Garden Update Pictorial 9-25

Windy all night and cold and cloudy today...dripped just enough to make a mess of everything...it did get above 70 for part of the day.  The garden is slowing down in its production, but there are still roses budding and blooming and finches feasting on the cosmos seeds.  The hummingbirds are flitting about still too.  The garden did way above my expectations this first season.  Amazing to remember that there was nothing but the trees in here the beginning of the season.  Now we are planning and plotting on what to put where next year.  I am picking out some tulips for the beds this fall.

Plant Sale today in Placerville 9-24

The morning sky

It is now officially autumn, my favorite time of the year.  It was in the 90's most all week, but today the clouds swept in from somewhere and one of them even dripped a couple of times this afternoon.  It was a bit cooler but still that rain smelled so good...cold rain on hot ground.  We went to Placerville this morning to a plant sale and we found three varieties of manzanita to plant under our oaks and bring some green to the yard without having to water.  Oaks can not have plantings that require water under them.  The prices were great...just $4 for gallon size plants...we'll be back next year!

These are our new low growing manzanitas

The manzanitas are going to eventually spread and cover this middle slope

this japanese maple seedling, $4 and is going in that big pot pictured there next to it

I love succulents and have wanted a dish garden and they had a bunch at the sale...$12...a steal.  They had old shoes planted with succulents...I may try that later, even running shoes...who'da thunk!

This was the late afternoon sky while dripping.

I forgot to post a finished picture of the shed's new paint job.  Larry thinks we need a mural of galloping horses across the top...Mary, ahem!

An Honor 9-19

On Thursday of last week the LAPD awarded 82 Officers with the inaugural LAPD Purple Heart Award for receiving traumatic injury in the line of duty.  Mine and Lori's Dad was one of the officers to receive the award posthumously. 

As we couldn't make it to the ceremony our friend Cliff received the award on our behalf.  I thought it fitting that Cliff be the one to do it for us as he is with LAPD and also plays the bagpipes...a cop in kilts...woo hoo!  I received the medal today and thought I would share it with you.

Just for your information, if you puzzle over why all the memorials etc. have March 9th for EOW...End of Watch, that is the date of the kidnapping and shooting, but it wasn't until the following morning that the official death was pronounced, which is the date on the death certificate and headstone.

Cliff is a member of the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes & Drums band and plays the bagpipes.  I stole the following off of their web page so you would know more about what they do:

Welcome to the official website of the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society (LAPES) Pipes and Drums. The LAPES Pipes and Drums is an independent Emerald Society chapter and a member of the National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies.


The Band consists of members who are active, former, or retired law enforcement officers from law enforcement agencies throughout the Southern California area. Individuals with no prior law enforcement background are also a vital part of the Band; the only condition is that they have a sincere desire to support the law enforcement community. The Band is a non-profit organization and all Band members volunteer their time. The Band does not accept any payment for its services. However, we will accept donations. These donations are solely used for the operational costs for the Band. The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums is a tax exempt public charity under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, Tax Identification Number 27-3941723. Any contributions are deductible under Section 170 of the Code. We are the only Police Emerald Society Pipe Band on the west coast of the United States.

The Band respectfully plays at services, memorials, and tributes for police officers, firefighters, and military personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We support law enforcement, firefighters, and the military by playing at any event that will serve the respective agency or organization. Prior events at which we have played include dedications to new facilities, retirements, banquets, picnics, graduation ceremonies, valor award ceremonies, welcome home celebrations for military personnel, and funerals for retired or former law enforcement, firefighters, or military. We also support and serve the community by playing at fairs, parades, school events, and Highland Games.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this site or wish to contact the LAPES Band, please contact us at: piperlapes@gmail.com

If you would like to inquire if the LAPES Band is available for an event, please contact us at: piperlapes@gmail.com or tubawalton@aol.com

The mailing address for the Band is:
The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums
1308 W. 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Their web:  http://www.lapespipesanddrums.com/

They are kept very, very busy!  They honor our Dad with memorial bagpipe covers that are embroidered with his badge and name.

Cliff

Productive Weekend 9-18

Perfect fall weather this weekend, the days temps have been perfect and we got a lot accomplished.  Yesterday we went to town and got paint and groceries and we were back home by 10:30.  Larry then worked on getting the paint up on the shed...that thing has been an eyesore and though Larry still has some rebuilding to do on one side he decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather and get the bulk of it painted.  I worked in the yard.

Today started with my exercises and then our walk.  Larry was back outside painting the shed and I had the house to myself so I cranked up my music and cleaned the house from top to bottom.  Then I made a yummy dinner and then I got some yard work done.  I don't know where all my energy and motivation came from but I hope it hangs around!

I love this Merlot rose...lush, heavy petals.

Chrysanthemum

Connor, smartie, little almost 23 months old boy legs up there on the bathroom counter and you can see how he got himself up there.  His Mom snapped this picture moments before she scolded him.  Scary kids!

Cooling down 9-15

Still not much to talk about here.  The wildlife has kept me smiling every day, one day it was the baby deer all playing together, today it was a young buck tormenting the turkeys and later watching one of the fawns licking my car...who knows why. 

Quick one 9-9

I was on my way to bed but I realized you would miss me if I didn't post something!

The bush in the center struggled the longest and seemed like it wouldn't make it this spring,
but look at it now, the tallest of all.

