There is a factory in Northern Minnesota which makes the Tickle Me Elmo toys.

The toy laughs when you tickle it under the arms.

 

 

Well, Lena is hired at The Tickle Me Elmo factory and she reports  for her first day promptly at 8:00 AM.

 

The next day at 8:45 AM there is a knock at the Personnel Manager’s door. The Foreman throws open the door and begins to rant about the new employee. He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line is  backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule.

 

The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for himself, so  the 2 men march down to the factory floor. When they get there the line is so backed up that there are Tickle  Me Elmo’s all over the factory floor and they’re really beginning  to pile up. At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains of  Tickle Me Elmo’s. She has a roll of plush red fabric and a huge bag of small marbles.

The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little piece of fabric, wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo’s legs…

 

The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter.  After several minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and approaches Lena. “I’m sorry,” he says to her, barely able to keep a straight face, “but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday…“

“Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles.”

 

 

 

 

An interesting day at the Rainbow Bridge

 

Rainbow Bridge is a place of both peace and anticipation as departed pets
await their beloved owners. There are plenty of things to keep them
contented while they wait: trees you can’t get stuck in, endless meadows,
splashing streams, thickets perfect to hide in for pounce-attack games.

But one day the residents noticed some rather…unusual newcomers arrive.

The koalas and the kangaroos slipped in rather quietly, but then came the
bearded dragons, the skinks and the goannas. The influx of snakes startled
an entire family of cats up a tree. Pythons, cobras, tiger snakes, brown
snakes and even fierce snakes. There were so many at one point, it seemed
the ground itself was alive with writhing. A burly wombat shouldered his way
through the crowd and plopped down in a shady spot, barely missing a Jack
Russell terrier who yapped indignantly as he abandoned his position.

And then the crocodiles showed up.

Finally, a Great Dane managed to get up enough nerve to approach one of the
reptillian giants.

“Um….excuse me,” he said hesitantly. “But why are you all here?”

The croc dropped her jaw and laughed. “Same as you, mate,” she said.
“Waitin’ for someone who loved us.”

The dogs, cats, gerbils and other “typical pets” looked at each other in
confusion, then at the plethora of weird, ugly and downright deadly
creatures assembled. Who on Earth could possibly love some of those faces?

“I see him!” shouted a green mamba from his vantage point in one of the
trees. A cacophony of squeeks, hisses, bellows and roars erupted as the mob
surged forward toward a lone human walking across the field toward the
bridge. The other animals managed to catch a glimpse of him before he was
overwhelmed by the crowd.

“CRIKEY!” he shouted joyously right before he was bowled over by the wombat.

“Well I’ll be,” said a Persian as she tidied up her fur. “It’s that Aussie
my human liked to watch on TV. Had to be the craziest human on the whole
planet.”

“Oh, please,” remarked a echidna as he hurried by. “Is it really that crazy
to passionately love something God made?”

~posted by a fan on the Crocodile Hunter website~

 

 

R.I.P.

 

Steve Irwin

 

1962-2006

 

 

He brought some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures

into our living rooms,

and made us see nature through fresh eyes…

A great voice for conservation has been silenced,

but his legacy will live on.

 

- Deepest sympathies to his beloved father, wife and children. -

 

 

Eh.

Just eh.

Bernie is home from work this week and next for vacation.  We have no plans for a trip or anything but would like to get some stuff done around the house and yard, and maybe a couple day trips to the shore or wherever.

And here I am, feeling bleh.

I don’t think I am hindering his plans any with my lack of enthusiasm for life in general, but I am not adding any motivation for him to get off his butt and do anything either.

Ah well, the rest will do him good.  Maybe in a day or two I will be feeling more alive. 

Meanwhile, my weeds and lawn keep growing, and the house isn’t getting any cleaner…

Eh.

who cares, really?

I’ll be here if anyone really needs me.

