Change; movin' on to the finish

Saturday 27th
Morning was perfect!  Cool/chilly/overcast  my kind of weather.
Finished the placement of the concrete blocks in an hour or so.  Had to go into Fort Worth to Marshall Grain for amendments to soil for a raised bed. This formula was on line at Howard Garrett.com. I tried to find the ingredients closer to home and wasted an hour.  Finally, got to Marshall Grain and found everything I needed. This is a great source for organic gardeners.  Don't bother with the other nurseries, they just cannot compete with the needs for organic gardening.

It was late getting home and warmer so waited for today, Sunday, to finish.

Sunday 28th
Early this morning, after no sleep past 12:30AM, fixed a cup of caffeine  and read and dozed until time to pick up the Sunday paper for hubby and get my sausage biscuit and senior coffee at MickyDees.

Barely daylight and I am at it again.  I am worn out.  Not a lot of hours expended on this project, but it is heavy work and hard on the back and hands (mostly the hands).

I am pleased with the result.  Still need to fill the bed.  That is the easy part and in no hurry.

Two left over blocks and short rail road tie make a bench

The bench will come in handy for a bit of shade and rest.

Change; a lot of work

It is noon, the temperature is still in the 60's. The base cinder blocks are in.  Took two short breaks and one Aleve to finish that much.
The leveling of those blocks was the most difficult.  I checked and these 16x8x8 blocks are considered "light weight".  I weigh 120 pounds, the block weighs about 30.  Felt a lot heavier when I got to the last one.

All in all, a good days work. I'm satisfied with my progress.



Tomorrow morning, I plan to finish moving the blocks and fill with the dirt from the one I am demolishing.  I will have to add more.
My plan is to "make" my own. There are formulas for organic potting soil on the Web. A couple look interesting.
Will have to purchase a few things, but first to fill the bed with what I have now.

Change continued

Yesterday was productive in my change  plans.  The weather was perfect (no wind) which makes yard work much easier.  The nandina bush is gone. Not hauled to the burn pile as of yet, but roots and all are gone.
The nandina is a great no care space filler.  The ones I have are mostly transplants from my mother-in-law's home in West Texas.  Some of these shrubs get huge.  There are smaller ones, but what I have are BIG if not pruned every year.  The  one in this corner has been a problem for years.
Nandinas are the type of bush that spread from the root system and can be a pest.  I seem to have a bunch of these types of plants and trees.
Now, I hope to get the ground leveled off and the cinder blocks hauled into the space.  The little buggers are heavy and it will be slow work unless I recruit hubby to help move them.  
The plan in my head goes something like this: 16 inch concrete squares for a "floor" for chairs and maybe a table? The raised concrete bed. Maybe painting it or something to make it a bit "prettier".  Pots of flowers and perhaps a grass or two.

This idea is floating around in my brain.  The timing  may be off (again) to have things done before the heat sets in.
Heat, as in anything over 75 degrees and no clouds makes the task real and unpleasant work.
It is going to be in the 80's the rest of the week.  The space is under the bedroom window. So, early AM work may be curtailed if hubby  is sleeping. See, that is why nothing got done in the past.  The location of this chore...............................

We will have to see what comes of this idea. Hmmm

Time for a change

This is my problem area

Today, in the midst of drizzle, trying to beat the rain that is coming, I realized I must "DO SOMETHING"

This little area, about 10x10, has done nothing for the last 6 or so years but grow weeds, nut sedge and when it rains heavily, floods.  Instead of fighting a raised herb bed outside of the courtyard, this is where a raised bed should go.
At one time, this spot had a lovely wax myrtle bush. A freak snow storm one April broke one huge branch, an ice storm the following winter broke another.  We took it out and things have gone downhill from then.

This is the other problem

 Two years ago, this bed grew basil, parsley, peppers and other good stuff. Last year, zilch. It has become a catch all and discouraging spot in my lovely garden area. Thus, I shall move it to the court yard. 

My work is cut out for me, but I know it will be a much happier ending than this Spring.

A Bluebonnet Story

More years ago then we care to remember, when the bluebonnets put on a show for weeks. When neighbors would ask if they could take a picture of their child with them, my husband was learning about Bluebonnets just by watching and listening.

When the neighborhood had lots of young children playing up and down our road and picked the Bluebonnets, it became time for "grandpa" to explain the flower and the importance of not picking them.

He remembers one time when several children were picking the flowers and he started telling them he wished they wouldn't and why.  One little girl in particular remembered the story.  Sure enough, later, she and some friends were passing the yard and they wanted to pick "just one?". She explained almost word for word what he had told her.

About the Banner spot, the red spot, and the visiting bees..................I am sure there are informed persons who will disagree with his theory, but it made sense to the children and they respected the flowers from then on.

