their pictures taken. This is the "baby" Stellata magnolia from Mom's big one on the other side of the yard. It begged for a photo op as I was hauling a big bag of potting soil to the half full wine barrel bottom..from which I had just extricated a bazillion root bound asters and at least two gazillion ants..no, I didn't intentionally move the ants; they just leapt upon my hands and went along for the ride. So now my hands look like dried apricots (again, from the dirt, not the ants)and if I don't remember to splash some nail polish on my fingernails before I leave for work in the morning, the public will be horrified. (good thing I don't work in food service)

 

The Chasmanthe is pretty but there really, really is too darn much of it on this place. I try to enjoy the prettiness and not think about all the mowing of same that will have to be done soon. Why, WHY don't the deer eat this stuff?!

 

Flowering quince has been one of my favorites since I was old enough to notice flowers. Also violets. mmmmmm!!

 

Dawson got to go outside during the daylight hours today but only until he was seen stalking the albino pigeon. Before he got into mischief he was pretending to be the Great White Panther. Or something. He's 12 years old. He thinks he's 6 years old. I can relate to that sort of thinking. Currently (for the past few months) the Beatles have been singing in my head; "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm SIXTY-FOUR?" Guess I'll have the answer in a month. No! No! I'm only 46. Someone's gone dsylexic on me! I can't possibly be this old!Funny thing about "time". I used to joke that since my first marriage lasted 7 years and my 2nd marriage lasted 14, I was going to stay single for 21 years and then "marry for money". This morning it occurred to me that I have, indeed, been on my own for 21 years now. So where's my prince? (He doesn't really have to have a lot of money. A great sense of humor, great health, and a kind heart will do.) I'd add "great health insurance" but as I don't really want to get married again, that's a moot point.

 

oh yeah. What also came home with me

I must be in a Purple Mood this week because today a drop-dead georgeous Hardenbergia came home with me...along with the lawnmower (which is gray, not purple....yet).Its almost 5' tall (in the 5 gallon can) consequently, standing it up in the back of the truck and driving off to work would have resulted in a naked vine after 2 miles. So....it got gently crammed into the cab with me. I did make sure that I could see all three mirrors. (Everybody knows I tend to be a sucker for cops and firemen but I would have been mortified if an officer had "lit me up" and pulled me over for a safety check.)There were some startled and odd looks aimed at me from other drivers. (Gosh, doesn't everyone want to drive with a live halo of pretty purple flowers dancing on their head?) But I digress. Where am I to plant this beauty? The Hardenbergia's previously planted just didn't get enough sunshine and this yard is no less shady than it was 7 years ago. Well, it is in a few places where 100 year old olive trees finally toppled in wind storms but there are other issues not condusive to Happy Hardenbergias in those areas. Deer may not be fond of this plant under normal circumstances but with the drought, the leaves would probably end up on their "mmmm. Nummy!" list. Phoebe will probably have it growing in her yard. Lucky dog. She gets all the pretty flowers. Lucky me, I get to see them out my den window. Life is Good. I'm listening to President Obama and trying not to leap up to join in the standing ovations he keeps getting.

 

mower

Tired of having issues with gas powered mowers, knowing this body needs a LOT of exercise, and a sale, made me buy this dandy push mower today. Its a reel, for real. Pheobe checked it out and pronounced it "ok"..just "ok" because she prefers things that roar. The gas powered mowers for instance. Or the electric leaf-blower. Or even the weed-whacker. The vacuum cleaner gets high points too but turn on the hair dryer and she's gone.

 

We'll have to work on her pushing technique.

 

Newly mowed weed patch. I feel so GREEN! Oh, I am green. Grass stains.

 

Helleborous orientalis

 

 

After nosing around looking at new shoes, a bathrobe, a purse,a tablecloth and rejecting them all as "things I don't really need", my resolve was rock solid ... which made me think I could just pop into Windmill Nursery and ONLY LOOK there too. WRONG. But golly gee whiz! How could anyone pass up this georgeous "black" Hellebore? It would have been more of a drain on my checkbook had I gotten shoes and a tablecloth and a bathrobe, etc...so that made the $24.49 price tag seem like a pittance. It could be my early birthday present to myself, right?

ANTS!

 

 

 

Oh my gosh! I've been "fighting" ants off and on all winter. They sneak into my kitchen from ... where? I've tried to follow their trails but they just dissappear. And then the ants reappear as if by magic. Lately they have been showing up in the corner kitchen window area. They appeared to be gone last night but this morning there was a clogged ant highway on part of the window sill. It looked like the L.A. freeway system at rush hour.On further inspection, the trail led to one of my potted orchids. There is an entire ant coloney in that orchid! I have been drowning ants ever since I got up this morning and still there are more! Now I'm geting angry because in my attempts to wash the ants off the orchid, the top spike broke. Yes, it had buds. Where's that anteater when I need it? I'd gladly put the orchid outside in the rain if the Flicker would swoop down to dine but the Flicker prefers to yelp at me from the top of a Liquid Amber. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The best thing about Sacramento

Spring has arrived! Amazing what two days of glorious sunshine inbetween rains storms can do!

water, water everwhere

 
Its raining. Its Pouring. Oh My God its boring.
I know we need the rain. But I need exercise and my "gym" is the garden/yard/orchard/
and I'm a no-mud-unless-the-air-is-at-least-in-the-80's kinda gal. Waaaaaaa.

also blooming

 
 


Forgot these two.

