Getting my gardening groove back.

Summer is officially here and so is the urge to garden.  Actually, the urge started last weekend, along with rain in the form of intermittent downpours.

A dedicated gardener gardens in the rain.  A delusional gardener is surprised when she gets dirty or wet while doing so.  But it takes a heaping helping of insanity (and a wellspring of optimism) to create a new bed where Bermudagrass recently grew, and hope for anything other than a really nice stand of Bermudagrass to grow.

I did all three last weekend - which probably qualifies me for a 72-hour stint in the mental ward (and if they'd let me sleep in, I might sign up for a long weekend.)  But planting in the rain is great for plants, even if it's a soggy proposition for the planter.  Saturday's 20% chance of rain turned into an all-afternoon rain-a-thon; when the rain let up every so often,  I scampered outside to plant and transplant things. And was repeatedly surprised to find myself soaked and my shoes and shovel covered in mud and muck. Duh.

With Middle Son's help, I divided my water lilies into half, and planted each in a nice big tub, and sunk them in the middle of the pond.   (When I say help, I mean he watched from the bank, and asked me if I had seen the snapping turtles - yes, plural - or water snake.  He's helpful like that.)  Now I will watch and wait for them to grow and bloom and beautify our pond.  Several pots of purple irises now grace one steep corner of the pond; dozens of Louisiana irises were installed (with bona fide help from that same son) around another long stretch of pond bank. That will make Mr. Official happy since he won't have to mow the steep patches.  My gratification is delayed until next spring when they bloom.

While moving things from there to here, I tucked in Heuchera and several hosta divisions in a new shady bed that middle son and the Mantis tiller created for me, then edged them with caladium bulbs sent to me by Bill at CaladiumBulbs4Less (thank you Bill!  Pics coming as soon as these pretty plants are up and flourishing!)  The area had some straggling Bermudagrass before it was tamed by the Mantis, so we'll see - I could be dog-cussing this decision the rest of the summer.  But it is just a temporary bed; it needs to be deeper and swoopier (if that's a word) before I will call it a real border.

Two hydrangeas (a new dwarf oakleaf and a deciduous hydrangea) are  now installed along the new fence row; the remainder of the perennials I acquired back in April are planted under an oak tree near the driveway - again, they're in a holding pattern.  The bed has potential but needs some serious rearranging in the fall.

After a few years' abstinence from any serious or heartfelt gardening, it feels really good to throw myself into digging into the soil and tucking plants into new homes here at our new homestead.  Need more proof my gardening mojo is back?  Look what we brought over last week:

Little Dog isn't so little anymore...

I might just have to bring the fig and lilac that flanked it at the old place. (One was historically accurate: lilacs were planted for odor control back when an outhouse was really an outhouse.  The fig just seemed like a good choice - you never know when you might need a fig leaf for something or other.)

Happy planting,

He sends sun and the rain

The sermon on the mount is found in Matthew 5. Toward the end, Jesus said, "For he (God) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust..."

A few years ago, we suffered a very late freeze (three nights of freezing temperatures after trees and shrubs had fully leafed out), and then a severe drought that summer. Before that happened, I often grumbled if the weather didn't suit my plans. After losing so many established trees and shrubs to the double-punch that nature dealt that year, I decided I would accept whatever weather we receive, and most especially, never complain about getting rain at an inconvenient time.

Last May, we endured what "experts" called a 500-year flood, when it rained for three days and nights. This year, we received nearly as much rain, at about the same time of year. The Cumberland River didn't flood this time, but so much for the experts being able to offer reliable opinions.

This week, we finally got a much-needed break from weeks of mid-90 days and no rain. The rain comes at an inconvenient time - I need to be mulching and weeding the old house in order to get it ready to sell. But I won't complain. I am planning a garage sale for Saturday. If it gets rained out, so be it. The sun feels good, and so does the rain. I think I'll just focus on doing what I can to being counted among the "good" and "just" in that teaching, and let the one who made this world worry about the weather.

Happy weathering the storm!

We haven't had a rain like that since...

...well, since at least 2,600 hours ago. (And no, of course I didn't expend valuable mental energy calculating that when there are websites that will do it for me.)

Two fronts rolled through here this afternoon, bringing rain, and then a much longer and harder rain shower with a lot of thunder and lightning to accompany it.  At 6 pm, we had as much (or more) water running in front of our house as we did during the floody weekend of May 1.

