POTPOURRI

Back to blogging.  I was down for most of the long, hot summer with shingles but feeling much better now so have a few things to share today. 

We lost our border collie dog, Lady, who is my profile picture.  We now have a new border collie named Jack.  He turned 3 on September 1 and now has a special place at our house. He  loves for you to throw him a frisbee or a tennis ball everytime you go outside!  He is full of energy and I haven't caught him down long enough to take a picture of him.  My daughter did get this head shot of him
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I have been doing some stamping again and like this Christmas card I made last week.  When Vicki (VDM)on Splitcoaststampers posted this card I was smitten.  When I commented liking the embossing folder and the sentiment she kindly embossed some cardstock and stamped off some sentiments and sent to me.  Thanks again, Vicki .  Here is Vicki's card:

and here is the card I made using the embossed panel and the sentiment.  The cardstock is white but has a pink cast in the photo.

The bloom in the garden was about half what it usually is due to the drought and heat.  I still have one daylily, named DOUBLE PASSION,  blooming, but the colder weather will soon end all that.

The Knockout roses were the best bloomers in my yard this year and since the rains have really kicked it up a notch.  I have single red, single and double pink and single yellow.  Will try to get  some pictures before the frost gets them. 

Today is World Cardmaking Day to may try to make a card after lunch.

UPDATE TIME

On Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper forum they usually pick one person as Featured Stamper for the week and we are to make a card changing at least two things about one of their cards.  Recently they had us all as featured stampers.  We were to pick one of our own cards and make another one changing at least two things.  The Coral Shells card is the one I chose of mine to Case. 

 I used the same stamp but changed colors, made a one layer card and used scoring below the image instead of embossing.  The Shells stamp by Inkadinkado is one of my favorite images and is easy to watercolor. I like the navy version but think the Coral Shells is my favorite of the two.

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Like a lot of you our Spring has been unusually warm and most things are at least three weeks early in bloom. Here are a few pics I have taken recently of things blooming in the yard.

This Bleeding Heart started as a start from my Mother's original plant.  I downsized my shade garden last week and we moved the above plant farther back in the bed and it survived beautifully with just a few broken branches.

My dwarf iris have all bloomed out now; the blooms didn't seem to last as long this year. I have them planted along the patio steps where I can be sure and see them.  Love their pretty purple color.

The Forsythia was pretty this year-more blooms than usual.  It was already here when we came here in 1979.  I finally gave it a good trim and it has done much better . 

Too early in the season here to plant annuals but these Violas I found at our local Wal-Mart called my name and I bought these two containers.  They are pretty hardy so should survive a frost if we get one. 

Hope you enjoy the Spring photos.
 

THINGS ON SUNDAY

Clicking on the photos should make them larger.

Thought I had better put up a post before we lose September completely!  We have been having some good rains and cooler weather-love it! 

Some of the trees are beginning to show some color.  The buckeye tree in the backyard was here when me came here in 1979.  It is the first to show changes in leaf color and lose its leaves (not counting black walnuts who lose them all year round it seems.)  I took this photo when the early morning sun was shining on the leaves. In the background is our old milk barn, shop with the double and garage door and holding pen shed is on the left end.

 The Sweet Autumn Clematis' have really done well this fall-just covered with their star-like blooms and have a sweet smell.  These cover two ends of the arbor. 

 The holstein heifers are having their mustard by-product fix-they like it and go to the water tank next.

Below is DH watching the heifers. He had cut a small bush and threw if over the fence and they had to come and investigate.  In the background you can see some eating hay at a round bale feeder.  We keep hay out for them year round.

 Here is a card I made today for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.  The card I cased used this flower and pitcher image from one of my favorite stamp sets-SU Long Time Friend. 

I did the Blackboard Technique where you stamp the image in white ink on a dark background.  You let the ink dry and then color in with colored pencils.  I added some yellow Stickles to the yellow flowers and cut the image out using Spellbinders Labels One die cut.  I also cut and embossed the green mat with a Labels One die and then adhered it to magenta Bazzill cardstock.  The sentiment says "Thinking of You".

POTATO VINE GONE WILD!

