Garden blog

It's the last days of Spring or the first days of Summer.    Days are getting hotter - some hitting the high eighties!!  whew

Not much has happen with my big PLANS.

We hired a contractor to build my potting bench next to the shed but so far, he has the money but the work hasn't started!!!  Ugh!

I have given up on my row boat pond.  Maybe next year!

I ordered glow in the dark stepping stones for my path to the gazebo.  They should arrive soon and then I can get started on the path.  

Memorial weekend, I went to the Baltimore herb fest and bought a white bleeding heart and two sweet woodruff plants planted them around the gazebo I hope they survive.  They should make a nice addition to my moon garden around the gazebo. 



Wisteria Growing on Gazebo

Looking forward to some cool early morning walk around my garden this summer.

Garden book I'm reading when the sun goes down:

National Wildlife Federation's Gardening for Wildlife

As for the birding

Didn't get to do any warbler birding this Spring!  Bah! Humbug!   But warm weather has sent a lot of birds to my birdbaths!  Enjoying the company!

10 things I like about summer

1 Cool mornings

2 Eating seafood at a waterview restaurant like Hemingways

3 ice cream cones

4 gardens

5 fresh organic vegetables, herbs and fruits

6 birding

7 sitting on the deck with a cold drink

8 spending summer vacation with my grandkids

9 sightseeing

10 walk the boardwalk at night

 

 

 

 

 

 



Garden blog

Well, here it is late Spring.  and what's on my mind.  Gardening and birding!

I have big plans for my yard this Spring.

My first project is to build a potting area next to my shed.  see the photo top right of chart. 

As of May 3rd 2013, we are still waiting for the contractor to review our site and plans!  I needed this done yesterday!

I guess I need to move on to my second project, my row boat pond.  I need to decide on the right spot.  This week I will contact the Baywise Group of the Master Gardeners club and see if they can suggest a spot for me.

and while I'm waiting for their visit, I'll move on to my third and final project, putting in a path to the gazebo.  I should talk to the Baywise Group about the material for the path too so that goes on hold too! 

Well, at least I can weed and take a road trip to home depot for some fungicide, insecticide and mulch. 

Hoping to take some photos today of my garden!  Temperature are in the sixties and holding!  Lots of sunshine today. 

Garden book I'm reading when the sun goes down: 

Carrots love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

As for the birding

I'm hoping to spot some life warblers ....

on my list are:  Kentucky, Nashville and Golden wing wablers. 
Wish me luck - these are hard ones for me!  Been birding a long time and haven't seen them yet!  I have to get out and look - wish me lots of energy this week!  I need it!!
and bah humbug to this lyme disease!  Move it or lose it!

MY PHOTOS

Some of the photos I took this Spring

Locations:   Port Mahon, Delaware
                    Ladew Gardens, Maryland
                    Blackwater NWR, Maryland
                    Bombay Hook NWR, Delaware

It's June and time to get outside and enjoy the warm weather! 

Looking forward to spending time with my grandkids this summer! 

Hope they will be packing their suitcases and heading over to Grandmother's house!

                   
also Looking forward to checking out the Talbot County camera club and the Eastern Shore Herb club.  Met some of past and present members in my classes and I'm planning to check out this months meetings.


TO DO LIST
Scrapbook and take lots of photos!  Weed, weed and weed some more.

PLACES I'd like to walk this month:  Blackwater, Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center and the Arboretum. 

BOOK  I finally finished Chesapeake and I'm over half way thru Land of the Painted Caves.  Another thick book of over 700 pages.

In the kitchen  Bruce and I have started to enjoy our organic vegetable shares we are receiving weekly from Homestead Farms in Millington.  This week our box contained spinach, bok choy, romaine, curly endive, asian greens, radishes, kale and sorrel.  Its a fun challenge to come up with tasty recipes for all those healthy veggies!


Cornell Feeder Watch project is over until next November.  I am now enjoying sitting on the deck with an ice tea listening to the birds chirping away in the trees!  Love it!

