dragonflycorner

2010-09-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

Hi all. Just want to let you know that I am still here. It has been such a long time since I posted and for that I am sorry. I have missed it, but mostly have missed reading your posts!

Rose keeps telling me to put up a photo and a short note, so that's what this is. I promise to get back into blogging soon-well when the gardens are done for the season, anyway. :) I will have lots to tell you about and several photos to share. And a visit from VIPS to tell you about.

Happy gardening all!

Walk on the Wildside 2

2010-05-04T18:51:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was granddaughter time again. The house comes alive with laughter, noise, laundry and cooking! Amidst all of that, we had party for all of the April birthdays-there are 5 of them. 2 granddaughters, a daughter, a son-in-law and Hubby all were born in April. The party was NOT here this time and that made it even more fun for me. :) We did bake and frost 2 cakes, made a batch of brownies and a big bowl of from scratch coleslaw with lots and lots of help from the grands.

The adventure-a walk in the same woods of 2 weeks ago, we saved for Sunday afternoon. It was a little wet and the plants and briers had all grown some, but that didn't stop us! Our first wildflower...

is unknown, but has very tiny delicate blooms.

Next we saw Mayapples. I was thinking they should be in bloom, when one of the girls looked underneath and found the flower.

One to a plant, and you had to get low to see them, but it was well worth the effort.

The girls and I decided this one was pretty enough to bring home to my gardens, but we thought better of it and left it for the woodland creatures to enjoy. Any ideas on what it's name is?

Golden Ragwort-thanks Linda @ Garden Girl!

We visited the tadpoles again, showing the youngest granddaughter the joys of scooping them up in cupped hands. This was her first walk in the woods. Fortunately, none of the girls are squeamish and all seem to enjoy anything to do with nature. : ) Just past the pond we saw this tree with these buds. Looks almost like a honeysuckle bud, but it is a tree. Again, I need an ID.

I've saved the best for the last. At least, I think so. I am thinking it is some type of lily. It reminds me of a peace lily in shape-sort of. What do you think it is?

Jack in the Pulpit or Lords and Ladies-thanks to Lisa, Cheryl and Joey!

What would a walk in the woods be with out climbing on a fallen tree?

One final note. If any one would like baby maple trees, just let me know....

I have a gazillion of them!

To all those who have suffered damage from the storms and flooding, take care and know we are all praying for you.

Have a great gardening week!

Mish Mash Monday!

2010-04-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

I know this is late for a Mish Mash Monday, but had a few things I wanted to share. MMM is brought to you by Monica and a thank you to her for it!

Thanks, also to Rose. I now have a new look to my blog after over 2 years of the same format and colors. I have also started using the new editor on Blogger. Because of that, these photos may be hard on your eyes and your sense of composition as I am still in the learning curve of how to use the new editing features. But I do want to thank Rose for explaining all of this to me. She is much more computer savvy than I. :)

The first poppy of the season! I so love these gorgeous crepe paper looking blooms. These are in my MIL's garden and will not transplant to mine. I have tried unsuccessfully for years to get a start and now accepting the fact they will not grow for me, I enjoy them in her garden.

Lily of the valley is another plant that multiplies in my MIL's garden but will not come to live in mine. However, I do enjoy the delicate blooms and love taking photos of them.

I think this must be the Year of the Lilac and Wisteria here in Central Illinois

Cheryl, this photo is for you! :)

I did a board at work for Earth Day. I find free coloring pages on the Internet and have parents and grandparents at work take them home for the little and not so little ones to color. They put their names and ages on them and I display them on the board. I take photos of the board and send them back to the kids so they can see their artwork displayed. We all enjoy their efforts and their artistic abilities.

More lilacs, tulips and wisteria at work. I love being able to take in bouquets. The fragrance was wonderful. I can't believe how long the lilacs have lasted.

While I am on the subject of work....

I got permission to do 3 planters in the front of the building. This is the'yellow' container and I have a pink one and a purple one. As they fill in I will show you more.

Back in my garden, I have Bachelor Buttons blooming. This was a pass along plant from a favorite cousin a couple of years ago and is doing wonderfully. I also have pass alongs from another favorite cousin and will share those at a later time. Lucky me to have such green thumbed cousins!

Couldn't resist a photo of the pansy. With the cooler weather, they have stayed so fresh looking and continue to bloom profusely.

Last, but not least. the first iris of the season. This is an unnamed one, probably a very old variety that has been passed down through many generations of flower lovers. My MIL gave me this one. While not very flashy, it is dependable and it's blooms fill in that gap between spring bulbs and summer flowers.

Do you have antique pass alongs in your gardens?

I hope everyone has a great gardening week!

I do apologize for the spacing ! Bear with me while I learn. :)

A Walk on the Wild Side!

2010-04-19T21:20:00.002-05:00

This was a Granddaughter weekend and four of them were here. The four middle ones to be exact. The two older ones are usually working or spending time with their friends and that's alright. That's what they are supposed to be doing at their age. The youngest was with her step grandma enjoying learning to ride a horse. And that is alright too, as we have to share. (I guess)

Papa was busy helping his brother plant corn. That left us free to have an adventure. After a nice lunch out, we decided to take a walk in the woods just south of our town. These woods, about 20 acres, are owned by The University of Illinois and are left completely natural except for a few semi cleared paths.

Our adventure starts.

There are always one or two who like to lead the way. :)

We were on a search for wildflowers. I was inspired by Lisa's post on wildflowers found in her area. These are wild phlox and the woods was covered in them.

The ones in more sun were lighter in color.

We found yellow violets! I would love to have some of these in my garden.

As well as the purple ones which are Illinois State Flower.

And a butterfly! Surely a survivor from last year this is a female Spicebush Swallowtail. The females have blue hind wings where the males have more green. At any rate, we were thrilled to see such a beauty.

And other wild creatures were found. This slug on a walnut was the subject of much discussion and wanting to bring it home with us. We left it where we found it. :)

Earth worms are wild creatures-aren't they??

A stink bug? We couldn't be sure.

Deer tracks were found and again were the subject of much discussion. The mud made for perfect impressions of these and what we thought were raccoon tracks. Also, we saw a huge paw print that was either of a very large dog or as Papa said later, could have been a wolf's tracks.

A very small pond was found and....

proved to be very interesting and...

full of new life. The girls tried scooping up the tadpoles to get a feel of them.

Oh no! A misstep and into the mud! Bottled water saved the day and was used to rinse mud off both feet and flip flops.

Jack-in-the-Pulpits were blooming.

Such a pretty sight.

May Apples were not blooming yet but their foliage was a brilliant chartreuse.

Someone decided she needed to collect walnuts for our squirrels at home.

I told the girls this was a gaul, but now am not sure. Any ideas?

These will soon be in full bloom. What a mass of them!

Trout lilies or Adder's Tongue are so delicate. We only found one blooming but it's beauty has us going back in a few days to see that whole area in bloom.

This is the leaf of a tree that...

had these almost spent blooms. I couldn't tell the girls what tree it was. Does anyone know?

I thought this a weed, but the girls said it was another wildflower. Does kind of look like a wild cleome doesn't it?

A small glade that is perfect for picture taking at the end of our walk on the wild side!

GBBD April 2010!

2010-04-14T20:21:00.001-05:00

Wow! This is one of those glorious springs where everything is blooming with a vengeance. I don't remember one nearly so perfect in many, many years. I certainly hope your spring is as lovely as ours. And thank goodness because it is that time of the month when we get to show off all our blooms thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

I couldn't resist taking a bouquet into work. Besides brightening up my little cubicle and smelling wonderful, I get to show what is blooming in my gardens. The response has been great. One young man stops by 2 or 3 times a day just to take a whiff. :)

This is one of my favorite tulips- Angelique!

These are First Impressions and thanks to all the help I had in the fall of 2008. I have them blooming in every bed. They have really put on a show this year.

I've been told the name of this plant many times but have a mental block. You'd think I'd write it down. Vining out of a container a few years ago, it has spread into several areas and is a great ground cover.

I bought yellow and purple pansies. That orange one just appeared. Hmmm...now how did that happen?

The daffodils have been truly spectacular. I am so pleased with the variety of different blooms. I add a few here-a few there-what ever strikes my fancy at the moment or when I am plant shopping with Rose. :)

I love this pure white one.

And this double pink and white! (ignore that old woman's hand) The blooms were so big and heavy, they almost needed support.

The single pink and white is such a delicate bloom.

Last but not least is the traditional yellow. My grandmother called these 'March flowers'.

Another bloom I am so happy with. These bluebells were given to me by a neighbor last spring and I worried all summer and winter whether they would return. These wildflowers were my Mother's favorite.

Our ornamental cherry tree bloomed it's heart out this year. Last year the frost got it and we had almost no blooms.

The ornamental plum is gorgeous. This photo does not do it justice, but I can't seem to get one that shows the true colors of pink blooms against dark maroon leaves. What a color combination!

Creeping phlox and vinca have mingled. I am very pleased with the color combination.

Lilacs are at least 2 weeks earlier this year than last. This old fashioned one sends it's scent all over the back yard.

This smaller one have a heavenly scent as well. I wish I could have gotten photos of the bees that were swarming these blooms. The bees were very flighty-zipping from one to another bloom almost too quickly to get a taste of pollen. But then, maybe it doesn't take them long.

A teaser of what's to come. The wisteria is loaded with blooms this year and barring a late frost will surely be covered in a few days. This is another plant that didn't bloom last year due to a frost.

Violets are everywhere! In the gardens, in the grass, even growing in cracks in the sidewalk.

And finally, a poppy! I had not seen it growing just a couple of days ago, and when I went out this evening to take a few more pictures-there it was! What a gift from the Garden Gods! It survived our winter beautifully. With any luck, it will continue to grow and bloom and maybe drop seeds to grow next year.

Have a great gardening week and be sure to visit other GBBD posts!

If Only...

2010-04-12T19:00:00.000-05:00

Oh, if only there were more hours in the day. If only...I had more energy. If only I had ....more imagination. I could go on-and on-but you get my drift. I am forever 'if onlying".

So starting today, no more 'if only'!

I will give myself permission to not have the house spotless and will be happy that I can at least walk through it. I won't worry over my gardens and the weeds. (Well, not as much anyway)

I will accept the gifts of family, friends, and spring with grace and humility.

And I will enjoy each and every moment of everyday that God has given to me!

These photos are a tease for GBBD and were all taken by 2 of my granddaughters this past weekend.

May you enjoy each day and count each of your blessings as you enjoy your gardens this week.

GBBD March 15, 2010

2010-03-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the month when we share with others what is blooming in our gardens. GBBD is brought to you by Carol of May Dreams Gardens-be sure to check out the list and visit some of the incredible posts.

On a recent browsing trip, Rose and I saw this very appropriate sign. We had a few very spring like days last week, but are now back into the rainy and gray days of late winter. We so enjoyed those days-an almost tropical feeling breeze blowing in the warm sun shine...just a tease from Mother Nature of what is hopefully coming.

While there are no blooms in my gardens yet, I do have a few indoors. I thought I would show you this one in stages. After planting the amaryllis that was a Christmas gift from Rose, I waited for weeks to see a bud stem. When it finally got to it's full height, a real bud appeared.

From there it progressed quickly taking only a day or so to get to this stage ...

and the next day I had two glorious 'Apple Blossom' blooms. From there it went to four! I was in heaven.

For the first time ever, I tried my hand a forcing a bulb. I read somewhere in blog land that Big R had them and the vases on sale for $1.99. When I found them they were only $.75 at out store. I called Rose and between the 2 of us, we decided we needed 7. Unfortunately this is the only one that made it to bloom stage. Either we didn't do them right or the bulbs were just to dry. I prefer the 2nd excuse as we are excellent gardeners. :) But I am thrilled to have this one! My kitchen smells of spring!

This impatiens was a surprise. It started blooming this week in the peace lily that sits in my kitchen garden window. I summered this lily outdoors last year and when I brought in in for the winter, seeds from nearby impatiens must have stowed away in the soil. When the sun and the temps were just right, it started to grow and finally produced blooms that also say spring is coming. I learned, though, that these must be fairly easy to grow from seed and am intending on finding some to start indoors. Do you notice a theme here? Pink, pink and more pink. It is strictly by chance, but very fortunate for me as I LOVE pink!

Now to my gardens. When the snow melted in the front beds, I found a couple of bunches of daffodils poking their heads out of the ground. Thrilling!!! There was also a tulip or two. Come on spring.

No, these aren't mine. I wish, though. Visiting a favorite cousin farther south a couple of weeks ago, I found several of these in her yard. Now, these really do say spring.

While we were visiting, we went to a family baby shower. I was so taken with the decorations that I took photos(of course) to share. Notice the miniature daffodils and the hyacinths and ivy and the baby bottle filled with spring colored almond M&Ms.

The room was like walking into spring. A delight to the eye and the nose. This was a door prize-not won by me. :(

Even the cake shouted spring! I knew it was all about the baby, really I did. But it seemed more like a spring shower. :)

I hope you all have an early spring and a wonderful week in the garden!

Sky Watch Friday, March 2010

2010-03-11T20:07:00.003-06:00

A glorious sunset is a thing of beauty no matter the time of year.

Don't you just love a beautiful sunset?

See more great Sky Watch photos here.

GBBD February 15, 2010

2010-02-15T18:15:00.000-06:00

I know... you are all in shock at seeing a post from me, let alone a Bloom Day post! I had fully intended to do Valentine one, but grand kids , little sleep, and a disappointing Illinois basketball game got in the way.

The one actual blooming plant I have is a violet that followed me home a few months ago. I love it's dark purple with white edged flowers. Of course there was no name on it or any of the others-just simply said 'violet' on the tag. Maybe I should buy them somewhere other than the large discount store. But the the price was right and I could hear it calling my name.

This bouquet was my Valentine gift from Hubby. He is such a sweetie! We both love this florist. and think she does exceptional work. There is always a little something extra or eye catching in her designs. And one more thing, she always uses the freshest flowers. Her creations last longer than any others I have had.

