Growing Greater

A New Blog

2006-11-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

Hi. Thanks for coming by. I have started another new blog now.

When I first started blogging I wanted to keep everything separate rather than have it all mixed together. Rather like having a file drawer for every topic. So I had to have 4 different blogs.
Growing Greater - yard stuff and some about my animals
Born2cree8 - about my fibre arts
Decisions Decisions (picturethis06) - my photography
Wandering Words - my poetry

Well, now there is Beta Blogger! In Beta Blogger I can use labels to keep things separated, so now it's like having one file drawer with several labeled file folders in it. This makes the whole blogging experience much easier for me as I now only have to post to one blog. It also makes it much easier for people who come to read my stuff as they now only have to visit one blog instead of several. How great is that!!

I will keep these old blogs as there is so much "stuff" on them, but I won't be posting to them any more after this one. If you want to come read this older stuff again, there are links on my new blog (All In One) to these older blogs.

So come visit me at All In One and see what new stuff I've been up to.

Tomato Garden

2006-09-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

An old Italian man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

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

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad, Not for nothing, but don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.

Love, Vinnie

*********************************
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love, Vinnie

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

Light Mail

2006-09-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Light Mail is sent out daily by email from the minister at my church, The Okanagan Centre for Positive Living (part of Religious Science International). Anyone can subscribe to it. There are some wonderful inspirational messages that Rev. Dale Jukes sends out to us.

I thought you would all enjoy this one. I sure did/do/am:

Daily Inspiration: Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses. ~Alphonse Karr

Today’s Affirmation: I see the beauty in all I look upon.

Today's Spiritual Practice: People who are positive are not blind to the thorns of life. They simply choose to focus on the things and thoughts that will incur growth. If you cut off every perceived flaw in a plant you would never get any harvest. Today choose to notice what will empower life.

You can visit us at http://www.lightmail.org

Hello again

2006-09-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hi. I see it's been almost 3 months since I last posted to this blog. I must admit that my first attempt at gardening was a dismal failure. Almost everything I planted died, and did eventually my interest in doing anything in my yard. Oh well, the interest may return with the cooler weather of fall. I don't do well in the high temperatures of summer.

I have just updated my blog http://born2cree8.blogspot.com so you can go there and see what's happening with the fibre arts and other creations in my life. You can also go check out my new blog http://picturethis06.blogspot.com if you'd like to see some of my photographs.

This weekend I am up to my ears in Salmon Arm Fair as you will read about at born2cree8. After that I will try to get some new things posted here. I also have some more pictures to post to picturethis06. It originally was born to help me decide which pictures to enter in the fair, and now I am thinking it may live on as I post other pictures to it. But for now, it's off to bed as I have an early morning and a long day tomorrow. Just wanted to "touch base" incase any of my friends still take the time to check back and see if anything else has been done here. I hope so. Hugs to all!!

2006-06-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

June 12 before I headed out to Lumby Days I picked these out of my Strawberry Patch. These are the first of my own berries... mmmmm. Unfortunately the birds are beating me to the biggest and the best berries, and since I only planted these plants this spring there is not much of a crop on them this year and what's there is fairly small. Next year should be much better.

2006-06-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yet another Iris from Helen. She also gave me some other colors but the pics of them didn't turn out, too blurry. For some reason I couldn't get the camera to auto focus on them right so you will have to wait until next year when they bloom again to see the colors. One is purple/yellow the other is dark red/yellow.

Another plant from Helen is this Iris... a color I didn't have yet.

Here are 2 Columbines Helen gave me. Both are pretty much the
same color except one is paler than the other one.

2006-06-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

This pretty purple Iris has striped leaves as you can see. Thanks Sam.

This is the wild rose bushes taking over the orchard. They are pretty, but very invasive.

Close up of wild roses.

Wild rose bush.

Pretty Purple Pansy Plants... say that 5 times fast, lol.

2006-06-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

Someone at church said these are called Sweet Smelling Stock. I looked that up on Google and found nothing at all about them so am not sure of the name, but will call them that unless I hear different.

Lily of the Valley. These have been growing in my overgrown, unwatered, neglected flower bed for years now. It's amazing they survived. They must be happy now that they are getting better care.

Sunflowers growing amongst other flowers given to me by Sam.

This is the purple Columbine that Lynda gave to me.

Here are some of my flowers (taken June 2). Of course, this first one is an Iris.

2006-06-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

Still standing in that same place, with my camera zoomed in all the way, here is my home. That cute grey barn belongs to the neighbor... sure wish it was mine :o)

2006-06-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

Zoomed in a bit more and now you can actually see my house... green and white with the big metal roof. What? You need a closer look? Well, okay...

2006-06-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

I zoomed in a bit and took this one...

2006-06-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

June 2 (I think it was) on my way home from the store I decided to take some pictures. I was actually trying to get some pics of a pair of Ospray that are nesting on top of a pole, but he flew away and she ducked back into the nest before I could get into a good position to take the pics. So I took some other ones instead. This one is looking at my home from far away... it's somewhere on that hillside in the distance.

2006-06-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Two shots of where the gate will be going in. I doubt I'll have to go in very often, but want access just in case. You can see with these pictures how the bank creates a fencing challenge. When I'm finished I will show you how I dealt with it. At this point I have a couple ideas but don't yet know how well they'll work in the end.

2006-06-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a close up of one part of the chicken run challenge. You can't really tell here, but because of the lay of the land there is as much as 20 inches (50.80 cm) between the ground and the wire. This is due to one post on the bank and the next one not. Much like the other end that you will see in the next pics.

2006-06-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

The bottom part shows the dog run, the top shows the new chicken run. Admittedly it isn't great looking, using "scrounged" fence posts and used wire doesn't make for the best end result, but it sure is better than nothing and the main thing is that it keeps my chickens safely inside while giving them a nice area in which to roam, eating green grass and bugs, etc.

The top of the chook run is the top of my property, as is the right hand fence the end of my property to the north-east.

June 7th

2006-06-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

Another load to the dump! This one was all branches with a bit of wood scraps and some wild rose branches (major thorns). At the dump I "scavenged" 2 wooden boxes, and I met a man that was about to throw out some fence posts. I asked if I could have them and he said yes, so I suggested he meet me outside the fence to move them from his truck to my trailer. This way he didn't have to pay for dumping them (I think there's 6 there) and I wouldn't go thru the scale weighing more than I did when I went in, haha. It was bad enough I "messed with the scale" by taking those boxes, but I couldn't just see them crushed. There was another one there too, but I couldn't get to it without moving a bunch of stuff, so it stayed there.

