First Day of Spring

I can't believe it is half way through March & I am just now sitting down to get serious about this blogging weekly (goal is to post at least once a week for right now).  It is officially the first day of spring but here in the Willamette Valley Mr Winter & Jack Frost still have a very tight grip & I don't think they are ready to leave.

In the last week we have had so much rain areas have almost flooded again, there has been snow, hail, and rain all in one day. CRAZY WEATHER!   Not much else you can do but play IN the puddles.



 The worst part of it is most "valley" people have spring fever so bad all we can think about is tilling our gardens or mowing our lawns (depends on what brings a smile to your face;-)  For me I want to till that new flower bed I covered last fall, it is just begging to be turned into a beautiful addition to our yard.

Anyway back to this BLOG as a whole, I am promising myself one post a week about what is going on here in the valley & what I'm working on in the garden/yard, course sometimes I'll deviate to some other project that is being completed (most of those this year do have SOMETHING to do with the garden/yard;-) 

So......last weekend was St. Patty's Day & here in the mid valley (rye grass country) it is also Daffodil Festival time.  It's one of those little town/area "festivals" where everyone comes out to see the locals.  On the way out to the festival you get to enjoy all the wild daffodils or not so wild ones that everyone has lining the roads/streets in the area.

Another thing that has happened in the last few weeks for most of us, we were able to get our roses trimmed & ready for the first blooming of the season, hopefully in time for my birthday in June;-)  Many others have started those wonderful little peas seeds that if the weather ever warms up a bit will get moved out to the garden.   Come on sun we need ya', I have plants to buy, move, & divide, seeds that need planted and so much more!

Well there it is the first post of the year (nothing like three months late) BUT it was on the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!

Happy gardening everyone.

New Beginnings

Last weekend Jerry & I took the train to PDX, OR.  It was sooooooooooooooo relaxing, we both think traveling by train is the best!

While we were in PDX I took him to my favorite book store; Powell's in Burnside.  Wish I had as much time as I want to read as much as I want.  Anyway, the first section I go to is almost always the garden section (I really did get to any other section this visit), but I did find a GREAT book that I am hoping will help me out just a bit to stay more focused on blogging.  the book is 365 Days Of Gardening by Christine Allison. There are great quotes, home remedies, recipes, and helpful hints for the garden/gardener. Can't wait to start sharing the information with you.

Our first quote is "Those new to gardening should know, however, that most gardeners hate to part with dirt, clay pots, pickle jars, really good labels, stakes, tarred twine, and any kind of wooden box.  They do not mind give a plant that sells for $40.00 if they an extra one, but the other stuff (which may be worth a dime) it tears the heart  to part with.   -Henry Mitchell

Worst luck....

On May 7th I had the worst luck anyone could have in one day; tiller wouldn't start, hot water heater leaked all over laundry room floor, and Adri ended up with a "boot" on her right ankle (wasn't a confirmed break).

When Adri woke in the AM she wouldn't even walk down the hall, she said her foot hurt.  She had fallen the night before in the dining room while playing with Jerry and Katie.  A very freak accident.  Most of the day she just sat in the chair saying she couldn't walk so I had to carry her every where.  I decided shortly before lunch to call the Dr. and get her in to she what might be wrong.

I went down to the local hardware store to rent a small tiller so I could get my garden ready to plant, but when I got it home I couldn't pull hard enough to get it started (thanks for the screwed up shoulder Molly).  So I called Jerry at work and got all frustrated cause he was there and I was home and couldn't do something for myself.  I loaded the girls back up and returned the tiller. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

When I got home I went out to the laundry room to pick up the towels I had put on the floor to soak up the water that I thought I had splashed all over; the towels were SOAKED!  I looked at the wood step and it was wet, CRAP the hot water heater was leaking.  So I called Jerry again and told him what was going on, he said he'd call his dad to come over and help, I said I'd try to get some information from my friend Larissa (her husband owns a plumbing company).  I was on the phone, computer and talking with my father-n-law all morning then Jerry got home at lunch time and after seeing what was happening we decided just to go to Jerry's to get a new hot water heater and new plumbing.

