Sun, 17 Aug 2008
Bites
My tomatoes are being bitten by a garden critter. I'm losing my crop. Every time I go out the the garden, there are tomatoes on the ground that have bites out of them. If the critter is going to steal my tomatoes, at least it could eat the entire fruit. It's distressing to me. I love to can tomatoes, but this year, as was the case last year, I don't think I'll get enough. My plants started off tremenously this year. The first fruits are large and meaty. The next fruits are questionable at this stage. I'm hoping, but I'm starting to see signs of blossom end rot on some of them. The combination of that and the critter damage is reducing my harvest. However, the tomatoes I have are really yummy! The photo shows my backyard in the heat of summer. Lots of shade makes it a bit cooler.
posted at: 16:06 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 10 Aug 2008
My Garden
Here's a photo of part of my garden - two beds, actually. I harvested my first tomatoes of the season the other day. Seven Romas. I always have such a feeling of pride when I harvest. All the nurturing and caring pays off.
posted at: 08:43 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Fri, 08 Aug 2008
Flowering Shrubs
I love flowering shrubs, especially my rose mallow hibiscus. They self-seed around the yard and have a deep, strong tap root, so if you don't want one to grow permanently where it sprouts up, pull it right away. I love to have flowers in the heat of summer and this shrub provides and abundance of them from mid-July through August. We had a huge thunder storm last night. The Browns (football) game was delayed because of the lightening. I sat on my front porch to watch it for a while until the wind kicked up and blew rain everywhere. The yard and garden really needed the rain.
posted at: 12:43 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 04 Aug 2008
Spectacular
I adore this flower! How beautiful! Rose Mallow Hibiscus - in my yard, they seed themselves and spring up all over. The plant has a deep tap root, so transplanting can be difficult. They are tough plants producing a huge number of tremendous blooms. I just love them!
posted at: 09:16 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Fri, 01 Aug 2008
Yuck
The photo is of my lemon balm, partially cut. That's not what I'm yuck-ing about. The lemon balm is lovely. I cut it down just as it was about to bloom in an attempt to keep it from spreading its seeds everywhere. It is a lovely plant to grow. When you rub the leaves, they give off a nice lemon scent. The yuck happened a couple of days ago. I was in my office on the phone speaking with Garden Maven Colleen. I looked out the window and saw a giant dead locust on my picnic table. YUCK! It was huge. I hear them in the trees as I am writing this. I don't remember ever experiencing one of the 14 year or 7 year outbreaks of locust. I do remember seeing a news item about an outbreak in Cincinnati a few years ago. It looked frightening. Locust everywhere, even in the downtown area. They were falling out of trees onto the heads of people passing by. Ohhhhh. Anyway, while I'm on the phone, I'm also wondering how I'm going to clean up the giant dead bug. I'm not kidding. This thing had to be 2-1/2-3 inches long. As I was telling Garden Maven Colleen about it, a little sparrow hopped onto the picnic table. Now, the sparrow was only twice as long as this giant bug including the bird's tail feathers. It started nipping at the locust, eating the legs. Then, it picked up the bug and flew away. I think quite a few sparrows could have many meals with that one locust. I am very grateful to the sparrow for taking care of my clean-up dilemna.
posted at: 09:59 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Wed, 30 Jul 2008
Herbs
I love to grow herbs. Most of them are worry free and pest free. The photo is my oregano in my vegetable garden. It is very healthy - to the point of being a bit overly productive. I also grow thyme, lavendar, lemon balm, mint, sage, chives, basil, dill, borage and one other whose name escapes me at this moment. All do well with the exception basil. Most people have great success with basil, but in my garden is a critter, or group of critters, that love to eat it. I don't blame them. It's yummy. I'll get a few leaves, but not what I'd like. Many of the herbs I grow are perennials or hardy annuals making it very easy to grow them. Last year, my sage plant bit the dust, so to speak so I planted a new one this year. Actually, I planted the sage plant in my hanging pots (see the project archives) but squirrels pulled them down. So, I took the plant and placed it in the herbal square in my garden. If you grow lemon balm, be careful of allowing it to go to seed. It will grow everywhere - and I mean everywhere. Same is true for mint although it spreads by way of underground runners. Sometimes I can't believe the entire earth isn't covered by these two herbs! If you like to grow herbs, check out the project archives for a great herb drying rack.
