Great Weekend for Gardening...

What a beautiful weekend we had, I worked at the Garden Center from 10-2:30 on Saturday. We were crazy busy, it was cloudy and a little breezy. Just right to work in your yard. Then I went home and straight out in the yard to work..

My back porch has been covered with flats and flats of flowers I have been growing in the house since Feb. Then after I got them outside I had to transplant many into larger pots making even more pots. So they were everywhere, on the tables under the tables on the benches, in the greenhouses on the porch...
I promised myself that I was going to have the back porch cleaned off before June First...So I had lots to do...

I put everything in sections as to where they were going and who they were going too...

One batch for my Miss Petunia, one for each daughter, one for the Veterans Square down town, and what was left needed to go into my flower beds...

So the race was on...

I put all the vining things around the water barrels that I covered with chicken wire for them to climb.

The Clary went around the bed by the trees, more Mummsy Marigolds in the front beds, Snap Dragons in back of the trees, and a few Coleus in the Secret Garden and some in the Herb Garden with Miss Petunia... Then I planted my really big pot with a few Cherry Tomatoes and my Herb Seeds...

If you haven't met "Miss Petunia" yet here she is with my neighbors Granddaughter. She is one of the smartest 7 year olds I know...

She loves to garden and play with any bugs she can find. Discovering things is her favorite thing to do...

We always have fun and exciting summers together...

"Miss Petunia" is about 5ft. 6in. tall and very voluminous. I planted 21 wave petunias around her skirt today.I am hoping that when they start growing and flowering they will cover her entire skirt...I'm sure I will be adding things to her as time goes on...Her Irish Moss Hair is starting to grow and a few flowers are starting to bloom on it. The Irish Moss has a really cute white flower...

Well it is time of bed... This is our last week of school, how fast this year went...

Have a good one,

Lynn

SHE HAS A NAME...

Miss "Petunia"

My uncle that just died a few weeks ago at the age of 90, always made us kids laugh by calling us "PETUNIA"...
That continued with my children and they laughed too. He just had a way of making you smile...
He will be sadly miss by all of us, but we will remember him this summer every time we look at Miss Petunia and we will smile again!!!
I will keep you updated on her progress this summer, I am going to plant the petunias tomorrow all over her skirt. So I hope by mid June she will be looking pretty good.

Have a good one,
Lynn

Marigolds are growing in the Kindergarten...

There are Marigolds growing in the kindergarten windows... We took 2 liter bottles and cut them in half. In the top half of the bottle we put 2 in. X 8 in. pieces of fabric knotted on one end down through the spout of the bottle. With the knot inside...

In the bottom half of the bottle we added water...

Then put dirt in the top half and planted our seeds...

This made a Self Watering Planter...

Look how the roots grew through the fabric, reaching for the water...

They grew so nice and we didn't have to water much at all. We watered a little until the roots really started to grow..

We took one plant out of each and sent home for Mothers Day in pretty little pots and now the rest are going in our school garden in the Kindergarten Section!!! They will be so proud of their plants...

I was just amazed at how well they did, big healthy plants ready to plant...

This was a great project, especially since it worked so well!!! LOL

Have a Good One,

Lynn

What A Beautiful Spring Day....

What a beautiful Spring Day it has been in WV.. Hot and Humid, Sun Shinning and a beautiful blue sky...

Right before dark the skies opened up with thunder and lighting only to finish off with this magnificent Rainbow...

Why is it that rainbows always make you smile, I want to take pictures of them all...

This is the view from the swing on the front porch, our evening rainbows are always right in the front of the house...

The first of my petunias that my daughter bought me seeds for at Christmas, are finally blooming...

They are unbelievably beautiful... This is the first time I have grown the double ones from seed...

She bought me 2 different pink ones, purple, burgundy and blue. I also grew the green one I had last year from the seeds. I am surprised it came back true ...

I think the double ones are my favorites...

Coleus one of my new favorites the last few years, I always save a mother plant to propagate early, and save seeds from the rest.Then pick up a few new ones at the local garden center really early in the season and start pinching them like crazy. Of course my kitchen window is always full of starts... But they only take about a week to root really well and out in the gardens they go...


