Raindrops on Roses.................

It rained again last night.  We have had over 3½ inches of rain.  West Texas has finally gotten rain.  Since nothing is really "happening" in the garden, I just took pictures.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Don't forget to click picture to view larger
                                                                                                  

These are Knockout Roses. They get little attention.
The bush is  4 years old and
4' tall.
Never pruned, not fed often, just  water.

           The blossoms are chewed on and look
            ragged around the edges. I think they are
            wonderful subjects for my Bloggie.

God gave us memories that we may have roses in December. rose quote by J. M. Barrie

A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the rain speaks to me of all gentleness and its enduring. rose quote William Carlos Williams

The Court Yard Garden

I am pleased with the results of my hard work.  This small garden is the product of lots of dreaming of what I can do to make the court yard more pleasant to be in and to look at. Everything but the gravel has been moved from another area of the larger gardens. In looking for the "right size" rocks, I would pick up one and remember instantly where I got it. 

Most have been moved so many times, I am not sure anymore.

I started out with the bricks as a border and thought this would look better

Don't forget to click the picture for larger view.

The pots have been in the ground for awhile.  This area collects leaves, broken branches, bird seed hulls, leaves, curious critters digging after grubs, leaves, annoying dogs wandering through and knocking things over, raccoons digging out the newly potted plants............................leaves, plus the ever present Yaupon roots sprouting.
The Yaupon roots will still be a challenge. They are under there...

"The Best Plants Come with a Story." --Maria Rodale 

I am thinking of this blog as my version of the acknowledgement page in my cozy mystery books. Instead of people (except hubby, bless him) this is an acknowledgement of my tool collection.  After years and YEARS of buying or being given one tool or another, I have finally found the right mix for 99% of what I do in my gardens.

 First and foremost, the faithful GroundWork® green cart. The drop sides make this so multipurpose.
The perfect size green bucket. This has a solid metal bale attached with a nice sturdy  I bolt. I am sure there is a better name for it. The sun doesn't seem to be degrading the plastic and the metal isn't rusting.  Next the white, Styrofoam cooler. This is one of several I came home with after a trip to Wyoming to visit family. It has a handle with hook thingies to keep the lid on tightly.  I keep my dry soil additives and "rustables" and boxed items in them and my 5 gallon buckets with lids.  I don't have a garage or shed and needed something to keep things dry.
                                                                  

The frame with handles is my "sifter". Hubby came up with this idea when I was looking for a way to "sift" compost, gravel or dirt in general. It has hardware cloth attached securely to the bottom and to make it better for sifting gravel, I added a smaller size hole hardware cloth left over from making the hardware cloth pots.
I used this to wash the gravel I used that came in smallish, heavy bags.

 Next, the small flat edged shovel. This has a 24" or so handle and the shovel blade is small enough to keep me from lifting really heavy loads. I love this little beauty and it's mate with the "rounded" blade.
The pink handled tools are a mallet, grubbing blade and the oval looking one is my .50 cent  tool hubby picked up from a sale bin.  I have 2 that I painted pink as one of them spent an entire fall and winter laying in the mulch beside the patio.  Never saw it.  Thus all hand tools are pink!!

The rectangle shaped piece is actually a sign from a factory or someplace.  It is the perfect sized screed for smoothing gravel or dirt in small areas.

Last, but not least. My cloth sided, calf high boots.  The tall boots are too hard to crouch down in the these are soft sided and not as binding. I like them so much, paid full price for a second pair for when these wear out.  I learned the hard way to keep rubber boots out of the sun.  They degrade and split over time.

 I love this quote. We may not be considered cold climate gardening but the delusional and grandiose plans are very familiar to me.

 "Really, this is the very worst time of year to be making plans. Winter in these climes keeps a person trapped inside for so long that by the time February comes around one is positively delusional with grandiose plans for the coming year." --Posted by Rundy under 'Wishlist' 2/14/04 Cold Climate Gardening

This wren visited every morning and entertained with call to his mate

"There's nowhere left to                                 plant' is not an uncommon cry and, ironically, the larger the garden, the worse that problem can be." --Joy Larkcom, Creative Vegetable Gardening, Abbeville Press, 1997

May Rain & Then Some!!

 "Rain in the spring is as precious as oil."...Chinese

Just when you've had enough, life gives you more and just when you think it has rained enough, it starts to pour.

Wow! What an exciting afternoon and evening!  Thankfully, days ago, I cleaned out the rain gutters remarking to my hubby that "just in case we do get the forecasted rain"

Yesterday (2 days later) we had rain mostly all day and then we had a deluge!! The court yard has no gate and the drainage needs a bit of work. The water didn't get as high as the patio, but close.

Don't forget to click on the picture for larger view.
 

I think that all in all we got close to 5 inches.  It came down so hard that a wall of water headed for the house. We are on an incline, not really a hill.  There is ½ an acre up there.  We haven't had this kind of rain in years and years.  I'd like to think that this means no hot, dry, windy days ahead. I'd like to think we would have good rain all summer. I'd like to think that.....I know we are in for another drought summer.
 

 
 

 This is the court yard area I am trying to "prettyfy". It is also the bird feeder haven. The large disk is filled with sand that the birds use all the time. Now filled with water. The smaller round is my watering arrangement for the birds.  A bit of gravel in the bottom, deep enough that when I add water,  they can stand in it and bathe.   
                                                                                        
  This area is at the "higher" end of the garden. The water was 4" deep and found an exit and flooded the path on the way to the court yard.
 

This is the front of the house at the lower portion of our yard. The water was flowing through on the way to the driveway.
This is the bed I worked on earlier and am now transplanting into.
The rose bush by the white peg is all that remains of the "other side" of the
"moat" that allowed this type of heavy water flow to pass through without drowning all the flowers. I have let all but the rose bush go back to nature.

This morning, 52° cloudy and windy, I cleaned out the debris and a lot of leaves and mast. The rush of water deposited piles of leaves and mast.  When it dries, it will all blow away at some point.  Needless to say; I appreciate the rain but not the cleanup.

I have a pretty good idea of what people living on a river or creek deal with when banks overflow.

After a morning of hard work cleaning up and transferring  water from one tote to another, hubby and I sat on a damp bench and listened to the birds, felt the sun (55° and sun not too much of a prob for me), and commented on what a lovely Spring morning.

I specifically thank God that we both at our ages can still do the work.

I checked later in the day and found other things to be grateful for;  a bird house finally attached to the pole.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Hubby got involved and done shortly.







The salvias are in bloom, blue and white. The bees should be here soon.

                                                        

 

 This wreath finally has a new home. The wrens want to build their nest in back of the houses and it was on the porch.

 This is my most successful container. The top pot has a lovely grass that is still struggling.
The allysum survived the deluge in fine style.







Lastly, this special bird house finally has a new home.
All the way from South Dakota with lots of memories, it is finally hung in the perfect spot. By the way, it has and Oklahoma license plate for a roof.