 

 

 

Some really random thoughts –

just stuff that has gone through my mind lately…

 

• 
  
  Isn’t it often true that when somebody does something innovative with something that has already been invented, that innovation is more widely praised than the original invention? Take for instance the expressions “the best thing since sliced bread” or “the best thing since bottled beer” — nobody says “the best thing since bread” or “the best thing since beer” — no, the person who decided to slice it or bottle it gets all the credit, not the genius who invented it in the first place!  Or what about the Frisbee? People were throwing flat things (including aluminum pie plates from the Frisbie Pie Co.) around for fun for a long time before somebody decided to copy them in plastic and market them as toys.  Who ever thinks of the Frisbie Pie Co.?  Yet, everybody knows what a frisbee ‘flying disc’ is…

• 
  
  When did they stop calling vinyl flooring linoleum?

• 
  
  Why are ‘breakfast foods’ considered breakfast foods? What is it about them that makes them better for eating when you first wake up?

• 
  
  If a blowjob is a good thing, then why is it such an insult to call someone a cocksucker?  Isn’t that doubly insulting to people who give the aforementioned blowjobs?

• 
  
  And, speaking of blowjobs — if you suck at blowjobs does that mean you are bad at it, or good at it? 

• 
  
  I walked past a car the other day and it was rumbling — I could hear it and feel it in my feet,  this brought about a feeling of nostalgia for the old-fashioned hot rods I grew up with until I realized the rumbling was from the subwoofer in the trunk rather than from the exhaust.  Does anyone else long for the days of ‘glass packs’ and headers?  When muscle was more important than bling? When you couldn’t hear the stereo outside the car, over the sound of a good old All-American high performance engine?

• 
  
  Big tits. Many men claim they like women with big tits, but they aren’t being totally honest with themselves.  What they really like is women with disproprotionate tits.  Take a woman with a 42 DD and a body that is in proportion, and most of the very same men will just see a fat broad.  What they really want is a woman who should be a 34 B or C at most to be in proportion with the rest of her body, but with the same 42 DD rack that is on the fat broad that they probably wouldn’t even give a second look at.

• 
  
  Men are silly.

• 
  
  But then so are women.  We are the ones who get implants put in, implants taken out, lifts and tucks and any other number of ‘procedures’ because we buy into this unrealistic model of ideal.

• 
  
  Why do we sneeze when we look into a light?

• 
  
  Why do babies rub their ears when they are tired? What do ears have to do with being tired?

• 
  
  Why do my best ideas come to me when I am lying down?  Does more blood get to my brain then?

 

Well, I told you they were random thoughts!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled web surfing…

 

 

Feelin’

HOT

HOT

HOT!

The New Jersey summer is upon us with a vengeance.  Excessive heat warnings were posted beginning at 9 AM (!!) today — the heat index is supposed to reach 107 degrees farenheit!

 

Needless to say, I am feeling a bit like this guy:

 

But I am moving slowly, drinking tons of water, and staying indoors for the hottest part of the day.  I am still terribly behind in taking care of my yard because of the injury I had earlier this season, broken lawnmowers, excessive heat and rain, and plain old inertia.  So I have been getting out early in the morning, and in the evening just before the sun goes down, and getting some stuff done — mostly trying to cope with the overgrowth of weeds! 

I guess that is the bad part of having a ‘green thumb’ – I am so good at making things grow, even my weeds! Sometimes I wish I was better at killing things.    But this hot weather can be an asset there, I have sprayed 3 gallons of Round-Up™ weed killer between yesterday and this morning, and the weeds in the driveway are already starting to brown. 

Poison ivy has been a really big problem this year, mostly because of a big vine growing in one of the spruce trees out front making so many seeds, which have been spread by the birds literally into every corner of my yard.  But the guy who comes out to help weed-whack the front creek now and then sawed through the vine for us (it was a big hairy thing about the thickness of my forearm!) and it is  dead now. So when this crop of seeds is gone, hopefully it will be easier to keep the poison ivy out of the yard.  The nasty little seedlings are literally carpeting some of my mulch beds out front, and I have had itchy outbreaks on my hand twice so far, despite being careful and wearing heavy gloves.

