More Plants the Merrier!

Howdy,
Lookie, lookie what I got this morning.  I got into town early so I dropped by the 99cent store and I got these plants for only for 99 cents each.  I think that this is Spanish Lavender.  They've already bloomed but that's ok.  I've never grown this type of Lavender before and I've only had some in pots and they don't really like it here very much.  I know that they like full sun, moist cool roots but not real dry hot air.  They really like the weather in the northwest; they have prolific Lavender fields up there.  SO... I have the perfect place in the new garden for them where they will get some shade at the hottest part of the day.  I also got 3 hot pink mini roses to go with the other 2 red ones I got awhile back.  I chose only one pot of the Inpatients a white one, to go with some others I have and they will get planted in the shade.

Oh and I got a small box of thin mints when I was there and I've eaten half the box already.  What could be more fun that flowers and chocolate?  Well except yarn I suppose.  Yum to the tongue but not the waistline.  I know, I'll burn off the calories working in the yard this weekend, yeah right.  Bye for now!

Transplanting!

Yay, I got the largest plant that I'm going to transplant, a Strelitzia Nicolai the common name is Large White Bird of Paradise transplanted where the tree used to be.  It grew by seed right next to the fence and came from my neighbor's plant and I didn't know at first what it was but I dug it up several years ago and put it into a pot.  I decided to plant it instead of take it with me when we move.  There are 2 reasons for that: One- It must've been a healthy seedling because I read they are not real easy to grow from seed and since it grew in that garden originally,  I'll let it stay there.  Two- I don't know how much (if any) garden I will have upon moving since it will be a temporary home :(. 

Here's what it will look like when it flowers someday:

This is what it looks like now:

It can grow to about 20ft high.  They are usually planted in clumps, several of 'em but this one will have to make it's own babies!

Here is the beginning hole:

Here are all the roots I had to remove from just that hole and I wasn't finished digging yet!  These are the roots left over from the Umbrella plant and Italian Cypress tree that was removed a few months ago.

Look at how many roots from just 4 small holes and 1 larger one:

Pulling out all those roots really tired me out yesterday.  I could have gotten so much more planted if it wasn't for those darn roots.  It was also very warm and a tad humid to be working outside.  BUT it has to get done.

I did get the Purple Heart plants (Tradescantia pallida)

And a couple Large Angel Wing Begonias (Begonia Coccinea) transplanted, too.

In their new home:

Hopefully they will like where they are now.  I used some worm castings and some chicken manure mixed with some potting soil to amend the existing soil.  That should give 'em a boost so they fill in faster.

It felt really good to shower off the grime of the day and then I had corn for dinner yup, just corn.

Have a lovely week!

Victoria's Crochet for Summer

Hi!  I got to talking with a couple friends after work and so got going late just to find (on the traffic website I go to b4 I leave work)  that there is an accident and a few miles from there a small brush fire near the fwy I take to get home sooooo decided to blog instead of sitting in traffic.

Check out these Victoria's Secret crocheted apparel from their latest catalog.  Must be slave labor since the asking price is cheap for that amount of work.  I would have to charge waaaaay more for these if I would've made 'em.  Click on 'em and you can see the pics in more detail, the pretty stitches and the prices!

I like the tank top but I know it would be too low cut on me.  The shawl is pretty but they should also show the back since I would never wear it with the bandeau top and cutoff shorts!  If I'm interested in the shawl, I'd want to see it!

Well, I checked the traffic and it's cleared up so I'm heading home.  See ya!

Miss Daisy

Here she is, my final version of her.  Since I didn't find the perfect daisy for my project, I created one. 

12 petals and a 3-D center

Her petals won't curl as much after she gets blocked.  Next is to put her in a square and decide on some companion squares.  Don't hold your breath tho- since it takes me forever to finish crochet projects.

Hope you are having a special weekend with your dad, husband or your boys who are now fathers!

