Tag: outdoors

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April Fools day

April Fools Day or, All Fools Day, is supposed to be (according to some ) the most light- hearted day of the year. To me, it’s kind of scary. In my years, I have had some pretty harmful or frightening April Fools jokes/pranks pulled on me. I know that the family and friends who have done this in the past, did not mean for them to be terrible to me, but they were, none the less.

I can be light-hearted like the next person, but my problem is, I used to believe people when they tell me things sometimes. Especially when they say things with a very straight face and seem to be honest and sincere. I have adopted the, “Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear” attitude. So, have a fun filled and day, people.

Myself, I’m going to go out in the gardens where I’m “safe.”  Hopefully some of my early plants and the weather won’t play any pranks on me!!

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Keeping the cats out of the gardens

I have a problem keeping the cats out of my gardens and it’s starting to get super irritating, not to mention ticking me off to no end. When the kittens we have (that were drop offs) are a little bit bigger, I don’t like to do this, but I’m taking them to the humane society. I have to. Everyone drops off unwanted cats and kittens at my house and there is not a thing I can do about it since they are dropped off in the night.

I am thinking about using chicken wire and laying it over the spaces and beds that I have seeded, and then anchor it down, until I can fix the cat problem. They are using my gardens for a giant litter box, and since I don’t have cats in the house that have to have a litter box, I sure as heck am not going to have them outside ruining my gardens.

People who abandon animals, should be fined or in my opinion be arrested, but without catching them in the act there is nothing to be done. It’s so sad.

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Paving stone and other lawn improvement

Even though I have laid brick in my gardens by myself, I am older and a bit wiser now, so I’m thinking about hiring some professionals to come and tell me about paving stone for my West courtyard. I just don’t have the strength nor the knowledge to do such a great job as I have seen online. The stones are so beautifully installed on the ground and the designs are pretty for that yard.

While I was outside looking at all the possibility for that West side of the yard, I got the opinion of my son about landscape lighting installation. I think it would really look nice and compliment the courtyard I’d like to have built, and also it would keep trespassers off our property, hopefully. That or at least deter them. I’ve wanted lighting all around the house and in the gardens anyway, and to me any kind of landscaping or home improvement basically raises the property value in some cases. It’s a win, win situation.

While doing a really intense study of that West yard, I notice that there are bare spots in the lawn that have been there for nearly 20 years now. It’s in pretty sorry shape, despite of all the time and money I have sunk into grass seed and fertilizer. I think perhaps looking into installing artificial grass. I’ll have to find out more about the pros and cons of that from professionals.

 

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Grills, open fire and camping

A lot of people are really into grilling. I find it a pain in the butt to do, despite of the grill outfits now a days, look like one brought their whole kitchen out into the yard. Maybe toting along part of the dining room too. I guess ya’ll can tell that I’m not one of the kind of people who like to grill. I am much more comfortable using a oven rack over an open fire. I think this stems from the years as kids and then young adults, camping trips. Now, I prefer to camp  in comfort.  I’ll come to semi real tent like camping, is a pop up camper that is decked out.

I do however, know how to cook on the open fire. I lug my cast iron pots, pans and skillets along with me, and also an old antique coffee pot, along with food that feeds an army in a few pots. I love cooking outside. I just don’t like to grill.

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Rain storm coming in

What a difference from the sunny weather with warm temperatures we have had lately. The clouds are coming in fast, and despite of the forecasters saying that today was going to be sunny and the high of 80 degrees this afternoon, I think they screwed up a bit. I’m watching my barometer drop significantly, and even the air feels and smells like a storm is coming in, not just a small bit of rain.

I sort of catch a grin from the guys who are forecasting our local weather. While watching the news this afternoon, one could actually see the uncertainty in their faces, as the weather map says no rain and yet, the cloud system outside indicates other wise.

The only thing I fret about, is perhaps a tornado being blown in. It used to be that we had “seasons” for the destructive weather of this nature. Now, like the general weather, it’s anyone’s guess what is going to happen weather wise, from day to day. I’ll make the most of the rain though, as I have a feeling we are going to need it. I have rain barrels which after last years drought, I’m happy I bought.

