Tag Archives: lawn order

Potatoes

I once titled a Non-Sequitur Thursday post No Potatoes, after something Louis Armstrong said before a song on a CD I had.  Today I am cooking some potatoes for my supper, so I thought it would be an OK title for another Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  I did not do much today.  I drove to Schenectady for an appointment (long story, not very interesting) and back.  I went to the Elks to visit with my friends.  I am now home.

I have not a clue myself.

I was about to cross the street when I saw a car was coming in the opposite direction.  This gave me the opportunity to take a picture of an unusual pile of trash. I always wonder about these things.

I really must study which kind of bushes are which.

Next a hydrangea bush caught my eye.  Or is is a snowball bush?  It would behoove me to know these things, I suppose.

My own blooms.

Coming home, I was greeted with my wild daisies, blooming with no effort on my part.  I would like to dig them up and move them out back but do not know the proper time of year to do so.  As you may guess, I am nobody’s gardener.

Also blooming with no effort on my part.

Here are some forget-me-nots and lilies of the valley, which continue to take over the front yard.  I like them a lot, especially the lilies of the valley, because of the nice smell.

What you can do with a power mower.

As I was struggling with my non-power mower, my across the street neighbor came and helped me with at least part of my front lawn.  I was very grateful.  I continue to struggle with lawn order.  I hope to share better pictures later if I meet with some success.

 

I Have a Sinus Headache

I put that headline to warn anybody who does not like bellyaching posts.  I thought “bellyaching” was a more descriptive word than “whining,” but the pedant in me feels it is the wrong word since, for once, my belly is not aching.  I pause as I ponder the discrepancy to pour myself another cup of coffee, which may solve the whole problem.  Hey, I can hope.

It is mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, and once again I have not done much blog-worthy activity.  I could perhaps have made a Lawn Order Post, as I spent some time wrestling with my deck and back yard.  Not a lot of time.  In my defense, I am old and suffering a mysterious complaint which renders sustained movement painful (I did mention this was to be a bellyaching post) (once again, the pain is not in my belly).

NOT from my Media Library

I suddenly bestirred myself to get up and go out into the back yard and take a couple of pictures.  Here is my rhododendron, just beginning to bloom.  It is now blocked by a new tree I perhaps should have cut down when it was still small.  However, there are other trees in my yard I may want to have taken down, so perhaps I should let this one live.  I do like shade.

A little more color.

I guess I mentioned that my mower is at Collis Tru-Value Hardware being worked on (just to plug a local business).  I thought it behooved me to do the best I could with the non-power mower.  I figured I could at least get the weeds and grass mushed down a little.

By no means a large section of lawn.

This meets my cousin Mary’s criteria of “looks better than it did.”  A little at a time, I will get the whole thing looking better, and when the power mower is back I hope to get it looking  very nice indeed.  Then I will take more pictures and maybe even invite people over.

These are all over the yard.

On the way back to the house, I took a picture of some forget-me-nots.  It didn’t turn out so well, but I will have plenty of opportunity for more pictures.  Before I went inside, the dog next door on their back porch barked at me.  She often does.  If a ball has fallen into our shared driveway, sometimes I throw it for her to chase while I beat a hasty retreat.  I did so this time.  Alas that my throw was not very strong, and she returned before I had gotten far.  A young woman came out of the house while I prepared to throw the ball again.

“I always feel so bad, because she just wants to play,” I said.  “So I throw the ball, then try to escape.”

I heard her call the dog Luna as she brought her back into the house.  Now I know the dog’s name.  It’s always good to be on a first-name basis with the neighbor’s dog.

By the way, the coffee did help the headache.

 

Tired But On Time!

At least it is the end of the day Tuesday.

I promised myself I could use this picture if I made my Tired Tuesday post on Tuesday.  Bribery often works with me.  Unfortunately, just because I log onto WordPress and start typing does not mean I have anything to say.  I know, when has that ever stopped me?

I typed that in (I once again quote Truman Capote: “That’s not writing that’s typing”) then could not think of another word to type.  Perhaps I should not have put both the play and dinner in the same blog post for Sunday.  Perhaps I should be having more Mohawk Valley adventures to write (type) about.

They were pretty.

I threw in a picture before I got any more bogged down in “shoulds.”   This is a shot of my Black-Eyed Susans from August 2018.  The patch has since overgrown with weeds and stuff.  Not a yellow bloom to be seen. I plan to cut the whole thing down and start over again.  Not today, of course, but possibly by the weekend.  Then I can have another Lawn Order post.

 

Where will the road lead me?

Another kind of post I have not made lately is a Running Commentary.  For one reason, I have not been running.  I hope to begin again soon.  In the meantime I have been walking every morning.  Perhaps a Pedestrian Post is in order.

For today, however, I am over 200 words.  It will have to do.  Full disclosure:  I have been fighting a vague headache most of the day, and I think it is winning.  However, it is the end of the day.  We shall see what tomorrow will bring.  I hope you will stay tuned.

