January 16, 2014 - Happy Sixth Birthday to Annie and Otto!

Annie and Otto:  Their 1st. Year

 In April of 2008, I chose Annie and Otto from this litter, born 1/16/08.  Annie is in the front, Otto at the right rear of the photo.  I started out to buy a little girl dog, and already had her name picked out.  On my way to pick her up, Mr. Granny called me on the cell phone and said he wanted a little boy dog, and he was going to name him Otto.  So we ended up with two puppies!  We didn't know at the time that Annie's mother was also named Annie (Princess Anne) and Otto's grandfather was also named Otto!

 They fit very comfortably in one small dog bed.

 Or on granddaughter Alicia's tummy.

 They played with grandson Kevin.

 We called Otto "Devil Dog" when he played with Annie!  He just looked vicious, he was, and still is, a real pussycat.

 Leash training didn't work out too well with them.

 They much preferred sleeping.

 And sleeping.

 Annie liked helping with the dishes.

 "Get that camera out of my face!"

 Otto, watching football in his and Mr. Granny's man room.

 And sleeping.

 Oh no, Granny.  You wouldn't make me wear this.

 Does this sweater make my butt look big?

 The biggest laugh they ever gave us was when Otto chewed a hole in their doggy bed and Annie came walking down the hallway wearing it like a ball gown!  

"Aren't I beautiful?"   :-D

Annie's first trip down to our AZ home.  I guess the drive made her tired, because she slept.

 And slept.

 But they soon got used to Arizona, and were very happy there.

Their 1st. Birthday, January 16, 2009

 Annie just couldn't keep her cupcake on the napkin....

so they got sent down to the floor.

Happy birthday Annie and Otto!  You've given us six years of love, laughter and happiness.

January 15, 2014 - Spring Prep Continues

For the past two years I've set up my seedling growing shelves in the bedroom, in front of the window.  This year I had to find another place for it.  My little Annie dog has not been well, and it is very difficult for her to jump onto her step stool and onto the bed, so Son John made her a carpet covered ramp.  It works great for her, and now I don't have to worry that she'll hurt herself by jumping, but it does take up a good amount of room.  That would normally not be a problem, but it would be a really tight fit to try to get the grow shelves set up there.  I don't think there would be room to squeeze through to make the bed.

This is where the shelves went before Annie's ramp was added to the left side of the bed.

Now Annie's ramp takes precedence.

There just wasn't another place in this house where I could set up those grow shelves.  Except.....the laundry room!  I had to get Mr. Granny to help me move the freezer out to the garage, and in its place I set up the shelves.

 And here they are!  

Boy, was that a job.  Empty the freezer, move the freezer out to the garage, carry all the frozen food out and put it back in the freezer, move all the butternut squash off of the shelves, move the shelves from the garage to the laundry room, clean the floor where the freezer had been sitting, take down the little wall shelf that was above the freezer, set up the shelves, spend an entire afternoon adjusting shelves to get them just right, pull the four shop lights out from under the bed where they'd been stored all summer and winter, wipe the dust from the shelves and the lights, run to Walmart for "S" hooks to hang lights because I couldn't find where I put the ones from last year, go to the shed and look for a chain to hang the lights because one was missing, go back to the shed for another chain because I can't count, hang the lights, start putting things on the shelves, zip tie a rope light to a shelf for keeping seeds warm, zip tie all the dangling cords together, find a power strip to plug them into, cut a piece of plastic to fit the bottom shelf so I can slide my breadmaker in easily (for storage, not baking).

 The top shelf now holds my seeds and seed starting thingies, along with egg shells that are drying.

 The next two shelves have the four shop lights and lots of room for seedling flats.

 The next shelf has the rope light for keeping seeds warm until they germinate.  It should have two rope lights to cover the entire shelf, but one of them was dead, so I'm going to try to get by with just one.  I also have an old heating pad I can use if needed.

 The bottom shelf is covered with a sheet of rigid plastic, the only place I have to keep my breadmaker stored when I'm not using it.  There's plenty of room for stacking the rest of the containers that I'll be needing for seed starting.

The seed starting shelves looked so neat and tidy, I thought I'd tackle the shelf over the washer and dryer, where I keep all the cleaning supplies and miscellaneous items.  Back to Walmart for three plastic containers to hold all the liquids.  That cleared up enough room for a box of light bulbs, the ice cream maker (that may get moved to the shelf with the breadmaker) and our family party supplies...paper plates, napkins, plastic cutlery and plastic cups.

 The shelves that hold the laundry supplies and cleaning rags had to be moved across the room, but  luckily it fit just perfect there.  This is where I did have my mop, broom and step stool hanging, so the mop and broom went into the hall closet with the vacuum cleaner, and the step stool was tucked away neatly behind the seed starting shelves.

Oh.......see what I spotted today!  I have a ripe Happy Yummy sweet pepper that I'll be picking to add to my salad tomorrow.  It will be my first harvest of 2014!