Later in the day, after taking care of several other things, I picked up a freeby (through Freecycle) barbeque. It was a propane barbeque but no longer is safe to use that way, so the guy was using charcoal briquettes and so will I. Not the top of the line barbeque I want, but hey... it's better than the nothing I had.

I also picked up Ron and brought him home for a few hours so we could get some work done before I had to head off to a Board Meeting. We got the rest of the wire mesh up on the chicken run!! There is still work to be done there... must put some wood at the bottom of the fence to stop the chooks from digging out, some of the wire is right on the ground, but some is up anywhere from 1" to over a foot, depending on the "lay of the land". There are a couple spots where I'm not sure what I've going to do to fill in the gaps, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. I also need to put in another post in so I can have a gate/doorway into that area, just in case.

2006-06-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

All these iris plants are along the highway, running south-west from my driveway.

2006-06-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

The rain drops add a certain something.

A close up of some buds with rain drops still clinging to them.

I love this color of iris.

These iris plants are not some of my favorite colors, but still they are pretty.

May 24th, after some heavy raining, I ran out to take some pictures of the flowers incase the rain bruised them I wanted pictures before the bruising showed up. Normally rain does flowers good, but it really was a down pour. As it turned out, no flowers were harmed and more bloomed after these, but it was good I got these pics anyway. Some of them are more beautiful for having the rain on them.

More little bits

2006-06-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

June 5th: I loaded the trailer again... this time with wood scraps, branches from walnut and plum trees, and thorny wild rose branches. Now it just has to be tied down and hauled off to the dump. Too bad the Regional District would fine me if I burned these things here. You have to have 1 hectare of land (2.47 acres) to be aloud to burn yard waste like this and I only have .38 acre.

Being late evening and the chooks "in bed" so wouldn't be an escape issue, I took the wheelbarrow into the chook house and filled it with "matter" from the floor. This consists of dirt mixed with old rabbit manure from when this was my rabbitry and chicken manure. This is sitting in the yard waiting to be used in the yard or put into the compost.

June 6th: Where the branches and such had been there was bare ground... no grass or weeds could grow here I guess... and bare ground here is uncommon, so I take advantage where I can. I planted some "previously sprouted" ornamental corn here. I took the kernals off a couple ornamental cobs I'd bought one year and put them into dishes of wet paper towels... 2 different types of corn so keeping them separate. I still have more to plant, but it was getting too hot to work in the sun. We've had a lot of cool, rainy days lately... today wasn't one of them.

I laid down with a book and fell asleep this afternoon. While I was asleep I missed another visit from Helen and Bob... bummer, I like visiting with them. I can tell they were here as there are a bunch of plants outside waiting for me to plant, and some egg shells for me to feed to the chickens. Helen had said they'd bring them by.

Also today I got 1 of 2 Lovage plants into the ground. I planted this in the herb garden but don't want to plant the other Lovage or the Horseradish here as they get really big and this area is not condusive to that. I'll plant those in a different area.

June 3rd

2006-06-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to town and picked up my friend and faithful helper, Ron. He says he doesn't mind helping me as it gives him something to do. I am very grateful for any and all help I get.

The project we took on today was the chicken run. About 2 years ago Wilson dug a bunch of post holes for me, then Bob came by and planted posts in those holes for me, also dug a few new ones as the ones already there were too far out of line. As it is the posts really aren't in straight lines at all... pretty bad, but oh well, chickens won't mind this and nor do I so long as they work. Once the posts were up the next step was the wire... not a one person job, so I never got it done... until now. Ron and I had to remove a lot of thistles and other weeds and grass before we could install wire, then we got all the wire mesh on the bottom up and about half of it on the top before we got too tired to do more. The wire mesh is about 4 feet high, so need two levels of it. All the wire I have on the bottom I got for free through Freecycle, and what I put on the top I got given to me by a now former friend about 2 years ago. I put the better quality wire on the bottom as I figure it will get the most wear. We left a gap where we will be putting a gate for me to access this area. We still have to finish the top round of mesh and fill in some spots where the lay of the hill caused big gaps between the bottom of the wire mesh and the ground. Not yet sure just how we'll do this, but I know we will. This fence is not real pretty, or professional looking, but it will do and hopefully will keep the chooks in. I know it will be better for the chooks than what they have now and much larger.

Future plans: to clean out the little shed under the lean-to where the chickens now live, then move the chooks (chickens) into the shed. Cut a hole in the one wall of this shed for the chooks to be able to go out to the new run. Then I will dismantle the lean-to and current chicken run, making more room on this level for parking, turning the truck around, etc. as well as looking better. I may even move my little tin shed from the far end of the house out to here so it is more easily accessible for use rather than just taking up space. Getting the chooks into their new home is priority at this point, though.

Finishing off the month of May

2006-06-07T01:32:00.000-07:00

May 28th: I planted some Royal Burgundy Bush Beans I also had started from seed in the house, and 1 of the Hydrangea plants I bought awhile ago. I went shopping for groceries at the local nursery and also brought home a Cilantro plant.

May 30th: I cleaned up some of the rabbit cages that needed it (still more to do)... planted the Cilantro plant into the herb garden... put away dried chicken bread (into that old freezer I kept) and ... put fresh hay in the chicken nest boxes. I made this hay by picking grass from my yard and drying it on the hood of my truck and metal trays from rabbit cages.

2006-06-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

The ropes and straps for keeping the load on have already been taken off, but this is my truck and trailer before the load is removed, and there are 2 bath tubs inside the canopy.

Here's a shot from the other side of my trailer after the tie downs have been removed but before the load is taken off.

These (all but the saw horse you see in the picture) have already come off Wilson's truck. Now to sell all these cages and not just let them sit there cluttering up my yard.

May 27th

2006-06-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

Another big day here. My friend Wilson came up (he lives about a 45 minute drive south of here) to help me, he arrived here at 7:45am. First we loaded my trailer with garbage, mostly wood from the old sundeck, also other wood, some household garbage and an big old scale I had once bought at the auction for weighing the rabbits I was raising - it didn't work... more money wasted. But I digress...

