Dang, It’s Gonna Be Cold.
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
This was from December 4, the neighbor girls made a very cute little snowman. It’s going to be cold enough that, were he still around, he’d be good for almost 2 days, instead of the 8 hours he was with us in December.
I hate the cold.
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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ December
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
Find more blogger’s blossoms at Carol’s place. She’s the inventor of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day.
Mini Roses enjoy the view from my sunny window.
Truth be told I don’t care for my house all that much. It’s old and desperately in need of updating. But, it has this bright, sunny window that always brings to my smile face.
In fact, that’s why I fell in love with the joint. That and the fact it is located across the road from a nature preserve that makes for some interesting sightseeing.
Paper Yellows
Paper Whites are ever so popular but I see too much white in winter. To get a job in my sunny window you need to be a warmer color. 
Giganto Amarylis!
I had big ideas for this place 7 years ago. A fixer upper! I was so excited. And, besides how hard could it be to fix up an old house?
Turns out, way too hard. I’m better at planting flowers than I am at pounding nails.
* I’ve got lots of indoor bloomers for GBBD, though they won’t be here for long. I’ve grown most of these little darlings for Christmas gifts.
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Almost Wordless Wednesday - December 16, 2009
Submitted by Ledge and Gardens Blog
Today I will be, hopefully, returning from an expedition to Nepal. I say ‘expedition’ because that is the correct term for a trip of this type. I am hoping to have pictures of interesting people, plants and landscapes and I offer this as an explanation for my recent lack of comments to those who take the time to read this blog.
I would also like to offer a sincere happy birthday to my baby brother who is turning fifty today. Happy Birthday Pat. Love, Layanee
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Jobs and Blessings
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
No, I’m not looking for a new job. In fact, I emailed my good boss the day I was coming home and told him that I hoped he could fit me in somewhere on the schedule, and before I got halfway between Victoria and Houston, he was calling my cell phone and asking if I was going to be able to be in Houston before 4pm, when we open. I had to stop by ‘Pup’s work and transfer the luggage I was carrying in the back of the truck into the van, but I made it.
My brother, however, is looking for a job. He needs to explore new careers, some that don’t involve a need to live with parents. He did have a very good job, once upon a time, in the insurance industry, but that has long since gone by the wayside.
I am very blessed. When I lost my ability to hold a full time teaching job, I found work as a tutor and a place to work that makes me happy every time I work there. Yes, I am indeed, blessed.
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Coming Home
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
I didn’t want to post this too soon, as we’ve been told we’re going home before, and it didn’t happen.. but.
I think we’re going home tomorrow.
Just in time for me to put the frost covers on my plants.
sigh.
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Maniacal Ovens and Spritz Cookies
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
If you bake one cookie this holiday season,make it a Spritz
Spritz, the yummiest of all the buttery little morsels, are made with a cookie press. If you’re a perfectionist, that should give ya fits.
It’s not so bad for me because we generally eat all the dough before the oven is preheated.
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For years, I suspected my oven hated me. It would bake too hot, or broil too cold. Friends accused me of being childish and immature for blaming the appliance.
Last year, that #!%*! oven decided to quit baking on December 23rd ~ so, we had to broil our Spritz Christmas cookies! They weren’t very pretty but they still tasted great.
Who’s crying now?
Sure, I could have recycled it. But, deep down, I knew it was possessed. So, I happily hauled that mean-spirited oven away to a place where it will never (ever!) be able to foil another baker’s plans.
Yummy Spritz Cookies
* If you can refrain from eating the cookie dough, this recipe makes 4 dozen.
1 cup butter
3 egg yolks
2.5 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to:
- Mix the butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour and mix by hand.
- Spoon into cookie press and press onto cookie sheets.
- Sprinkle with colored sugars. (Or, use red and green food coloring on smaller batches of the dough.)
- Bake @ 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes.
* Cookies require no recipe adjustments when baking at high altitude.
** Do not, under any circumstances, try to lighten up this delightfully high fat recipe! ['Tis the season to not fret about such things....]
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While I Was Napping…
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
I hope you’re not weary of my indoor roses. It’s all I’ve got growing right now!
I suppose this was bound to happen at some point. Not so much an ‘if’ as a ‘when.’ As in… when will I get socked with that nasty flu?
The happy ‘clutter’ in my kitchen window.
Not the ever popular H1N1. I’m referring to the [alleged] minor flu that’s been making the rounds in my neck of the woods.
My dear friend, Karen, was down with this flu and has been too ill to hike for over a month.
But, I never get sick! So, I wasn’t worried.