Roses are labor intensive and primadonnas but so worth the effort!  They are amazing, look how far they have come this season from bare root sticks.



This white rose has the most petals and has a lovely fragrance, as do the lavender hedge roses...yummy!



Dog Days of Summer 9-8

It just doesn't feel right typing 9-8 already, over a week of September is gone and summer is waning after it barely seemed to start.  I don't have much to share, we are just doing the usual.  I feel mean watching the deer stand with their faces pressed against the garden fence knowing that their feed is scarce right now...they must have taken guilt lessons from my kids :)

Supposed to be 99 here tomorrow, but ever single time this summer that high heat has been predicted it gets downgraded as the day wears on.  If it holds I figure I can bear one really hot day.  I've adapted, not using the air conditioner helps a lot, I'm not going from cold air to hot.  We open the house up early, it cools down, we close it up and it stays about 10 degrees cooler than outside.  Doable.

Missed It 9-6

I just don't think to haul my camera around with me every minute and while having our breakfast out on the deck I missed a really cool picture.  A hummingbird was poking at the orange mission bells in the pot on the deck when suddenly a large praying mantis came rushing down the top of the bronze leaf at the top left of the flower pot just above the orange flowers (if you look hard you can see it under that leaf).  I think it must have been going after the hummingbird as every time they see me they go hide.  It took a stand on the leaf and the hummingbird saw it and they had a stand off going for about a minute....ack, would have been an awesome picture...hummingbird versus insect.

While working on the laptop out on the deck after breakfast I did have the camera and got a few shots of the light shining through the oak leaves....so pretty and this hummer talking away behind me in the oak tree.  At one point I heard a deer cough, scared me to death as it was practically right under me, never a dull moment around here, it was below the deck and hadn't seen me.  They don't really care about us anymore.

Sittin' in the Garden 9-5



Love my new porcelain pottery vase!



Yesterday when we were on our walk we noticed a man and his dog way out in the weedy field walking along.  When he stopped and turned we noticed he had a very large hawk on his arm!  I had read about and seen it on TV ( I can't think what raptor handlers are called) and was hoping we would get to see the hawk and handler in action, but they turned, he stood there a minute and then started walking back the way they came.  Darn it.  We stopped where we were and didn't approach, Larry said something to him and he said that she didn't want to play today.  Hawks look bigger than ever when someone is holding them...I was so wishing I had my camera. 



Cosmos blowing in the wind.





Larry finished getting the house loaded with spotlights....14 of them...wow, but now when we want to see something outside we can SEE all the way around and we won't need a flashlight.

Today we took our walk and then I did my exercises/meditation.  We had our breakfast out in the garden and enjoyed it so much we just spent the day out there in the shade.  There was a nice breeze which kept us cool and we had a nice relaxing day.  We did watch one of the deer seriously think about jumping into the garden.  She spent a lot of time pacing back and forth in front of the gate, we chased her off...our very green garden is looking really tempting when everything outside is brown.

I don't know if they were watching us or the plants.

34 Blissful Years! 9-3

When we got married on this Saturday of Labor Day weekend 34 years ago we didn't think about it being a busy holiday weekend and it might be problematic for celebrating anniversaries.  This year though it wsn't a problem as we didn't feel like making any big plans.  When we decided to get married we didn't want to wait a long time so we picked the first three day weekend as Larry didn't have any vacation yet and we were able to get a whole two nights away and we honeymooned in a little cottage in the Northern California redwoods.  The place is still there.

This morning I went out for my morning walkabout and found a mysterious garden gnome had deposited this beautiful glazed birdbath in the garden.  It didn't take long after filling it for the birds to start using it.  The first visitor was a scrub jay and after having flicked the water with its beak testing the water it plopped right in and took a bath.  The larger birds will really enjoy this and we will enjoy watching them.

We took a drive down to historic Folsom and walked around and wandered in and out of the shops and galleries.  We had dinner in Roseville and then wandered on back home up the Auburn-Folsom highway.  There are some crazy HUGE estates along there and we were surprised to see some monster homes on Eureka Road too...crazy big.

One of the many praying mantis hanging around.

Larry picking tomatoes

After we got home I made brownies and we had our anniversary dessert...YUMMY!  Triple chocolate brownie, vanilla bean ice cream, walnuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream....

Light! 9-2

The next time we hear a noise outside we will be able to see whatever it is because Larry has been busy mounting flood lights to every corner of the house.  It makes a huge difference from what we had.  We just won't be leaving them on long periods of time...PG&E would love that too much and we might distract the jets landing at Sacramento Intl. airport.

I keep forgetting to mention that the woodpeckers hatched another batch of babies in the oak tree hollow out front.  They have grown fast and the tree has gone from sounding like it was growling to full blown pteradactyl sounds coming out of it.  We saw a lizard run out of the hole...it must have seen its life flash in front of its eyes!  It must be a dare devil or wood peckers don't eat them.

I worked in the yard today tidying up.  I had to support the Cosmos and tie up the dahlias again, deadheaded stuff...just general yard maintanence.  The weather has just been lovely.

Tomorrow is our 34th anniversary.  We don't have anything too exciting planned but we'll go somewhere just so we don't end up working around here.

The ferny looking ones in the foreground are orange cosmos,
they'll be blooming soon.

lavender bachelor's button

Cosmos