Wilson followed me in his truck as I drove to the town just north of here (about 15 minutes) and dropped all that stuff at the dump there (270 Kg. - $5.50). Then off we went to the town north of that (another 10 minute or so drive). There we stopped at a gas station and met with Chuck (I had given him a love seat and promised him the matching couch - Freecycle) and Vic (another Freecycle contact, I was giving him a china cabinet) and off we went with the 3 of them following me up to the farm of a former friend (long, unhappy story) where I had several things stored. First we loaded the couch into Chuck's Chev Blazer and off he went. Then loaded the china cabinet, a TV stand that I also offered to Vic, and some boxes of my stuff into Vic's van (he dropped the boxes off at my place before I got back here). He stayed to help Wilson load some of the heavy stuff into my trailer (table saw, china cabinet, rack, metal frame for holding shelves, etc.) then he left. Wilson and I loaded more onto the trailer, then 2 bath tubs into my truck. We then drove to another part of the yard and loaded his truck with rabbit cages, and put some cages on the top of the load on the trailer, and 2 onto the top of my truck. We were just about to put another cage on top of the 2 on my truck when Chuck came back so we put that cage and some other odds and ends into his Blazer. We now had all my stuff loaded and off we went. (I had already brought my truck full one other day).

I led the way through back roads so we only had to take the highway a short distance at the end. With the loads we had on I didn't think we wanted to draw attention or to have to go the full highway speeds. Not that the loads were dangerous, I wouldn't do that and make sure all my loads are well tied on, but still... we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies moving... lol.

When we got home we unloaded Chuck so he could head off, then Wilson's truck, then my trailer and truck. I had planned to take pictures off everything but did forget to do so until the end. I did click off a couple of my rig but missed the load on Wilson's truck. Oh well... just know rabbit cages are hard to move when like mine as they are all different sizes and shapes.

May 23rd

2006-06-07T00:07:00.000-07:00

Today I picked Ron up when he got off work and we headed out to the local land fill. For $5.50 dumping fee (I was really surprised it was so little) we dumped all that metal Ron and Dan had loaded into the trailer for me on the 21st.

2006-06-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

Dan and Ron picking up the deepfreeze to put it into the trailer. I sure am grateful to have help with this and many other things.

This is Ron and Dan with the deepfreeze they just moved through the carport. They took off the lid then "end over ended" the freezer to get it from spot A to spot B.

Ron is the one with the hat... hahahaha. Okay... Dan is in grey and Ron in black with the vest.

Here Dan and Ron are carrying the old portable dish washer. I bought it at a garage sale years ago, got it home and all by myself wrestled it up the steps into the house. When hooked up to the sink and the water turned on, water sprayed all over my kitchen. What a mess! I moved it outside and there it stayed until now. Paid to bring it home, now pay to take it away, all for nothing... grrrrr.

May 21st

2006-06-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Lots of work done this day. After church I picked up Ron and brought him out here with me. We got lots of work done. We did some cleaning up in the carport, to start. Lots more to do of course, but this was needed to make a wide area to get through with a deep freeze. I had 2 old deepfreezes that no longer work. I used to use one for storing bags of rabbit and chicken feed, the other one still was working at that time so I used it for my food as well as for freezing milk jugs and 2 lt. pop bottles of water, making ice for in the rabbit cages to keep the rabbits cooler on hot summer days. These were both sitting around in the way, one in the carport and one behind it. I decided to keep one of them for storing bread I bring home and dry for the chickens (I am given huge bags of bread for this purpose and want to keep the mice out of it). Sooooo, the deepfreeze that was in the carport was moved out behind it, and the one that was out behind got moved through the carport and loaded into the trailer for the dump. Also, an old dish washer that has been sitting out back for some time got loaded, as did an old air conditioner and a few other metal items. The landfills in this area all have you put things in different spots based on what they are, so I like to take an all metal load or an all wood load, etc. Any mixed loads have to be loaded in such a way that things aren't mixed together in the trailer.

No, I didn't have to move these heavy items, Dan came over to help Ron with that part of it, as you will see in the pictures.

After the trailer was loaded and ready to go Dan left, though he did come by later on his way into town and picked up Ron to give him a ride home and saved me the trip in. After Dan left, Ron helped me to rip apart an old sundeck. This had been a covered sundeck where my carport now is. In the fall of 1997 I had many renovations done to my home (built on a 10'x32' addition - 2 rooms, new ceiling and a wall in old 8'x20' addition, new windows through out the mobile home, new metal roof over entire home - both additions and mobile home, carport, took out sliding glass door and put in a proper half glass front door). At that time, the rotted part of the deck was removed and the rest was put on the ground for me to continue using (without the roof it once had). In the ensuing years this deck rotted and needed to be removed, so Ron and I did so. Where that deck had been was bare ground, so I planted 2 tomato plants and 6 pepper plants in part of that ground.

2006-05-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

I just had to show you these. Strawberry plants in bloom are not only pretty, but are a vision of yummy strawberries to come.

Taken from the raspberry patch, this is my lilac bush with Spreading Juniper in the forground and the neighbors Weeping Willow behind. Much of the Spreading Juniper is looking pretty dead so will likely have to be cut out of there when I have all the other things on my list done.

A close-up of the raspberry patch. Really nice to have a camera that can zoom in like this.

The grass is very long so much was picked to feed to the chooks, some just trampled down. I will be putting wood chip mulch in this area soon.

Standing on the tire wall I took this pic of my raspberry patch. At this point there is 1 1/2 rows, the next day I finished the planting so now there are 3 rows.

May 16th & 17th

2006-05-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

It is really hot here just now, so I decided to start getting up early to do gardening before the heat of the day, but it's hot very early. With sweat running freely and mosquitos acting like I'm their walking Deli, I managed to get a lot of work done in this 2 day period. Some of this included picking grass for the chooks as well as digging up sod to plant raspberries: yellow, black and red. I also planted 1 black currant and 2 red currants in tires.

2006-05-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

No fancy rose combs on these girls.

Everyone gets along regardless of difference in breeds.

2006-05-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

This one flew up onto the plywood barrier that I keep inside the door to the chicken run. She let me pet her, then stepped onto my hand. In this pic she's got one foot on my hand, on on the plywood. Most of these hens are pretty friendly.

Big Brown Layers and little black Bantams.

May 11th

2006-05-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Went to the auction this morning to sell the 12 bags of Damson Plum trees I told you about before. What I didn't tell you is that I also bought more chickens. The boxes they were in were labled "Brown Layers" so it's anyones guess what breed these girls are. There were supposed to be 4 hens per box and at $12.50 per box 1 got 2. I also got a big metal chicken feeder for $7.50 (plus of course 10% buyers fee and taxes) but I don't like it. It leaves too much grain that the chickens can't get to but the mice can. So I still use what I was using before and this sits empty... a waste of about $10.

