It begins......

 

 

We've been working on cleaning up the yard........ who knew there was SO much garbage!!?? I usually take before and after pics - but not so much this time.  I don't think I realized what a difference the cleaning / tidying would make.

But here is a pic of the last bit of mess....... 

 

AND here's what it looks like now. 

 

There are 4 yards of top soil ordered - and a couple of yards of gravel ........ We were hoping it would be here yesterday but no no....... maybe today?!

Mostly we're gonna lay grass seed..... but over by the small shed (that houses the bikes and the snowblower ) is a low spot that looks more like a swamp than grass or garden - le sigh.  After some research I discovered something called a rain garden.  

We've filled up most of the depression with sand .... next we're gonna add earth and sand mixed and top it off with gravel.  Then add rain loving plants and hopefully we'll have less swamp and more natural rain garden - we're hoping something like this........ 

 

 

The sun is shining finally!!  BUT we wait for the top soil........... it may have taken us a week to get the inside of the house done - it's gonna take a whole lot longer to get the outside done.  

The Devil Incarnate

I have a long sordid history with squirrels....... and despite being a total pacifist -- if I had a gun I would shoot them!!!  (ok ok a paint gun - with pellets maybe)

Yesterday the damn squirrels nearly drove me to distraction.  I had swept the balcony and found a lot of dirt -- a LOT of dirt -- from my fairy garden on the ground.  I glanced at the potted garden and all seemed fine....... except for a couple of rather limp looking plants.

I repotted them - and made sure they were all tucked in nice and safe and continued on with my day.

Mid afternoon Miss Ashes was going crazy -- bouncing all over the living room.  

I came to see what was wrong.  There were not one - not two - but THREE squirrels on my balcony .... two sitting on the table with my fairy garden and one sitting on the back of a chair leaning into the garden.,

I banged on the window and clapped my hands to scare them away.  

I hadn't even got half way across the living room when they were back !!!  One of them - the one on the back of a chair - looked in the window at me and I swear he thumbed his nose at me!!!

I went out like a mad woman and scared them away.

When I looked - there were 3 plants lying dejected on the balcony...... and piles -- PILES -- of earth spread all over the table and my freshly swept balcony.  UGH!!

While I cleaned up the mess and replanted the wee plants my mind was searching for an immediate cure for squirrels (besides a gun) I know they don't like moth balls (but I didn't have any on hand) .. I know they don't like hot pepper sauce (but I didn't have any on hand).  What to do !!!  What to do!!  (besides bringing my pot inside)

Then I had a brilliant idea.

I do have Vick's Vapour Rub.  I went and found it and went back to the balcony.  I spread a thick layer of the Vick's around the edge of the pot........ put some on the ends / edges of my hanging plants... and then I spread it all over the railing of the balcony.

I came back inside and didn't have to wait long..... back came one squirrel.  I watched as he sniffed around the railing and boldly stepped through and scampered up the chair onto the table.  I held my breath.  I couldn't see him cause the plants hid him -- but all of a sudden he leapt off the table.......... ran through the railing to the grass and started rubbing his nose first with his paws then burying his nose in the grass and rubbing it back and forth.

I stood there smiling.  I do not know if I have stopped the squirrel attacks on my fairy garden -- but I do know that one devil squirrel will think twice before he comes a calling!! 


(Now all I have to contend with is the smell of Vick's Vapour Rub on the balcony and when the wind blows - in my living room  (sigh)

Last Blooms

One of the things I have been fussing over/thinking about - are my gardens.  I wonder what will happen to them once I am gone.  They were -- after all -- my doing - my passion.  I can hardly go out to look at them now..... like leaving behind kids in a divorce.  Yeah I know it sounds weird - but some days that's how it feels.

Now mostly my back garden is Asian themed - so lots of different textures and different shades of green - tall wispy grasses and flowering vines that cover (or will one day) the side fence.