These yellow roses are absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen so many petals. Did you know the color yellow in a rose means 'joy', 'happiness', 'friendship', and ' I care'? All of these pretty much sum up our relationship. He is my best friend, he brings great joy to my life, and of course I love and care for him very deeply. Isn't he smart!

I couldn't resist a macro of the center-just look at all those petals still to open.

I am sure you know what these are. But have you ever seen any this size? I was amazed at these and now have great hopes for the bulb Rose gave me. I just need to learn how to care for it after it is done blooming. The bud stalk is growing every day and when it does bloom, I will share with you.

Yes, you guessed, they are Amaryllis. We went out for a Valentine breakfast and there were several huge pots of these in the restaurant's green house room. This double white was at least 10" across. Needless to say, I want one!

And this red was the size of a meat platter! All of these gorgeous blooms were just what I needed to start chasing away the winter blahs. Of course, the 2" of snow we got that evening made spring seem a long way off again. :)

For more bloom day posts go to Carol's at May Dreams Garden.

Have a great week and hang in there-spring will surely come one day.

When Mother Nature Gives You Snow....

2010-01-17T19:13:00.000-06:00

I hope all had a joyous holiday and are having a good New Year. Dragonfly Corner was very blessed during the holidays with lots of family and friends joining in the celebrations. We even had 5 of the grands here for a week. Lots of time to just enjoy.

As for my lack of postings and comments, I do apologize. I lost my muse...and of course there is the tiredness factor. I have reached a point where working full time and energy for it are not equal. I do think part of it is the cold and dark days of winter. By 5:00 in the evening, I am ready to put my pjs on and just veg for the remainder of the night. (And I'm not doing much in the way of cleaning house either!)

Hopefully with the days staring to get longer and now a mid-January thaw, I will get some of the 'zing' back. I am looking forward to getting that packet seed exchange seeds. Monica does an all out wonderful job of organizing it. Last year, Rose and I spent a long afternoon going through all the different offerings and planning where to plant the selected ones. We are going to do it again this year when the packet comes. I saved more of a variety of seeds this year to use for myself and to put in the exchange.

And Rose and I are planning our trip to the Chicago Flower show in early March. We enjoyed our trip last year-it was just the thing to get us in a gardening mood. I came home and immediately started seeds indoors. This year I am going to wait a couple of weeks, though. My seeds came up fine but it was too early when they were at the optimum planting stage. Lesson learned!

As many of you know, we have had some snows here and of course bitterly cold temps. Our last snow was the light fluffy kind that did not make for snowmen or snowballs. But now with the warming temps it has settled into a much more agreeable building medium as you can tell in the photo above.

No, I did not build this adorable 'Snoopy' and doghouse. It is just down the street from me though. It was built by the same talented kids who built the elephant last year.

Isn't this fun? If you look closely you can even see his feeding dish in front. Such imagination! Evidently these youngsters have more energy than they know what to do with-way more than I have at any rate. And more cleverness, too. :)

I can't promise this is the beginning of steadier posting, but I will try. Maybe the muse will return with the sun. In the meantime, I am enjoying all of your posts and starting to look forward to spring and another season of gardening.

Let's hang in there, only 2 months til spring. :)

A Wish For All!

2009-12-21T20:01:00.002-06:00

I wish you each and every one...

a Joyous and Merry Christmas!

Mish Mash Monday!

2009-10-25T19:56:00.016-05:00

In between rainy days, we have had some beautiful fall color. Sunny days are the best days to enjoy them, but even on the gray-cloudy-raining forever days the colors are gorgeous.
I had been worried we would only see shades of brown...

so thank you Mother Nature for the wonderful display!

In between the rains, the farmers have been struggling to harvest their crops. Soybeans are taking precedence as they are starting to mold in the fields. And that is not a good thing. I have a feeling that a lot of crops will be taken out after the ground freezes and they can get in there with the heavy machinery. Harvest in Illinois is at least a month behind, and that was before this last 2" fell. This coming week, while we are supposed to have a moderation in the temperatures, we are forecast to have 3 more days of rain!

My gardens have been suffering from neglect. It seems I am a fair weather gardener wanting warmer temps and dry conditions. Oh, and a few less of those darn biting Asian beetles!

So imagine my surprise, today, when I found this Stella blooming as if it were spring.

And this Fabuosa Daisy just opening.

Most of the cone flowers are long gone with the birds enjoying the seed heads. A few seeds must have fallen to the ground and found time enough to grow and bloom. All of the late bloomers brightened my day.

As did the grands this weekend. A lot of time was spent outside playing in the leaves.

I promised you a photo of the pumpkins they picked after they were carved. Here Papa and the girls are hard at work making scary designs. The most difficult part was getting all the seeds out! But we saved seed from each pumpkin with promises of planting them next year.

Not a great picture, but the girls were happy with the results and they looked great after dark all lit up.

**Update on hubby...I can tell each weekend when he comes home how much better he is feeling. He says he didn't realize how bad he did feel. He has more energy and is doing very well with his walking and diet-even on the road. I am proud of his determination and accomplishments! And thank you all for your concern and caring.

I hope you are all enjoying the last days of this year's gardening and hope you have a great Halloween. :)

Mish Mash Monday was originally Monica from Garden Faerie's Musings.

Autumn and October Bring ...

2009-10-04T20:40:00.002-05:00

October has always been a favorite month for me. I chose to get married in October when the temps were cooler and the sun cast a soft warm glow on all below. As much as I like spring and the soft pastel colors, autumnal colors give me a warm and cosy feeling. The golden yellows, brilliant oranges and the glowing hues of maroons on the trees signal a time of rest is coming.

And I, for one, am more than ready for a rest-from the garden and from the hectic pace of summer. Hooray for cold rainy, snowy days where I can sit by the fireplace and drink hot chocolate, read gardening blogs and out my feet up.

The garden is winding down, but a few flowers are making their first appearance. This toad lily, while very small yet, is a glorious new addition to the garden this year. It is surprising how the blooms start at the top and open down the stem at each junction between the stem and leaves.

The native Aster that I bought early this spring is beautiful with it's purple petals and golden center and more than lived up to expectations.

Next year I will have to remember to stake it as it now looks more like a ground cover. :)

This cosmos must have taken a cue from the aster-it is also happily blooming on the ground. More staking is needed! Actually, both these plants and a few others suffered wind damage early in the summer and no amount of coaxing could make them stand tall again.

While most plants in the garden are experiencing their last hurrahs, this transplanted cone flower is just beginning to bud. I love the light in this photo.

Another sure sign of fall in the garden is the spider webs. At least in my garden they can be found in abundance. I do NOT like spiders! But having said that, as long as they stay outside and kill bad bugs, I will leave them alone. I have put them on warning though. Come into the house and I will not be held responsible for my actions!

Some of the containers are still looking great. These purple Calibrachoa have been one of my favorite containers this year. I will be planting more of these next year-they were very low maintenance and only required a little water now and then.

Another sure plant for next year are these cherry Profusion Zinnias. I had 5 plants left after doing my containers and stuck these in the ground next to the raised landscaping timbers. With purple wave petunias on either end, this has been a favorite spot in the garden.

With the arrival of fall, there are certain rituals that must be observed. One is making floats for the Homecoming Parade before the big football game. Our 2nd granddaughter is a sophomore this year and asked if we would help on one of the nights they were putting together their class float.

I won't admit here how many years it has been since I last worked on a float, but was pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm and work ethic of the many who showed up to help.

Parents and the kids were all willing to do what ever to get this float built in a short 4 nights. Here, the girls are rolling squares of tissue paper to be glued to cardboard signs.

This is where I spent most of my night-gluing the balls on. I was so pleased that our granddaughter thought us cool enough to meet and work with her friends. Their float came in 2nd overall and first in originality.

Another must-be-observed-ritual...

Visiting the pumpkin patch!

This weekend we loaded up 5 of the grandgirls and on a cold, windy, rainy afternoon made our trip to the local patch. We let them pick out their own and load them into their wagons-for the most part they even pulled their own wagons.

The 2 older ones picked pumpkins weighing 46 and 51 pounds!

This one weighed in at 43 pounds. She also pick a swan necked gourd.

The youngest wanted this one, but was content to just have her picture taken beside it.

Papa supervised the wagon train back to the barn so we could pay for our prized pumpkins. They are being used as decorations around our gardens now, but in a couple of weeks we will be doing some carvings. Be warned-photos of their creations will appear on this blog!

After 3 weeks of having hubby at home and learning to deal with his just diagnosed diabetes, he is back to work and the house is mine again. :) He had a Dr. appointment on the first day of his vacation-we were pretty sure of the outcome and that is why he decided to take some time off. We have both been learning how to eat and cook to satisfy his dietary needs. He has done really well and I am very proud of him. He has been walking each evening and plans to keep that up even though with his job of driving a truck will make that a challenge. Also a challenge will be eating on the road and eating on time. I am fairly confident that with the food we packed and the menus I sent he will be able to do it. He is just stubborn( determined) enough to make this work. :)

Have a great fall gardening week!

Sky Watch Friday -Sept, 2009

2009-09-11T03:30:00.001-05:00

Skywatch Friday is a lovely way to visit some new blogs. I always enjoy seeing the photos-some are spectacular! Join in the fun here.

Because of Skywatch, I like to think I am more aware of my surroundings than I used to be. I try to take the time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

Nature provides us with quite a show if only we stop and look.

Do you take the time to look skyward?

I will leave you with this photo from a couple of weeks ago. Today, as we remember all those who perished in the 9/11 attack, let the rainbow represent the love and hope for the future for all their families and friends.

Yes, I'm Still Here! (part 2)

2009-09-01T17:38:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone!

Just wanted you to know I am still alive and gardening. My lack of posts and comments has really bothered me, but as I have said before, 'life happens' every so often and I can't find the time to do much blogging.

The thing is I really miss it and all of you. Surely soon, I will be back to a less busy time. I want to see how every one's gardens are doing in the late days of summer. And soon, we will all be showing our turning trees. Can't miss that. :)

Have a great gardening week and a Happy Labor Day!

A Late Mish Mash Monday!

2009-08-17T21:30:00.001-05:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks here at Dragonfly Corner-as evidenced by my lack of posting! Hopefully things are slowing down some and I can get back to the important business of reading garden blogs. :)

My Dad had a kidney removed last week. He had a large cancerous tumor on it that had started to spread into the renal artery. The Doctors at the Veteran's Hospital in Indianapolis are confident that they got it all and that he will make a complete recovery. I can't say enough good things about the staff there. They were all extremely helpful, very dedicated and kind, caring people.

He is at home now recuperating with the help of an old friend. At the age of almost 85, he is doing remarkably well. I think his recovery has to do with his determination to not let this get him down and the fact that he is extremely stubborn. Way to go Dad!

Summer is coming to an end-the grandgirls all go back to school this week. The angle of the sun has changed and casts a different light, the days are getting shorter and the sun is just starting to rise as I leave for work. Sigh..... But this field of sunflowers close to work starts my day with a smile.

A new color of seashell cosmos is making me smile also. :)

This is the bud of my newest delight. I do not remember planting this -I have 2 plants in fact. I have no tags for them-they just appeared! Thanks be to the Gardening Gods. I am in love with ....

....Datura! Pardon the hand, but I wanted you to see just how big these blooms are. They only bloom at night and last just a short while after daybreak. So to see them, I resort to taking a flashlight out into the gardens at night. Or check them out as I am leaving for work.

Raindrops glisten like diamonds on their snow white blooms.

If you want a glorious-exotic-easy to grow plant, this is it. I am in LOVE!

The raindrops on these caladiums caught my attention as well as...

on the nasturtiums.

I seem to have a lot of blue in the gardens now. I didn't plan it this way(maybe I should say I did!), but the of sight blues in the garden provides a cooling effect in the hot days of August. This morning glory was supposed to have been Heavenly Blue-one I started from seed this spring. Oh well, a few surprises make life interesting. It does look good on the new arch we put in just off the patio.

This annual, salvia Victoria Blue, has been an outstanding addition to my garden. I have it planted in several places and in several containers. I will use this again next year and will not go back to the perennial salvia This never needs deadheading and seems to do well no matter where it is planted.

Bachelor Button is blooming again after a short rest. This was a pass along plant last year and has more than doubled in size this year. Another easy to grow addition to the garden.

The color seems to fade a bit in this photo of one of my containers, but I can assure you it is glorious in person. I call this my 'blue' pot and it has Victoria Blue salvia, Beth's Blue laurentia, and a 'blue' petunia from Walmart. Hey, I liked the color. :)

And now.... dragonflies seen at the small pond where I work. I often use my lunch hour to walk around with my camera. Yes, my co-workers think I'm a little odd. :)

Aren't they beautiful!?

Remember I said summer was coming to an end??? I know because a mum has started blooming in the garden.

Have a great gardening week and enjoy the last few days of summer!

Mish Mash Monday!

2009-08-02T22:15:00.001-05:00

Happy August! Can you believe we are on the downward side of summer already? It seems like only yesterday we were looking through seed catalogs and tentatively planting our first pansies. Now we are preparing for fall plantings. There are a few flowers who don't know they are supposed to be done blooming for the season though.

The Ruby? lilies are still blooming strong. This variety has really come into it's own this year, and is ready to be divided. In fact I think I can get two good sized fans-one to share with Rose and one to start a new bed. Well, maybe not new, but I have plans to enlarge a bed adding this day lily and a few other plants.

Introducing.... 'Andrea's Dragonfly'. This is the unnamed lily Rose gave me in memory of Andrea and said to name it in honor of her. Dear Hubby came up with the simple, but heartfelt name. We have plans to put a plant marker by it. I may have told you this, but Rose was Andrea's Godmother and also loved her very much. The gift of this lily has meant so much to us.

This is another unnamed lily we bought together and split. I have named this one 'Dragonfly Corner'. A little corny maybe, but it is next to Andrea's and I thought it fitting. This fall or next spring, I plan to add some ivory colored lilies to this area to break up the orange a little.

