Randomy randomness

It's cold out. Like put-away-your-shorts-for-good cold. It probably feels colder than it is because it's gray and dreary and it rain rain RAINED with a vengeance last night! I luckily made it home just seconds before the deluge began! It was a nice, cozy night to be inside listening to the rain come down. I ended up watching the two-hour finale of America's Got Talent. I am really glad that Michael Grimm won - he's got some voice on him! The little girl opera singer person will be just fine - she's got a career ahead of her, no doubt! So talented!

Since the weather is particularly poopy, I did not feel inspired to go wandering around the yard for inspiring photo subjects! So, instead, I decided to open the back door and see what was right there! Here's what I've got:
Sadie, of course, following me around! The poor dog cannot let me out of her sight! Right now she's a whopping 10 feet away sleeping on a rug...That's brave for her to be so far from me!

A brand new papyrus that sprouted a few days ago! I love the vibrant green:

The view of my planter from above:
Aren't the variegated sages so nice? I love the contrast on the leaves, and they smell really good, too!

The tops of the grasses by the back door:I cut some of these at times and use them in flower arrangements for texture. They last and last...I have a bunch of them in a vase in my dining room from 2 years ago!

I have three bags of tulips (so far) that I will put in this fall. I love the colors on these:

And this cute purple planter? I rescued it from the trash a few months ago!I'm currently using it to hold my gardening clogs called "Sloggers" and some of my tools! Isn't the planter so cute?

So, speaking of busy (which I was not), I've got to run...Get this schedule coming up:

Today - cleaning, exercise, shower, social worker comes for last home visit, 6pm condo association meeting.

Saturday - pick up gazillions of flowers from florist, go to other florist to get 4 donated arrangements, buy two vases, at 1pm have others come to help put together 18 arrangements for Sunday's event at The House of the Seven Gables, then dinner at my husband's mother's house.

Sunday - deliver 18 arrangements, make final touches to arrangements with peacock feathers (yes, peacock feathers!), go home & collapse, get dressed up, attend big event at The House of the Seven Gables!

Oy vay. Wanna help?

Wish me luck!

WTF?

Really, what is going on? There is something bizarro going on over here.

Two weeks ago we were out walking the dogs. Check. I was wearing a pink "Life is Good" t-shirt, some comfy stretchy blue athletic shorts and flip flops. Check, check, and check. As we were crossing the street, this guy stops me and gives a warm hello and says "You don't think you can walk right in front of me without saying hello, do you?" and I exclaimed that I was very sorry, but I didn't know him!

I have a doppelganger in this here city, my friends! I absolutely cannot wait to run into this woman; she's got a lot of friends who say hi to me, wave at me when they're driving and otherwise "recognize" me, but not for realsies! It's so odd!

Anywho, this guy proceeds to tell me that this gal is named Becky and that she's great and he apologized for stopping me like that! And then he said, it's a compliment because she's adorable and so am I!!

Adorable? I have not been called adorable since I was like 12 years old! I'll take it! Nice!

Then, today. Huh? Here I was lugging my bags of yummies home from the Farmer's Market; I had potatoes, onions, baby eggplants, green & yellow beans, shrimp, pickles, eggs and cucumbers. Quite the bounty, no? So here I am, walking home, minding my own biz when these two guys, on the youngish side, slowed their truck down and yelled out to me! What did they yell, you ask? Well, let me tell you what they said, shall I? (I'm trying to up the suspense here; is it working?)

They yelled "Hey! Nice LEGS!" And they smiled and drove away!

So, of course, I looked behind me to see what young thing had these nice legs, but there was no one! They were yelling it at ME!

There were these two ladies standing there and they started giggling and then so did I! I told them that I hadn't had anyone yell out to me like that since I was in my 20s! And I also said, I guess I'll take the compliment! They told me it was going to be a good night!

And you know what? It IS a good night! Hubby is out with his friends, it started raining literally 30 seconds after I got home (and I meant to water earlier in the day), the night is young, and lastly?

I've got nice legs!! : )

hee hee!

Hope you're having an equally nice evening (or day, as it were!).

I and my adorable self:


with my nice legs:
are going to go start dinner.

Ciao!