Anyway, back to the hens. When I got home and went to turn them loose in the chicken run, I opened the first box and sure enough, 4 hens. Then the second box... 5 hens. Bonus! Also, there was 1 egg in each of the boxes.

2006-05-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

Apparantly there are several types of Sedum and these 5 pictures show at least some of them.

2006-05-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Brides and Grooms

Ajuga

Columbine

May 10th

2006-05-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

I went to a nearby town for our weekly spinning/weaving gathering. Louise was hosting this week. While I was there she gave me a hide-a-bed couch and 3 plants: 2 Red Currants and 1 Basil (or at least I think that's what she said it is).

Then before coming home I went to my friend Lynda's home and she gave me several plants she had dug from her garden for me. These include: Ajuga, a few kids of Seedum, Wall Flower, Columbine, Forget-Me-Not, Bride and Groom. I know there's at least one more whos name I can't think of just now. All are going to be beautiful as they grow and spread out in my garden along the driveway.

I am so blessed to have good friends that give me plants and other things.

2006-05-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here you can see why I want a Privacy Fence, and you can see the 2 posts and Virginia Creeper vines starting to wend their way up... eventually to be a Live Privacy Fence.

2006-05-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait, just had to take some wood chips out of the trailer on Saturday and put them down to see what it will look like when I get it all done. This is just a drop in the bucket, but I have to get all the planting done before I can do the mulching.

12 bags of Damson Plum trees. I put more dirt in these and watered them. On Thursday May 11th I took them to the auction and sold them... got $4 each for 5 bags, $2 each for 6 bags, and $1 for the 12th bag. Not too bad especially considering the way they're growing wild in my yard.

2006-05-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

And here it is an the ground, a good sized heap.

Here's the load of wood chips. I almost forgot to take a picture of it so had taken some out before I went for my camera to take this pic. I'd love to know how many pounds it weighed as I don't know if that was a legal load or not.

Sunday, May 7th

2006-05-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

After church today I picked up Ron and brought him out to do more yard work. I dug up a bunch of small damson plum trees (any fruit not picked drops on the ground and grows new trees... see earlier pics) and put them into bags (1 or more trees to a bag) so I had 12 bags to take to the auction to sell. This also cleared up an area for the wood chips to go.

While I dug up trees, Ron went and got my old, ratty tarp for me and we laid it down on the ground. Then I hooked up the trailer and moved it into place. We unloaded all those wood chips onto the tarp. Then I moved the trailer up top and we loaded all the garbage (mostly rotting old wood and weeds) we'd gathered and stacked when he was here before (April 22nd)... then I returned the trailer to its spot in the orchard and unhooked it (to be taken to the dump another day).

Then we went up by the herb garden and Ron planted a post for me. I then strung some wire between it and another post, and pulled up some Virginia Creeper vines that were hanging on my tire (tyre in NZ, lol) retaining wall. This in time will be a Living Privacy Wall between me and the neighbor to the south-west of me.

After all that I fed Ron a nice home cooked meal and drove him home.

Friday, May 5th

2006-05-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I hitched up my utility trailer behind my truck and went to the local plywood plant where I shovelled, and shovelled, and shovelled. I was going to fill the trailer with wood chips, but then remembered Dan's comments on my tendency to over load the trailer, and decided to stop at about 3/4 full.

After unhooking the trailer in my yard I went to the nursery/store across the lake from where I live, and started spending :o) For my birthday, Mom gave me a $50 gift certificate for this place, thinking I'd buy groceries with it, but I saved it to buy plants. (Buy $50 worth of groceries, eat for a week. Buy plants to grow food, eat year after year.)

I bought:
2 Blueberry plants (was told you have to have 2 of different varieties for best production)
1 pkg. of 2 Fall Gold Raspberry plants (they'll go nice with my red and black raspberries)
2 Musk Mellon seedlings (basically the same as Cantalope)
2 herb plants: Stevia and Golden Balm
Then I broke down and bought some "eye candy":
5 Pansy plants
2 Merrygold plants
You have to have acidic soil for Blueberries, and acidic soil is best for the Hydrangias I bought, so I also picked up some sulfur to work into the soil (the guy at the nursery said the soil in this area is all alkaline, so no point in testing it, just get the sulfur).
Out of the $50 I still have $8.95 left to spend on something else when they get new stuff in (and when I get everything planted that I have accumulted already).

Non-yard related: I just have to "crow". I also made my first batch of homemade yogurt with recipe and instructions from PTF... and it is GREAT! I don't like storebought plain yogurt, but this homemade stuff is really good, and I can also add fruit or whatever to it (can you say chocolate yogurt?)

2006-05-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Check out the leg... the foot is only hanging on by a bit of skin.

Poor wee chick, not looking good here.

One very dehydrated chick, in critical condition.

Stump

2006-05-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

On May 6 I went out to feed the chickens and heard a very distressed peeping, tracked it down and found Dot's chick. It had a very badly broken leg, was in shock and dehydrated. I knew it didn't have much of a chance, but brought it in the house to try to save it's life. A closer look at the leg showed there was no way it could be fixed, so I had to amputate the foot. I was relieved that there was no bleeding when I did that, though there was some later on, but not very much. This would have added to the dehydration problem. Also a good sign was when the chick drank water I held to it's beak in a jar lid. I named this baby Stump.

That day I had to go out to a friend's "last ride". He had always ridden motorcycles and loved to stop for pie, so 18 bikes and several cars took Gil on a last ride, his ashes on the lead bike, to his final resting place where he loved to go when alive, a view point over looking Otter Lake. Afterwards everyone went to O'Keefe Historical Ranch, another place Gil liked, and ate pie.

I felt I had to get fluids into Stump as much and as often as possible, s/he was willing to drink but only took tiny bits at a time. Soooo... I took Stump along on that last ride. It was a cold and windy day, but I kept Stump warm and gave frequent drinks of whey (the liquid off yogurt) I was told that whey has lots of nutrition, so figured it was a good fluid to use in this case.

I kept Stump in the house under a light bulb to keep him/her warm ever since, until yesterday, May 16. I decided that it would be better for Stump to be with Dot if at all possible. I will keep a close eye on them and make sure the other chickens aren't picking on the disabled chick. Even after 10 days apart, Dot was happy to accept Stump back. She is still sitting on the nest of what can only be rotten, non-fertile eggs, hoping to hatch out more babies.

I will upload pictures of Stump taken May 6, and hope the upload works properly today.