No complaints, mind you.  We had a couple weeks of 100+ degree days and zilch for rain those days.  Made me wonder if we had been transported back to Oklahoma just in time for the annual August heat wave.  So I'm grateful for today's deluge, even though it comes too little and too late for poor Alberta Spruce (aka Victim #4) which has indeed bit the dust and looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Speaking of Christmas, it'll soon be time for our friendly family competition:  we all start listening to commercials to see who hears the first Christmas commercial of the season.  The Rockettes have historically been first out of the gate, but with Opryland's flooding problems last May, who knows if they'll be in town this year?  We will be going to see Straight No Chaser at TPAC next month; wonder if they will do their Twelve Days of Christmas?

Birthday Week: A Hat Trick

In our family, this week is all about the birthdays.  Younger son was born on July 13, older one on July 17.  In between is Memaw's birthday on the 16th.

That means a week of favorite (fattening) foods, topped off with lots of cake and ice cream.  Guess I should have gotten in a long run this morning...I'm going to need to run every chance I get to burn off all the extra calories these special meals tend to have.

On Saturday, I power washed and scrubbed the deck and got it ready for a fresh coat of stain and water seal.  July is usually a nice dry month, so it seemed a prudent time to plan this project, which requires a few days without rain.  I psyched myself for the early morning start required for this project (I have learned the hard way that I need to get the deck surface finished before the sun gets too high overhead, or the stain will dry too fast and turn out splotchy.)  My forearms and wrists are ready to hand brush the hundreds of balusters and in between each deck board.  Yes, indeed - I am ready, willing and able to tackle this project.

But as nature would have it, we listened to a nice soaking thunderstorm pour down last night, and this week's forecast has rain and more rain on the horizon.  So the deck is washed and ready and I'm ready to get 'er done.  But the table, chairs, fireplace, grill and planters will all have to sit (set?) on the ground a little longer than expected.  Ah well...I and the stain and sealer, roller and brushes are all standing at the ready.  And I'm not going to grumble about the delay; I still remember the drought from a few years' back, and my promise then was to never ever complain about the timing of any rain we get.  All rain is good rain.

While I'm waiting, I can always take the spray paint to the metal items that have chipped and flaked over the past couple years.  And I don't have to worry about watering the plants for a few days (a good thing after paying last month's water bill!)

But we won't be enjoying any birthday dinners al fresco this week...arranging the table and chairs on the lawn would mean everyone's ankles would be covered in chigger bites - that's worse than a birthday paddling!

While watering...

I had a deep thought today: 'If some of my roses were puny because they were waterlogged, how come they're not growing like gangbusters when they're dry as a bone?'  Sigh...

I also ruminated on why perennials should be planted in the spring or fall, but not summer.  At least I did get my cheap plants planted, but now they are pitiful, needy little things...always looking parched and whimpering for a drink of water.  Unlike their established counterparts who might flag a little in the heat of midday, but perk right up once evening comes.

So, my second gardening resolution for 2011:  just like mulching, I should only buy and plant perennials in months beginning with Ma and Ap.  Or Se and Oc.  But never in months beginning in Ju or Au.  (Except for the box of daylilies that arrived today from Gemini Garden.  Hmmm.  Guess those might go in after tomorrow's rain, when I can dig and lift the clumps that I want to remove and pass along.)

Our water bill was atrocious this month (but honestly not as bad as I feared it might be.  Then again, it was June and we were still getting rain - there's no telling what July and August might bring.) The weather forecast says there's a 60% to 80% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow, so I'll water today just to be sure.  (If I don't, it won't. Murphy's Law and all that.)

The pond plants got treated to some fertilizer today - a little overdue, but better late than never, right?  I was a little smarter this year...I only bought a small container of fertilizer tablets.  In the past, I've bought bigger bottles because they're cheaper, ounce for ounce. But I finally got it through my frugal head that their shelf life is limited, and buying a two-year's supply is not a money saver if I have to buy replacements the next year anyway.  I have just enough tablets to treat the waterlily to a second round of fertilizer late next month, and that should be all these plants need to get them through until fall.  So far, two of the new goldfish have decided to do the eternal backstroke, but the shubunkins and remaining goldfish seem content and happy to hang out in their new home, and are starting to associate my appearance with food.

Speaking of which, tonight's dinner is definitely going to avoid using the stove as much as possible...grill, here we come!  The only good thing about traipsing outside periodically to move the sprinkler is that a 78 degree house feels really cool when you've been out in upper 90 degree temperatures  (Yes, it's a heat alert day.)  Hope everyone stays cool as a cucumber.  Hey look - are those storm clouds on the horizon?