Brrr cold bumble bees

So I just went into the back yard to see what was a-flutter back there...Nary a butterfly, some honey bees busy at work and then a number of poor, frozen cold bumble bees:They are still alive, but they cannot move because the sun went away and the temperature probably dropped 5 or 6 degrees! When I touched this little guy, all he could do is jut his back leg out. Poor things! The butterfly bushes are harboring a number of these lethargic fellows; hope they'll be okay! I love me some bumble bees.

In any case, the butterfly bushes are still covered with blooms, so that's a nice thing.

Pot on my back stoop is doing well:


Forget-me-nots are going wild:
There are also some sort of mystery plants in there; not sure if they're weeds or what, so I'm going to let them grow and see what develops!

The purple salvia that I randomly plopped here after I had one leftover from a job:
It has become so large and vibrant! It's truly blue in real life!

And the flower boxes are still going strong! This is the one that faces our side street - it gets drips from the air conditioner in our bedroom window, and it always ends up being almost double the size of the other 5 flower boxes on the house! In this one, the kenilworth ivy continues to thrive, so I didn't switch it out:
And how about the size of that papyrus? It's enormous!

These are some from the front of the house, where the kenilworth ivy died a little over a month ago...I put in purple million bells instead - they are on each end of the front flower boxes:




It's pretty windy outside, so it was hard to get a really good, clear shot of these since the pony tail grasses sway and move with just a hint of wind on them! Anywho, I think they are still looking pretty...

I'm off to get my massage today and then hopefully will be feeling better tomorrow...This is night 3 of little sleep from the pain, so I'm ready for these rotten spasms to go away for good.

Hope you all have a fine Wednesday!

Later, alligator!

Allergies and a bad back

I'm not having a particularly good day today, despite the fact that it is absolutely perfection outside! SO amazingly gorgeous and sunny and warm and NOOOOO humidity! For some odd reason, though, my allergies are so atrocious I can barely even function. My entire head is just so full of pressure that it hurts to do everything. Even reading is a chore!

On top of that loveliness in my head, my back is KILLING me. Oy, did I do something to it last round of heavy lifting. It was a bit sore in the lower back area over the weekend, and then I started getting spasms on each side of my back near the shoulder blades. Oh, it's not good, my friends. I've been popping ibuprofens like candy and still no relief. So, I'm getting a massage tomorrow; or as my father-in-law would say it, a "massarge!" Massarge. Really? Yes, really. You go to the spar to get a massarge. It's one of those funny quirks - never ceases to make me giggle!

So, anywho, I'm totally looking forward to my massarge.

Took some photos with my stuffy head today; that's about the extent of activity I can stand. I had to water everything today, too, which was REALLY fun as I carry around this balloonish head of mine! Yikes!

We have a billion grape tomatoes:And that's just one little area on the plant - it's gotten just bigger and bigger and is continuing to flower and make more tomatoes:
Just look at that thing!

The tall phlox are still going strong, too, as you can see! Wish I could smell them!

Eggplant is getting bigger!
Love him!

My Montauk daisy bushes are getting ready to bloom any day now!

Loaded with flower buds!

And, I had to cut a few of the papyrus branches that had bent over so much that people were having trouble walking by our house on the sidewalk! So, I brought them inside to enjoy!


That's it for today. I'm going to go take my poor self and sit in the sun for a bit...Wish good thoughts for me like being able to breathe and getting rid of my sore back!

Will let you know how the massarge goes!

Adios!

Menagerie; more and more plants for me!

I have called you all here today for more important photos of my crazy conglomeration of plants! I know you have probably been sitting by your computers all day just waiting for this. Sorry - I had a busy day today!

First, we will take a look at the ficus on the right side of the living room. We inherited it from my husband's grandparents when they sadly had to move out of their home and into an assisted living place:I am embarrassed to show that photo with that poor thing in that sad little plastic pot. It looks ridiculous! Good news is that the planter that didn't work out for my client the other day (when I had to plant a palm tree the size of a cadillac) will be a perfect new planter for this ficus tree! Despite not having enough dirt and being root-bound, this ficus is one HAPPY plant! It is flourishing since coming to live with us! We've had it probably 8 years already.

