221B, Baker Street

Early September garden report

2015-09-07T18:04:29Z

The weather here is still hot, and though the nights are cooler, there's no sign of frost yet. This is a good thing, because I'm still discovering things in the garden.

First of all, the unidentifiables. I've used Google Image search and haven't come up with any matches that allow me to identify these. If anyone knows what these are, I'd be grateful for the information:

I have a feeling I should know that last one, but can't figure it out. The middle one resembles a blanket flower, but only superficially.

Google Image search did help with the identities of the following:

Larkspur

Alyssum

Hollyhock

I've also got a fine crop of pink and red-and-white poppies. It wasn't till well after they started blooming that I realized what I had.

Elsewhere, plants are going to seed, including the poppies. The forget-me-nots are pretty much done; the herbs are going to flower, mostly because I can't keep up with the blossoms. Normally I cut them off, to keep the herbs sweet, but this year, I've just given up. The roses are still going strong, and there are massive red hips already hanging from the branches. Mostly I'm having to weed a little and water a lot more; it's been quite dry the last couple of weeks. But I'm already enjoying the fruits of my labours: I've had two of my home-grown tomatoes so far, and they've been delicious. :-)

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Christmas in pictures

2014-12-26T22:16:38Z

This year was ever so much better than last year. For one thing, the power stayed on.

Julieanne and her baby brother came over in the afternoon to open gifts.

Then there was dinner with the family... well, sans Dave, Julieanne, and Kristopher. (Don't ask.)

Then I finished up the evening with some relaxing... and some "Doctor Who."

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January thaw

2014-01-28T20:36:46Z

My dad always used to say we'd have a January thaw... even if we had to wait till February for it. Well, this year it came bang on time, right in the middle of the month. We're back to the deep freeze, but here are some photos from that lovely week in mid-January:

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Autumn garden report

2013-10-06T17:49:07Z

No photos, I'm afraid; there's very little to photograph out there now.

Today I harvested the tomatoes. All of them. I had to--it's getting colder, and it's a minor miracle that we haven't experienced a frost here yet. So all the tomatoes had to be brought in. They'll ripen in due course. Some of them are absolutely huge. I'm going to have to look up some tomato recipes...

I cut up the plants themselves to use as mulch/fertilizer. If nothing else, it should protect the mint I planted this year.

Everything is going dormant, slowly. The rose bush still has some blooms on top; a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a single cluster of white near the top of one of the snowball bushes. The cosmos, calendula, rudbeckia, and California poppies are still going strong, though. And the herbs are still bright and tasty, though perhaps the chives are a bit old now.

I've got some bulbs on order: tulips, more bluebells (I am ever hopeful), and lily-of-the-valley. The ornamental allium never did bloom, I'm afraid, though that little patch of ground did for a while smell like a Devonshire spring. Maybe next year.

And that is the song of the gardener: Maybe next year... :-)

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Pay no attention to the man behind the laptop...

2013-07-23T21:28:14Z

It's just John Watson. :-)

Um, yeah, I'm a little obsessed with "Sherlock."

But not so obsessed that I'm gonna start reading the fan fiction... nope, not going there...

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Don't mind me...

2013-07-23T21:26:05Z

Just testing some new icons.

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Tuesday, 14 May 2013: Cornwall

2013-06-30T16:57:19Z

( Tuesday, 14 May 2013: Going on an adventure )

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Monday, 13 May: Windsor Castle

2013-06-26T17:49:11Z

( Monday, 13 May 2013: A Royal tour )

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Whew...

2013-01-18T17:49:22Z

So a couple of months (yes, months) ago, apparently, one of the main student loan administration centres in the country had a security breach. An external hard drive containing the personal information of several thousand borrowers and about 250 staffers disappeared. No one's admitting it was stolen; it could simply have been misplaced.* The news of this breach broke only this week.

Now, since I am still (yes, still) paying down my student debt, I was a mite concerned, as you can imagine. That's a lot of personal information there, including my social insurance number, bank accounts, etc. So today I called the hotline, and after I spent 5 minutes listening to purportedly soothing music, I spoke to a very efficient young woman, who after taking my SIN was able to tell me... my information was not affected.

Yahoo!

On the Human Resources and Social Development Canada site, there was some info on protecting one's personal information. But... they were in charge of protecting my and thousands of other students' (not to mention employees') personal information. And they didn't let anyone know it had gone missing for two months! I can't imagine how many people--many of whom must still be finding their feet financially in this cruel world--may have had their identities stolen and credit ruined by this breach. My own brother may be one of those affected. (He hasn't called the hotline yet.) I call on the Government of Canada to rectify this, and to implement greater security on personal information that is held by their various departments. This should not be happening.

