Happy Thursday - Almost Friday

I got some rain!!! Did you see me jumping for joy? I did. It rained for 3 days and I guess I received about 5-6" of rain. The grass is greener and the flowers are happier. But you know what that means - WEEDS - again. I'll take the weeds over seeing the plants struggling any day.

Love the cannas. The plants get so big and the blooms are even bigger (or so it seems).

I am loving the Sun Cherry Zinnias. So far the plants are not too tall either - maybe 24-30" which is just right in my opinion.

I believe the seeds for this zinnia came from Lona. It would be Zinnia Starlight Rose.

This is a problem I have with zinnias every year. They fall over and a gust of wind comes up and over they go. I guess I could put the tomato baskets in the garden but I hate the wire cages in a flower garden. What do you do when yours fall over?

The tomato plants are loaded. Notice the extra amount of foliage on the tomato plants. The person who planted them decided that they needed a lot of tomato fertilizer. An entire bag, 1.5#, of tomato fertilizer was applied over 5 weeks. I actually thought they would die but it caused the stalks on the plants to be enormous.

Wind damage.

The cages are leaning now. Oh well we have more tomatos than will be eat at my house.

 On Saturday and Sunday it rained all day so I cooked up some good pasta salad and soup.

I added some cheese cubes to the salad and it was very good.

Cheeseburger Soup is so good. This is the first time I've made it and it won't be the last. I loved it.

Here is where I found the recipe.

http://thebetterbaker.blogspot.com/2011/03/slow-cooker-cheeseburger-soup.html

I used a little white pepper jack velveeta on the top for garnish and pickle relish and bacon. I did not cook the Weight Watchers version. I'm looking forward to this again.

Hope a nice weekend.

Pretty Blooms

Hey everybody - I'm still here. I know you wondered when I'd share some more of my pretty blooms. I have a few blooms to share today. I have to get a new memory card for the camera so I can take more pics. This time of year the gardens are busy. There is lots to do but we have been extremely dry lately. I run the sprinkler for 3-4 hours each day moving it around to each garden area. This is fine for a while but they really need water from the sky.

Someone must have given me seeds for this echinacea. I do not know where it came from. Last year I put out seeds but had no luck with them. This year they are doing really well. I did plant some echinacea pink parosol but the bloom on it has not opened yet. Is this Purpea?

Cosmos Happy Ring is doing well.

Foxglove

Endless Summer. Hope to get more blooms here. The flower is as big as the plant so I am hoping for some growth on the plant.

I'm sorry but I do not remember the name of this one. I believe it is suppose to be purple but it is like a strawberry color.

Love the huge blooms on the cannas.

I was lucky to get this little rain shower last Thur and Friday morning. However when I went out on Friday afternoon to do some weeding I discovered the ground to be extremely dry just below the wet surface. I need RAIN. Actually a tropical system would be nice. Not a storm but just the rain produced by a tropical system.



I am so ready to overhaul a couple of my gardens. This time of year I see the empty spaces and some overgrown plants in places where I would prefer a more tame or smaller plants. I was thinking of moving some plants such as shasta daisy's, salvia, mums and butterfly bush. Wish I could move the daffodils but I'm sure this is not the time. Do you feel this way when your plants are blooming and not doing exactly what you want them to do in the area they occupy? It's kinda like re-arranging furniture I suppose.... 

I'm going to go plant shopping again. I believe there are new arrivals calling my name. Can you hear it?

A Little This n That

Good morning blogger buddies. I found a few things blooming this morning. It is cloudy and it is morning and I was shaking while taking these so I hope I don't hurt your eyes too bad.

I am surprised at some of the things in bloom right now. I don't remember my canna's blooming this time of year. I appreciate it though because the yellow adds a lovely bright spot in the garden.

Osteoporum (sp?) has only a few blooms. I suppose I should douse everything with some fertilizer.

Love these begonias. They bloom freely throughout the season taking a break during the hottest periods.

Ya'll I picked the best out of pics. This one is horrible blurry. The buddlei is blooming well. I forget which one this is.

Red verbena laying on the ground and hardly any leaves.

Mums.

Bougainvilla blooming again.

Pulled this old bed out of the shed this weekend. Originally I had thought I would sand it down and use it in a bedroom. Now I'm thinking I want to put it in a garden. It is extremely heavy and the iron is thick. It's not real fancy but I like it. I'm not sure how it will stand in the garden since it is so heavy. It may need to be anchored somehow. I also like it leaning against the tree. I'm planning to let vines run it. Of course you see there is a footboard and I'm thinking it may not be so hazardous to use it in a garden if I can bury enough of it.

