Spring Flowers May 2019

Russell Hybrid Lupine

 Long time no see (me). This continues to be a crazy year at work, and I have been working 6 days a week for I think almost two months. It has left me little free time and energy to be posting here, but I have been spending as much time as possible with gardening and starting seeds when I can.

I continue to try new things, some I have success with more than others, but I am becoming a big believer in direct sowing some seeds outdoors because I can't always manage to get seedlings strong enough to handle transplanting.

One of the funniest things that happened this spring is that I got a bunch of volunteer Larkspur that came up in the flower bed in back. The plants that I had started from seed indoor last year didn't do that great in 2018, but they re-seeded themselves and came in better, stronger and taller than all of the ones that I planted last year.

The other plant that didn't do anything when I planted seeds last year were the blue Bachelor Buttons, and several of them came up this year. Mind you, both of these are annuals. Go figure!

Clematis

Russell Hybrid Lupine

Begonia

The Garden

Lupines

So it's obviously been a while since I posted on the blog, I mostly post on Instagram, it's easier from my phone. I have been over the moon with the garden this spring. Some of the things I planted late in 2016, or early in 2017 really came into their own this year.

The Lupines were planted last spring from seed, but I got started too late in the game for them to bloom at all last year, but I was okay with it knowing that the plants were gaining in size and healthy. They did not disappoint me and I was rewarded for my patience.

The Delphiniums are going gang-busters, growing at least a foot taller than they were last year. The mini Rainbow's End climbing roses have been the most spectacular transformation from last year. I got them as small, what I thought were bush roses, and they barely bloomed in 2017. My friend Marisa is who clued me in to the the fact that they were actually climbing roses, so I got the two trellises in the fall and holy cow, they are just covered in blooms this year. My camera doesn't even begin to capture their glory, they are truly stunning in person.

The story on the rhody is that it came from my landlord's son Andy, and we had no idea what color it was going to bloom until it did. Andy has his own lawncare/landscape business, and at the request of a homeowner, removed this older bush from their yard, and he gave it to my landlord's Susan and Lester to plant on the property line on the side of my house. We were all thrilled when it turned out to be these vivid violet blooms. 

I got the Clematis last year from Kent's Garden & Nursery and it really took off, and is going to fill in nicely. Susan and I scattered the poppy seeds around the big evergreen in the back and they are so bright and cheerful. The pink peony I planted last year is blooming right now, and got the Coral Charm peony at Joe's Garden's a month ago and only got one bloom, but I am hoping that it also does better in it's second year.

So there we are, this is pretty much my life now, spending as much time around the flower garden as I can, it's my little oasis, hanging out with the birds, the bees, the flowers and the kitties ♥

Rainbow's End Mini Rose

Foxglove

Rhododendron

Begonia

California Poppies

Clematis

Sarah Berndhart Peony

Coral Charm Peony

Happy Easter 2017

We had a pretty nice day today. It was good for me to have a relaxing day after working hard at home the last week or so, on top of a stressful two weeks at work.

I got two more everbearing strawberries to add to the three I got last summer. They really took a beating this winter, but I'm hoping they rebound.

I also got a Veronica "Georgia Blue" ground cover that I couldn't resist because of the color. I planted it in the corner near one of the rosebushes - we'll see how that works.

I'm so thrilled my Firespray tulips came up successfully - they did not disappoint. I also am really enjoying the Violets that were already here around the house. The colors are all beautiful!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A quick note wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day, now that it's almost over (long day for me). I started my day a few minutes early this morning to get a corned beef in the crock pot to greet me when I got home. I enjoyed that with some baby rainbow potatoes, including white, red and purple! It was all yummy, topped off with some Walker's Scottish Shortbread for dessert ☺

The quote above was from my co-worker Jen K. from the stand-up meeting at work this morning. I just finished watching "The Secret of Roan Inish" from John Sayles; one of my favorite directors, and one of my all time favorite films, to round out my day. Spring is in full swing here and we had a decent day today, I hope it warms up enough and stays dry long enough for me to mow the lawn soon, because it's a jungle out there!!

