The rain has ended--time for a stroll through the garden!

Take a stroll through the yard and gardens with me.  You can click on a picture to make it larger.

My first year with blueberries in a pot.

The Spirea Bush

Pansies!

A Giant Iris

The owl guards the new beans. Otherwise, the little birds love to peck out the new leaves!

Spinach amongst the onions.

I planted 20 plants this spring--only 7 made it. Sigh.

Chives

Green Peppers in pots--they grow best for me this way!

I love the humble marigolds.

The potato bed is coming along nicely.

My Peonies are riotously growing!

Up close on the Peonies.

Last fall, Annie and Toby bought me a great pumpkin. It lasted all winter!  This spring I put it outside, where it rotted down.  Then I planted pumpkin and all. And it's sprouting!

One of my new Plum Trees.  Is it even alive?

YES!!!  Life will find a way.

Holy Mother of Pearl. Actual Peaches on my Peach Tree!

Crushed Eggshells? More Like Crushed Egg Hell!

OK, so I attended a garden Q&A and the speaker was from the local Cooperative Extension. She told us one tip for great tomatoes was to put a tablespoon or two of eggshells in the bottom of each hole when you plant.  Just save up your eggshells, she says, and crush them in a blender.  OK--so--I did.  After all, who doesn't want to give some nice calcium to one's tomato plants?  Plus--so organic, which is an important factor for me.

What she didn't say was that blending dried eggshells would have a horrendous smell!  The smell from H. E. Double-Hockey Sticks, I tell you.  But it's done, and I will keep you all posted as I plant my tomatoes this weekend.  (Be the way--cleaning the dust out of the blender?  That was horrendous too!  I had to take it apart and scrub with a brush!)

 My eggshells,waiting to be blended.  I hand-crushed as I added them to my bowl, because hey--eggshells take up waaaay more room than one thinks!

 Peeking in the blender.  The smell!  Horrific!  Like....burning bones!  Like what I imagine it smells like in the Jeffersonian when Bones starts up her saw.  And the dust!  Horrible dust floating everywhere.  Although my brain said it was eggshell dust, the smell said it was dead bones.

My gallon baggie of shells, ready to add to my tomato plants.

The calcium in the shells can help alleviate blossom end rot, and some other tomato disease...and I just can't remember which one. I think I was too captivated by the idea of such a simple (if stinky) solution.

Spring in the North Country--My Yard is Blooming!

Spring--I adore spring.  Green green green everywhere you look and then POP--the fruit trees are blooming and the bees are buzzing in the blossoms.    Clicking on the pictures will make them larger!  Enjoy this spring evening with me....

My Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree in full bloom--with bees all over!
That's the setting sun peeking through the branches, not an orb, lol.

Apple Blossoms!  This is the best my tree has ever looked--the leaves are no longer rust!

Look hard...do you see that Bug?  I didn't when I took the picture!

 A view of the yard--left to right: Plum Bush, way back Pear Tree, frontish--Apple Tree

 

 The bees are in the blossoms about three seconds and then on to the next--lucky shot!

This is a wild apple tree, of which we have several dotting Mark Park.  The apples are small and sour. I wish I had an apple cider press!

 

 Looking up through the branches of my apple tree.

The blossoms are so beautiful.  Shell-like, delicate, gorgeous.

(Even more gorgeous will be the tasty apples from the tree come fall!)

 My Pear tree.  I had two, but the beavers ate one of them a couple of years ago.  That same fall, they ate my other Dwarf Apple, and chewed down all of my Lilacs.  I am not happy with the beavers.

 Pear Blossoms on my remaining tree.  This is the first year it's been so full.

 This is a Native Plum Bush I bought years ago--it blooms every year, but the harvest is iffy.  Not really a big deal, as the fruit it tiny and not very tasty!  But the scent is intoxicating when I walk down the trail.

 Plum Bush blossoms.  

Holy Mother of Pearl!  Last year my oldest son bought me a Peach Tree for Mother's Day...and it has two blossoms on it!  I can't believe it.  I planted it close to the house with Southern exposure so I hope it lives in our climate.  

 A darker version of whatever this is.

 

Is it.....Creeping Charlie?  It's in my yard all over!!

 The long-needle pines are showing new growth.

 As are the spruces!

Wild strawberries are all over my yard.  When my ids were little, they would spend a loooong time collecting a tiny cup full of these exquisite berries and crush them with sugar.

 This lilac bush is 'supposedly' a yellow bloom, the color of butter. Last year it had one blossom, which was white. Not looking good for yellow this year either...!  I noticed the following year the yellow lilac was no longer in the catalog. I'm thinking a problem someplace!

 Looking up!  

 OK, this is this morning's pic--foggy!

Two more garden beds constructed!  The mister was saving this wood to build an outhouse.  He's been saving it for three years. You snooze, you lose.  Mine now!  Actually, I prefer the recycled-plastic 'wood' (two grey beds, far right) as they are supposed to last over 100 years and don't leach anything dangerous into the soil.  But that's darned expensive and the outhouse wood was free!