I spent my time in the kitchen this weekend. I baked some apples, brownies and banana bread and cookies. Didn't get a pic of the brownies or apples. Oh well sometimes you just have to dive in before you think of the camera.

Perfect bottoms on my cookies. Just the right amount of crunch. You can get the recipe here http://beccascookingspot.blogspot.com/search/label/cookies

Here I have bagged everything to give away (except the apples - they were all mine).

I love baking and love to share. I got this idea I've had for as long as I can remember - it is to bake/cook for a cafe or bake shop - rather to own my own place. I am getting ready to put myself out there and see where this may go with selling my baked goods. My ideas for an avenue include online site, flea markets, festivals and flyers. Down the road perhaps to have a permanent location. The town I live in does not have a bakery so that is wide open right now. I do not decorate cakes as that is my sisters specialty and she is definately good at it. As I said I've thought of this for a long time and possibly working my way towards that goal. Still thinking though. Sure could use the extra money too.

Hope you all have a great day. It is hump day so counting down to the weekend.

By Ivan - Welcome Kitty

Good FRIDAY morning everybody. Not much going on here thus the lack of posts. We are having some gorgeous fall weather. We had some cooler weather move in last week and we are in the seasonable range of the low 80's and low 60's at night. It just makes me feel good when the seasons change.

I know that I introduced ya'll to Ivan the dog two weeks ago. Well Ivan didn't make it in my home. He was a very good dog but I was too worried about him visiting the neighbors too much. Plus he wouldn't stay out of my gardens. I work too hard on the gardens to let a dog tramp through it all the time.

The Kitty may or may not work out. I'll have to see with the neighbor. But still she'll be confused too... I just don't know. But she sure is cute and cute with Buddy.

Well I'm trying this sweet little one out here. She is about 3 months old. The kitten belongs to my neighbor but she has taken a liking to Buddy. She got to the point that she would come up to him, even though Buddy is barking and just want to love on him. Well I took a liking to Kitty. If she likes Buddy then I like her too.

The kittens were so bony and underfed. I hate this about my neighbor and I am gonna have to say something soon. Neighbor has 4 cats and 3 dogs and none are fed well and I know none have ever had shots.

I'm trying her out in the house and have already checked with the vet if I decide to keep her and get her shots. After feeding her for a week while she went back and forth next door she is fattening up nicely. A plump little thing now. Buddy and Kitty are here nose to nose. I love it. I let her stay indoors last night. By the way the neighbor doesn't miss her so I knew it would be OK.

She is beautiful and has some nice markings on her. She answers to Kitty so I will call her Kitty.

Found a few blooms this morning.

I told ya'll I don't do pansy's well. There is only one live plant out of 6 here.

 

Wish all the pansy's would have lived - oh well.

Help me out here. This thing is big and it is heavy. It is made of clay and came from Mexico 30 or so years ago. I have no place for it inside and it doesn't go with anything I have. I had an idea of placing it in a garden but I'm afraid that the clay would disintegrate. Any ideas? Maybe I should just take it to Goodwill. What do you think? What would you do with it?

I thought I'd taken a more recent photo of the dead Rose of Sharon I transplanted 3 weeks ago. It didn't make it. Sad face.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I bet there are lots of fall festivals or sorts going on this time of year.



A Couple of Blooms

I was thrilled when I saw these two butterflies on the pentas and ran and got the camera and they were still there. Yea! They come and go so quick. Actually the pentas are the happiest of all the flowers. Not many blooms going on this time of year and the ones that are there are so sad and puny looking. We have had a lot of dry spells this year and it hasn't rained in quite a while.

I'm getting ready to place my seed order and maybe a couple of plants too. My goal is to plan for blooms throughout the seasons. I have to admit my planning for this year wasn't what it was the previous year and my gardens are showing it too.

This sweet canna is one that was hiding when I moved them this year. I'm glad that it did. It adds a bright spot in the garden.

Check out the black widow found in the shop at the office. Could have come here in some equipment. No matter how he got here it is frightening. This is my first time to see one. I don't know how the guys got it in the bottle and didn't get bit. I wouldn't have done anything like that - I would have stomped it to death. Check out it's hour glass on the belly. A perfect hour glass. I take that to mean you only have hours to live if bitten. 

I have been very busy at work these days and that is a good thing. It means that business is picking up. It also means that I have less time to blog and visit and work is more important. I still haven't replaced my home computer. I'll be by to visit as I can.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.