Last Weekend's Fun

Whoa, what a busy week since I posted last.  I have all these ideas to post stuff and then I just can't seem to make the time to do it.  Waa, waa.  Went to see Tamara dance at her recital last Sat. nite and she did great.  She was most concerned at all her costume changes (6) that she wouldn't have time and be late to the stage but it went on without a hitch.  I stayed the next day and we (my sis, Tamara, Jordan and Josiah, nephews 7 and 5 yrs.) hung out, ate, played board games, threw a big ball back and forth outside, walked to CVS and got Thrifty's ice cream cones, stopped by to get my mom's guest list for her party and picked up some really good Mexican food and then I left late for home Sun. nite.  Was I tired on Monday?  Yes.  But it was a good tired.

Here's my talented niece, she's 12 yrs:

Yes, she held still enough to take the pic!

And another shot, yeah!

Here's the only thing I got done in time for Yarn Bombing Day.  A little red flag that has traveled on my car's antenna since Saturday and has already gone 310 miles (498.89664 kilometers) and didn't come off!  A little windblown but here he is:

House repair update: I think my chiseling days are over.  I whacked my hand really hard with the hammer (by not paying attention, I'm sure it was my own distracting thoughts) that fateful Sunday morning (June 5th) and it got all bruised but it didn't stop me from doing my projects.  It began looking worse than it felt as it was only sore when I touched it and I know I didn't break any bones only blood vessels.  It swelled up and looked like I had a button under my skin (weird) but days later the bruising spread out and looked bad.  I was gonna take a pic of it and show you but, well, it was ugly and I figured you know what bruises look like and I didn't like looking at it and so you probably wouldn't either!  BUT just in case you were wondering it is greenish today!!!  After hitting my hand it made me mad, so I began hitting the end of the concrete piece with just the hammer to make it go faster and I broke the damn concrete thing about 5 inches instead of the 2" I planned on.  It worked out though and I'll show you my solution I came up with next week.  I got some of that concrete patch/sealant/calking type stuff in a tube to fix it the rest of the way, tomorrow.  That's it for now!

International Yarn Bombing Day!

You ask, "What is yarnbombing?"  It's where you take a yarn creation and apply it to something out in the world to make it prettier, softer and more colorful.  You could call it street art, yarn graffiti or random acts of knitting and crocheting.  Check out this website, yarnbombing.com for more info and this link explains how Int'l Yarn Bombing day began and this flickr page for more glorious pictures!

This Saturday June 11th, to celebrate and join in, take something you've made and put it outside for others to see and be a part of it!  I'm going to make some flowers and hearts to go around my car's antennae.  I don't have much time so I need to make a few things today and tomorrow morning and then have my car wear it while I drive down to my sis' tomorrow for her daughter's dance recital.

Here are some of my fav's that I stole from google images!

Wished I had known about this earlier so I could've found a group and contributed in a bigger way.  Why?  Just for the fun of it.  Happy yarnbombing day to you!!!!

Dirt Pictures

Hi!  Betcha read it dirty pictures????  Did ya?  Well I don't want to disappoint ya but it really is pics of dirt.  It's my yard, in fact it's where I need to plant all the potted plants that have been waiting to be put into their new home.

It seems I didn't get as much done as I would have liked over the last 3 day weekend but I did make progress.  I always think I'll get more done.  Is that beating myself up???  I got one side planted with the ivy geranium that I had dug up back in...I think it was, Jan. or Feb. before we removed the trees.  It took awhile to transplant them since there was a bunch of dead stems and leaves to remove.  I really hope they take over quickly so it fills in nicely and covers up the ugly cement like it used to do.  We still don't have a date to list the house yet.  It's a beautiful day out right now and tomorrow is supposed to be perfect so I plan to chisel away at the cement piece so it can fit like a puzzle back in it's place to edge the garden and then I can overturn the dirt and add some topsoil that I got from OSH and begin transplanting!

Over the years, the massive roots from the trees we took out, moved the concrete and I couldn't get it to fit so I need to chisel off about 2" or so and then it should fit!

OK, blogger is driving me crazy, it doesn't want to upload the pics to the post agggrrrrr!

Here is the one side that is all planted now with geranium, yeah!

I've been trying to create a pattern for a crochet daisy flower and I think I have it now so I hope to be able to post what I've been working on soon.  Gotta go before blogger raises my blood pressure!  

Hope you are all having a relaxing day and enjoying life!