P.S. The watering ritual worked - it's thundering and sprinkling.
P.P.S. Yes, I'm playing with my blog's background and header.  Let me know what you think!

A long trip on the longest day of 2010

Today we made the trip home from central Kansas, heading out a little before 9 a.m. there and pulling in our driveway 753 miles and almost precisely 12 hours later.  It's a long drive, but it was blissfully uneventful: no near misses, no breakdowns, no wrong turns, and no awkward conversations with state troopers in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky or Tennessee.   That spells success in my book.

The weather systems that beset us all weekend got in a final parting shot before we hit the Missouri border, but after that it was dry and muggy and just really loooong.  Or maybe it seemed long because the visit was too short. Yeah, we'll go with that.

It was such a whirlwind weekend that it wasn't until late last night I even realized I had failed to remember it was Father's Day and have a gift and card for my husband or my dad.  Ooops!!!  Hopefully the other festivities eclipsed it in their minds too, but I really hope they both know they are two very special men in my life, and I am blessed to have been sheltered and protected, loved and nurtured by each of them.  They've both gone toe-to-toe with me when it was necessary, but they've also had my back more times than I know, and they never gave up on me even when I've been nearly impossible.  (It's hard to imagine, I know ;o)  But seriously, I just thank God that He thought enough of me to give me these two men as my life anchors.  I love you both more than words can say and I hope your Father's Day was terrific even if we didn't have a traditional celebration in your honor.

Score!

This morning started off hot and muggy, as we enjoyed coffee on the deck.  When we moved inside for breakfast, we sat munching some delicious fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and the sky started to cloud up, then darken, and darken some more.  A fast-moving storm was barreling toward us, bringing strong winds, some hail, and some very weird cloud configurations.  But no tornadic activity - yay us.

When the storm passed, the skies became sunny once again, so we headed for my favorite place to shop for cooking and baking "needs," The Clay Gourmet.  (Yes I said needs and I meant needs.)

After I pried myself away from the FiestaWare display, I spied (and scooped up) a beater/scraper for my KitchenAid (hooray!) and a new stainless baking pan, since my last one was a heavy-duty professional with a non-stick finish, which started flaking off like a bad sunburn after its first venture into the oven.  We also found some new silicone ties designed to cinch up those asparagus spears, truss the turkey and hold loins and roasts together.  Nifty things.

I was almost out the door with my new purchases in hand, when what did I spy but a new spice "cabinet" rack thingamajig.  It's designed to fit in a cabinet, it holds up to 27 big or 54 half-size spice jars on three convenient pull out drawers that cradle the bottles so they won't roll around as you pull them out.  Wowsers...something that might be able to help me corral my messy and full spice cabinet, and give me room to store the spices I currently stow in the freezer (for lack of storage space as much as prolonging their shelf life.)  Sooooo....it was back to the checkout counter for round two.  The aprons were a triple threat (enticing, enchanting and entreating) but I think the spice rack is much more practical. And there's always Thanksgiving...

Two telecommuters

So this is what it's like to have your better half home all day with you. Hmmmm. Tony's offices were flooded from the river next to the plant in Ashland City. It will be a while before they get them rehabilitated, or find alternate office space to rent. For the time being, he's telecommuting too. He has set up a command post in the den (all the better to see the stock market on the big screen TV, my dear.) I think we'll save a bundle on gas for his car while they figure things out. And it really is nice to have him home when there's still daylight left outside.

But it's funny how you don't realize that you have little routines (and you LIKE them) until something comes along that disrupts those little routines. To cause further disruption, schools here in Rutherford County (including MTSU) were closed earlier this week. So instead of Monday morning being a typical starting point to my week, it felt like...Saturday. Running, pshaw - who wants to do that when you can rise late, stretch out and enjoy a very leisurely cup of coffee to start the day?

When evening rolled around, they wanted me to start something for dinner. Really? What a sweet idea...but isn't it the weekend? No? Seriously? It felt like it.

This morning wasn't much better, but I did manage to remember to start dinner and get it on the table at a reasonable time.

Tomorrow MUST go better. A new routine must be established. One that has two people drinking from a single pot of coffee and not quibbling over who gets the last cup...

Rain, rain and more rain!

