rain, rain....GO AWAY

Geez, it's only September, and we've already had WAY more rain than what is fair!

Last week, there was only one day that it was even possible to go outside, and I spent it picking up leftover roofing bits and about a million rusty nails from the shop project.

The clearance bin at lowes is gone, so no scores there, but we did go out this morning to a little nursery that is closing down tomorrow for the season. We scored a great crabapple "prairie fire", one we've been looking for, some nice gallon perennials for $1, and a cute little grass for the front yard.

It's too wet to plant them, or do anything else, for that matter, so that will have to be next weekend when it's supposed to be nicer.

I'm still looking for wood chips to keep all my nice dirt from running away, and I just need a good clear day to go clean out the garden.

Hopefully soon......

A garden score and a new roof

This week, "the boys" came and finished re-roofing our shop. Nothing too exciting, needed to be done, and now it is. They scraped off the old metal roofing and 2 layers of 50 year old 3-tab, fixed the leaky spots and left us with a nice, new black roof that matches the house.

The next project will be to paint the darned thing the same color as the new house. Not now, though, 'cause it's raining buckets. We'll probably have a few nice days left this fall to at least get started. No rush, it's going to be a lot of work.

We also made a trip to a nursery that's shutting down for the winter, so they had all of their stuff on sale half price. There were some pretty good deals to be had, and we came home with a car load of stuff.

I'm hoping this pic wins me free garden show tickets this spring....."gardening Subaru" ya know.

The roof was the last major project we had to do here (aside from painting) - we'll be making our new "honey do" list to work on over the winter and next spring. Some of the items include....putting a gate in on the food garden side to keep the deer out, finishing the last little bit of fencing on the dog kennel side to keep the deer out, closing off the gap in the back corner to keep the deer out.....Sensing a theme here?????

We also want to build a new chicken coop so that we can get some babies next summer. I loved having chickens and really want to do it again, but we have to make them a super secure house to keep out the predators (raccoons this time, not deer).

This week, I'll probably start searching for a couple of loads of wood chips to mulch the flower beds - keep weeds down and the dirt in place.....they're hard to get, though and most places have a waiting list.

slowing down and hunkering down

The weather here is starting to become a bit unpredictable....although we had a pretty nice week this week, last week we had the biggest thunder storm I've ever seen in all my years living here. It started at 4 pm, and the thunder and lightning went until well around midnight, much to the doggie's dismay.
At some point, we got about an inch of rain in 10 minutes. That did nothing for my newly applied dirt, and half of it is now over in the other lot.

The good news is, I didn't have to water this week, even though the temps have been around 80 degrees. It's supposed to start raining again today (another potential thunder storm), so we'll be scrambling this morning to mow our little lawn and put away the summer furniture before that happens.

"The boys" (contractors) are also working on the shop roof. They tore it all off yesterday and they'll be back on Friday to roof it. This is our last big project for a while. Now we just need to paint it (already have the paint, just waiting on the roof), and do some work on the deck, and we'll be hunkered down for winter.

The clearance rack at lowes was pretty dismal this week, but I did score a black centurea from the local nursery for $2. You can't kill those things and it'll be fine next spring. I also got a couple more bags of bulbs from Costco....not planting yet....too warm. It's going to look pretty cool in spring, when over 300 daffs, 100 crocus, and a whole bunch of other bulbs start making their appearance.

Next week, finish the roof (not me, the contractors), maybe some painting...depends on the weather...

making a difference.....

memorial day......

 

labor day

 

and a casualty of war......

 

poor plum....she never saw it coming

winding down.....

but not completely done yet!
This morning, the paper was all about labor day and back to school. How did we get here SO fast???
Things are starting to wind down a bit...we just have one big project left, roofing and painting the shop, and the nurseries are starting to empty out for the fall. Time to make plans for what to do during the rainy season and order wish books for next spring......

The clearance bin at lowes this week had a couple of good things...two nice agastache for the back garden, and a huchera that needed some love. They'll all be fine by next spring.....that's the fun of the clearance bin.

We also got a nice little dwarf plum tree from lowes that we'll be planting today, and the fall bulbs are starting to arrive in stores. I already have 100 daffodils and crocus in the garage, waiting for a bit of a cool off to be planted........

Blooming in the garden this week,
a beautiful black daylily

 

a wonderful smelling Asiatic lilly that I bought on clearance

 

and a super hot pink coneflower (also from the clearance bin).

I've never done all that well with coneflowers, so I'm hoping that they come back next year.

 

Today, I'm out to take pictures of the flower beds, so that next spring, I'll know what's coming up.

This week, there's a clearance sale at a local nursery.....going to check it out!

 

Damn deer!!!!

They're eating everything. Even stuff that's supposed to give them a tummy ache, like rhubarb leaves (poison), potato tops (poison), daylilies, Echinacea, geum, BANANA plants. How do deer know that banana plants would even taste good??? They're not native!
I had to chase these guys out of the back yard just this week.....

Yes, that's 3 babies, triplets, three MORE eating machines....and we have a nice smorgasbord, just sayin'. We've fenced pretty much the whole area, just one little place where we need a gate....I can hardly WAIT until we get that done.

Today, I'll be moving my poor hollyhock from the front to the back. It seems to be extremely attractive (and tasty). I'm not sure it can take much more mowing.

This week, the clearance bin had some great things.....a tree peony "high noon" for $8, and a sedum called "chocolate drop" for $1. Who can resist a sedum called chocolate drop?????
Costco also started putting out their bulbs, so I'll be picking up a bag or two every time I go. They have 50 daffodils for $11 and 100 crocus for the same price. Too early to plant them, but not too early to buy.

Miss kitty (ziggy) is settling in nicely.....she 's getting along well with the doggies.

And working into her role of internet assistant.....

As long as she doesn't get ahold of the credit card and buy cat toys.......

sunflowers!

I'm loving these sunflowers I planted in the garden......
chocolate

and a variety called "solar flare"

I'll definitely do both of them next year, and I think I'll have plenty of seeds to share.

This week was all about watering, watering, watering. It did rain a bit on Friday night, but not enough to make a difference, and the sprinkler is out again.

I managed to score a few bargain plants. The discount rack at lowes yielded a campanula and a painted fern. Fred Meyer had a sale on perennials, so a coreopsis and a perennial lobelia followed me home, and the local nursery had some markdown too. I scored 4 lilly bulbs, a yellow lupine, and a huchera that had to go in the back, so it wouldn't end up being deer food.

This week it'll be all about the watering AGAIN. It's supposed to be dry the entire week. Nothing else special going on, just the usual weeding and planting the occasional bargain.
The shop roof is SUPPOSED to get started in a week or so, and then I'll get to work painting it to match the house. That ought to take quite a while.

Off to move the sprinkler!