The last new lily I purchased from 5 Acre Day Lily Farms was ' Orange Slush'. Isn't she gorgeous?? I know- a lot of oranges, but this one is in a bed with lots of other colors.

Did you know sweet potato vines bloom? I had never seen one bloom before, but this dark one which was just marked 'Ipomoea' has several of these lavender blooms on it. I am so pleased. :)

One, just one of the red mix sunflowers I planted indoors made it. Really sunflowers need to be direct sown as they develop a long tap root that does not do well in the little peat pots. I am going to plant more of these next year because of the color and the height. This one is maybe 10' tall!

And look what bloomed in my garden. A poppy!! After all my complaining about not being able to grow these, one has surprised me. I think this is from some seed that Cheryl sent me, but can't find the packet. Seems like they were Icelandic?? I also planted parsley indoors this spring and put them out for the butterflies in various spots in the garden. Well, it turns out these poppies have foliage very similar to that of the parsley, so I have at least 2 that are poppies instead of parsley. I am SO HAPPY!

The finches have been literally fighting over the sunflower seeds. They have been a joy to watch, but oh so hard to get a good photo of. As you can see by this head, a lot of the seeds are already gone. Never fear, I have many more blooming and they should keep the beautiful birds around for quite a while.

A few-and I do mean few butterflies have come to the garden. This skipper, a Silver-Spotted one is very common from Canada to Mexico. But I am glad she is in my gardens and enjoying the Verbena Bona that Cheryl sent. I have loved seeing these plants in my garden. They are light and airy and draw the eye upwards.

This is the biggest bee I think I have ever seen! I watched him for a long time and each time he flew away, he would come right back to the Victoria Blue saliva. Another plant I have been extremely happy with!

Finally, a Painted Lady has come to visit. Last year we had dozens of these all over the cone flowers. This is the first one I have seen this year. Maybe she will send word to the others that there is lots of pollen now at Dragonfly Corner!

But look what was here and I missed her. The Monarch has laid eggs and the caterpillars are out eating their way to becoming a pupa. I know these are Monarch larva because they have black, yellow and white stripes. The Queen's larva, which resembles the Monarch, has brown and yellow stripes.

There were six of these eating their way through the fennel I planted for them. Yeah!!

We have tomato! Our very first, a 'German Queen' Heirloom tomato. And it was grown in our very own Topsy Turvy. :)

And lastly, another mystery plant. I know all of you are wishing I kept better track of what I planted and where. :) But I do not remember planting this, nor do I have any recollection of ever seeing anything like this. It may be a weed, but it looks very interesting. Especially what I assume is the flower bud-which has been like this for days. Any ideas?

I hope I didn't jump around too much, It's just that I had a lot I wanted to share. Maybe If I could find time to post more often....

Have a great gardening week!

Drooling with Delight and Desire!

2009-07-23T05:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your loving, kind, and thoughtful comments on Andrea's post. Garden bloggers are the most caring and supportive community of friends. I am deeply touched by your compassion.

This is one of several Gloriousa Daisy plants started from seed indoors this winter. The have done really well in containers and in the garden. The other day I noticed the different looking bloom and thought it was another plant starting to bloom. No, these 2 blooms are from the same plant. Mother Nature must be getting some help with genetics...bees do you know anything about this??

Tuesday, I was off work for an early morning appointment and rather than go back for part of the day, I had arranged to meet Rose and have a play day. Our first stop was a park in Urbana, IL. that she has featured on her blog. It is abundantly full of prairie and native plants We spent a lovely time there enjoying the peace and tranquility and of course the blooms. But I will save that for another post.

What I really want to talk about is the next stop. Through rumor we found we had a day lily farm fairly close to us. Both she and I have developed serious cases of day lily envy of late. (thank to all the delicious postings on blooming day lilies!)

Five Acre Farm is located out in the country and was started 4 years ago by 2 very enthusiastic and knowledgeable men. (please be sure to check out this gorgeous site) And it is a little piece of Heaven on earth! Given a pad of paper and a pen to write down our choices, we set off on the grand tour. As Rose put it, we were soon on sensory overload! How could we chose??

Following are just a few I took photos of with their name in the next picture. Be prepared to drool with delight. :)

Ohhhh!!!

Ahhhh!!!

Wow!!

Oh my!!

I took many more photos of ones I would love to have and may post one now and then, but I don't want to give you sensory overload, too.

These next 2 were on my short list, but were already sold out. I can and will, I think. put a reserve on them for spring.

I think they have close to 900 different named ones growing here and are hybridizing more each year. In the bargain growing area, there were clumps growing of plants they had hybridized but had decided not to continue with them. They are not named and will never be seen or grown by anyone else. We picked out 2 of these together intending to divide the many fans between us. Rose picked out a separate one that was the most lovely shades of orange with what looked like glitter on it. She gave that one to me to plant in memory of her God Daughter, Andrea. I was overcome with emotion and love for my dearest friend! We are trying to decide on a fitting name now. Thank you Rose for your thoughtfulness!

Did either of us think to get a picture of it in bloom...but I will soon and will be sharing it with you.

Beside lilies there are other wonderful and interesting things to see at the farm. I found this so amusing, yet perfectly fitting.

Behind the house-yes they live in a farm house on the property-they have built a beautiful water feature.

Stocked with coy, they also have a large assortment of waterlilies blooming.

And I even managed to get a photo of one of the delightful dragonflies flitting about.

Hope you have a great gardening weekend!

I Know Heaven Has Dragonflies, Butterflies and Flowers!

2009-07-18T08:53:00.000-05:00

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk in my garden forever. (Claudia Ghandi)

July 19, 2006, we lost our wonderful daughter- a kind, generous, giving soul, who loved her family and friends with a passion.

We will always love and miss you, sweetheart!

The angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God. ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

Mish Mash Monday!

2009-07-06T20:09:00.001-05:00

Finally, I have a post to put up! I have almost missed Mish Mash Monday- now made famous by Monica at Garden Faerie's Musing, just getting it in under the wire. :) You would think that I could get more than one a week, but can't seem to manage that along with gardening and of course my favorite pastime which is visiting all of your posts. I do want to make a small complaint though. Just about the time I get all of the new posts from my sidebar read and leave a comment-you post anew and once again, I am behind! (please take this complaint with a grain of salt. I love reading each and every post you write.)

Do you know what this is??

Maybe this will help.

It's a Praying Mantis egg case and these are just a couple of the babies that hatched from it.

The granddaughters found them scrambling out from underneath the arm of a patio chair. There were dozens of them, but most were camera shy and moving way to quickly to get a photo of. We were lucky that one or 2 stopped to take a look around before hurrying off to find protection in a flower filled container.

Even newly hatched, they are perfectly formed and adopting the familiar Mantis stance.

This photo you have to look very closely at to see the wildlife. Enlarging helps some. I was at Rose's last week when I saw this one enjoying her flowers. We were on our way to go plant looking-even I knew we would probably buy some! We did find a sale at a country nursery. All annuals 4' and under were a $1.00. We used some restraint and only bought a few. :) But I did find pink Lythrum and it now has a home near the double pink coneflower I found a couple of weeks ago.

Some of my volunteer sunflowers have started to bloom. I so enjoy their bright faces in the garden. And I am not the only one. Since these have bloomed, I have seen many more yellow finches and several blue jays checking them out. I know they are keeping an eye on them to see when the seeds get ripe enough to eat.

My favorite and the first day lily I planted has started to bloom! It is a Ruby??? Of course I didn't write the name down when I planted it, but I did leave the tag by it. The following year when I went to read the name all that was still legible was the Ruby part.

The blooms on this lily are dinner plate size! This fall, I am going to divide her and maybe even move all of her. The ornamental cherry tree is providing a lot of shade in that part of the garden now.

Several of the rest of the day lilies have started to bloom also. This one is Royal Red.

Peach Delight

Unknown, but I love this lemon yellow with the raised ridge in each petal.

Wineberry Candy.

This is one of the 2 small ones I have. I don't think they are miniatures-just shorter and more petite. This one is Little Business.

Wine Red.

And another unknown one. These with the different color throats amaze me.

I am proud of these! Started from seed I purchased at Dollar General @ 3 for a $1.00. These annual Phlox are Drummondi Mixed. And of course I am very pleased that they are all shades of pink. :)

Now for another mystery or two....

I had been noticing these plants growing along the country roads I take to work. Finally one evening I just had to stop and take pictures. Does anyone have a clue about this one or the next?

These have been blooming for 2 weeks now. The flowers are huge-maybe 6-8" across. They grow to about 4 feet tall and seem to be very sturdy holding up their flowers much better than some hydrangeas I have seen. I hope they can be identified as I was thinking about planting one in my garden.

We had a delightfully slow rain of about 2'" on the 4th and even though it postponed many fireworks displays and spoiled a few picnics, it was much appreciated by me and more importantly- the farmers. Even so, we enjoyed our 4th and did get to watch the parade with our SIL driving a firetruck and a couple of granddaughters riding in it and throwing candy to the children lining the streets. I love these small hometown parades with the local high school bands and cheerleaders; the Shriners' 21 man bicycle; volunteer fireman driving the firetrucks with sirens blaring; locals dressed as clowns; and of course the old restored farm tractors driven by face -wide -grinning young farmers of tomorrow. I hope you got out to see America's freedom in action on the 4th.

Have a great gardening week!

They're Back!!

2009-06-22T22:02:00.001-05:00

It's only June-aren't they early this year?! The earliest I could find mention of them on my blog last year was July 7th. That's almost 2 weeks away yet. Not fair!

I am thinking of trying to find some fine mesh bags to tie over my rose buds in an effort to save some of them this year, but have way too many cone flowers for that. So...I will try to pick them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water when I see them destroying any blooms. Uhg! The scourge of summer!

On a happier note, I was finally able to get a photo of a dragonfly. Admittedly it is not of the quality I have seen on other blogs, but the dragonfly photo has become my humming bird quest. Surely with all I have seen flying around so far this year I will be able to get a better one. For now, though, it makes me smile.

The Asiatic lilies are in full bloom and I have several colors. All of these are unknown varieties and some of them are DIPTs. (Did I Plant These)

I have them in small groupings in most of the beds. They add a bright spot of color to the green and their height takes your eye up and away from the weeds. :)

This is probably my favorite. I love the freckles!

Heavenly Blue has bloomed! I grew this one from seed and planted it at the bottom of the taller part of the deck. I used to have a climbing rose here-in fact have tried 2 years in a row to get one to grow, so there are still wires for it to grow up and along the railing. It has made it to the top and is starting to run along the rail, but this first bloom in near the bottom. I am hoping for great things from this morning glory again this year. I checked back and found I didn't get a bloom last year til the middle of Aug. Of course that one was bound and determined to do nothing but vine for a couple of months while I waited in great anticipation for my first 'moon flower' bloom.

The butterfly weed has come back this year and is blooming joyously. I am so pleased as I have had trouble getting these to grow in my gardens. I was a little doubtful it would survive the winter, but 3 have and I am hoping they are happy enough to stay around for a few years. Last year with only a few blooms it served as a tidbit for several caterpillars. This year I am sure they will enjoy a buffet!

The day lilies have just started to bloom. Stella, a week or so ago and now this unknown. This was the first one I planted a few years back. I love the way the petals are different colors.

And of course, I couldn't do a post with out showing you the latest Martha Stewart Heritage Rose just after a rain.

Summer has come to Central Illinois! Along with all the rain and humidity we are having high 80's and into the 90's temps. The combination makes for some very uncomfortable conditions, and we are under a Heat Advisory until Wednesday eve. Needless to say, I am not out in the garden much-even in the evenings- when the weather is like this. I don't do heat and humidity well. :) But if you are having such weather, be sure to take it easy, drink lots of fluids and keep and eye on the elderly.

Happy gardening! (or air conditioning!)

Pretty-Ugly-Pretty!

2009-06-17T22:22:00.000-05:00

Pretty....

The first photo is a super macro(what else is new?) of a very common flower. But I think it looks so different when viewed this close. Any ideas?? It is yarrow- Apple Blossom, a pass along from Rose. When she told me it would spread easily, I had no idea just how easily and fast that meant! :) I love it though and am happy it is happy in my garden.

The 2nd photo is my new coneflower-Sunset. Isn't it gorgeous?! Sadly, it has not found a home yet and is still in it's pot. :( Surely one day soon I will decide on the perfect spot for it.

The last photo is Martha Stewart's Heritage Rose. I know I have shown this before, but it's beauty grabs me from every corner of the garden. I look up and there is that brilliant red calling to me to come take it's picture.

No, we are not to the Ugly yet, but we are getting close. If you have been reading my posts of late, you know how much I have been complaining about weeds. The fact is the weeds were taking over because we have not mulched in a few years. No amount of pulling is keeping up with their rate of growth. I talked my hubby into borrowing a grain truck and on Sat. we went to the recycling place in Urbana and got MULCH!

Hooray! The bed lifts and we don't have to shovel it off.

Wow! That looks like a lot of mulch. Actually it is 8 cu. yds. So I am thinking we will have more than enough to do what we want.

UGLY....

Warning! These next photos may make you physically ill!

This is my most neglected bed. It is out by the driveway to the garage and even though we have a little patio out there, we rarely use it now. I suppose one reason is because it is so weedy.

Another view. Oh, it's disgusting!!

Using a roll of end newsprint paper, I covered the bed after cutting down the weeds. The spots you see on the paper are sprinkles of rain that never amounted to much.

Using the roll of paper worked very well. I started at one end and rolled it out. Much easier than unfolding dozens of newspapers. :)

Pretty....

Now, doesn't that look much better? I am going to get some landscaping stones or bricks to edge it with to help hold in the mulch. And since this picture was taken, I have added a couple of containers of pink impatiens.

We also did the front beds. While they weren't weedy like the other bed, they were starting to show landscape fabric in places. And I didn't put the paper down in these beds. Even though I have blooming containers on the front steps and one on the table and another in the old birdbath, I think a couple more containers set in the mulch would look nice. This area looks pretty in the spring with tulips and daffodils in bloom, but I have little planted for summer interest.

