19 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, coleus, garden, hopeful, moments, morning glories, nature, planting, plants, sticks, widow
on November 22nd I transplanted the coleus that had been rooting in water… and for a while they grew… then, they all died off…
yesterday I used the soil from one of the containers to plant some morning glory seeds…
also added three sticks so that when they grow there will be a place to climb…
hopefully they will do better than the coleus did…
26 Sunday Sep 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, datura, flowers, garden, moments, morning glories, nature, plants, purple, squish, widow, winnow
been collecting seeds for the last week or so…
the morning glories are very simple… I just put one hand under the little pod and squish it with the other… then I winnow the part holding it together by blowing over my hand… the excess blows away and the seeds remain and can be popped into a container…
the datura are a bit more complicated… the seed pods are covered in very sharp spikes which try to hurt me, lol…
I now have a container for each of the two types I have grown this year… the lovely white ones and the smaller, but cute, purple ones…
it is best to wait for the pods to start cracking as they dry, which makes removing them slightly easier… the dryer they are, the easier to remove…
I have quite a collection…
01 Sunday Aug 2021
Tags
anniversary, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, everyday, family, garden, George, hands, happy, health, memories, moments, morning glories, pond, purple, remembering, widow
the Olympics have been a distraction as this day has come closer – what would have been our 51st wedding anniversary…
I’ve spent the day thinking of some moments with my beloved…
the everyday things: changing up the configuration of the ponds; working in the garden as it changed over the years; caring for his lawn, trimming the Virginia creeper, fixing whatever needed attention; making the world’s best French fries, fried egg sandwiches and salads; driving the girls and I everywhere; reading and playing with our grandsons; cleaning the garage, packing the car, barbecuing; the strength of his hands that could wring out a cloth so it was dry, massage a sore neck, scrub a pot perfectly clean, and gently hold my hand when we were out walking…
so many little things…
I’ve been remembering our 40th anniversary… I was in the hospital for an extended period of time and he came every day and brought me pictures he had taken of whatever morning glories had opened on that particular day… I took this photo just yesterday…
he also sent me a basket filled with 40 roses… each night they had to be moved into the hall because their scent was so strong I couldn’t sleep with them in the room, lol…
a friend recently lost his partner and has decided to refer to their anniversary as the first celebration of their 41 years together… what a lovely way to describe it…
today I am also enjoying the sentiment of this beautiful card which I recently received in the mail…
what a blessed life I have lived;-)…
12 Monday Jul 2021
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, Photography, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dahlias, flowers, garden, moments, morning glories, nature, plants, purple, tall, widow
my plan was to put morning glories all around the garden and that has worked out nicely…
there are some in the planters right when you walk into the garden, there are some in various pots, there are some in the garden by the pond, although they haven grown up the obelisk just yet, lol…
there are even some in a pot by the pond that I didn’t even plant…
there are also a few in the grass but so far I haven’t seen any flowers…
I am most hoping for more in the large pot on the deck with the tall obelisk in it… I thought they would grow up it and make a beautiful showy display…
but I planted a dahlia in that planter as well and currently it is hiding most of them;-(… although that is the first of the dahlias to have buds form;-)…
23 Sunday May 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
basil, big girl pants, blessed, bunny, cold, flowers, garden, moments, morning glories, nature, plants, purple, walk, weather, widow
took a walk around the garden this afternoon to see how everything is doing in this rather chilly and wet weather…
over the winter the bunnies were nibbling on the lilac so I was worried as to whether it would survive… last week I saw a few bits of green on it and today it has tiny buds… yay;-)…
the two morning glories and basil seem to be doing okay… they were the only plants I have left out… although I did read today that basil doesn’t like the cold and may end up stunted, so we will see…
spent a few minutes in the garage to see how all the plants are fairing in there… it isn’t heated, but certainly warmer than the garden, lol…
happy to spot a little morning glory blooming there…
it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow… maybe I will be able to plant a few baskets…
16 Sunday May 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
air, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, fresh air, garden, hibiscus, leaves, moments, morning glories, nature, plants, purple, shade, sunshine, weather, widow
this morning the plants went out for a breath of fresh air…
I managed to get them all into the shade where they spent most of the day…
so far they look pretty good… hope they are as good in the morning, lol…
I’ve just moved them into the garage for the night and will bring them back outside in the morning…
08 Saturday May 2021
Posted in garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beautiful, big girl pants, blessed, buds, flowers, garden, happy, moments, morning glories, nature, purple, weather, widow
so excited to see two buds on the morning glories in the living room window…
had not expected flowers before the plants were moved outside…
usually it takes weeks before the first bud shows up, so this was amazing…
since then, those two have opened and many others have bloomed as well…
making me think that I might try to grow some over the winter… I could start them in the fall and then see what happens;-)…
11 Sunday Apr 2021
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, flowers, garden, growing, memories, moments, morning glories, nature, patience, plants, poppies, wait, widow
this morning I sprinkled poppy seeds in the garden… hope they take… the poppies are always the first flower to bloom… they self-seed and some years there are just one or two and other years there are lots of blooms… it is amazing that they come back, even after the garden bed was completely dug up eight years ago…
I have also been enjoying the morning glory seedlings… I can hardly wait to plant them outside;-)…
I can see morning glories everywhere;-)…
27 Saturday Mar 2021
Posted in business, garden, life, loss, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, clamp, garage, garden, memories, mistake, moments, morning glories, obelisk, weather, widow
well, it took most of the day, but I got the obelisk put together;-)…
started first thing in the morning… put a couple of layers together and then made a mistake and couldn’t remove a pipe that was stuck… left it and kept thinking about it… was really missing my beloved… he had the strongest hands and that was what I needed…
eventually I remembered the clamp that is attached to the workbench in the garage…
after using cloth, the clamp and pliers, I was able to separate two of the pieces… finally was able to add a piece upside down and connect the remaining pieces together…
looks great;-)… hoping for a few warmer days so I can set it into the pot on the deck… the morning glories are going to look great on it…
way to go me…
31 Thursday Dec 2020
Posted in garden, health, life, loss, moments, nature, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, birds, blessed, camera, daughter, flowers, garden, home, Instagram, joy, memories, moments, morning glories, nature, orchid, photos, plants, pond, purple, remembering, walk, widow
last evening I spent time on Instagram… people tend to put up their nine most liked photos of the year, but I decided to put up my nine favourite ones…
I was thinking they would be flowers, with maybe a bird or piece of chocolate included…
once I finished, there were seven with flowers, one bird and a monarch butterfly…
looking through the pictures reminded me of some wonderful times over this past year…
my orchids, which provide such joy for me all year long…
planting, growing and enjoying morning glories, datura and dahlias…
time spent, with and without cameras, viewing the birds in the garden…
a rose along the sidewalk on one of the walks I took this year, with my daughter in my ear;-)…
the amazing time I spent over the summer with eggs, caterpillars and butterflies… and the day my grandson and I watched the butterflies appear…
time with hearts and flower bouquets…
the water lily flowers that erupted in the pond… had the most blooms ever this summer… and I hope to overwinter them in the aquarium…
lovely reminders of a crazy, but wonderfully special year…
herbiggirlpants 