Wow...we knew it was a big front, but who knew it would create flash floods in Rutherford County and Nashville. I-24 and I-65 have both been closed today due to flooding. Tornado warnings all over the midstate.

It's a good thing we got our workday at Highland Heights done when we did. Even though we got drenched, we got 'er done thanks to some awesome men and women, including my husband, standing on a piece of furniture to stow an extra-long 2x4 away in the rafters.


We filled a 20-cubic-yard dumpster in no time flat with lots of non-salvageable stuff
then they loaded and took two pickups full of "stuff" to the dump, twice.

When all was said and done, we were left with one artifact that remains a mystery - if this belongs to anyone, you are welcome to come take it home. Hate to say it, but that new fishing boat may come in handy if this weather keeps up...we may need to row out of the neighborhood!

His fingerprints are everywhere...

Chalk it up to overdosing on VBS stuff over the past ten days, but I woke up this morning with a line from the "Hip-Hip-Hooray Hippopotamus" song running through my head, like a record with a deep scratch. Over and over and over. I could even see little hands moving and creating handprints all over the walls of my mind.

It's annoying to have a children's song scratching across your psyche like nails on a chalkboard, but if it had to happen, at least it was a true line: His fingerprints ARE everywhere.

I watched two storms roll through the midstate today. Both times, sunny skies darkened, the wind blew, the rain lashed against my windows, and then it receded just as quickly as it came, leaving everything clean and sparkly and sunny once again. We are no match for nature's fury, but we can take comfort that we are nestled in the shelter of our creator's arms.

It made me think of a recent lesson on the providence of God. Although I am a bit of word geek, that lesson struck me because I had never really thought about the root and obvious meaning of the word providence: to provide. He provides us with a habitable planet to sojourn on, air to breath, light to grow plants which feed us and the animals, which in turn feed us. Our bodies and brains are beyond comprehension in their complexity and perfectly elegant functionality to do everything we require. He sends rain on the just and the unjust, and he makes the sun to shine on us all, too.

The children's education program this summer is going to be an amazing (and wild) adventure. Thirteen weeks, six classroom rotations, and four lessons for grades K-5. All pointing out how we can know God's plans and promises for us, which He made at the beginning and He will keep to the very end.

Indeed, His fingerprints are everywhere, just to show how much He cares. That's a lot to hip-hip-hooray about, isn't it?

Who decided landscape was a verb?

land - a noun, referring to an area of ground.
scape - also a noun. Meaning a view or scene.

Someone put those two words together and suddenly it's a verb, with or without adding "-ing" to the end. And it's not just a verb, it's an action verb, generally requiring a lot of grunting, sweating and sore muscles. Who got to make that call? I want to know if they do their own landscape work.

This time of year, the task of maintaining our landscape (aha, there it is - as a noun again), is daunting. The weeds grow before my very eyes, despite the horrible soil (which we like to call "insta-brick"), tree roots that snake their way into every crevice, and bermudagrass, which I firmly believe is one of Satan's tools to cause us to sin, whether by cursing it, harboring hatred and malice in our heart toward it, or even attempting to kill it. Repeatedly.

Today I helped oldest son with his landscaping (see, it's morphed back into a verb) today. Fortunately, he's young and has a strong back, so my role consisted mainly of advising when his stone blocks were drifting one direction or another. It's a tough job being a garden coach, but somebody had to do it. And yes, that's my website, and yes, I do actually garden coach.

Good news: his stacked stone wall looks awesome, his new and replanted shrubs look orderly and should soon fill in the space without getting overgrown like the old stuff), and the only thing he lacks is a couple more shrubs. Better news - he used up the stacked stone blocks we had languishing after we dismantled the big pond last year.

I told him I'd visit some local nurseries and be his personal shopper tomorrow while he and his daddy are out on the lake fishing. It's a sacrifice, but I'll make myself go.

It's their first time to take the new (to us) boat out. Here's hoping the weather is kind to them - I think it's supposed to be a little cooler over the next week, which is fine by me.

Straight from winter to summer - no foolin!

Wow. It got up to mid-80s today and the forecast is for 86 tomorrow. No April Fool's Joke - this is a good 20 degrees above normal for us. Unfortunately, halcyon years like this stick in my husband's memory, and each spring he grumbles about getting the tomatoes out in the garden by the end of March. He conveniently forgets that just as frequently, our daily highs are in the 40s and 50s until after we get the all-clear in mid-April. And even in years like this, the weather can be capricious: just a few years ago we experienced 3 nights of freezing temps after the magical 4/15 date, stunting and killing a lot of shrubs and trees.