posted at: 20:01 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 27 Jul 2008
Gifts
Gifts come in unusual forms at times. Last week, Garden Maven Colleen was home for a visit - a nice gift! Almost every day she was home, we saw a lovely black cat in the backyard. Sleek and slinky best describe it. One day, we called to it and encouraged it to visit us. It responded by meowing back at us but was a little too skittish to come close enough for us to pet. The next morning as we were leaving the house, we discovered a present from our feline friend. Actually. Colleen saw it. I nearly stepped on it. A dead mouse strategically placed on the sidewalk right in front of the front porch steps. It's quite a prize. Just think how much effort, control and quickness it takes to trap a mouse! I haven't seen the black cat since then, but I am keeping a look out. I'd like to encourage it to stay and hunt some more. My bean plants are doing well, as you can see in the photo. Another gift from nature. These beans will probably end up as bean salad. For the recipe, check the archives.
posted at: 19:57 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Fri, 25 Jul 2008
Rattlesnake Weed
The photo shows a "weedy" member of the aster family called Rattlesnake Weed. So named because it grows where rattlesnakes live. Why it is so happy in my backyard is the question. I don't think I have or ever have had a rattlesnake infestation. I hear a lot of wildlife noises in my backyard: birds tweeting, cats meowing, dogs barking, crickets creeking, locust doing whatever it is they do to make noise, but never have I heard a rattlesnake rattling. Anyway, it does produce a cute little yellow aster-like flower and it has nice dark green, mottled, low growing foliage. The problem is that it is very invasive. It produces a lot of airborne seeds, much like a dandelion. It is also a perennial. The combination means it spreads quickly and takes root firmly. I have been mowing it down before the seeds get a chance to form in the hopes of controlling it without resorting to chemical control. Those chemical controls make me feel like the Snidley Whiplash of gardening - somewhat cruel and damaging.
posted at: 20:57 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Thu, 24 Jul 2008
Let The Harvest Keep-on-Coming
Today, after doing some trimming and thinning of a ground cover in a bed on the side of my home and cutting the front lawn, I was able to get back to the vegetable garden. I'm so happy about how it is progressing this year. We've had regular rainfall, and that really makes a huge difference for the better in how the plants produce. I harvested oregano and lemon balm. Both are now hanging to dry in my kitchen. Actually, I have so much lemon balm that a good portion of it went directly onto the compost heap. Be careful if you plant it. It spreads everywhere. I also harvested some green and wax beans. I'll get at least one more "picking" from my plants. I harvested my lettuce, too. (See photo.) I planted Black Seeded Simpson, a reliable variety of leaf-type lettuce. I took it all out of the garden as it was quite ready and I didn't want it to bolt to seed. I had some on my sandwich for lunch. Very yummy. I am really thrilled with the poppies I have growing in the garden. Poppies don't make great cut flowers, but they are beautiful. I had some old seeds that I basically threw into a spot and to my delight, they are growing. Not big red or orange poppies, but delicate pink, salmon and white combinations. Just lovely. Hope all our friends in southern Texas made it through Dolly in a safe manner. Yesterday, we had huge wind here in northern Ohio. Not like a hurricane, but enough to really churn up Lake Erie. The waves were huge for the lake - 6-8 feet at some spots. I could hear the surf about one-half mile from the shore.
posted at: 15:26 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 21 Jul 2008
Black Raspberries
I'm happy to report a bumper crop of black raspberries. At least a bumper crop in terms of my little patch of berry plants. Unlike last year when I watched a couple of birds eat every berry off the plants, this year I've been picking at a regular tempo as they ripen and I've been able to make a nice amount of black raspberry cobbler. Yummm!
posted at: 10:06 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Fri, 11 Jul 2008
Squirrels - Ba Humbug
I usually don't mind squirrels around the yard and garden, but the last several years have produced a bunch that are irratating me. They seem insistant upon digging in my flower pots, knocking them over, breaking them and making a mess. Check out last month's project - hanging pots. I put the pots outside my kitchen door so I could easily snip some herbs as needed. The squirrels have destroyed the grouping of pots by jumping onto them, breaking the twine and smashing the pots. This morning I had to plant the herbs in the vegetable garden to save what is left of them. I lost one lobelia plant and repotted the other two. Two pots are smashed. It was bad enough when one of the squirrels came in the house, but this new destruction is grating on me. I suppose I shouldn't be too upset. After all, their brains are the size of walnuts.