2006-05-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Another look at the face feathers... anyone ever see these on a chook before?
I looked it up on the internet and guess what... I found: Muffs: A cluster of feathers projecting from the face below and around the sides of the eyes and extending from the beard to, and covering, the ear lobes. (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS013)

I think out of the 6 I got 5 roosters and only 1 hen... drat! I want Ameraucana or Araucana hens as they lay blue-green eggs.

Another shot of those feathers.

They are rather pretty looking birds. It appears that 5 of them have these face feathers and one doesn't... must be the rooster's version of a beard or sideburns, lol.

Check out the funny feathers on the face.

2006-05-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm... nice fresh picked grass to eat

This is Chicklette. One day 2 or 3 years ago now, one of my hens disappeared leaving behind 3 wee chicks, only days old. I brought them into the house and raised them in a cage with a lightbulb to keep them warm. When they were big enough I put them out with the other chickens (or chooks as they say in New Zealand... I like the sound of that... chooks). In no time, 2 of them disappeared, but Chicklette is still here. She is one of my favorites, and likes to be near me, sometimes to be held and petted.

6 Americana cross chicks, hatched March 10, 2006... picture taken May 2.

Enjoying a bite of grass on a sunny spring day.

2006-05-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

The original hens were brown, now most of them are black, some with bits of brown or white on them. These two have Rose Combs.

This is Young'n, son of Boss Hogg, grandson of Rooster Cogburn. All of these roosters are Bantams (or Banties) with Rose Combs which I love the look of. Looks more like a crown on his head than a comb doesn't it.

Here's Young'n with 3 of his ladies. The 2 in the shade are hard to see.

Here's a black hen with brown around her neckline and a regular comb.

Time to take time to catch up...

2006-05-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since to took time to update my blogs as I've been so busy working at fixing up my home, inside and out. I am also now a member of the Board of Trusties for the Okanagan Centre for Positive Living, and taking over the position of Treasurure, so have been very busy with this too. So now I'm going to play a game of Catch Up here before I forget what all has been accomplished in my yard.

On Pathway to Freedom E-Neighborhood I was asked about my chickens. They are very much a part of my life, my home, and my yard, so I have decided to share some pictures of them here.

My first chicken was Rooster Cogburn. I was at the auction one day when they couldn't get any bids on this beautiful Bantam rooster, and the auctioneer said "A buck. Won't anyone take it for a buck?" So for one dollar he came home with me. At that time I was raising Netherland Dwarf show rabbits so had a shed where they lived, that was where Rooster Cogburn moved into. He was such a pet it was incredible, following me around the yard and when I was working with the rabbits he would do his best to get between me and the one I was working with, or sometimes sit on my shoulder while I worked. One day at the auction again, I bought him a present... 2 Bantam hens, one with a chick that also turned out to be female. After that he wanted nothing to do with me (tipical man, give him what he wants and that's the end...lol). From them I have had many chickens. One day Rooster Cogburn went missing, I was free ranging them at the time and I think a neighbor dog got him. There were 3 young roosters here at the time, that year's baby boys, so I decided to keep one of them. The one that got biggest and most dominant got to stay. He was the boss and wouldn't share his hens, so his name was Boss Hogg.

Boss Hogg was here for a few years, then last year out of all the eggs the hens sat on (and Bantam hens sit on eggs at the drop of a feather, lol) only 3 chicks were hatched. I decided that Boss Hogg must be getting too old to do the job, must be "shooting blanks", so I kept the one boy of that 3. This spring I took Boss Hogg and 5 of his hens to the auction. The hens were ones that kept flying over the fence and wandering to the neighbors that gets very upset and aggressive when my chickens step foot on his property.

So my current rooster is Young'n. I am sad to say that Young'n also is shooting more blanks that he should be, or there's some other problem, because the eggs are not fertile. There have been 6 or 7 hens sitting on eggs this spring and only 2 chicks have been hatched. Chicklette hatched out one that has since disappeared :o( and Dot hatched one. More about that one wee chick later... for now we have pictures for you to look at. Pictures not only of the Bantams but also of the 6 chicks I bought at the auction the same day I sold Boss Hogg and the girls. On the box they were in it said: 6 Americana X Sex Link Layers - Unsexed - Hatched March 10 (I've looked on the internet for info on Sex Link Layers and have found not even a hint that this is even a breed)

2006-05-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

#81 These are Pumpkins (Small Sweet) and Squash (Buttercup) that I started in the house some weeks back. They got so big that I wanted them out of the little pots, but it's too early to plant them in the ground. Yesterday I transplanted them into these large pots and put them beside the house with plastic over them to protect them from potential frost. This morning I took this picture and watered the plants, now this afternoon they are standing up and looking much better than the wilted things in this picture. When I am sure it's safe to plant them out I plan to give some away (I don't need this many) and plant the rest in the orchard at the base of some trees they can grow up.

2006-05-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

#80 Another shot of the retaining wall... you can see a wee bit of where the staircase goes in on the far (right) side. Dan thinks these tires and the ones in my herb garden are "an eye sore", has said this many times... and I'm grateful for them as I know what it was like before and how many thousand of dollars it would have cost to do this any other way. I picked up the Virginia Creeper vines and hung them back up as best I can... they will take over soon and will eventually cover this wall, hiding all the tires. With all the "other stuff" down there (trees, wild roses) I don't think you really see much of the wall anyway, lol.

2006-05-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

#79 I'm standing in the orchard looking back at the tire retaining wall. The sun in not in the right place for taking this picture, but I did it anyway, haha. The steps are behind the trees on the right side of this picture.

2006-05-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

#78 From the bottom (orchard) looking up, this is my stairway to date. I know Dan will have it finished before long. I walked on it today for the first time :o) Thank you Dan!!!

2006-05-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

#77 There's still a step to be put on when Dan has another day where he has time to come here and work at it... this is what I have until then. The top steps couple steps are a killer, the rest are great... and it is way better than it used to be :o) (See #69 for how it was before any steps)

2006-05-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

#76 "Oh Oh... now what" I think it was a lot steeper than he realized so he rean out of room to build. Not wanting the staircase to end in the middle of the carport, something had to change.

2006-05-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

#75 This is Dan putting in my stairs for me. He parked in the orchard where I couldn't see his van and went to work while I was still asleep. When I asked why he didn't let me know he was there, he said he didn't want me telling him what to do... hahaha. He likes to do things his way and never mind what I want done on my own place. I tend to let him do it as in most cases I am just grateful to have it done, and grateful for all the things he does do for me around here. (#69)

3 Dog Night

2006-05-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the time to remember a song by the band 3 Dog Night, Pieces of April: "I've got pieces of April, I keep 'em in a memory bouquet... I've got pieces of April, and it's a morning in May"...

