Can You Believe It's Already July?

So where does the time go? The older I get the more often I ask this question. Time is flying by faster than a spaceship from childhood cartoons. That said, the garden is growing by leaps and bounds. At least the squash is. It is finally producing! We picked two and I counted nearly a dozen more tiny ones just set on. Thank goodness, I was beginning to think I was the only poor schmuck on the planet who couldn't grow squash. And guess what? That third (and last) row of radish actually produced a few radishes for hubby's dinner.

That may all be in jeopardy because while I was watering this afternoon with the hose attached to the newly reconnected spigot, I was startled to notice that the tomato was somewhat shorter than yesterday. Now wait a minute, they are supposed to grow upward, right? I looked closer to see that the very top had been chewed off (at least they left the blossoms). Then the beans...nearly a half dozen of my beans had been chewed off as well.

Now folks, this garden isn't in the country. Nope, it has been in the city for nearly 30 years and even when it was squarely in the county, there were rarely ever any wildlife spotted except for the usual birds, hoppy toads, as we called them, and the occasional garter snake.

Well, it appears that we may have deer munching our veggies. We've heard about deer sightings in the neighborhood, but haven't seen them. We have seen deer where we live a short distance away and also in the city, twice this year late in the evening.

Whatever it is at least they haven't show a preference for squash...yet. Fingers crossed.

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Late June Garden Update

Hi there and welcome back to the late June garden update. We are neophyte gardeners, and are feeling our way through with the help of videos and articles on gardening, and what I remember from "helping" my mom years ago. Getting a late start did not help either.

I started with some herbs in pots, and most of them are still surviving, maybe even thriving (pictured below is my sage), although still too thick for optimum growth. I plan to thin and transplant as I figure out where they should go. The radish did absolutely zilch, but the beans are producing nicely, and we have had at least four decent batches for dinner.

We created a raised bed for additional planting, and so far have several squash, a pepper, a tomato, more radish, another row of green beans and some green onions I got from the store, used the tops in cooking and cut off the bottoms and planted. Yes, you can regrow vegetables from cuttings.

Here are some pictures of the garden's progress.

Here we have the bed after we have added a layer of leaf mulch and starting to spread the layer of top soil (6 bags). According to what I read, you can either mix all your ingredients together or layer them. We chose to use the layering approach.

Next we have the layer of Black Kow, aka manure (2 bags). Back when we were planting the potato buckets, we could not find Black Kow, so we made do with a different brand. By the way, the taters seem to be doing fine and it looks like buds are setting on. I figure they've been planted about 6 weeks now.

Our top layer was 6 bags of garden soil. We got this on sale earlier in the season for $2 a bag. Sometimes we do actually plan ahead.

Here it is all pretty, leveled out and ready to plant. Now what?

Here it is now with the squash on the left, the tomato in the cage, the beans at the top right.There is also a sweet pepper, some onions and more radish. Obviously, there is more room and I have some hot peppers in pots - my second attempt to start peppers from seeds. The first were Hungarian hot wax peppers, but none of those seeds sprouted. I must have had a bad package of seed, because everything else came up.

Right now there are little peppers, the beans (second crop) are coming along nicely and the onions are sprouting. I should have onions in a couple weeks. The squash are blooming, but as yet have none have set on. I doubt that this planting of radish will yield any edibles either. They are an early crop and I knew that going in, but we had a lot of rain and an out-of-state wedding to attend when we would have been setting up the garden. 

Our thumbs are not the best shade of green, but we decided we would, once again, like to try our hand at growing something besides weeds. I'll pop back in later for another show and tell.

Bonus picture - first crop of beans (both green and yellow, aka wax beans).

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Beans, Bugs and More!

This is my bean crop. These two sections are the yellow (wax) beans and the first to germinate. Looking good so far! The radish are the first row (at the bottom of the following two pics). 

This section is my Blue Lake bush beans. A little slower than the yellow ones, but over achievers as they have nearly caught up with the others. Actually they weren't that far behind, and sprouted quicker than expected. 