 

More Lawn, Still No Order

I did not have a majorly productive weekend, but I did manage to do some yard work today, Sunday.  That gave me a good reason to have a Wrist to Forehead moment, but I shall try not to whine.  Too much, anyways.

When mowing my lawn with the non-power mower, I have left a lot of crap around the edges.  Today I tried to clean up some of that.  One thing I learned, or perhaps was reminded of, is that wild grapevines are quite invasive.  The roots go on forever!  And the vines cling with tenacity to everything handy.  I clipped, I pulled, I hack-sawed.  I added to a growing pile of crap.

One nice thing was becoming a pricker bush slayer again.  You see, some years ago I spent a Sunday taking down a huge pricker bush behind our garage.  When Steven got home from work, he took me out to Miner’s Table at the Herkimer Diamonds Mine.  I wrote about it for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  For the article I took a picture of Steven toasting me.  When the article appeared, the caption of that photo read, “Steven toasts Cindy, pricker bush slayer.”  I may not have that word for word, but close enough.

Evidence of my pricker bush and wild grapevine slaying prowess.

I soon filled a couple of containers for yard waste pick up tomorrow.  I posted on Facebook that I had literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into my yard work.  I do have some bloody-looking scratches on my arms and legs, and I was ready to cry by the time I gave up and went inside.  I have a lot more work to do, but I felt I had made some progress.

I guess it isn’t all that beautiful.

I was thinking I should have taken a “before” picture but it was too late by the time I thought that.  So I took a picture of a section I did not get to.

Something to look forward to.

My father gave me some advice on getting my power mower going, and offered to come over and work on it if I continued to have troubles.  So I may be making more progress on Lawn Order soon.  In the meantime, I have to be pleased with what I was able to get done.  I can only hope it made an entertaining blog post. Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

Terrified of Tired Tuesday?

I’m afraid this is another Tired Tuesday Post, but since I did not have a Monstrous Monday this Monday or last, I thought a couple beasts might brighten up the blog.

Eeeee! Call the exterminator!

Many people have a fear or at least a squeamishness regarding bugs.  These are fake, of course.  I believe they were props for Donate to Murder, a mystery of mine which featured the memorable character, Renwick Spaulding, lover of bugs.

A little bigger than a bug.

And here is Bruce, the shark from JAWS, a favorite summer flick of mine.  I have not watched it yet this summer.  It was one my husband Steve and I always watched together, often on the Fourth of July, a date which was featured prominently in the movie.

And speaking of going swimming…

Here is a good one:  The Creature from the Black Lagoon with the lovely Julie Adams.  I understand she was as lovely in character as she was in looks.  That is always nice to hear.

I shall just mention that one reason I am so tired is that two days in a row, I fought the lawn, and the lawn won.  I keep telling myself that the lawn may win the battles but I shall win the war.  I hope to share pictures when I do.

In the meantime, I have gotten over 200 words.  That is sufficient, according to my rules for me by me.  Since I included monsters, perhaps I should add a category of Terror Tuesday.  Hmmm.  It may be a little strong, but at least it is alliterative.  Oh wait! I see I already have a category of Terrifying Tuesday.  Shows how much I pay attention.

 

 

Planned or Not, I Got Flowers!

I thought I would do another Floral Photos Post.  For one reason, my Brown-eyed Susans started to bloom a few days ago, and I have been meaning to share a picture of them.  I noticed a few other blooms this morning, when I was trying to bring a little lawn order into my life (not very successfully,  but let us not worry about that now).  I went outside with my Tablet this evening to see what I could get.

Pretty!

I was pleased to see more blooms.  I only saw one little tiny one a few days ago.  The Brown-eyed Susans kind of magically appeared a couple of years ago.  This year, they are growing great guns.  When the other ones start to bloom,  I will take more pictures.

There were fewer Black-eyed Susans, but I am happy to get any at all.

I planted the Black-eyed Susans on purpose, having purchased the plant some nine years ago at a sale to benefit, I believe, Herkimer County Humane Society.  They have expanded as well, but their area is becoming overgrown with other things.  I must clean it out but fear it is too late in the year to do much good.

These are new.

The Queen Anne’s Lace magically appeared this year.  When I was younger, I used to pick it and put it in food coloring to dye it.

Another uninvited guest.

The purple flowers previously appeared (with no effort on my part) elsewhere in the yard.  These blooms were amongst the chives that share the bed with the Black-eyed Susans.

I was very happy to see these blooms.

I had a hard time getting a good picture of the Rose of Sharon because of where the sun was; I could not see what I was photographing.  This shows the flowers, but does not do the whole bush justice.  I will have to try again one morning.

I am happy to see more blossoms appearing as the summer wears on.  One year I may actually plan my garden to be sure of it happening.  At least, I can hope!  Happy Monday, everyone!