Since I have a couple of minutes...

April showers bring no flowers

Not when it thwarts my plan of planting the little beauties in the ground anyway. As much as I sometimes want to pretend that I am this crazy waterproof yankee who laughs in the face of extreme weather, I can't. I have had so many outdoor jobs that I am just sick of any weather that makes you cold and wet.

Good news. The bleeding heart roots that have been sitting in the garage for 100 years are looking good. They went to the bottom of the water and are all squishy and healthy root-ish. I'm going to plant them

when it's not pouring.

So long.

Suzy home maker strikes again

Did a little gardening today. I have noticed my gardening habits are very different than most folks. Since my random placement of bulbs and the wish of good luck with that started freaking my mother out I staked my claim. The side garden now belongs to the JH to cultivate at will. It's mostly weeded and today I went ahead I planted some pretty little friends I had brought along from AZ in bulb form. All of them will survive here. Phew!

I started with planting my Campenula (or White Bellflower) out front on the far end of the rock wall. I am hoping it spills over the wall making a super pretty flowery blanket. Whatever it does is fine really. Living is a bonus though. I bought it a while ago at the supermarket while searching for someone else's birthday plant. It was sitting there all cute, staring at me from across the room, luring me in, hoping I would spend some time with it. I caved. You would have too. In fact, I loved it so much I went out and got a second plant for the birthday girl and kept the white bellflower. You would have too.

After that I planted some Grape Hyacinth bulbs in my side garden as they were starting to grow green shoots out of the unburied bulbs in a bag. I have always been a huge fan of these. They're little purple poseurs. Purple is my favorite color.

Next I plant along the fence that runs down the side of the back yard. I have four Crocosmia (Emberglow) bulbs and between them I plan to put some Aster flowers once they are past the soft baby stage when the bunnies want to eat them. I am going to start them from seed so wish me luck though my guess is it's going to go swimmingly.

After that is done, I am going to plant the Scilla Siberia bulbs under the huge Beech tree so they can spread out and take over without anyone losing it and trying to dig them up and punish them for being so invasive.

While I was digging about in the garage looking for some more gardening tools I found a Bleeding Heart plant that needs some burying. I was told it's been in the garage for years but I am soaking the roots in a glass of water just to see what happens. I have the best place for it, right next to the back door. If it doesn't get any better, I might just get a bush and put it in. Their flowers are the most interesting and delicate shape.

So that's about it. Tomorrow I start the seeds and drop in the rest of the bulbs. If things start coming up, you get pictures. And to think I almost forgot how much I love growing things!!

Sleeping in style

The zipper of one of the dog beds fell off. Though I fixed it and stuffed all the insides back where they belong, it got me thinking. Is anyone else sick of how hard it is to put a dog bed back together? They always put the zipper on only one end of the cover so when you go to put the padding back in, you have to get all tricky with how to make it lie flat. Especially when you are like me and add extra foam pads for a super thick firm but soft bed. I might sound picky here but have you ever tested a dog bed? Most of those plush, thick, I'm so supportive looking beds collapse as soon as you lie down so you're basically lying on the floor. If I wanted my dog to feel like it's lying on the floor, I wouldn't be shelling out money for a dog bed, now would I? I went on this create a new dog bed that is easy to reassemble tear last night and I do believe I have done it. This also means I am going to have to delve into a new crafting area. Sewing. The last time I sewed, it jumped ugly and I swore I would never go back. I feel I was a little to hasty with that promise. I have this old Singer sewing machine I have held onto for decoration purposes only. I'm going to see if it works (pretty sure it does, don't they always?), oil the monster up, get some supplies and make me some dog beds! Oooo... and material that is durable, but yet soft. I like the idea of two patterns that don't match at all but have the same color scheme. I am soooo into matching but not matching. So you might get that same warm feeling I get, please observe the following examples:



Try and tell me I'm wrong. Go ahead. Liar.

Can you stand it?! Me either. I'm also into super thick padding. Now that the James is getting older, he needs good support for his joints and whatnot. Tabitha just gets what he gets and lucks out because of it. I suppose you could call her one lucky bitch.