Thats okay, though.  I am after it with a vengeance, and when I run out of Round-Up™ there is plenty more at the store!!  No noxious weed is going to ruin my enjoyment of the fruits of my hard work in this ongoing (three years now) landscape project.

The backyard is by far the nicest part of the property now.  We spend so much time out there, with the dogs and the cats, and it is hard to resist puttering around here and there when we are out.  A new ‘oasis’ has sprung up in the one corner of the yard where I had not done much so far.  It is shaded by the spruce trees against the back fence, and one day I put 2 Adirondack chairs out there to relax, and it has just grown from there.  I had planned on putting in a pond in that corner, but it is evolved into something a lot more fun, a real touch of whimsy and a focal point in the ’far corner’ of the yard.  And at certain times of the day, it is much more comfortable than the patio, which fries in the sun for most of the time.

In this corner of the yard, there is now a little ‘conversation area’ with a low redwood bench, the two chairs, and a foot rest.  A big galvanized washtub (that used to hold beer kegs in a ‘past life’) is now a container pond/fountain, with some potted plants around it, and there is a little square bed with a big Elephant Ear Caladium and some cheerful little vinca flowers in it.  I am covering the ground with a ‘river’ of pebbles dotted with round terracotta step-stones.  This is taking a while, because I am gettting 4 or 6 bags of stones each trip to Home Depot or Lowes, rather than having a truck deliver a big pile of them.  And this corner now has a 6 foot purple wading pool, with an elephant head molded into it — the trunk holds a sprinkler!  I love cooling my feet in it, and the dogs really enjoy it too. Even the cats like to sit on the bench and stare at the sprinkler or the tub fountain. 

I promise photos soon – I still have to take some.

 

But for now, since the heat index has reached 93 already, I will be sitting here in front of the Airconditioner, wishing I was here instead:

North Beach – Brigantine Island, NJ

I might even get some more books listed on eBay. Right now I have 62 titles up, mostly new books at buy-it-now prices, but I am starting to list some of my own collection in 7-day auctions.  It just takes so long for me to write up the listings, I have to be in the right frame of mind to do it.

Have a great day, whatever you are doing, and KEEP COOL!

 

 

Public Nudity to

Weed Out Terrorists

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS SATURDAY. (July 8th 2006) –

As you may already know, it is a sin for a Taliban male

to see any woman other than his wife naked,

and that he must commit suicide if he does.

SO THIS SATURDAY AT 4 P.M. ALL WOMEN are asked to walk out of their house COMPLETELY NAKED to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists. CIRCLING YOUR BLOCK FOR ONE HOUR IS RECOMMENDED.

For this anti-terrorist effort, ALL MEN are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to PROVE they are not Taliban, to demonstrate they think it’s OKAY to see nude women other than their wife, and to SHOW SUPPORT FOR ALL.

SINCE THE TALIBAN ALSO DOES NOT APPROVE OF ALCOHOL, A COLD 6-PACK AT YOUR SIDE IS FURTHER PROOF OF YOUR ANTI-TALIBAN SENTIMENT.

THE GOVERNMENT APPRECIATES YOUR EFFORTS TO ROOT OUT TERRORISTS AND APPLAUDS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS ANTI-TERRORIST ACTIVITY.

 

GOD(dess) BLESS WOMEN EVERYWHERE.

IT IS YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO PASS THIS ON.

 

 

 

sorry, the following blog contains no pictures.

you will just have to use your imagination 

 

Last week I attended the Rick Wakeman “grand piano tour” concert rescheduled from march (postponed due to illness)  My Concert Buddy Dennis was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts with plans with his son, so my Dear Husband, Bernie (of Little Patience) agreed to go along — he had the week off for vacation so couldn’t use the excuse of having to get up early for work. 

The show was advertised with an ‘early starting time’ of 7:30, so we rushed down, through a real mess of construction traffic jams and detours, only to find that there was an opening act, a guitar player who I vaguely recalled from a now-defunct band called “huffamoose”. Not bad, typical singer-songwriter fare, but not what we had come for. 