January 14, 2014 - Six Steps Toward Spring

I suppose our daytime temperatures will take another plunge, but these past few days have given us temperatures in the fifties.  In fact, it actually got up to 57F today, the sun was shining and the wind finally stopped blowing.  FINALLY.  We had a couple of days when the wind blew steadily at 35-45 MPH, with gusts of 65-70 MPH.  At least my neighbors naked trees didn't drop any branches on me, but I had another big pine tree mess to clean up in the front yard.  I raked everything into a pile today, and Mr. Granny scooped it all into containers for the garbage collector.  I guess he didn't want me to do another face plant on the driveway while trying to roll the big, heavy garbage can around!

Anyway, the warmth and sunshine put me in the mood for spring planting, so I...................

 1. Used my hot glue gun (sans glue stick) to melt drainage holes in the bottoms of plastic shoe boxes.  2. Made onion seed mats from paper napkins cut to fit inside the shoe boxes.

3. Glued 120 red onion seeds on one mat, and 100 seeds on the second mat.  4. Planted the first mat in some good potting mix, covered it with a clear plastic shower cap, and set the second mat aside to plant later.  The shoe box lid works well as a tray under the container.

4. I had extra potting mix left in the bucket, so I made up a few soil blocks.  I'll let them dry out, then re-hydrate them when I'm ready to plant seeds in them.  The plastic shoe box, with drainage holes in the bottom, holds 21 of these round plugs.  The container is small enough to set in a sink of tepid water to re-hydrate them. I used my homemade soil block maker, directions can be found HERE.

5. The next chore was to go out to the garden shed and find the old seed box, then get the dust cleaned off of it.

6. The final chore for the day was to get the seed box organized and ready for all the new seeds I ordered, as well as those I already had on hand.  Besides using tabbed dividers, I also cut the flaps off of envelopes so I can easily slip the seed packages in them.  That way I can pull out the entire envelope and (hopefully) not end up sticking packets back where they don't belong.  I used the red plastic boxes for the larger seeds.

Now I'm six steps closer to spring!

January 6, 2014 - Satisfying the Urge

A week before Christmas I inherited five nearly dead African violets.  My daughter manages a mobile home village, and one of the residents had passed away over a month earlier.  We ended up buying the mobile home for a granddaughter, and I rescued the plants and brought them home to nurse back to health.  One was already too far gone, so I got the other four watered and fertilized and set them in the north facing plant window in the laundry room.  A few days ago I repotted them into fresh potting mix and divided one of the plants into four, so now I have seven African violets to play with.  They join the Happy Yummy sweet pepper that I brought in from the garden last fall.  I had a bit of potting mix left over, so I planted a couple of pots of lettuce this morning.  It's old seed, and may not even be viable, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway.  If I can get a couple of plants to nibble on, I'll be a happy camper.

 The plant window is beginning to look like spring!

 I hope I can keep them alive.  I'm not nearly as good with indoor plants as I am with my vegetable gardening.

 Pots of lettuce on the left, and the Happy Yummy pepper on the right (looking both happy and yummy).  I've had to do a bit of selective pruning on the pepper plant to keep it small enough for the window, but it seems to thrive.  I can hopefully keep it going and get a good head start on the sweet pepper production next spring.

 The prettiest and largest of the violets.  One other is blooming, but it is plain dark purple.

 Pretty enough to deserve a close up photo.

The Happy Yummy pepper has had a lot of blossom drop, but managed to bear five nice peppers so far.  I wish they would hurry and ripen!

January 4, 2014 - The Gardening Year Begins

When I typed the date in my title, I put "December".  That's how far behind I am!  Not only am I still in 2013, I'm not even in the correct month yet.  But....it IS 2014 now, and time to start planning my garden.  The first thing that must be done is to place my seed order.  I've decided to try Fedco this year, because so many others have mentioned how they like them.  I had to work a bit to get my order up to $30, as I really do like "free shipping".  I'm afraid the shipping costs at most catalog companies makes me turn the other way.  I'd love, for instance, to order from Johnny's.  They have so many varieties that I'd like in my garden, but I find them a bit expensive.  Yes, I am a cheapskate!  In the past I've usually ordered from Ed Hume seeds, or purchased them from the seed rack when they go on sale each spring, but I've had some mislabeled seeds the past two years, so I've decided to go with another seed source.  I must say, the Ed Hume seed company was quick to refund my money when I notified them about the problem, but that didn't turn my "rose colored" nasturtiums from orange to pink, nor did it give me time to replant the "sugar snap peas" that turned out to have inedible pods.

Varieties I've ordered for 2014 (varieties new to me are preceded with  * )
*Beans (bush), Jade
Beans (bush), Provider
Beets, Red Ace
*Broccoli, Fiesta
Cabbage, Early Jersey Wakefield
*Carrot, Mokum
*Carrot, Sugarsnax
Corn, Honey Select
*Cucumber, Calypso  (sold out)
Lettuce, Anuenue
Lettuce, Buttercrunch
Lettuce, Jericho
*Lettuce, Sierra
*Onions, Copra
Onions, Walla Walla
*Pea, Cascadia Snap
Radish, Champion
Spinach, Tyee
Squash, Early Summer Crookneck
Squash, Jackpot Zucchini
Watermelon, Sugar Baby OG

I think I have all of the rest of the seeds I need for sweet peppers, Fortex pole beans and butternut squash, as well as miscellaneous herbs and flowers.  Dan is sending some melon and tomato seeds, and I also have quite a few tomato seeds left or saved from last year.