Though I did feel a little tired on Friday afternoon. So, I put on my cowgirl jammies… curled up on the couch…
… and, didn’t get out of those jammies until Monday morning!
When I crawled into bed it was autumn; when I woke it was winter.
Ripe for the pickings! Miniature Pomegranate Tree
Pay no attention to the filth in my sunny window. Recent studies have shown that all this dust helps my plants grow bigger and stronger!
(That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.)
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Tuna Haters To Die For Tuna Marinade
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
Hazel’s ZinniasOn Tuesdays, we round up the usual suspects and cook a special dinner. It’s not easy. There’s the 2 teenagers who prefer every meal be mac ‘n cheese. There’s a happy little carnivore who thinks bacon in mac ‘n cheese might be dee-lish.
And, then there’s the pescatarians. Fish lovers.
I hate fish. Truly, madly, deeply hate fish. Now I know what you’re thinking… certainly not salmon. Everybody loves salmon.
Indeed they do! I can’t begin to count the number of times people have invited me to dinner naturally assuming I would eat salmon.
More of Hazel’s Zinnias‘Twas salmon that inspired me to manifest my hatred of fish into a life threatening allergy. You see, if I tell people I don’t like fish then they’ll still expect me to eat it. “Oh, give it a try,” they exclaim. “You’ll love MY fish.”
But, if I tell them I have an allergy…
I will surely die if I eat your fish…
Then they’re lots nicer about the whole situation and typically cook up something truly palatable. Like a steak!
This charade worked out well for many years. Right up until my daughter decided to become a [cringe, shudder] pescatarian. Because she knows the truth about me and my fish allergies. She knows I’m a big, fat liar.
Happy Little Butterflies on Hazel’s ZinniasLast night, just to be nice to Lauren, I grilled tuna. I also made a big vat of potatoes and a (from scratch!) chocolate cake so normal people, like me, wouldn’t starve. But then something strange happened. It smelled so delicious that I took a little bite. And, it’s killing me to admit this but it wasn’t half bad…
Tuna Haters To Die For Tuna Marinade:
1 cup orange juice- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire
- 1/4 cup minced roasted garlic
- 4 tbs. crushed rosemary
Marinate 6 oz. tuna fillets for a couple of hours in this mixture. Grill fillets on very high heat, basting with the marinade. Then feed them to Bad Dog and go buy yourself a cheeseburger.
* Joking about the dog. This is a truly tasty recipe. If I like it, I imagine anyone would. I feel the same way about Hazel’s Zinnias.
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The beginning or the ‘End of the Line’? Wordless Wednesday - 11-11-09
Submitted by Ledge and Gardens Blog
Common milkweed - Asclepias syriaca
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Fix’er Up…
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
My sister is still working on getting her new house in a better condition. It’s a solid house, but needed a lot of work, after having been neglected for the past 10 to 15 years.
It was amazing how many of the original fixtures were still in the house. I think it must have been built as one of the “houses of the future” style homes from the 1960s. As such, it was high end for the time. Since then, the futuristic aspects have become quaint, but nonfunctional, and had to be replaced. Had it been me, I’d probably have tried to save a few of the quirks of the original kitchen, but modernizing only makes sense, and indeed…when you think about it…really keeps the original premise of “house of the future” alive better than keeping the non functional bits.
One of the rooms I do envy my sister is a kick ass laundry area that’s big enough to probably double as an office space or even craft area. I’d want to warm it up a bit, if I were going to make it a double use space, and not put in too many steel colored fixtures. I think I’d put in a deep, double sink near the washer, for hand washable clothing and for washing things that are just too big for any thing else. I miss having a sink like that.
I’d put in another little snack/wash up area as well. Some place to keep sodas cool and someplace with something like copper kitchen sinks, that would let me wash out brushes or just wash my hands. Copper would be warmer and prettier, if a little more expensive. After all, it’s not my house and I can day dream about what I’d do with a free pocketbook.
Dunno if my sister would agree, though. She’s more practical and less dreamy than I am.
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Dear Santa
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
Dear Santa,
Knowing that you are going to have a lot of demands on your hands for Christmas things this year, I’ll try to make my requests simple and few.
Okay.. at least…not complicated and not very many.
I’ll work on it!
First of all, I don’t want you to spend too much money on me. Things are probably tight for you, too, so I know you’ll be shopping for a sale with the same fervor and concentration the rest of us will be bringing this year’s shopping list. More thought, less cash on everyone. A tighter control on the budget and a smaller budget than last year, means that no one’s going to go too crazy over here, and I can see and appreciate your need for frugality as well.