posted at: 14:16 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 07 Jul 2008
Blooming Like Crazy
I fed my asparagus ferns a little liquid fertilizer at just the right time. They are showing their appreciation by putting on a tremendous display of blooms. The little, tiny, white flowers are everywhere - covering the branches of the ferns. They will turn into berries soon that begin green then ripen to a nice red-orange color.
posted at: 15:01 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 06 Jul 2008
Yarn and Nests
As many of you know, I am an avid knitter. As such, I end up with a lot of little pieces of yarn from completed projects. I try to put some of these little pieces outside for the birds and small wildlife to use in their nests. Several weeks ago, I noticed two different pieces of blue yarn in one of my asparagus ferns that I hang from my front porch ceiling, weather permitting. I thought it humorous that a bird would pick up the strands and drop them off in my plant. Well, as it turns out, you can see by the photo that a very industrious bird has been building a nest in my hanging pot. It seems a bit late in the season for this activity, but I suppose if you are a bird in need of a place to live, why not? I put out a large variety of yarns - textures, colors, fiber contents. The yarn this little bird selected was blue - two different textures and fiber contents but both blue. I wonder what little bird likes blue best?
posted at: 20:54 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Fri, 27 Jun 2008
Flowers
Flowers are special creations, don't you think so?
They can brighten up shady spots like my back steps. Not sure you can really see their glory in this photo, but the bright impatiens seem to smile all day long. On my walk this morning, I went down a street where the residents all planted lots of flowers in their front beds. The whole neighborhood was cheery as a result. Very nice.
posted at: 09:31 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Thu, 26 Jun 2008
Lovely
I must say, I'm very pleased about the loveliness of my backyard this year. I have a little more work to do to get all the ivy under control, a yearly chore, and I would like to help the grass grow where it should but the overall feeling is lovely. I wanted to have my breakfast out on the deck this a.m. but we had a wonderful rain last night and early into the morning that has left the deck a little wet. So, I ate on the front porch. Pleasant as well. My backyard reamins in heavy shade for a good part of the day. It is like a private haven with many large trees, sandstone patio, wood deck and curvy layered beds of ivy and myrtle. The temperature is always a bit lower on the deck and patio due to the materials they are made of and mostly due to the thick shade. I don't have a big choice of what to grow in these areas, but the impatients I usually select always seem very happy to brighten up the area.
posted at: 09:00 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Wed, 18 Jun 2008
Garage
I thought I'd share a photo of my garage wall. This wall borders one side of my patio. Several years ago, I was inspired by a birdhousing book to make a variety of little birdhouses and hang them on the garage wall. They are cute. Lots of ivy and currant vine grew up the wall and over the top onto the roof. So, this year, I pulled all of it off this side of the garage which left the vine tracks you can see in the photo. They are a bit odd, but I still like the birdhouses.
posted at: 20:16 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 16 Jun 2008
Beautiful
Today the weather is as it should be - not too hot, sunny, nice breeze. I spent some time this morning trimming my hedges in the front and side yards. My hedge trimmer is dull so the shrubs will need a few weeks to look decent. They grew a sizeable amount this year, so I really had to give them a good haircut. The photo shows my potted impatients on my deck. My yard is really shaping up nicely this year. I just love it.
posted at: 12:52 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 15 Jun 2008
I Think I Need A Cat
Well, I went out to my vegetable garden this morning and found three holes dug by some type of critters that like to burrow underground. I'm leaning towards chipmunks. I guess I really don't mind, but they can destroy some of the vegetables in their quest to dig. My garden soil is nice and soft, so their digging goes easily. When I had a cat, my yard and my neighbors' yards were critter free. I'm tempted to take in another kitty, but I like having a cat fur free home. My garden is moving along well. A couple of years ago, I planted some wild-like strawberry plants. They grow everywhere. I ripped out countless plants. I was hoping they would produce some berries, but so far, only little, dry things. My lemon balm and oregano were out of control. That is, until I went at them with my trusted clippers. I planted some dill weed under the trellis that will support my cucumbers. Everything else has germinated and is growing well. I did a little weeding and hoeing before the sun got too hot.
