Good morning!

Hey! Look where I am.

Quite a surprise. 

And why am I here? 

Albert Einstein. 

Yep, blame him.

Because I am taking his words of wisdom to heart.

You know:

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting different results. 

Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself, shake off the same ol', same ol' and draw a line in the sand.  

So I'm back in Colorado with Carlos. He is soooo happy. The last 30 minutes of the drive he was standing up in the back seat, squealing into my ear. It surprises me that dogs can tell where they are going but I guess they recognize paths whether on foot or in cars just like we do. Certainly he has done the drive enough. 

Today's project is a trip to the post office followed by this:

This used to be my beautiful flower bed. Now it is my weed bed. Beautiful only if you are Morticia Adams. 

And then maybe off to find a keyboard. Brought the computer and the mouse, but forgot the keyboard. Oops. Blogging on the iPad is a challenge. Can't figure out how to add links. 

Have a wonderful day and a fabulous weekend.

I'm going to. 

Overachieving

Overachieving on No. 39: Grow a Vegetable.



Overachieving might be an exaggeration but the crops are ready for harvest.
I counted potatoes as the qualifying vegetable for No. 39. But there are still some veggie plants doing their thing.

And by crops I mean three tomatoes, a couple of jalapeños and some habanero peppers.

 The plants are pitiful but look at that little tomato.

 A tomato in the hand is one less tomato for the birds.

There's still a couple more waiting to ripen.

Vine ripened tomatoes, at least for as long as I could stand it. Little mice run through the garden. Birds fly around the cages. Squirrels frolic. So many perils await my little red babies.  They are finishing off on the kitchen windowsill.

No pictures of the peppers since green on green really doesn't photograph. No idea what will become of them once they are ready since three (or 5 or 8) tiny peppers probably aren't enough for pepper jelly.

But in the surprise category we have a volunteer. Literally.

I noticed some squash looking leaves out in the middle of the yard. A week later, those squash leaves had doubled in quantity.

The plant that ate the cabin...

But surprisingly the deer have totally left the plant alone. 

 Then the bright yellow flowers started poking through the huge leaves.
Yesterday I noticed little ...whats? I don't know. Gourds? Squash? Probably squash is the best guess.
Maybe pumpkin?  I know the kids threw the Halloween pumpkin seeds out in the yard last year.
Whatever they are, they are growing fast.  Wonder if I will get to find out before the first freeze?

What are those little yellow things? 

They look like yellow pumpkins.  Maybe.

Anyway, while I haven't been so great at completing many of my other tasks, the plants are certainly pulling their weight. Thank goodness.

(And for you serious gardeners, I know this is just a hoot that I think I have "crops". But we all have to start somewhere and this Colorado gardening is so different than what I grew up with in Texas. I'm learning and experimenting which I believe is the whole idea behind my 60x60 list. Doing my best.   So there.....)

O My Goodness.

Heavens.

Somewhere around the end of May I just lost interest.

Probably a bit coinciding with work starting full time but also just a by-product of not having time or money or locale to work on my list. 

Everything is just on the back burner.

I think I will pick up speed again in July. Once I figure out exactly what I am doing and where I will be.

Until then, I have a garden update.

I have volunteers.   I could tell when we bought this place five years ago that there had been beautiful gardens. But the cabin had been empty for 3 or 4 years before we bought it. Then for three years, we didn't live here full time.  The gardens suffered.

Lots of rain and an application of fertilizer has changed all of that.   Plants that I didn't know existed are now blooming. Thriving. Growing.

It's wonderful.

First off the irises.

O my goodness! They are just gorgeous.  I don't know their official names but these giant purple ones are breath taking. The insides are lined with yellow fuzzies. I've been cutting them and taking them into work. So pretty.

And the big surprise was the yellow irises.  I knew there had been purple ones. That first year a couple had bloomed but I thought they needed dividing or were too old or something. Never had I seen the yellow ones. But here they are this year.

The yellow ones are in three different spots in the yard. Yet I never knew I had yellow irises. 

The daisies made an appearance last year but this year they are back in full force.

Don't they look happy?

I love these little daisies. 

Elle Mae and Howard do, too. 

Sometimes they grab a flower or two. 

I can share. A little.

My peonies. Well. I'm making progress. They are making progress.  At first I was just getting a few leaves. Last year they were divided and moved and fertilized. A few more leaves.  This year one of the plants is starting to look like a plant. I still don't see how it will have a flower, seems too insignificant to hold up a huge bloom. But maybe. Crossing my fingers and holding my breath.

Maybe I should go out and read "The Little Engine that Could" to these guys.

I think I can. I think I can.

Pleeeeassseeee. 

Just one lovely peony? 