Finished crocheting my granny square scarf.  Time to start a new crocheting project??  I think I'll make some watermelon slice potholders to summer-up the kitchen.


Hope everyone has a wonderful month!! Enjoy the outdoors!  and the nice warm sunshine!! 


I WISH U FUN!!

Good bye February

Rats!  I was routing for my grandson's favorite team the Patriots!  but the Giants won the superbowl 21 to 17      It was a very exciting game! 

3rd in Milford Middle School

My grandson Jon came in 3rd in his school in the spelling bee CONGRATULATION JONNY!

The family all got to together to celebrate Catarina's 4th birthday we took lots of photos and Uncle Chris made us a delicious dinner!  The kids had a lot of fun with the kareoke machine!    

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

Bruce and I had a great time at the GARDEN SHOW EXPO in Harrisburg. We got a lot of good ideas for the garden.  My favorite display was a row boat made into a pond!  Our garden project for 2012!

Had a great time at all my classes this month Hypertufa planter, Vegetable gardening, yoga, oil painting and my SLR camera course.  I shot in manual mode for the first time this month.  Here's a phto of my valentine's gift from Bruce that I shot for a class assignment.

Still haven't finished Cheaspeake by James Mitchener, read a few chapters.

Birds at my feeder this month are:  cardinals, titmice, chickadees, goldfinch, house finch, white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, carolina wren, juncos, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, hairy woodpeckers, pigeons, mourning doves, & starlings.

Eurasian Wigeon

For our anniversary Bruce and I spent the day birding in search of some rarities in the area.  We were lucky enough to find the Virginia's Warbler at Pickering Creek in Easton and the Eurasian Wigeon behind the Holiday Inn at Kent Narrows.   

My favorites this month were:

Movies: Abduction, Dont be Afraid of the Dark, the Rum Diaries, Drive also saw Mirror, Mirror; and the Beginners!  congrats to Christopher Plummer for best supporting actor!

TV Shows: downtown Abbey, JudgeJudy, Fashion Police (although I think Stacy Keebler should have been best dressed at the Oscars NO CONTEST!), Housewives of Beverly Hills, Antique Roadshow, the Oscars and Jersey Shore

In the kitchen this month I made:  BBQ beans & sausage, chicken dumpling soup, Broccoli pear salad, vegetable lasagne and lemon salmon fettucine  Yum Yum

Our big purchase this month was our 27" Samsung flat screen monitor!   Love it and my GALAXY NOTE cell phone LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Hope everyone had a wonderful month!! 
I WISH U LOVE!!

Welcome February

This month started off with a lot of banging!  on the roof!!  We thought it was squirrels but it turned out to be a raccoon!  The raccoon had pushed in some of the flashing and taken out some insulation to make himself a nice warm home above our office dormer!!

Its February and time to watch the SUPERBOWL and a little groundhog in Punxsatawney Pennsylvania who saw his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter.

Catarina age 3

Its time to celebrate Catarina's 4th birthday, Valentine's Day, President's Day and our 18th anniversary!




I made Catarina's Birthday card... card making is fun!!  To make the card I used Repeat Impressions stamp
4520-K and the design team's challenge sketch J2512. 
It's so cute I can't wait to give it to her!!


February is also the beginning of the Lenten season.  What will you give up for Lent?  I will be abstaining from candy, cupcakes and ice cream!  Can I make it...?

Looking forward to attending the GARDEN SHOW EXPO in Harrisburg with Bruce.  and taking several classes this month including two Yoga classes at Chesapeake college and also at Chesapeake a photography course, a Renaissance Art class, and a diet and nutrition class.  At the Adkins Arboretum, I signed up for a class to learn how to make a hypertufa planter.  Attend seminar Starting a Vegetable Garden at the library, And last but not least, my painting classes will continue at the Art Studio! 

PLACES I'd like to walk this month:  Kent Narrows, Sandy Point State Park to look for snow buntings, and the National Arboretum!

TO DO LIST
Scrapbook, make more cards for Christmas, Valentines Day, Anniversary and Catarina's Birthday, continue with therapy for my back and shoulder, and take lots of photos!