I hope you enjoyed my walk through the yard last night as much as I did!

New Hair for Jessica!

Our model, Jessica,is back, modeling something other than clothes this time!  Jessica has appeared in several of our blog-posts, but this is the first time she is getting a new hairdo--and I wanted to share it with you.  I researched re-wigging American Girl Dolls for a long time, and really, the whole idea of major surgery on this Original Pleasant Company American Girl Doll was daunting.  Jessica is the childhood friend of my youngest daughter Annie, and I was really nervous about doing something horrible and non-reversible to her.

Still, her frizzy hair couldn't be helped; even with repeated Downy Dunks her hair was frizzy and fly-away.  Of course, this did give Annie the chance to give Jessica a whole new hairdo--and she took it.  Jessica was to get rid of her straight hair with bangs and get a lovely head of curls.  She found what she liked, and I ordered it.

From the second I clicked 'complete purchase' I worried about the size of the wig. I worried that because it was coming from Hong Kong it would take weeks.  I worried that removing her original wig would be a terrible fiasco and I would be left with a half-bald doll.  Probably with ruined eyes or a streak down the face I could never remove. Or the dull spoon I was supposed to use to remove the wig would gouge out her nose.  You name it--I worried about it.

The wig came from Hong Kong in less than two weeks!  That was one worry down, but then I worried that it wasn't going to fit her.  I set aside these fears and turned back to my original studies on removing the hair. My research pointed me in only one direction--using Non-Acetone Nail Polish Remover to help dissolve the glue.  I had two wait three days to get to town, but I finally got there, and miracle of miracles, remembered the nail polish remover.  Of course, I forgot it had to be Non-Acetone (insert swear word of your choice here.  Mine started with F)) and picked up regular.  Snap!  It would be a whole week before I could get the car again and head out after the right remover.

Not wanting to wait any longer, I decided to check and see if there was any other method at all, ever, that could successfully remove the wig in one piece.  There was.  It was called 'Brute Force'.  I kid you not.   The page I found said to use a baby spoon  and carefully push, pull, and worry the wig right off the head. (I had the worry part down pat.)  I finally decided to try the Brute Force method today. Twenty minutes later, the wig was off, the new one was on, and she had possession of a dress I had made a few months ago.  

Seriously--that old wig was glued on around the head and then dabbed here and there.  It came right off in (mostly) one piece.  I am amazed.  Unfortunately, the bangs did not come off with the wig.....so I am thinking that although I will save this wig and Annie can figure out what to do with it, it isn't really going to go back on a new doll.  

Enjoy the pictures of Jessica with her new look--!!  And never underestimate the power Brute Force!

Jessica, with her hair pulled down from her ponytail.

See the frizzy, well-brushed hair?

Holy Mother of Pearl, she's bald(ish)!

I spread the glue according to the directions.

New wig on!

 

Jessica earlier this winter in the orange dress.....

     

....and Jessica today!  I decided to let her keep the orange dress.

Growing Growing Grown!

I don't always start my own seeds--lack of success and of course my desire to shop local.  But this year I wanted to try some of the 'new' heirloom tomatoes so I bought a seed tray and went to it.  I am trying Black Krim tomatoes.  I got the seeds from Gurneys, and if you are interested, you can click the link to check it out.  It makes me laugh to think of heirloom tomatoes being called 'new'.  But, since they will be new to me, I guess it's OK.

I'm also starting some sweet banana peppers, and some Watermelon seeds from last year.  Mostly--just because I had so much room left in the tray!

This is the first day of planting.
The scent of wet dirt makes me feel happy and spring-like, even if the weather is snowy and cold.

Maybe especially when the weather is snowy and cold.

It takes so long for the seeds to sprout.
Sometimes I push my fingers into the dirt to see if any of the seeds have sprouted. A friend of mine used to laugh to see me do that in my garden.  I'm too impatient!

Now it feels like spring!  My Gremlin Gourds are finally heaving up from the soil. 
I don't have a lot of luck with decorative gourds, for some reason. I hope these do better.

  

More gourds coming up. 

I always want to reach down and push the dirt away from the emerging heads, but I figure they need to let them make their own way.

 

 They are reaching for the sky--gourds grow fast. 

Actually--too fast!!  Today they are three inches taller than this picture.

The first peek at the tomatoes. 
 I'm looking forward to having these in the garden. Sometimes I think I just get lazy and rely on the same old same old when it comes to the vegetables.

Standing up in the sun.
They don't actually look a lot like tomato seedlings.  The leaves are pointy.

More and more sprouting!

I hope they all sprout.  No matter how much I tried to restrain myself, I did over-plant, but this just means I can give some away.  I know my Mom would put some into the St. Paul's Community Garden.

Oops--looks like the gourds will need the peat pots sooner than I imagined.  I hadn't bought the pots yet--didn't think I would need them so soon!  That's OK.  I'll pick up some peat pots and soil this weekend and get them right into a better container.