How does my garden grow?

Quite well, thankyouverymuch! :)

I've been doing a lot of work in our flower beds, and things are really looking nice. I've even gotten compliments from our neighbors.

We've finally been able to get the front corner (on the right if you're facing our house with your back to the street) where I wanted it to be. I wish I had a "before" picture of it from a year or more back. It was just crazy. I have no idea what the heck was all growing there. Anyway, we've now gotten everything out with the exception of two teeny tiny azalea bushes under our crape myrtle tree (which also stayed). What we replaced all the other stuff with is a number of hibiscus plants, my hydrengea that was potted on the back porch, and four new rose bushes.

The first picture is what we dug up on Friday (this will go out to the curb tomorrow night!) and on the second is what that corner looks like now... it should be prettier and prettier each year as the hibiscus, roses and hydrengea all fill out:






A bloom from one of my new rose bushes:




Some of our hibiscus blooms from all over our yard:












One of the impatiens that I planted along with the begonias. I'm thinking that next year I'll just do all impatiens in the flower beds. The begonias that were in the "starter packs" were kinda spindley.




"Fiesta Daisies" that I grew from small clippings from an online store. I have two of these plants. They struggled last year, but they're looking really good!

What the heck is up with Wicked??

So, I'd eventually like to see the show, Wicked. I figured a good "taste" of what the show would be like would be to read the book by Gregory Maguire. All I have to say is OH! MY! GOD! I mean, this is supposed to be Oz, people. A happy place with munchkins and whatnot. I mean, I figured that it would be an even happier place without the mean old green witch. Not so. I'm forcing myself to read this in between book club books, but man, I never dreamed of an Oz like this!

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This book was a slow go for me at first. It took me a good 100 pages to really get into it. The story was initially slow, and the main character is really not someone that I liked, so there was little inscentive for me to dig in (other than finishing before my next book club meeting). But, fortunately, I got sick and had a day where I just laid down with my stuffy/runny nose and read... and read, and read, and read. The book had gone from "just ok" to "GREAT" in my opinion.

I have become more interested in Middle Eastern culture, and it was very interesting to hear the story of Afghanistan and how it changed over the years from the perspective of this book. I look forward to reading Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns (as you can see it is on my reading list).

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this book! I had never heard of it before. It was the second selection for my book club to read. The story is about a travelling circus in the 1930s. The story is romantic, upsetting, and completely engaging. There is one particular character who was written so well that I felt hatred toward them. So much so that I would have to stop reading the book and calm down! ;)

Change of Heart: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

This was the first book that my new book club read. Interesting to have such a political, religious book to have people just meeting each other for the first time to discuss! :) Fortunately, the people in my book club totally rock and it was an easy discussion, even with the touchy material. This was only my second Picoult book, but it had a VERY familiar feel to My Sister's Keeper with the flow of the story. I wonder if her other books are that way?

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I read My Sister's Keeper back in the fall. It was just prior to me joining a book club. I LOVED this book. It was so intriguing... the idea of birthing a child specifically to save an existing child. I'm looking forward to the moving coming out soon. Cameron Diaz is playing the part of the mother.





I was so in love with this book that I sent it to my mom to read. Unfortunately, this book is not a "light" read, and she took it on vacation with her. She said that it upset her during her vacation, but she couldn't stop reading it!

Doggie Close-ups

These are just too cute, it would be a crime not to share!

Mrka (isn't she the prettiest dog?):




Al (such a gentle soul):




Bauer (freakshow!!):

Previous garden posts

On my other blog, I've posted about my garden and plants before. Here is a list of links to those post in order from oldest to newest.

Monday, February 12, 2007: I'm old and out of shape!
Sunday, June 1, 2008: Spring has sprung at our house!
Saturday, June 14, 2008: Garden follow-up
Saturday, June 28, 2008: Fun Pics

Fun Pics

So, when you tell a horticulturalist that you LOVE African violets and you would be MORE than happy to take some of the ones she's grafted from her existing plants, this is what you get:







Isn't my windowsill cute? The two violets that are blooming are ones I've had for a while. They're FINALLY blooming again! The one in the middle is one I just transplanted today in my own pot from the "crop" of violets that my friend gave me.