Well, there you have it. The Pretty-Ugly-Pretty of at least part of my garden beds. Now all I have to do is the rest of the gardens. But those beds have lots of plants in them and are going to take a lot of 'hand' mulching. At least with the mulch being here, I can work on it a little at a time. Oh, and thank you hubby for all the effort and help! You are such a sweetheart to put up with my wants for the garden.

Hope your gardens are doing well and I know you don't let yours get as weedy as mine!

Happy gardening. :)

Strawberries and a Safety Fair-Weekend with the Girls!

2009-06-10T18:49:00.020-05:00

I have been wanting do do this post for a couple of days now and finally tonight because of a bad cold and pure tiredness, I took the time to do it. Coming home from work, I had planned on watering, staring to lay down newspapers in the garden in anticipation of putting down mulch this weekend and was going to try to get caught up on laundry. Plans can change in the opening of a door. Once inside the house, I simply had to sit down and rest for a while. Blogger cooperated beautifully and loaded the photos in record time, and if you will forgive a quickly written narrative, we have a lift off-err, a post!

The red bearded tongue is blooming and spreading. It always makes me smile to see it's tiny flowers brightening up a shaded spot. This year there are 4 patches of it. Enough to share with Rose!

We had the granddaughetrs this weekend, 5 of them anyway. I have been promising them we would go strawberry picking and this was a perfect Saturday to do it. Sunny and warm, but not too hot and a little breeze to keep the bugs away. None of the girls have ever done this before and were very excited at the prospect of picking one of their favorite fruits. Each was given their own bucket and the nice owner let us have a whole area to ourselves.

The berries were small, but the patch is very neat and had great straw covered paths to sit on so you could really get into the plants.

This one chose to kneel-that would kill my knees!

The 2 youngest ones really got into picking (and eating!).

And don't they look proud of their pickings!? I picked too, but Papa decided to sit on the sidelines and cheer them on. In about an hour we had 12 pounds. Not bad for beginners.

The strawberries were used in a fresh strawberry pie, strawberry shortcake, eating berries and freezer jam. This one loves to help in the kitchen. We made the jam on Sunday afternoon-2 batches. The girls each took some home with them, but I got to keep a couple of containers.

After berry picking we went to a Safety fair put on by a local clinic. It was held at the county fairgrounds and I was very impressed with all the displays and info. Of course you can't have a fair with out face painting. The girls each chose a different design.

Here they are learning how to wash their hand correctly. The instructor put a solution on their hands and took them into a dark room where he used a black lite to show the bacteria on their hands before washing. He told them to count to 20 3 times or sing Happy Birthday 3 times before rinsing. Back into the dark room to see how well they washed. Actually they did very well with only one little area on the oldest showing any bacteria left.

Another stop was making your own first aid kit. The girls colored bags and went down a line where they got band aids, wipes, gauze, tape, etc. I assure you my granddaughters need these kits! :)

There were firetrucks, ambulances, a life flight helicopter, police cars and and even the bomb squad on the grounds for the kids to see. There were booths on poison control, babysitting, animal safety and many more that we didn't get to. But we did make it to the free hot dogs and chips stand!

Of course we did do this slide several times. And it was enjoyed by all! Papa and I were very impressed with this fair and plan on taking the girls again next year. A great deal of time and effort went into to making this a fun learning experience for kids of all ages. A big thank you to those who made it possible and gave of their time.

A couple of roses are in bloom. This one is a Martha Stewart Heritage rose. I have had her for several years now and she always does well. And I am remembering to fertilize them this year.

A no-name miniature peach colored rose that has been with us for a loooong time.

And this is a new one this year. 'First Promise' looks very promising. Of course being pink gives her an edge with me. :)

I promise I am going out to water now. The promised rain of over an inch is staying well to the south of us and I know my plants are thirsty after several days of warm even hot weather. In fact, it was warm enough on Sunday that I finally turned the AC on!

Hope you are enjoying your gardens. I certainly have been enjoying seeing them on your posts. I have been reading a lot of them, but have not had much time to comment. Up at 4:00 AM, to work at 7:00 and bed before 9:00 PM doesn't seem to leave me much time to do do all I want. Forgive me!!

Happy Gardening!

Bye-Bye Chicago!

2009-05-31T19:13:00.001-05:00

Spring Fling 2009 is history, sadly. But oh, what a wonderful fun filled few days it was! Meeting the people behind the blogs was the very best part for me. And then it was a tie for second favorite-the beautiful gardens and the fabulous food. :)

Rose and I drove up, with her doing an awesome job of managing the traffic in Chicago. I was the navigator and for the most part, I didn't get us lost. We found our hotel and had the car parked, enjoying the curbside valet service and bell persons to help us with our luggage. We are both not morning people and opted for the later activities of the three days. This post will be a very abbreviated synopsis of our itinerary. In later posts, I hope to share more photos and tell a little more of the great bloggers we met. Plus, I intend to go into more detail about all the places and gardens we saw.

Friday, we (Rose and I and a few others) went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens on the later train. To do these gardens justice, you would have to spend days there.

Tree Peony, or the triplets!

Hill sides of poppies, or Heaven!

Waiting at the Glencoe station to go back to the city. It was raining.

Sunny in the city. The Lurie Gardens.

Friday night reception. Rose and I did a lot of talking.

Saturday lunch at Andersonville. FABULOUS!!!

A most unusual iris at Carolyn Gail's gorgeous garden

Frances taking a picture of a butterfly on my bag with butterflies

on her hand and flying toward her!

Again, we are eating! Saturday evening at the best Chicago style pizzeria.

Sunday morning at the 'bean' in Millennium Park

We were such tourists!

Bye-Bye Chicago. Buffalo here we come!

2009-05-21T21:48:00.000-05:00

Hi dear blogging friends! It has been over a week since I last posted-where does the time go?? For me it has been work, gardening and granddaughters. and of course getting ready for Spring Fling. :)

Our weather has cleared and we have had glorious warm sunny days that are finally drying out the ground enough to get a few plants in. I have managed to get some new plants-annuals and perennials planted, and have done a few containers. That's the good news. The bad is I still have several more to plant and of course lots of weeds to pull. I also need to put down a lot of mulch!

The Painted Daises are blooming. I love their hot pink color against the deep green of the ground cover vinca. Unfortunately, blogger or my Internet connection is not letting me add any more photos at this time so you will have to take my word for it.

My clematis unknownist is blooming! This year it has more than one bloom. I have babied this plant for 3 years now and it looks as though this may be the year it finally comes into it's own.

What would a post by me be without a super macro shot??

As I said above, I have been having a lot of trouble with either blogger or my Internet. I can't visit from my side bar and even when I go to one of your posts, I often can't leave a comment. But I am reading most of your posts and enjoying seeing your late spring gardens.

I first noticed this on Perennial Garden Lover's sight. So Racquel, if you are reading this....I have been reading your delightful posts. It may have something to do with my security settings-I am going to have my son-in-law check it out soon.

I have had bird photo envy for a long time. Actually ever since I started reading blogs. When I was deciding about a new camera, I had to chose between super macro and super zoom due to the budget. :) Really I have not been sorry that I went with the macro, but every once in a while... So you have to click to enlarge this and the next picture to really see them. The cat and I were walking the gardens the other evening when I heard lots of scolding. Looking up I saw this female cardinal first and then---

very close by the male cardinal. I have a feeling there is a nest in this tree and we were getting too close. Especially the cat. After a couple of quick pictures we left the area and let them get back to the business of nesting. ( The cat had to be physically persuaded to leave!)

Spring Fling is next weekend and I am sooo looking forward to meeting all the bloggers and seeing the gardens Chicago has to offer. It sounds as if we will be very busy. After we get home and I get all my photos downloaded, I want to get back to the business of blogging on a regular basis. Surely by then, life will be less complicated(famous last words). Until then...

Have a Wonderful Memorial Day and enjoy your gardens!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-12T21:00:00.001-05:00

I have missed Mish Mash Monday, didn't post in time to be a part of Blooming Tuesday-so I am going for Wordless Wednesday. But you know me, I'm not too wordless!

One of the beautiful crepe paper poppies at my Mother-in-Law's.

Angelique tulips still blooming and looking great in the garden.

And of course a super macro photo of them.

A cornflower in bloom. Notice anything unusual?

I hope you are having a wonderful time in your gardens! Spring Fling starts in 2 weeks and 2 days. Better get packing and get your walking shoes on!

Mish Mash Monday!

2009-05-04T17:24:00.000-05:00

Good Monday morning to all! I hope you are ready to start another week of gardening fun and of course maybe work. :) It was a beautiful weekend here with the sun shinning, little wind blowing and temps in the mid 60's. Perfect weather to be out side working in and enjoying the gardens.
* this post was written this am, so go with me here. :)

Monica of Garden Faerie's Musing did a post last Monday called Mish Mash Monday and I thought it such a great way to show the odds and ends of photos and to tell of this and that. I don't have too much of this and that and seem to have mostly pictures of coming attractions in my garden, but did want to share them with you. I would have had a few more...but sometime last evening blogger quit loading photos for me. I don't know if this is just my problem or if it is something new (else) with blogger. I suppose time will tell.

Remember my attempt at a rock garden last year? This is Rock Soapwort, Saponaria ocymoides. Covered with these tiny pink blooms, it is very attractive in amongst the rocks. Honestly, I was going to show a full picture of it. When I planted this last summer, it was already done blooming, so this has been a pleasant surprise to see the delicate blooms.

The wild violets are really coming into their own this past week. Who could not love these sweet little mounds of blooms. I do admit to pulling some new starts out here and there, but a few have placed themselves very strategically and add a spot of color to bare areas.

Can you guess what bloom this is?? Of course this is a super macro photo so you know their blooms are very tiny. Give up? It is the flower on my Bayberry bush. The underside of it's arching branches are just covered with these delicate little beauties.

I transplanted a couple of Heavenly Blue morning glories and Moon flowers into bigger containers. It is still a little early to plant them in the ground. Last week I put all my seedlings outside in a semi-protected place. They are getting morning sun and are doing very well.

The cone flowers are sending up shoots in all sorts of places. I will have plenty to share at Spring Fling! Aren't you getting excited about going? I have started my lists of things to take. If I don't make lists, it doesn't seem to get done. I am sure none of you have that problem though.

One of the iris I transplanted from my Mother-in-law's last summer has a bud already. Not sure what color this one will be. And when they bloom this year, I am going to see if I missed getting any colors. It was the middle of summer when I mentioned that I would like to transplant some of these from her yard, but thought I should wait until fall. Lisa commented she thought it would be fine to do it any time and I did-right in the heat! They all grew and I am so pleased. Thanks, Lisa for the great gardening tip!

The cornflowers have triplied in size from the starts I planted that were pass-alongs from my cousin. And now they are getting buds. I am so excited to have these great old fashioned flowers in my garden!

The artemesia is also budding. This was one of the mystery plants that I didn't remember planting and had no clue as to what it was. But thanks to several bloggers it was identified. I still don't remember planting it, but the cousin who gave me the cornflowers says it was from her, also.

And finally, I have buds in my daisies. These were the very dark pink ones that we finally decided were Painted Daisies last summer. The mound of them is getting quite large and I think I will try to divide it after they bloom. I love dividing plants...freebies to plant in the garden.

Hopefully, next post I will be able to upload photos once again. I want to show the 2 new roses we planted and the bluebells my neighbors gave me.

Until then, have a great garden week!

April Showers-Sky Watch Friday

2009-04-30T21:54:00.001-05:00

April brings........

clouds,

showers,

more showers,

still more showers,

and dark ominous skies.

Lets hope May brings more flowers than showers.

Sky Watch Friday is brought to you by Skyley.

Spring or Summer?

2009-04-26T19:25:00.001-05:00

Spring has taken a turn toward summer in Central Illinois this weekend. With temperatures in the mid-80's we were tempted to turn on the air conditioner. But as many of you may know, Illinois's flat lands are famous for their winds and boy did the wind blow the last few days.

I am finding it difficult to keep up with everything-house keeping, laundry, gardening and of course more importantly-blogging. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and am now working full time. It has been many years since I have put in 40 hours a week and marvel at how I used to handle everything and still have time to 'play'. I don't think it is that I am older. Do you? :) I think I am just out of practice and am hoping it will all come back to me.

Rose wrote in her last post of possible reasons why blogging seems to a little thin the last few weeks. I certainly belong in the statistical category of 'too tired at the end of the day!' I hope your reasons are that you are enjoying being in the garden more.

We had a milestone birthday in our family-or at least the party for it. Hubby seemed surprised and was very pleased to see so many of our friends and family there to wish him a happy birthday. It's actually not until the 27th. The 6 yr. old granddaughter had a very hard time keeping the secret, but did manage not to spill the beans as she called it. We have 5 April birthdays. 2 are granddaughters-one turned 16 and the little one turned 4. We celebrated all today with a hot dog and hamburger cookout.

The daffodils have out done themselves this year. I am amazed at how large the blooms are on some of them. The granddaughters have enjoyed all the spring flowers.

And of course, I am enjoying taking pictures of them.

The super macro feature on may camera is getting lots of use. These lilacs are now open and their sweet scent comes in our bedroom window.

I have one yellow tulip-where it came from, I have no clue. But isn't it gorgeous?! I have been thinking about framing some of my super-macro shots and making a group hanging of them.

These tulips, Pink Impressions, are some of the new ones we planted last fall. Or I should say my helpers planted. They have been beautiful, but with the heat the last couple of days, they won't last much longer.

The creeping phlox and vinca have mingled and I like the combination. I did get more phlox planted on Saturday in other areas of the gardens. I love it when it forms thick blooming patches.

The wild violets are blooming. The majority of them I leave where they are. I know they are invasive, but I enjoy their blooms and even their heart shaped leaves.

The ornamental plum tree is putting on quite a show this year. Ignore the date on the photo-I was trying to set my camera with the correct date and didn't get it figured out. So...I turned off that feature after taking a couple of pictures.