posted at: 13:52 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Thu, 12 Jun 2008
Critter Surprises
So, the other day, as I'm talking on the phone with my sister who lives in NYC, I glance out my dining room windows into my backyard. Now, my backyard looks nice. Not yet great as I have some ivy to trim. Then, it will look great. But, as I'm on the phone with my sister, I see the biggest groundhog in the world walking towards my vegetable garden. This thing was/is so big, you could see a thick layer of fat all over it. Its little legs were nearly invisible due to how huge its body was/is. I initially thought it was a beaver! So, I'm chatting away with my sister all the time watching this gargantuan groundhog trot into my vegetabel garden. I can't see my vegetables from my house - lots of trees and shrubs in the way. So, I assumed the groundhog was going back to feast on my lettuce, carrots and radishes. This was depressing to me, so I didn't go look for some time. I walked back to the garden last evening and to my surprise and delight, my "crops" have remained uneaten. I thought groundhogs hibrenated for the winter and lived off their fat. If that is true, this thing must have been frighteningly large in the fall. O'kay, so that's one critter surprise. Well, yesterday, I'm sitting on my sofa in my living room knitting and I hear a strange noise. I first assumed it was my neighbor. He's a handy guy and always working on some sort of project but then I realized the sound was much to close to be my neighbor. I looked up across the living room, through the dining room windows at the kitchen door and what do I see? A squirrel hanging on the screen door on the inside. Yes, that's right. One the INSIDE! Holy Toledo! Now what do I do!? We've had chipmunks in the house courtesy of our now passed cat, Chuck. They are not so difficult to shoo out. A squirrell, however, is scarey to have in your house. They have sharp claws and sharp teeth and I figure they are probably not afraid to use them. So, here's this squirrel hanging on the inside of my screen door. I got up and went out the front door. As I got to the deck, the squirrell saw me and jumped off the screen and headed to the back window in the kitchen. Swell! I opened the screen door and walked in the kitchen only to see the paniced little thing clinging to the woodwork around the window, bonking his head against it trying to get out. I walked out onto the deck, clapped my hands and like a lightening bolt, the squirrel ran out of the house and up a silver maple tree. It was able to push its way in at a corner of the screen that has pulled away from the door frame. No damage done, except the need to repair the screen. So, that's critter surpirse number two. I really hope that's all.
posted at: 09:46 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 09 Jun 2008
It's Like A Heat Wave
So sang Martha and The Vandellas. I've always wondered what a Vandella is - maybe a name. Let's get back on the subject - the heat. It has been like the dog days of summer here in northern Ohio yet it is still officially spring. Temperatures in the high 80's and low 90's for many days. My grass needs cutting but I can't stand to think about doing that until nearly sunset. This heat stresses the garden. Most of the things we grow here in this part of the country can take the heat for a little while, but not for an extended period without showing signs of strain. Hopefully, the heat wave will break soon and we can get back to more pleasant temperatures.
posted at: 12:37 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 01 Jun 2008
Busy
I've been trying to find all the needed parts to put together my rain barrel. I have the barrel, thanks to Garden Maven Colleen and her brother, Brion. I've purchased a downspout diverter thingy and a spigout. I need something for the overflow. This has been a bit frustrating. I bought some PVC pipe and elbows at the local home center but got the wrong size. I need 2" and bought 1/2" so I returned the 1/2" items. I asked at the home center for a 2" flexible hose. No such animal available. They have 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1-1/2" and 4". No 2". O'kay, so I needed to go to the local garden center to pick up a few more plants to complete my flower planting. They actually have a rain barrell on display. A smallish size plastic barrel with a mesh top where the water pours in, a spigot at the bottom and a collapsing overflow tube. So, I thought they must sell the parts. Nope! The man who helped me was very nice. He suggested I drive around and pull some old hose out of someone's garbage. Pretty funny. I'm not above doing that and have found some very interesting things in the process, but I doubt I'll find any 2" flexible hose on a tree lawn waiting for me or the garbage collectors to scoop it up. So, I suppose I'll need to resort to 2" PVC pipe which I really don't want to use because it is somewhat ugly. Then I asked the garden center guy for some weed killer for my lawn. I told him I have ivy and a lot of weeds to get rid of. He initially thought I wanted to kill all my ivy. I tried to explain that I have ivy growing where I want it to grow, but that it has encroached into an area where only grass should grow. He told me to pull it out by hand. He said there isn't a weed killer that will kill it. I became frustrated and left without any week killer, even for the weeds I want to get rid of. Oy! I did get the flowers I needed. Today, aside from the store trip, I cut the grass, edged the ivy in the backyard with the weed whip, planted some flowers and planted some seeds in the garden. I put in dill weed, basil and Swiss chard. Next week, after the soil has really warmed up and certain bugs have finished their laying eggs cycle, I will plant cucumbers for pickle making along with green and wax beans. My radishes, carrots and lettuce have germinated and are doing well except for where someone stepped on them. I don't know who was in my backyard, but they stepped in one of my garden squares and sank down several inches since my soil is extremely friable and soft - just the way it should be. Oh, by the way, the photo shows some of my sweet woodruff. A lovely little plant that puts out a zillion dainty little white flowers each spring. It spreads well, too.