Welcome to May!! Is this not the month that "comes in like a lion, out like a lamb... in like a lamb, out like a lion"? It rained a fair bit yesterday, so does that constitue "lion"? It's a beautiful sunny day today so everything should be growing like weeds... wait a minute, most of it is weeds. :o)

Yesterday I was laying in bed reading when Reba "woofed" a bit. She does this sometimes when wanting attention or wanting outside, so I got up and went to her, petted her a bit, then put her out. Then I was puttering around the house a bit when I heard a sound outside, looked out the window and could see nothing, so read emails and such, then heard another sound out there. Guess what I found.... check out the pictures :o)

2006-04-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

#74 While I was getting set up someone tried to take over my spinning.... I think he may have been attracted to the smell of the oil, as he was really interested in the narrow opening there.

2006-04-27T00:41:00.000-07:00

#73 After cutting back that stairwell I felt I deserved to rest and relax awhile, so brought out my spinning wheel, favorite spinning chair, and a stool to put my drink and fibre on. It was wonderful to enjoy the views while I enjoyed the spinning.

2006-04-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

#72 This is a bit further out from #71, but the same area of the Juniper. Notice how it's so long that it sticks up into the Damson Plum trees.

2006-04-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

#71 At the bottom of the stairwell more has yet to be cut back, and some of these are thick and long too.

2006-04-27T00:36:00.000-07:00

#70 Some branches were small enough to cut with hedge trimmers, but some, like this one, had to be cut with a hand saw. This is 2 1/2" x 3".

2006-04-27T00:34:00.000-07:00

#69 And the stairwell...

2006-04-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

#68 A shot from the other side (#66, #67)

2006-04-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

#67 See how much more open it looks now from what it did in #66.

2006-04-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

#66 This is the Spreading Junipers after the walkway was cut thru but before I cut them back in the stairwell. Some were grown right thru the chain link fencing and may have been what was holding it up :o)

Wonderful Wednesday - April 26, 2006

2006-04-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today I not only did some more work in my yard, but also took some time to enjoy relaxing out there. It's been a long time since I just spent time out in my yard without doing something like looking after animals or shoveling snow. This was really nice for a change and I look forward to spending more enjoyment time out there in the future as the yard continues to improve.

I think it was 1993, or close to it, that the tire retaining wall was built. The wall there when I bought this place in 1990 was about 3' high, made of wood 4x4's. It looked okay at the time I bought, but it soon began to fall down as it was rooting away. There also was a very steep hill from the retaining wall up to the bit of flat land by the home itself, and I found this very hard to keep weeded and impossible to mow, often slipping and falling down on the steep grade. In '93 I was going out with Rob (as he went by here, Bob as he was known to family and long time friends), and he came up with the idea of the tire wall as it would never rot and was free, all you had to do was collect old tires from local tire shops... which we did. I must admit, I could never have built this wall without help, and Rob did a lot of work for me. We built it in the same exact spot as the original wall, and made the ends the same height as that wall had been. The middle, however, we built to just over 6' high, coming back into the hill at each end of the 6' area. We even made a stairwell, but unfortunately stairs have never been put there. Then, we hauled wheelbarrows full of dirt from the back hill into this area to back fill behind the huge wall as we built it. The tires are laid like bricks and each tire is stuffed with dirt. A lot of work went into this wall, you should have seen my muscles!

Over the years since then, the Spreading Junipers have grown and... spread! I've told you about cutting back part of them, and today I did even more. The stairwell is now open and Dan has said he'll help me make some steps for in there. The stairway will go from by the carport down to the orchard.

2006-04-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

#65 Last night, after PatZ left and I'd rested my poor sore body awhile, I went out and transplanted my Rainbow Swiss Chard and Buttercrunch Lettuce, as well as some peas. (#55)

2006-04-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

#64 Cherry blossoms. Some of what you see are on my place, some on the neighbors. I notice I have a lot of young trees coming up that seeded themselves. This is good as one of my cherry trees is dead and needs to be removed, and the other one is partly dead. It needs to be cut back severely or removed. The neighbors cut their trees back severely a few years ago and now they are beautiful again.

2006-04-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

#63 You can see the Virginia Creeper vines laying down there on the ground. Once the fence is up I will tie these up so they can grow back up again. I hated to cut them back, especially at this time of the year, but it had to be done. In a year or two they'll be growning like crazy again, and in fact may grow better and faster for having been cut back.

2006-04-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

#62 Junk from #12 piled up to be loaded into the utility trailer and taken to the dump.

2006-04-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

#61 This tire is still there as it's filled with cement, used to have a fence post in it. I'm not sure just yet what I'll do with this one. Maybe lay it on it's side and put a lawn ornament on it, or leave it as it is to sit on when working down there... we'll see. (#12: for where the other tires in #12 went, see #60)

2006-04-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

#60 These tires used to be part of the retaining wall, the part that had to be destroyed to get to the septic tank and line. PatZ and I stacked them back in place, though we didn't fill them with dirt again. You can see some of the tires that are packed with dirt. A former boyfriend helped me build this big wall in about 1993.

2006-04-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

#59 Monday, April 24th, my good friend PatZ came out and helped me with some yard work. She and untangled all the Virginia Creeper vines from the chain link fence that the Bobcat had knocked over the retaining wall some time ago. It had some vines on it then and looked really nice, but as it hung down the drop more vines have grown onto it and needed to be taken off so I can put the fence back up again. The landscape ties and cardboard are where the raised bed garden will eventually be.

2006-04-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

#58 Another view of the Strawberry patch/Herb garden. The post that is now there was laying on it's side before, it's cemented in the tire and was knocked over by the Bobcat. Ron helped me put it back up, took both of us as it's very heavy.

2006-04-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

#57 Strawberry patch/ Herb garden (#46, #22)

2006-04-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

#56 This is the little garden we made... now, do I plant lettuces here, or peas... hhhmmm.

2006-04-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

#55 This beautiful little plant is one in the flower bed along the driveway.

2006-04-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

#54 Another view of the driveway (#53 & others noted there)

2006-04-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

#53 Here's my driveway. I've been moving day lilies from by the house down the driveway. This is after Ron helped my plant another wheelbarrow load of them I had dug up, and some iris plants I'd also dug up previously. (#1, #25, #38, #39, #40)

2006-04-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

#52 All the weed I pulled earlier were stacked up waiting for me to wrap them in a tarp and get them out where they can be loaded and taken to the dump. Too bad I can't burn here due to stupid laws. Ron is helping me wrap and carry the weeds.