But there were two bushes left by the previous owner.  When I started the back garden project - I didn't want them removed.  One is at the corner of the house - just before you actually enter the back yard...... so it was left.  It always bloomed in late July / August with the most spectacular purple blooms.... I have NO idea what the plant is...... but I loved it.

This summer it started to bloom - and I thought something was wrong.  The flowers were white!!  I have watched and over the last two weeks more and more and MORE buds have appeared........... and some are white and some are purple.  My lil bush - almost forgotten in the corner - is putting on a spectacular show this summer ........ weird isn't it?? maybe it's giving it all it's got to bid me farewell...............

 The front garden has been the bane of my existence.  When I got here it was mostly weeds and tons of rocks.  It took me 2 summers of digging up the weeds and removing the rocks  - fertilizing it - babying it - to actually get a garden bed worth working in..... But truthfully nothing seemed to flourish.  There was an ugly green bush (tiny bit of a thing) in the corner.  This spring I vowed if it didn't do anything this summer then it was going in the compost bucket.

A week or so ago I swore I saw a tiny wee bud on it.   Lo and behold - there were 2 buds on it!!  AND it would appear that tiny wee do-nothing bush is actually a hydrangea or as my father called them "snowball bushes".  Usually they bloom (in my experience) in the early spring with BIG white round flowers.  I have seen purpley blue flowers (even tried once to create them - as you must add a special acid to the soil) But for the most part they were always white.  Well the buds on my wee tiny bush in the front garden started to open a week ago ........... and lo and behold the flowers aren't white - they aren't even the purpley blue............ they are ........ well you tell me I say pink but then for the most part I am coloured blind ...........

I took some last pictures of the flowers in the gardens..... something to take with me to my new home.... a fond memory of "my gardening days' 

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Note to "Downunder Don" I got your comment about pictures and promise there will be more ... soon... I have a photography friend who is all but kidnapping me to get me back out there with my camera...... so yeah - soon I promise more artsy fartsy shots :) For now you will have to content yourself with the mundane :) 

Garden Porn

I have been having "fits" over the front garden.  Last year I dug out all the rocks the former owner "planted" (god only knows why, as there was no rhyme or reason to them and they certainly weren't creating a rock garden - unless rocks laid on a flat bed were her idea of a "rock garden")

This year I gave up trying to figure out what most of the plants that were squeezed between those rocks were supposed to be (other than weeds that is) and dug 99% of them out.  But that left me with a rather sick pathetic looking garden

day 55 of 365

On Saturday - before the phone call and the boat cruise - W took me to the garden center and left me to poke and prod and browse.  I finally settled on 7 plants - 3 Blanket plants - 3 Pinks - and 1 Echinacea.

On Sunday I gathered up my shovel, my edger, my 3 pronged thingy, my watering can, my fertilizer, my garden gloves and garden hat and the hose and set out to work on the front garden.  Three hours later I was finished..............

Now I just have to wait 

and hope

That this garden will be up to my standards........ 

Spring has sprung

I don't much care what the calendar says about spring's arrival........ I don't much care what anyone says about spring's arrival. The official start of spring happens in my senses............ the musky smell of warm wet earth......... the buds popping.... the faint stirrings of some deep instinct in my belly that tells me it is time for rebirth.

All that happened this week - Monday to be exact.  My body was tingling - itching - ready to get out into the mud - ready to squish mud between my toes - ready, as well, for the act of "procreation" (even though I am way past procreation age) to begin.

The gardening can start - albeit slowly - still no digging allowed - but I have deemed myself strong enough - ready enough - to pull some weeds and do some fertilizing.  The procreation bit (or in plainer language - the fucking) will have to wait till I see the surgeon next week.... get the pathology results - get the ok (or not ok) to increase my activity level.

But for this week I have brought a touch of spring / colour to the front deck -

day 8

a touch of colour by the front door

a new sitting area on the front deck - red umbrella not up yet

 this is where Miss Ashes and I come in the very early morning (6 am early) to sit and soak in the warm breezes and the bright sunshine...........