*Or grown legs and walked to Mordor. :-p

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I'm back!

2012-12-22T16:53:27Z

We lost power here about 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. Wanna know why?

OK, maybe that doesn't give you the whole picture. I mean, that's, what, 5 inches? We got at least 7.

How's that?

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Eh, voila!

2012-11-28T21:14:21Z

So the last two days involved some kitchen time... I like to be prepared for the holidays well ahead of time, even for Christmas Eve supper. I baked two tourtieres for that, one yesterday and, once I was informed that we'd likely need two, another today.

Tourtiere is a French-Canadian dish, a meat pie that's traditionally served at supper after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, though it can be served pretty much any time. Recipes vary: mine includes ground pork and beef, onion, garlic, and a mix of spices and herbs. But what I liked best about this year's end product (so far--there'll be no tasting till Christmas Eve, of course) is that perfectly golden-brown crust. It's something I aim for and often fall short of whenever I bake pies.

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Autumn in the country

2012-11-02T23:14:41Z

I'm a bit slow at getting these photos up, sadly. They've been on Facebook for a while, but I just now got them up onto Flickr, and so can share them here.

I'd been waiting for the fall colours to really show, but this year's colours were unspectacular, to say the least. Something to do with the dry, dry summer we experienced, as I understand it.

This is a shot from a local "development"; a real estate agent bought up the old Andrews property down the road, which was at one time a farm, so there was a lot of acreage involved. The agent fancies she's going to make a killing creating "waterfront" lots. Never mind that the waterfront is a good half-mile down this lane.

It's pretty, anyway.

It was one of those days when I found the clouds more interesting than the landscape:

I'm often enchanted by the play of light and shadow over the hills on a day like this one was. Nine times out of 10, I don't have my camera with me.

As I said, the colours weren't really anything to write home about this year. And now pretty much all the leaves are gone. The season is drawing in. Soon the snow will fly...

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Gardening update

2012-10-09T17:36:56Z

Yes, I'm still gardening... though I'll admit I haven't actually stepped foot into the ankle-high grass that passes for our lawn for a while now, not since Julieanne and I picked ALL THE TOMATOES! a week or so ago. But it's time to get the place ready for the winter, so today I toddled out there armed with a spade and various sharp implements.

First, I relocated one of my two hostas to the southwest corner of the deck. It was in with the astilbe, but I suspect it was getting crowded out by those monsters, as it didn't bloom this year, whilst its mate in the northwest corner did bloom. So I carefully lifted it and transplanted it. It looks happier already.

Then I removed the tomato cages from the herb garden, uprooted the tomato plants, and chopped them up for mulch. I was surprised to discover that my mint had extended trailers all the way across the bed to the lavender. I guess that (probably apocryphal) English gardener wasn't kidding when he advised her ladyship, "Plant the mint and then stand back, madam." Definitely an invasive species!

Next, I tackled the hydrangea again, this time to give it more shape and take out some of the weird branches that were poking randomly through the top. Now it's got more of an umbrella shape, and is a wee bit shorter. I also had to take some new sucker-type growth from the main trunk, because it was interfering with the plants in the bed below.

Speaking of which, everything in that bed seems to be going into a second bloom period. The California poppies, the marigolds, the little purple things, even the big splashy pink things are all blooming again. And the poppies seem bigger this time around. That really surprised me; I didn't expect any of them to bloom again, but the poppies especially. I mean, it's right there in the name: California poppy. When I think "California," I think warm. (This despite the fact that the only part of California I've visited is San Francisco, the climate of which is strangely similar to my native clime, at least in summer.)

The cosmos are going crazy, too. I had no idea their bloom period lasted this long; I don't recall it being so long the last time I grew them. Though perhaps this is a different, hardier cultivar. They're ridiculously tall; I know they can get up to 6' in ideal conditions, but there's no danger of finding those here. Still, they're at least 4', which would make them taller than Julieanne.

Lastly, I had a go at the viburnums. They're simply too tall now, and Mom asked me to cut them down to size. I thought I could get at them from the deck (they're really too tall), but my grasp exceeded my reach in this case, and I ended up going below. Difficult, I will freely admit. Branches tangled in my hair (that's the last time I go in without a hat), and I got a bit of bark or something in my eye (ditto, safety glasses). But in the end, I prevailed. The viburnums are now considerably shorter, and I've even opened them up, so more sunlight will filter down. Hopefully, that will lead to less tangling of branches.