Here is a picture of Chris with the dogs during a thunderstorm. I wonder what they do when we're not home during one?





Oh, and one last thing. I'm back to being a redhead! Cute, don't you think?

My own survey

1. What was I doing ten years ago? I was learning the ropes at a new job. I had just moved to Seattle and was working on getting my driver's license there and also looking for my first car to purchase... ever!

2. What was I doing five years ago? I was living in Orlando, working in a place where I could wear jeans and a t-shirt every day to work. I had my dog Mrka for about 4 months. I didn't go out much, I mostly fussed with my plants and crocheted (I guess some things don't change much :)

3. Five things on my to do list for tomorrow. (1) re-pot the new violets I just got, (2) FINALLY re-pot my three Christmas cactus, (3) re-pot another plant that Bauer ruined, (4) I have a hair appointment at 2:00 PM and (5) maybe see Wall-E? All of this is of course contingent on me feeling well. (my meds seem to be kicking the bronchitis' butt, FYI)

4. Snacks I enjoy. Jelly Belly jellybeans, Swedish Fish, Runts, Laffy Taffy, Starburst, Skittles, any kind of non-chocolate candy, potato chips, Heath Klondikes... nothing particularly healthy, ha!


5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire? Quit my day job, buy a bigger house, open a yarn store, pay off debt that family members have, donate money to favorite charities... so many things!!

6. Places I have lived. Munhall, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Kirkland, WA; Lake Buena Vista, FL; Orlando, FL.

7. People I want to know more about: Queen Elizabeth I (I have an odd fascination with her), Princess Grace, Walt Disney, Catherine the Great, Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Queen Victoria...

8. Places I want to visit: Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia, Alaska, The Grand Canyon, Montreal, Vermont, New Hampshire, China, Japan. (that's the short list)

9. Things I wished I could do or can do but do better: Listen (instead of thinking about what I will say next), keep a tidy house - it is clean, but not as organized as I would like, draw/paint, play an instrument, speak a second (or third!) language.

10. Thing I'm most embarrassed about: My yarn stash. Seriously, it is out of control!!!

Awesome.

So, we went to the Walgreens Take Care Clinic last night after I came home from work and the nurse practitioner there dignosed me with bronchitis. Thankfully, the meds she gave me have quieted my cough, and I'm not having trouble with that or the shortness of breath that I was experiencing. But, I think that the meds are causing some imsomnia... I didn't sleep well last night and I'm now up before 5:00 AM (which is VERY uncharacteristic of me). Lovely.

FYI, I have nothing but WONDEFUL things to say about the Walgreens Take Care Clinics. This was the second time I've been to one of them and the second time that I walked right in and had barely a wait (just long enough for me to sign in/register). WAY better than the Centra Care 3+ hour wait that seems standard there. The nurse practitioner was very thorough and pleasant. What's really cool is that whatever RX they give you, they can send directly to the pharmacy to have filled, cutting down your wait time! Plus, they are covered under our insurance as a provider, so I only pay a $20 copay, just like if I went to see my GP (as opposed to the $50 at Centra Care). So, if you have a cold type thing and you need to see someone quickly and don't want to wait for your GP's availability, mine didn't have an appointment other than a "work in appointment" (read: 2+ hour wait if I'm lucky), I highly recommend them. Additionally, if you do NOT have insurance, they are still pretty reasonable.

What do the happiest duckies on Earth look like?

We were at Disney's Animal Kingdom yesterday with family, and we saw the cutest little duck family. This mama and two babies were walking around after a pouring rain. They were just so darn cute!!

I'm an ants in the pants... in case you didn't already know that.