The sage is also starting to come up. Wish me and these tender young veggies good luck.

This cute fellow is the Eastern Eyed Click Beetle. He had accidentally hitched a ride on hubby's back and got unceremoniously swatted to the ground before I knew what he was. Fortunately, he survived to fly away. They are harmless to humans!

This lovely creature is a Luna Moth who was hanging out on the wall next to the light fixture. What a nice surprise since we don't see them very often.

Here are some of the strawberries I transplanted. It looks like they are going to make it.

I won't bore you with the incremental progress of my garden, but will update when things ramp up a bit. Until then, happy gardening.



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Herbal Update and a Butterfly

Seen in the early morning...well about 8:30. That's still early, right?  Isn't it beautiful. I am thinking maybe newly hatched and drying it's wings because it was sitting so still on the wall. I love butterflies, and am hoping to see some Monarchs this year.

Swallowtail

The oregano, thyme and parsley are coming along nicely. I may have made a mistake planting them as I did, scattering seed in the pots. Transplanting could be tricky, or I could just thin to a few per pot. The replanted basil (not pictured) has started coming up, too. At last check, the sage hadn't sprouted, but they were supposed to take longer.

I'll try and get some shots of my beans and radish for a later post. Until next time, happy gardening!


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Oh No You Don't

A garden update: This is the bait box, and when I went back to check on my newly planted seeds, I found that critters had been in them digging around and had upended several of my bean seeds, one of which had already sprouted a root. It was probably Robins trying to make a meal on my earthworms. I fussed and suwannee'd and fixed it, knowing full well it would keep happening until either what was left of the beans sprouted and grew or just gave up.

Sometimes that little light bulb goes off and reminds me of what I already know, so I grabbed the screens I put screens over the box last year. The light bulb also helps mask the mess I hadn't cleaned up.

Anyway, my radish are already coming up so hopefully the screens will protect them. The planter I used for my sage also came under attack, and I used a piece of hardware cloth over that. Even the strawberries that I transplanted from the field seemed like they might make it.

I mentioned that I had more seed to plant but didn't have a place prepared. Well, I found some old styrofoam cups and started my yellow squash and some Hungarian Wax peppers in them. As my Mom would say, "time will tell". I'll keep you updated as the garden saga continues.



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Time to Plant

Summer is just around the corner and I have started planting...yes you heard that right. Now it's nothing big, just a few herbs, beans and some radish (for hubby, I don't eat radish).

I have a few more things to plant, but there is a crap-ton of work yet to be done to prepare a place - maybe a raised bed or some large containers. I don't know what yet, but the weather is right for growing now that the temps are warm and the monsoons seem to have subsided, at least for the time being.

The herbs: (pictures strangely deleted)


To date, the thyme and oregano have sprouted, and the basil got overturned, probably by a squirrel or other critter. I had to replant it. 

I also have a large container that is probably 7 feet by 2.5 feet and maybe a foot deep that was originally used to house bait. My mom got it years ago when the man who sold bait closed up shop. It has been used for plants ever since, and I have it now. 

I grew beans in it last year and they did pretty good considering I failed to notice that I had bought climbing bean seeds. The stakes I put up were not sufficient and some ended up in the neighboring azalea. Nevertheless, we got several batches and they bloomed right through October.

We shall see what happens this year. I planted all bush beans! All gardeners are welcome to chime in with stories and/or advice.


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Shameless Plug

Since I opened my store, Rosie B. Designs, last last year, I have been steadily increasing my virtual inventory and now have about 300 items for sale. My products/designs include men's and women's apparel, home decor, things for the kitchen and bath, beach towels and totes, notebooks and planners, phone cases and much more. 

With Zazzle, my only investment is my time and the thought that goes into my designs. That said, it is always gratifying when someone chooses one of my products over the thousands of others in the online marketplace.  There is really something for everyone, and since it's a online store it is open 24/7. 