I hope you don't get tired of my close ups. :) I managed to get some gardening done on Saturday, even with the wind. I planted some Asiatic lilies, gladiolus and a new rose. I also planted several Stella D'Ora lilies thanks to Rose. She divided hers and gave me enough for 5 spots. I tried not to thank her...but it was hard. My seedlings could have been put outside this weekend to enjoy the warm weather, but I couldn't find a place out of the wind so they will just have to stay in the garden window a few more days. Some of them are needing transplanted. I think next year I will wait a couple more weeks before starting them.

I know this post rambles. Please forgive me, but that seems to be my state of mind the last few weeks. That I am blaming on age! I am hoping for a quiet week coming up where I can get to my favorite bloggers and do some catching up. I just need to get a routine established. But then life always seems to have other plans for me. :)

Hope you all are enjoying your gardens and are able to spend time in them!

Spring!

2009-04-11T15:51:00.003-05:00

(the first of my new pink daffodils)

I think spring has truly come to our area. Yes, we have been having some cold rainy days with night time temperatures close to or at the freezing point, but we are also having glorious sun filled days with blue skies dotted with pure white, fluffy, cotton ball clouds.

These are the days that bring a smile to the face, a spring in the step and a lightness of being. These are the days that have helped me get through the last couple of weeks.

I have missed visiting with all of you. I have missed seeing spring come to you - your flowers growing and blooming, the warm sun filled days of joy.

Lots has gone on in your lives in the last few weeks, as it has in mine. I hope to be able to catch up with all your news and get back to enjoying garden blogging.

Have a wonderful Easter and rejoice in the rebirth of our gardens!

Journeys In and Out of the Garden

2009-03-30T23:22:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend in your gardens. It was very wet here with lots of rain, wind, cold temperatures and even a few snow flurries. This is after a glorious Friday with highs in the upper sixties. Ah, March in Central Illinois!

The weather was much nicer today after a nasty frost last night. The sun was out and the wind was calm. The temp. reached 58 and would have been perfect to do a little more cleaning of garden beds. But as so often happens, life gets in the way.

I spent the better part of the day taking care of the last few details of moving my Dad. I made the decision a few weeks back that he really needed more help than I was able to give him. After his bout with Shingles, hospitalization for infection and then again for dehydration, I talked to a Social Services person. She suggested Assisted Living and gave me the name of a place. I called, went for a tour, and was VERY impressed. To make a long story short-everything fell into place very quickly and he has been ensconced in his lovely new apartment for a little over a week. Today I met, again, with the nurse and director to see how he was doing from their view point, to get his medications out of his apartment and into the CNAS' hands permanently and to give them a check for his first month's rent. ( Worth every penny!)

They assure me he is settling in very well, eating good and starting to mingle with some of the other residents. And I think he is. I stayed and had a great evening meal with him and he didn't even try to get any of those little 'digs' in that have been common the last couple of weeks.

This has been a very difficult time for the both of us. It is hard to see a parent become infirm and needing help-more help than family can give. While I have the approval of all the family, it is ultimately left to me, the oldest daughter, to make the final decisions where he is concerned. This is a heavy burden to bear. I will say, now that it's done, I am more at peace and know in my heart it was the right choice. As I said, everything fell into place so easily and quickly it was meant to be.

But on the other hand, I know this is has been extremely hard on Dad. The move represents a loss of independence-however little he did have. He is no longer driving as he could not afford his car there. That one fact takes away his 'freedom' to come and go as he pleases. I know I would be devastated if I were unable to go when and where I wanted. I know he is grieving for his former self. I will be patient and with the staff's help, he will get through this and hopefully adjust. Giving himself a chance, he will no longer be lonely, no longer lack the drive to get up in the morning and he will not have to face days with nothing to do. He will be with people who remember the things he does and his stories and theirs will provide him the opportunity to feel there is a reason to live. That is my hope for him-a chance to see he is still important to us his family and to others.

Thanks for listening to me. As I commented to Mary, who is also dealing with an aging father, writing this down and sharing it has been good therapy for me. Mary's therapy was also sharing her great photos of flowers and of course the Licker Sisters. So now, I will show you mine-flowers that is. :)

The daffodil above is in my garden. Tomorrow, I hope to see it in full bloom. And this evening while searching for that blooming daffodil, I found the tulip bud above. Just one though. I am hoping more will join it soon! On my errands, I noticed a few magnolia trees in bloom. I think the wind and heavy rains have hurt them some, but they are still a wonderful sight of spring.

This bud was just a perfect example. And besides, it gave me an excuse to usethe macro feature on my camera.

This of course is the magnolia bloom up close and personal. And another opportunity to try super macro. They really are very delicate looking-and oh so beautiful! I may frame this photo.

Okay, we've had photos in my garden and out of my garden and now we are inside my home in the garden window. My cactus, a Mammillaria Elongata is in bloom. And this year I can actually show you what the blooms look like. I posted last year on March 27th about it and showed some very blurry pictures here.

I hope you enjoy these much clearer photos. I am amazed by this cactus's innate ability to know when it is time to bloom.

Always in March, just as if it were in the desert of Arizona! Maybe Rose will see some of these in her travels out there this week.

Now I just need Aiyana to tell me how to transplant it!

Thanks for coming along with me on my journey with my Dad, and in and out of the garden. I hope you get to spend some time in your garden this week!

A Walk in My Gardens

2009-03-27T22:24:00.001-05:00

Cheryl at My Wildlife Sanctuary suggested that we all take time to enjoy our gardens today no matter the weather. Thankfully, the weather here was perfect. Sunny, a light breeze and a temp of about 60F. My kind of weather!

To all of you who are having bad weather-storms, blizzards and flooding, my heart and my prayers go out to you.

After doing some cleaning and clearing in the front garden beds and picking up sticks and limbs the recent winds blew down, I took my garden walk. And surprise! My vinca is blooming. I know we complain about this ground cover spreading everywhere and choking out other plants, but in the spring it is sooo lovely to see all it's delicate blue-lavender blooms. In a few more days I should have a cheery carpet of blooms against their dark green glossy leaves.

The daffodils are getting so close. I had hoped one would pop this afternoon so I could get a picture. I guess I will have to wait a few more days. Everyday, though I notice more are coming up. I think they are the ones we planted last fall when I had all the help from the kids and grand kids. Some may just be later, but I have a feeling some were planted a little deeper than recommended. Good help is so hard to find. :)

Lilacs are budding! I am so excited and can't wait for them to flower. I love the scent of lilac more even than hyacinths. This is the pale lavender that has the big blooms. Sorry no name.

This is the darker one that has smaller blooms, but oh such a heavenly scent! No name for this one either. I planted these long ago before I knew you were supposed to keep track of the names-silly me. I trimmed each of these bushes drastically last year. They were getting way too tall and all the blooms were high on the branches. I was a little worried they might not do to well this year, but they look great and are both loaded with buds all the way up.

This is oriental lily just pushing through the ground, reminds me of an artichoke!

The purple plum trees is also putting on buds. Soon the dark pink blossoms will appear and we should start seeing bees.

Does anyone else see the ragged edges of these tulip leaves as evidence of critters in my garden??? I shouldn't complain too much as I only saw a couple of these and the nibbles won't really hurt the blooms. But lets not make a salad out of my garden, please little rabbits!

This no name clematis is putting on leaves, another surprise. I hope it blooms this year so we can find out what it is.

The hen and chicks, Sempervivum Brannii I planted last year is a little worse for wear. But I think it will come back and fill in.

And now I need help. I think this was a pass along, but can't remember who or what it is? Anyone??

Same goes for this one.... I know I should have written down names and locations.

And finally we have this very healthy looking plant. It is coming up close to where I had the gorgeous blue delphinium last year. But is that what it is, or... is it just a very fast growing weed?

I hope you enjoyed the walk around my garden as much as I did. Spring is a wonderful time of the year-go on take a walk in your garden today!

An Adventure with the Girls!

2009-03-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a glorious spring day in Central Illinois! A high of 73, bright sun, blue skies and an outside just waiting to be enjoyed.

This past weekend was our weekend with the granddaughters and thanks to spring break at their schools, they were able to stay several more days. I love it when school holidays fall near our time with them! A couple of them were spending time with our daughter while 3 of them were with me. A visit to the Forest Preserve was just what the day seemed to call for- a chance to spend some quality time together and share in nature's delights.

Children of all ages seem to be drawn to the water. It must have a magical quality!

I can't quite find the right words to describe what I felt when I saw the shoes come off and the toes dabbling in the water. But it has to do with the idea that it's a time honored tradition that all kids seem to do. By the way, they were very surprised at how cold the water was!

After drying their toes, a walk on one of the many trails seemed in order. If you enlarge, you can see they all have walking sticks. Even Grandma had to have one which made picture taking a little awkward.

The forest is still very bare here. No wild flowers-not even a sign of them starting to grow yet. And because of the winds we didn't get to see or even hear any birds. Were we disappointed? Well, I was a little as I had hoped for more picture opportunities, but not the girls. They loved every minute of our adventure as evidenced by the smiles on their faces!

I hope you are getting to enjoy some glorious spring weather in or out of your gardens.

My Early Spring Show and Tell!

2009-03-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

I have had these pictures loaded for several days now-just haven't had the time to add narrative. But tonight, after reading so many spring blogs, I so wanted to add mine to the show and tell.

Isn't this a lovely flower? I love the blueness of it. Anybody want to take a guess as to what it is?

The forsythia stems my cousin sent home with me a couple of weeks ago have provided many smiles for me as I do the dishes. I have the vase sitting in my kitchen window and the bright yellow blooms are so cheery. (I am hoping they will take root!)

I did get a couple of flats planted on the 10th. I planted several varieties most of which came through the seed exchange or from very generous bloggers.

Sunflowers are up in 5 days.

As well as several others.

A week ago the these tulips were just a couple of inches tall.

60+ degree temps and they are growing very quickly!

All of the iris I transplanted from my Mother-in-Law's last summer have new growth. I am SOOO happy.

And in the few days since I loaded these pictures, I have seen day lilies sprouting, green shoots of yarrow, and new growth on the Silver Mound Artemisia! Yea spring. I think it is truly here.. :} I hope you are enjoying spring in your gardens.

'Our World in Bloom'

2009-03-11T23:05:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday and Monday, I experienced many 'firsts' in my life. In other words I had quite an adventure. And who best to share an adventure with than your best friend! Rose and I made our way to the Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier in Chicago. We rode a commuter train(a personal first), we rode a city bus (another first), saw and experienced Navy Pier(a first) and rode a trolley-you guessed it also a first. But the best first was actually getting to take in the Garden show!

Our World in Bloom is the theme for this year's Chicago Flower & Garden show. All of the feature gardens were excellent at portraying this theme.

This is the entrance to the show. Through out we saw many metal works depicting the world and blooms. This fountain was especially neat as they had dry ice in each corner that gave off a misty fog.

We saw many of the usual sights of spring. Forsythia was in bloom in all directions. I had many opportunities to try out the 'super macro' setting on my new camera.

Lots of spring colors! These cyclamen and daisies were stunning and in colors I rarely see.

Of course the hyacinths were in full bloom and smell. Every time we came to a new grouping I had to take a whiff! Although these show as blue, they were a deep purple and paired with white cyclamen were gorgeous.

This Victorian 'bedroom' was an eye-catching display. The living bedspread and the twig headboard were beautiful. There was also a twig rocker and a trunk filled with blooming flowers.

The bedspread was made up of simple everyday plants, but oh how beautiful!

I loved the iron works and this dinosaur really was unusual.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter showed some of this 'garden on her site. Done as an archaeological dig of the future, it was amusing but also thought provoking. To get a better idea of what they are saying click to enlarge.

One of the 'found' objects!

Foxgloves gave me another chance at super macro.

As did this wonderful hellebore.

I found this fascinating. A wall of plants. It looked like they had planted a flat with different plants and then simple turned it up and hung it on a lattice. But they are special planters that are sloped to keep the dirt , water and plants from falling out. Very simple but at the same time I found it so appealing.

Lots of the flowers we knew or could find an identifying sign. But not for this one. Does anyone know what this is? Besides beautiful that is. :}

One of my favorite garden colors is pink. And there were lots and lots of pink. ( I just love my new camera!)

These are a bi-colored snap dragon. We were told the name, but I have forgotten it. They are hard to find yet this year, though.

And of course hydrangea. These are grown mostly for florists. But wouldn't I love to have a bed like this!

More pink. Pinks and daisies in shades of pink. I am not usually a fan of 'gaudy' but fell in love with this lighted mosaic garden ball. Probably because of the color. But I can definitely see it in my garden in the future.

There were waterfalls galore. Rose and I were amazed at the sheer tonnage of rock it took to make this one. We decided there had to be some pretty big freight elevators to get all of these rock up to the second floor!

And fountains of all sizes and shapes. This was perhaps my favorite.

Lunch in a great sidewalk cafe-of course it was enclosed. But the warmth of the dim sun could be felt and enjoyed. Our waiter was kind enough to take our picture so we could have another reminder of our day.

I know Rose is going to post about the show as well. I am sure she will have many of the things I missed, so be sure to catch hers. It was a wonderful time made all the better because of the companionship of a dear friend who shares a passion for gardening. Thank you Rose for so many firsts and for such delightful company. And remember, 'What happens in Chicago-stays in Chicago!'

Dear Friends....

2009-03-04T21:53:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends.

I was going to leave a comment on my last post to all of you, but decided I would write a proper response instead.

Things here are still very hectic. Dad is not doing well and has lost 19.7 pounds in the last 3 1/2 weeks. Of course most of the weight loss is because he is feeling so rough. I have had him back to the Doctor several times and today, she put in the hospital as an out patient to run tests, do lab work and give him fluids intravenously. We were there from 9:30 am til 6:30pm. I think it helped him some, but we don't have any results yet.

I have nagged, begged and threatened him, but can only get him to eat small amounts and he drinks a little juice. I keep trying though. Hopefully in the next few days we will find out if it is still the shingles and the staph or if it's something else.