2006-04-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

#51 This is Ron, looking at the mess and trying to figure out where to start. I pulled megga weeds here this spring. (#21)

2006-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

#50 The spreading Junipers were cut back to about the end of the sidewalk, Ron and I cut it back further to make a walk way to the back yard. (#41)

Earth Day 2006

2006-04-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 22, 2006 was Earth Day. What did you do that day? I drove to town to pick up a friend, Ron, who had said several times that he would help me do work around my yard. I finally decided to take him up on it.

There are so many things that need doing here that it was a bit of a challenge to decide where we would start, but I decided that working on a raised bed garden would be a good thing. This led us to do many things.

* Cut back spreading Junipers to make a pathway into the back yard
* Moved a bunch of wood, broken window, etc, then level out a heap of dirt left by the Bobcat when it last dug up the septic line
* Carried some landscape ties up from the orchard where they were stacked when I brought them home recently
* Laid down some cardboard to be a weed barrier
* Realized we need a saw which we don't have to cut the landscape ties, so the raised bed garden will have to wait
* Moved a heap of weeds I'd pulled and stacked up
* Made a small, narrow garden along the house
* Transplanted some day lilies and iris plants I'd dug up previously
* Planted strawberries given to me by "my invisible friend"
* Watered everything

I think that about covers it... whew! My back was some sore, and Ron looked at me rather strangely when I was barely able to walk.

Ron and I ate supper (homemade bean soup, whole wheat spaghetti with veggie sauce, garlic bread), then watched a movie and drank some tea. Then I drove him home. Ron said he will be happy to come back another time and help again as it gives him something to do on a day off.

2006-04-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

#49 Potted plants, but no "pot plants" in this "grow op". Great way to start veggies for the garden.

2006-04-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

#48 This is Mas's "grow op"

2006-04-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

#47 April 19th: This is my "Invisible Friend" Mas. We're in her yard, digging up some of her strawberry plants for me. That tray got heaped right up, so I should have lots of delicious strawberries to eat and freeze and share

More Plants

2006-04-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I discovered the other day that I had made a planting mistake in my herb garden. I had gotten Lemon Mint and Catnip both in the same tire {tyre for Kiwi :o)} The two plants look a lot alike, or at least when small like they are now, so it was hard to tell them apart, but upon close examination I think I got it, and moved the Lemon Mint to a new tire. Today I found out {at my local plant land} that there are loads of different kinds of Thyme. I'm not sure which kind I got from Spaz and planted in my herb garden already, but today I bought a Spicey Orange Thyme {$2.99} which is now planted among the rest of the herbs. While I was working in the herb garden I heard a cough and looked up to see the neighbors sitting on their deck smoking. YIKES! I knew the deck looked into my yard, but didn't really realize just how uncomfortable this would be for me until this evening. I've been here for 15 years and never had a problem with it before, but the people that live there now use the deck far more than any of the people before them did. I must find a way to put up a barrier between us. There is already a big lilac bush which was always enough until now. Also, a few nights ago when getting ready for bed there was an orange glow outside my bedroom window. I looked out and there was a camp type fire in the that same neighbors yard and he was sitting by it... not anywhere near far enough from my window for my comfort. The new barrier has to be on both sides of that lilac tree.

Today I also bought bedding plants: Swiss Chard and Buttercrisp Lettuce {$.99 each pot, 4 plants per pot}, and some seeds: Cherry Tomatoes, Beef Steak Tomatoes {the smallest and the biggest}, Spinach {never knew there were so many kinds to choose from} and a lettuce mix. I am thinking about making a hanging basket of different lettuces and spinach, it would be very pretty and be handy for picking a few leaves of each to make a salad, though would need more watering than if I plant them in the ground, so this will be a consideration.

Yesterday I planted Kohl Rabi {white} in a pot and {purple} in an egg carton. I had bought these seeds before but never had gotten around to planting them, so hope they are still good. I also have seeds for peas and 2 kinds of beans that I hope are still good. I must prep a place to plant these really soon, somewhere that I can give them something to climb up.

Awhile ago I planted Pumpkin and Squash seeds in pots in the house. They are growing like weeds and getting quite large already. I'm soon going to have to move them into bigger pots or buckets as it's too early to plant them outside.

Numbers

2006-04-12T01:15:00.000-07:00

I went back and edited all my posts to add a number to each picture so I can refer back to previous pictures as I add new, updated ones. In brackets I will put numbers of previous pictures to look back at.

2006-04-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

#46 - Herb garden in progress. (#22)

Thyme On My Hands

2006-04-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today I got my herb garden started. I had thyme, lavender, catnip and chocolate mint from a friends yard, there was also some other spindly thing that I think is an herb but not sure, it was in the box anyway, haha. I had planned to level this somewhat lumpy area of the yard, The Area Formerly Known as Lawn, but there were some tires I had to move first and they had dirt in them... very heavy and I couldn't quite move them. Then I was thinking about how chocolate mint spreads and can become invasive, so I wanted to do what I can to "corral" it. This is when I realized the tires have a purpose in my herb garden. I planted chocolate mint in one of them, and what I think is catnip in the other tire. The lavender and thyme as well as the other little spindly plant are planted near but not in the tires. The little hump they are on will add "texture" to the yard, much better than the flat look I had thought of previously. After planting the herbs I put aged rabbit manure around them all except for the chocolate mint as I filled up the tire with the manure instead of dirt. I like the "natural look" it has now, but know that in a short time that would become a "very over grown look" so I will be putting down a weed barrier (newspaper or cardboard or pet food bags) and covering that with rocks or shavings or whatever I can get my hands on for this work in progress.

2006-04-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

#45 - All of these still have to be dug up and moved too. I planted all from the wheelbarrow along the driveway where I'd planted the ones I took in buckets. Not much more room now for more as I want to leave some room for them to expand as I know they will. I'll likely get a few more clumps in that area, then the rest along the ditch. I am saving some along the driveway for other plants I've been promised from 2 other friends gardens.

2006-04-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

#44 - I moved some down a few days ago in buckets, now my wheelbarrow is full... and I've only dug up about 1/3 of them.

