Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Clematis are beginning

Thursday May 9, 2013

Milked.

Shower began so nothing outside until late afternoon. 1/8 inch or so.

Trimmed garden fence border, inside and out and east end of garden.

Cleaned out iris and daylily row in garden.

Max is mowing the yard.

Tomorrow:

Plant coleus and spearmint (in clay pot in herb bed.

Plant 4 tomatoes as a trial.

Friday, May 10, 2013

It was cooler this morning, 58° and more shower during the night....up to ¼ inch now. Right now the sun is shining but 70% chance of more rain with a high of 70°. They are tossing around a possible low in 30's and 40's so I won't risk my tomatoes just yet.

We don't think the tree trimmer will be back until Monday so we will make a Mother's Day flower run and pick up a couple of grocery items.

We are coffee people and have been disappointed in out coffee recently. Our favored Yuban isn't what it once was! It also used to be the highest price and is now the lowest....I also see it doesn't say Colombian on the label. I makes me so mad when they change a product. We have tested 8 o'clock, Maxwell house and Dunkin Donuts....not very impressed yet. I think we may buy several smaller cans and do test runs.....silly I know but we do enjoy coffee.

Saturday May ll, 2013

We are having Max's mother for dinner tomorrow so this day was spent baking and cleaning.
I made an angel food cake and then used the yolks for a very yellow lemon flavored sponge cake.
We have samples the lemon one already and it turned out well.

I am making a very tradition southern fried chicken dinner: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans dressed with toasted almonds, salad. And hot biscuits.

I will make a boiled frosting for the angel food cake.Mother's Day Angel Food Cake 2013 photo angelfoodcake_zpsc63c0495.jpg

We bought a flat of fibrous begonias for her gift and I planted her whiskey barrel with them and had enough left to plant the south edge of her patio.

We are in our second day of another and I hope last, cool spell. It is 37° here this morning. They promise all next week will be very warm.
I had a wonderful surprise on Mother's Day. Our KC daughter and her family drove down and had dinner with us.

The orioles have already left us to fly north. I think they didn't stay as long this year. We still just have 2 or 3 hummers.

Pictures

The early clematis are blooming:

This one is Niobe almost buried amidst the Clematis Paniculata  and weeds in the Ramp Bed by the milk parlor.....all in good time....

Niobe photo Niobeclematis_zps85f6cd62.jpg

and Henryi in the back of the cellar  bed.  I still haven't installed a trellis so it will just trail this year.

Henryi Clem in Cellar Bed with lemon balm and honey bee photo IMG_0194_zps2f101605.jpg



It has lots of honeybees hovering.
I think I should move some of Barb's iris here.
  photo henryiibedbycellarbackside_zpsdcb0c439.jpg


Barb's iris (she was a neighbor who gave them to me)is blooming in the Grass Bed by the cellar.

 photo 
barbsirisbycellargrassbed_zpsb2cf06c6.jpg


This is the one growing on the Endless Summer Hydrangea in the Kitchen Window Bed.  I let it get ahead of my trellis just like the Henryi.
 clematis by kitchen window and Endlesss Summer Hydrangea photo IMG_0185_zps9f3e98f5.jpg



13 comments:

  1. My clematis are not blooming yet, although they are in a crappy area. Can you replant them?

    Thanks for the lick-the-screen shot of your cake. I'm starting my diet (again) today, so now I can just dream of your desserts. Ugh.

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    1. I have never tried to move one but I don't see why you couldn't. Soak the ground really well and dig a large ball of soil around the root system....have the new hole dug and plant it quickly....or put it in a large pot to grow for a bit. I always put new ones that are small in a pot to grow for a year before moving to their permanent home.....that way I don't 'lose' them.

      We are dieting too; after we finished off the leftover cakes.......

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  2. I love the pictures of your beautiful clematis! Mine are just starting to bud. The cake looks delicious...and if you're in the mood to try a new kind of coffee, I can put you in touch with a friend of ours who roasts his own fair trade coffee. Let me know if you'd like some info!

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    1. Alicia, send me the info on the new coffee. So far we are enjoying the Folgers which is a real surprise.

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  3. We are coffee lovers, too. We have settled on 8 O'Clock coffee; it's very good. We buy the beans and grind before each pot. We save up coupons, buy it on sale and store it in the freezer. Works for us.

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    1. Ray, I thought I had some 8 O'Clock beans here but can't find them. I will give them a try again. DH won't want to use the grinder but I can do it the night before. He is the coffee maker here. He is so fussy about the amount of water and coffee.....he doesn't think I do it right. That gets my coffee made and a cup brought to my chair so I don't complain!

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  4. Your clematis is pretty, Glenda, and the iris makes me wish I'd moved ours. I keep forgetting because I've been focusing too much on other flower beds, I guess. My iris haven't been blooming good and I think they must be crowded by the daylilies.
    The cake looks delicious! Glad you had a nice Mother's day.

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    Replies
    1. Cheryl, I am waiting until the iris that are still buried under the cheatgrass bloom so I can dig at least one of a color and then just mow down the driveway bed. I vow to cut back on these flower beds but I can't stand the idea of loosing a variety.

      The tops of the bulbs need sun on them. You should pull off the dead grass and leaves early in the season and, yes, they do need to be thinned every few years. They are gorgeous flowers and I do love them. Fragrant Lilac is blooming now and it smells like Grapette soda when I walk by.

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  5. Glenda

    Beautiful pictures of your clematis and iris'

    The meal you made and this pictured cake looks and sounds delicious.
    It sounds like you had a really nice Mother's Day.

    Coffee lately purchased at the local store doesn't seem to be good anymore. We've switched to drinking hot tea.

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    1. We tried green teas since it is supposed to be so good for you, but we need our coffee. It makes me so mad when the companies change what you have been buying. We would have been Yuban users for life no matter the cost but then it wasn't the same anymore!

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  6. The flowers are great but the cake looks outstanding! Yum!

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    1. When I finally mastered angel food cake, I was so proud of myself. There is no comparison to the box mixes. Of course, having fresh eggs from the girls helps! When I make it just for us, I don't use icing at all. That makes it health food, right?

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  7. We drink Folgers, the classic roast. Reminds me of the little boy who put plastic 'little men' in his granma's coffee -- 'The best part of waking up is Soldiers in your Cup.'

    Those clematis are wonderful. Mine here died out. I expect root-knot nematodes were unkind to them.

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