DIY Done

Last DIY class last night, featured coping, which is misnamed.
Put triple Phosphate around the peony today. Miss Kims are not blooming at all – normal? Bayer’d them, spots like aphids.
Mr. Fluffles was stuck in the cellar for 14 hours yesterday, from 8 am to 10 pm. Poor kitty!

Tales of the Fence

Picked up the new section and post yesterday and started painting. Put everything in last night, it’s supposed to rain today.
Last DIY class tonight, hope we are doing moldings.
Fed Miracle Gro to the houseplants this morning.

Figured It All Out

Well, I’ve figured it out: why cell phone towers and other tall structures freak me out (abused as a young child and the towers represent adults); why hearing about new hires freaks me out.
The latter is not just about Sandy’s replacing me when I was a toddler. It also has to do with employers being especially vicious in kicking me out because they know it’s wrong and (because of the influence of the Church That Excuses Rape of Little Kids) feel guilty as a result.
It’s a freaking miracle that I’m not a serial killer or mass murderer. I hate people, I really do, and no wonder.

This & That

Fluffles threw up again today. Thinking the wet food might not be good for him, he seems to do much better with dry.
Did some more painting in the guest room. Accomplished more than I thought I would this weekend. Made a good start on cleaning out the corner bookcase. A lot more to do.
Emme and I went to River Day in Marstons Mills, first time for both of us. We picked up some conservation materials.
I patched a couple of spots in the lawn and ordered Frontline for Fluff.
Picked up a nice lavender at Coonamesset Farm; they have quite a variety there.

Armoire

Peter did hard duty today, brought the new armoire up a flight of stairs and then into the house. It looks great.

I finished painting the second coat this morning.

Also sprayed the roses and some other plants in the front yard, Plant Tone’d the “dead” Miss Kim, replaced a lavender and a small grass, and put in an Astilbe Montgomery, not knowing what color it is going to be (red).

Mowed the lawn this afternoon, finished at 5:45.

The blueberry bushes have flowers.

Fences and LEDs

Planted a replacement lavender and two ground covers (I substituted a Forget-Me-Not for Candy’s thank you gift), fed Miracle Grow to the plants in the front and Holly-Tone’d the holly.
It rained and some claim it snowed and/or hailed today.
I dug two new fence post holes and installed the post and section that got painted earlier this week. That will leave touch-up and the new cedar components to do – easy compared to the rest.
Going to try to paint the guest room – at least the street-side wall – before Saturday afternoon.
Met with Rodrigo, he had some great ideas for really pushing the project along so that we’ll have a deliverable by May 12. I ordered parts for him this afternoon.

Gardener’s Diary – More Transplants

Planted James’ little Norway Spruce seedling plug last weekend. It could grow to 100 feet or more.

Did a ton of weeding at Peter’s, including the little garden by the shed, which I’ve been wanting to clean out since they moved in.

Weeding was easy because the ground is so wet.

Today I transplanted some violets and Vinca from Edgewater in the area by the stairs.

The peony appears to have a bud (!) Seeing bugs, I sprayed it with Bayer today.

I must have transplanted some lily of the valley at Peter’s, because there’s some nice stands of it in the bed below the family room window. I’m pleased with how pretty this little area turned out.

Gardener’s Diary – Transplants

I transplanted several bunches of Hosta from the front to the corner by the stairs.

They were pretty crowded in the old location, so I’m hoping that the change will benefit them.

I picked the plants with all-green leaves, on the theory that because they won’t receive as much sun, they need all the chlorophyll they can get.

It was hard work and frustrating because the plants were so close together, I couldn’t avoid breaking leaves.

I found some worms and put them in the compost bin, which doesn’t smell all that great, so I added more ground up leaves and will try to turn it some more tomorrow.

Finished painting the section of fence that’s been in the shed. We’re supposed to get sun on Wednesday, so I hope to assemble everything then. I changed my order with Eagle to an 8-foot length instead of 7 because of all the rotted wood that needs to be cut off the ends. Poor fence!

Hosta and Astilbe

I like this combination for the shady area next to the back stairs. Vinca would work for a ground cover.

Did some more painting in the shed today, as well as a foolish attempt to work on the fence in the rain. Fortunately, Mother Nature provided a good downpour afterwards to save my poor plants.

Robert and Emme went to Youth Group together for the first time in months. They had fun and she volunteered to work on the youth Sunday service in June.

They ate very well when they got back, a surprise because it was a no-gimmick supper: steamed salmon trout, broccoli with cheese sauce, mashed potatoes. Robert did a great job smashing the potatoes.

Gardener’s Diary

Emme came over today and as before, was a big help getting things done.

She planted zinnia and “money plant” seeds, ground cover, arranged popsicle sticks to define the placement of new bulbs in the fall, and sprayed the roses.

I added a compost starter to break down the compost and turned it; sprayed the tomatoes; and put lime on the lilacs and clematis.

We went to Woods Hole to check out the Earth Day activities, visited Spohr Gardens and stopped by the West Falmouth library so we could see what their gardens look like in early Spring.

I attended an excellent lecture at Sandwich Agway in the morning and learned that the implement I’ve been calling a pitchfork is really one of the gardener’s best friends, a spading fork. It has shorter tines than a pitchfork and is used to loosen soil and turn compost.