Clicking the link at the beginning of this post will take you directly to my store. You can also follow me on Social Media at Facebook.com/RosieBDesigns97 and on Twitter @RosieBDesigns97.

If you have any questions, you may contact me through Facebook or Twitter.

As always, thanks for shopping at Rosie B. Designs!

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Planning for Spring Vacation

This is the day 8 (&9) of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today I am combining Monday (Planning) and Tuesday's (Spring vacation) prompts as I am playing catch-up again.

Since both these prompts relate to one another it will be easy to combine them. They go together like a hand in a glove, like dinner and a movie, like Hansel and Gretel, well you get the idea. It is very difficult, for me at least, to take any vacation, no matter how long or short or how far away, without considerable planning. 

Why not just stuff some things in a bag and go, you ask? Oh, my friend, you do not have pets to get a sitter for, and you do want to use that credit card, right? What's your available credit and do you need to make a payment? You don't want to hear "I'm sorry, your card has been declined" when you have just finished a $50 dinner. Oops!

And then there are your accommodations. If you're staying in a hotel, many things are provided and you'll probably be eating out. But, if you choose a condo, you may need towels, sheets, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, and don't forget your hair dryer. Not worry, though, there is a Walmart just around the corner...you hope.

Once you know where you're going, and booked your hotel/condo, it's helpful to know what you'll be doing and what type of weather to expect. If you're like me, you have gotten to your destination and wish you had a warmer coat, an umbrella or some shorts instead of all jeans. See what I mean? Planning goes a long way to making your spring vacation more pleasant, and you know that Fluffy or Fido are also being taken care of.

So are you the free spirit yelling "ROAD TRIP!!!" or are you the planner?


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Word Games

This is the day 7 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Games and Hobbies.

Random Board

Games. I played them as a kid with my parents. We would play Uno and Yahtzee and sometimes Rummy. As adults, we went through a phase of playing Scrabble. Now, in the age of smart phones, we play a variation of Scrabble called Word Feud. It is similar to Words with Friends and other online word games. It is something we have been doing for over 7 years, every day. Hubby and I play each other and two other friends. 

It never gets old because each game is different. Like in Scrabble, sometimes you get great letters and sometimes you get crappy ones. You can swap or pass, if you can't play or don't want to play what you have. We often remark on what a wicked sense of humor Word Feud has because you may swap some or all of your letters, hoping to get something better, and find you are no better off than before, and you lost a turn. 

There are two different board styles, the standard board which closely resembles Scrabble and a random board that has way more opportunities to score big, win big...or lose big. We play the random board with each other and the standard board with everyone else. 

The benefit of playing on the phone (or other mobile device) is that you can stop and start and play when you have a few minutes and not have the pressure of finishing a game. As I sit typing this post, I just got a notification that "someone played".  

Do you play games on your phone? Solo or with others?


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Cold Weather Beverage

This is the day 6 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is A hot drink on a cold winter night.

I am not much for hot beverages. I prefer cold, iced drinks or at least a well chilled white wine. But, on the rare occasion that I choose a hot beverage, I like a good, hot apple cider. We like to visit the beach in the late fall and the restaurant next to our favorite hotel usually has a big pot of cider there for the taking. It is delicious and comforting as it is often quite chilly at night, and it's nice to take a steaming cup back to our room. Other than that, it is an occasional cup of tea at night, but again usually in the winter.


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Milk Money

This is the day 5 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Milk Money.

I'm running behind due to a dental procedure that included sedation and me being out of the loop yesterday. So here I am playing catch up!

This is an easy one for me. Back in my day I guess we had milk money, or rather lunch money. Now after age 11-12 I did not drink milk. I didn't like it, so I didn't drink it. As far as milk money goes, it would have been the few coins I took to school for the short time during my early years that I actually bought something for lunch. 