LOOK AT THOSE ROOTS...


This one is Lime Red...

SEE MY WINDOW IS FULL OF NEW BABIES...I try to propagate almost anything I get new... I just have to try and see if I can do it!!!

I love a challenge!!!

MAY BLOOMERS...

Have a Good One...

Lynn

It has been such a busy long weekend, and I have so much to post I don't know where to start.

So I may as well start with MRS. WHAT'S HER NAME... I really do need to name her.

She is so big she makes me feel like a "SIZE 6" LOL So she needs a Grand Name...

She is just a good old Country Gal. She now has a cowboy hat hanging on her back and a big basket of flowers she is holding. I even planted a few petunias in her skirt to see how they are going to do. She has a big ole Bootie, that is going to look great full of wave petunias, by the way I grew from "seeds".

I planted calendula all the way around the bottom of her skirt. I had tons coming up in the front beds.

Little at a time she will get done. But I was on a field trip today and it rained all day!

The New Addition... A second water barrel has been added, and as of this evening they are both full... I have a soaker hose going all the way through the large bed in the back. Two years ago when my husband found out the water bill was over $200.00 in July he decided we needed to do something... I LOVE TO WATER FLOWERS!! LOL

It worked wonderful last summer. After I get the vines planted you won't even be able to see the barrels. I have wire that goes all the way around them that the Hyacinth Bean grows on...

Tom caught me planting the Mummsy Marigolds yesterday in the front bed, I didn't even know he had the camera until I started downloading pictures today... I can't wait until those tipsy pots start to over flow with flowers...

Update on baby Robins only a week old, how they have grown...

One of my NEW FAVORITE PLANTS... Bloody Sorrel, with it's beautiful bright green leaf with a magnificent burgundy stripe up the center, no flowers just beautiful foliage.. this is just the second year for this one. It was one of the first to come up in the spring and twice the size as last year. I have two and just love them...
LAST BUTT NOT LEAST THE ZOO...

THE END...

Have A Good One,

Lynn

Garden Lady... Topiary

I finally got time to start on my Garden Lady... We haven't named her yet, I am going to let the neighbors Grand Daughter Name her... she has a very vivid imagination. She calls me the crazy flower lady... Or Lynn-I.... She says I have more flowers then anyone she knows... She is 7 years old...

Here I am with Mrs. What's Her Name adding a little moss for her hair, it gets a tiny white flower on it..
I thought it was going to take forever to get to this point... four bags of sphagnum moss and lots of dirt for the head and body... this was a work in progress. Since I had no idea what I was doing or how to go about doing it... You can see how tall she is, I am 5ft. 8in.
I made the body about a month ago out of chicken wire and just sat in on this barrel. Now not wanting to get an arm and leg invested in it. I had to figure out a way to stuff her...
If it hadn't been for my great neighbor and wonderful garden friend, I would never have gotten this far tonight. The two of us masterminded it to this point...Here is her little mossie hair with a piece of mini oat grass for the spiky effect... Just like me spiky and a little crazy!!!

We wrapped her arms with coco moss, I grabbed my bottle of Vino and called it a night... I think we are going to stuff her skirt with straw and plant in it just like strawbale gardening...

http://www.carolinacountry.com/cgardens/thismonth/march06guide/straw.html

I'm going to put a big basket in her hands and plant it with overflowing fan flowers and maybe a few silverfalls and creeping zinnias...

Tie a hat around her neck to hang down the back, maybe a sash with a bow around her waist and tie a bow in the back...

Plant lots of petunias around her skirt to flow all the way down, coleus and calendula around the bottom... adding a few things as we go!!! Who Knows - IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!!!

I'll keep you up on all the progress....

Have A Good One,

Lynn

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollums: http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/
Go check out all the great recipes today...

A few years ago I ask my dad to write down his recipe for his potato salad. He is 83 years old now and I am so glad he gave me the recipe. We have gobbled this up for years. He loves making it for it all of us. I hope to keep this recipe going for years to come...
We need to grab all the old recipes of our parents a write them down and take wonderful pictures to remember them by. Dad had such a good time showing off his recipe....