Spring Has Sprung in 2015

Every year I enjoy the unfolding of Spring. Yesterday I noticed Forsythia in full bloom in a couple of spots on my way home from work. That of course always makes me think of home and mom.

I haven't planted one here,  but I do appreciate it wherever I do see it in someone's yard. My Lilac is looking on track for late April and the rose bush in the backyard is leafing out too.

We have glorious sunshine today and I got out and took a walk back from the post office to enjoy it. I still feel bad for everyone stuck in the cold back East,  but I'm not going to let it stop me from enjoying the beautiful day we've got going here.

A Beautiful Day for Some Cheese Biscuits!

Cheese Biscuits

What a beautiful mild day we had today, high around 56 degrees and no rain - though parts of the surrounding yard still have puddles from yesterday.

I made the whipping cream biscuits with grated Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese to go with my salad for lunch; I threw in some Garlic Herb Bread seasoning from Spice Hunter, and OMG they were so good, they didn't even really need butter! I love that blend, and I have to admit the bottle is really old and I should get a new one, but I hadn't seen it in the local stores and wasn't even sure they still made it until I went online today.

Last Saturday Don & Susan, Tina, Naomi and Jo and I met up at Cafe Akroteri downtown for Greek food. At some point in the conversation I think it was Jo that said she had heard a frog already this month, and couldn't believe it given that it's still January. Well yesterday and today I heard one too, so it makes me wonder if we are going to have an early spring. I would really love that, even though we haven't really had a hard winter, it would still be nice.

May Flowers

The first Day Lily bloomed a few days ago,  in a week or so the front and south side of the house will be awash in orange. I love the color,  I wish the season for them lasted longer.

The snow ball bush is waning - it got a big push this morning when it absolutely poured and I came home to a blanket of white on the sidewalk out front.

I'm slowly starting to feel better each day in terms of my energy level.  It's been kind of frustrating having some beautiful weather this month that I was too sick to get out and enjoy it. Hopefully we will get the El Nino they are predicting and it will stay nice late into September.

Wet Weather and Beautiful Wood

Woody & Boo

It's hard to believe it's almost May. We have had rain every single day for the last week, but are supposed to get a complete turn around this week with it drying out and temperatures in the 70's. I'll be out there mowing in shorts again in a few days, woo hoo!

This weekend was definitely back and forth with the rain, and this afternoon after the last bout of showers, all the cats came in to nap, and Woody and Boo ended up curled up together in the big chair.

With the wet weather, but longer daylight hours I have been getting more sewing and needlepoint in. This weekend I put the collar on the blouse I am working on, and today made the buttonholes and sewed on the buttons. All I have left to do on it is sew on the sleeves and that will be done. The needlepoint is now about 80% done with some of the design and colors still being determined on the fly; but it's coming together.

I don't think I ever featured my dresser in the posts of furniture projects of the past. The dresser itself has a long history. It has a signature on the back and I decided today to try and find information online about it. The signature is Carder & Sons, Kalamazoo (my hometown). I couldn't find anything on Wikipedia, so I decided to Google it. And it brought up a book on Kalamazoo history, and it looks like that furniture company may have existed back in the 1880's. I pretty well knew it was over a 100 years old, and that is strong evidence of it.


It is a very solid and nicely built piece of oak furniture. My personal history with it started back in the early 1980's when my brother Mark gave it to me before he hitch-hiked out west. I had done an initial stripping of the really dark stain on it in the driveway back home, but it stayed in that rough condition until 2006.

There were two things that lead me to start the final refinishing of it; my neighbor Dave passing away, and coming across the decorative keyhole covers in the drawer of my secretary desk. I had figured I better take advantage of having the back deck to work on it while I still had the chance, thinking that I might have to move in the near future (that's where Dave comes in). Well, 8 years later, I'm still here and Dave's property is still up for sale. (This is the short version, the long version is too long).