When I entered first grade, we had a cafeteria (lunch room) which was staffed by ladies of the community. As I strolled down the line looking at the offerings, I saw a few things I recognized as food...rolls and "fat back" or known in my home as salt pork. Yum, I thought...lunch. Yes, I was not like everyone else, something my mom alluded to, no actually stated, to my husband-to-be years later.

However, mom decided that was not the best lunch for me even though I thought she would have unwillingly agreed with me (because we both loved bread and salt pork).

What has this got to do with lunch money. Well, nothing except that I would not have spent good money on milk.  Ice cream, yes - milk no! Needless to say, after that I took a boxed lunch each day, but I still bought ice cream!


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A Winter Vacation – or Not?

This is the day 4 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Winter Vacation.

A winter vacation, huh? Well, I don't really enjoy the cold unless there is snow, but I don't ski, so a mountain retreat doesn't hold much appeal. I would want to go some place warm with water, like a tropical island or perhaps the Florida Keys (y'all know I love Florida). However, those locales are exorbitantly high priced during the winter months. So when do we go on vacation? During the fringe months when the crowds are less, and the weather is more temperate than either freezing cold winter or blazing hot summer. Oh, and the prices are better, too.

I should, however, mention that going to Chimney Rock in August...not such a good idea. Just because there are mountains doesn't mean it's cooler.

Where do you vacation, and when?


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Adulthood

This is the day 3 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Adulthood.

I'm going to be a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail when I grow up.

For us humans, however, adulthood is that wonderful thing you long for as a kid. Many childhood dreams are preceded by the words "When I grow up".  So what happens when we get there? We often realize that life as a kid, despite how it may have looked at the time, was an easier, more carefree existence, especially when I was growing up.

How often now do we ponder life's stress, work, bills, etc. and wish, just for a moment, that we could be a kid again? Yes-No-Sometimes? I would not change what is, but sometimes, just for that moment, I long for the days when the only thing on my mind was riding my bike early on a warm summer morning.


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Yes, Please!

This is the day 2 of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Would you like wine with your cheese?

Okay, that is an easy one! The answer is yes please, certainly, definitely, of course, and why would you think otherwise?

We have been members of the American Wine Society for years, and just completed two years on the board of our local chapter. We have swirled, sniffed and sipped many glasses over the years, learning what we like, and what we don't like (though not so much in the latter category). 

We have raised numerous glasses in toast of friendships formed by the very existence of wine. We've taken trips together, shared meals, and whiled away many an hour in quiet conversation over a bottle.

Good food, good friends, and always wine with our cheese!



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The Chill Begins

This is the first day of the 2019 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Who Are You?

Good morning and welcome! The question of the day is "who are you"? If you are reading this, then you are either participating in the 20 Days of Chill Challenge, or members of the audience.

As for who I am, lets just say I am busy. After winding down the holidays where there were meals to fix, parties to attend, gifts to purchase and decorations to be put up, I am contemplating the joys of returning the house to it's pre-holiday state of normal disarray.

Rainbow Weave Fleece Blanket

In addition, I started an on-line store called Rosie B. Designs the first of November, so I have been busy creating new designs and promoting the store, and as of today I have over 200 items listed. If you scroll down to the post prior to this, you can read all about it.

So now it's January and time for the Chill Challenge. We'll see how long I can keep it going. I have several stories that have been hanging in limbo since previous challenges. 

My name is Busy, who are you?



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Let's Go Shopping!

Rosie B. Designs opened for business about a month ago, and a week later I announced the Grand Opening here on Roses to Rainbows. Things are percolating along, and I am building my virtual inventory. I say virtual because that is how Zazzle works. I create and upload designs on various products. When potential customers see something they like, they have the option to purchase it as designed, or in most cases, they are able to customize or personalize it as they wish.

There are currently over 100 products available, and I continue to add new ones each day. I've created a Facebook page for my store at RosieBdesigns97. I would really love it if you would LIKE and SHARE this page with your friends or readers. There is a "shop now" button that takes you right to the store for convenience, or you can go directly at Rosie B. Designs.