But given the extended forecast, it does look like I can get the containers planted sooner than later. So I just *had* to slip over to Martin's and pick up some plants - orangey geraniums, plum-colored Dracaena spikes, surrounded by golden Lysimachia 'Goldilocks' and a new gorgeous-smelling baby blue Lobelia. I was literally snatching them off the carts before the could put them on the sale benches.

Next up is a foray over to Valley Growers (especially since they opened VG Too over at the Co-op) and see what they're putting out this year. And I'm sure we'll be buying azaleas on Saturday.

So much for getting the car washed and vacuumed today. But the front porch looks great, and thanks to middle child wielding the mattock, the small bed where the sidewalk intersects the driveway is now cleared of weeds and tree roots, and planted with dark-leaved 'Blackbird' spurge surrounded by golden 'Angelina' sedum groundcover. I'll probably plant some blue daze evolvulus and something orange - vinca or celosia, or something else that can take the heat and sun, just to make it pop a little more.

Flour power (?)

Everybody who takes their breadmaking seriously seems to have a thing for certain flours. King Arthur always ranks high on the list, and for good reason - good product, good value, good corporate philosophy, etc.

I've always balked at paying a premium of almost double for 5 pounds of flour, regardless of how sterling the company's reputation is. But Saturday I broke over and bought not just a bag of King Arthur flour, but also a bag of Kroger's white whole wheat flour. (Gotta slip that fiber in wherever I can!)

The latest batch of crusty white bread(thanks for the recipe, mom) was made with the King Arthur flour, and served to our dinner guests last night along with hot chicken salad, broccoli and rice casserole, a salad and black forest pie - yummy!

This week will start some serious recipe testing: sourdough (the sourdough starter is ready - yay!!!) and either the no-knead dough or 5-minute-a-day artisan bread will get an audition.

In other news, I'm toying with trying e-mealz.com for recipe menu ideas. Granted, I can usually come up with my own menu, but at some point the creative well runs dry. And anything that might help economize our food budget, while also providing me with a shopping list and menu seems like a pretty good idea.

Saturday was a blissful 58 degrees and Sunday was 67, but showers began by 9 pm and are supposed to bring another cool down and even snow flurries by tomorrow. Ahh, the roller coaster of late winter. It's a good thing I like roller coasters.

On Saturday, I pruned my 'Princess Diana' clematis, so it went from this:

to this:

I think that was almost as hard as taking my babies for their first haircuts. But it needed to be done--a careless tug on a weed growing up through the trellis last fall had apparently ripped a stem, causing dieback and browning. Fortunately, the 'Princess' is in pruning group #3, which loves getting a hard pruning in early spring. Only time will tell if it was the right move, at the right time. Come on spring!!!

T-2 and counting

I teach 3rd grade Bible class. From the first Sunday in September until the last Sunday in February, my co-teacher(s) and I diligently prepare and deliver over two dozen lessons to give a new group of 8- and 9- year olds a solid grounding in the book of Acts. We discuss who wrote the book, who the main characters are, where the church began, how people became Christians in the first century (and still do today); how the church was (and is) organized, why we have missionaries, and the important work they do. And most of all, we show these children how God's providence and power are seen throughout this amazing story that ties old testament promises into God's revealed plan for spreading the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

I love teaching this age group and helping them see history unfold and barrel straight for them. As always, the clock and the calendar race faster than I would like, and I am now down to two precious classes with this year's "crop" of third graders. We will wrap up with an Olympic event that involves doughnuts, ducks, a foot race and medals and then I will hand them off to the next teacher, and pray they continue to run the race and stay the course. And I will take some time off to recharge my own batteries and once again become a student in an adult class.

Today as we headed for class, it was snowing. In fact, the AP is reporting that 49 states have snow; Hawaii is the lone holdout. It is extremely rare for so many states to have snow simultaneously. I hear the global warming folks are shifting gears - the catchphrase is now "global climate change." Nothing like covering your bets, eh guys?

Last night's early Valentine dinner was marvelous - the "poached oysters with brie and petite croutons" (ahem, oyster stew all glammed up) was a truly memorable appetizer, and I will have to try to replicate it with the bits and pieces of information I wheedled out of the chef.

And next Sunday, company comes for dinner - yay! It should prove to be a good time with good friends. I've even managed to line up dinner guests for March as well...