So, my list is fairly short, so far.
We’ve been in correspondence for 42 years after all, ever since I learned how to write, so I know you expect at least three letters from me this year. By the way, say hi to the secretarial staff from me. I’ll be putting out an extra bag of cookies for you to take to them after you stop by. I hope the usual chocolate chip pecan cookies will be acceptable?
One thing I wanted to give you some lead time on was this garden seat.
It looks like this:
I appreciate its wider seat and fat wheels. When it gets muddy in my yard, I need the wider wheel base to help me scoot along.
You know I’ll be needing to spend a lot of time in my garden in the coming months, since I’ve been away from it so long, and still will be away for a few weeks.
I hope you can help me out with this, Santa! I’ve been a good (ish) girl this year, I think, and I’ll try to be even better in the next few weeks.
Hugs and kisses to the reindeer!
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Garlic - Allium sativuum
Submitted by Ledge and Gardens Blog
Fall may be the end of the growth cycle for most of the plants in the garden but it is just the beginning for garlic. That is one of the reasons why I have planted it in the past and again this fall. There is the reward of plunging one’s hands into the still warm earth to plant the individual cloves. Early spring brings its’ own delights as the green scapes emerge from the ground when all else is still in winter slumber. This weekend was a gardener’s dream. It was clear and in the 60’s . Perfect for many garden tasks and most certainly planting. Planting garlic is easy but preparing the bed after a good month or two of neglect will raise the sweat on one’s brow and provide a weekend workout on par with that of the best trainer.
Garlic likes a rich, loose, well drained soil which necessitates a good cleanup of debris, a new layer of compost and then the planting of the individual cloves. I sent away to Filaree Farm for a blend of garlic types. I planted four different types and even took the time to label
them which is something I have neglected to do in the past.
The three bulbs on the planting board planted about a twenty foot row. I highly recommend a planting board which makes the job of spacing easy since there is a notch every six inches. It also comes in handy for marking a row with the V shaped side. I digress so back to the garlic. Romanian Red is a Porcelain variety of garlic. I also received Chesnok Red, a Purple stripe variety, Killarney Red, a Rocambole variety and Silver White, a Silverskin variety. They each have a wonderfully written description reminiscent of the J. Peterman catalog which makes choosing one type difficult. I went for the variety pack. I hope to have a review of each next summer and the goal will be to save some bulbs for planting next fall. The final step was to add some mulch to the bed.
I used straw but this straw did seem to have some seed heads and that may be a problem next spring. Only time will tell. It was also the day to pull the last of the leeks, another member of the Allium family. One member at the end of its’ growth cycle and the other just beginning.
I think there will be a leek and potato soup on the table sometime this week. Bon appetite!
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XXL Micro Minis!
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
These great, big photos celebrate the tiniest flowers blooming in my sunny window:
That sweet little bud I discovered on Saturday has blossomed into a perfect micro-mini rose. Shown here, much bigger than life, she’s about the size of a quarter.
I was so very excited about my baby pinks that I didn’t notice the micro-mini yellow roses are also back in bloom. And, this one’s a biggie. Over an inch in diameter!
Cramped quarters. I’ve also got some white roses (just for you, Wunx!) living in the same pot as a very productive African Violet. It’s not, exactly, a match made in heaven but as soon as I get paid they’re both getting new homes…
Update on reprogramming the Belligerent Bella:
A 2-step backwards day. I did my homework. I watched the training dvds over the weekend and I even tried out a few techniques on Bad Dog . (All he did was howl.)
Bell wasted her weekend lolly gagging around the stables! She forgot everything. We accomplished nothing.
In fact, I’m so mad at her I thought I’d show you her worst photo instead another pretty one…
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Radiating Happiness
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
New bud on my indoor micro-mini roses. When fully opened, her flowers are about the size of a quarter.
I’m blessed (and a little bit cursed) with a very sunny house. So sunny the furniture fades and it’s hard to watch t.v. until the sun goes down.
Kalanchoes in desperate need of deadheading.
So super sunny I can grow small batches of pretty much anything indoors ~ including spinach and tomatoes.
But, I don’t. After the first experiment, determining that I could be practical and grow veggies…
One over-achieving Amaryllis bulb in my herd of future holiday gifts.
I went straight back to the thing that matters most: Bright, happy indoor flowers who keep me somewhat sane throughout the long, cold winter.