2006-04-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

#43 - This is the flower bed at the front of my home, as you can see, along the sidewalk. Although there are a few Iris plants here, the majority is Day Lilies. These get so big in summertime that they hide the sidewalk and take up a lot of space. I decided I want them down along the driveway, and some along the steep bank down into the ditch along the highway. (#31)

Landscape Ties

2006-04-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Freecycle and a man named Al, I now have 25 landscape ties. I went today with my truck and utility trailer and picked them up. Al was kind and helped me load them for which I am grateful. When I got home I parked the truck and trailer in the orchard and come to the house to rest for a bit before unloading the ties. As I was taking off my boots the phone started to ring, it was Dan and would I like help to unload the ties. Well of course! About 10 minutes later he was here and we unloaded them into the orchard and unhooked the trailer. I took the rest of the day "off" and rested my poor aching body, the most strenuous work for the rest of today was crocheting.

Dump Run #1

2006-04-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well, this morning my friend came over with his compressor and blew up both tires on my utility trailer, soooo....

I made my first dump run {of my yard make over project/of 2006}. All went well, but it was a very big job to unload it all. The utility trailer has been sitting in the yard for about 1 1/2 years having garbage thrown into it. Last summer I did take some of it out and put it into the truck with a bunch of other "stuff" and took it to the dump, but lots of what was in it had been there for a long time. Uncovered, it got snowed on and rained on so all was very wet and heavy, so took longer and more work to get off the trailer than it otherwise would have. My body sure was happy when it was all done :o) I "never" leave home without my camera, so was dismayed when I realized today that it was sitting on its charger at home when I was out and about. I was going to take some pictures of unloading at the dump, but oh well, you all can imagine, lol.

When I got up to the scale and was weighed, the woman told me it would be $21 and coin... YIKES! When she saw my eyes go reeeaaaallllly big at that she asked if any of it had been wet and I told her, yes it all was wet. She was nice enough to knock it down to $9.00 for me... WHEW! For this I am totally grateful!! What did it weigh? 380Kg = 837.76 lbs!! This morning when Dan aired up the tires he said he'd read on them that the load should be maximum 500 lbs, so guess I was a little over loaded, haha... the trailer is insured for 700Kg = 1543.24 lbs including trailer and load, I don't know what the trailer weighs so I don't know how I was legally. But I'm home safe and sound, and that's all that counts in the end.

On the way home I stopped for a few groceries and ended up getting a good deal on 2 Hydrangea plants. I love these plants and for years I have wanted one, but never felt I could afford one. I still can't but it was a deal too good to pass up :o) Now to decide where is the best place to plant these two, they need part sun and my yard is mostly all sun, so I will have to figure out where they would get afternoon shade, hhmmmm. I've been wanting to find out if my soil is acid or alkaline, thinking I'd have to buy a soil test kit to find out as it is important for a lot of plants, now these plants will tell me, or at least if they are the "right variety". If the Hydrangea blooms pink it's alkaline conditions, if blue then acid.

2006-04-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

#42 - Here's my truck, hooked up the the utility trailer and ready to go to the dump... well, except for the almost flat tires.

2006-04-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

#41 - This is where Dan put the patio blocks down. I didn't show pictures of this area "before" because the utility trailer was parked right in tight to the junipers

2006-04-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

#40 - After I posted "1st Progress Report" I went back outside and did some more work. I carried buckets of "compost" (mixture of rabbit manure, chicken manure and dirt from the floor of the chicken house, formerly the rabbitry) and covered up the big patch of newspapers at the lower end, and put planks and such along the edge... also added rocks into the walkways. Still lots more to do, but hey, it's a work in progress! (#1, #26)

2006-04-04T00:19:00.000-07:00

#39 - Every so often I put a walkway so I can get in to work without stepping into the beds. The newspaper and cardboard are to slow/stop weeds and grass growing up there. Looks bad now but won't forever.

2006-04-04T00:17:00.000-07:00

#38 - My flower bed... a work in progress

1st Progress Report

2006-04-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a few things done so haven't had time to post here. My utility trailer is now licenced and insured for a year, so I can start hauling stuff to the dump. It is now hooked up to the truck, load tarped and tied down, all ready to go to the dump except that while the trailer has sat in the yard for about a year and a half, the tires have lost a lot of air. One is noticably low, the other even worse. My good friend Dan has a compressor and will bring it by tomorrow to air up the tires so I can hit the road. I would have been off to the dump today had the tires been okay, but will have to wait for the compressor now, not a big deal.

I recently went "shopping" in a friend's yard. I came home with 4 banana boxes of perennial plants, most flowers but also some herbs and Jerusalem Artichokes. As soon as I have a place prepared for strawberries I can go back and get 2 different kinds of strawberry plants. This is awesome and I am so grateful!

Along my driveway I dug up a bunch of ground, removing as many roots and such as possible. I also worked some aged rabbit manure into this area and put walkways in so I can get in to work the areas. I planted all the non-edible perennials mentioned above into this area and still have to prepare an herb garden and strawberry garden elsewhere in the yard.

Today when Dan was over and helped me hook up the utility trailer so I could pull it out and get it ready to go, he raked where it had been sitting and put some patio slabs down there. He had given me the slabs last fall, taken from his yard, and they hadn't yet been used here. Now they give a nice look along the spreading junipers, and give a place to put the trash cans. Dan also did some raking by the junipers as they go down the driveway, then I raked the driveway where I threw all the roots and weeds as I dug them out of the flower bed.

Happy Spring!!

2006-03-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of spring and was +12 degrees Celcius at my place. We had some sun and some clouds in turns. It was truely a beautiful day!

I spent part of my day working out in the yard. In the Area Formerly Known as Lawn, I pulled and dug up all the weeds and burdock plants, stacking them into piles to be disposed of as soon as possible. I then dug up several small lilac bushes from the base of the mother bush, being careful to keep the roots as intact as possible so I can plant them again in other places in my yard. I think I'll plant them along the highway side of the property, that will look nice when eventually there is a large hedge there. I still have more little lilacs to dig up and move, as well as dirt to move around and flatten out in this area, but it feels great to have gotten a good chunk of work done today.

Research: Mulch

2006-03-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a lot of research, on line and in books, to do with gardening. Today I Googled "mulch" and found some very interesting sites full of information. Mulching is very good for the garden, and it can help keep the weeds down too. I want to do lots of mulching in my yards "make over project", so now I need to find free mulches... hhhhmmmm. By the time I'm finished I likely would be able to write a book "How To Give Your Yard a Major Makeover On a Budget" or "Yard Face Lift: More For Less" or... well, you get the idea.

Here are some Mulch Sites I found interesting:
http://www.compost.org/mulchingPR.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/text/muching.html
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Publications/Organics/44302010.pdf
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1604.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulch
You can copy these and paste them into your browser, or you can also Google "mulch" for these and more links.