All of that took roughly two hours. I didn't attempt the Rosebush from Hell (TM), because that's going to be an all-day, all-out-war situation. I've got three days in a row off next week; at least one of those should be sunny, and pleasant enough to spend time in the garden.

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Because ariandar did it

2012-08-14T20:57:34Z

And because I am a meme sheep. :-)

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Err... probably "I need a haircut."

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?

*gets wallet* $32.86, $7.86 of which is in change. Normally I don't carry that much cash, but some of it is meant for a deposit.

3. Do you label yourself?

Sadly, I don't own one of those nifty label-guns. ;-)

4. What does your watch look like?

It's got a silver bezel, black strap, and is adorned with a Biker Betty Boop. Yes, it's analogue. I prefer an analogue watch to a digital one. Yes, I am a bit of a Luddite.

5. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Sleeping, I think. "True Blood" finished up at around 11:30... yeah, sleeping or nearly so.

6. What’s a word that you say a lot?

Beats me. I say a lot of words with a certain amount of frequency.

7. Who told you he/she loved you last?

Again, beats me. "I love you" aren't words said frequently around here. It's not that no one loves me--I know they do--we just don't say it.

8. Last furry thing you touched?

A stuffed unicorn.

9. What was the last thing you said to someone?

"I just thought you might be hungry." (To my brother, who was supposed to be grilling supper.)

10. The last song you listened to?

Actually listened to or just heard? The radio's on behind me... "Where You Came From" by Robert Francis.

11. Where did you live five years ago?

Right here.

12. Are you jealous of anyone?

Not that I'm aware of.

13. Is anyone jealous of you?

Again, not that I'm aware of.

14. Name three things that you have on you at all times.

You mean when I'm out and about, right? So... sunglasses, wallet, keys.

15. What’s your favourite town/city?

Chichester

16. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?

I suspect it was sometime in the late 1990s.

17. Can you change the oil on a car?

Nope. That's what brothers are for.

18. What is your current desktop picture?

A school of fish swimming under a shark, in honour of Shark Week. It's a National Geographic wallpaper. I have a lot of those.

19. When did you start your blog?

Got me. A while ago. More than five years but less than 10.

20. What country would you like to live in other than your own?

England, easily. Though I could probably live quite happily in Ireland or Wales as well.

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Gardeners' Question Time

2012-08-03T17:41:58Z

So I planted a packet of random seeds this spring. From that packet, I have California poppies and cosmos (one of which has started to bloom, yay!). I also have things I haven't identified. So I put it to you, O F-list: what the heck are these?

The first contender is a yellow daisy-like bloom with a protruding centre and dentate foliage:

The second is a blowsy pink-and-white confection, also with a protruding centre, with fuzzy foliage and buds:

Any ideas?

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More gardening goodness

2012-07-17T19:20:14Z

Some shots of the most recent bloomers:

~~I have no idea what this flower is.~~Edit: According to the lovely ariandar, below is a California poppy.

Lilies:

Forget-me-nots:

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Dreaming spires

2012-07-17T14:38:36Z

I've been watching the new series of "Inspector Lewis" on PBS (and again, what a wonderful thing satellite television is! Once upon a time I could only yearn to watch British television here), and every time I do, I begin to long for Oxford.

I spent roughly two days in Oxford three years ago, and I think I fell in love. Every time I see something I recognize on film, I get all gooey and excited: "Ooh, yes, I remember that!" I even swear that in one episode, Lewis and Hathaway had lunch at the Turf Tavern, where we did, though I haven't been able to confirm that. One episode was set a great deal in and around the Botanical Gardens, which made me sigh and smile, because I adored the Gardens and could have happily spent even longer there than we did.

At the same time, things will drive me a bit crazy. The most recent episode ended with Lewis and Hathaway sitting in a pub garden (I think--they were definitely having a beer), and then the camera panned around for a shot of the Radcliffe Camera... and I'm absolutely certain that such a shot couldn't have come from where Lewis and Hathaway were supposedly sitting. I've looked at a map, I've checked my guidebook, and I can't find anywhere that might possibly possess that view. I suppose that's television for you, though.

But I do find myself dreaming of those dreaming spires, and sighing with longing each time there's a short of the city's skyline...