The sharing of the back gardens/deck will wait till tomorrow - or another day in the future...............

Spring has Sprung?

For any number of reasons I have not ventured out to the gardens yet this spring... main reason being - they were all still covered in SNOW (which is now a four letter word in this house!!)

BUT baby daughter posted some pics on Facebook of her spring bulbs sprouting through the snow which made me wonder about our bulbs.

Last fall W and I were out shopping at Costco and they had bags and bags filled with bulbs and more bulbs.  So we bought 3 bags (what the HELL was I thinking buying 3 bags??!!)

Anyway................ last fall I planted (squeezed in) all the bulbs we had bought.  Please note that clearly written on the bags (which of course I didn't keep) were the words "squirrel repellant".  So I planted 'em all and smiled smugly knowing that the squirrels wouldn't like them.

Fast forward one day - yeah only one day.  The word was out.  The crazy lady had opened a buffet for squirrels.. rabbits.. and the occasional small raccoon.

As the animals lined up to take their turn digging these delicious delicacies out of the dark earth I stood in the window grinding my teeth and cursing.

I dashed outside and chased them away.  As I turned to walk back in the house I swore I heard them laughing at me - I turned and they were back!!  


I would stand in the front window and bang on the glass trying to scare the squirrels out of my front gardens.  I would run around the back gardens frantically waving my arms like a madwoman to try and keep them out of the gardens and save my bulbs.  

Finally I just collapsed in total defeat and let them eat / devour my "squirrel repellant" bulbs.

So venturing outside this spring to see my bulbs was - I assumed - going to be a lesson in defeat.  BUT curiosity got the better of me.  And  yesterday afternoon - during an April shower (monsoon) I walked around to the front gardens 

Imagine my shock and surprise when I saw this................. 

and this..................

I do believe the secret is planting SO many bulbs the squirrels lose track of them - or some such thing.  Now if these poor baby bulbs can survive the ravishing stampeding herds of starving bunnies  - I may actually get a spring flower or two.

Porn

Garden porn that is.......... it's that time of year again ......... 

I told you on Friday that I was gonna pull on my sexy yellow duckies.................

and go work in the gardens this weekend.

Every spring I forget how much work it is to dig the gardens and get them ready ....... how much effort is needed to turn some black dirt into my secret garden........... 

Here is one of the four flower beds... you can see it is half done... 

Here it is all done - ready for the sun and the rain....... and the new sprouts to start sprouting.

Even miss ashes came out and spent the day supervising the work .. and keeping the neighbouring squirrels from visiting............ 

It took all day Saturday to finish the gardens... I am old (cheeky grin) and it seems to take longer every spring........... but it is done and soon (in about 6 weeks) I will be on summer break and sitting outside under my red umbrella - in my secret garden - soaking up the peace and quiet with a good book..............

Finding the positives.

I am guessing that a goodly number of you won't have a point of reference for the above lines.  

BUT you don't really need it.

Like so much that goes into this Journey - those words are for me........ if they catch your eye - attach themselves to your psyche - all the better - but this is really just for me.

This week I have been feeling a wee bit sorry for myself.  For the second weekend in a row I won't be seeing W.  Not seeing W makes me sad.  I think some of it is - the realist in me knows that when he moves away - despite the best laid plans of alternating weekends - there will be more weekends alone than together. 

W has stuff to do at his place - I have "Mother's day" with my children.  Unfortunately the stuff to do at W's doesn't correspond with stuff to do with my children........ and so the weekend is being spent apart.

Yesterday was tough - I couldn't even get into the mind set of "2 days off - to do exactly what I want"  Instead I was doing the "damn another weekend without W - another weekend without spanks - another weekend without snuggles" 

This morning I awoke to sunshine.  (yeah I am blaming the sunshine for my change of heart) And I realized I have gardens that need to be tended to......... flowers that need trimming....... earth that needs turning...patio furniture that needs to be brought up and put into the secret garden.  

