Sunday In The Yard

Beautiful Sunday. Wish I could spend the whole day out here but I have to cook dinner and visit my Father. I got out of bed later than expected. Actually I was awake early and decided to close my eyes for a few more minutes. Woke up 3 hours later mad because this could have been time in the yard.

This obstructs my view during the winter so I take it down. Yes, I still enjoy looking outside and seeing changes in the winter; snow, frost, ice, squirrels, raccoons, and possums.

I cut that little pile of weeds and grass. Looked much better with only moss and the earth.

See that bush in the corner on the right near the fence. Got a brillant idea to prune it today. I hated the limbs stretching everywhere and thought, cut it, it might even fillout. Why didn't I think of this before? It looks so much better. I'll show it another day after I finish pruning her. Hopefully there will be something left of her.

Almost done. Tiles put inside and the table will be taken apart and put in the shed until spring maybe. Didn't get to take it in today but will tomorrow before it rains.

What made me buy all the lirope? I thought it would make a nice boarder but it doesn't look the way I hoped it would. It also likes water so it never looks good until the fall. 

That's acanthus sticking out in the picture. My aunt gave it to me this summer in Georgia. It gets berries. It's still a young shrub with lots of thorns.

Thinking of spring and what I can do with this area. As I mentioned in my post on the shade; what ever I do will include lots of watering and mulch.

That's my eaten up rose bush. One word, insecticide next spring. It actually was healthy this year and had little black spot. I plan to make an effort again to dig it up and put it in a container in the sun. Wish me luck. Another day of course.

The little hydrangea next to the sun looks dead to me but it has green buds on the stem. Maybe it will return next year. I'll have to wait and see. That's my geranium seedling on the right. It is at least a foot tall. To little too late. The frost will get to it soon. Maybe I'll just dig it up and hang it in my shed until spring. That's a plan.

I'm clipping off what has not died yet of the fern. It occurred to me that the other leaves on the elephant ear did not die by themselves. I thought it was the cold until I saw the marks on the stalk that looked scratched and chewed on. Probably a raccoon I would guess. One night while in the bathroom I was looking out the window because I heard a noise. Looking back at me was a raccoon. He was having a hard time jumping from the roof of my shed to the neighbors roof. I have also seen the raccoon squeezing in the side of the fence above where the elephant ear was. He definitely caused the early demise of the elephant ear. I imagine it trying to use the elephant ear to climb. One large leaf was still attached. I cut that off today. Now the monumental task of digging up the tuber. The roots and stalk are huge. I'll battle this another day.

Fig tree seedling still hanging in there. I'm going to put it on my porch over the winter. I would hate to see it die again having taken 1 whole year to bud back out. I'm going to name her Betty for my mom who cuttings these seedlings last year. Hopefully Betty will one day grow big and give me a few figs.

Rainbow chard is really pretty and I only planed it once in the spring.

I cut the tomato down because it was hard pulling up the root and look at it now. It even has blooms. I cleaned these containers and left soil and roots that I though wouldn't grow. Can't wait to pull up the garlic to see what it did since it's last years garlic.

I will have 2 peppers.

Mandevilla. I think I will put her on my porch for the winter to save it. The cold may still kill it.

My rosemary didn't get any bigger than this all summer. If it makes it through winter next summer is another chance to see what it will do. It smells wonderful.

Miniature rose bloom. Frost will get it soon. They are so cheap in the store I'll buy one this winter for some blooms in the house.

Had to come in from the yard to start Sunday dinner. Turkey thighs seasoned with fresh garlic, onions, thyme, rosemary, celery, and salt and pepper to taste. I also still add garlic powder, onion powder, and celery seeds. It's even better if you let it marinate over night.

Time to make cranberry sauce. I use the recipe on the bag. Some recipes add other things like fresh orange juice or zest.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. The sugar helps the cranberries not be too tart. I ate one and it was tart. 

Water, and sugar added and bring to a boil. You will hear the cranberries starting to pop open when it' ready.

I let it cool some and put into the refrigerator. It makes a lot so I'll probably take it out of the bowl tomorrow and put it in a ceramic crock with a top and hopefully it will last longer. It'll take a while to eat it. Next time I'm not making it for a holiday, half the bag would be better to use.

Almost done. The gravey has to thicken up. I use flour and water. There is another way to do it by browning the flour in butter making a rue.

Do you shred your mail. I used to before I realized I had a better method. The ashes can be used in the garden. It's good for the soil as an amendment as long as you don't used colored paper which I did today.

The fire burned most of the night with just the mail, no wood. I managed to spend a couple of hours in the yard although it doesn't seem like I got much done. I stacked the yard furniture to take in, cut some weeds, and took a survey of the yard and what I want to do this fall. Still a lot of work left. Time to plant bulbs. I'll be way ahead of when I planted last year in November. After I get bulbs in the ground and some ornamental grass and 2 shrubs I bought, I want to top off the beds with soil and manure. After the leaves fall I want to shred them and put them on top of the beds. I also want to move the carex grass I planted last fall to a better location where it won't be covered by the hosta. Tomorrow is another day and I'll be back in the yard only to bring the yard furniture inside. I would love to spend all day out there but I have other things to do. Have  a good night and happy gardening.