I read each one of your comments and they brought smiles to my face. Your genuine concern and well wishes are so welcome. Your encouragement and understanding are just what I need during this difficult time. Thank you!

I am hoping to get back to posting and reading your blogs soon. After all, Spring is coming and we will have so much to talk about!

Yes, I'm Still Here!

2009-02-25T23:20:00.000-06:00

I remember these beautiful twin cosmos from this past summer. I am so looking forward to growing these lovelies again. In fact, I am looking to the day soon when I can start seeds of cosmos indoors along with all my other seeds.

Rose and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon going through our seeds and all the ones we have each been sent from some of you. We divided them up and put them in little plastic craft bags. It seemed that each packet we opened had smaller seeds than the last packet had! I honestly am not sure how I am going to plant some of them. We have our seed starting mix, our peat pellets and peat pots, our trays and our seed. We are ready! Hopefully in a couple of weeks, there will be seedlings to show.

I want to apologize for my lack of posts and especially for my not getting around to reading many of yours these last couple of weeks. Things here have gotten very busy and complicated. My Dad has Shingles and has been very ill with them, even spending a night in the hospital. He developed a staph infection from them and is on several medications. So I have been over there 2 and 3 times a day. I have been working 4 days a week on top of that, plus taking Sara to the Dr. to get her weekly shot in the neck. Besides her back-which they are going to do surgery on next month, she is having disc problems in her neck. And last week she fell down the stairs and sprained an ankle. Poor dear is just about at the end of her rope.

My point is...after taking a long weekend starting this Friday, I will be back and should have much more time to devote to one of my favorite activities. And that is visiting with all of you!

Do take care dear friends, and think Spring!

Sky Watch Friday

2009-02-20T02:03:00.003-06:00

Close to sunset with the sun shinning over an oncoming cloud bank. I loved the starkness of the bare trees against the warm pinkish tone of the sky.

Same sunset, just a little different angle. I like the fluffy cotton-ball clouds in the foreground with the ominous looking solid cloud bank in the back.

For more Sky Watch posts you can go here.

Have a great weekend!

Girls' Weekend!

2009-02-16T22:25:00.000-06:00

This is an out of the garden post with a lot of rambling on my part. Or as the description of my blog says, 'a journal of my life as it pertains to family...' As many of you know, we get 3 of our granddaughters once a month on the 3rd weekend. Fudging just a little this time, we had them this past weekend. We normally have them from Friday evening to Sunday evening. But since this Monday was a holiday we had them an extra day. Hooray!

Friday night is usually our night to spend alone with them. As much as we enjoy having the rest of the grands and all the family over on Saturdays, we feel we need some time with just them -a chance to connect a little deeper. Saturday night is a free for all with any and all the grands (now numbering 8 girls and 1 boy!) spending the night. Sunday morning, Papa fixes a big breakfast of all their favorites and by mid afternoon parents come around to collect a few of them. This week the 10 yr. old from the other set stayed Sunday evening too.

While always a busy time when the girls are here, this weekend was filled with activities more than usual. We celebrated a birthday and did Valentine oriented projects.

The birthday girl actually turned 10 last week, but she didn't mind having a second party with us. This is Andrea's oldest and I cannot believe she is 10 already. Where does the time go when you are watching your grand children grow?

A budding tradition (just started last year) on or close to Valentine's Day is to decorate cupcakes. We made 6 dozen this year.

A long table was set out with icings, candy conversation hearts, Twizzlers, gummy bears, red licorice ropes, and pink and red candy corn. There were no rules except no arguing and all were allowed to decorate their cupcakes to their hearts' content.

This is the youngest showing off one of her creations.

And the birthday girl with one of hers. Each grand gets to keep the ones they have decorated and take them home. I put the cupcakes on a paper plate and slide them into a gallon freezer bag with their name on it. The kids love doing this and really it's not as messy as you might think. I'm fortunate to have help with some of the parents standing by with wet cloths.

I was surprised this year with Valentine presents. Usually Hubby gets me a box of chocolates, but this year he also gave me a book I have been wanting. Wilbur Smith is an author I found just about a year ago. I have enjoyed reading several of his books, Birds of Prey, Golden Fox, and Eye of the Tiger. This one is the 4th in his Egyptian novel series-River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock. I have always had a fascination with ancient Egypt and even more so after having seen the "King Tut" exhibition in Chicago a couple of years ago. I will let you know how much I enjoy reading this book!

My daughter surprised my with this beautiful bird feeder. It's made of glass and metal and I am hoping the squirrels will leave this one alone. They have eaten 2 of my feeders this winter. Well, maybe not eaten, but chewed on them enough that they won't hold seed any more.

It is decorated with butterflies and dragonflies! I was very touched by her gift. She gave her dad a big box of chocolates and of course being the generous soul that he is-I will also have even more chocolates to enjoy. :)

The last gift was one I gave myself. You see about a month ago, I lost my camera. I know where and when...in the parking lot of a WalMart. As I got out of the car my purse fell to the ground. But it landed open side up and I thought nothing more about it until that night when I went to get my camera out of my purse to download some pictures. My camera should have been right in the top where I always keep it for easy access. That's when I realized that even though my purse landed upright, the camera had bounced out and under the car unseen! I was heart sick. I had developed a love-need relationship with that camera. Of course I wanted to run right out and get another! Finances were a little tight, though and I decided to wait until after tax time. So this past week I finally have that extension to my right hand. It's a Canon Powershot A470 with 7.1 mega pixels, macro and super macro, and a 3.7 zoom. There are a lot of other settings that I haven't had time to learn yet-that may take a while. But it will do pretty much what I want and was well within my price range. I am happy with it.

The picture of the hawk was taken from across the road. Not a great close up ( I'll never be the photograper that Mary and Robin are!) but much better than my old camera could have done. I am pleased. Now what kind of hawk is it??

Hope you had a great weekend and are keeping spring in mind!

A Valentine's Gift for You!

2009-02-11T14:20:00.001-06:00

I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day for all of you out there, but couldn't decide just what. Then it came to me-Roses!

Did you know roses are the single most given flower om Valentine's day? It is also said that roses are the most popular flower in the world. *Roses have been symbols of love, beauty, war and politics since the beginning of time.

The birthplace of the cultivated rose was probably in Northern Persia. The oldest fossils of roses were found in Colorado and they have even been found in the tombs of Pharaohs in Egypt.

Roses are from:

Kingdom-Plantae

Division-Magnoliophyta

Class-Magnoliopsida

Order-Rosales

Family-Rosaceae

Sudfamily-Rosoideae

Genus-Rosa

There are Species roses, more often called wild roses. They are a 5 petaled flower and have colorful hips. The Rosa rugosa is in this family and are prized for their hardiness, disease resistance and low maintenance.

Old Garden Roses are easy to grow, disease resistant, and most have a lovely fragrance. They grow as shrubs, bushes and as viners. The China Rose, Moss Rose , Damask Rose and Tea Rose are found in this group.

The Modern rose, anything bred after 1867, include such roses as Hybrid Tea, Floribunda and the Grandiflora. Even though there are beautiful colors in this group they are at best a finicky lot. They don't adapt well to cold, they require a great amount of care, they need deadheading and trimming. and they don't have much of a fragrance.

Of course we all know a red rose means love. But did you know the other colors also have meanings? A white rose is purity and innocence. A yellow rose is jealousy and a decrease in love. Coral colored roses mean desire. Lavender is enchantment. Orange is desire. And a pink rose symbolizes perfect happiness, secret love, grace and sweetness! There are many more meanings and you can find them here.

Do you know where the most roses are grown? *The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Noisette Roses are the only rose that originated in the United States.

John Champney received and 'Old Blush Rose' from his neighbor in 1800 South Carolina. He was a rice farmer, who took this rose and cross bred it with Rosa moschata. This resulted in Champney's Pink Cluster. He sent seed to his brother in France and this started an area of breeding what was called the Noisette Roses

There are literally thousands of books written on the subject of roses-more than one could ever hope to read in their lifetime! They are truly one of the world's most beloved and revered flowers.

All of the pictures above except this last one came from Internet sources. On one site alone, I found over a hundred thousand photos! This rose is mine and it is Double Delight-a hybrid tea rose who has defied the odds and made it through many winters. It makes me smile every time I see it's beauty.

So , my dear Blogging friends, these roses are my Valentine gift to you!

* article found here

Getting Back on Track!

2009-02-07T21:51:00.001-06:00

I'm pretty sure some of you think I might have fallen off the face of the earth. I seem to be posting less and less these past few weeks. For that I am sorry. It's been a cold, hard, long winter and I have gotten very lazy. I have enjoyed reading others' post, trying to leave cheerful and witty comments, but even that has been an effort some days.

Today, however, we had lovely blue skies and temperatures close to 60! Those things combined with a seed starting seminar at a local garden center have somewhat renewed my energies. At least my thoughts have once again turned to gardening and more importantly, to blogging and sharing.

Rose and I made our way to the garden center about 9:00 this morning. Grabbing a cup of their free coffee, we seated ourselves close to the front-all the better to see my dear! I think she is going to do a post on the actual information we received so I won't go into that, but we did get a 20% discount on all seed starting necessities.

I bought several of these type of peat pots. Last year I had very good luck with them and when it came time to transplant they easily went straight into the ground or container without worrying about damaging the roots. I think I will use these for morning glories ( Heavenly Blue!), sunflowers , Sweet Autumn clematis(from Racquel) and Verbena Bonariensis and Shirley single poppies (from Cheryl). Also, I am going to try, moon flower and Purple Hyacinth beans (from Monica).

I also got a plastic tray with the cell packs and a top. I used this last year also and was pleased with the results. I stopped short of buying anything else as I knew I had some things left from last year and just need to take inventory before getting too carried away.

In these flats I intend to plant some zinnias, Antirrhinum, Love-in-a-Mist (from Cheryl), Mexican Mint Marigold, Cow Pen Daisy (from Aunt Debbi) and probably several other varieties I haven't bought yet. The seeds from Monica and Aunt Debbi were part of a seed swap started by Monica that Rose and I participated in. That was a lot of fun and we had a great afternoon looking through all the seeds and deciding which ones to try.

When thinking about doing this post, I Googled seed starting and found a few great sites with much more info. One has the time it takes for different seeds to germinate and be ready to transplant outdoors. This one is really interesting and tells how to plant each flower by name. The other site has information on seed starting medium, light, water, etc. Also very interesting and was a lot of what we discussed in the seminar.

With all this seed starting to look forward to-still a couple of weeks too early here-I am beginning to dream of flowers blooming in great masses all over my gardens.

Hope you have a garden dream going!

I Found the Island!

2009-01-27T02:00:00.001-06:00

Yes! I finally found the desert island! And I have my 3 plants with me. Customs problems with the plants, computer problems(actually Internet interruptions) and the slow boat to China, have all delayed my arrival. But at last I can start my garden on this lovely island.

My first choice is the butterfly bush, Buddleia, a perennial in most zones. I let mine grow to whatever height is wants and only deadhead. This bush can be kept trimmed-but why? These 5" to 6" blooms are such eye candy.

To say it attracts butterflies is an understatement. It is truly a butterfly magnet! It's scent is especially tantalizing to butterflies. At times there were dozens of butterflies on the blooms at one time.

Mine is the dark purple, but it does come in several other colors, even a new bi colored one is now available. I am going to have to check that one out. The more bushes the more butterflies!

My second choice surprised me a little. While looking back through my pictures of bloomers this past summer, I found these glorious gentle giants-sunflowers. Originally I planted them as part of the bee counting project, but was enthralled by their beauty and the birds that also came. Finches by the dozens found the seeds as soon as they started to mature. For many weeks I could look out my window and see those bright yellow and black birds doing all sorts of acrobatics to get at the seeds.

And the bees did come! Not in as great a numbers as I had hoped for, but enough to pollinate the flowers and get covered from wing to the bees' knees in pollen. (sorry, I couldn't resist the old saying!)

My last choice was a toss up between the 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory and my beloved zinnias. As you can see, Blue won out! I don't think any one annual has captured my attention more than this mistake. Some of you may remember I bought this plant as a 'Moonflower'. When the first bloom finally opened and it was blue, I was so disappointed. But Blue just kept growing and flowering-hundreds of blooms each day-for months. She won my heart completely.

These gorgeous flowers brought me untold joy each day. Not to mention the attention they garnered from my neighbors and passersby. Bees of all types could be seen disappearing into their throats and coming out dripping with golden pollen.

The choices were harder than I thought they were going to be. As gardeners we love to surround ourselves with all sorts of blooms and plants. Our goal is to have something always providing color and interests and to attract wildlife and provide sustenance for them. I hope with my choices that is what I have achieved.

Shirl at Shirl's Garden Watch has certainly provided us with a very interesting challenge. One that I have enjoyed immensely. On these cold grey days of winter it was wonderful to see others' beautiful choices and see the color of warmer days. Thanks, I've had a wonderful time!

GBBD January, 2009 (a little late)

2009-01-16T02:32:00.000-06:00

I know that I am a day late with this month's bloom day post. But there were extenuating circumstances-really! We will get to those a little later. GBBD is brought to you by Carol of May Dreams Garden.

Due to a definite lack of favorable growing conditions out side(and we will get to those later, too!)all blooms seen below are ones found in the warmer climate of my home.

I have a garden window that is above my kitchen sink that faces east. This seems to be the perfect spot to grow African violets. Several months ago, I showed the dividing and transplanting of several of the ones I have. It has taken a while, but they are all looking very healthy and most of them are blooming. Carol says you should only have one plant for each decade of your life. Hmmm... I'm sure I'm not in my 90's yet! Although the one above looks purple it is actually more of a dark magenta. I now have 4 of these.

And I know this looks blue, bit it is actually a lavender. No amount of working with the 'fix it' photo program I have will show the true colors. It must be my camera. Anyway, I have 4 of these. The 9th one was a gift last fall and it is pink. But of course it is not blooming right now, and that's the one color that does show true when looking through the lens.