Our seats were in my favorite spot, right to the left of the sound board, but from the very beginning Bernie (of little patience) was extremely uncomfortable and cramped in the seats, which I have always had a problem with, but dealt with anyway.  In a way, this made me sort of happy, because I found out that the problem wasn’t just my size – even an ‘average’ sized guy like Bernie didn’t quite fit.  His discomfort and impatience was increased by a wait of nearly an hour between the end of the opening act and Mr Wakeman finally arriving on stage, with profuse apologies — they, too, had been stuck in the constuction traffic.

Despite this delay, he seemed quite relaxed and in great humour, and looked quite well. He introduced the show by explaining how it had come about as a result of a similar situation, where his equipment didn’t arrive at a venue in time for a scheduled concert, and he was forced to fill the entire time by improvising pared-down versions of his songs — as he explained, back to the way they were initially written — on a grand piano, interspersed with humourous stories of writing the songs and of his years as a musician and the people and places along the way. When it went over so well, he decided to make a whole tour out of the same format.

According to the Keswick soundman, with whom I chatted briefly while waiting for the show to begin, this is truly a minimalist venture — all that Rick has brought along on this tour is a suitcase and his manager (who, I assume, also has a suitcase)

And what a delightful way to experience the music I have loved for so long. The setlist included favorite pieces from all eras, beginning with “Monkey on a Stick” – the very first song little Richard Wakeman ever performed live for an audience (at age 5) introduced with some recollections of his piano teacher.  This was followed by a breathtaking redition of what he called one of his favorite Strawbs songs (and mine too) “Glimpse of Heaven”.  This song was introduced with a hilarious anecdote about splitting his trousers while performing at an all-girls school with the Strawbs, and subsequently finding out that a spotlight had been shining on the back curtain he went beind to change them — to the uproarious amusement of all in attendance.  They were not, he added, invited bzack to play there again.  I could see by this point, just how his sense of humour compliments and meshes with Dave Cousins’, and why they make such a wonderful team.

Unfortunately, I did not write the setlist down, but I think I have it still in my mind. Glimpse of heaven was followed by  “Catherine of Aragon/Catherine Howard”, and then “Morning Has Broken” (a wonderful sentimental surprise for me, as it was one of the songs we used in our wedding, and our 16th anniversary was 2 days after the show) “And You and I” (‘the lost chord variation’ using a chord progression from its early stages of development that was not used in the final release by Yes — a very lovely version of one of my favorites)

The strong emotions I was feeling continued with “Gone But Not Forgotten”, which was introduced with reminiscences of Rick’s mother and a suggestion that the audience close our eyes and think of lost loved ones while he played.  Then on to anecdotes about Jon Anderson – ‘a man who tries to save this planet while living on an entirely different one’ followed by “Wonderous Stories” and “The Meeting”

Then came an unexpected audience-participation part of the show. After telling a story about one of the times (which apparently were quite frequent) where he had to improvise a piece of music ‘on the fly’, he proceeded to demonstrate how ‘simple’ it was to take any sequence of notes and turn them into a melody.  He asked 6 audience members to call out a note, and then improvised an introduction to “After The Ball” using the audience’s notes.  He said not to complain to him if we didn’t like it — because we wrote it! — and it sounded absolutely gorgeous, as expected. It was really a privelege and pleasure to see the creative process unfold, as he took 6 raw notes and expanded on them, layering sound upon sound to make a full blown piece of music.

He concluded the main body of the performance with two Beatles songs, done “in the style of” major classical composers.  As a classically trained musician myself, I really appreciated this part, and was totally awed at how perfectly he interpreted “Help” in the style of French composer SaintSaens and “Eleanor Rigby” in the style of Prokofiev, who he explained was his personal favorite composer (knowing that now — I can really hear the influence…).

And with the encore came one further highlight, which I will reprint from the Keswick Theatre’s latest news email:

“RICK WAKEMAN PLAYS THE KESWICK THEATRE ORGAN! As a special part of his encore here last Wednesday night, legendary YES keyboardist RICK WAKEMAN did an extended number on the 1,400-pipe organ here – a relatively rare showing & playing of this historic instrument. The 1928 Moller organ has been painstakingly restored over the last 18 years via thousands of man-hours of dedicated volunteer labor by The Theatre Organ Society of the Delaware Valley, and Rick’s playing earned him a prolonged standing ovation. Authentic theater organs are so relatively rare that many in the audience had never experienced the sheer power of it previously. We hope to be able to incorporate this novel instrument into other concerts in the future on occasion. Thank you, Rick, for “pulling out all the stops” – literally!”

Totally awed to hear “Jane Seymour” on this venerable old instrument, I sat in speechless bliss as he moved back to the grand piano to conclude the program with “Merlin the Magician”.

And an appropriate choice it was, a truly magical evening was had by all.  I even think at a few points that my long-sufferring  (and relatively non-musical, especially in a prog or classical sense) husband, Bernie (of little patience) actually enjoyed himself. I know he enjoyed the stories, because he remarked as we walked back to the Jeep that “If Wakeman ever decides to retire from keyboard playing, he could have a stellar second career in stand-up comedy”!

 

What a strange Spring we have had!

These changes in the weather are enough to give anyone a headache.

Me included, earlier today, but it wasn’t a bad one. 

Anyway, for those of you who don’t live near me – since spring began back in March, first we had unseasonably cold weather, then it got really hot.  Then we had a long period of no rain — at the time of the year when we usually have too much rain, and when the young plants really need it most.  I had too hook up all my hoses and irrigation stuff far earlier than I ever do, and postponed planting new plants.  Weeding was tough, too, as the soil got so hard from the dryness.

Then, we had some rain.  That is a good thing.  And stuff started to grow really nice.  (see photos in my last blog)  But I hurt my leg and couldn’t get nearly as much yard work done as I had planned. 

And then — we had a heat wave fit for July!  Memorial day weekend into the beginning of June brought us temperatures in the 90′s!  With high humidity, too — the ol’ New Jersey double-whammy.  The end of last week the heat was broken by some major thunderstorms, which turned the outdoors into a steambath as soon as it stopped raining.  Total yuck.

What a difference a few days make — this week has brought us back to the weather we should have been having in April.  Cool and wet.  This afternoon it only reached 61 degrees, and it has been going back and forth between cool and overcast and heavy rain, with all variations between, for the past four days.  Great weather for sleeping.  It would be ideal for working outdoors if it wasn’t so wet and if my leg would actually get around to healing.  But sleeping is probably what I need to be doing now anyway. 

All five animals and I snoozed for most of the day, and it felt good, until I woke up with the headache I mentioned at the beginning of this blog.  But I took some Excedrin and it’s gone now.  I guess we will all return to the bedroom to pick up where we left off, which was with Angel on the bench at the foot of my bed, Ziggy on the pillow over my head, Dolly in her bed on the right side of my bed and Pearl in her bed on the left — all sawing off our various sized ZZZZZsss   (and Tommy somewhere out in the other end of the house — the female critters don’t allow him into my room for some reason)  We are all such creatures of habit.   

Bernie even took a long nap when he came home from work.  Now he is awake and hungry.  I got some dinner started for him (broiled ham steak, stovetop stuffing and baby green peas) but I won’t be eating that until later since I had such a late lunch (of a leftover cheeseburger from the grill last night — reheated in the microwave — yum)

 

Yard and garden update

 

Sorry — no rose pictures this time around.  The wierd weather got them too.  They bloomed really nice for a day or two then it got really hot and they went kablooey (yes — that is a legitimate botanical term, hehehe)  And then it rained and knocked all the petals off what was left of them.  But they will take a break for a little while and then bloom again later, on and off all summer — so I hope to get pictures eventually.