BOOK I'm still reading this month is Cheaspeake by James Mitchener

Birds at my feeder this month are:  house finches, cardinals, titmice, white throated sparrows, juncos, carolina wrens, red winged blackbirds, song sparrows, mourning doves and hairy woodpeckers!

Hope everyone has a wonderful month!! Enjoy the outdoors!  There's still time for sledding and building snowmen! Watching your birdfeeders! and Snuggling up in your flannel PJs with hot cocoa and a good movie or book!
I WISH U LOVE!!

Saying good bye to January

Hard to believe January is coming to a close.  Hope u had a great month! The month left me with some more happy memories.

I worked on my New Year's Resolutions and lost 2 pounds!  Hurray I now only have to lose 8 more pounds by April 30th! to make my goal and hopefully get off the blood pressure meds! 

I am making progress on my second goal to spend less busy time and more quality fun time!!!  I started a painting for Terri at the Art Studio, and finished 26 scrapbook pages (22 at the crop and 4 at home), I made a few Christmas cards for next year and a few Valentines and I started crocheting myself a grannysquare scarf!! 
Hi-lites of the crops for me were winning a cricut cartridge in the raffle and spending time with my daughter, Paulette!! 

I walked to and from therapy twice this month so I definitely got some exercise it was a 20 minute walk one way so that totals 80 minutes of walking.  It's a start! and I do several exercises at therapy for  my back and shoulder.  I am also taking a yoga class at Chesapeake College. 

The TV show Alcatraz wasn't all that hot!  I took it off my agenda but I did see some good netflix movies this month including Water for Elephants (I read the book and still enjoyed it), Super 8, Midnight in Paris (typical Woody Allen film), The Guard (a real surpise! dry comedy, I loved it), Moneyball (another surpirse, I'm not a sports fanatic but loved this movie), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (enjoyed it).
TV shows that I enjoyed this month are Housewives of Atlanta and Beverly Hills, Judge Judy (always reminds me of my Mom), Divorce Court, Antique Roadshow, Jersey Shore (reminds me of my old friends from Philly), Kim Kardashian (I have no idea why I watch that dumb show) and I watched Luther a BBC detective show on netflix I don't like a lot of detective shows but this one is good!  

Had a checkup this month at my Cardiologist.  She sent me for a carotid doppler test and no problems were found!!  GOOD NEWS! 

Still reading Carribean - it's worth finishing but its a slow read for me and it weighs a top!!

Black headed gull front

Western Kingbird on fence

Cornell feeder watch is going good.  One day I had over 80 red-winged blackbirds in the yard.  LOVED IT!!  Other birding hi-lites included adding 2 new birds to my life list - received email regarding a black headed gull in Hunt Valley Maryland - the hunt was on and Bruce and I found the bird in the shopping center parking lot  - second alert sent us in search of a Western Kingbird.  Luckily we found it!!  These birding trips gave me an opportunity to do some photography and use my big 500mm lens!

Did a lot of cooking and eating this month! but I tried to keep it low calorie and healthy some of my favorite recipes for the month were: bacon corn chowder, spiced pecans, pear & blue cheese salad, clam chowder, Paulette stopped for lunch on our way to the crop and gave me a thumbs up on my red lentil soup, and Terri gave me a thumbs up on my bean soup! Bruce and I enjoyed our weekend dinner of Pork Chops, sweet potatoes, squash and green beans; I accompanied mine with a glass of apple cider yummy! 

Our dinning out included a visit to one of our old favorite Chinese restaurants in Annapolis, a new restaurant highly recommended in Easton, Maryland El Dorita where I tried a Peruian dish, sangria and flan for dessert.  Fish & chips at Rams Head shorehouse on Kent Island with blueberry streudel for dessert are you hungry yet?  and a nice meal at Ichiban including miso soup, port dumplings and a Philadelphia roll! yum-yum! 

Bruce and I also visited Friday Creek Winery in Owings Maryland and enjoyed tasting the wine and brought some home with us.  and that was fun!