And the most amazing volunteer of all. This guy showed up last year and had one giant alien eye bloom. (We left town before the rest of the pods opened.) I had no idea what it was. I was pretty sure I was reliving "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". This year I am even more sure of it. I mean, seriously. Look at that thing. Pod people. 

Turns out it's just a poppy plant. Not something I have ever seen in Texas. Can't wait until I have a bunch of those red alien eyes staring in my window.


And not of the volunteer variety, but actually one from the list. No. 39: Grow a vegetable from scratch.  My potato plants. Up and doing their thing.

Yay!

Better Nests and Gardens

Better Nests and (Beaten) Gardens: May Edition

Last week while I was wandering the yard looking for my reading glasses- you know, the ones I put in a "safe place" so I wouldn't lose them- I spotted this beauty hanging from the shed.

Of course I had to bring it in to take its picture. Fortunately all the babies had flown the coop already.

It's a paper wasp nest and the "leaves" around the edges are truly like a very fine paper. Very delicate yet it held up nicely to being knocked down with a board (it was over my head, what can I say?) and brought inside. 

How can something that has a brain the size of a pinhead make this? Isn't nature amazing?

One nest got me thinking about another so I took some pics of this beauty, too.  Found it on a walk.
I think it is a hummingbird nest. Tiny and perfect.

Again, how does something with such a teeny tiny brain know how to makes something this exquisite?   A perfect little house.

And in the garden arena....well, it's not good.

Monday we woke AGAIN to snow/slush/hail. That fun was followed by a full day of rain. The cilantro and tomatoes on the back deck were swimming when I got home. Really. The back stroke, I think.  (The basil succumbed to the freeze. I have a basil stalk with no leaves. Does not bode well for pesto...)

I do have a few blooming flowers that survived the trauma. The potatoes have sent a couple of sprouts up.


The tulips....

...Which are blown but still lovely.  Hey! Is that a bee peeking out up above?

They are/were double tulips. So luscious. (And isn't "luscious" a perfect word? An ideophone. )

And this is about to do something? What is it?  I don't know. One of the bulbs from my WalMart 200 bulb pack.  Related to agapanthus or garlic?

Maybe someone can identify it and its friends next week when it blooms fully.

And no, I never found my glasses. They are somewhere in the 2 acres surrounding the cabin.
They will turn up. Eventually.


(For the edition of Better Hovels and Cabins, click here.)

Won't you come into the garden?

Won't you come into the garden? 
I would like my roses to see you.*

Finally!

A garden update.
Sunday morning my garden looked like this:

Happy Mother's Day?!

Yep. About four inches of snow and everything underneath about to bloom.

I was a bit panicked, thinking everything would be dead. 

Fortunately, I was wrong. 

I have daffodils...

And the tulips are just starting to bloom...

I find it interesting that last year I bought expensive bulbs at the garden shop and they pretty much did nothing. This year I bought a cheap 200 bulb pack at WalMart and they are all up and  blooming like crazy. Not sure what the lesson is there or if there is one.

See?

Last year's tulips- no blooms, hardly any foliage.

And they actually look better this spring than they did last.

The volunteer grape hyacinth is going to town though.

I think I can, I think I can .

And this is going to be my pride and joy. I just know it.  These are my peonies although I am pinning all of my hopes on that larger one. Doesn't look like much but it was here when we bought the cabin and I have been working on getting it to grow ever since. We made some missteps like over mulching it. And last year it got divided and I was afraid that would be the death of it.
I LOVE peonies. They are my most favorite flower ever.  I have dreamed of owning an actual plant that produces actual peonies. That would be Heaven! And yes, I know.  I could just run down to the garden store and buy a grown up plant and I would have peonies and life would be perfect. But not yet. I want THIS peony to produce.   I may be asking too much but I'm not giving up yet.

Overall the garden has flowers with more to come.
I realized that the swing, which has been there since we got it a few years ago, was blocking my view.
The fact the swing needs refinishing did not help.
Also, no one ever sat in it because it was too far from the house to engage in a conversation with the porch sitters, but also faced the cabin which was silly. There's nothing but views and pretty surrounding this place- why look at the cabin?

 This bed used to be empty except for the logs and wagon wheel.

It's a big bed, takes a lot to fill it.

So the swing has a new spot and I can see the flowers from the house. 

 It needs a flowering pot on the end, I think.

All in good time. 

View from the swing.

This is where the deer graze every morning. 

And this is a much better view than staring at the cabin.  Look! Even the weeds are getting in on the action. Blooms in the grass....

What makes it a weed? 

I think these are pretty.

Crossing my fingers that was the last snow.  The tomatoes got burned a bit as did the basil.
Hopefully they will pull through and do what they are supposed to do.

