Catching up Again!

Sorry I've been out of pocket for a while, but things have been popping around here.

By mid August, the weather had finally turned nice and the garden duties called for daily maintenance. In addition, I had to make an emergency trip down south as my Mother had been admitted to the hospital.

I spent five days helping Daddy take care of Mom when she was discharged from the hospital and not one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs, I cooked, cooked and cooked more so I could freeze meals for them before I left. I think I ended up with about 40 meals for them. Between Hungarian Goulasch, Chili, Chicken Soup, Penne Pasta Casseroles, Bean Soup, Brown Rice, Cabbage Rolls and various other dishes which escape me now, I think they will be set for a couple of months.

I learned my love of flowers and gardening from my Mom and she has lots of flowers in pots around the yard, so I also did watering and maintenance on her blooms. All in all, it was a whirlwind of chores and not a dull moment the whole time I was there. I think they were pleased.

The Mother in Law tongue behind them is a testament to Mom's plant care. It's almost as tall as me!!

I have always admired the photos of them hanging in their bedroom. They were taken sometime around 1948 or so when Daddy was a dashing young soldier and Mama was a beautiful young, dimpled German girl he met while stationed over there after the war. I tried to take photos of the pictures, but the light was never quite just right. The pictures had been colorized and I was startled to see that they had colored Daddy's eyes brown rather than the deep turquoise blue they had been.


Nonetheless, they were and still are a handsome, charming couple and I love them both dearly!

I think I have inherited very good genes!

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

A Bit of Excitement in the House!

Last night, around 9:30, H saw something run under the love seat with Sluggo in hot pursuit



We spent the next hour or so trying to corner and catch a baby flying squirrel that had somehow gotten into the house. He got up into the half moon window and then came crashing down with one of the blue wine bottles.

It being well past our bedtime and still no luck catching the critter, we left the "boys" in charge and went to bed.

Sluggo kept a night long vigil........

but I suspect Spike had little interest in losing sleep over something he probably thought wouldn't taste good anyway. The next morning, we found him stretched out and snoozing instead of earning his keep.

In the end, with the help of a fish net, we corralled the little fella and set him free. We're still trying to figure out how he got in the house in the first place!

On a culinary note, yesterday, we had our first "mess o' green beans" fresh from the garden. The pole beans are beginning to produce prodigiously and I foresee lots of yummy meals.

With this first batch, I made a one pot dish of beans, potatoes and smoked sausage. It was a satisfying meal of food for the soul from my youth.

I'm happy to report that one of the BOB houses now has a "NO VACANCY" sign! The condos in the green house have all been occupied. This photo shows what I think is some kind of pollinating wasp checking things out. So far, the other houses have not seen any interest.

And, on a final note, it seems that all that fog and rain earlier in the spring and summer have produced some beautiful Annabelle Hydrangea blooms. I sat next to the bush to show how huge they are.

The weather here has turned hot (ok, maybe not HOT HOT) and the humidity is up so the watering chores have begun in earnest and H has begun spreading watersealer on the deck and we are schlepping plants and furniture back and forth, so I guess I'd better get busy and get the chores done while it's still relatively cool.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

This and That

Just catching up after a couple of hectic weeks! The sun finally came out and I had to get busy in the garden in between rainy, foggy days. It was so heartening to see the clear, blue skies and we did take off for a quick trip to Canada's Kingsbrae Garden in St. Stephen by the Sea. It was my birthday treat and it turned out to be a spectacular day for a road trip!

I had recalled that one of my blogger friends had mentioned never having seen Hens and Chicks in bloom and I happened to see some at the garden

The sun has finally won out over the ever present ocean fog and the bright skies have really made my own garden colors begin to pop.

The Annabelle Hydrangea with the pink Astilbe nestled against her look sweet together...

and the little antique wheelbarrow which was a gift from a dear friend is filled with many of the geraniums and dahlias I over wintered.

Hansi, the fountain gnome is enjoying the dappled shade provided by the Japanese Maple. I'm so glad I transplanted it this year as I don't think it could stand another winter of having tons of snow plowed on top of it!

Speaking of gnomes, yet another one arrived in our mailbox last week. He's a little bookworm whom we have named "Basil" after our favorite herb and of course, our favorite "Fawlty Towers" character played by John Cleese.


The veggie garden is limping along, but the green bean towers have finally begun producing prodigious amounts of beans. By next week, I think we'll be up to our eyebrows in haricot vert! I can foresee a green bean, potato and smoked sausage dish in our future.

Our neighbors are building a new garage and had to take down several cedar trees which they offered to us. Never being ones to turn down anything free, we of course headed right over to collect what we could. We usually cut it up into kindling and I think we have a few years worth here!


Of course, we have learned over our lifetime that nothing is truly free. H has had his eye on a small, electric log splitter and all this wood gave him the perfect excuse to finally purchase one.

This bit of "free" firewood has cost us $300!

We've had quite a bit of activity in the cove this week as mussel draggers have been harvesting a wealth of mussels. Out in the bay, the sailboats have been sailing back and forth from here to Bar Harbor.