HEY !!  how many of you have seen the ad on television - where a garden statue of a bunny says to the woman reading - "He may have his man cave - BUT you have " wonderland?" and the camera spans out and you see her sitting on a wicker love seat with a book - with lanterns hanging from the trees swaying in the breeze - making it look for all the world like "Wonderland"??   When I saw that ad - the first thought that leapt to mind was when W and I move ....... maybe I can have a "wonderland" in the backyard !!

And so today I am going to pull on my grubbies - find the garden shovel - the garden shears- my yellow duckies (boots) and head out into the sunshine and play in the mud. Even miss ashes will get to play outside with me.  

I am going to accentuate the positive of the day - eliminate the negatives - and definitely ignore the inbetweens...................

Yard Crashers - my way

It was almost a year ago that baby daughter and hubbie bought their first home.  It is a cute lil place - but most definitely a "fixer upper".  (or - as some may call it  -"the money pit")

Regardless of the problems, they are very proud of their home........... baby daughter has done an amazing job putting in new floors - painting and decorating.

There was however one job that seemed to be bigger than her.

And truthfully I understand......... between a full time job (from 2:00pm to 10:00pm) and 3 active boys - there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day - or money in the bank - to tackle the yard work.

The front yard to me is important.  It is the first thing guests/neighbours see.  It is the first impression of your home.  A couple of weeks ago when I was out visiting them all..... I mentioned the dirt pile with flowering weeds in the front yard.  I could tell by baby daughter's voice that she was overwhelmed.  So I asked if she would like me to come out and help clean it up and get a flower bed in.  She was thrilled and promised to get it weeded.


On Mother's day when we were out there she had indeed managed to get some weeding done.  But what was left was maybe even more depressing than the flowering weeds......

On Tuesday this week, I took eldest daughter to the market to buy some plants for her garden.  While we were there..... I took a look at some bushes and perennials for this garden project.  I figured there was never gonna be a better time so I picked up some bushes (that will grow in and hide that nasty looking foundation) and some perennials (so she doesn't have to keep buying flowers every year).


 I had been waffling between doing the garden and surprising them - or waiting to do it with the family.  Eldest daughter and I figured (forget surprises) we would run out this Saturday and get cracking on the garden.  Mother Nature intervened.  Today was to be the last day of sunshine for about 5 days.  So today was the day - and surprise it was to be.


We arrived out on the island about 10:30 and set to right away unloading the bushes and plants from the car and started moving what bulbs we knew were bulbs and then digging the holes for the bushes.    By 11:30 am I was feeling a tad light headed and exhausted.  The weather man had screwed up again.  What was supposed to be a cloudy cool day - was bright and sunny and probably the hottest day this spring!!!


My pace slowed right down.  I drank gallons of water and pushed ahead.  I was determined to get the garden in.


By 12:30 (only mad dogs and English men go out in the noon day sun) we were just about done......... the only thing left to do was clean up the pots - give the bed a final watering - and put in the garden flag.

I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall when baby daughter and hubbie get home from work tonite!!!  I sure hope they like surprises !!!

My secret garden

I was awake at the crack of dawn today - having gone to bed at the crack of dawn (literally) suffice it to say I didn't get much sleep.

My body ached and my heart ached...... and I knew it was past time to find my secret garden again and bring it back to life. My precious secret garden was threatened ....... evil thoughts evil threats.... I haven't been able to work there. But this morning with the birds singing......I dug, I pruned, I trimmed, and I caressed my fairies - oh how I have missed them this long winter. The bushes I have planted and moved and re-planted and moved yet again have finally started to blossom in their final spots. The branches spreading high create safe refuge for my lil fairies.

There is an order to my secret garden. You probably wouldn't see it....... but it is my order and my plan and my secret garden. It calms my soul to work in the dark earth... to feel it between my toes.. to dig out the few weeds that dare to take root in my secret garden.