I HEART the Colonel.  Normally I shun fast food, but Mr. Granny came home from KFC with a couple of these one day last fall.....

Did I see the crispy chicken strips and fat laden potato wedges?  No.  What I did see was this:

 A 4" seed starting pot with room for two seedlings.

 Two dimples in the bottom to mark the spots to add drainage holes with my hot glue gun.

 A very sturdy 3" clear dome that comes with a small vent hole in the top.  That's 7" of combined depth and height for the seedlings.  Perfect.

I may have encouraged him to consume a few orders through the winter.  So far I have 20 cups, enough for 40 seedlings.  I think another four might do for this year  :-)

Happy 2014!

December 27, 2013 - Chop, Chop!

It doesn't seem possible that the end of 2013 is near!  The year has gone way too quickly for me, but I guess time flies faster as one ages.

We had a nice Christmas holiday.  The kids came for a simple Christmas Eve dinner, and presents were opened at that time.  I told them I'd done my duty by hosting the Thanksgiving feast, so I planned on taking it easy this year and enjoying Christmas without all the fuss and fancy.  I set up a build-your-own taco bar and let Costco provide the desserts.  I sat myself down and enjoyed visiting with the family, and it took just minutes to clean up the mess, with only one load of dishes for the dishwasher.  I think I'll make this a tradition, only I would prefer a soup and homemade dinner rolls menu rather than tacos, which were Mr. Granny's choice.

We had some excitement to watch the entire Christmas week.  Our next door neighbor had a professional tree trimmer come and prune her four big sycamore trees, and the two huge English walnut trees.  They really cut the sycamores back drastically.  I'm not so sure it's the best way to do it, as new growth is in the form of weak water sprouts, but it seems to be the accepted way of pruning these giants.  I must say, they are quite ugly in their new nakedness!  On the other hand, I was impressed with the walnut tree pruning.  One of those trees casts morning shade on about half my garden, and had many dead branches that would break and fall onto our property with each windstorm.  I had one fall on my head once, so I had to be especially careful about gardening if the wind was blowing!  Now the garden will get a lot more light, and my body should be safe from falling limbs.

 A worker in the walnut treetop.  Hi, up there.....high up there.

 Walnut trees looking so much better.

 My garden will appreciate having so much of the old growth removed.  I don't think the squirrels will be too happy though.

The last of the four sycamores being pruned.  Or stubbed.  They all end up looking bare naked like the one in the background.

 I wish I had a better photo of all the wood that was removed from six trees.  Her entire front yard is covered about 6' deep or more, with just the driveway left open for the cars.  Even the "lighter" pruning of the walnut trees left an unbelievable amount of branches.  The branches are covering her hedge, and overflowing into our side yard.

This one, as viewed from the bedroom window, looked a bit too close to our house.  I had to go out to see if we had any damage from it, but it missed the house by about 6".

I figured they would be in today with the big chipper to begin clearing up the mess, but they must be taking a long holiday break.  

December 3, 2013 - Thank You, Robbie!

Robbie, from Palm Rae Urban Potager, has been kind enough to give me the Very Inspiring Blogger Award!  Thank you, Robbie.  You also inspire me to add color to my vegetable garden by including flowers for the pollinators and for our personal enjoyment.

Upon receiving this award, I'm supposed to tell seven interesting things about myself.  That's been done many times before, so I won't bore you by being too repetitive.   I'm also supposed to list the blogs that have most inspired me.  I've decided my list will not be passed on, as these bloggers that have most inspired me in the past, are no longer blogging.  I miss them all so very much, but they will always be remembered.

They are, with the date of their last post:

Ed at http://talesfromthemountainside.blogspot.com/ January 18, 2013

Laura at http://www.modernvictorygarden.com/apps/blog/ August 5, 2013

Liisa at http://liisasgarden.blogspot.com/ May 10, 2013

Mike at http://subsistencepatternfoodgarden.blogspot.com/ November 8, 2012

Katie at http://gardeningwithoutskills.blogspot.com/ March 2, 2011

Caffeinated Mom at http://thecaffeinatedmomgardens.blogspot.com/ July 19, 2010

Momma_S at http://gardeningwithcare.blogspot.com/ August 6, 2010

Robin at http://cordarogarden.blogspot.com/ August 1, 2013

Ribbit at http://thecorneryard.blogspot.com/  July 29, 2013

EG (Jeff) at http://engineeredgarden.blogspot.com/ (evidently still active for invited readers only, which doesn't include me)

Gosh, I sure do miss them.