Spike obviously has not heard the old saying about curiosity killing the cat. He almost got mailed to Grandma and Grandpa's house the other day!

And, so ends yet another couple of fun filled weeks in Downeast, Maine!

May all our remaining summer days be filled with sunshine and flowers.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

New Occupants

The BOBs have begun moving in to the condos! Yesterday, as I was meandering aimlessly through the garden as I am wont to do on a daily basis, I noticed that one hole in the BOB house had been sealed!
Notice the sealed hole - it's the second one down on the left.

The female bees lay their eggs in the holes and then seal them up with mud plugs. In the spring, the new bees will dig their way out and begin their task of pollinating plants.

The bees look very much like a common housefly and are not in the least agressive.

More information about these fascinating bees can be found on the website below:

http://osmia.com

It was a beautiful afternoon, and the boys were happy to join me in the garden. They, however, were more interested in the jumping grasshoppers and the chipmunks chirping in the shrubs.

Sluggo was obviously entertained by something as he focused intently for quite some time.

My huge Ruby Spider daylily has just begun blooming. Again, this year, it's blooming about a week or more earlier than in years past. I hope this doesn't portend yet another cold, snowy winter!
The dahlias have begun blooming, as well. I thought I had overwintered all of them, but it seems only the pink ones came back.

This coreopsis "Zagreb" was a pass along from one of my dear neighbors.

The "Jackmanii" clematis is blooming and I see buds on the "New Dawn" climbing rose that is winding it's way through the clematis. It should be a pretty combination!


Down in the shady part of the garden, the Ligularia is blooming a beautiful yellow, and when the dark purple Monkshood begins, they too, will make a nice combination with the silvery lambs ears encircling their feet.

And finally, here's a shot of the new hosta bed and the impatiens, astilbe, catmint and cranesbill on the other side of the rock walk. If you recall, this is the where we dug and found the cleanout to the septic tank earlier this spring. The big pot of geraniums is sitting right on top of the cleanout.
And today, it rains yet again. If this keeps up, we should have a very colorful autumn (providing of course, if the sun comes out in October!) One can only hope that Mother Nature will bless us.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

BOBs?

Blue Orchard Bees, that is.

If you recall, from a previous post, H and I had visited Thuya Garden in Northeast Harbor and saw these cute, whimsical Blue Orchard Bee (BOB) houses. As most of us gardeners have read, honey bees are being decimated by Colony Collapse Disorder and as we are all dependent on pollinators for our very existence, it makes sense to cultivate breeding areas for a variety of pollinators.

Sooo, H and I are doing our part by making four BOB houses for our garden. They are so easy to make and give us an outlet for our artistic side. I think they turned out really cute!

H painted the one with the kitty in the window. Spike is on one side and Sluggo on the other and
I painted the other three. Now we're just hoping the BOBs will find these accommodations pleasing.

This morning dawned clear, cool and beautiful. We awoke to the thrumming sound of a lobster boat in the bay so I had to get a quick shot of it and the seagulls flying around, hoping to catch their breakfast.
And, as long as I was out on the deck, I took a few shots of the amaryllis which have been blooming for weeks now.

My eldest son sent these to me from his garden in Florida.

This is the first year I've tried Nemesia and so far, I've been thrilled with it. It's been a non stop bloomer and no dead heading needed - my kind of plant. I think it looks very pretty planted with the deep blue Lobelia.

The veggie garden is just now coming into it's own and the other day, I prepared peas and carrots with the Sugar Ann peas I planted in the spring. The Sugar Anns are an edible podded pea and so tender and tasty that it's difficult to get enough to bring in to cook as I tend to just eat them in the garden.


Now, it's off to the garden for more weeding!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Thuya Again

Last Tuesday, the sun was shining again, so we headed back over to Mount Desert Island to revisit Thuya Garden. We had been there four weeks ago and due to having substantial rainfall in June, and the lack of sun all month, not much had been blooming at the time.

This time, after a bit of warmth and sun, there were more blooms, but still not as much as should have been by mid July. The trip, however, is always fun and we enjoyed the quiet, peaceful stroll through the garden.

The path up to the garden at the top of the hill looks quite steep, but the pink granite steps make the climb much easier as it winds it's way to the top. In many spots, the granite cliffs give one a feeling of being in an ancient stone cathedral......

and the view from the top is nothing short of spectacular looking down on Northeast Harbor.

The garden itself is full of beauty and whimsy among the more formal parts. This old cedar tree had literally split this huge boulder before it finally succumbed to old age and had to be cut down.

Many of the Dahlia varieties were beginning to bloom, but this pretty one caught my eye.


I took a shot of this rustic bench so H could build one for our garden. How difficult can that be???

The Delphinium were having a contest with the sky to see who could be the bluest!

And the ferns were winning their own contest with the other verdant greens of the garden.

This little Blue Orchard Bee house (BOB), reminded us that we still had to finish our BOBs.

After a lovely time winding throughout the garden, we headed back down the hill and moseyed on over to Little Long Pond for a picnic beside the quiet water of the pond.

And so ended another wonderful day in our little corner of the world.


Life is Very Good!

Hugs, Giddy