Just Because

This is an overhead shot of my geranium plants in the garden. As you can see, one little flower is blooming and there are other ones getting ready.

For as long as I can remember, we always had geraniums in pots during the summer. My mother was not a gardener, but when summer came, there were always geraniums in pots on the porch. They were usually red, and I'm not sure if that's because my mom liked the red best, or if there wasn't really any choice where she got them.

Anyway, to me it's not right to NOT have at least one geranium for the summer. A couple of years ago, I bought one and put it in a pot with another plant whose name escapes me and placed it on our front stoop. It looked so lovely. Apparently *so* lovely that someone else just had to have it ...

Now the geraniums (well, all the plants really) stay in the garden, which is enclosed. This year, I bought a pink one and a red one, and then got home to realize I didn't have two pots. Now you need to understand that, when I am ready to do something like plant/pot/whatever, it has to happen THEN. So both plants got put into a larger pot, and at least so far, all is well.

Every year when I buy a geranium or two, The Tim says, "I don't undertand why you buy those. I mean, they're nice, but yours never last into the fall or beyond, even when you bring them inside to take care of them." 

Silly boy. Apparently he had a deprived childhood. 

Because everyone (well, me) knows that if it's summer, you have to have a geranium in a pot to make you smile. 

Have a good weekend. 😊

We'll See What Happens Next Spring

Remember my story about Paulie Walnuts, Jr. and the gang coming to demolish our collapsed planter in front of our house? Well, they showed up a short while back and got the job done in only a few hours, and they did it very well! But I swear that it was like living in a local version of "The Sopranos" because the work crew could have all been related to some of those characters!

Guess what though? Even if they were, I don't care because they did a great job!  I think I'd posted a photo of the collapsed planter, but anyway here is what it looked like: 

Now granted, after it collapsed, I made no effort to pull the weeds there, etc., since I knew that before long it was all going to come out. But if you look on the far left of that photo, the first two areas of the planter actually had plants in them - asters, that were getting ready to return. I'd planted them about three years or more ago, and they loved it there! When they were in full force, they looked wonderful.

So before the workers came, I pulled up as many as I could with the roots attached, so that hopefully I could save at least a few. I planted them in one of the empty huge plant pots in the garden, hoping that if any survived, I could re-plant them next spring. So far, they seem to be doing OK so I have my fingers crossed.

Anyway, this is how it all looked after the work was done - we are really pleased with it!

It's also good because we know that sooner rather than later, we'll need to get the bricks pointed, so this way, nothing will be blocking anything else.

Our plan is that next spring, we'll get some planters/large pots/whatever, and put some flowers and plants in there, so we still have something nice in front of the house, and also so our new tree doesn't get too lonely. A lot of houses in our neighborhood have that kind of set up and it looks really good. Of course, I'm so picky, The Tim told me to start looking at things now, so that I might find something I like by next spring ... he's not wrong! 😊

So we're moving along slowly but surely with getting everything fixed up, repaired, replaced, etc. This wasn't really something we had planned to do or have to do, but at least it wasn't another major project.

We have even found a new guy and his crew to replace the kitchen and the bathroom floors - I *really* hope the second time works! This person seemed much more together than Floor Guy #1, and I had created a document with specific requests and questions, and he addressed all of them in great detail. Of course, it's costing a lot more, since the kitchen floor put in partially and poorly by the first guy has to be redone, but if we end up with what we wanted, it's all worthwhile. They are supposed to start a week from tomorrow, and he said that there will be three of them and they will likely need most of the rest of that week. I'm feeling good about this and hope that Floor Guy #1 was just a fluke for us. And yes, it's a pain in the neck to have workers in the house for a week, but if after that week the floors are really and truly finished and we are happy with them, a week is no big deal.

******

The weather has been so lovely here, and yesterday was the first No-Car-Sunday of this month in Center City Philadelphia. For yesterday and the rest of September, the city is closing off a group of streets in Center City to cars on Sundays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. There are all kinds of special events, offers from stores and restaurants, etc., but mostly there are just no cars and no traffic so you can walk around and just enjoy it! We went out, in the afternoon for a nice stroll, and there were a lot of people out and about, but it wasn't crowded anywhere, so it was just a nice way to spend time and people watch. 

That's about it from here. This should be a relatively quiet week for me, since the only specific thing going on is my volunteer shift tomorrow morning. So I've made a list of some other things I'd like to do, and have told myself that even if I just manage a couple of them, that's OK.

Right now, it's time to spend time paying some bills. Not my most favorite thing, but necessary and if I do it now, it's over with for a while. So I'll check in again soon, take care.

Update: Me, The Garden, A Knitting Project

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you well and that you are having at least a tiny bit of springtime weather to enjoy. 