posted at: 21:42 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 26 May 2008
Happy Memorial Day
The photo is of a very late daffodil in my yard. It is quite pretty. I hope the bulb survives and returns to bloom again and again. I worked like a dog in my yard today. I planted my impatients, planted 24 tomato plants, trimmed ivy from around the patio, raked leaves off the patio and pulled ivy off the side of the garage. While I was working, a military plane of some sort did a very low fly-over for the local Memorial Day Parade. Initially, it scared the bejebbers out of me. That is, until I figured out what was happening. It was so low, I thought it was going down. It was a large, propeller driven plane. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. A huge thanks to all veterans and your families.
posted at: 16:04 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 19 May 2008
Helicopters
I have two large silver maple trees and a white maple tree in my backyard. The white maple is a young tree. I'd say 10-15 years old. The two silver maples are huge and probably around 60-65 years old. Every spring I marvel at how many of those little helicopter seed pods they produce. I can't believe how fertile these trees are. I love watching the little helicopters and they make a nice sound in the wind. They are just beginning to fly and already the driveways, patios, decks, walkways, lawns are covered. Squirrels eat some of the seeds. And some of them sprout and are then hand-picked out of the flowers and garden. If I don't move my car, it may soon be covered with the flying seeds.
posted at: 15:44 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Wed, 07 May 2008
Baby Birds
The other day, I walked out my front door onto the front porch and stopped dead in my tracks. Right on the edge of the porch at the top of the steps was a dead baby bird. No feathers, clearly just recently hatched. I couldn't tell what type of bird it was. So, I found a large leaf and picked up the little thing and deposited it in the bushes. It was very sad. Well, today, I left the house and went to have the oil changed in my car. I stopped back at the house to drop off something before going into the yarn shop for the day and what did I find on my front walk? Another dead baby bird. This one looked just like the first. I suspect there is a nest of sparrows in my shrubs as I hear them quarreling often. Did you know that birds have funny group names? A murder of crows, a quarrel of sparrows, a gaggle of geese - the list goes on and on. Anyway, I'm wondering what is going on with these new little ones. I hope I've seen the last of them, or at least the last of them in that condition.
posted at: 18:15 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
AHHHHH
On Monday, I was able to spend some time in the yard and garden. I began by edging my front walk. I don't own a mechanical edger, so I use a shovel and my bare hands. It's a chore, but a rewarding one. I should have a photo of it to share with you, because it looks great, but alas, I don't. I'll try to take one in the coming week and share it then. I then weeded the front planting bed. Then I went into the vegetable garden and turned over one of the beds. OH - so great. The soil is lovely. I've been working on it for years and all the effort, and compost, has paid off. I actually planted some items - a little early, but I figured I could throw caution to the wind and go for it. I put in seeds: brocolli, lettuce, carrots, radishes, baby's breath, poppies, morning glories. All the seeds were very old, so if they don't come up, no great loss. If they do, it will be a bonus. I also removed some elephant ears that meandered into the vegetable garden. I dug some horseradish root and grated it. Wow - talk about pungent, but yummy! All in all, several hours of work in great weather. My orginal intent was to get the patio and deck cleared of old leaves, but that chore remains on the list. It's just great to get out and dig!