When the work was done I plunked myself down in the grass and laid - like a 4 year old - on my tummy and peaked into the greenery and caught glimpses of my fairies and knew in my heart of hearts that all is right with the world.... with my world.

Come who may.. to visit...... you will never see my secret garden...... it is mine and it hides within my heart.

Decadence

Did you know that decadent means "having low moral standards and interested only in pleasure"??? I thought it meant sinful - and I always associated the word with chocolate - BUT - I had to check the spelling (cause it just didn't look right - know what I mean) and that is how I discovered the true definition.

Ok that isn't really what I had planned to write about...... BUT yesterday was a truly decadent day. A tease. A promise of what is to come. A trickle of dark decadent chocolate sliding off a spoon and down your body - with a tongue just waiting to lick off the excess.

It was sunny and hot here in my corner of the Great White North. I was up more or less at the crack of dawn....... threw some laundry in the machine and headed outside to work on my back garden. I trimmed, I weeded, I turned the soil, I got dirty and sweaty and it felt absolutely delicious.

I was so inspired by the sunshine that when I finished the gardens I dragged the umbrella outside, the cushions for the wicker furniture, hung the oriental stones, hid the fairies under the bushes and re-invented my secret garden for yet another season.

And then I raided my stash of summer reading and curled up outside under the red umbrella and read and drank coffee and relaxed and felt absolutely decadent.

Unfortunately I had to return to work today...... yesterday was just a little tease. But anticipation is a good thing, a very good thing. In exactly 5 and 1/2 weeks I will be free to indulge my decadent desires all day - every day.

YUMMY!

A little Porn

of the garden variety............ ok now i have your attention.. here are some shots from the garden........ (and yah i know i am supposed to use the other blog for boring vanilla stuff.. but i decided to post these here cause i have nothing to say today .. of any value or worth)

Let's start with the lilies.. truthfully i don't much like them... the condo association planted them literally EVERYWHERE and they do tend to take over the garden and garden paths.. but still they add a little colour to an otherwise monochrome look........



These are my daisies... i love daisies and have white ones (which for some reason are now finished) my black eyed susans and my cone head purple daisies...

Here is a cone head daisy - the only brave one to have actually opened.....



My black eyed susans are just coming into bloom....


opening.............



opening a lil more.................



almost open............


and last but certainly not least.. my hydrangea... it had a rough start.. i transplanted it in the late spring to a corner of the bigger garden ........ and because it is mixed in with other bushes and flowers i couldn't treat it with the lime stuff i usually do to make the flowers turn purple..........it only has two blooms this year.. and a big sick in colour.. but i am hoping next year it will be laden with white blooms and i can offically call it a "snowball bush"..........

The Great Garden Adventure

Welllllllll the sun came out this morning...

The electric hedge clipper which i borrowed from Sir was calling my name.. so were the damn hedges that were threatening to eat up the front yard and the front steps...

So.. clever me... i put on my red hoody, shorts and yellow duckies and went out to tackle the man eating hedges......

Now you should know i did not plant this massive hedge - modge podge of bushes actually - everything from a wild rose bush to god only knows what others.. and they have grown to a full height of at least 6 feet !!! buried under their massive branches is a lovely lil wooden farm fence ....... that i want to see.........

This modge podge of a hedge has been a bit of a sore point between myself and the townhouse association....... i claim they should trim it as i didn't plant it.. they claim they didn't plant it therefore i must trim it..

Some summers the garden guys will trim the modge podge hedge.. other years they won't even look at it..

This summer they made a first half assed attempt at trimming it down to managable heights...... but stopped mid way through........ i thought.. 'lazy guys couldn't even finish the job'

So that brings me to this morning and the electric hedge clipper... and the daunting task of bringing the modge podge hedge down a few feet.

Out i went all decked out... and started in.. i didn't care how it got done .. how neat it looked i only cared to bring it down........ down i say....

i worked my way from left to right.. the right hand bush being the highest and most daunting..