                                                                The Story
 If you watch the flowers, you will see bees visiting and landing on a petal to get the nectar. They will dip in and the pollen from the stamen will brush their belly (actually legs) and cling to the bee. Who then will pollinate another flower and another flower.

After awhile, the petal they landed on will turn red and that means the flower will make seeds to sow for next year. It also tells other bees that this flower is pollinated.

Then, after the seed pods have formed and hot summer comes, if you sit very quietly, and listen, sometimes for a long time, you will hear the pods start to "pop" and when they do, seeds will fly out and spread all over the area around. Some of the seeds might hit another pod and then it will pop and more and more.

 Then there will be more and more bluebonnets than before.  It all happens if you do not pick the flower before it has made seeds.

Tomato ring progress note

THE TOMATOES ARE IN THE GROUND!

I am writing the day after the big event.  It turned out to be an all day ordeal.  Walmart can be crazy making when one is in a hurry to pick up things like bone meal and tomato fertilizer.
No good reason to have put off the essentials, except when I was ready, things didn't seem to be on the shelves yet.  Then, when I was ready, a cold snap with wind and rain nearly all day, threw my timing off.

Yesterday morning I was determined not to be put off one more day!

I had purchased my tomatoes on the rainy day. My choices. Odd to say the least.
1. Better Bush
2. Solar Fire - sets blooms in hot, humid weather
3.Pineapple Beefsteak - heirloom and large fruit
4. Porter - old standby
5. Patio - just cuz

So, prepared the holes and dithered and fretted about how deep and such.  Then, it was done!! Makes the sore back and knees worth it. 

Patio will probably stay in this pot

Early morning shadows, but they are in!

The AM shade may be a factor later but still full sun

Iris Surprise

Early this Spring the buds on this old clump of Iris appeared.  I did not move anything.  I just cut away a few of the older corms that were almost completely out of the ground.
I consider these flowers a true gift!!

Japanese tomato ring

I am going to try something that I haven't done for over 20 years.  I am starting a Japanese tomato ring.  I still have the magazine that inspired me then. I hope I have as much success this time.

The concept is an old one and hubby and I built a big ring in the late 80's.  We were both working at that time, he was in sales and home a good bit more than me. So, he did the watering.  He also was very generous with the bounty!  I managed to freeze up a few bags along the way.  This time, I hope to can some.

The area is already tilled up and ready for the ring.  I put it up and have been adding the layers according to the magazine instructions.  There are tons of versions of a ring on the Web.  Some sound really strange. Whatever works!

This spot is closer to water this time.  Not that water is necessary for right now.  We have finally  had a good rain.  Some say too much too soon, but all my beds are watered and transplants settled in so nicely.

Not sure what  varieties to choose.  I am only going to try 4 since I also have intentions of "pruning" the bushes per another interesting article I read.

With the rain we are having, I am going to wait a bit to go and purchase plants. Probably just 4.

Spring Morning Rain

I love mornings like this.  It is 45 degrees and rainy and windy (don't love the wind).  Yesterday morning, it was 70 degrees.  There was a threat of thunder storms and hail all day.  Nothing but cloudy and very, very windy.
Several hours later, temperature has dropped to 39 degrees.  We now are having real rain.

My brother-in-law in Cheynne emailed me that they were at 7 degrees. Heavy snow, wind that went on all day.  Now, why Minneapolis prognostications on the Weather Channel was more important than what was actually happening in Wyoming and Nebraska I fail to understand.  These people were dealing with actual blizzards and not reported on that channel.  Maybe they reported on it when I was outside in my shirt sleeves, working up a sweat.

That said, since my plans have been altered with current weather, I hope I can do some followup on the Bluebonnets.  Maybe even some more on the tomato ring?

This plant came up in the wrong place. Beautiful!

Rain aftermath a week ago

Tomato ring ready for  plants April 9

Time to get dressed and go to nursery to buy tomato plants.

Waxwing update

The waxwings are officially gone.  After weeks of watching and picture taking, they flew off to who knows where.

I found some very informative web sites you can check out.  You can type in wax wings are wild  on your search line to read several sites. I believe this one specifically is copyrighted and I am not going to link.
When you arrive at the list of sites, click on wax wings are wild (special attributes)  It is loaded with more information than I need, but gorgeous photos. There are even a couple of videos of them in the feeding frenzy.

That said, I watched the flocks that came and went several times in the morning.  They would hang out in a tall tree and "wait".  I think they watch for activity and when things are quiet, swoop in (the whole flock) and feed on berries in a mad frenzy. Then, they swoop away.

I wasn't able to get photos of them on my Yaupons in the court yard. They came and went too fast. Let's face it, I didn't have the patience to wait for them.  I do know they visited because all of the upper branches of berries are bare. The lower branches still have berries.  I think it was just time for them to leave.

Needless to say, just spending morning after morning scanning the trees for the birds gave me such an eagerness to get up and dressed and out with my camera.