Dragonflies, Tulips and Grandaughters!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We certainly did at our house. Our daughter brought us this lovely azalea plant that looks so springy. And the beautiful plant stand she put in on has a dragonfly! I am so happy with it and plan on putting a very special container on it filled with flowers to compliment the blue dragonfly. Maybe something in yellows and silvers.

My tulips are coming through the ground at an amazing rate. I have found almost all of them up. I am missing a bunch of bright red ones, though. Am wondering if they have died. Last year they were beginning to really be crowded and I should have dug them up and separated them...I honestly forgot by the end of the season.

These look a little strange don't they? Okay, I will admit to the fact that a rabbit probably ate the tips of the leaves. I did find a couple of spots where they were eaten. I have been leaving comments at Greenbow and May Dreams Gardens that I have never been bothered by little bunnies. In fact, I went as far as to say I even liked having them in my yard. I guess I will have to recant! (I still think they are cute!)

What a week we have had here! Most of you know we had made the decision to place my mother-in-law in a nursing home, and do it on Monday of this week. And while a difficult one to make, the family felt it was best for her health and safety. It went much better than we had hoped. She wasn't thrilled, but neither did she refuse. We think she knows deep down that this is best for her. I want to thank all of you who have given us words of encourgaement. Such a wonderful network of friends we have in this blogging world. I spent many evenings reading your posts and feeling such a sense of calm and peacefulness.

Along with all of that going on, the granddaughters that we only get one weekend a month came to stay with us for 6 days and 5 nights. This after having them last weekend for their regular visit. I picked them up last Friday afternoon. Long story here, but I think their dad needed a place to park them for most of their spring break. And that is so alright with us. We will take them anytime, anywhere!

On Sat. I had those 3 and one of the other granddaughters and we made pies for Easter Sunday. I had 4 batches of pie dough going at one time. That is a lot of activity for my small kitchen.

Of course there were a few spills. But we didn't mind. We made 2 coconut cream pies and a blackberry pie. Plus an angel food cake with green coconut topping and jelly beans for tiny Easter eggs! What a joy to spend extra time with them having fun but being able to teach them also. More than anything, I want to make lasting happy memories with them!

And we had time to color eggs. There were a few dyed fingers and some spots on the counter, but who cares when you see the smiles on their faces?! We marked each egg with different colored crayons first. There were flowers on some, names on others, and a few had abstract drawings. When we put them in the dye, the effect was beautiful to them. Of course I thought they were all works of art!

On Easter Sunday, we had quite an egg hunt. Lots of extended family were here to share the day with us. The weather even cooperated and held off raining until after the hunt. That Easter bunny sure left eggs in strange places!

We had the girls, four, five, and six of them at times until Wednesday afternoon. We thank the powers that be for the extra time with them. So even though this post is not all about gardening, I hope you enjoyed seeing my beauties and hearing of our week.

Dragonflies and Dumb and Dumber Birds!

Imagine my surprise, the other day, when I opened a package expecting to find a book and also found this! Lisa, from Greenbow, and I are sharing books on gardening. She sends me one, I send her one. With this one was a note saying she had started out to make me a bookmark and got a little carried away. I am thrilled! She knows how crazy I am for anything Dragonfly. But I am not going to use it as a bookmark, I am going to frame it! And when the world discovers her talent, I can say, " Why yes, I have an early original watercolor by Lisa!"
Thank you Lisa, thank you!!
Do any of you have fireplaces? And do you get birds in them? We do. Every spring and fall, we get dumb ones who sit on top of the flue and fall down into the fireplace. We do have doors that we keep closed when not burning a fire. Thank goodness, or they would be flying through the house at all hours. Normally, when I hear one in there, I open our front door, open the fireplace doors and the bird flies out straight to the outside. Occasionally, I get a really dumb one and he flies the opposite direction and ends up at our window in the bedroom.

This time Fat Cat heard the commotion and came to see what was going on. She just sat on the bed and watched him as he tried in vain to escape to the wild blue. When I grabbed the camera, she turned to look at me as if to say "Well, do something!"

Eventually, I get them rounded up and head back the right direction. Starlings and sparrows aren't exactly the brightest crayons in the box are they?!

Now...

I won't be posting for a few days. At least not until next week some time. We are going through a family crisis of sorts. The decision has been made to place my mother-in-law in a nursing care facility on Monday. She has Alzheimer's and has been living with her daughter for a few months now. Sadly, she needs more intensive care and supervision than can be given at home. We have know for a while that she wasn't doing well, but since Thanksgiving she has deteriorated quickly. This disease, also, took my grandmother from me years before her death. It is an insidious disease that robs one's dignity! It puts families into turmoil and feelings of helplessness and guilt abound. Thankfully, there are more resources available now to help both victims...the loved one and the family.

Good Luck Ladybug

Beautiful ladybug-away it flies.
In that direction good luck lies.
If on a shamrock it does land-twice the luck you'll have at hand!
(author unknown)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bloom Day and Surprises!

I know, I know. I am late for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. I have a good excuse. We had our granddaughters this weekend. And I was very busy with six of the seven of them from Friday evening until Sunday evening. More on this later. I have been waiting for almost a month to post this bloom. It is a peace lily that I have had for a year and a half. After the original blooms died, nothing. I had it outside all summer and it seemed to really like it out there in the shade of the dwarf Cherry Tree. It grew several new leaves and turned a dark healthy green, but no hint of a bloom. You can imagine my surprise when watering it one day to see a hint of white at the base of the leaves. And then as the days went by, a stalk appeared and finally it started to unfurl. I'll admit, it is not eye-popping or show stopping, but it is a bloom and I have nurtured it.