So, I was feeling a bit better this AM when I woke up, so I figured "GREAT! I'll get to do a bunch of things that I didn't feel like doing yesterday when I was feeling sick!". So, Chris and I did a little shopping and we stopped at Lowe's so I could get the last few plants to finish my gardening. I did a few more hibiscus to fill in where some older plants were pulled out, and more begonias along the edge of the side flower bed. Chris didn't get a good shot of it, but I'm wearing knee pads so I don't have to shift a kneel pad around. He said that I look like a "fly girl" from In Living Cover... LOL...

Here's me in all my glory:





Unfortunately, it seems that I over-did it today. I'm now not feeling well again AT ALL. My stuffy nose and cough are both back along with a new friend "wicked headache". I should have done today what I did yesterday. Maybe someday I'll learn. Yesterday I was on the sofa most of the afternoon (when I wasn't napping in bed) finishing The Kite Runner for Tuesday's book club meeting. Here's Al sleeping with his head propped up on my foot :) He's such a little turkey!

Happy Father's Day!!

To all the dads I know and love... and a special one to my own (and FIL!!) Happy Father's Day!

Garden follow-up

Things are gowing nicely here at our house... I've learned that gloxinia don't really like to be in containers that don't drain. So, I have a few that I'm going to have to re-pot in new containers... maybe tomorrow?

Here are two of my gloxinias. The white one is new and growing like CRAZY. The red one is older... I've had that one maybe 3 years. When the growing season is over, I often forget about it and wouldn't water it. But, it is a tough little bugger. It keeps coming back again and again! Here, you can see it is a beautiful deep red.





This is one of my double impatiens. I have a large planter on either side of the front door.




Close-up of a double impatiens bloom:




In Florida, hibiscus are great plants if you have a large area where something can grow tall. We have maybe 10 or so thoughout our yard. Here a a few of their pretty blooms. What's great is I never remember what color each plant is, so it is a little surprise each year when they come back flowering! (the last peach one was a pain in the butt to photograph. After 20 or so photos, this is the best one I could get. For whatever reason, I coudln't get it in perfect focus)








Finally, here is a hydrangea that I planted along the side of my house. It really struggled last year, but it is looking better this year. There are maybe 6 little areas that are blooming :)

Our dogs are actually chickens.

We had a nasty thunderstorm today and here are the dogs during that time. Normally, Mrka would have NOTHING to do with the other two, and lately Al has been snippy at Bauer. But, when God is bowling upstairs, they needed to lie in a heap!

I was in the stocks and Chris was in jail!

We took a trip last weekend to America's first city, St. Augustine. In the 6 years I've lived in Orlando, I've never made it there and it is only two hours away! We went with my parents while they were in town. It was a lot of fun, we did a tour package that included a trolly tour that narrated the history of St. Augustine, toured the Old Jail, the old fort, the oldest wooden schoolhouse, the Fountain of Youth and a number of churches.

I had thought that maybe the sip of sulfur water I took that they offered me from The Fountain of Youth may had been working because I got a new pimple, but then that was offset by a new crease I noticed a day later under my eye :(

Chris likes to pose for pictures... here he is in front of the Old Jail:




Here's me in the stocks at the Old Jail:




Chris is in one of the original jail cells... tight quarters!!




Beautiful white peacock roaming the grounds at The Fountain of Youth:




The Castillo de San Marcos (the 'big fort') is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. This picture is taken from the top of the fort:




Me in the "Meditation Room" at the oldest wooden school:

Spring has sprung at our house!

We did some extra house work/gardening today. Chris worked on pressure washing our fence in the back while I did some gardening. I planted a bunch of begonias in the front (I already had some but added a bunch more) and also did some pretty potted plants.

Front of the house:




New free-standing hanging basket hangers:




Begonias in the garden:




Lily on the front porch:




Purple gloxinia on the front porch:




Pink and white gloxinia on the front porch:




Hanging begonias:




Rose in the garden in the back of the house:




Hydrangea in a container in the back of the house:




Pink and white gloxinia in the back of the house: