Happy New Year

The morning after I hope you are not feeling as bad as he looks.

So, go celebrate, be careful, have a designated driver, or take a taxi.

Thank you to all my readers, family, friends, blogger friends, and all you folk who just stop by to take a look. You are all appreciated.

I wish for you all, an outstanding New Year

Flowers still blooming in December

So far, we have not had any severe cold weather, so there are still some flowers in the garden, adding a splash of color.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Doe and her fawn

These two are regular visitors to my friend's house. They enjoy the sunflower seeds my friend feeds them.

Ten Christmas centerpieces done.

 Ten plastic wine glasses from the Dollar store, some evergreen branches, spray glue, small pine cones, red glitter glue, Epsom salt, red tinsel, a battery operated flickering candle, and some pretty paper doilies.

Put it all together, and you have pretty, easy to assemble center pieces. These will will be used at our annual Fishin' club Christmas party on Friday evening.

I am back, at least for now

Yes, I have been away for a while. Blogging along with other things in my life, are difficult to get done at this time of year. It seems I am effected by 'Seasonal affective disorder' (Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of depression that affects a person during the same season each year. If you get depressed in the winter but feel much better in spring and summer, you may have SAD.) 
I become rather depressed, and not motivated to do all that I usually enjoy. For me, this disorder is all brought about by the dull, sunless days of winter.
Today, I pushed myself to go outside and take a look at my garden. I was surprised to find these few flowers still blooming. Cheered me up no end.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my readers, Have a wonderful thanksgiving day. Blessings to all.

Fall is here, bringing a few surprises

A bright cheery spot of color in the fall garden

A little primrose is valiantly pushing out a few blooms

One battered clematis bloom remains on the vine

Holly berries ripening

Three lovely Sunsugar tomatoes for our salad today

I don't think these strawberries will ripen now

This ripe beauty tasted  so sweet.

Wind storm damage

I guess we are lucky the only thing that crashed to the ground is this old Lilac. 

It snapped off right down near the ground

The lilac was stopped from crushing the fence by landing in the fork of a forsythia growing beside it.

The trunk of the lilac is now cut into fireplace lengths, and the rest waiting to be carted off to the burn pile.

Garage sale treasures for my garden

Even though the tall pot has a crack down one side, I bought it anyway as I liked the old world look of the pot. Besides it was only $1 and the crack can be repaired. I liked the green pot also, a deal at $2.

Saw this lying on it's side way in back, and offered the woman $10, she said sold. It stands just over six feet tall and is very well made. I am looking forward to deciding what kind of vine will grace this piece of garden art next year.

I like the detail on the top, don't you too?

A surprise and almost the last of the tomatoes

SunSugar and bloody butcher tomatoes.

Today I was surprised to find these few strawberries and will enjoy them to the last bite. There are still a few more tomatoes in the garden to ripen, that is, if we continue to have some sunshine.

This 'n' that Friday

"She always wants to be the one who stands out in a crowd"

"Sure wish I could reach that itchy spot"

Tomato harvest better than expected

I am more than pleased with the tomato harvest this year, considering the cool slow start they had. The small red tomato 'Bloody butcher' is sweet and juicy, one I keep in a bowl on the kitchen counter as a healthy 'snack' along with the small yellow 'Sun Sugar' which is like eating candy. The larger fruit 'Siletz'  I like sliced for sandwiches. Brandywine is still not ripe, so I won't bother with this one again.

This is the last of the blueberries, and oh! my goodness, there are so many big plump blackberries this year. These grow wild on our 10 acre property and I gladly share with the flocks of starling who squabble and fight over the berries. There are two quart  jars full of measured juice from blackberries in the freezer, ready to make into jelly during the cold months of winter.
Last of all there are the zucchini. I only grow two plants, the second is only if the first fails. A family can eat only so much zucchini. *grin* What we don't eat, the semi-tame rabbits are only too happy to help out.

My experiment with heirloom tomatoes.

For years I have missed the wonderful slightly sweet acidic flavor of the tomatoes I remember from my childhood. This year, I decided to see what some of the heirloom tomatoes taste like. I had to choose tomatoes requiring a shorter growing season, as sometimes our summer in the PNW can be cooler and shorter than in other parts of the country, this year was no exception.

The golden colored Sun Sugar tomato (not an heirloom) has, and still is producing lots of the small sweet tomatoes. The Bloody Butcher, heirloom tomato plant  has also given me an abundance of lovely fruit for salads and snacking, one I will be growing again next year. Siletz is a larger tomato, one with not a whole lot of seeds and a flesh I like as a slicing tomato for sandwiches, but because of the short summer did not produce very many fruit, but perhaps I would consider planting it again, hoping for more sunny days to ripen more fruit.

This tomato is Brandywine and still has not ripened, also due to the short Summer we have had this year. I am hoping there will be at least one tomato ripen so I can taste it to see what kind of flavor it has.
Next year I will look for more heirlooms to try, as I still have not found a tomato with that allusive flavor I am looking for.

I have no complaint about the blueberry bushes and the large quantity of berries I have harvested from them. I have enough tucked away in the freezer, to see us through the winter. This is the first year I will not have to buy any.

Owl takes a bath

A few days ago, I arrived at my friend's house to find her dragging a hose over the deck. "what are you doing?" I asked. She replied, " there is an owl in the tree, I have already poked at with my cane from a few feet away, and it won't fly away, so I am going to squirt it with this hose"

"here let me have the hose and I will see what I can do" I replied. 

You see, my friend loves her critters and birds, especially these cute wee squirrels, and one of the three squirrels has gone missing, so my friend is assuming that the owl is there to get the other two. 

Both my friend and I stood with mouths hanging open in disbelief, as I gave the owl a couple of blasts of water from the hose, and it just sat there with that wide eyed look, ruffling it's feathers as if to say " thank you for the nice bath" The owl then sat there for another few minutes looking at us both standing just about six feet away, before finally flying off.
There are still two of the squirrels visiting the feeders, so perhaps the owl has given up for now.

Are you tired of flower photos yet?

Thank you for the parsley, but why can't I come in there and choose my own treats!

Those glorious Glads

There are so many fabulous colors of gladiola that it is hard to choose. I love the yellow-pink and peach color of this one.

The American Robin

I am always delighted to have the American Robins visit my garden, and this year, I have watched three different families raise their young.

Young American Robin

Wordless Wednesday

Try and jump this, you little stinker

There is one bunny who can jump over the 2 foot high lattice fence.

I declared war, and placed the wire garden surround on top of the lattice. So far the bunny has not attempted to jump over. So, does that mean I win?

Sunday .... bird day

 The Brown Creeper, also known as the American Tree Creeper, is a small songbird, the only North American member of the treecreeper family Certhiidae.

Spotted Towhee

Friday--flower day