I am ready for Spring!!!

*Richard Brinsley Sheridan. One of my favorite quotes. And there are roses in the garden,  just still very tiny.  

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Happy Happy Mother's Day!


I am incredibly lucky to be the mommy to these guys.....

*

 Bunny and Belle

*

Me with my Big Guy.

Yes, my hair was incredibly short.

And incredibly lucky to have this woman as my mommy...

 Me with Jean Mom at the bus station in Mexico City in 1973.

We were headed to San Miguel de Allende. 

Many people tell my I am a very strong woman, whatever that means. Basically I think it means I am very much like my mom.  I look like my dad but I won't take crap from anyone. That comes from my mom. 

She allowed us kids to have a gazillion pets. A baby goat, many snakes (that were always escaping in the house), an opossum, raccoon, mice, rats, guinea pigs, cats, dogs and caimans. But never a horse...I've taken care of that now, though. 

She let me go 1000 miles away to school in Mexico when I was 18. I asked her how she could have allowed me to go so far (pre-cell phones or actually ANY phone availability and pre-Internet access) and she said "O! Well, we figured it was one of the safest places you could go!"   Mexico's reputation has certainly changed in the last 40 years. 

She was a Girl Scout leader for umpteen years, supported me through flunking 5 years of Spanish (I'm pretty fluent now but totally didn't get it in High School), and taught me to sew, paint, create. 

She totally was (and is) my example of how to get a business to do what's right.   My kids used to say I was so embarrassing when I got into the "May I speak to your manager, please?" mode but now I hear them say  "O, Mom, I had to act like you today. That store was trying to take advantage of me."

Thanks, Jean Mom!

So happy Mother's Day Jean Mom and your present is running a little late. Sorry. 

•••••••••••••••••••

I'm also fortunate to have been a second mom to so many of the kids' friends. Rachel wins the prize for being the first to wish me a Happy Mother's Day for the last 3 years. And she's not my kid. Love that. Thao used to have me listed as her mother on Facebook. Love that, too. Ford, Parker, Dillon,  Lawrence, Brian, Taylor, Sarah, Danielle, Gabby, Jenny, Lizzy, Hannah, Jessica, Rachel, Thao, Makayla, Mailee, Shelby-I'm proud to have you all as my children. Love all of you. (And sorry if I left a name out....you know moms, they always forget one kid's name when they are trying to rattle off names.)

••••••••••••••••••

And happy happy day to all of my friends that became moms before I did or right along with me. They were and still are my source of so much parenting info. So kids- if I have screwed up, please place some of the blame on Diana, Liddy, Cherrilla, Martha, Megan, Cathy, Nell and probably a few other moms I can't place right now.  It takes a village....

•••••••••••••••••

Also, I promised an update on the garden. Except we have had rain all week and nothing quite got to blooming. We need just a bit of sun. But I am not complaining. Colorado can always use rain. And then today we got...wait for it... snow. And it is still snowing!

The back deck, and it is still coming down. 

Another inch has accumulated in the time it has taken me to write this post. 

So there will be a garden update next week IF I still have a garden. I planted so many things this past week. The tomatoes and basil got covered but all the other plants are having to fend for themselves. Cross your fingers.  

••••••••••••••

Also. A VERY happy birthday to Liddy and Nancy, who are both celebrating today.   And happy birthday to Nancy's daughter, Sydney. How special is that? Having a baby on your very own birthday!

* photo credit Christine Meeker Studio

Flowers in the House on a Monday

Flowers in the House....May Edition


Good Monday morning!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

I spent mine in Denver with my wonderful friend, Diana, who is back from China finally.
We ate at a great little Mexican food restaurant on Friday night (North County in Lowry) and she had a tiny dinner party on Saturday night.   I am loving home entertaining more and more...little dinners here and there. Not big production dinners but tiny dinners with a few friends. We watched the running of the Kentucky Derby while drinking Mojitos which are really Mint Juleps sans the bourbon and silver tumblers.

On the way back to the cabin on Sunday I stopped at a couple of the big box home stores and bought flowers. Hoping I got some deer resistant ones! We shall see.   Also picked up tomatoes and herbs. Between the tomatoes that are going on the deck and the potatoes in the garden, I should be able to satisfy the requirements of No. 39: Grow a Vegetable from Scratch.


So later this weekend I will have an outdoor garden update but for today, I snipped a few flowers and plopped them on the kitchen table. I'm linking up with Jane at Small but Charming for Flowers in the House, her first Monday of the month celebration of flowers, so you can visit her page and see all kinds of glorious flowers.

Enjoy:

That bunny is left over from Easter- I  figure he works just fine for Spring.

Hey look! There are flowers hanging outside the window, too!

