Tag Archives: gardening

How Will My Garden Grow?

Posted on May 3, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would try for an on-time Thursday blog post with another Throwback Thursday.  I am a little afraid I re-use the same throwback pictures again and again.  Of course I am too lazy to go back and check which pictures I may have used recently.  I shall trust to my sometimes reliable memory.

Pretty!

I went back to May of 2017 and found this “before” shot of plants I had purchased for the container garden on my deck.  It has been years since I have had a container garden, but I hope to have one this year.

I always hope they’ll fill in a little as the summer progresses.

Here is one of the pots from that same year.  I always enjoy putting the different flowers together.  I do not always have “the thrill, the fill, and the spill” that the gardening articles advise for an ideal container, but some of my containers are not very big.

At least two of these pots are now in pieces.

I also make use of different levels.  I don’t know what shape those tree sections are in.  They may be rotted by now.

I must get a pedicure soon.

And here is a picture of what I would like to be doing, eventually.  Lounging on my deck, glass of wine nearby, enjoying an evening with my container garden.  So I have pursued two purposes tonight:  I made a Throwback Thursday blog post, and I encouraged myself to get my act together at least to the extent of having another container garden.  May this turn out to be a Preview of Coming Attractions!

 

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A Little Spring in my Step?

Posted on January 9, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

As the anniversary of my husband Steven’s death approaches (Feb. 3), I have been feeling low.  Of course there are many reasons to feel low these days, and other people have greater problems and stresses than mine.  I am not starting this post to complain but to mention a delightful thing that happened to cheer me up.

At Steve’s funeral last February, only one person sent flowers.  Jenn, a good friend from our days doing community theatre in Massena, NY, and her family sent hyacinth bulbs.  They did not grow and bloom till after the funeral, but I certainly enjoyed the sight and scent of them on my kitchen counter.  I meant to plant the bulbs in my yard, where I hoped they would spread their joy every year hereafter, but, well, with one thing and another, it was not a good year for yards and gardens.  The pot with the bulbs continued to sit in my kitchen, moving from the counter to the floor when I needed the space.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed a little green beginning to poke its way out.  Not daring to get my hopes up, I watered it and waited.  They grew!  They bloomed!  They got a little top heavy and bowed over, so I tried to prop them up with glasses.

I should have cleared away the clutter in the background. I never think of these things.

Oh dear, that picture looks blurrier than it looked on my phone.  I should have used the Tablet.  Of course the clearest picture in the world would not share the lovely scent.  Spring time!  It gives me hope.

Not huge, but lovely.

I went in for a close-up of some of the blooms.  I know sometimes hyacinths have greater bunches of flowers, and perhaps these will too, eventually. In the meantime, they are certainly making a bright spot in a gloomy January.

 

 

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Lame Old Me

Posted on August 5, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last night I felt too tired to make my Lame Post Friday post, and I am justly served for my laziness, because I have a dreadful headache this morning.  Two lousy glasses of Chardonnay!  I feel most ill-used.  Sorry to bitch about it, but you know how it is.

Pretty!

I looked for a cheerful picture in my Media Library to counteract my whining.  These are my Black-Eyed Susans in August 2017.  The patch does not look nearly as nice this year, but I was happy to get at least some blooms.  I have fallen down dreadfully in the yard and garden department these past few years.  Little by little, I try to improve the situation.

Me, trying to improve the situation.

I used this illustration before with the caption, “Me, hacking away at the overgrowth.”  It amused me so much, I thought I would repeat it for the benefit of anybody that missed it the first time.

Actors at work.

I was looking for a summer activity, so I could also make this a preview of coming attractions.  I found this from when a few members of LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company,  met at Mangia Macrina’s Pizza in Little Falls, NY to run lines for Love’s Labour’s Lost.  I had actually started to go home, but turned around and joined them.  Alas, no LiFT or Shakespeare appear to be in my near future, but theatre is.  And possibly a pizza from Mangia Macrina’s.

OK, one more Shakespeare picture.

