Pushing it

Yay! Garden Voices seems to be fixed.

Carol, over at May Dreams Gardens, is starting her Amaryllis early this year. I have to admit, I've never really had success with them. Ok, the one I got as a gift one year croaked on me and I haven't tried again since because they're suppose to be easy, right?

But, back in late September, I found some Peacock Orchids on clearance at Kmart for 50 cents. I couldn't help myself. 15 bulbs for 50 cents? I've never been able to afford these, so thought I'd best jump at that kind of deal!

So, home with me they came, under the delusion that they'd sit happily sleeping until spring. Then I peeked into the edge of the package. Poor things were already sending out shoots that were a good six or seven inches long and curling around the bulb with nowhere to go. And here I am thinking, "My God! They must be screaming in there with having had no light and no water for, what, almost 12 months or more?" If you figure they'd been packaged last fall for spring planting, well, that'd be about right.

After a quick weighing of choices, I figured there was no way they would make it to spring without just drying up into withered little balls. So here I was rushing through the house scouting out a doable pot, rustling up some suitable soil and mumbling about, "Those poor babies!" My kids roll their eyes at each other and twirl a finger close to their ears while D just sighs.

Well, as of now I think I'm really in trouble. It seemed they were so happy to be nestled back into some dirt that they've grown to 3 feet already! Some had a bit of a problem unwrapping themselves enough to find 'up' so a few leaves are a little curly, but they are otherwise happy campers. Now I'm stuck with what to do with them all the way through winter and into spring until plant out time. I wonder if they'll live that long or figure out I'm a complete idiot. I guess we'll see...

What Have I Done?

Ohhh! I got the old scanner to work!

This was an interesting weekend. I picked up my knitting again and did absolutely nothing else! No dishes, no laundry, no "yes" to "Mom could ya...". It was rather liberating, I must say. A bit like a mini-vacation.

But now it's Monday morning, and I'm being punished for being a slacker. ~sigh~ It was such a wonderful 'non-maid' weekend off, too! Now there's a pile of dishes, mountain of laundry and vaccuming to catch up on. And Des is home sick :( I so hate it when the kids are not feeling well. Like I said; I'm most definitely being punished. I'll just have to go a little faster with the chores today to catch up. (Yeah, I'm the idiot on here wasting time!)

I started a sweater for my SM two years ago. The pattern is, I believe, from an eighties MacCalls knitting pattern mag. It's called Spellbound, and I just couldn't resist the challenge. Ugh! What have I done? This thing is like a monster that won't die! It's a sort of vining Fleur-De-Lis pattern.

Here's the description: "Spellbound. Intricate color patterns are made subtly fascinating by using a variegated fuzzy yarn with a smooth solid."

Needless to say, I didn't invest in the yarns they expected you to use, it would have cost upwards of $80. I did end up spending 20 something though on light blue and white. Since with this type of yarn carry pattern it's like making 2 sweaters at once, I had to buy double amounts. (D and I both cringed. I know it's a lot to spend on yarn, but I really wanted to do this one for her, and I'm determined it will be finished and not a wasted 20 bucks.)

This thing was suppose to be finished for her for Christmas 2004. Ha! Yeah, right, I should have known I wouldn't find the time. So, here I am, still plugging along on the thing. (Now nicknamed Fleur-De-Monster). But, it WILL be done for this Christmas if they all have to eat sandwiches every night in December!

Oh, and I STILL can't get on Garden Voices! Damn! Thanks for the comments telling me that many of you can't get on either. I'm relieved it's not just me!

I'm Blind!

Ok, not really, but I don't remember the sun being so bright! Wow, has it been that long since I've seen it?

I can't get on Garden Voices for some reason, which means I can't get my daily fix. Ugh! 'page cannot be displayed, page cannot be displayed'. Just gimme the damn thing already!

One of the woodpeckers flew into my glass doors today. I thought he'd killed himself. I was so upset! Then D noticed he was breathing, so I quickly grabbed a shoe box and some tissue. The poor thing! He was so floppy, and I was trying to be so careful. I certainly didn't want him stabbing me with that beak of his. Of course, Des wanted me to bring him in the house and I had to explain to her that if he came-to in the house he'd just fly right into the window again trying to get out.

His poor mate was so confused! She wasn't sure whether to hang out and protect him or get while the getting was good. She didn't fly far and kept a vigilant eye on me while I was nestling him in the box.

