Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day to y’all! I missed getting this post out so thought I’d share it here a couple of days late. This winter has been crazy busy with my mother-in-law coming to stay with us, helping her find a new home and now helping her unpack.
Between working at school, the craziness there and helping Mom on the weekends, I just haven’t been writing (or photographing) much lately…
It is really nice to have this week off from school to be able to relax a bit, try and get over a head cold (yuck!), and later this weekend I head out to Athens, Texas for an IOOF state assembly meeting. It’s just a one-day event on Monday, so I won’t be back to work until Wednesday ~ which makes our holiday week extend a little longer. š
I have been cleaning and redecorating a bit with changes to the china hutch ~ switching it over from Valentine’s (never got a post out…) to a spring/Easter theme. (Might get it out.) It looks nice as I sit here and type!
I had been repotting my mother-in-law’s cuttings from her 57 year old garden in California and a bunch have made it three months now! Two roses have rooted for sure, and several other plants have as well. All had unfortunately sat overnight in hard freezing temps in her car while she and her son (Mr. Ethereal) slept in a hotel on their way here over New Year’s.
About half of those plants have survived with many of the succulents doing the best. No geraniums made it, though… š Just too cold for them in that car and here. š
But spring is coming and with a good fertilizer feed, I expect these survivors to begin putting on leaves and to start flourishing.
I’ve just moved my plants out of the greenhouse/potting shed and I’ll get a post out as soon as the yard is swept up and looking tidy. I ordered some bulbs online and got those nepeta and hellebores planted this week from Dutch company K. Van Bourgondien (not sponsored, but would love to be!).
The dwarf magnolias I bought at Lowe’s last month and sheltered in the shed are bursting into bloom! They made it through the second Arctic overnight 25 degrees just fine, piled with leaves and wrapped against the cold with a garden quilt. I put them back in the shed so their tender open petals wouldn’t be blown off in the 45 mph gusts we had on Thursday and Friday.
I will shoot some more pics for you! They are gorgeous… This type of magnolia only grows to about 12′ tall and wide, which is perfect for our backyard.
St. Patrickās Day
BY ELIZA COOK
St. Patrickās Day! St. Patrickās Day!
Oh! thou tormenting Irish layā
Iāve got thee buzzing in my brain,
And cannot turn thee out again.
Oh, mercy! music may be bliss
But not in such a shape as this,
When all I do, and all I say,
Begins and ends in Patricksās Day.
Had it but been in opera shape,
Italian squall, or German scrape,
Fresh from the bow of Paganini,
Or caught from Weber of Rossini,
One would not care so muchābut, oh!
The sad plebeian shame to know
An old blind fiddler bore away
My senses with St. Patrickās Day.
I take up Burke in hopes to chase
The plaguing phantom from its place;
But all in vaināattention wavers
From classic lore to triplet quavers;
An āEssayā on the great āSublimeā
Sounds strangely set in six-eight time.
Down goes the book, read how I may,
The words will flow to Patrickās Day.”
***found on Poetry Foundation.org
And we’ve begun working on the fence again…
St. Paddy’s Day winds swirled around and pulled the east end of the southern fence away from its post. Hubby has since tied it back with a bungie cord. Now the next post towards where I was standing is pulling out… Good thing Hubby put in 10 metal fence posts for the new fence just outside of view!
Must be those rascally Leprechauns…
We had swirling winds during the day on Thursday. Dust devils pushed leaves up on the patios out back and in front. Forget about blowing them off!
During the night the rain storm showed up with cool cloud-to-cloud lightning…
And that’s kinda how our St. Patrick’s Day was ~ super windy and then spotted rain. Made a mess of our cars; got a car wash today while filling the tank (yikes! almost $100…)
More rain and winds are expected this coming week. We sure need the rain! Texas is in its 3rd year of drought, from what I see. So used to drought, coming from California… (roll eyes!)
Well, that’s it for today, friends!! I hope you had a lovely St. Patrick’s Day and might have even eaten some corned beef and cabbage. I forgot to buy some at the store but it sure would have tasted good… ;)’
Happy blessings to you,
Barb š
Your shamrock girl is so lovely! And that dwarf magnolia. I bet they would survive up here — the big ones do. I must check those out; I love the size. I know you are terribly busy with the garden and your mother in law, settling and all. And then school. Do take care!
Hello Jeanie! The magnolia variety is called Jane. It only grows 10 – 12ā tall and 8-10ā wide. It can take some cold. Iāve been buying only plants which can go down to -20 to -30. Iām sick of blowing money on perennials which should survive but donāt. The costs mount up quicklyā¦ I wonāt be going back in the fall; Iām done. Iāll work through the end of school, take my summer earned and turn in my notice when itās time. I would love to just work at a nursery or somewhere quiet. āļø Just ready to retire but we canāt for a while yet. Anyway, glad you enjoyed my post! Will be by to read yours soon. š