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I have a playdate

2012-07-08T14:14:50Z

Yep, I have a playdate with my niece tomorrow. You see, she came over Friday night with a pair of paint-yourself plaster horses that her mother had bought her at Michaels. Unfortunately, Julieanne wanted to paint them right now, and as it was 8 PM and I had an early start on Saturday, it wasn't going to happen. This led to a KidFit ("I wanna paint NOW!") and then to the Ultimate Threat ("I run away!"). She did, too, right out the door, still clutching her horsies.

I plodded out after her, wearing the flip-flops slippers. She paused by my car, as if waiting for me, then when I got closer, she hollered, "I run away AGAIN!" and took off around the south end of the house. I continued plodding. Her uncle caught her on the other side of the house and then handed her to me. As I carried her inside, I said, "Look, how about Monday? That's just after the weekend. I'll even come over to your house, and we'll paint the horses."

Julieanne sniffled, then said, "OK."

And thus the playdate was set.

I wonder what I've let myself in for...

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Peonies!

2012-06-19T18:29:39Z

I promised peony photos, so here they are:

Also? Some bonus columbine photos. These ones are a more pastel variety than the others:

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And the blooming begins

2012-06-14T18:32:54Z

Well, there were blooms earlier, with the daffodils and the crocuses, but now it's June, and the summer blooms are starting to come out. Like the roses:

And the columbine:

The columbine plants haven't looked that healthy in a couple of years.

And of course, there's the rhododendron:

It's got so many blossoms on it, it looks like a giant green and pink powder-puff. And they're still not all open!

Here's a bonus shot, of a bee making the most of the blossoms:

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Good gardening news, bad gardening news

2012-05-25T17:25:00Z

This has been a week for gardening. I've spent probably close to seven hours all told out there since Sunday, which is way more than I usually put in during the run of a week. Edging has been reset, seeds and bulbs have been planted, soil has been enriched, weeds pulled, grass trimmed. It all actually looks rather nice.

The bad news regards my tulips. They've not bloomed, and they don't look to be doing so at all this year. The foliage right now looks as it does after the bloom period. I don't know what I've done wrong. Usually, they come up, bloom, and everything is fine. The daffodils have been spectacular; ditto the hyacinths. But the tulips have just... died. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the division work I did last fall. I hope not. I mean, the leaves did come up, there are just no blooms and no prospect of blooms.

But that's the only truly bad news. The beebalm is coming along wonderfully, even more strongly than in years past; the same, surprisingly, goes for the columbine, which I thought was finally done. I'm going to see if I can divide those plants this year.

I only have two bluebells. I had a half-dozen last year. I suspect it's the cats. Even if it's not, I suspect them. The bluebells haven't bloomed yet, either, but they look more promising.

I put liatris bulbs where the bachelor's buttons were last year, and some in with the daylilies. We'll see how they come along. Liatris were supposed to go in where the daylilies are, but Vesey's sent me the wrong bulbs. Whatever. The lilies are nice.

Speaking of lilies, the ones by the north side of the house are coming along nicely. They don't seem to have been terribly affected by the division work I did on them, apart from there being rather more of them now. I expect they'll bloom nicely come July.

The lilac looks absolutely amazing. No flowers yet--I probably won't see my first lilac flowers until next year or the year after. But it's as tall as Julieanne, so coming on to four feet, I'd say, and just bristling with leaves.

The rhododendron is once again bigger than it was last year, and it has sprouted two babies by the roots. It'll be another week or two before it blooms, but I'm sure it'll be as spectacular as always.

The herb garden has a new addition. I planted some mint, at long last. I understand it has a tendency to take over. I'll just let it battle it out with the current champion, marjoram. Holy Hannah, that stuff can grow! It's pushing out the thyme. The lavender isn't affected by it (at least not yet), because the thyme stands between it and the marjoram. What's affected my lavender has been my own stupidity. Earlier this spring, I thought the tangle of dead branches looked unsightly, so I trimmed it back. Big mistake. Apparently, lavender is more like a shrub in that the leaves and such go dead, but the woody bits are actually alive all winter, just dormant. *facepalm* I do have little bits of green popping out on it now, but I've probably put its growth back a year or two.

The Rosebush from Hell (TM) is thriving, of course, and I've yet to trim it into submission. I need to get hold of a pair of hedge trimmers to really tackle it, but I'm thinking that if I don't, I'll just go at it with my little bypass pruners. The Rosa Mundi bush... well, it got mowed over last fall. I have no idea if it's going to come back, but I'm tending the little nub of wood as if I expect it will. Fingers crossed.