I am back, with just a tiny bit of my upper respiratory infection left - you know, enough of the cough and congestion to keep you remembering that it's not *quite* done with you. In my previous short post, I mentioned that I was hoping to get some help from my dr's office with some medications. Well, it turned out that they had me trudge over to the office to see a nurse practitioner. She informed me that I didn't have pneumonia (knew that); that it seemed I had an upper respiratory infection (duh); and that I would just have to "wait it out" because no one at their office prescribed medications anymore for it, because too many people "thought they needed it, when in fact there is actually no real treatment." 

So I trudged back home and coughed until I cracked a rib (which they said Tylenol would help), and did not get more than 3 hours of sleep for about the last ten days. Good times. 

Also - the cats are NOT amused. They liked the idea that I was pretty much just always in one spot, since I was really wiped out. But they were highly annoyed with my noisy, violent cough and the fact that I kept blowing my nose. Please offer a thought for them during their time of need.

Anyway, I'm more with it now, which is an improvement, and things are gradually settling down. But I still think I would have felt much better much sooner if I could have had some cough syrup at a minimum. (No, I'm not a doctor, but I think I could play one on TV.)

Anyhoo, I'm on the mend, just a lot more slowly than usual. Onward, right?

In some VERY exciting news, today I went out into the garden and brought these inside:

For the first time since I bought a lilac bush three years ago, there were blooms! These are all of them, but they make me so happy, and even though the bush itself is pretty spindly, if I can get a few blooms every year, that's fine with me. I figured that since it is supposed to rain later today and through the day tomorrow, I would bring these inside for us to enjoy. I've always wanted lilacs, and I'm happy for any this plant will provide.

Also, I noticed when I was outside that my clematis plant has approximately 20 buds on it - if even half of them bloom, it will be absolutely stunning! I'm sure you'll be seeing photos of it down the road, because well, any blooms in my garden are miraculous as far as I'm concerned, since I'm not a talented or very dedicated gardener. I was thrilled when my spindly forsythia plant had blooms on it around Easter, since they are another fave of mine. 

We may have to disrupt things in our garden this year since a neighbor might have to have some work done on a wall we share (long, unpleasant and very annoying story, I'll spare you), so I don't know if I'll try to plant very much. I'm hoping we'll know sooner rather than later if anything is going to have to happen. Fingers crossed it will be able to be left alone. 🤞

I did feel good enough after our guests left on Easter Sunday to finish the body of my bulky sweater that I've been knitting.

The color is more of a light blue than this photo shows, but I was happy to make progress. I managed to get one sleeve underway, but put it aside because it was hard to concentrate with all of my coughing, etc. 

It's funny, because when I started it, everyone kept saying, "Oh you'll be finished before you know it, bulky knitting goes so fast." Well, maybe for them it does. I do want to finish this sweater, even though I won't be wearing it until next year. But I can't say I'm a fan of bulky knitting. This has taken me as long as it has because after a pretty short amount of time, my hands hurt from the large needles. So I can't really sit and work on it for any more than maybe an hour or so, which explains why it has taken me so long to make any progress. Not that I had a deadline, but I have to say I will be glad when it is finally completed, and I can go back to "regular" sized needles! 😊

And those are the main updates for you today. I have been up since 1:05 a.m., when woke up coughing, and then was just plain wide awake. Sigh. But at least it wasn't a work day for me.

I have a few small things I want to accomplish today, but otherwise I hope to read and knit. Tonight I'm planning to make quiche for dinner, so I walked over to the market to buy some frozen pie shells (my pie crust skills are quite tragic. Not bad - tragic!) We have some nice peppers and mushrooms to include a long with lots of nice cheeses, so I think it will be yummy. And I'll make some roasted asparagus to go along with it. There are some frozen homemade brown-and-serve rolls in the freezer that The Tim made at Easter, so I may give us each one of those as well. 

(Now I've just made myself hungry.)

Anyway, I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your day, and manage to fit in some time to do what you like. Take care.

Exhausted

Friday, Friday, Friday, I am so glad you showed up at last!  This has been one of those weeks when even though most of it was OK, one big bad thing happened to me at work that has left me emotionally and physically exhausted.  It annoys me that one specific event can control you for a whole week.   So I am especially glad that it's Friday and the weekend beckons so that I can relax and push the restart button.