Been having some really nice weather.  Almost 8" of rain for the month and cooler temps-88 degrees today- but the clincher is-little humidity!  I can take the hot temps a lot better when the humidity is low.  Ragweed pollen count must be really high. My throat feels sore and scratchy after being outside!  A good excuse to stay inside and piddle.  :>)

While out I watered some flowers.  That is one potato vine in the pot along with rubrum grass.  The vine covered up some other plants I had in there-I guess all that hot weather is to his liking!! Sun Coleous is in the other two pots-one to each pot.

 While out I also picked some small, scrappy tomatoes.  Still have some blooms and a few green ones left.

 Made cards for two challenges this week-been awhile since I had played in the challenges.  When I first joined Splitcoaststampers I did several each week and really enjoyed them-learned several techniques and tips as well. 

 This card was for the TLC339 challenge.  We were asked to look for the first card we put in our Favorites Folder on Splitcoaststampers and do a similiar card.  Mine was from 2005, a favorite card by Sharon Harnist.  Where I used the floral designer paper Once Upon A Springtime by Graphic 45, Sharon had stamped toile flowers.  She also did the faux linen technique and I used the Stampin' Up Linen background stamp and stamped on my card.  I still like Sharon's card and was happy with mine as I like the coral colors! 

This card was for the MMTPT160 challenge to use birds on our card.  We are to send our cards to a lady who is having health problems if we want to.  Mine will be in the mail Monday. 

RENEWAL

On August 1st we had a grass fire in our pasture that burned about 10 acres. We had three fire trucks from our Rural Fire Department out and they came three times before it decided to not rekindle. God bless the volunteers who worked in over 100 degree heat.  Scary!!  July was a dry month with temps 100+ several days and things were really dry.  Since then we have had 4.35" of rain and cooler temps.  DH said to me this morning that the grass was beginning to grow again.  I took a few pictures to show how rain can renew things. 

 Here is a small portion of the burned area with new grass beginning to come back. 

 I hope the browned leaves on the trees from the fire come back next year. 

 During the heat and drought, several of my daylilies went into dormancy.  Since the cooler temps and rain they are showing new growth!  Daylilies are very hardy plants.

 The Four O'Clocks out by the milk barn reseed back each year and the heat and lack of rain didn't seem to bother them-blooming profusely.

This lone little Cleome decided to live and bloom!

I thank God each day that it wasn't any worse than it was and that no one was injured or had heat related problems!!

POTPOURRI

 Polemonium caeruleum 'Brise d'Anjou'  or Variegated Jacob's Ladder. 

Our local greenhouse closed down a few years ago and I miss having one in town.  The neighboring town has a nice one called-Country Petals.  My daughter, my sister and I went over  to see what they had this year-lots of beautiful healthy looking plants.  I love variegated plants and bought this pretty Jacob's Ladder.  I have read mixed reviews on it and hope it will live for me. 

I also bought two Sun Coleus at the greenhouse and a Orange Prairie Grass from Wal-Mart. I am going to wait a few days to set out the coleus and grass but will go ahead and set out the Jacob's Ladder. 

Later:  It has been too rainy here to get the Jacob's Ladder in the ground-9 3/4 inches of rain since the 21st.  Some sun and no rain today but more rain to come later.  I try not to complain about too much rain as I know what July and August usually are like here in my part of Missouri-hot and dry. 

This is always my first iris to bloom.  I love the pretty lilac color and think I have the name right.

I liked the way this lavender card turned out.  I sent it to Cindy Motherway on SplitCoastStampers  congratulating her for 5 years on SCS and for all she does for others.  The agapanthus image by Stampendous  was stamped with VersaMark ink and them embossed with white embossing powder.  I like the look stamped direct on the dotted paper.

Think I will go pull a few weeds if I can without sinking into the ground-they should pull easy!

ANOTHER WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES POST

Sunday High Temp--86 degrees  with wind gusts to 40 mph
Monday High Temp--46 degrees with wind gusts to 35 mph, rainy and cold!

This garden bench has been under the tree for umpteen years and Sunday was the first time it has ever been blown over.  The very, very strong winds yesterday must have caught it just right and over it went! 