My Dads potato salad

6 Potatoes cooked and cubed
4 or 5 boiled eggs sliced
1/2 cup diced green peppers
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced radishes

Dressing:
3 Tbs. Miracle Whip
1 Tbs. sugar (or to taste)
1/4 cup white vinegar

Mix all with Dressing, season with salt and pepper. Add paprika to top when finished.

Have a Great Foodie Friday,

Lynn

The discovery of the new baby birds in the tree right out side the window.
Three little robins..They are all beaks and no hair yet. They must be only a day or too old...So cute... Have a great day,
Lynn

Wild Wonderful West Virginia Weekend...

Wild Wonderful West Virginia Weekend post is below the add. I messed up the pictures...

Wild Wonderful West Virginia Weekend...

My husband Tom went on his annual fishing trip through the Trough...
It was a magnificent weekend, lots of sun, fun, and friends...

Usually this trip falls on our Anniversary...
But this year we lucked out, it is tomorrow May 18. We will be married 35 years.
It seems like just yesterday, how could it be 35 years???
We spent our honeymoon traveling all over WV. Stopping in State Parks and many places we had never been before. We would drive for a little while then stop and fish or just walk some of the trails. It was a beautiful week we even went horseback riding in the rain.. At 19 and 21 it was fun...
We have no plans for tomorrow, Tom is out of town all day. But that is ok we've had 35 Great years together. I'm sure we will have a wonderful dinner out one night this week...


Here are a few pictures Tom took this weekend of our picturesque state.

This is Saddle Back Mountain...
Look at the mountains in the distance...
This is the South Branch of the Potomac... It is Beautiful
See the mountains on both sides? That is why they call it the Trough...
It is a beautiful Green State....
I think that is why I love spring so much...



Hope you enjoyed the slide show of some of the May bloomers...

Have A Good One,
Lynn

Foodie Friday... Pepperoni Rolls

Today is Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum Check out the great recipes :http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/


The Pepperoni Roll originated in my home town many years ago and we love them...

This has to be on of my favorites EVER... the Pepperoni Roll. Fresh bread with lots of pepperoni baked in the center, then lots of hot peppers and sauce and lots of mozzarella cheese. Toasted in the oven ...YUM...YUM...

Here is a little history I got from Wikipedia:

The pepperoni roll is a snack popular in West Virginia and some nearby regions of the Appalachian Mountains. Ubiquitous in West Virginia (particularly in convenience stores), but typically little known elsewhere, it is arguably the food most closely associated with the state (a competitor for this distinction is the ramp). The birthplace of the pepperoni roll is the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont, West Virginia. The pepperoni roll was invented by Giuseppe "Joseph" Argiro at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont in 1927. Still one of the top pepperoni-roll makers in Fairmont today, some argue that it was not invented until the 1940s, but no one disputes that they originated at the Country Club Bakery. Fairmont, West Virginia, claims the title of 'Pepperoni Roll Capital of the World. [1]
The classic pepperoni roll consists of a fairly soft white yeast bread roll with pepperoni baked in the middle. The pepperoni can take several forms: a single stick; several folded slices; or shredded or ground meat. During baking, spicy oil from the pepperoni suffuses the bread. Most people prefer the rolls to be moist but not soggy; thus, the texture of the bread is an important factor in the rolls' quality.[citation needed] A typical pepperoni roll weighs about three ounces, eaten as a snack or as the main dish of a lunch. Pepperoni rolls are eaten either unheated, if not then warmed slightly in an oven or microwave.
Some variations on the original pepperoni roll contain cheese and/or green peppers in tomato sauce. In 2005, a pizzeria in Chesapeake, Ohio (directly across the Ohio River from Huntington, West Virginia) introduced a deep-fried pepperoni roll, dubbed the 'pepperoni zinger.' [2]
The rolls originated as a lunch option for the coal miners of north-central West Virginia in the first half of the twentieth century. The pepperoni roll bears a resemblance to the pasty and sausage roll, which originated in the mining communities of Great Britain, as well as to the Italian calzone. All these foods allow a miner on a break from a tiring and dirty job to eat a full meal with a minimum of fuss. Pepperoni and other Italian foods became popular in north-central West Virginia in the early 20th century, when the booming mines and railroads attracted many immigrants from Italy.[citation needed]
Although recipes for homemade pepperoni rolls are available, most West Virginians buy the rolls in shops. Most commercially available pepperoni rolls are made within the state by small, family-owned Italian-American bakeries. The rolls can be found in virtually every grocery and convenience store in West Virginia. Churches and schools in the state sometimes have pepperoni roll sales to raise funds.
Although they have recently become better known in the wider U.S., for a long time pepperoni rolls were seldom, if ever, seen for sale outside West Virginia. This led to the development of an urban legend among West Virginians stating that the rolls could not be sold in other states because of regulations banning the sale of meat baked into bread.
Pepperoni rolls did face a legal challenge in 1987 when the United States Department of Agriculture proposed re-classifying bakeries that made the rolls as meat-packing plants, thus making them subject to stricter regulations. The bakery owners claimed that the costs of meeting the new regulations would put them out of business. The USDA's proposal was quashed after Jay Rockefeller, U.S. Senator for West Virginia, intervened.[3]
In the early 21st century, the U.S. military began including a version of the pepperoni roll in one of the MREs (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) provided to troops. The military's rolls are made by a North Carolina company. [4]
Pepperoni rolls caused a goof in the 1998 movie 'Whatever,' [1] which was set in New Jersey but filmed in West Virginia. In one scene set in a convenience store, a pile of pepperoni rolls on the counter gave away the store's true location.
It was recently announced that the pepperoni roll will be featured at the Corrine Kisner Classic, a bi-weekly food festival in Washington, DC.