The keyhole covers were my other
inspiration, because I really wanted to see them on the dresser after all those years. I love the curved upper drawers and curved top as well. My dad had gotten me the beautiful round brass knobs for Christmas one year back in the early 80's, and I found the pulls that complimented them in 2006. I do everything by hand, so it's a lot of elbow grease, but I totally love very minute of it. I use Homer Formby's Tung Oil, I like a natural finish where the beauty of the wood shows through.

The weather was good starting in April that year, so I went to it and got the dresser all sanded and refinished within about a month. I would go on to refinish 4 other pieces of furniture by October of that year. I was really on a roll, and the weather was good all summer.

Spring Flowers & Showers

When I went to the Barkley Haggen during the week these tulips immediately caught my eye as I was going in the main entrance. I love this color of flowers; this color combination is really pretty in parrot tulips also. It ended up raining pretty much all day today, but it does feel like the weather is shifting. We had day time highs in the mid to upper 50's this week, and tonight when I went to let Tom Cat in, I could hear a bunch of crickets chirping, that is a very good sign!

I just finished reading "Who Moved My Cheese" by Dr. Spencer Johnson a few days ago, and went through it again last night and today to write down the passages that stood out for me, and thoughts I had while reading it. I borrowed it from my supervisor Kelly. It is a book that she has recommended for all of us, because it has to do with change, which we are constantly going through.

At the strong urging of my friend Steve from Premier, I read "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by Sean Covey last fall. Even though it is geared toward teens, it's still appropriate for adults. It was helpful in reinforcing what I was already doing, but also helped me become more focused as well. I'm in a better mindset for setting goals, big and small.

At work starting in November I think, each month we have been pairing up and doing a Power Point presentation on each of the 7 Habits during our team meeting. It has been good to get the perspective of others and see what their take-away's were after they read the chapter. 

For March, Peggy & Lindsey presented the Habit: the Public & Private Victory. It is mostly to do with our relationships with others, but also reinforces that we ourselves have to come from a healthy place to be successful in our relationships with others. I thanked them both, because it was very thought provoking, and fit in with a big part of what I have been working on for myself. 

During the Christmas break I read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield and it was very helpful in helping me see how I was letting a lot of my emotional baggage and fears stop me from progressing. All of these books have been helpful in leading me forward.

Woody

Is Spring Around the Corner? and other stuff

I saw my first robin of the year when I was on my way home from work Friday afternoon, and have seen them several times since then. And really healthy round ones too! So despite the continued chill and a few very, very light snowflakes this afternoon, maybe things are going to turn around sooner than we thought.

I finally finished sewing the black wool skirt yesterday, and also stitched up another infinity scarf. I've been working on the needlepoint here and there in the evenings when I'm watching the tube, which was how it all began. For sewing now I am switching to the medium blue linen/cotton blouse for spring.

Nancy & Larry

The last time I talked to Nancy on the
phone I was telling her about the needlepoint project and other things that I had completed in the past, including a crib quilt for my nephew Ian 17 years ago. Nancy did the Cat's Meow cross-stitch featured near my blog bio picture. She and her husband Larry live in my hometown of Portage, a suburb of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

I'm not going to go into a long story about my dysfunctional family, but my nephew basically doesn't know me from a hole in the ground since my sister cut me out of her life 15 years ago when he was still a toddler. When she was pregnant with Ian I made a crib quilt as a baby shower gift from my own design. It was a lot of work, but I was really into it and thought it turned out nice.
















Melissa and I have had a difficult relationship our entire lives, and when I was about 3/4 of the way done with it, it dawned on me that she would not like or appreciate it. So I was pleasantly surprised when she called to thank me for it, and she sounded sincere. But in all the baby pictures she sent, that quilt was nowhere to be seen in any of them. To this day I wonder if she gave it away - which come to think of it probably would have been a good thing so that someone else could actually use it.

I pieced both the front and the back, and then hand quilted along the seam lines. That was a bit slow going because I wanted it to be on the seam both front and back. It took some time, but I think it was worth it.