Bloom Day Feb 15th 2009

Since it is very windy out this morning I didn't spend much time attempting to "compose". Also, a few of the flowers are still in bud form..but with much promise! They only need a few moments of sunshine to burst forth in all their spring glory. (hey! At least I remembered that its "Bloom Day"!)

Duh

 

I have wanted to blog about this idiotic sign ever since it went up a few years ago. In case you can't make out the words it warns "CAUTION! TREES NEAR ROADWAY." Now then, just how dumb does a person have to be to NOT notice the trees without having to be told about them? And if they need a sign to warn them about the presence of the HUGE trees, should they be driving at all? And do we really think they are going to read the sign anyway? No, most are not. The sign went up on a very busy 4-lane Blvd. a few years back but still, when I mention the sign to people who are known to use that Blvd., they will often ask "What sign? What are you talking about?" There are two signs; one at either end of this half mile stretch. Not to mention that there are trees along pretty much all of the streets, avenues, boulevards and lanes in Sacramento County...or at least the Greater Sacramento Area...and yet, this is the only stretch of roadway that warns drivers of the trees. I've never felt the trees trying to suck my vehicle off the road.

STILL waiting for refurbished computer!

In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday;

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves: and under a just God, can not long retain it. Abraham Lincoln

President Barack Obama

Isn't this just wonderful? I am SO very happy that he is in office. It isn't going to be a "quick fix" by any means but at least we are now on the right track and if we ALL work together I believe we can make the world a better place.

On another note; Whomsoever invents a self cleaning computer keyboard will be elevated to god or goddess status.

regular computer is still in the hospital

So everyone please keep your fingers crossed that Wizard Paul can fix the darn thing...or at the very least, make it give up all my photos and address books.

Meanwhile, out in the yard...Most delightful to be pruning and weeding on an almost 70* day with the scent of narcissi and the notes from the neighbor's violin wafting through the air. I know next to nothing about violins but I swear you can almost see the notes float out of the neighbors' upstairs "music room" and ride the air currents over the tops of the olive trees...like blown bubbles. Who needs to know more than that visual? Suspect that a lot of work will get done in the front yard this year. Several years ago I got a lot of work done in the back because the then high-school boy who lived back there would practice his guitar outside. Not rock n roll but classical. MMMMMMMMM!!! Such talent! (don't get me wrong, I like rock n roll..especially the "old" stuff, and disco makes me "work out" while I'm working...out...) But weeding is wonderful while listening to nouveau flamenco and pretending to be someplace more exotic than Carmichael, California.

The camellias are blooming. My brother's violets are too..not mine. But mine will smell nice and his just look purdy.

The gate got a fresh coat of red paint today. So did the tin hen. The two hideous Christmas themed tin stars got several coats of white primer and look so nice that they are now hanging on the fence. Who knows what color they will be..maybe they'll just remain white. They are almost classy without the crappy Santa mug and the dorky reindeer on them. They are hanging with the yellow star. (Yellow with purple splotches thanks to the birdies.)I see my nozzle finger is still red. As in paint. Probably should clean that off before I go to work tomorrow and freak some poor customer out.

Someday...photos!

Toodles~

no photos for awhile

My photos are all safely tucked away in the camera. Its the computer that is the issue. THIS computer does not have Picasa or those fun little programs that allow one to look at videos or attachments...yes, there are little pop up sorts of things that say "click here to install.." but nothing happens when I do that other than there's some sort of coded message in geekspeak, which I don't understand, and I'm so afraid of screwing this back-up computer up that I just won't explore. So call me a sissy. I don't care. The HP Slimline with VISTA (gag! ARghhh!) has decided that it won't turn back on. The sexy blue light at the on/off switch lights up but that little orange light that indicates all is well and working in the lower center of the machine is not glowing. (its probably full of pet hair and dust) And no, things are not backed up because the cute little slidy-out drawer thingie where one would place a CD? Yeah? Well, it has refused to open for about a year. And this computer does not have one of those teensy holes into which some folks stick the open end of a paper clip into and which then tickles the door/drawer into opening.
Do you think that if I place the dead computer under my pillow that the Computer Fairy will leave me a new one in its place? No? Well damn.That means I can either #1. Wait for my Handsome, Charming, Very Smart, Computer-wise Son to fix it in about a month or #2. I can attempt to unplug it from all the extra-terrestrial things its plugged into (keyboard,printer,monitor,speakers, power) and haul it to work tomorrow...to give to my boss...to give to her husband (SuperGeek) in the hopes HE can fix it. I'm just afraid that I'll inadvertently screw up this back-up computer in the process. (the two are joined by some sort of toggle switch and this one runs on something that reminds me of lions and elephants; Ubuntu. I don't speak that language either.
Why do I never, ever hear of MAC users having these problems? Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Note to self; Win lottery. Buy a MAC.)

awwww

 

there's supposed to be a cute photo of Phoebe and Dawson here. I noticed there is a "new and improved" version of Picasa...that's probably why I am not seeing a photo. And you are probably not seeing a photo either. Have I mentioned lately that I WANT A MAC?