Monday, June 27, 2011
summer gardens
In addition to the sunflowers gracing my gardens this summer, and despite the drought Atlanta is experiencing (really, you should watch the radar as the huge storm clouds dissipate when they reach the city) there is much in bloom around here.
Friday, June 24, 2011
mixed bag
In the spring, under our bird feeder, I encountered this:
This is a clump of chives, with oregano showing a bit on the left lower corner and grass and weeds outside the black border on the right. The leaves around the chives are the ones I noticed. The mulch here is almost entirely sunflower seed hulls. I pulled out most of the sprouts, but unlike most years, I decided to leave a couple to see how they'd do.
And how did they do? See for yourself:
More sprouts showed up on the other side of the house, far from any birdfeeder. Perhaps there was a nest above and seeds were spilled? These are from my front yard woodlands, where the cut trees are offering sunshine to the area for the first time:
All are different from the others, some with yellow centers, others brown or black. A few in the front yard are six feet tall. Two out there have multiple blooms on one stalk (and are too heavy to stand up on their own!)
Thank you, birds! (and/or squirrels)
This is a clump of chives, with oregano showing a bit on the left lower corner and grass and weeds outside the black border on the right. The leaves around the chives are the ones I noticed. The mulch here is almost entirely sunflower seed hulls. I pulled out most of the sprouts, but unlike most years, I decided to leave a couple to see how they'd do.
And how did they do? See for yourself:
More sprouts showed up on the other side of the house, far from any birdfeeder. Perhaps there was a nest above and seeds were spilled? These are from my front yard woodlands, where the cut trees are offering sunshine to the area for the first time:
All are different from the others, some with yellow centers, others brown or black. A few in the front yard are six feet tall. Two out there have multiple blooms on one stalk (and are too heavy to stand up on their own!)
Thank you, birds! (and/or squirrels)
Thursday, June 16, 2011
after "nothing"
I suppose I should stop doing "nothing" and catch up here!
Kids: Both boys are on the swim team. They swim two mornings and two evenings a week, but it hardly cuts into our day at all. We spend a few hours at the pool most afternoons regardless. Saturday is the first swim meet of the season, and far across town first thing in the morning. Hopefully it will go swimmingly!
I have pulled back on my involvement in the organization of this group and it is surviving happily without me. This is good for all of us.
Garden: The rain in the rest of the country makes me feel guilty when I complain, but last night it rained for the first time in two months. The ground is cracking and only the hardy will survive. I save the dishwater for the pots outside and water the rest irregularly. There are a few tomatoes ripening on Pook's tomato plant ("Sweet Millions" cherry tomato) and many green fruits on Bug's plant ("Sungold" grape tomato). CD's slicer tomato is becoming a huge plant but has not set flowers yet. My cooking tomato plant looks pathetic and unloved, yet has received the same treatment as those of the boys.
Purple coneflowers, golden coneflowers, and two types of daisies are happily filling my sidewalk "summer garden" beds. The daylilies are cheerful down by the mailbox, with feverfew beginning to intermingle in a wonderful combination. The chrysanthemums in my "fall garden" are already opening too-- everything is a few weeks earlier than normal. If I can keep it all alive in this August style heat it will look wonderful in the fall.
Me: I have been continuing physical therapy for my foot and shoulder. The challenge, the foot, has become a wonderfully solved mystery. The pain is a "scraping nerve" in my hip, and some simple exercises are relieving the foot of all pain and most of the problem up my leg too. The simple problem, the shoulder, became the difficult one. Four weeks of PT made it worse. A cortisone shot did little and several more weeks of PT made it yet worse. An MRI on Wednesday is diagnosing it as "tendonosis" or chronic inflammation of the rotator cuff as well as some arthritis in the ball and socket. I'm supposed to schedule an appointment for a Lidocaine shot under ultrasound for further diagnosis. If I knew what that was all about I would explain further.
Travel: I finally made CD help me pin down our route to Yellowstone. The grand plan includes:
Kids: Both boys are on the swim team. They swim two mornings and two evenings a week, but it hardly cuts into our day at all. We spend a few hours at the pool most afternoons regardless. Saturday is the first swim meet of the season, and far across town first thing in the morning. Hopefully it will go swimmingly!
I have pulled back on my involvement in the organization of this group and it is surviving happily without me. This is good for all of us.
Garden: The rain in the rest of the country makes me feel guilty when I complain, but last night it rained for the first time in two months. The ground is cracking and only the hardy will survive. I save the dishwater for the pots outside and water the rest irregularly. There are a few tomatoes ripening on Pook's tomato plant ("Sweet Millions" cherry tomato) and many green fruits on Bug's plant ("Sungold" grape tomato). CD's slicer tomato is becoming a huge plant but has not set flowers yet. My cooking tomato plant looks pathetic and unloved, yet has received the same treatment as those of the boys.
Purple coneflowers, golden coneflowers, and two types of daisies are happily filling my sidewalk "summer garden" beds. The daylilies are cheerful down by the mailbox, with feverfew beginning to intermingle in a wonderful combination. The chrysanthemums in my "fall garden" are already opening too-- everything is a few weeks earlier than normal. If I can keep it all alive in this August style heat it will look wonderful in the fall.
Me: I have been continuing physical therapy for my foot and shoulder. The challenge, the foot, has become a wonderfully solved mystery. The pain is a "scraping nerve" in my hip, and some simple exercises are relieving the foot of all pain and most of the problem up my leg too. The simple problem, the shoulder, became the difficult one. Four weeks of PT made it worse. A cortisone shot did little and several more weeks of PT made it yet worse. An MRI on Wednesday is diagnosing it as "tendonosis" or chronic inflammation of the rotator cuff as well as some arthritis in the ball and socket. I'm supposed to schedule an appointment for a Lidocaine shot under ultrasound for further diagnosis. If I knew what that was all about I would explain further.
Travel: I finally made CD help me pin down our route to Yellowstone. The grand plan includes:
- Atlanta GA - Nashville TN
- Nashville TN - Columbia MO via St. Louis
- Columbia MO - Lincoln NE to see my cousin Les
- Lincoln NE - Rapid City SD
- Rapid City SD - Cody WY via Mt. Rushmore
- Cody WY -West Yellowstone MT for five nights
- West Yellowstone MT - Green River WY via Tetons
- Green River WY - Grand Junction CO
- Grand Junction CO - Mesa Verde CO via... Mesa Verde
- Mesa Verde CO - Fort Worth TX
- Fort Worth TX - Jackson MS
- Jackson MS - Atlanta GA
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