posted at: 18:08 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 05 May 2008
Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Mr. Rogers would agree. Today is a beautiful day in my neighborhood. Yesterday, I cut my grass for the first time this season. I am totally grateful that my mower started up with just a few pulls of the cord. I had envisioned struggling to get it going, so the lack of that struggle is a very good thing. My grass does look nice, and I did like getting out in the brisk yet sunny weather. Still, cutting the lawn is my least favorite chore. My back grass needs help. There is hardly any grass. It is mainly groundcovers. I'm afraid I'll have to resort to some type of weed and feed stuff to get it back to a more grassy state as I do think the grass will look better than what is happening right now. More to come on this later, I'm sure. I'm on a quest today to find all the parts needed to convert my old wine barrel into a rain barrel. Garden Maven Colleen and her brother, my son, gave me the barrel for my birthday with the intension of converting it. It is surprising to me that stores in this area do not carry conversion kits or complete rain barrel kits. I have to go explore various hardware departments at the local home center store.
posted at: 12:04 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Sun, 04 May 2008
Sunny Days
Yesterday, it rained cats and dogs for a while. At my yarn shop, I had to go out in it to remove litter from a drain that was clogged, blocking the flow of rain water down it. The backup was so great, the water nearly entered my shop. Who litters anymore? How lazy are you? I mean, seriously, what is wrong with you that you throw things on the ground instead of into the 80 bizillion garbage cans available to you? Born in a barn were you? OH, sorry, I'm ranting a bit. Anyway, today is beautiful. We've been having a very pretty spring here in northern Ohio. As proof, I offer the photo of Garden Maven Colleen's forsythia that grows in my backyard.
posted at: 11:57 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 28 Apr 2008
Spring Flowers
Last fall, I purchased a bag of bulbs from the local home center and planted them in my backyard. I love these type of grab bags. You are never sure what flowers will spring up next season. The phots shows a delightful little daffodil that was included in last year's bulb bag. It is just lovely! I have many of them in the yard and hope they will continue to grow and multiply. Today, I looked out my office window into the backyard and was pleasantly surprised to see the cherry tree at the back border of my yard, in full bloom. Yesterday, the blooms were closed. Today, all fully opened and beautiful. I hope I get some cherries for pies and jelly this year.
posted at: 11:07 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Mon, 21 Apr 2008
Spring Is Here
Well, spring has arrived! Yippee! That means some spring clean-up is due. Many of you know I own a yarn shop and some spring clean-up was due there, as well as what I need to do in my yard - which is substantial this spring since I never really did much fall clean-up last year. Well, at the store I had some leaves and debris to rake-up in the parking lot. I had enough to fill two very large garbage bags. I raked up a lot of leaf mold and dirt. I thought about bringing it home to my compost heap but it was mixed in with black top stones (petroleum product) and about a million cigarette butts. I'm not kidding. There must have been a million of them from a very small area that I cleaned. What's up with that? I mean, come on people. I used to smoke, and I know now with the anti-smoking laws smokers have to go outside to smoke, but why must they throw the butts on the ground? This is littering is a nasty way. Cigarette butts do not compost readily. Whatever they are made of, they hang around a long time. Aside from the arsenic and other carcinogens in them - they really don't make good compost. And who smokes anymore? I mean, with everything we know about cigarretes and how harmful they are, why is anyone still doing that? Besides, aren't cigarettes about four dollars a pack? Four dollars a pack! I'm so glad I quit many years ago. Four dollars a pack to get cancer or a host of other horrific maladies?! I know, I know. Smoking is addictive, plus it tastes good. That is, if you are a smoker. But, smokers, come on. Stop littering. Get an ashtry or a butt can or something. Just because the cigarette butt is small doesn't mean it isn't litter. What are you thinking? Oh, wait - what was I talking about? I digress! Oh yes, the dirt I cleaned up from the parking lot. I put it into garbage bags and put it in the back of my car. I have to take my store garbage home as the city where my store is located does not provide trash collection for businesses. Anyway, I put it in the back of my car and it cooked there for a whole day. When I left the store, my car smelled like hot dirt. Not that it was a bad smell, just not the same as new car smell.
posted at: 12:08 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry
Tree Blooms
Most trees, other than tulip and fruit trees, don't really show off their blooms very well. The photo today is the bloom on my white maple tree. I don't think you can really see the bloom in this photo. The leaves spring out right behind the bloom on each branch. The bloom is like a spray of little green balls on the end of small stems. I get a good view of this from one of my kitchen windows.
posted at: 11:54 | path: /peggy2008 | link for this entry