Finally i got to it.. the gigantic thick bush on the right...and started in ......... i noticed a few flying creatures come out of the bush at first pass.. but didn't think much of it as .. hey.. they were probably just flies curled up in the shade right??

So i continued.. and then more flying creatures came swarming out.. and me?? well i am standing there holding the electric hedge clippers squinting through the sun's rays trying to identify what in god's name is swarming out of the bush.........

Can't tell........ so do what any half assed nit wit would do..... i go and get a bug spray from the house and proceed to spray the bush to death.. inside outside upside down side..

The bush is now dripping wet.. the flying creatures have disappeared into the sun's bright rays....

i wait a few seconds for everything to dry out... cause i am thinking.. 'should i be using an electric hedge clipper on a wet bush' .. yup that's all that was worrying me when i picked up the hedge clipper and started in on the bush again.........



This time........... i got swarmed.. just like in any movie you might see.. just like in your worst nightmares.. swarmed..........

i dropped the hedge clipper and i am swatting and waving my arms around like a mad woman.. i am sure the roofers on the building beside me must have wondered what the mad woman in red was doing...........

As i am swatting and waving my arms - which is sorta working but not all that well.. i decided to beat a hasty retreat to the house....

i have taken a look in the mirror... i have two stings on my face.. and umpteen minor ones on my upper body.. thank god for the thick red hoody !!! There is one nasty sting on my upper left arm............ but that's about it..

However i am now suffering from post traumatic swarm syndrome - as i sit here safe and sound in my office... my body is twitching and i am jumping swearing i can feel those beasts all over my body still..............

i think i now know why the garden guys did a half assed job of trimming the modge podge hedge... i think they may have been greeted by my bush creatures..........

Now i think it is time to move around back.. and curl up safe and sound under my big red umbrella in my secret garden and read......... and leave the flying creatures to nest happily in the big bush on the right side...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A late in the day update.........

The nice thing.. really nice thing..... about living in a condo is that when you have a problem you pick up the phone and call the "office"........ which is exactly what i did after this morning's lil garden adventure.

They called a Bug Man..... is he called an exterminator?? ... to come and take a look... He told me i have a huge nest of black jackets... and that they bite as well as sting and they never lose their stingers so they can keep stinging you over and over and over again...... and .. the sting gives off some sort of scent to the other black jackets so they can find you...... how nice !!! (NOT)

Anyway .. the long and short of it is ... i have one bad bite / sting?? on my arm and the rest have disappeared... and the Bug Man will be back either tomorrow or Monday in his bug costume (god i hope i am home i so want to get pictures!!!) and will rid my modge podge hedge of it's nest.

Until then ... i will remain under my red umbrella in my secret garden.........

And if you are curious to see what one of these "black jackets" look like.. let me show you............



Big buggers aren't they??

Garden Porn

i didn't get to spend as much time in my "secret garden" this summer as i like to..... thanks to bad weather mostly.

But come September and back to school - Mother Nature decided to bless us with a late summer.......... and i have been trying to take advantage of as much secret garden time as i can - before the winter winds blow.

This past weekend i was doing a little late summer gardening........ and realized i hadn't taken more than a handful of pictures this year....... so out came the camera for some late summer shots..........

My pride and joy is my hibiscus which Sir bought me. Actually truth be told, this is my 3rd hibiscus plant - as i managed somehow to kill the other two...... but practice makes perfect and this one is thriving......... It has a total of 9 buds on it.......... one flower and one nearly open flower........... To me the hibiscus flower is a treasure - it opens for one day then dies off......... and i have 11 flowers to enjoy !!!!





Past years i have taken many photos of my hydrangea ......... which has a soft purple bloom that changes colour as the season fades......... i realized that the fall colour of the hydrangea is possibly as beautiful as the soft purple of the summer months - only i never noticed before............ especially when viewed against the back drop of the Dusty Millers.