 

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Kill then shop

Today I played the Terminator in the back yard. The patio is all old brick, which was literally covered in heavy weeds. I used a great weed killer last year, that killed the weeds within an hour, but at the first sign of Spring, up came the weeds again, though the weed killer people promised a full year of no weed infestation.

The whole chore took a lot less time than I thought it would and I was rewarded with dying ( I thought I heard them screaming) weeds at a very rapid pace, and also a great start on my tan.

Tomorrow I go shopping for some top soil for the beds I dug up, and also I’d like to pick out some tomato plants and I saw an ad that there were garden hand tools of a good brand on sale at the tractor supply store that I go to. I’m sure I’ll find seeds and other plants I want though.

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Mother’s Day flower boxes

The kids made me shut my eyes as they led me outside to reveal my Mother’s Day present, which were a set of flower boxes. I loved them right away! I’ve been wanting regular flower boxes for a long time, as I have a sort of project in mind,, using them and some other garden items, in the front yard, and now I can at least start on this project. The lovely flowers of all sort that apparently my kids bought and transplanted into the box, were the finishing touch on my present.

I love window boxes also. When we bought the house, there were some on the house, but they were in sad state of repair. I finally got them down and they literally were falling apart in places because of wood rot, and the fact that they were super old.

A window box in each of the front windows, as there are two of them, would look really pretty. It’s on my list of things I get while saving up my pennies. OR, I could save money and try to make my own.

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Outdoor patio heaters are awesome

When my sister got married, she and her husband wanted to have the wedding outside, with tents set up for the guests and food, but they also wanted to get outdoor patio heaters, which to me are awesome to have. My sister wanted to buy them so they could sit out on the patio in evenings that got a bit chilly. She figured also that since our family are always celebrating one event or another, we actually all wanted to go in together to get these heaters, since we no doubt would be borrowing them if needed for a big get together.

I have liked these patio heaters because though I don’t know too much about them, I do know that when we built our deck/patio, I wanted to get a small heater right away. We did a lot of shopping, and comparing prices. We changed our minds at least twenty times also. Not to mention the fact that I would like one kind and my husband wanted another. Personally, just to be fair, I don’t care really what make it is, as long as I am warmed by the machine, it isn’t too pricy and it lasts.

I’m thinking that by buying a couple of the outdoor patio heaters, we’re going to be happy with them, especially after night time swimming. Even in the summer, for the most part the evenings and into the night time, it gets a bit chilly now and then.

 

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An over abundance of chives

Looking out at my garden, I have noticed that I have a big time over abundance of chives. I must have at least 12 patches of them that I have counted just now, as it’s a far as I can see out the front door. I’m going to have to dig up clumps and give a lot away. I’ll also be saving space for other compatible plants.

I know that one of my long time friends is going to take some this weekend, and bring me some of her geraniums in exchange, but I have plenty more to share. I do plan on drying a lot of them, and lately my son likes his (as I do) mixed in with his mashed potatoes, so he’ll grab some and chop them up.

After the chives, I have to definitely thin out all of my various mints and cooking herbs. A great deal of them are all volunteer plants. Maybe I’ll just start another few gardens in the back yard. It’s closer to the kitchen and would be much handier.

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Thunder storms and gardens

This morning I woke up to one of the loudest storms I’ve heard in a very long time. It was about 5:00 am when it started and actually one long crack of thunder and the lightening flash, seems to  have hit right by my bedroom window. Needless to say, it scared the heck out of me. (I actually jumped out of bed in one bound, that didn’t make my neck and back feel very good) The storm lasted for about 45 min. The light show was really awesome once the initial wake up shock was over.

After the storm the sun came out and so did a lot of my flowers in my garden that weren’t blooming last night. It is pretty awesome to see. I can’t wait to get into the new planting of more perennials and annuals.

After it being so chilly and not having more than a couple really nice days in the last three weeks, it felt so good to walk outside at nearly 5:50 pm and not be cold. It smells so nice outside. Cut grass from yesterday, ground that has been dug up and burnt straw from last years bale gardening. Going barefoot was the absolute best feeling. I’m really looking forward to summer!