At least Pip bounced back from his vet appt yesterday.  I dropped him off at 2:35 for a 2:40 appt (you still can't go in with them), and expected them to call in about half an hour or so to say he was ready for pickup.  By 4:00, nothing.  So finally I called and asked if he was ready, and if he was OK (because of course I was imagining that they found something seriously wrong), and they said they had been trying to call us since about 3:15!  The problem was, they had transposed the digits in the phone number, so no one at the wrong number was picking up (and they would have probably been really confused if they had).  GAH.  Anyway, I picked him up, he is fine and all is well.  But I feel bad, because he was probably wondering what was going on and why I wasn't picking him up.  The good news is that he came home, ate his dinner and continued on as if that whole blip never happened.  I need to be more like Pip!

Clearly this a.m. he is just sleeping all of it off.

(It kills me when he sleeps like this!)

So I think all of us are ready for the weekend!  I told The Tim that tonight we should celebrate with some martinis when he gets home since we all need this weekend more than usual.  He agreed, so that will be fun.

Other than that, I have an appt for a haircut first thing tomorrow morning.  And I'm hoping to get started on cleaning up the garden and doing some planting this weekend. The weather is supposed to be pretty nice, not too hot and not too cool, so that will work perfectly for me.  Right now, I don't have a lot to plant, because I wanted to see what else I needed once I got the stuff I have in the ground or in pots.  

Here's a tip for you: Asters.  They are native to the U.S. and at least in our case, they have been doing really well!  I bought one aster plant two years ago, and planted it, and now it has taken over 90% of our front planter!  I'm hoping to transplant a few into the actual garden and see if they work there as well.  They are such happy flowers, and even better, bees like them.  

(from last summer)

My other specific plan is to make some granola, which I might do today.  The recipe I use is this one from Clara Parkes old blog.  I make half of the recipe for the two of us, and it's plenty, trust me - last time, I zoned out and made the whole recipe and we had granola coming out our ears after a while!  But I can attest to it being an excellent recipe, so if you are inclined to do so, give it a try.  The best part of it is that it can bake while you are working, or cleaning, or doing whatever because once you start it, it needs very little other action on your part.

And as you probably have guessed, there will be knitting and reading involved, no matter what else does or does not get accomplished!  Right now, I'm trying to finish both the pair of socks I'm knitting (I'm on the foot of sock #2), and my Advent Throw (I just broke into mini-skein #24), and at this moment at least, I'm determined to finish them before starting anything else.  That could change, since I'm itching to cast on two other projects, and I usually allow myself three projects at one time.  We'll see.

I'm sure that all of you in the U.S. saw that the CDC has said if you are vaccinated, you can stop wearing masks except for a few specific instances.  I like that we have moved along enough that they feel it can happen, but I'm suspicious, because I think that now, people will just say they are vaccinated even when they are not, since it's being done on the "honor" system and so many people have no honor.  The Tim pointed out that it's on them, not on us, and I know he's right, but I guess it just seems sudden.  It will be interesting to see what the City of Philadelphia decides to do, since we have always had different restrictions, even from the rest of Pennsylvania.

I'm just glad that I got my vaccine and that The Tim will be completely vaccinated at week from tomorrow.  We've done our part, for ourselves and those around us. 😃

(I do have to admit to being somewhat disappointed that we'll have to go back to people-ing again.  Sigh.)

Have a good weekend - I hope you have a chance to relax, and to enjoy something you want to do - if nothing else, take a tip from Pip!

Picture-Perfect Weekend But Picture-less Post

Hello all - I hope you are all managing and taking care.  I also hope that even if you stayed home (and I hope you were able to!) that you had a good weekend.

Our weekend was overall very nice.  Both Saturday and Sunday were sunny, not-to-warm, and lovely days - TWO IN A ROW!  Amazing, and good for the soul. 

Saturday was bittersweet.  It would have been our sweet Jack's 4th birthday.  We did drink a toast in his honor on Saturday evening, and the kitties and Hamlet got some special treats to celebrate, but I would give all of it up if he could still be here with us.  But then I thought of all the love he was being sent and given, and it made me feel a tiny bit better. 

During the day, I spent some time trying to clean out and organize my yarn stash.  I don't have a huge stash, but I try to go through it on a regular basis and either trash or donate things I no longer want.  Each time I find things that I have no idea why I even considered keeping it the last time.  I was able to get it done, but realized that more pressing right now is to go through my pattern books, etc. and sort those.  So that will be my next stash-related project.  The Tim took a nap in the afternoon with the kitties, and Hamlet and I sat out in the garden and I read a book.  The right kind of day for Jack's birthday.

It was also the day that was supposed to be the trip to Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I kept thinking that it just figured that the weather was perfect - other years it's rainy, or too hot, or whatever, and this year when it had to be cancelled, it was of course perfect!