After i had taken the picture of the hydrangea .. i turned my head and noticed that my mums are just starting to bloom............ i am thrilled that finally my garden has matured .. and that i now have colour from beginning of the season to the end of the season...........



And lastly......... i have had another summer fighting with my nemesis the squirrels... at least they no longer find their way into the condo. But oh how they love to taunt the cats when they are out on their ropes.. running past their noses and chattering like mad as they leap to safety in the bushes...........

And they have decided to leave their stolen bits of food on my patio - last week there was a moldy pizza crust sitting on my wicker love seat......... and if they aren't leaving their food out ........ they are burying it in my potted plants........ often knocking the plants out of the containers to make room for some bit of stolen fruit, or nuts.

i finally gave up fighting with them over one specific pot........... and left it for them to bury at will.......... hoping that they would leave the others alone.......... (hey i am nothing if not an optimist!!! ) They knocked it over on its side in disgust i think.. they must love the challenge of fighting with my poor geraniums !!!!

And that dear readers is my one and only Garden Porn post of the year................ (i can hear some of you breathing a huge sigh of relief !!! hey .. there is more to life than whips and chains and floggers oh my !!! ya know )

Garden porn

This blog can't always be about smut and pain and sensual arousal or cunts for that matter.. or complaining whining subbies you know !!!

Sometimes my life looks pretty much like everyone else's... cleaning... laundry... ironing... garbage... all the really fun stuff ........... ughhhhhhhhhhh...

BUT for those of you who are new around here.. i do love my gardens... my secret hideaway from all the pressures and stupidities of the world.. where i curl up under the big green umbrella on my wicker love seat.. with my books and read.. and listen to the squirrels playing and blue birds singing and the cardinals chattering (yes they chatter !!! especially when my cats are outside with me!!)

i even enjoy the work involved to keep the gardens looking their best...i do not however look my best when working in the garden.. no strappy sandals - but more functional shoes - yellow duckies and cuffs...


OHHHHH and to give credit where credit is due.. kat way out there in Friendly Manitoba did a blog about her garden .. and it made me realize i hadn't updated mine this summer.......... thanks for the gentle reminder kat !!!

lions and tigers and bears - oh my !!!

i managed to get the back patio cleaned up ....... and get 2 of the 4 trellises stained yesterday....... it felt so good to be working outside in the spring sunshine. i took a 'tour' around the garden and the lilac bush is in bud... i see some other little hardy plants pushing their way up through the frozen earth..........

The squirrels are back to dig up the nuts they hid last fall.... and they are cheekier than ever.. don't seem the least bit concerned i am working not 2 feet away from them....... as i dumped the gravel from the roof down the side of the patio - against one of the trellis - i remembered the skunk that used to winter under the patio.....and hoped that either i sealed him in (if he was back this winter) OR i woke him from his winter slumbers and he caught the hint it is time to move on...... i grumbled over the smells of cats (not lions and tigers - more the domesticated sort) who have used my gardens as their own personal 'powder room' over the last 7 months - my god the smell !!!! i am thinking i might try moth balls again...... i spread them over the garden one year and that managed to discourage them....... yet last spring when i tried it.. i actually caught one delicately using a paw to roll them out of the way !!!

Sir being the ever vigilant .. ever caring Sir... decided if i was going to work outside with all the wild life.. i should be protected. So early in the morning, Sir called me over to Him and clipped on the bear bell. (Remember the hunt for the bear bell?? i should have known ! that as soon as Sir was here it was gonna be wakened from its long hibernation )

i know it doesn't look like much..... but my god it is heavy.......and it sways so nicely .. and pulls my clit hood down down down....... i kept having pictures of a National Geographic variety....... of African woman with huge holes in their ears and the ear lobes hanging down to their shoulders.

