Gavin & Kindli’s News, events, updates & opinions on the weather
Several months ago I unearthed some mystery bulbs that were sitting in a pot that had been left by the previous tenant. My MIL and I planted them in the lower tier of the garden. They dutifully sprouted into generic looking, slightly tropical, long leafy things. About a week ago, I noticed they were blooming.
I have no idea what sort of flowers they are, they’re pretty, and they bloomed on their own after some neglect. Always good things.
Yesterday Demon Kitty came over to visit us. I’d been out watering the yard and I left the screen door open.
When I came back inside, DK was basking in the sunlight cleaning himself.
The mystery plant bloomed, I think everyone was right, it does look like a lilly of sorts.
A few months back some small green shoots poked above the ground. I hadn’t planted anything in the corner where they were occurring, but I welcome most low maintenance plants that show up on their own.
I have no idea what this plant is, there is a smaller one next to it (lower right corner). Does any one have any idea what it might be?
When I first brought the transplanted blackberries home they looked pretty awful and Gavin fervently hoped they would die. They sat by the back fence, looking increasingly pitiful and dead.
When they reached an awful low - crispy, brown shriveled leaves - with clearly no chance of survival, I moved them off to the side - out of sight out of mind, and let them sit on their own in the corner. Imagine my surprise when I noticed little green leaves making a comeback.
I carefully trimmed away the dead leaves to allow the little recovering plant some space to grow. They’re not thriving, but they are looking lusher and greener than they have in weeks.
The blackberries are making a comeback, but they’re going to stay in their pots until we eventually live somewhere where I can have wine barrel full of blackberries (or a corner of the yard I want to let get over taken).
The pansies died, but that’s OK, they were supposed to die after a few months, so I decided to replace them with some “drought resistant” plants that I bought on a whim on a trip to Target.
I also bought a new basil, because my old basil died, it wasn’t supposed to do that, but it happens sometimes. Then I repotted some of my other herbs into a larger pot, and put the rosemary in the ground (it was getting slightly root bound).
I really hope nothing dies in the next few months. The hydrangea is looking better now that it has the umbrella over it, but the leaves that stick out from under it get crispy.
Last weekend Dulce and I went to Summerwinds and bought The Perfect Pot, thus ending the long search for a pot to help cover the “unsightly” water meter along our front walk. The Pot is a nice shape, fits close up against the house, covers the water meter perfectly and it’s a lovely blue-green color.
Dulce also bequeathed us a Jade Plant. Apparently this one is 20 or so years old, a slow grower, and pretty much impossible to kill. It doesn’t need much sun, so I’ve put it next to the fence where it gets sun filtered through the cracks and around the umbrella.
This afternoon Dana drove up for Lunch and Cake. Lunch was hamburgers, caesar salad and oven fries. We ate outside enjoying the sunny (slightly brisk) weather.
After lunch we had Cake. Four layers of white spongy perfection with lemon custard layered in between, topped with an amazingly fluffy tangy white icing. It was about 6 to 8 inches tall, when it was on the cake stand it just barely fit into the fridge.
Continue reading ‘cake, and other ways to spend a Sunday afternoon’
Our wine-barrel is now home to a plant, but not the one we originally considered, this one is a jasmine of some sort. I got it a Costco. They had a group of them and they smelled so nice so I made an impulse buy and decided to take it home with me.
After I paid for it, I realized it was about 4 feet tall and there was no way it was going to fit in my car. The check-out lady semi-seriously suggested I use the sunroof.
I ended up putting it in at an angle resting on the paper-towels and sticking the dirt end in one of the other shopping bags. It was quite the sight.
Then I got it (and my impressive collection of toilet paper, paper towels, goldfish, and all those other things you can buy in bulk at Costco) home and realized some of the dirt had tried to escape. Great fun that was. So out came the large vacuum cleaner (I could/should’ve used the smaller one, but it’s bag is full… and somewhere we have new ones… I know b/c we went on quite the hunt for them in Boston…).
