The Bug Estate

The other day I walked around the house & took pictures of all the areas where I want to plant things. They're rather scruffy right now - we thought we'd see what (if anything) comes up before we plant anything & apparently what comes up are weeds. I thought it would be really cool to show you all of our weedy potential flower beds.

 Around back, we do have something coming up. We're just not sure what it is yet.

Any suggestions on what to plant? All of these areas get full sun for most of the day. Do you think, if I work very hard (not likely), I can make my yard look like this?

One of my recent jigsaw puzzles

I also thought it would be fun to compare where we used to live to where we live now - big difference! Although, to be fair, just outside of Xenia, our area of Ohio looked very similar to that picture on the right.

(Note: have you guys noticed that I've been trying to respond to your comments? I know, I've tried before, but maybe this time I'll actually keep it up.)

Monday Miscellany

I'd like to discuss something that has been bugging me for some time. I don't understand how other people can just jump in their car & drive away. I mean, it's like they haven't even had time to put the key in the ignition & they're already halfway down the road! When I get into my car, it's a process. I open the passenger door & put all of my multitudinous bags on the passenger seat. Then I walk around & get in the driver's seat. I put the key in the ignition, put my seatbelt on, get my phone out of my purse & plug it into the charger & put it in the cradle, then I start the car, fiddle with the temperature, get my audio book started, and then I start to drive. I just can't figure out how other people are so much faster than I am.

My temperature blanket is just getting weirder & weirder. It's 64" wide & will be just over 8' long. By October I'll be complaining that it's a monster!

Seen in our back yard.

Finally, from Facebook, thoughts while "gardening":

•Bending over is for the birds.
•Who needs fingernails anyway?
•How much water do these dudes need?
•I think maybe I put 20 seeds in one square inch & maybe three in the rest of the planter. 
•Are they growing yet?

I planted some Forget-Me-Nots in the long planter, and I went around the yard digging up sunflowers so I could have them in one spot (& not keep mowing them!). 

2014 Project 365 – Week Forty-three

I can’t believe October is almost over! I know that a lot of people are very happy when Daylight Savings Time ends, but personally I’ll be sad next week because that means that many of my daily walk pictures will be in the dark. Sigh.

Sunday, October 19^th     

Dr. M went to the Renaissance Festival with some of his students. Looks pretty ferocious to me!

Our stewardship team at church put on a luau for us this year (last year we had high tea). They always work hard & we have a lot of fun.

My daily walk – nice fall golden light.

Monday, October 20^th    

My daily walk – the looonnggg shadow edition.

Tuesday, October 21^st    

Dr. M took pictures around campus. This is one of my favorites trees.

My daily walk – fall berries.

Wednesday, October 22^nd

Dr. M took some fabulous fall pictures today!

I used my Planet Box for the first time in forever.

My daily walk. I always know witch way I’m going these days :)

Dr. M got us a couple of spooky cookies. After I head eaten most of mine I said that I’d meant to get a picture. Fortunately, he had started at the other end so we had most of a cookie for the picture. Ha!

Thursday, October 23^rd

Dr. M. wasn’t late for class, but only because he gave himself plenty of time.

I had a dermatologist appointment today. I was amused by the sign on the bathroom door – seemed extra fancy to me.

My daily walk, haunted by the ice cream truck. Isn’t it enough to listen to Turkey in the Straw approximately 943 times during the summer?

Dr. M drove to Louisville for a conference. When he checked into the motel the clerk asked, "Are ya here for the pigeon show or the lawn & garden show?" Dr. M thought about answering, "Actually I'm here for the murder and mayhem...and the bourbon..." (The conference was called, The Hard Hand of War, Irregulars and Civilians in the Civil War.)

Friday, October 24^th

My daily walk. The black & white photo was an accident, but I kind of liked it.

I took some pictures around the yard. Things look a bit seedy, but they certainly aren’t DONE yet!

Since I was on my own I made comfort food for dinner.

Saturday, October 25^th    

My daily walk, the mowing edition. The route from the Map my Walk app never fails to make me laugh.

Dr. M visited with Mr. Lincoln before he left Louisville.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

2013 Project 365 – Week Twenty-Two

Well after our fabulous vacation it’s back to the back yard with us (mostly). Next week Dr. M starts teaching summer school so there might be a little more variety then. But first, we weren’t quite done with NC…

Sunday, May 26^th

Dr. M visited his dad & got a picture of a bluebird. Of course he wouldn’t cooperate & show his blue back.

He also saw a lovely butterfly.

This is Baker’s Mountain, which was a backdrop to my childhood. I wish I had spent more time exploring it when I lived in the area!

While Dr. M was spending time with his dad & brother I was getting a ride in my sister-in-law’s new VW convertible – suh-weet! The State of the Bug – thinking that maybe I should have worn a scarf :)

Monday, May 27^th – Memorial Day

We headed home today. Before we left I took this picture of Daddy & Amy. They were off to participate in an event honoring the veterans of Burke County. Daddy was going to sing the National Anthem & Amy was going to sign it. Don’t they look great?

As we were leaving we saw that someone had sent the Goodyear Blimp to send us off. Heh.

Dr. M stopped by the side of the road in West Virginia to pick up some rocks for our cairn. He took pictures of the rock strata – interesting!

Tuesday, May 28^th           

Back to work for me. Dr. M took a bunch of pictures in our neighbor’s yard. You can see his post about it here.

Our hanging basket did very well under our neighbor’s care while we were gone!

  

Wednesday, May 29^th   

This little downy was enjoying our neighbor’s feeder.

Thursday, May 30^th    

Goldfinches! I’m so glad Dr. M figured out how to lure them back to our yard (got a new feeder & moved it closer to the trees).

We had a nocturnal visitor. I don’t mind her visiting – but I hope she doesn’t get mad while she’s in our yard!

My cold is pretty much gone, but now I’m being plagued by seasonal allergies – mostly with a dry annoying cough. Here’s what I had to say about this on Facebook: Berry Burst Flavor my considerable derriere! Sure it SMELLS like Kool-aid, but blech!

Friday, May 31^st  

Dr. M got up early & took this moon shot.

When I got home from work Dr. M had surprised me by cleaning out the raised beds & planting some flowers - zinnias & marigolds! Earlier in the week he’d planted a couple of tomato plants (along with a couple of heirloom tomatoes that were volunteers). I was so tickled! I’ve wanted to do this for a couple of years but just never really got around to it. Thanks Dr. M! Please note the bug in the garden and a very special visitor!

He also spent some time this week working on our cairn. You can see my post about it here.

Saturday, June 1^st    

This morning Dr. M surprised me by going to get a few purple flowers to add to the flower bed.

Here are the beds – can’t wait to see them all filled out.

Dr. M had also surprised me with some impatiens. And he moved one of the maple tree volunteers to the yard. And he fenced in the yarrow…

A different kind of bug in the garden!

The cypress vine looking all innocent.

Hard to believe that by August it will look like this!

Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask!