When the cat is away, the mice will play

Geez, I go away for 2 days and everything decided to bloom!

Dahlia - This is the one from last year which I dug up before Winter. I think it's worth digging it up because it's far more healthy than it was last year. I have to trim the bottom leaves to get a big flower.



Hydrangea - Last year, there were no blooms because we pruned it. We've also had a mild winter which seems to have helped because the previous owner told us it never bloomed for her in her 20 years of being there.



This picture is for one of my readers. See how big your hydrangea will get?



Cathedral bells - Vigorous climber! I need to find a place for this guy quick!



Cosmos - Easy to grow annual and makes a nice filler.



Mallow (hollyhock) - Holy smokes! I came home and this thing is 3x as tall with beautiful blooms all over. I would definitely get more of these. I believe they are biennials.



Cactus. We plan on putting a patio below the deck. I'd like to move the cactus, but so far it's doing well here in the hot dry side of the house.



Lavender is blooming beautifully! Last year, it did not bloom at all and I almost chopped it down.



Coneflower - There is just one, but next year more will come up after this one spreads its seeds.



Cleome



I have a little zucchini already!



Zinnias - another annual I started just to use as a filler.



Edamame - Starting to see some flowers.



Striata Zucchini - They are monster huge! I have a lot of weeding to do.



Corn



Heirloom tomato plants doubled in size since I left. It seems the larger the tomato, the shorter the plant.



Rose



English cucumber

Just a typical New York day

Keith and I volunteered as "models" for Scott Robert's workshop on Friday. I wanted to wait until I posted about the whole event, but I just had to drop this off. When I saw some of the photos, I gasped in disbelief. Is that really me? Holy smokes, it looks AMAZING!

Photos taken by photographer Harvey Guy.




I can't wait to see the rest!

Pink Thumb

I'm moving!

Don't worry, I'll still be here. I'm moving my garden posts over to Pink Thumb because there's just so much going on with the house and garden, that some separation is in order.

Our Half "Bath"

Keith gutted the back room to the kitchen today. It was meant to be a second bath, but the previous owner never got around to it. Since we were working on the kitchen anyway, we thought it would best to do the back room to match. We were really dragging our feet about this especially since the kitchen isn't even done.

Again, he had to remove the layer of 80's wood paneling that was painted in bright sky blue, remove the counter top and cabinets. It was easier to remove than that kitchen was.



This wood piece is covering the sanitary pipe (tiolet). The previous owner told us that the "pipes are right there" if we want to put in the second bath. We were never really sure what she meant, but now we understand. Since we're not ready to go forth with the bathroom, we're going to spackle and paint the walls and leave this alone for now.

Ceiling


Before pic - back room is to the right through the doorway.

Stove's back in!

We've finally plugged the stove back in and to mark the occasion Keith made us some goulash. I missed pasta so much and this really hit the spot.



I took a few more pictures for my photography assignment. There is a lime green house a few blocks away and I asked for permission to photograph out front. Turns out the owner is an Architect and was really friendly! I looked up and noticed solar panels sticking out from the edge of his addition which is his studio. He was all excited to talk about it and I was so pleased that someone actually does use them! We're going to look into it too because they pay for themselves.







Their big sheep dog Frank. He's really friendly.

JAG Fund

My sister in law has been doing this fund raiser for 10 years. Your donation would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.active.com/donate/jagfund08/janetlbrown

About The JAG Fund

Established in 1989 in memory of Joel A. Gingras, Jr., the JAG Fund is dedicated to increasing the awareness of brain tumor research and raising money to help combat this deadly affliction.

Since 1989, the organization has donated more than $806,000 to the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA) through the untiring efforts of generous individual and corporate sponsors. In recognition of the JAG Fund's hard work, the ABTA established the Joel A. Gingras Jr. Research Fellowship in 1995.

Since that date we have funded eight separate fellowships that focus on finding a cure for brain tumors.

In its early stages, fundraising consisted solely of an annual "tube float" down the Delaware River. A portion of the cover charge for the event went straight to the American Brain Tumor Association. The JAG Fund has since evolved into a formidable fundraising organization. While the tube float still exists the fundraising weekend is now headlined by an immensely successful golf outing. More importantly, supporters of the cause now raise money on their own through the "JAG Pledge Sheet" and through corporate relationships.

The JAG Fund has gained incredible strength since its inception in 1989. While the faces have changed and leadership has shifted, the underlying goal has not waivered since 1989, supporting brain tumor research through the American Brain Tumor Association.

Garden Tour

A neighboring town hosted a garden tour of 9 gardens that belonged to homeowners who were nice enough to open their homes and share their gardens with the public. I was in complete awe. I was drooling over the plants, the landscaping, the time, the effort, their style, everything! I can't even begin to describe the scale of these gardens. It blows Better Home and Garden out of the water! One woman had a garden that was over 50 years old!

We had a map and signs marked the houses.


The tour was a great place for ideas. Check out how this gardener place this decorative metal piece between a mature peony plant to keep the heavy flower heads from falling.

One of the many private areas in her garden. They built this around a pear tree.


If you look in the far back, there are a set of chairs. That will give you a scale of the garden. I felt like I stepped into Narnia and not New Jersey. For privacy, they planted cypress trees. They had a pond. They also kept all their Christmas trees and planted them out back. They were gorgeous!


Another home with a koi pond and Bose speakers.


It was such a private little nook.


They had wine and cheese out and some music playing.


My best friends, Nay and Linda joined me.


Different people had different lawn ornaments. It was very cool.





Random photo for my photography assignment. I love the color of the pots.


This woman/home owner is 80 years old and she's been working on this garden for over 50 years! She had plants larger than a human being. This is Linda next to ONE lambs ear.



She had all these little intimate areas carved out.


This woman is also an artist and she had sculptures and paintings she's done located throughout.


I believe this is Nigella. All her plants were "steroid" huge. It must have been years of growth (50+) and lots of loving attention.


Clematis


This must be the Globe master Allium. They were literally the size of a cantelope.


I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. I made notes with ideas that I plan on utilizing

Amy Butler Fabrics

I've been searching for bright, fun, trendy fabrics to make my kitchen curtains out of. I would even like to sew some coordinating dish towels to match (just for display). I love the stuff on etsy and I wonder where all these creative gals get their fabrics from. I did a few searches and found Amy Butler was quite popular. She really does have some pretty designs.

Winnie the Pooh quotes

If you want to make a song more hummy, add a few tiddely poms.

If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"

Just because an animal is large, it doesn't mean he doesn't want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.

When having a smackerel of something with a friend, don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway trying to get out.

I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.

When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish.

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.

I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true.

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.