Update on reprogramming the beautiful Bella:
I have grudgingly accepted the rule that ‘you can begin gently, but you cannot stay gentle forever.’ Just so I’m crystal clear ~ that doesn’t mean harming, or frightening, B in any way, shape or form. More on the order of sticking up for myself so she doesn’t run over me anymore. I thought for sure she’d hate me because of this new authority, our relationship is so very fragile. Interesting, though, she seems to like me more than ever… I’m astonished at the progress we’ve made in one wonderful week.
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Buyer Beware
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
They all look the same, lounging in the field. But, they were bred for different purposes, so buyer beware…
Jack O’Lanterns were hybridized to ward off evil spirits and provide a riotous good time when you steal them from the neighbor’s porch and smash ‘em in the street.
Heirloom Variety Pie Pumpkins are prized for their firm texture and sweet flavor. (Jacks are bland and watery.) The best pie varieties are Small Sugar, Winter Luxury and Rouge Vif d’Etampes.
If you’re going to all the trouble* of making a pumpkin pie from scratch, you’re obviously a romantic. So, purchase a Rouge Vif d’Etampes. It was the prototype for Cinderella’s carriage and is sometimes sold as the Cinderella Pumpkin.
But, that means the time to make your pie just went from 4 hours to 4 months because you might have to grow this pumpkin yourself. I’ve never seen a supermarket sell anything but Small Sugars, though these are quite tasty, too.
Pie Pumpkins are good for more than just pie. Click here for a fabulous Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe with gingersnap cookie and pecan crust!
* Canned pumpkin purée is one of the few items where canned product quality is about equal to fresh - though I’ve found NO documented cases where a can of pumpkin purée warded off evil spirits with any success.
* Rouge Vif d’Etampes means Deep, Red Pumpkin - which is a little misleading, since it’s red/orange. Oh, how the French love to toy with anyone who can’t speak the language…
* Buy seeds from Burpee - they invented this pumpkin, back in 1883.
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Hell’s Half Acre
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
Yes, it’s snowing.
Yes, that’s early.
Yes, I’m none too thrilled.
Yes, that’s early.
Yes, I’m none too thrilled.
Was trying to be kind to a California Gardener this a.m. asking about high altitude gardening. Perhaps I should have just sent him this photo.
I’m not sure what I enjoy more ~ Gardening. Or, complaining about my garden.
Question: What’s your growing zone?
A: Zones? What zones?
We don’t need no freakin’ zones!
(Not indoors anyway.)
A: Zones? What zones?
We don’t need no freakin’ zones!
(Not indoors anyway.)
Such troubles are bound to happen when you evolve into a gardener vs. being one of those rare individuals who had a lifelong plan and followed a logical path to achieve it.
You know the type… they search high and low for perfection before making a commitment. They scan the horizon, authoritatively place hands on hips, and finally proclaim: Now this spot… Right here… this would be ideal for a garden.
As opposed to me. Who spotted a house with lots of sun and a pretty view, saw that my horses could live right down the road and happily announced: Works for me!
Q: Soil conditions?
A:
√ Slow to drain
√ Slow to warm
√ Like concrete in the summertime!
(If that’s music to your ears, you’re stuck with clay soil, too.)
A:
√ Slow to drain
√ Slow to warm
√ Like concrete in the summertime!
(If that’s music to your ears, you’re stuck with clay soil, too.)
I wonder… If I lived in a hospitable area where I had nothing to complain about… Whatever would I do to pass the time?
PS: I wanted to to paint you a happier picture, Steve, so, this last photo is for you. During the five, blissful months that we do have summer, it is a glorious summer, indeed.
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Pink Tuesday
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
Doubtful I could endure winter without the happy blooms of Alstroemeria.
Or, pink Cyclamen gracing my indoor garden.
Yeah, yeah. I know it’s still October but the weather never lies.
In the midst of a winter snowstorm here, today.
Windowsill African Violets don’t seem to mind…
Look closely.Ms. African Violet’s kid sister is hiding somewhere in this photo.
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Living Large
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
If I had a billion, ca-zillion dollars, I think I’d have a lot of homes a lot of different places. Not all of them would be houses… in fact, after visiting Chicago this last summer, I’ve come to realize that it is a very livable city…in the summer.
The winter is a whole ‘nother proposition.
I think I could, like the Omnibabe, live in one of the innumerable Chicago apartments the city has to offer. I had so much fun, and there was so much else to see and experience, I wouldn’t mind staying there for a month or two at a time…especially when Texas is in the 100’s.
Heck.. it would take that long just to see all the different gardens the city has to offer.