We have been having a helluva time with lawnmowers this year.  We have two of the push kind — one self-propelled mulching one I use for edging and the small sections of yard, and one lightweight one that I use for doing the edges of the creek and other hilly places.  And one riding mower, which Bernie uses for all the large areas of lawn.  We started the season unable to get either pushmower started, but then finally got them to start using large amounts of starter fluid sprayed into their aircleaners.  But the self-propelled mower’s self-propel motor cable broke, so it was just a regular mower (and a heavy one at that)  plus the little rubber bulb thingie used to prime it for starting cracked and was useless (part of the reason why it was so hard to start)  so it was sidelined while we waited for the local repair shop to get the parts, which they got wrong twice before getting the right cable.  Fortunately Bernie was able to do the replacement by himself so we didn’t have to pay them and wait even longer, but still no primer bulb thingie.  

Meanwhile, the starter rope broke on the other push mower, leaving us with just one riding mower, until its battery died.

Bernie got the starter rope fixed on the one, the cable on the other, and started working on the lawn the other day when he was off from work.  The lawn is getting seriously overgrown because of all the rain we have had, and really needed mowing, so we were pretty relieved that it looked like we were finally back on track, but yesterday something happened to the riding mower.    I think the sparkplug got fouled, but because it kept stalling out and being restarted, then the battery died.  And it started raining again.  Hopefully this weekend we will be able to sort it out and maybe get the primer bulb thingie fixed on my mulching mower – the one that I use the most, but only if I am able to start it!

Ah well, life in the ‘burbs goes on…

You know its summertime here when the biggest concerns involve lawnmowers and gas grills.  Mosquitoes too, but so far not a problem with them (just wait till after this rain ends, though!)

 

 

Since folks have been asking —

This is a glimpse of my front yard, as it looked last week:

 

my front yard 5/19/06 viewed from side of lot,

halfway down the driveway to the road

 

This photo was taken after a few days of rain — the lawn really needed mowing, and the weeds and fallen ‘helicopters’ (flying maple tree seeds)  were all over the place.  The little verticle sticks in the left foreground are the branches of one of the four baby semi-dwarf apple trees we planted this year (still one more left in a pot to be planted soon, for a total of five along the driveway). As is the nature of things, some different flowers are blooming already this week, and I have spent some time weeding, raking and mowing, so it looks different today.  I took a lot of other photos, but I would rather show you what it looks like since I have removed many wheelbarrowloads of weeds (and helicopters — we had a bumper crop this year!!) so you will just have to wait for more updated photos.

a row of new baby semidwarf apple trees along the driveway

big old pile of topsoil (9 tons!) under the tarp waiting to be used for varous projects

the lilac bush in foreground is in the corner of what will eventually be a Butterfly Garden

 

My calf muscle injury and Bernie’s COPD have slowed us down considerably this year.  Yesterday he was helping me, doing some of the wheelbarrow pushing and cart-pulling that I cannot do yet, and essentially ‘being my legs’ as much as he could.  But his lungs are in pretty bad shape, despite quitting smoking (probably a bit too late) and being on a daily regime of several different medications.  And aside from the injury, I am heavier this spring than I have ever been in my life, which is putting strain on all my joints — especially my knees!  I think that all in all, we started this year in collectively worse physical condition than we ever have. 

Getting old sucks.  We have actually been talking about contracting out some of the work that still needs to be done, because there is only so much that I can accomplish, and after his full work week plus overtime at the post office, I can’t expect him to do much around the house and yard.  We are coming up with some creative uses of the dump cart and the riding mower, and other work-saving tools, modifying the usual way of doing things to suit our limitations.  But in the long run, we make a pretty good team (we should after all these years)

The running joke is that we should start our own landscaping company after he retires.  (that would be a quick way to cash in on the life insurance!)  Yesterday I came up with a name and a slogan:

Gimpy and Wheezy’s Landscaping Service

“we’ll get the job done … eventually.”

During the past week, I finished sprucing up the bamboo grove (which is sending up shoots like mad) and its adjacent rosebushes and irises.  I moved a single specimen plant of Red Temple Bamboo out of the grove and to the side to better showcase it, and then adjusted the position of the bench, solar lights, and buddha statue accordingly.  So with the exception of sprinkling in some fertilizer/pre-emergent weed controller and top dressing with some more mulch (later in the season) that corner of the yard is done.  Finished.  A good feeling.

