Life's a Journey

Well - the Dirt Princess shared last week about her journey vs destination. Life is a journey. Dirt Princess has challenged us to share our journey. Here is mine.

This is one of the many ponds I pass along the way to work. I drive 17 miles one way to work each day. That's not far is it.
This barn looking place is a carpenters stand where he makes wooden swings, bird houses and picnic tables.

This is the Welcome To Citronelle sign.

You can spot a walker here. This is right off of where I live. The center is a walking/biking trail. Well it's not exactly a trail - it is where the train came into town to deliver goods and when the tracks were taken up a walking/riding trek was made and lined with trees on each side. The trek is paved and runs in between 2 roads.

A nice older home I pass by.

An antiques shop.

This is a fine home on a huge stretch of land.

This is another pond I pass by.

This is the end of my journey.

Now - in my yard...
The peach's are coming along. So are the pears and blueberries but I have not shot a new photo of them yet.

This is a spot where I have planted some ferns I received from the Dirt Princess and I planted some hostas and caladiums too. This area - I will plant many more hostas and caladium and coleus and some flowering plants.

This past weekend I planted squash and different bell peppers and jalapeno. So far 20 plants in all. This weekend I'll plant the seeds. Now I need to pick up some tomatos, cucumbers, and melons to round out my Victory Garden.

This is a new photo of my Mom's amyrillis. This thing has 5 flowers bloomed all at once. Beautiful.

That's it for my show today. Life is a journey - enjoy it.

Wordless Wednesday

The peach trees.

Any Ideas about Animals In My Garden?

HELP! I expect I'll be having some problems with critters in my vegetable garden. There are rabbits, deer, foxes and honey bears. Anyone with any ideas to deter the critters without harming them or catching them. HELP!

The Three Stooges

These are the three little ones doing a nature study of some bug. This where I plan to be this weekend. Can't wait to see my daughter and family.

Hope everyone has a great spring day.

What I Found In The Shed

I was able to take some time away from the numbers I crunch everyday to have some me time. Yes you guessed it - I did some garden work. I also took the time to visit my Mom and Pop. This is what she had blooming. I do not know the name of this amaryllis - but I thought it was worth a picture to share. Mother has at least 20 rose bushes and none are in bloom yet. Can't wait to share those with everyone.


This is an old workshelf I found in the shed out back. It was waiting to be thrown into the trash. I felt it deserved rescuing. It works out well for a potting table.


This is another piece I dug out of the shed. This is a really neat chair. It is iron and is small like a very small high chair. Not sure - but I think it looks nice in the garden.

This is what I worked on yesterday during my time off. This bed had to be extended and I found more rocks to lay around the perimeter. The flowers in this bed are doing very well. The rest of the bed will be used for a container garden since I ran up on some underground plumbing here.

This is what I did this past weekend. The vegetable garden is raked and rows placed. I think that my area is about 25x50. I will be planting the first weekend in April according to the almanac and the moon.

I had a great "work release" yesterday. This weekend I'll be visiting my daughter, hubby and grandchildren.

First Day of Spring

On the first day of spring this is what I have to look at from my office window. The bluest skies. Just makes it hard to concentrate today especially being today is Friday too. The birds are singing the sweetest tune this morning - sounded like "tweet tweet I'm so glad today is spring tweet".

This the first little peach coming alive here. This tree is Georgia Peach. Can't wait for the first fuzzy juicy bite.

Well - this is something that I really hadn't planned on but will be much appreciated this summer. My Pop came up on Wednesday while I was working and tilled me a vegatable garden. As you can see the area will be quite a job for a single person and more than a plenty of food.

This is what I'll be planting: red potatos, snap beans, white beans, purple hull peas, okra, squash, tomatos, cucumbers, radishes and maybe a couple of other things I can up with.

In Mobile this weekend will be the Mobile Botanical Gardens Annual Sale and I sure do want to go. Maybe I can squeeze out some time and if so I'll get pictures and some new babies to plant.

