Monday, April 20, 2009

Have you ever.........................

been grateful for rainy days and Mondays??? No? Well, I have to say that most of the times I would totally agree with you but just not today. Why you ask? Since I have to go to work that's my excuse not to be home cleaning and raking.

It is that time of year when the flowers are growing and the grass is growing and the gardens and yard are calling my name. LOUDLY. And since my poor yard, including the fifteen individual gardens, have been neglected the past few years I really have my work cut out for me. So once the temps are in the upper 50s and 60s, it's not raining and I am not at work you will find me outside. My rake and trowel and gardening gloves nearby.




The weather this past weekend was picture perfect for Friday and Saturday. I decided that I needed to take Friday off to get a some serious clean-up done. Now I have been doing a little in the yard each weekend for the past month but this one was my most productive. Actually so much so that by the end of Saturday I could barely move. Those little used muscles were really telling me what for. But as you can see in the photo below I got a lot done which made me feel gone. Achy body and all. It includes 5 trash cans filled with larger sticks and branches and 34 bags of leaves and debris!!
I still have a lot to do. Especially before the guy comes next week to mow the grass. If it is covered in leaves and sticks he won't cut it. Also if the garden beds aren't clearly defined than he might mow over them. But once I clear the back corner (photo below) the greater majority of the leaves are cleared.
If any of you are gardeners I just have to show you the best gardening tool I ever bought! Well worth the cost, which wasn't that much.

Knee pads! I got these in the flooring section at Home Depot a few years ago and they have saved my poor knees. The arthritis in my knees as well as the fact that the cartilage is nonexistent , do bother me a lot when I work in the yard. But once I discovered these it made things so much easier on my knees.

Try it and I am sure you will agree.

The daffodils are blooming beautifully this year. I have a few different varieties blooming right now and more to come. These are one of the prettiest. IMO.



A few more in another area. Below is the bleeding heart and it is doing really well. I should start seeing blooms on this in the next week.


Another flower stating to pop up and bloom are the violets. I have purple ones, purple and white ones, white ones, yellow ones and the pink ones I posted in last weeks blog post. There is one thing that drives me crazy about the violets. Maybe someone here can answer this question:
Why do the violets bloom the best when the are growing in the grass rather than the garden they were originally planted in??




Last one (if you have lasted this long looking at my photos--Thank you.)
This big blue thing was left in my yard by the previous owner. Since it made of fiberglass the town won't pick it up as trash so I decided to plant a garden around it. I painted it and planted daffodils and lilies and iris around it. I tried some clematis to climb over the top but it didn't take. So here is what we call the Blue Ball garden with the daffodils in bloom.
Very little stitchy new today. But I did want to say that Vicky, you were close in your guess. Rene you got it right. (Nancy, you did also) That mystery piece I have been stitching on Monday and Tuesday is LHN's Home of a Needleworker Too.
I did start two new pieces over the weekend. one is a birthday gift so no photos and the other have very little done. I will have more progress photos and maybe even a finish (I hope. I hope) soon.
Until next time.......................
Love and stitches
Kathy

19 comments:

Carolyn NC said...

Great pics - yard will be done before you know it! Good luck with it all. :)

Nancy M said...

Love the garden updates! I think they are as satisfying as WIP stitching pictures....as they are true WIP, with the help of mother nature of course! I posted some garden pictures of my own this week. I figure I have them when blooming, so why not when they just start out too? It's really amazing to see what they turn in to! Look forward to a stitching update once you're out of the gardens again!

Patricia Lessell said...

Love the garden updates. Look if you need some work to do just pop over here and do mine for me please. Lots of Love Patti xxx

Kathy said...

You are too too funny Patti. :)

Lynn S. said...

Hi Kathy..Your spring flowers are really pretty. I'm jealous. We are still waiting for spring here. Today it's only 38 degrees again altho some flowers are starting ot pop up finally. Thanks for sharing your flowers with us "northerners"

Donna said...

Good luck on your yard. The flowers are so pretty. All of our daffys are gone. But we have lots of other kinds to take their place. Nothing like a good daffy or tulip or iris to make me smile. Or your blog. That makes me smile, too.

Shari said...

your flowers are so pretty. Ours just can't seem to bloom. It is so cold today. I have winter shirts on. Spring has to be here soon?!?!?!

Gillie said...

That's a lot of bags, very impressed! We got all excited here in Chicago as it was warm and sunny on Saturday then rain since then! Oh well!

DJ said...

EEEK! I'm having yard envy! You have so many lovely plants growing! I have a postage stamp of a yard, so when I saw 34 bags of leaves I nearly fainted....I thought my 5 bags was bad! You deserve a massage!!! *Hugs* Your stitching is lovely too!
*Hugs* DJ

Deborah said...

WoW!! You did really BAG!!
Beautiful flowers!!

Love and Hugs,
Deborah

Tracey said...

Gorgeous flowers! You reminded me I want to get a potted violet for my desk at work. :)

Dawn said...

I love your garden, its pretty and it looks sooo big. I just wish I had more garden to play with.... and I am so envious of your woodland surroundings.
Your double pinky peach daffodils are beautiful.

Dawn (UK)

Shelley - ILCS said...

Wow! Your flowers are beautiful. Be thankful you can put all that yard waste out to the curb like that. In Sacramento, if it doesn't fit in your green waste toter you have to figure out what to do with it until the next pickup, which happens to be once every 2 weeks! Looking forward to stitchy pics but love all the flowers!!

Rene la Frog said...

What beautiful flowers. While living in a apartment gives me LOTS of stitching time I do miss working in the dirt and all that Mother Nature gives us in return.

Debra said...

Wow girl you did a lot of work. Love the flower pictures.
DLS

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

Our violets are blooming everywhere in North Ga right now. They seem to have a life own their own. We didn't plant them and each year there are more of them. They are really pretty though when they bloom. Your stitching looks lovely!
Jennifer
http://www.feathersinthenest.blogspot.com/

Alice said...

Kathy, you need to start composting girl!! You can make a super compost heap for your garden. That is real clean dirt! I need those knee pads I do! My daffodils was such a let down this year. You have so many bleeding hearts I am a bit jealous!!! I should plant the one I have in a pot into the garden but I doubt I will ever find it again as our garden is so vast. My bulldogs will certainly pick every heart before I get to see even one.
Enjoy the sunshine and gardening. Winter's are long and there will be plenty time for stitching. Right now stock up your batteries with Vit D.
Alice

Cindy F. said...

Oh wow! We can really see how hard you've been working! All those bags and your flowers are beautiful! I wish I had a green thumb like you:)

Anonymous said...

You weren't kidding about your bagging, wow! Love the flower photos!