The Case of the Missing Pruners

Have you ever put something in a place where you wouldn’t forget where you put it? 

Several years ago, I bought a really good pair of bypass pruners.  Said pruners have been missing since the end of January! 

As Ken and I prepared to go on a mission trip to Kenya, East Africa, for the month of February, I put said pruners out of the reach of my 2-year old grandson . . . who seems to be able to find anything!  . . . and in a “place where I wouldn't forget where I put them.”  Famous last words! 

In March, I began the search for said pruners.  I looked in all the places that I thought were "places where I wouldn't forget where I put them!"  However, after much searching . . . and praying . . .  I purchased another not-so-cheap, new pair of bypass pruners.  But I stalled opening the new pruners, hoping that by merely purchasing them the old ones would show up.  You know how that sometimes happens.  Well, not this time!

On Saturday, August 13, 2011 . . . I gathered gloves, hand tools, plant start, and my watering can from where I store them in a 5-gallon, gardening tote bucket, formerly a paint bucket.  There before my eyes . . . said lost bypass pruners!  I had used that bucket MANY times previously this spring . . . said pruners were NOT there!   

Ken just happened to be standing nearby when, with a bewildered look on my face, I said "Look!  My old pruners!  How did they get in this bucket?"  His face spoke volumes!  I knew he had played a part in said lost pruners showing up in my bucket!  As it turns out, Ken said he found them a month ago . . . in the place "where I wouldn't forget where I put them" . . . but decided not to tell me. 

Where did Ken find them?  In a very large flowerpot I use each year . . . except this year!  I vaguely remember putting them in that flowerpot thinking it a “place where I wouldn’t forget where I put them!”  I’m sure it made perfect sense in January to store them in that large pot.  After all, when it was time to plant that pot it would be time for my pruners, too!

Now I have 2 really good, bypass pruners . . . one by my back door and one by my front door (and a pair of gardening gloves with each pruner) . . . or maybe one pair to give to a friend! 

I really must add a page to my gardening notes . . . the “places I won’t forget where I put it!”

Family #3

In the crabapple tree outside my kitchen window is a nest, which has been home to three families of birds this spring and summer.  The first  family . . . bluejays; the second and third families . . . mourning doves. 

We got to see this third family (two babies) for the first time about six days ago.  It's difficult to get a good picture for two reasons . . . first, because there is a tiny branch that hangs in front of the nest.  Would have trimmed that branch off had we known this nest would be reused twice after the original occupants!  Second, I take the screen off my kitchen window, open it, and while kneeling on my sink edge reach out as far as I dare to get a picture.  My kitchen window is 15 feet or so off the ground.

Will be keeping a close eye on the babies' departure from their nest to keep them from being a snack for a certain fat cat, Sir Oliver.  Granted, we cannot protect them forever from harm or from other cats in the neighborhood . . . but we can protect them from our cat as much as is humanly possible.

Rain . . .

Friday evening, beautiful rain

Watering at its best!

Flowers, trees, grass so thirsty

Greedily drank up the rain

Momma mourning dove, soaked but unwavering

In her nest outside my kitchen window

Hovered over her babies to protect them

In the east, stretched across the sky

A rainbow . . . God’s covenant promise . . . forever

Favorite Containers & Annuals


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I did not do much with container gardening prior to 2009.  But I've tried it and like it!  Containers are easy & offer quick & inexpensive color & can be moved to wherever!  Start with small plants (4" pot)  . . . they're cheaper, and they'll grow!  Enjoy experimenting!  Remember . . . color, texture, size . . . and think ahead to the next season!

2009 -- Blue Vein Wave Petunia . . .
a show off all season!



2010

    

2010 -- Fall . . . replaced the petunia & coleius w/cushion mum!

 

2011
Double, blue veined petunia . . . while a beautiful flower,
is not as showy as the single, blue-vein petunia.

Single, blue veined petunia . . . sooooo beautiful!

Double, blue veined petunia . . . so beautiful, too, but a smaller bloom and not an agressive bloomer!

 























Our Journey Began & Continues

It all really began 50+ years ago with my transplanting wild violets from a vacant lot into the flowerbeds of my childhood home.   Knowing now the invasiveness of wild violets, I’ve often wondered why my parents allowed me to do so.  Did they realize they were nurturing my passion?  Gardening magazines, catalogs, botanical gardens, free seminars, Victory Garden, and simply observing other people’s flowerbeds feed and develop this passion!

At each of the houses we’ve owned, I’ve created flowerbeds and vegetable gardens.  And IF I ever find where I put all those pre-digital pictures, I will post some.  But for now, I’ll start with my gardens today.

  

My husband, Ken, wanted me to draw this flowerbed in order for us to build it.  I remember saying to him, “What?  I can't draw it!  It's inside me!  I’ll know the size and shape as I do it!"  A foreign concept for someone who has remodeled our homes and built new homes!  When negotiations broke down, I took the lawnmower and mowed the perimeter and said . . . “OK, anything inside this mowed path gets rototilled.” 

And so our journey began and continues. 

A dump truck load of black dirt was purchased, delivered, and dumped on our driveway.  Neighbors and passersby watched our progress!  When Ken asked me where I wanted the dirt put . . . exactly, even! . . . I said, “I’m not sure . . . it’s inside me . . . just put it in the flowerbed and I’ll put it where I want it.”    

Ken and our son wheeled the dirt to the new flowerbed and waited for me to “put it where I wanted it.”  Well, let’s just say my ambition was way more than my muscle!  I am sooooo thankful Ken helped me by shoveling the dirt into place as I sculpt it with the old iron garden rake . . . reminding him with each “where do you want this dirt?” . . . “It’s inside me . . .”

Only a few perennials found a home in any of my flowerbeds the first year.  Annuals filled in the open spaces until trees, bushes, bulbs, and perennials were in place.  Annuals are now confined to clay pots and half whiskey barrels.  



Although I never have a “paper plan,” I always have a plan “inside me” regarding size, texture, color, and bones for each of the four seasons.  And I know that plants can be moved if I’ve put them in not the best spot. 

Digging, planting, weeding, and pruning take place “inside me,” as well as in my flowerbeds.  It’s hard work, both the flowerbeds and me, but both produce much fruit. 



Herb Garden