It didn't capture very well in my picture, but I embroidered my "signature" on the back; Aunt P Productions. I got the nickname "P" from my brother Matt when I was young, and when his son Jake was born, I became Aunt P.

Happy Father's Day

All of my geraniums are blooming right now, including the small section I accidentally broke of of the ivy geranium in the hanging pot on the front porch.

At first I thought it was kind of a freak of nature that the color was different. Then I remembered I planted two different colors in one pot!

The day lilies are all blooming right now, I love them so much. I just wished that they lasted longer. I would love the yard to be a sea of color all summer long.

Summer

This is a complimentary funny meme to the one posted last week.

We actually had a decent day today except for the chilly breeze. And I ended up spending most of the day inside taking not one, but two naps because of my cold. I had a such a bad sinus headache virtually all day. I've got Vicks Vapo-rub all over my chest, and will be in bed within the hour. Cheers.

This 'n That

Tom Cat and the Snapdragons

Today was my first day of overtime this summer, and after I got home from work I potted these snapdragons.

So the story with these, is that they are, if I remember correctly, "dwarf" Snapdragons. At the end of the summer in 2011 they looked like goners, so I just took them out of the pot and threw them on top of the compost pile. The following spring they bloomed, but were still pretty small, and I just left them where they were. Then this spring, much to my surprise, they started to look pretty healthy, and much bigger.

They started to bloom this week. I hope that I didn't do too much damage in the process, but I extracted them from the compost pile and put them in this large pot. And they are definitely not dwarf now, they are at least two feet tall. I love these vivid colors. I hope they survive and bloom for awhile (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

First thing yesterday morning at work, we found out that our teammate Katie was burned out of her home Thursday night in Ferndale. Thankfully no one was hurt, but she and her two daughters and boyfriend are now in a hotel for who knows how long. We don't know how much of her belongings she was able to salvage. Something like that would be devastating to me. Thank goodness for the Red Cross stepping in to help.

Spring In The Pacific Northwest

Or this is how it feels sometimes when you are wearing your favorite turtleneck sweater and long pants with socks, and you realize it's June 3rd.....

Cat Sitting at the Next Best Place to the Museum

I cat sat Tucker & Jimi for Steve and Naomi this weekend. The boys enjoyed going out every afternoon for a little while.

We had such beautiful weather, and they went to Minnesota where it just snowed. But here's an ironic twist; I caught a head cold in our 75° temperatures!

There was a lot of activity downtown this weekend - and perfect weather for it all.

The flowers are some of their rhodies' in bloom.

Tucker

Jimi

Spring Flowers

Lilacs

Sweet Peas

I clipped one of the lilacs from the bush out front, and oh man, I love the aroma! I am so nostalgic every spring about lilacs, because of the one we had outside our front door back home in Kazoo. Smelling it every morning on
the way to school, and coming home. Ahh...







I finally got my Sweet Pea starts potted yesterday. It was interesting, the roots were actually poking through the bottom of the little peat pots I started them in, I don't remember seeing that last spring. I am hoping these do really well again this year, they are certainly off to a good start.

Sunshine in Bellingham

We are experiencing some beautiful weather here in Bellingham this weekend. It started mid week with some glorious sunshine and warm temperatures during the day, but still some cool nights.
I was online last night catching regional news, and saw this article in the Seattle P.I. about a school here in Bellingham that closed for sunshine yesterday.

I thought it was pretty comical and shows how much we love a sunny day in the spring. But I also liked how in touch the principal is with his inner child and wanted to give his students a day off to enjoy it. Here is the Bellingham Bay webcam.

This 'n That

Sweet Peas

Sweet Peas

I am so ready to plant my sweet peas, I just have to get some more potting soil. Our typical spring weather is so back and forth between cold/wet and sunny/warm; this weekend, wet of course.
I'm ready for it to be nice and work outside.







I have gotten a lot of my spring cleaning done and was doing more inside today. In between I took a power nap and Boo And Woody joined me. They were so sweet together, curled up and cozy ☺

Woody and Boo