I know there is a botanical name for this one, but I'm too tired to look it up tonight. I call it a 'Peace Lily'. Last winter, it bloomed once for me. But this winter, I have had several blooms. I like that they last a long time and have a quiet elegance to them.

That's it for the blooms this month. I didn't think ahead like so many of you and plant an Amaryllis, or pot up some paper whites. When I did finally think about it-after seeing such pretty ones on others' blogs-I couldn't find any in the store. Oh well, I'll enjoy yours and put them on my plant list for next year.

Now, for the rest of the story. Sorry, Paul Harvey, I couldn't resist. I worked last night and when I came home, I thought the house was a little chilly. But then the temps were down right frigid outside so I really didn't think too much about it. This morning when I woke up and could see my breath, I knew something was wrong. It was 52 in the house! I checked the furnace and the pilot light was lit, but the furnace would not come on. BUMMER! After making a few phone calls, I found a company that could come out within a couple of hours. It seems there were a lot of people having furnace problems today.

Long story short-our 45+ year old furnace had broken a belt to the blower. And just for good measure, the thermostat was going bad. By 2:30 this afternoon the temp in the house was a balmy 65! Really, I am not complaining. I think we got off pretty well. We could have needed a new furnace and that just isn't in the budget for now!

Now, about the unfavorable growing conditions outside... I took this picture of the weather channel on our television at 12:30 tonight. Notice the actual temp and then notice the wind chill. But did you also notice the heat wave coming on Saturday? And of course a chance for more snow.

I hope where you are it is warmer than here. And I hope you are staying warm where ever you are!

**** update-we just hit -14, wind cill -32!****

Finally!

2009-01-09T16:55:00.003-06:00

Actually, the impeachment process has been started and will take some time to finalize. But we are headed in the right direction.

**"Driven by anger and politics, the Illinois House voted overwhelmingly today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, an unprecedented action that sets the stage for a Senate trial on whether he should be thrown out of office for corruption and abuse of power."

Impeachment requires just 60 votes and the vote was 114-1. This was after a special House committee heard testimony on the abuses he has allegedly committed.

"Blagojevich was arrested on Dec. 9 on federal charges that include allegations he schemed to profit from his power to name President-elect Obama's replacement in the senate. The criminal complaint included and FBI agent's sworn affidavit describing wiretaps that caught Blagojevich allegedly talking about what he could get for the seat, how to pressure people into making campaign contributions and more."

All of this is proving to be very interesting. Senators and Representatives are all speaking out about " ....cleaning up the mess and stopping the freak show that has become Illinois government." Yes, let's prove how upright and honest we are by proving how corrupt he is. I know this sounds cynical, but can you blame me.

To be fair I am providing a site here to let you read about his side of the story.

Stay tuned for further developments in the soap opera of a story.

And I hope you have a great weekend!

**quotes from the News-Gazette, Champaign, IL.

Skywatch 2009!

2009-01-02T00:50:00.007-06:00

I have never participated in Skywatch Friday before, but when I saw this beautiful evening sky, I knew I finally had an entry.

A few weeks ago I picked Rose up at the Indianapolis airport on her return from Phoenix where she visited her daughter and had the opportunity to visit some lovely places.

We stopped to get cup of coffee and something to eat and when we came out of the restaurant, we were treated to this lovely sunset. Both of us grabbed for our cameras!

She graciously let me take the pictures to use on my post. Thanks Rose!

Skywatch Fridays is brought to you by skyle.

" A New Year is Unfolding..."

2008-12-28T22:15:00.000-06:00

Can you believe this year is almost over? As I grow older the years seem to speed by more quickly than the one before. I suppose it is only natural to think of all that has happened in the year past and wonder what is to come in the next.

For the most part, I have shared my 'happenings' with you already. But I thought this would be a good time to share them again and see how your year was.

I started a new medicine for my fibromyalgia on the first day of the year and it proved to be a miracle drug for me.

"This bright new year is given me-To live each day with zest...",
John Burroughs

Did you have any life-altering happenings?

I started blogging and met many wonderful fellow bloggers-some of whom garden, others who offer delicious recipes and those who write with great passion.

"A new year is unfolding - like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within."-- Anonymous

How has blogging affected your life this year?

I've been blessed with new family members and they have become very dear to me. I have lost loved ones who influenced who I am today. I have been doubly blessed with getting to see more of my granddaughters.

"Here's to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here's to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold."-- Anonymous

How has your family changed this year?

I am making resolutions to live my life to the fullest each day and be thankful for all it gives me.

Be at war with your vices; at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."-- Benjamin Franklin

Do you make resolutions-and more importantly, do you keep them?

My wish for the New Year is love, laughter, family and friends for us all!

See you in 2009!

**my apologies for the lay out. blogger is doing it's own thing tonight!**

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2008-12-16T11:23:00.000-06:00

9 days til Christmas and it is finally looking like Christmas at our house. I told you in my last post that I wasn't stressing this year about Christmas,(well maybe a little) but I am glad the tree is up and the decorations are out. We are having our first Christmas this Saturday with some of our granddaughters. Of course the whole family will be here to help us celebrate with them!

Each year when I take down the tree, I put away only strings of lights that are working. Why is it then that when I take them out of storage and check there are some that have died during the year?

Gray Girl likes to help or hinder depending on your point of view.

I am not ashamed to admit that I used bribery (again) to accomplish my goals. I invited the kids and granddaughters over to help with promises of a spaghetti supper. *Note: I can make other dishes really! Spaghetti happens to be one of their favorites meals. And it is so easy. :}

We went with a smaller tree this year and the girls couldn't get all of the decorations on, but I am very pleased with their tree trimming ability.

The stockings are all hung-we added 3 new ones this year for Sara, Grace and Christopher. Our son-in-law remarried this fall and we love his new family. So Sara is an adopted daughter-in-law and her kids are now our grandchildren, too. That makes 8 granddaughters and one grandson!

Okay, where was I? Oh yes, 'the stockings were all hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.'

As I said, not enough room on the tree for all the decorations so we improvised. The fern looks very festive now. Each year, I get angel ornaments for the granddaughters . Eventually, when they move out on their own they will get their angels to decorate their own tree.

And starting this year, a nut cracker for Christopher!

This angel is this year's ornament.

Amie decided I needed to have some of my collection of angels and Father Christmas out on display."Mom, it feels more like Christmas when these are out!" "Okay, but you do the arranging", said I!

And she did and I am very happy to see some treasures from past Christmases.

This nativity is one we have had for years. It is always the center of the decorations. My girls loved to move the figures around and now, so do the grand girls. As with my girls, we tell them the story of the first Christmas when Baby Jesus was born.

Like some other bloggers, I probably won't get a chance to post again before Christmas. So I want to wish each and every one of you,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I Told You So!

2008-12-09T11:25:00.000-06:00

Yes, I am one of those that like to say,"I told you so!" I don't do it often, but every once in a while when I am right-it just comes out. I am so seldom right about something that I think I am entitled to this one little flaw in my character. So forgive me in advance.

In my last post, while complaining about the lack of salt being spread on the icy roads, I mentioned that it was our Governor's new policy to try to save the state money. I also mentioned that I thought he would be investigated in the years to come.

I told you so! This morning Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for trying to 'sell' former Senator Obama's senate seat. You can read all about it here.

Am I saddened by this turn of events? Yes, because it proves that power does corrupt. Maybe not all people, but it seems to happen in government more and more these days.

Am I happy about this turn of events? Yes! In our government there is a system of checks and balances that try to keep wrongs from being done. And occasionally right does prevail!

Are you ready for Christmas? Are you getting stressed? Me-I'm not ready, but I'm not stressed either. It is going to be a much simpler Christmas here than we have had in past years and I am letting go of the 'picture perfect Christmas'. I am just going to enjoy spending time with the family.

Happy Holidays to each and every one!

Ramblings!

2008-12-02T22:04:00.000-06:00

December is here and winter has come to Central Illinois.. I know because it is cold and we have snow. Rose showed you how beautiful freshly fallen snow can be in her post on Sunday. And it was picture perfect. Wet, heavy, pure white snow covered the land and a stillness was in the air. It was lovely.

Monday was a different story and Old Man Winter came at us with a vengeance! Here in the prairie lands, the ground is so flat there is little to stop the wind. And wind and snow make for some extreme conditions.

This is the road I take to work. It is a state highway which means the state Department of Transportation takes care of it. They fix pot holes, maintain the shoulders, plow snow and spread salt.

For the most part they do a wonderful job. The men who do the work are conscientious and put in long hours during the winter. They try very hard to keep our roads as safe as possible.

However, and I am getting to the point here, with this storm of snow and blowing snow we learned the powers that be-i.e. our Governor-has decreed a no salt policy on the icy roads. in the pictures you can see the road is covered with blown snow. That snow sticks to he pavement and turns to ice making it very treacherous to drive on.

The driver of this car found that out the hard way. There was no salt spread on any of the roads; the secondary ones or the interstates. Needless to say yesterday and last night there were many accidents in our area. Why the no salt policy? Our Governor, Rod Blagojevich, has decided salt is too expensive! It may be a long winter in more ways than one. So all of you in the warmer climes think of us as we put on our overcoats, gloves, scarfs and snow boots and head out onto snowy, windblown, icy roads and say a little prayer for us, please!

On more pleasant notes- my husband always gets me a center piece for each holiday. He takes a lot of time deciding just which one will look the best for the occasion and which one I will like. In the 41 years we have been married he has missed only a few holidays. I love him dearly for his thoughtfulness.

Thanksgiving day was also our oldest granddaughter's 17th birthday. I don't know how she grew up so fast! She doesn't care for cake so I usually bake a pie or brownies. But this year I made a giant chocolate chip cookie for her. 2 of her cousins are presenting it to her.

We had 15 people for dinner this year-down a couple, but still enough to fill the house. and of course we all ate like we hadn't seen food in a week. I tried a recipe from Joey for cranberry salad and it was a big hit. Thanks Joey! Hubby always cooks the turkey on the grill and what turkey is leftover he make into the best turkey salad the next day. The kids always come back for turkey salad sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving. Traditions are born and memories are made in some of the oddest ways. Do you have any traditions like that?

Now to the price of gas.... Who would have thought back in July when crude oil topped out at $147.00 a barrel and gas was $4.25 a gallon, that we would ever see gas this cheap?!! If you think about it, this alone could help us out of the Recession. The average family probably uses 30 gallons a week. That's a savings of $80.70 a week. And that adds up to 322.80 a month. A car payment, 1/2 a house payment or rent. In a year's time that family has $3,873.60 extra! Think what that could buy-how many businesses could stay open-how many people could stay on the payroll. Are you listening big government??

Well, it was nice while it lasted. The gas prices are going back up even though crude oil dropped to $47.00 a barrel today. Now I wonder why if crude is still going down, gas is starting to go back up? I guess I really don't understand high finance.

One last thing, and then I will let you go. This is a basket of all the products I have bought and used on my rash. Some of them are prescription, but most are over the counter cures. Some helped-some didn't. Some were expensive and some weren't. All were messy! I was-am-looking for a miracle cure, but the truth is there is no magic potion. I am better, sort of. The angry red splotches of rash have faded to a dull pink. The itch is still almost unbearable at times. And my husband lovingly calls me 'pigpen' after the character in the Peanuts cartoon. I peel and flake and leave a trail where ever I go. My face looks like it has saw dust on it about every other day. I don't wear makeup or jewelry. In other words, I look old and slovenly.

The good new is, my Dr. says I am better. The bad news is, the medicine is not working a s quickly as he thought and I will be dealing with this for a few more months. The other bad news is, the meds I take once a week make me very ill the day after. But I AM hanging in there. I have lots of great support and love from my family and friends and I can't ask for more than that. So don't feel too sorry for me. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Granted, at this time it is a tiny light, but a light none the less.

Hope you are enjoying the winter and are happily making plans for the holidays!

Thanksgiving 2008!

2008-11-24T12:23:00.004-06:00

I wish you every happiness on this Thanksgiving! May your day be filled with love and laughter, family and friends and of course great food.

A Milestone and News

2008-11-19T23:10:00.001-06:00

I shall toot my own horn for just a minute if you will kindly bare with me. This is my 100th post. And I am kind of proud of myself. Little did I know way back in February with that first tentative post, that I would still be writing now. I thought I would share a few photos, get a few comments and soon lose interest.

My cousin Lisa had stared Greenbow a few months before and I always enjoyed seeing her pictures and reading what she had to say. And it would be a fun way to communicate with her. So I began what has come to be an important part of my life.

One of the very first blogs I came across was Cheryl of My Wildlife Sanctuary. She and I have become fast friends and she has taught me so much about the care and protection of wild life of all kinds. I look forward with great anticipation to her posts. And along the way, I have grown to love her dearly!

Rose, who is my life-long-best-friend-in-the-whole-world(!!), has her own blog now and we share this as well. Her posts always brighten my days and she even occasionally mentions me. :)

And then there are people like Wendy and Beth whose posts I have been reading and enjoying since almost the beginning. Mr. McGregor's Daughter, Marnie, Mary, Carol, Gail and on and on, are more of the ones I value as friends. You can see all the blogs I love to follow on my side bar. If I could put a star besides each one I would.

I guess what I am trying to say, is this is such a great community of wonderful people. If I couldn't keep in touch with all of you, I would be very saddened.

Thank you all for making these 100 posts so enjoyable. I hope to be able to do 100s more!

With all of that out of the way, I had to show you these pictures I took today. I went out with camera in hand (like that is something new!) to see if I could find anything of interest in the garden and was amazed that this Delphinium is still standing and still in flower. I posted it a few days ago and the buds were not yet open. Now some of them are. This is after several nights of killing frost and a light snow. I said last time I thought this was supposed to be magic fountain lavender, and that it had been tagged wrong. Now I think not. I have found the correct tag....

it is Delphinium Candle Larkspur, 'Black Knight". Sorry, my filing system is a little questionable. Which ever name she is, she truly deserves an award for longest lasting flower in my garden!