Typically, I feel awkward about asking for favors, but if you could go to the store and click on some of the items, that would generate views which will help me a lot. If you want to BUY something, that would be great too. 

Zazzle is constantly running sales and promotions, and with Christmas just around the corner, now is a great time to shop for unique gifts for family and friends. You can find something for everyone at Rosie B. Designs. Products include clothing, Christmas cards and ornaments, notebooks, mugs, tote bags and more. Oh, and of course, a lot of cat-theme products, as you would expect from a shop named after my cat. 

I look forward to seeing you here and at Rosie B. Designs. Thanks and Happy Shopping!!



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Taking the Plunge!

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, there are new things on the horizon here at Roses to Rainbows. I have taken the plunge and opened an on-line store. 

Rosie B. Designs is now open for business at Zazzle.com. I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop by and check out my new shop. Items include Christmas cards with coordinating stickers, ornaments, magnets, tote bags, apparel, kitchen & dining items and more.

I am just getting this off the ground so selection is limited at the moment, but I'm working hard on new designs and products every day. Please feel free to browse around anytime because like Roses to Rainbows, it is open 24/7.

Thank you!


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Breakfast in bed, please!

We have had our beautiful Sophie for almost 11 years now and she's just as sweet and quirky as ever. Like all of our cats, her personality has continued to develop over the years. After the passing of her housemates, (Dood, 4 years ago and Rosie, 5 years ago), she has been "talking" more than ever before with an ever-growing vocabulary. I believe she is either channeling the boys, or was just never able to get a word in edge-wise and is now making up for it.

If she were talking in this picture, she might be saying, "breakfast in bed would be nice for a change".

Do your cats talk to you, and what do you think they are saying?



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Chasing The Rainbow

We were returning from Ft. DeSoto and as we came over the bridge at Tierra Verde I spotted a rainbow. It was not raining where we were at that moment, but it was or had been raining somewhere. We followed the rain clouds and the rainbow, hoping for a better view. All you can see of the rainbow in this picture is a tiny segment to the left of the first palm tree, but the sunlight transforms these ordinary condos into something beautiful.

Here is the rainbow when we first saw it.

On another note, today is October 20, 2018 and it occurs to me that I failed to acknowledge my ninth year in blogging (by exactly one month). 

How did that happen? Well, to be quite honest, I have not been very diligent in posting and basically took the entire summer off. Life is busy and time taken sitting at the computer stringing words together took a back seat.

Am I back? Yeah, maybe...I'm not sure, but it would be sad to just quit. Did I get where I wanted to when I started out? Nope, but that's okay, at least that's what I tell myself. My goal continues to be to inspire people, give them something to think about or at least make them smile.

So I guess I'll keep on chasing the rainbow and hope that my words will reach the person(s) that they were meant to reach.

Remember, the welcome mat is out and the virtual doors are always open so make yourself at home. Please leave your calling card in the comments below so I can greet you personally.

The Wrath of Michael

How dear the woods are! You beautiful trees! I love every one of you as a friend. -Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, 1909

The handiwork of Tropical Storm Michael as he made his way north, pausing long enough on his journey to topple some trees and take down power lines.

This is the second time this year we have lost an old, beloved Pecan tree. Farewell my friend, you were well loved.

There is something wrong with this picture. That is what's left of the power to the house (thankfully not the one we're currently living in). The rest is a hanging somewhere in another tree.

When Hurricane Florence was heading toward the coast, we were all making preparations. Even those of us who live well inland were cautioned that we could get severe weather. After all the predictions, thankfully she steered away from us, and all we got were a few sticks in the yard and a couple inches of rain.

Then along came Michael who kind of sprang up out of nowhere and quickly became a record-breaking monster, leaving very little time to prepare or leave. What happened here cannot remotely compare to the devastation along the Florida Panhandle, but Michael did leave us with downed trees, widespread power outages and flooding.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those suffering in Florida and all along the path of the storm.




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