The weather has taken a nose dive! I'd enjoyed a stellar week, working outside every day, hauling wheelbarrows of mulch. I even played hooky from the Y on Monday. It was just too perfect & I was enjoying every minute of the sunshine!
By Thursday, we had wind! Lots & lots of wind. Friday, a reprieve, but Saturday it returned full blast & continued through Sunday. The temperatures were amazing, we were in the lower 70's both days of the weekend.
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| Mulch - along the edge of the timber~ |
Today - we've had a 40 degree drop in temperatures. Late last night, the rain moved in, with just under 1/2" by morning. The mid-30's with a
breeze, feels very cold! I'd moved as much material as I could, knowing the rain would settle it.
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| 8-12-19 Blooms! |
The
Naked Ladies are even popping up! I was totally fooled last year, when I moved bulbs from the city easement, where they were mowed over. First, I thought they were some variety of daffodil. Later when the leaves died off, I thought they'd died. Finally - though - fall came & blooms appeared on long stems!
I only have a few to move this year, one's that I planted too far out from where I've now delineated between yard & Timber. I'm hoping all the plant starts I received from friends last season will sprout this spring!
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| Looking north~ |
The wind, blew my beautiful antique gold gazing ball off the stand & it broke... I'd used plumbers putty to attach the ball to the base, but it dried out over the winter months. Lesson learned... I've put my copper ball there for now, a new one will be stainless.
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| NW Corner~ |
It only took a few more wheelbarrows to finish my trail to the far west end. I managed to get it done this morning before the rain returned. I'm almost out of mulch now, it's very pricey stuff here. Butch used to pick up Cedar mulch - called hog fuel in Washington - by the truck load for $25. I used it to do all the trails through the
Homestead Woods. The Cedar smelled wonderful! The honeysuckle has no smell at all. I have no idea how long it will last, but it works for my purpose.
Now that I've been spoiled, I'm trying to be patient while waiting for the sun to return! Butch had to remind me - it's still
winter!
A very sentimental copper windchime was stolen from my yard recently. It was over a meter in length and had a beautiful moon at the base. An Oregon Country Fair gift from a friend. Then I found out that it's been in the news that people are stealing copper from yards and even graves in cemeteries! I'm really upset about the loss because it was so dear to me, I'd had it over 20 years. Today the metal collectors came by again and I unloaded some old fencing wire and metal posts, etc on them, and I saw a huge copper ornamental pot in their van. It's not likely that people give those things away. The newspaper said to contact the police if we are missing copper so we called. Oh, and a steel dressage horse was also suddenly gone from my yard. I was always so grateful to the metal collectors for coming by (their vans play a tune) and gathering our "garbage" (old electronics, machines, they want it all). I shook the guy's hand today and wondered if it was him that stole from me. Then I disinfected my hands: )
ReplyDeleteIt's been raining nonstop Seattle style but I found roses at the store today and bought two of them for my new "Herb Snail" on our new property next door. It's a spiral made of rocks for planing herbs. With all the voles and slugs I am planning carefully. I know lavender will work, so I'll get some of that. I've never seen anything kill a rose so now there are three small roses (should not grow over a meter, if that's possible). Wish I could get rosemary to grow here but so far only in the greenhouse. What other herbs and flowers are pest resistant? I got some mini sunflowers too, something totally new to me. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was nuts as I was out there digging in the pouring rain! It's really the only full-sun spot on the property so I'm excited to see what we can do. Zucchini?
I'm so sorry to hear of the theft of your windchime :-( It's always such a blow to realize the human nature isn't what we hope... Here' they were stealing the Veterans placards from the cemeteries. Now, they're made of a composite. We've had so many days of perfect weather & I'm totally spoiled! Can't wait to see what you do with your new property! I'm so excited too to do things with mine. I'm wondering about wild-ginger seed? Ferns are very difficult to find. I've not had any luck with Rosemary - winters kill it off. Zucchini would be fun & good! Pest resistant is the tough part! We have the deer go through almost every evening... With the honeysuckle all gone, maybe they'll go elsewhere.
DeleteThank you for the tips. We're having exactly the same problems - rosemary and zucchini are idiot-proof in Seattle, but in Iowa and Germany, good luck!
ReplyDeleteI posted a "before" video of 72 tonight and you can clearly see my beloved copper wind chime as I move through my yard onto 72 (it was on the border).
People stealing from cemeteries, is there anything worse?