I have grown Pink Flowering Almond (prunus glandulosa 'Rosea Plena' for years and always look forward to it blooming. The Pink Flowering Almond is a small shrub that flowers in early spring with a display of double, light pink flowers before the leaves appear. It grows best in light shade to full sun. It prefers a well drained light garden soil and is adaptable to most soil types and moisture levels. Blossoms are beautiful but  not fragrant. I plan to prune and shape mine after it finishes flowering. If it was in a different location I would leave it alone, but it is by the garage so needs to be kept in check.   I took this photo today before the rain and wind damages many more blossoms.  Photo is a little blurry as the wind was blowing the limbs around. It blooms along with the forsythia and the redbuds for some pretty early spring color.

Went to the accountants office this morning and left our tax info.  We then went to a local cafe that serves breakfast all day and had an early lunch. DH had breakfast but I had the cheeseburger/fries from the childs menu and it was plenty.  I have to go back to town to pick up our meds from the pharmacy and buy some groceries at Wal-Mart and go to the bank. We were waiting for the mail to come with a farm payment check so I can put it in the bank. If I didn't need the meds I wouldn't get out again being the wimp I am. 

Thanks for visiting my blog and I appreciate the comments.

HAPPENINGS

Hmmm....looks like I took the whole month of March off from blogging.  Beautiful sunrise this morning, loved the pinkish streaks in the sky as viewed from my kitchen window.  I wish I had stopped and taken a photo now.  It is going to be a beautiful day in the Ozarks.  Have a full day planned but would like to be able to clean at least one flower bed and trim the KnockOut roses. Probably  not going to happen today but hopefully next week. My daughter helped me cut back 8 clematis and clean some flowerbeds earlier.  I finished our taxes yesterday and they will go to the accountant Monday.  I am always so glad when that chore (which I dislike) is finished. 

The flowering trees and shrubs are really beautiful right now.  Here is a photo of my daughter's Bradford Pear tree-gorgeous.  They have such a lovely shape.

Spring is my favorite season, closely followed by fall.  Helleborus, reticulata iris, Virginia Bluebells, crocus, daffodils, hyacinths and forsythia are some of the things that have bloomed or are blooming now in my yard. 

We have been having some nice rains and DH got the fertilizer spread on the pastures just in time for a nice rain to dissolve the fertilizer into the ground.  We sold our heifers and bulls this week but will be looking for some more to put on the pastures later. 

Noticed some bluebirds around the birdhouse and have seen the Mama with her head out-hopefully she is thinking about a family!   

The above photo is of my Helleborus or Lenten Rose.  It is one of the first things to bloom starting in very late winter and blooms for a long time.  I don't know the variety I have as it was a start from my daughter.

PINK IN THE FALL

I love fall and I love the color pink in all it's variations.  I still have a few 'pinkish' flowers blooming. 

Watermelon crepe myrtle is a beautiful reddish pink.

Sedum Autumn Joy goes through lots of beautiful shades of pink  before settling on a rusty red.

Neon sedum is just that--a gorgeous neon pink.

My Four-O-Clocks have several different shades of pink-beautiful!

The Four-O-Clocks have been really lush and beautiful this year-love the smell.

My lone Cleome plant.  Came up in the front of this bed-not the best place but I left it.  Need to collect seed and plant in a better place next year.

Love the color of this Rose of Sharon bush.

Have just a few Echinacea (coneflowers) blooming.  The hot dry months of July and August slowed things down as I don't water from our well.

MY LOVE AFFAIR

For my family and friends reading this, don't get excited and jump to the wrong conclusion.  Let me explain.





BING CHERRIES

Since DH and I are both diabetics we eat a lot of fruit for snacks and dessert.  I love most all fruits, can't really think of any I don't like. This summer I have really fallen in love with Bing Cherries. The ones I have been buying at Wal-Mart have been really tasty.  We have enjoyed strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, grapes and I always keep bananas and apples on the countertop. Does that make you feel better about my love affair?

COUNTER CLUTTER

Counter clutter, but a good kind of clutter!  A friend sent me some squash and peppers.  I thought the long one was a crookneck, DH said a gourd,  but she said it was an Italian Zucchini which I had never seen.  The others are butternuts.  The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are some a friend raised.  He raises lots of different tomatoes and always gives us several.  Last week was Lemon Oxheart which we didn't really care for and some hybrid red ones I don't know the name of which were good.  To me the Arkansas Travelers that I raised have the best flavor of any I have tried this year.  Just wish the vines could hang on a little longer-they don't like it dry with the hot winds and I have watered very little.