I did a lot of work on the hydrangea last fall and this spring. I've trimmed off most of the lower branches, so now it looks more like a tree and less like a mound of leaves. Underneath there is a huge bare patch--well, it's bare now that I've dug out all the weeds. I put black earth and composted sheep manure in there to condition the soil, and then scattered seeds throughout. I bought a mix of seeds that are supposed to attract butterflies, a combination of annuals, perennials, and biennials. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

The hostas are up and looking good. The astilbes seem to have spread; I may have to move the hostas from that bed, if it looks like the astilbes are going to choke them out. I put lily-of-the-valley under the sundeck as well, but the soil there is just so much clay. I added composted sheep manure today, so we'll see what comes of that. I hope they take; I'd love some of those lovely little flowers in the garden.

But the jewels of the garden this year--at least so far--promise to be the peonies. They're finally, after three years, going to flower! I can't say how excited I am about this. This is what gardening is all about: patience. Gardeners have to be patient. Not every plant does its thing the first or even the second year after planting. Peonies take a few years to really set their roots down; same with lilacs. But once they're in, they're in for life. As soon as they bloom, I promise there will be photos. Oh, yes, there will be photos!

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Ow

2012-05-14T16:53:35Z

Another day off, another two and a half hours in the garden. Ow. But I've managed to get all the prep work for next weekend done. All I need now is the compost and such... oh, and the plants. Yeah, remember how I'd started a bunch of seeds way back in March? They're all dead. Every single one. I only had about nine of the little peat pots sprout, and now every single seedling is dead. Including my much-desired tomato plants. *sighs* No idea what went wrong. Probably it was keeping them in the bedroom that did it; there's likely not enough sun there. But they simply couldn't stay in the living room with all those children.

However, I have dug out every single weed I could find as best I could. Can I just say that burdocks are the most vile things ever? They're impossible to dig out once they've set roots. I would dig down by one, and dig, and dig... hit a rock... dig the rock out... keep digging for the root... it never ended! I swear, burdock roots go straight through the molten core of the planet and spawn other burdock plants on the other side.

And if anyone is ever looking for a foolproof way to keep cats out of the flower beds, here's my tip: bamboo kebob skewers. Plunk them in the soil, pointy end up, fairly close together. Cats can't get round them.

I'm also repurposing some old concrete blocks from Dad's old shop's foundation into planters. My cousin showed me photos via Facebook. You take three blocks, the sort that look like a blocky number 8, put two at right angles to each other and the third on top of the angle itself. It's actually reasonably attractive, especially once you get plants in. And unlike the wooden planters we've had for years, the concrete isn't going to rot. I need to level off the ground where I'm putting them, though, so they don't tip and injure a small child. The planters will be set up where the wooden ones are now, by the steps leading up to the sundeck, and should be fairly well out of the way there, so the kids won't stumble over them or crack their heads or anything.

I can say that right now, my daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and making the bees very happy. The tulips are slow to come on, but by the end of the month, they should be blooming too. I'm not holding out much hope for the bluebells, though. I've managed to spot only two plants coming up. I blame the rotten cats; I didn't realize the buggers were getting in under the viburnums and... well, using my bluebell bed as an outdoor privy. Had I, there'd have been a bamboo palisade there long since.

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"He's adopted..." or, The Avengers assembled

2012-05-06T21:51:16Z

I believe I may be one of the last people on the planet (or at least the blogosphere) to see The Avengers. I went to a matinee this afternoon, thoroughly prepared to be thrilled to my toes and blown away to boot. ( And I was not disappointed. )

So now I'm waiting for Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2. And I really, really want Hawkeye and Black Widow to have their own movie. I do have a thing for a man with a bow and a quiver-full of arrows. ;-)

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Spring flowers

2012-04-27T17:12:35Z

It's late April, and the garden has begun to bloom. The daphne actually started blooming in late March, and its purple blooms are being pushed aside by the green leaves coming out now. The crocuses were up, and doing well, until we had three days of torrential rain over the weekend. It's been terribly dry, and we needed the rain, but it was the difference between using a sprinkler and using a bucket: the crocuses were flattened. The early-blooming daffodils, the little Jetfire ones, are on the verge of opening up; another day or two ought to do it, especially if we get more sun. (It's been another rainy day today, though.)

Right now, though, the glory of the garden is... well, glory-of-the-snow:

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Shelagh's Brush; or, Beware the Ides of March

2012-03-15T17:41:33Z

This is what I woke up to this morning:

This is the result of what's called "Shelagh's Brush" in these parts, a snowfall, or more often, a snowstorm, on or about St. Patrick's Day.

And to think, just three days ago, I was swooning over daffodil shoots. :-/

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