Sir would clip it on... and have me go about whatever it was i had to do.. when i was close to tears because the pain was beyond endurance He would remove it for a while. BUT .. it kept going back on.... training my hood to take the extra weight.. He even had me wear the bell while He had me over the ottoman cropping my ass.. if He didn't hear the bell ring He would hit harder OR make me spread my legs wider and would hit the bell - making it swing .........

i won't say there weren't times that the tension built up in my belly ..making me drip and i almost (notice i said 'almost') asked for permission to cum........ but i am NOT that stupid.. Sir would have decided that cumming would be done by tugging and playing with the bear bell....... and my hood is nowhere near trained enough to try that lil adventure !!

i am pleased to report though.... that the bear bell worked.... after a full morning working outside........ not one bear poked their head into my lil corner of the universe !!!

Just some Summer thoughts

Remember those buds of black eyed susans that i posted a while back?? well they are in full glorious bloom ....... brightening up a corner of my garden..... they make me smile..... i don't exactly know why except maybe because they are bright and cheerful and sunny......

Remember BDSM summer camp coming up this weekend...... well Sir made sure all the toys were packed on Sunday......... now i am just wondering if we can forget a bag?? just kinda leave it sitting in the play room....... ooops i forgot??

Remember how i had to take my lil red honda in for what i feared was a new transmission.... well it wasn't the transmission just a solenoid and i saved myself a heap of dollars ... YIPEEEEEEEEEE!!! The lil red honda now has a smoothly running engine.. a new windshield.. and next week new tires..... all set to start it's job of chauffeuring me back and forth to school....

And talking about school ......... swan posted a great Youtube video..... not something i am prone to do..... i usually find them long to load.. and sometimes a bit boring....... but this one you have to watch........ this video makes me remember a song from the 60's "Say it LOUD I'm black and I'm proud".. in my case.. "Say it LOUD.. i teach and i'm proud!"

And now for something a little bit different........

ok ok .. it is enough now.. all this introspection is not good for the morale of the troops...... so today i am gonna bounce all over the place and talk about some fun stuff..



like my garden....(But first a question) why is it people call their garden blogs "garden porn"

In case you haven't figured it out yet.. i love my gardens (small though they are) and surround myself with as much colour as i can possibly have in my secret garden....... i was up almost with the sun this morning.. (not quite but close enough) and wanted to take pictures of my 'lil darlings' in the early morning sun...... now i know Sir will say this picture is way too dark...... but can i claim artistic license on it??? huh huh can i ??

Now see what happens when the sun is shining down ...... the colours don't come out true.. at least i don't think so...........


now just a little word on why these plain ordinary every day geraniums are my pride and joy........ i didn't kill them! simple as that. i brought them in last winter and nursed them to the best of my ability up here in the office all winter long.. replanted the sickly things in the spring and threw them outside.. vowing i could always buy new ones if they died.. and look at them.. both these in the metal container and the ones in the picture above..
all nursed through the winter and making me proud this summer !!!!!





Now this poor sickly looking bush is in actual fact a "Sharon's rose" but unfortunately i am impetuous and decided to transplant the poor thing in the heat of July....... it is barely hanging on for me.. despite my best nursing care...... i don't expect it will flower this year.. but hopefully it will survive both the mid summer transplant and the winter and NEXT summer it will be a mass of blooms!!! (lesson noted.. no transplanting .. even with lots of water .. in the heat of July!!)



Now .. way back when .. when i first moved in here.. there was (and still is) a rustic fence by my front walkway..... i had visions of black-eyed susans against the backdrop of this rustic fence (which is a polite way of saying rickety ole thing) ....... i bought two rather small sickly plants and plopped them in....... this year has to be the best showing!!!

It fascinates me how the buds struggle to open... it makes me think of giving birth (don't ask me why.. it just does!!) Each petal slowly opens to revel the beauty of the flower..






















And on that bright note.... i will move along to the daily chores.. busy weekend coming up.... family barbeque tomorrow (so you KNOW it is going to rain!!) and a special day come Sunday - more on that later...........