Now for the girls. Three of them we only get the 3rd weekend of the month. This is a long and involved story and we won't go into it now. But during that weekend we celebrate birthdays and holidays of the month. This month we had a birthday and of course Easter. So we had the Egg Hunt today. The weather cooperated by being sunny and not too windy or cold. The Easter Bunny can hide eggs in the strangest places!

We hope all were found! Once in a while we find one in the garden late in the summer.

While helping to find the eggs, I found a surprise. Tulips about 2 inches tall, and in several places. Yeah!! Spring really is coming. Next month there should be real garden blooms!

All in all, a good egg hunt, a good day and a great weekend!

A Spring Day Equals Work!

Yesterday was one of those wonderful sunny, breezy, glorious days that herald the beginnings of Spring! The temperature was in the middle 50's and the outside was calling my name.



Out I went, prepared to do battle with the leavings of winter. Where to start? Begin with small...it has been a long winter and I am so out of shape. That settled, I did start with the smallest flower bed. I had trimmed the Russian Sage last fall and thought I'd done a fair job of raking leaves. Apparently not! But, brave of heart, I began. I raked, and raked and raked! Fat cat came out to help or at least lend moral support, or so I thought. Instead she decided to rest, and keep an eye out for birds while I worked.

I did find green! Unfortunately it was the dreaded Vinca Vine, growing merrily along under the leaves. Years ago, I planted some in a container and "oh look, it's rooted in the ground. How great!" We have been fighting it ever since. Somewhere on the identifying tag it should have said," Will be very invasive!"So once again, I cut and pulled and pulled and cut. Don't worry, it will be back!

I finally got the leaves, vines and trash (yes trash... candy wrappers, a drink box, and assorted paper, but from where?) raked to the edge of the street. What a pile!

Not wanting a strong wind to undo all my work, I lit it on fire. Smelled more like fall than spring, but the smoke blew away from the house. A good thing because I had forgotten I had windows open. And yes, we can still burn leaves in our small town.

Two hours, and many sore muscles later, the bed was clean! I even put out a new garden flag with, what else, Dragonflies! Still a bit bare looking, but ready now for warmer weather, new plants and blooming flowers.

If only I had the other gardens cleaned!

Zick Dough, Starting Seeds and Geese!

It is a beautiful spring day with the sun shinning and the promise of temps near 60. I have concocted a double batch of Zick dough for the birds and am letting it cool before putting it outside. Seeing this dough mentioned on several blogs peaked my curiosity and finally Beth had a link to the recipe. She promises my camera and I will be very busy taking pictures of all the birds coming to dine!
I have all the essentials gathered to start my seeds indoors. I have the Jiffy instant peat pellets, and will admit it's been years since I have tried these. Actually, it's been years since I've attempted to grow my own seedlings. But as there have been many of you posting on the how's, I am feeling fairly confident. I am also using the plastic trays with individual cups that you fill with seed starting soil. Both of these trays have clear tops to keep in the moisture. I even bought a grow light, something I have never used. In past attempts, I placed the newly sown seeds in a west facing window and assumed nature would do her thing! Last, but certainly not least, I have a new pair of gardening gloves. Any gardener, novice or experienced, knows gloves are part of the ensemble. Usually the more tattered and threadbare, the more one is perceived as a 'green thumb' gardener. In my case, I have no such illusions and besides my old ones were last used pulling wild berry briers out of the wisteria.

So the problem now becomes what to plant. I have really let my eyes overload my plate so to speak. My enthusiasm is greater than space or my purse allows, and I will have to give careful consideration to my choices. If, in a few days, I post pictures of tiny seedlings growing, you will know I have had success. If no photos show up... well, let's just hope for a bumper crop.

I did find a new garden marker that pretty well sums up my gardens!While I was is town doing my many but necessary (ugh!) errands, I decided to take a few moments for me. Along one of our newly developed business areas are several water retention ponds. They are populated mostly with Canadian geese who have multiplied by scores in the last few years. And they are almost tame now, with people feeding them year round. They are so funny to watch as they turn en masse on the water and swim toward the new source of food. The braver ones come bounding up the bank as fast as their gated wobble will let them. They hiss and honk, flap their wings, and charge at the more timid ones sneaking in on their booty of bread crumbs. Some are even bold enough to take morsels from your hand. It is pure joy to be among them.

Refreshed, I went back to doing errands!

My Dad and Nature

This must be my week for nature excursions. Sunday I had my granddaughter, Nikki, out and on Monday, my Dad.

My Dad is 83 years young and this winter has discovered the joys of nature watching. He lives very close to Lake of the Woods at Mahomet, Il. It is a 900 acre forest preserve with hiking trails, lots of wooded areas and many picnic spots. For those who can't hike, there are roads to drive. My Dad drives! He usually goes over at least once a day to watch the deer, squirrels and birds. He even took our Halloween pumpkins in Novvember for them to eat! I know he has been enjoying these jaunts as he tells me about them every time we talk or meet.

Today, I went over to help with the house work and laundry. It is amazing to me how one person can have so many dirty clothes and cause so much clutter! But I digress, it is nature we are talking about today. When we were driving back from lunch, he asked if I was in a hurry and even if I had been, I would have still said no. He wanted to take me to some of his favorite spots. I was afraid we wouldn't see anything because it was so early in the day. But we did! There are actually 3 deer in these pictures... 2 are laying down. He was very proud to show me his spots and was very excited when we found some deer.

I think there is a lesson in here somewhere. Something about still learning from your parents even though the roles are reversing. Add to that something about the gift of time and I think we might even have a moral to the story. So learn the lesson and share it forward.