It took him a while and a bit of head shaking to really come around, but he finaly did and flew a few feet away to the maple and his waiting mate. I think he was still a bit fuzzy and it took him quite a while, even with her prodding him, to get with the program.

Poor thing! I hope he wasn't too traumatized and will return soon. I bet he'll know better next time.

Zone Envy

The white stuff - it came sneakily in the night. Rats! The scientists lie. Global warming? Puh-leesse! They can skip up here and freeze their little nutters off, then give me the 'That's not what we mean' lecture.

I hate snow and cold. Hate it, loath it, wish it would slime itself permanently to the roasty realm beneath my feet.

You upper-zoners (I really want to call you something else, but that would be rude, now, wouldn't it?) really have it made. Sun, palms and 80 degrees in January. Ugh!

Snow isn't pretty, it's frozen (FROZEN!) freaking rain. It's the pits.

And then I start thinking, "But I can grow so much stuff they can't!" I guess this is suppose to make me feel better...

Can I say 'jealous'?

Weird

All I can say to The Garden Car is: Ummmmm....?!

The Gift of Gardening

We all do it. We at least try to do it. We so want to do it. It is free after all and what is better to spread? We hope it's contagious and the person we infect goes on to infect someone else. We're fanatical about it. We want to take over the world. Muahahaha!

Ok, back to reality. Every gardener would love to give the gift of gardening to someone who doesn't, uh, wether they show interest or not. lol. We're not normally pushy people, we just like to share.

I'd love to start a 'pay it forward' campaign. Give someone 3 plants, they have to give one of those plus 2 more to someone else, who in turn gets to keep 2 and pass on one they were given plus 2 more. Ok, as schemeing goes, you can see how I pretty much stink at it, because really, what's in it for them? (We know the answer)

I really do wonder if I could suck more people in by giving them plants as gifts though. What would a non-gardener do with it? Would they let it shrivel up and die? Water it once a week but otherwise forget it exists? Or find they really can grow things and didn't know it? Everyone wants the freshest produce they can buy, but what if you showed them they can get the freshest thing there is right from their own back yard?

Nevermind, I already know the answer: "I don't have time to garden!"

Besides, who am I kidding - I can't even manage to get my own kids sick with that bug. (It's not like I haven't purposely tried to sneeze it on 'em!) Hey, it was just a thought.

Would you give a plant as a gift even if you knew the person didn't garden? Oh, the possibilities!

Ragweed Woes & Woodpecker Wanderings

Ragweed - it's everywhere. For some reason it exploded in my flower beds this year, and you just can't get rid of the crap. Maybe it's the weather we've had, maybe its finally gotten the army coordinated enough to swallow the world. Obviously, its harassed the Goldenrod to fall into flank behind. I don't really mind the Goldenrod so much. It doesn't have nasty pollen, though that myth is well circulated, and it is kinda pretty.

I have a beautiful woodpecker that visits daily, but let me explain the visit; It consists of him first checking the bird feeder D made attatched to the side of the house beside the sliding glass door. Now, there better be something good in there for him or I'm going to hear about it! If he finds nothing to his liking, it's straight to the living room window to hang on the screen, give me a good view of his butt and stare at me for some length of time. (And I'm glad I can't speak bird because I'm betting he's getting out a long string of bird-cuss). If this doesn't produce my attention, well, maybe some banging on the window sill will!

D realized the other day that he's begun to bring friends, and lots of them! I must have at least 5 different species hanging on my half-maple every day now. Absolutely wonderful to watch, but God forbid he ever teach them the 'screen hang-and-moon' technique!

The really bizarre thing is that the purple finches and chickadees will not come near the feeders if the woodpeckers are hanging out. Maybe the red headed repeated some rude gossip.

On a way off subject: I was hanging out at UKBob's and something he wrote reminded me of the Fuller Brush Man. Do you remember him? No? Don't want to admit your age, eh? ;)
I remember my grandmother buying all sorts off cool things from his magic case. It seemed he could pack anything in that sucker! And the Charlie Chip Man! (you can actually still order Charlie Chips from the net!) I simply adored those tins, and the chips weren't too darn bad either. I haven't thought about either of those door to doorers in years. Thanks for bringing the memories back Bob! Ah, the good old days.