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Home Away From Home
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
While my mom is here in Victoria, we’re renting a room in an extended stay hotel. It’s a nice suite, with a full sized refrigerator and a stove top, microwave, and dish washer. The fridge has an ice maker and is nice, though I do rather wish it were equipped with refrigerator water filters , as the ice is kind of cloudy. The water tastes okay, so it’s not too bad.
We’re basically hot bunking the two beds, with the three of us taking turns with my mom. It was just my brother and I this weekend, but we’re being joined by my niece in law tonight.
In a spirit of the One Dang Thing After Another theme which has become my mom’s life…she now has shingles. Oh. Joy.
They gown up and take precautions going in and out of the room, but the nurses here are, for the most part, nice, considerate and gentle. The exceptions..well.. we’re learning which ones to watch out for.
It’s my mom’s birthday today, and instead of having some quiet celebrations (well, relatively quiet… as the grands and great grands were to be involved), she got to start a new medication, is in a lot more pain and in increasing despair. A lot of our job now is to keep her spirits up and calm her fears.
I’m taking at least this next week off of work. ‘Pup came down today and brought me more clothes and all my meds, so I’m ready.
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Climbing hydrangea, Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris
Submitted by Ledge and Gardens Blog
I have written about this plant in the past. It is a charmer in flower and the foliage is nice enough most of the rest of the year. The leaves are rounded ovals with a slight serration and a dark green, glossy appearance. This vine is hardy from zones 4-7 and originates from China. It attaches itself to trees, walls and structures with rootlike holders. It is a bit slow to establish but will grow in sun or partial shade. I have seen no evidence of pest problems.
The vine sends out shoots from the main stem and this gives this plant a more interesting, three dimensional appearance. What I have failed to notice in past season’s is the fact that this plant turns bright yellow in the fall. It is a column of light in the garden.
This fall, foliage colors were not as bright as past years with the exception of this plant. Is it because it has more color or that the lack of real punch this year leaves one to appreciate that which has been there all along but gone unnoticed? It is not just my plant which has such bright coloration.
I noticed that the one planted at my sister’s is just as bright. I will pay attention to it next year to see if this color is an anomaly or if it has always been this yellow. You will remind me if I forget won’t you?
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iCameras and My Discomfort Zone
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
If I’d had my wits about me, we would have hiked in lower elevations to enjoy the last of the lovely weather.
Enough with the music already. Isn’t it about time Apple invented the iCamera? As in a tiny contact lens I wear in my eye? All I gotta do is blink… to capture the world around me. [Simply plug the digital camera cable into your ear to retrieve the data.]
Now that’s a convenient piece of technology I could get my head around.
What we discovered while hiking Guardsman Pass was enough to make a grown gardener cry.
Doubtful even a fancy gadget like the iCamera would have lit my fire on last week’s Friday Afternoon (hiking) Club when I took 2 - as opposed to my usual 200 - photos.
That’s because we encountered snow.
Snow.
This, of course, had Bad Dog delighted. And, I’ll admit I was thrilled to finally have a witness to his insanity. He likes to lay on his back and slide, head first, down snowy hills. (Just like this cute pup!)
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Summer, it seems, went by in a blink. The shoes are off the horses. The blooms are off the rose.
With this being possibly, probably the last of the gorgeous late Autumn days I’m worried…
With winter a comin’
and, the weather a drizzlin’
Whatever shall I do?
and, the weather a drizzlin’
Whatever shall I do?
I need a hobby. A goal. A plan! A purpose! Or, at the very least, a ticket to New Zealand.
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Leaf Peeping in City Creek Canyon
Submitted by High Altitude Gardening Blog
Last week’s Friday Afternoon [Hiking] Club took us along a civilized route in the Salt Lake City valley.
Few trees have shed their leaves in my neck of the woods. But, that’s mostly because Park City doesn’t have any ‘woods.’
I sometimes miss the majestic deciduous trees we find in the valley.
Those big old trees who carpet our trail with crunchy sound effects, providing a colorful canopy for autumn adventures.
Which is why I’m glad this trail is only a hop, skip and a jump from my door.
Now if only we could figure out how to hike City Creek from bottom to top, without screwing up.
Everybody else seems perfectly capable of doing this. Not sure why it’s beyond our level of comprehension.
Though I did have to laugh when we hit the same dead end to our trail as we did last year. That’s when it all started coming back to me.
So, we waded across the creek to a different trail ~ just like we did last year…
New Do!
In honor of leaf peeping, it being my birthday, and… perhaps the beginning of [yet another] midlife crisis… I dyed my blonde locks to match the fall foliage.
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