***********************************************************************************

Another visit to the dermatologist, today and more lab work. The good news is I am getting better-according to him. I don't see much improvement. The not so good news is we are talking a few months yet with this condition. The official name for the rash is Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris.

If you are interested I have some sites where you can read more about it. One of the sights has pictures of a child with it, but it is exactly how it looks on me. You can see and read here, here, and here.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. May your holiday be filled with family, love and lots of good food.

White Stuff and a Rant!

2008-11-17T23:15:00.000-06:00

Snow! Yes, it really snowed this evening in central Illinois. I'll admit you had to look quickly and it's not a measurable amount. But it does kind of put me in the holiday mood. You know, 'over the river and through the woods...through the white and drifting snow'. I think those are the words. At least that's the way I sing it!

I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. So I put a jacket over my pajamas, slipped on my shoes and the cat and I went out on the patio. I hope the neighbors didn't see me out there in the dark bending over and taking pictures.

By morning it may be gone-at least I got to enjoy it for a little while. There is an old saying that says the date the first snow falls foretells the number of snows for the winter. Does that mean we will have 16 more snows? If they are all as lite as this one, winter won't be too bad.

And now for the 'rant' part. I have been trying for days to download or upload, I'm not very good with computer terminology, this picture. I wanted the header on my blog to be Thanksgiving-y.

I did get it on there, but so tiny you could barely see it. Back to my pictures and into fix mode. Tried to enlarge it. Didn't work. Of course blogger was in S-L-O-W mode while I was attempting the change. My rant is two-fold I guess. First, I don't know enough about the workings of my computer and it's programs. And secondly, blogger can be so #%{*! annoying most of the time. The not knowing I can fix. I'd like to take a computer class this winter at the adult ed. center. Blogger is something I may have to live with as I'm sure I don't know enough to change to one of the other services!

I wish you all a glorious Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with family, love, laughter and joy.

GBBD November, 2008

2008-11-14T00:10:00.001-06:00

I know this post is a day early, but this is the weekend with the grand girls and I wasn't sure I would have time to get it posted. So better early than not at all. GBBD is brought to you by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Thanks Carol!

It is raining-again. Not a heavy rain, just a cold, wind blown, chill you to the bone rain. Typical November weather. And notice the dark gray skies? We've not seen the sun in days. I guess that is what we get after having such a mild beautiful and fall.

Most of the crops are harvested and a lot of the fields have been worked and spread with lime. But there are a few fields ,such as the one below, where there is still corn waiting to be picked. For those farmers it may be a while. Kind of like me with my gardens. I think my opportunities are limited now as to what clean up I will get done.

Bloom Day, November 2008 finds little in my garden still blooming. But I will admit to being surprised when I went out to look. After a few nights of hard frost I had little hope of finding anything but brown, brown and more brown.

The ground cover vinca is sporting a tiny bloom here and there. I think it must be a bit confused. Usually I only see blooms on this in the spring and early summer.

And this is Delphinium x Magic Fountain Lavender. At least that is what the tag said. It has never been lavender, but has produced several stalks of these pretty blue flowers. I can't imagine that the frost hasn't reduced this to mush!

Bless it's heart, this Superbena dark blue( it really is a darker shade of purple than the camera shows) still has a few valiant flowers blooming. This annual has done so well this year-my first year to try any verbena-that I am putting it high on my list of 'must haves' for next year.

That is all I could find with any color in the gardens. I told you picking were slim!

I had to show you the fern though. I finally got it hung between the main living room and the front area where we have a skylight. After an initial adjustment period where it lost a few fronds, it seems to be doing well. And even though it does take up a lot of space, it and all the other house plants will add a much needed touch of the outdoors during the long dark winter.

Do you realize that Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away? And then it is only 4 more weeks til Christmas! Time to make out those wish lists with all your gardening wants.

Happy dreaming of next year's gardens!

** still not a lot of improvement with the rash. I take dose 3 of the new meds tonight and am hoping to see some sign of it getting better soon!

Planting Bulbs- the Easy Way!

2008-11-06T23:14:00.000-06:00

Time to get those spring bulbs in the ground!

Yes, I knew it was getting late in the season and the weather was not going to hold much longer. I had over estimated my energy level when buying all those bulbs. Somehow when you are standing there in the garden center it's easy to get carried away buying all those pretty flowering bulbs. I bought 50 Tulipa Darwin Hybrid ' pink impressions' , 20Tulipa 'don quichotte', 20 Tulipa 'mata hari', and 12 Tulipa 'angelique'. Then Rose and I split an order from a spring bulb catalog. I had 10 'pink charm' daffodils, 5 'replete' daffodils and 10 'triplet lilies'. (Can you tell I like pink?) Maybe that doesn't sound like many but the thought of digging all those holes seemed daunting to me. So I used my brain rather than my brawn. I called the kids and offered to fix supper if they would plant my bulbs.

Bless their hearts they came, they dug, they planted! And I am sure I will have no straight lines, Carol. In fact, I'm pretty sure I will have quite a mix of blooms as even some of the grandkids helped. It was a fun afternoon and we had a great spaghetti supper afterwards.

Now do you think I can use the same ploy to get those leaves raked?

Our 41st anniversary was last week and we both had to work that day. Hubby was in Michigan-he drives a semi truck-so we didn't get to celebrate til the weekend. We went to one of our favorite restaurants 'Italian Patio'. It is just a little place with lots of quaint charm and wonderful food.

I love the decor! It was a very enjoyable evening. The company was wonderful even after all these years.

I show you this bed so that you will not think I have all my fall chores done. Pitiful isn't it?! Hey, I wonder if the kids would like lasagna for supper one night next week....

*Thank you all for your kind words and all your caring. It helped me so much to be able to share Andrea's story with all of you.

**My rash is slowly strating to get better.

Hope You get all you fall garden projects done before the snow flies!

Birthday Love

2008-11-05T01:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, dearest daughter.
34 years ago today, our 2nd daughter was born. A lovely dark eyed, dark haired, bundle of joy.

She was welcomed by us and her 3 1/2 year old sister, lots of grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins.

She grew into a loving, caring, giving person. She made friends with the friendless. She fought for the under dogs. She protected the helpless. We were very proud of her and her convictions.

We lost Andrea in July of 2006 in a car crash.

This blog is named Dragonfly Corner in her memory. She was passionate about dragonflies and their beauty.

Dragonflies help us keep her in our hearts.

I hope when you see one you will think of her too.

You were a wonderful, fiercely protective mother, a loving daughter, sister, wife and friend.

We miss you, Andie. We will always love you and keep you in our hearts.

Fabulous Fall Foliage and Good News!

2008-11-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

We have had a lovely fall with very seasonable temperatures. The first frost held off a good two weeks beyond the normal date and the rainy dreary days have been few. In other words, glorious autumnal weather!

I have enjoyed so many of your Fall Color posts -sponsored by Dave at Home Garden, that I decided I had to share some of our local color.

This tree, a soft maple, is in our front yard. Unfortunately, this is the only color I have. All the rest of the photos are ones I have taken around our area.

We do have some forests in central Illinois. I know some of you think all we have are corn and bean fields!

Just think-the vivid orange of these leaves is there all the time. But during summer it is hidden by chlorophyll!

I wish I knew the names of all these trees. Something I will have to work on.

Some colors just say, "Look at me!"

The burning bushes are as pretty as I ever remember seeing them.

Some of the trees are still in the process of changing colors.

And some are completely changed.

Some are so bright they almost hurt your eyes.

The color of these trees has to be one of my favorites.

Or....maybe this color is my favorite.

I hope you are having a beautiful fall and that you are taking the time to enjoy all of the wonderful colors.

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Now for the good news!

After hearing from my dermatologist that I wouldn't be able to see the specialist in Springfield until December 30, I got a call from there on Thursday saying they had a cancellation on Friday at 10:00 am. Rose, dear friend that she is agreed to go with me and be my navigator, and hand holder.

Dr. Stone, a professor at SIU and the head of the dermatology department there, saw me. After a very brief exam he had a diagnosis. It is a type of Pityriasis-skin rash. He said he see about 4 cases a year. With out any treatment it will go away on it's own in 3 or 4 years. I know my mouth dropped open at that! With treatment I should be rash free in a couple of months with a noticeable improvement in a couple of weeks. Yes! I can do this.

The treatment started with a shot of Triamcinolone Acetonide for the itching. This is a liquid form of the steroid cream I have been using. Almost immediate relief and it lasted for several hours. I am itching some again, but it's nothing like it was. The next step in the treatment is a medicine called Methotrexate. This medicine is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. I take 4 pills once a week with blood work in between to keep an eye on my liver count. Along with these pills I take Soriatane once a day. This one can also affect the liver. Dr. Stone sent his treatment plan back up to my regular dermatologist so I won't have to go back to Springfield but can have everything done and checked close to home! Lastly, I am off the dreaded Prednisone, and I am back on my Miracle drug-Lyrica.

He was the kindest man and so very gentle . He explained everything in great detail and made me feel like a human again instead of some freak of nature. I thank the powers that be I was referred to him.

I also want to thank each and every one of you who have offered prayers and good wishes, who have given me cyber hugs and most of all given me your support and friendship. All of this has helped me through a very trying time.

Here is to you and the light at the end of the tunnel!!

Frost on the Pumpkin?

2008-10-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

I love the fall! The brightly colored leaves, the cool crisp days, and the chilly nights when a jacket is welcomed are just a few of my favorite things.

The trees this year are as lovely as I can ever remember seeing. It seems as though each day brings a surprise of color.

Even my poor neglected garden had a surprise for me this past week.

This flower is from the freebie bulbs that came with an on line order for plants this spring. I think they were tagged 'exotic bulbs' only. I have watched them grow all summer and when they hadn't bloomed by August, I figured they wouldn't do anything until next spring. Does anyone know what it is?

The skies were gray all day with heavy dark clouds and I swear they look like they are filled with snow. Tonight we are expecting our first frost. A chilly 26 F is forecast. Brrrr!

In anticipation of that frost, I gathered all the house plants and brought them inside on Sunday. Actually I had help. They all grown so much this summer. So much so that I am not sure where to put them all yet. So here they sit in the middle foyer. That bargain fern certainly looks bigger in here than it did outside.

And with the coming frost, the valiant morning glory will be no more. Still blooming after almost 3 months, I will miss her bright cheery blooms. She has won me over completely!

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Speaking of 3 months- the 'Rash' is still with me. I have seen the dermatologist more the past weeks than I have seen my husband. Well not really, but it seems so to me. After going off the Prednisone, it came back with a vengeance. So more Prednisone at a higher dose and 4 more biopsies later, we are still no closer to an answer. So I am being sent to a specialist in Springfield as soon as they can get an appointment for me. I want to thank all of you again, for all your concern and well wishes. This blogging community has been a wonderful support, and you are all such dears!

Have a great Halloween!

GBBD October 2008

2008-10-15T21:30:00.001-05:00

Fall has at last come to our neighborhood. Tree tops shimmer with golds, oranges and yellows. Leaves come floating down on the gentlest of crisp breezes and crunch under foot. GBBD is brought to us by Carol of May Dreams Garden on the 15th of each month. Although my entry is a little late and a little sparse, I decided to post anyway. I wanted to be able to look back next year and compare the fall garden of 2009 with garden 2008.

Sparse really is the word for the blooms in my garden this month. I have several zinnias still producing flowers and attracting butterflies.

Although this is a little hard to see(the photographer's fault), these twin zinnias have twin 'painted ladys' on them. I should call this gardening year, 'the year of the painted ladies'. There have been so many for so long-I am amazed.

The cosmos I started indoors back in March has bloomed continuously since early June. What and endearing flower. Just plant it and forget it. I am going to give them their own little area next year and try to find a variety of colors. This year I have just had the pinks and maroons.

And of course, I have to show yet another picture of 'heavenly blue'. Still blooming!!

I have enjoyed seeing the other GBBD posts this month and amazed at the colors and varieties some of you still have. I will have to work on extending my bloom time next year. That means adding more flowers to my wish list. I have enjoyed doing the list-easy enough to add to it when I see something that strikes me. But what I should have done is made a notation of where I saw the flower-which post. I guess there is always next year to do that as I am sure my list will be even longer after seeing your gardens in 2009.

Rash update** Yes, I still have it. Yes, it is a little better. Yes, it is still draining my energies. And yes, I am sick of it!

Thank you for all your concerns, caring and offers of advice. I keep telling myself this will pass-and I know it will. I'm just feeling grumpy yet. And I can't even blame it on the Prednisone now. :)

Hope you are all enjoying your autumn!

A Pity Party!

2008-10-08T10:15:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since I last posted and although I have been reading all of yours and leaving comments, I have felt I have little to share. Sometimes the fingers are willing to do the typing, but the mind just won't engage. I have sat with my laptop at the ready, pictures loaded, and .... little comes. So many of you are writing about your fall gardening chores and how much you have accomplished. Most are showing pictures of still blooming fall beauties and you are sharing some of the last sightings of butterflies. And here I still sit.

Before you feel too sorry for me or think I am whining-which I am, I know a lot of my blahs have to do with still not resting very well and this darn rash. Yes, it is getting better. But I can see now it is going to take weeks for it to heal. The Prednisone is helping but at the same time makes my skin feel like it is crawling and I am sure it is making me grumpy. That's the polite term my husband is using for my temperament these days. I am peeling yet and then the part that peels is peeling again. The rash was deep and many layers of skin have to come off-gross!!
The good part is, my face is almost done peeling and I can wear a little makeup now so I don't look quite the hideous monster of a week ago. I do want to thank everyone for all their care and concern. It has helped!

So fall is here, we've had some rain, the ground is workable and I should be outside happy as a lark working in my long neglected gardens. I have bulbs to plant and lots of clean up to do. Maybe in a few days.

A bright spot yet is 'heavenly blue'. Still putting out gorgeous blooms everyday with no help from me. I see a little lessening of buds and some of the blooms aren't as big, but she still make me smile.

I promise to work on my attitude and try to find my muse. And I promise to try and have a more upbeat post next time.

Hope you are having a great fall.