 

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Planning My Pots

Posted on May 15, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Another Sunday and I got nuthin’.  How many blog posts have I started with the confession that I have not much to say?  This is a rhetoric question; I do not intend to go back and check.

Pretty!

I fall back on my usual trick of throwing in a picture to pep things up.  This was from May 2017.  It is raw materials for my container garden on my deck.  I have not had one these last few years, but I hope to have one this year.  I have all kinds of hopes and plans.  All I need now is to muster the oomph to do them.

Even prettier!

Here is a later shot that same year.  I think two of those pots are broken now.   The third one is plastic, so it still ought to be around.

Also that year.

I believe this one filled out some as the season progressed.

I enjoy deciding which colors to put together.

Now that I look at these pictures again, I notice the backgrounds.  The first one has a nicely mown lawn.  That was when Steve used to do the mowing.  In the second, I see a portion of fence with some vine growing on it, so that’s not so bad.  However, the garage in the background of the third cannot be described as anything other than shabby.  Professional photographers notice these things,  and here we come to the ugly truth about me and photography.

And now I see I am over 200 words.  Score!  I hope it turns out to be a preview of coming attractions.  I hope you will stay tuned.

 

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Is This Any Way to Make a Blog Post?

Posted on August 18, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, it is the Type It In Backspace It Out Disease.  That is no way to make a blog post!  Hmm, that sounds like it could be a title.  Actually I am feeling right now that there is no way I can make a blog post, which is a little silly, because, well, here we are.  I am thinking this going to be a Wuss-out Wednesday Post.

It is still summer, isn’t it?

I threw in a picture to pep things up.  It is our skeleton, Bonita and her friend Bonaparte in summer mode.  We are beginning to get whiffs of fall these days, but it is definitely August.  We will still feel plenty of heat.

Pretty! Alas, they are no more.

Speaking of August,  here is a shot from August 2020.  I hope to up my gardening game in 2023.  Of course, I will be upping it from zero, so it will not be difficult to make some improvement.

My current mood?

From August 2019, I find some cloudy skies.  I love a cloudy, gloomy day.

It’s scary!

I close with a picture from Horror Hotel, because, hey, why not Mid-Week Monsters?

So this is my blog post.  I share pictures and babble on.  Did I mention I am still tired?  Oh, that was some of the stuff I typed in and backspaced out.

 

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It’s a Blooming Blog Post!

Posted on June 8, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I have used that title before, but I like it.

It is a hot, muggy day in the Mohawk Valley. I did not run, I did not walk. Well, I walked. Just out into my yard, to take a couple of flower pictures for a blog post.

Pretty, yes?

And still no captions. What the hell, WordPress? And yes, autocorrect, I DID want to say “hell” not “he’ll.” Sheesh!

Where was I? Ah yes, admiring my rhododendrons. It is nice I have at least one kind of flower in my backyard. I have not done my container garden nor any of the yard gardening I had planned.

My front yard is looking fairly cheery, too.

I am delighted with my peonies. They have such a lovely scent. The daisies are delightful, too, if a little out of control.

Then I backed up (carefully, because with my luck lately I might back into something and land on my ass) to get a shot of both.

I do not despair of having some semblance of a container garden. Perhaps this weekend I can work on it. Maybe I could muster some ambition to do something about it after work. No promises, but that would make a pretty good blog post

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After and Before?

Posted on May 21, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

Time for a quick Throwback Thursday Post. I am tired, as usual these days. In my defense, I mowed my lawn with the non-power mower in the warm weather. OK, I did a pretty lousy job. And I am a big baby. You knew that about me.

Damn it looked good!

This is our Rose of Sharon in April 2017. April! At least, it was in the blog in April. Perhaps the picture was taken in a later month of 2016, because our Rose of Sharon does not look nearly this good now. Oh dear. And yes, I am obviously too lazy to go take a picture of it now.

A little back lit.

I overcame my laziness to walk out back and take the above shot. There is actually more green than I had realized. Now this post is less of a Throwback, but I do not despair. It can always be a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.

Preview of coming attractions.