Lantana, Grape Hyacinth, Mexican Heather and Daffs...

all from my garden.

(Or soon to be from my garden once they are planted.)

Check out the other Springtime flowers over at Small but Charming.

And check back with me later in the week for a garden update and a visit with my neighbors. 

No. 39: Grow a Vegetable from Scratch AGAIN!

No. 39: Grow a Vegetable from Scratch AGAIN!!!


Last year about this time I attempted to accomplish No. 39: Grow a vegetable from scratch. Planted some seeds and hoped for the best.

The best did not happen.

The seedlings withered and dilly-dallied and did everything but grow. And then they up and died.
A very unsuccessful challenge.

But it's Spring again and I'm running out of time so here I am at vegetables again.

This time I am trying potatoes. Got a big patch of really good earth behind a rock in the garden. So somewhat hidden from my view but easily accessible with the water hose. I've got the starter potatoes and they will go into the ground tomorrow.   Cross your fingers.

 I'm also going to try tomatoes on the patio along with some peppers. But for now, potatoes.

In other garden news, I have some daffodils up.

 Two varieties this year.

 The poppy is up also and it needs some friends.

 It also needs some weeding....

 The peony -which I was SURE was not going to show- has sprouted.

Doesn't look like much but this year I am convinced there will be flowers. 

Maybe.

 There are tulips waiting in the wings along with another as yet unknown group of bulbs that have foliage but no blooms yet. Part of the 200 pack of bulbs I planted last fall. Once again, I forgot to label what went where.

 The little volunteer grape hyacinths have come up too. Last year I was weeding and realized..oops!... those weren't weeds, they were tiny bulbs. Fortunately plenty survived.

Not only have they survived, they have naturalized. These are popping up in the grass. And from the looks of the grass, I need to invite Martha and Maizie over.  They are the neighboring goats and always in search of a meal. 

And the grass is in search of a haircut!

Happy Spring everyone.

Follow Up Friday

Follow Up Friday:  odds and ends

Well, goodness.
Thursday just slipped my mind. Obviously there was no post yesterday.

No excuses beyond my allergies have been horrendous and too many antihistamines will make anyone loopy.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Soooo.

It's been lovely and cool here in Colorado.

Lots of rain.

My Twin Sisters after the rain-

hiding their heads in the clouds.

My garden is happy with volunteer sunflowers. Only two plants survived out of all of the ones I planted last October. Lesson learned. One week of scorching weather with no one here to water and it doesn't matter what you plant.  And inches of rain after a week of dry makes no difference. Those dead plants will not come back to life.

Lots of sunflowers that I didn't plant. 

And not much else.

So hopefully my head will clear and I will be back to my regular schedule next week.

This weekend is the Wine Festival. (If I can't clear my head I might as well enjoy it being fuzzy, no?)

Next weekend is my FORTIETH (how can that be?) High School reunion.
I confess. I graduated when I was only 8 years old.
Again. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Forty years ago.

What you can't see is the white plaster cast running from my toes to the top of my thigh-

well hidden under that gold gown.

Follow Up Friday

Follow Up Friday:  A Couple of Things


First, yesterday was the launch of No.10: Start a Business.  Yay!

Every blanket gets this little card attached.

To celebrate the launch of the new blanket and quilt business, Cherry Creek Co., there will be not one but TWO give-aways. Two  of my nieces (they're twins!) are each having give-aways on their blogs starting today.

Go visit Amanda at Meet The Joiners  and Allison at The Blogivers  for a chance to win your choice of blanket.

And to get a look at the blankets, visit the Etsy store:

www.Etsy.com/shop/CherryCreekCo

A selection of blankets blowing in the breeze.

And second, a garden update.  Things are blooming! 

Just barely, but I thought I would share.

First up are the daffodils. I took this Thursday morning and by Thursday night

there were three daffs open. I love their little faces. 

 There are some volunteer grape hyacinths.

This is the first of the tulips to open. 

But there are LOTS more to come.

And I'm not sure what this little flower is. Is it part of that vine? 

I wasn't aware that vine would bloom.

But I also have never been at the cabin in April or May, so who knows!?

 These are three little Sugar Pea plants.  

I got the feeling that my indoor seeds (No. 39:Grow a vegetable) just weren't going 

to do much. In fact, they look exactly like they did last month…

So I hedged my bets and planted some peas outside.

So far so good. At least they have sprouted.

 And this has me scratching my head. It's a hole, slightly caved in.

I have a feeling it connects to...

 ...this hole. Entrance? Exit? 

I'm just not familiar with things that dig holes in gardens.

We have had some beautiful 60º weather with lots of sunshine. Could Spring be here for real?

Crossing my fingers.

Happy weekend!