Hope everyone has a splendid weekend and has plenty of nice weather.

My little "Buddy" was dropped off this morning at the Vet's office to get fixed today. He'll be there till morning and I sure am going to miss him tonight. Such a sweet little fellow.

Putting in the Seed

Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. How love burns through the putting in the seed on through the watching for that early birth when, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, the sturdy seedling with arched body comes shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.
by Robert Frost

A Tree

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. bySaint Basil

My New Camera

This is my pal. He gets hung up at the edge of the woods - looking for anything.

I love this bridal wreath.

The blueberries are coming along.

I am not sure what this rose is called. It is one of the few growing here and there on the property.

This bed is going to require some work. The gladiolas and dinner plate dahlias must be moved. The 3-4" of rain this weekend wreaked havoc in the back of this bed.

Rainy Monday

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. By Langston Hughes

The Flowers are Ordered

After much thought I decided to break down and order my first plants from Springhill Nursery. I just had to take advantage of the $25 coupon. I ordered only the ones that were buy one and get one for a penny, so I feel like I got a good buy. Here is what I ordered: Royal Purple Hydrangea, Double Decker Coneflower, Crazy Daisy, Yellow Perfection Viola, Johnsons Blue Hardy Geranium, and Homestead Purple Verbena. That's a lot. Not expected to ship until mid April so I have plenty of time to get the bed ready. This will be a showy display.

Babies in the Garden

I have babies coming up in my garden. I planted the glads and dahlia's on Sunday and they have begun their journey to the light. I am so glad. I also added a few plants on Mon too. I added begonia, dianthus and another lantana.

Blooming Colors

Everything is blooming most recklessly: if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking in the heart of the night.
By Rainer Maria Rilke

Nature

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the Glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet. by Thomas Merton

First Garden

The weekend was awsome here on the Gulf Coast. With temps in the upper 70's, there were people taking in the sun on the beaches and in the gardens. I managed to get a move on doing some much needed outdoor work in the yard and garden. What a chore it was for this old lady - I dug me a flower bed and I mean dug. The grass was thick in the area out the back door along the backside of the house. This would be the south side of the house and receives an abundance of sun of least 7 hours. The dirt was rich black like blackgold, so I didn't need to add any amendants to the soil.

This is what I planted: gladiolas mixed colors, dahlia "Seattle"1-yellow/white and 1-deep red/white "Mystery Day", small dahlia "Blusette Pink", Mexican Heather, lantana's, ranuculus, and petunias. I believe this will yield me a very colorful garden.


All about the rest of the yard, the peach tree is covered in gorgeous pink blooms. The pear tree is full of white blooms and elsewhere in the yard the blueberries are blooming. I have a couple of flowering trees that I am not sure what they are so I am going to check them out.

The Fabulous Azalea

Well it's the day before Friday and I am ready for Friday. I have been wracking my brain for some good stuff to write about since my yard is so desolate right now. The Azalea. A lot can be said for the azalea. It is resiliant, requires little or no maintenance and can grow in less than full sun. Mobile Alabama is know for its azaleas and the azalea trail and of course the Azalea Trail Maids. Mobile is the "Azalea City". And of course I have 4 azaleas growing (I know that isn't many-more are coming) and very much in bloom right now. The azalea will be in bloom for at least another 4 weeks maybe longer as some areas are just starting to bloom. The azalea is an indispensable part of the city's character.

The azalea is an oriental plant and was first imported to Mobile in the 1920s to create a tourist attraction. A local Mobile business man, Sam Lackland spearheaded the effort in 1929 to plant these shrubs along the local streets. As a means to encourage citizens to plant them, locas gas stations gave the plants away with a tank of gas. After a few years the streets were lined with azaleas. The area came to be known as the Azalea Trail and the streets were painted with a pink line as it followed through the trail. Thousands of tourist flock to the city this time of year to view these beauties. The azalea comes in many colors. In the 1950's a hybrid was born that would grow in the northern states. Bellingrath Gardens is a beautiful place to visit and has thousands of azaleas.