I am going to make this squash casserole again with the squash.  My sister gave me the recipe and I really enjoyed it as did both daughters, DH not so much.

SQUASH CASSEROLE

2 pounds squash, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

1 tablespoon margarine

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 8 ounce carton sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped pimento

1/2 cup margarine

1 8 ounce package herb stuffing mix

Optional, but I added some diced, cooked chicken breast

Cook squash and onion with 1 tablespoon margarine until tender, add soup, sour cream, pimentos.  Add 1/2 cup margarine to stuffing mix and add to squash mixture.  Bake in a 2 quart oblong Pyrex dish at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly in the middle. 

Don't know what makes the long space between paragraphs-not a good thing.

OLD FAITHFULS

We have a large maple tree just off our back patio which has Lancifolia Hosta, Virginia Bluebells, Orange Oriental Poppies and Orange Tiger Lilies planted around it. They come back year after year no matter what the weather and are a welcome sight.  They have to compete with the maple tree roots and have thrived amid the roots and shade. The bluebells and hosta are first, followed by the poppies and then the lilies which are blooming now.  Going through my files I found photos of all except the poppies.  I have started a list of plants to get photos of next year that I have somehow missed. 

Lancifolia Hosta and Virginia Bluebells in the Spring

Orange Tiger Lilies

I took the lily pictures today. There were less poppies this year and more lilies so I need to make sure next year to not let so many lilies come back or move some to a new location to keep from crowding out the poppies.

Tiger Lilies closup

KNOCKOUT ROSES--A 10 RATING

(Click to make the photos larger.)

Mid-summer, 2008, a local store had their knockout roses on sale.  I bought three red ones and planted at the curve along the drive.  They really took off, grew and bloomed until frost.  Here is a picture of them blooming in late summer with three Autumn Joy sedums. 

Here is what they look like now, not even two years later. 

I may have to move the sedums unless I trim the roses back which they seemingly like as I read somewhere to cut them back to 18" each year for really good bloom.  I haven't cut mine back, just trim the tops in early spring and you probably wouldn't have to do that.  I planted six more red ones last year and two pink and one yellow this year. I just added a tablespoon of Osmocote fertilizer to the hole when I planted them and kept them watered as needed that first year. Three of the ones I set out last year were pretty scraggly when I bought them and this spring I thought they were dead.  I cut off the old foliage and they had new growth underneath.  One is blooming now but is still pretty small.  Hope the pink and yellow are as full blooming and carefree as the red ones are.  So far the red ones rate a 10 with me.

BETTER THAN SLICED BREAD

This is my most favorite thing I garden with.  (Click on the photo to make it larger.)  We bought this golf cart, probably 4 years ago now, and Leon built me a box bed on the back.  It hauls my tank sprayer, that hooks to the battery when needed, assorted tools, Osmocote and supplies.  I usually pull this little trailer behind for buckets of dirt, water, flowerpots, shovel, rakes, hoe, pitchfork.  This time of year it holds the weeds I pull and branches I cut. I just finished unloading a load of weeds and branches.  Later on I will haul mulch with it.  Money couldn't buy this setup, unless it was for a new one. ;>)  Has saved me many a step as our yard is pretty big.

FERNS IN THE SHADE GARDEN

The shade garden is loving this rain we have been having.  Here are some photos of some ferns and companion plants.

The green fern is Maidenhair and the one in front of it is Japanese Painted Fern 'Ursula's Red'.  To the right of the Maidenhair is Persicaria/Tovara Red Dragon.  I traded some P. Painter's Palette in the lower left corner to a guy in Florida for the Red Dragon. He had seen on GardenWeb that I had Painters Pallette and emailed me about a trade.  It gets pretty big and may outgrow its present home as I don't want it to crowd the hostas. Painter's Palette seeds around alot but Red Dragon isn't supposed to.

TULIP POPLAR

We  have a tulip poplar tree (Liriodendron tulipfera) also known as tulip tree or yellow poplar in our yard. It is at least 60 feet tall and I forget about it blooming in the spring until I see some petals laying on the ground.  The flowers are beautiful.  I took a picture of a branch and a close-up of a flower if you aren't familiar with this tree.  It is hard to see the blooms on the branch but the tree is always loaded with blooms.

Here is a close up of the bloom: