Pet Peeves

Irritating little things, tree tag blossoms are everywhere.  Filled with pollen, these little tags can make a huge mess!

Wet mail caused by a leaking mailbox caused by a young man with a ball bat.

Long winded story tellers.

People who have been there and done that no matter where or what it is you are about to do.

Indecisive people - "I'm hungry", "What do you want to eat?", "It doesn't matter, you decide." , "That really isn's what I wanted.".

Spring Cleaning

I am not a housekeeper!  I hate house work - vacuuming, dusting, mopping, scrubbing.  So when it is time for spring cleaning I do a thorough job hoping it will last till I just can't take it anymore and do a little more. 

A fireplace produces so much more dust and grime than the heater and the grime is hard to remove from windows and picture glass.  I use dishwasher liquid for cutting the greasy grime on glass.  A quarter cup in  a gallon of water will clean most anything without streaking.  To disinfect as you clean add a quarter cup of bleach to the water in addition to the dishwasher liquid.  I haven't found a brand yet that causes any chemical reaction and your glass will be clean and disinfected.  This works on walls also, but make sure the paint will withstand the wash. 

I have taken out the drawers of all the cabinets and cleaned.  My aunt used to clean, then seal the drawers with a quick coat of varnish - a friend also does this as part of her spring routine.  I am not that dedicated, but I do not like dust, dirt and grime.  A Q-tip for the corners of picture glass gets the little dust motes that try to run and hide.  Q-tips are also good for cleaning the crevices of picture frames and corners of drawers and cabinets.

A large mounted white tail dominates the fireplace.  His ears gather dust as does his neck and antlers.  I am not aware of any solution to clean the ole boy, so he just gets a good dusting.  If any of you know of a way to clean him without damaging his pelt, I would love to hear from you. 

Break time is over, so back to work I go.  Enjoyed the visit and until next time . . .

Happy reading!
Belle

Asparagus

Okay, so my asparagus is slow in producing, but it is early and I have gotten more than 2 dozen healthy shoots off the 12 crowns I put in last year.  I knew it would be a slow process and the 3rd year is the first year of usable production.  Due to my elevated anticipation, I was hoping for at least 2 dozen shoots to devour a week and am therefore let down.  However, with the past few days rain and more on the horizan followed by some bright warm sunshine, I may yet meet my anticipated harvest.

A New Series

A new idea is niggling at my thoughts.  Madame Rose and Lady Lily along with old lady Hydrangea, wise old Jewel Leaf and perky Miss Petunia have all got something up their foliage.  Keep eyes and ears open for a new series in the making!

Gardening - Vegetable and Fauna

Onions look great, potatoes are shooting straight up, squash and beans look terrific! According to the two or three Almanacs Dad insist we go by for planting, the first week of April will see tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in the ground. Hope to find some healthy broccoli to add to the mix this year. I would love some limas, but I hate to shell them so they will continue to come from the grocery store.


Have you tried the Cherokee Purple tomato? A real tasty treat - meaty, acidic and full of flavor. Next to my all time favorite, the Rutger, the Purple is my favorite.


Added a Japanese Maple to my garden this week along with a Butterfly Bush. I love flowering shrubs. The banana trees came back with several additional babies along the sides. I cut the slips off before the first freeze and potted those - I managed to get seven - which grew well in my dining room this winter. Now I have several to share. I think I will leave the Sago palms in their containers this year. They do not do well at all in our cold temperatures and I don't like to keep digging them up and then replanting. I will see how they fair over the summer and decide in the fall. I have been told they do well in containers year round.

I need to move a couple of Forsythia which should be safe to do now that the blooms have dropped. Like the azalea, the Forsythia does not like to be "handled" until right after the blooms drop. I have found they refuse to bloom if you wait until summer or fall to prune or relocate, so that is another project for the weekend or the first of the week.

My Easter Lilies are very proficient this year and have multiplied several times over. The same is true of my Hostas. I read last week that after they break the ground, they can be dug,separated, and replanted. Since mine are so thick I think this will be an additional project. This to do list should get me through the week and back into planting the following week.

The pollen is so thick right now, I can't work outside too long. I am hoping for rain over the weekend to bring relief to these allergies.

Until next time . . .

Happy reading!
Belle

Need more sun bonnets - the dozen I had made are gone!

Days like today
Make winter worth it!

75 degrees with light winds

So many words
So little to say!

Today will be just another memory of your past come tomorrow.
Will it be pleasant or regretfull?

I just read that we are what we have lived with . . .
No wonder I am so screwed up!

Rainy days and rainy nights - so damn depressing!

When life throws you curve balls,
remember to get out of the way!