Here is the ficus on the other side of the living room:
This ficus is also inherited from a bed and breakfast that sold to a big hotel here in Salem...I know. How on EARTH do these people find me? It's kinda nuts!

Inherited this plant from a friend who was moving away:
It's some sort of begonia. I have no clue. It needs to be cut back and repotted. Oy. It's pretty cute with its spotty leaves, but it's all gangly looking and really needs pruning. I'll get to it...Not a big priority this summer, you know?

Also inherited this from a different friend who was moving:
Not a huge fan of the snake plants, but it's green and it's easy. Meh. You know?

These are all inherited from the two friends mentioned above:
That lucky bamboo on the right is so sad and scraggly and it needs to go, but I cannot throw it out - it's got green on it, therefore I cannot kill it.

Spider plant:This one actually came from a plant that I have in our foyer that I've had since the beginning of history! The one in the foyer is huge and unruly and needs to desperately be repotted. I'll get to it! Stop bothering me! Geez! (hee hee!)

I have another spider plant in the kitchen, another devil's ivy in the foyer and in the bedroom, two palms in the bedroom and another something that I inherited from one of the above friends! The one palm in the bedroom, a parlor palm, was rescued from the trash when a neighbor moved out. It was a sad little thing, overwatered and very unhappy when I found it, but it's a lovely, robust plant now. Needs repotting. I'll GET TO IT! (hee hee!)

Oh, and I also have a tropical hibiscus, curly willow, chive, rosemary, sage & thyme and a wandering jew that live outside in the summer, and inside in the winter. There. That's everyone. I think.

So, that's all for today, folks.

Next we will move outside to explore some of the fall things happening! I'm sure you can't wait! : )

My menagerie

As I mentioned in the last post, I have many indoor plants. Big surprise, right? I'm a sucker for the nearly dead plant left on the sidewalk in the middle of winter or the plants that people want to give away because they're moving or don't want them anymore...You name it, I'll take it. Even if I don't like the darn thing, I'll take it...Sheesh!

So, I've ended up with a bunch of plants that I'm really not all that crazy about, some that I like and a few that I love! Some? I don't even remember how they came to live with me. No idea! Like the Chinese palm in our bedroom upstairs! I haven't the faintest idea where that came from.

When I moved in with my husband, he had manly cacti all over his condo. MAN, did I hate those things. Managed to kill them all! Not on purpose, I just guess I overwatered them, so hasta la vista, cactus!

Since moving into this house 10 years ago, my beloved ficus tree that I had had since 1988 bit the dust. My Aunt came here on a visit and "helped" me by pruning back my houseplants while I was at work one day. She killed my ficus that I had had for 15 years. It was a HAPPY tree before my clip-crazy relative got at it! I was SO upset!

Anyway, now I've got many, many, many plants. These were inherited from a former co-worker:

This last one, a devil's ivy, used to be huge and full and lush. It took a bad spill from the counter and is on its way back to being pretty! Whoops!

On this fish chair are two great plants - my bonsai schefflera and a jade:
That jade is from a cutting from a jade plant that my mother-in-law has that she got the day my husband was born! Cool!

This is a terrible photo, but there are three plants there - one is a devil's ivy that I inherited, the other two are from that neat guy I met at the farmer's market that grew unusual plants; the fig that will get only about 2-3 feet and the bonsai aloe:
LOVE that fig and aloe! They've been living outside all summer, but it's been getting really chilly at night, so I brought them in for now.

A Christmas cactus in our living room. I have NO idea where this came from:I like it, though. It blooms faithfully twice a year for me!

And these last two are also in the living room now. I just bought them at this specialty plant place that I LOVE! I should never have gone in there, but I needed two topiaries for my client!

I have always wanted a maidenhair fern for the inside of the house:
A few years ago I splurged and bought a couple for the outside for the summer, but then Koty immediately peed all over them and that was pretty much the end of that!

And my new piece de resistance, a gorgeous orchid:Isn't it lovely?

I could justify these purchases, as I billed out a TON last week and I deserve some pretties for the inside, right? Thank you!

More to come - just getting started on the ridiculous number of plants I have!

Hope you had a good weekend!

Ciao!