Yesterday Hamlet and I took a walk to two specific areas in our neighborhood that always pleases.  There are two, two-block areas separate from each other and not one right after the other that are just perfect.  They have houses on each side, and then instead of a road, there is a 'park' enclosed in wrought iron where people have created a garden.  It's pretty all year long, but since all of the flowers were coming out, yesterday was especially stunning!  There was one azalea bush in particular that was stellar.   And lots of people were sitting in front of their houses, kiddos were playing, and it was just plain nice.  Whenever we walk on either/all of these blocks, Hamlet is suddenly very peppy and happy on the walk.  😊

(For any movie buffs out there, one of the blocks was the one where the child character of Cole lived in the movie "The Sixth Sense.")

Inspired by that walk, we pulled out the daffodils in our front planter when we came home.  They did really well for about 4 years, and the last two years the green comes up, but no flowers.  So we pulled them up to become part of the larger universe.  I was very pleased to see that the asters that I had divided and planted in that planter had come up and looked very happy and are coming up nicely!  Next fall, I hope to divide them again and fill more of the planter with them.  They are native plants, and they are so pretty when they flower. 

Then for dinner, I tried a new recipe for a side dish, and it was a big success - oven baked salt and vinegar fries - YUM!  The recipe is not hard, but takes a bit of planning ahead.  Let me know if you would like me to share it.

Unfortunately, yesterday afternoon one of my very best friends contacted me to tell me that her mother was diagnosed last Thursday with Covid-19, and is deteriorating rapidly.  It breaks my heart for everyone concerned, and makes me even more irritated at those people who just can't be bothered to pay attention.  As someone posted on Twitter, "the wrong people are suffering through this time," and I think that's truer than it's ever been.  Anyway, please keep my friend's mother in your thoughts, prayers, hopes, whatever.  She and so many others need to know the universe (or hopefully most of it) is thinking of her.

On to the week.  I hope to get started with cleaning up the garden, working on more of my projects around the house, or just ... whatever I feel like.  I'm not gonna worry about it if I do nothing.

I hope your week is whatever you would like it to be.  Take care.

Gardening When You Are Not a Gardener

I know I've written here before about our garden, and fixing it up, etc.  Of course, it's an ongoing process, but after finally getting into shape last summer, it's been a lot easier this summer to keep it looking nice, and we've even been spending time out there during the evenings on days when it hasn't been too hot and humid.

When we first moved in, the garden had all kinds of amazing plantings.  Over the years, between us not having a clue, the installation of a new roof where they just threw stuff into the garden from the roof, killing quite a few things, and street work, a lot of the smaller things have died off.  I *love* plants and flowers, but a) know nothing really about most of them, and b) have the love but not the dedication to grow elaborate gardens and keep them going.

Having said that, I do like to have *some* plants and flowers out there, and in the front planter on the one front of our house (we have two fronts, it's another story altogether).  In the front planter, it's not worth planting anything too nice, as the few times we've done that, we've found them dug up for someone else's garden, or in the case of some tulips, dug up for what we decided must have been a Mother's Day gift ... so the front planter generally has plants that are inexpensive and not terribly desirable to dig up.  This year, I planted rosemary and lavender right outside the door a few weeks go, and then today, added some impatiens and zinnias.

(The little plant to the right of the impatiens is a plant that is supposed to spread and flower, and I've completely forgotten the name ... )

 (Note: this vent is inactive, it's just in the way.)

I am pleased, even though there aren't many plants, and some will surely not make it.  Next spring, we want to try and add two rosebushes to replace the ones that were extremely old and spindly that we removed.

Inside the actual garden, which is enclosed next to the house, I tried some perennnials, in the hopes that maybe at least one would "take" and come back next year.  If they do not (and realistically, they may well not thrive), they were all on sale, so it's not like I've invested tons of money in flowers.  

I tried a butterfly bush (shown here after being watered, so it's looking droopier than it did when I planted it:

A coreopsis plant in another spot:

And finally, a dianthus plant (top in photo) along with the last of the zinnias in the grouping I bought:

So we'll see what happens.  For now, everything looks pretty, and happy, and maybe I'll be lucky this year and more will live than die.  I also have an azalea to plant, but I need The Tim to help dig the hole.  We had a lovely azalea when we moved in, but it was taken out when some plumbing had to be done, so hopefully that will do well once it's in the ground.

Of course this morning while I was doing all of this, I had a lot of help.

Jetsam snooper-vised from under a chair, where he could appear both regal and patterned.

While Jack was extremely busy with a bumblebee that was in the dirt and then later, between the bricks.  I think it was near the end of its bumblebee life, because it wasn't flying at all.  But it did keep him busy, which was fine with me!

The garden is a happy, enjoyable space now, and I'm glad I spent all of that time last year really working hard on it.  It's nice to have a private space in the middle of the city.  :-)