 

bamboo grove 5/19/06 – before changes

 

Yesterday I weeded and raked one of the front landscape beds — which contains some flowering shrubs and a small white birch cluster, under the shade of two old Swamp Maple trees (yep — more helicopters!)  It also has a circlular bed made of the metal rim off an old wagon wheel (the wagon wheels are prominently featured in the bed along with a wooden bench)  where I planted 6 bright pink geranium plants I had wintered-over in my front living room window.  And I spread more of that magical ‘Preen’ pre-emergent weed control plus fertilizer there, too.  That leaves 2 more landscape beds out front to ‘clean up’ plus the ongoing (read continuous!) work on the perennial border and foundation planting along the front of the house.

 

perennial border along driveway 5/19/06

view from front porch

 

Since the ground first thawed, I have been working on and off in my favorite part of the yard — the northeast side, the perennial shade garden nicknamed “the Enchanted Forest”.  It is a pet project of mine, and since it is moist and cool there, I can continue working on it long after it is too hot to toil in the rest of the yard.  So I expect it to be one of the last garden projects I will be workin on, well into summer.  That and this year’s ‘brand new garden project’, the Butterfly Garden that will be up at the top of the driveway where we park.  The Enchanted forest changes almost daily, as the different varieties of plants grow and bloom according to their own schedule (part of the magic…)  I look at these pictures taken just a week ago and it is way different already!

shade perennial border along foundation 5/19/06

looking toward backyard

different view of same area

same spot about a month ago

view across back yard toward the Enchanted Forest entrance

the black furball is Dolly

slightly different view of same area —

about a month ago

view from fence toward front yard 5/19/06

hard to believe that all sprung out of the ground in just a couple months!

another photo from last month – you can see part of the other side of the Enchanted Forest on the left under the fir and crabapple trees

 

Today we finished prepping the two flowerbeds in the backyard that get annuals planted in them.  The soil had settled, so we needed to bring a few cartloads of topsoil around from the 9 ton pile I got dumped in the front side yard last month.  I got all the weeds out, the old soil loosened up, and  the new soil added.  There is also a small (tiny) square bed on the other side of the backyard where we planted a root (bulb? — big softball looking thingy?)  of an Elephant Ear Caladium a couple weeks ago, which has not come up yet.  I think I will put a few low-growing annuals along the outer edge of this bed, too.

more of the  Enchanted Forest 5/19/06

with both dogs in background

I built the stone wall of this bed along the fence with stones I have been digging up while working in the yard — we have a lot of shale!  The plants growing like mad on the right end of the bed are a variety of mints.  Still need a little color here — a few annuals will do the trick.

I am hoping to talk Bernie into going to the nursery tomorrow to get some annuals to plant in these beds, in a few containers here and there, and to finish off one of the front annual beds (needing 4 more petunia plants) and the shade bed along the fence on the north side of the house — the entrance to the Enchanted Forest (just a tiny bare spot there needing color — see the photo above).  That will leave only one more annual bed, next to the breezeway door, by my prized roses.  But I have learned from experience not to plant that one until after Bernie finishes cleaning all the helicopters, stray leaves and winter debris out of the gutter above, because he tends to trample the flowers with the ladder otherwise.  So it will be the last annual bed planted, probably about mid-June from the way things look now. 

the rose bed next to the breezeway 5/19/06

with entirely too many weeds in the sidewalk and severely shaggy lawn

nice irises over on the left, though, and pansies in the wheelbarrow doing quite well

More pictures to come as I get them … Roses are in full bloom now, hope to get a few shots of them tomorrow…

 

 

Since my life lately seems to be populated with people without even a hint of a clue,

 

the following is a

Public Service Announcement:

……….

 

THIS

is

SHIT

 

…

 

THIS

is

SHINOLA

 

……

 

Any Questions?

 

……