Here are our daisies in 2017. None have bloomed yet. In fact, that space is currently dominated by forget-me-nots, as I showed in a more recent blog post.

Just a couple days ago.

It seems this blog is a bit flower obsessed these days. I find that appropriate for spring. I hope to do some real gardening this weekend. I will have even more pictures of flowers to share! As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Don’t Forget My Flowers

Posted on May 19, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

For my Tired Tuesday post, I shall share the pictures I took after leaving the Grand Colonial Bed and Breakfast yesterday. I turned down Main Street and walked toward the post office.

I saw a classic truck I tried to take a picture of, but I was unable to zoom in. When I tried, I could only put it in Selfie Mode. Who wants to see a selfie of me! Nobody needs to see that! I took a shot of some forget-me-nots instead.

I particularly like the rocks.

I took care not to include any identifying characteristics of the house. I did not see any more photo-ops (is that a hyphenated word?) till I got home and decided to take a picture of my own forget-me-nots. They seem to be taking over my front yard, although I expect the daisies will soon give them some spirited competition.

The dandelions are not giving up either.

I went out back to get a shot of the forget-me-nots there, but they have not grown together as thickly so the picture did not turn out well. It is kind of surprising, because they have been out back since we moved in but only appeared out front in the last year or so. I took a picture of some wild violets instead.

Another favorite of mine.

These particular violets will soon be overshadowed by Black-eyed Susans. That flower has grown and spread but so far has remained in the same patch of lawn. At least, I hope I have as many as I did last year. I think the chives as well as a couple of really young trees are also fighting for a bit of that soil.

I’m wondering if I should just let these plants duke it out amongst themselves or perhaps try to instill some order in the chaos. Considering the disorder which reigns in the rest of my life, I question how effective my efforts would be. In any case, I’ll be sure to take more pictures and keep you posted. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Not Just Dead Leaves!

Posted on April 7, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went for a run after work, hoping to make a Running Commentary Post. After my cool-down walk I spent a very little time cleaning some of last year’s leaves out of the front yard. Then I took a shower, fixed supper, talked to my Mom on the phone, and generally got too tired to make a blog post.

Yet here I am. But do not despair, gentle reader! This is not another whiny post about how tired I am! Instead, I exerted myself enough to go outside and take a few pictures of flowers. I do love flowers.

Obviously I did not get all the leaves.

This is the lone crocus in the front yard. However, there is more greenery, so perhaps there will be more. I went into the backyard to check on the progress of the daffodils. When I was running I saw a bunch in full bloom, so I had some hopes.

Getting there!

I figured the circuses I had seen before were over, but I was delighted to see a few more, fighting their way through the treacherous 2020 leaves.

I have great hopes for getting yard work and gardening done. Of course, I will have to spend more time at it than 10 minutes after a run. Still, one has to start somewhere. I will keep you updated on my progress. For one reason, it makes a good blog post.

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Lame Lawn Work

Posted on August 8, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to Lame Post Friday, my day of random observations and half-baked philosophy.   My first random observation is that our Brown-eyed Susans have started peeking up over the edge of our deck. I did not take a picture of said Susans, but will post a previous picture of these delightful flowers.

They are supposed to be a favorite of honey bees.

It is the time of year when I wish I had taken more effort in my lawn and garden earlier in the year.  However, that ship has sailed, to use a cliche (sorry about using a cliche, by the way).   I can only appreciate what already exists.

I love these.

Speaking of what already exists,  here is an earlier shot of my Johnny Jump-ups.  They look equally as beautiful now.

Pesto… Mmmmm…..

To continue with what is glorious right now, here is my basil, which is even better as we speak.  I snipped some off for a salad recently.  Yum!

It looks better now, but here are some blooms.

My Black-eyed Susans are doing well too. It may have been a good idea to take a more recent picture,  but, you know, I can’t always do the right thing.

So here is my post:  random observations of flowers.  For Half-Baked Philosophy, I will offer: flowers are good,  gardening is good, sometimes they are not as good as we had hoped.  We must drive on.

Happy Friday,  everyone!

 

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