I ended up calling work to switch days (at the last minute) then took Adri to Dr. while Jerry and Chuck (FNL) worked on heater.  By the time we got back from the Dr. office, the old one was out and so was all the old plumbing plus the UGLY cabinet that was around it (I had wanted it gone from the minute we moved in).  All we had left to do that night was prime so we could start to repaint in the AM.  While I'm getting ready to paint Jerry and I heard water running, which meant there was a leak somewhere under the house.

Longer story shortened; we finally got the new hot water heater in, the laundry got repainted & some new storage space.

We added shelving above sink, pot rack above washer/drier, two going to be three shelves and I took a shelf out of wall storage/canning area.
Guess I don't have a pick of the finished room (well the floor still needs painting- NOT putting carpet back in).

Fall.....

Been back from the camping trip a few months now;-) But have been very busy gardening, I know I should have written all of you.

Anyway it is fall so I should let you know a few things; first make sure your garden is all cleaned up (mine is all most done).  Get your stuff into the compost bin so that it can keep working for you, next spring!
We haven't had freezing weather yet so I have still been planting daffodils for next spring, best if done before the first big frost/snow or in our case non-stop rain. While talking about winter weather if you have geraniums/fuchsias/begonias get them in if you plan to winter them over for  next year.

Gone Campin'

We are going camping this weekend so I'm hoping I will have time to THINK!  I'm taking a pen & pad of paper so that I can write down some ideas I've had about this blog; things I would like to share with you about my garden & gardening in general (most of which I've learned the hard way;-).  Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Dirt Therapy

I have been thinking lately that this blog should be more about what I really am interested in...gardening!  I have a saying about working in the garden I call it "Dirty Therapy".  I feel so good when I'm out in the garden/yard; sun on my shoulders, breeze blowing (hopefully;-), dirt on my hands and watching something grow or an area change from ugly to beautiful!  Soon I plan to change the name of the blog and hopefully this winter I'll get more into this blog so that I can add more links and ads to help you if you want just simply and easy hints to get more out of you hard work in the garden.  Please stay tuned for the upcoming changes as I hope it will be useful to many (pass the word on to your garden friends too)!

Eugene 1/2 Marathon- I did it!

I can't believe I finished the Eugene 1/2 Marathon yesterday.  I wasn't able to train like I really would have liked to (well I kept procrastinating when the weather would get too cold or wet and when I'd get a little cold).  But I knew I was going to do it no matter what, that even meant walking over the finish line; I did jog over the line but I ended up walking the last four miles.

It was an amazing feeling being cheered on at the finish, which happened to be Hayward Field.  As I jogged into the track I started looking for Jerry and he was in the perfect spot, right at the North West corner (where we round to the finish line).  He was cheering and waving so it made me determined to finish at a jog even though I felt I could hardly walk anymore.  It was very emotional in the most over whelming and fulfilling way.

He was my biggest cheerleader, even during the race he was at about the 7 1/2 mile mark; which was perfect as I was REALLY needing more motivation to keep going.  When I got to him he gave me a kiss and as I ran off he yelled that he was proud of me, all I could think of was getting to the end so it would be over.  The rest of the five miles were tough as I was getting tired and my legs were starting to feel like cement.  As I was running I kept thinking I just had to finish to prove to myself that I could do something like this.  Now I really want to do another one and have more training under my belt to see how well I could really do.

I can say that I finished just over the time I had in my head (3 hours), my time was 3hrs 12min.  My next one will be under 3 hours!

Jerry even thinks it might be fun to do one too, maybe this time next year I'll be posting that we both finished the Eugene 1/2 Marathon!!

There I am in the yellow hat and black pants. (in the middle of picture)