[edit] References
^ http://www.bobheffner.com/pepperoniroll/history.htm
^ Holley Barker, 'Ohio couple makes new start with Peparoni's Pizzeria', The Herald-Dispatch, January 5, 2006.
^ Jay Rockefeller, 'Letter from Senator Rockefeller', The Pepperoni Roll HomePage
^ Sullivan, Ken (2006). The West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5. pp. 560-561.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperoni_roll"

Hope you learned a little about my hometown today ,have a great day. You may want to try this one...

Lynn

Monday Mish-Mosh Day

I had an awesome Mothers day, I got to spend Sunday evening with both my girls. As always they got me fantastic garden presents. My youngest took me to the garden center on Friday and let me pick what I wanted. She says I have too many things and always wants to make sure I get something new!!! We had so much fun looking at all the plants together. So many plants and so little time and no more room...Here I am potting up a few things she gave me for Mothers Day...

These pots remind me of those hangers you see on the commercials that hang so many cloths in so little space... Lots of plants fit with so little space, so I can plant MORE!!! LOL
My oldest daughter made me this beautiful mailbox planter. She had the boys in welding class at school cut the center out of a mail box. Then she used scrapbook paper to cover it with, added ribbon and cute buttons, then varnished it good. She got a few plants and we planted it on Sunday... Once it fills out it is going to be beautiful... she is so creative....

As much as my girls made fun of me being the crafty person, they have both turned into their mother. They are so talented!!!

Power tools... you got to love them, my wonderful cousin Debbie gave me the garden auger last summer and this was the first time this year I got to use it... It works wonderful. It took the weeds out and got my soil ready to plant. Then I changed to the little one for all my holes to plant in.... How Cool is that!!! Thanks Deb...

I just had to add this one they looked so cute I had to take a picture... My furry babies!!!

Have a Good One,

Lynn

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

My Mother Kept a Garden

My mother kept a garden,

A garden of the heart.

She planted all the good things

That gave my life its start.

She turned me to the sunshine

And encouraged me to dream,

Fostering and neutering

The seeds of self-esteem...

And when the winds and rain came,

She protected me enough-

But not too much because she knew

I'd need to stand up strong and tough.

Her constant good example

Always taught me right from wrong-

Makers for my pathway

That will last a lifetime long.

I am my Mother's garden.

I am her legacy-

And I hope today she feels the love

Reflected back from me

-Author Unknown

I hope everyone has a great MOTHERS DAY!!!

Lynn

Foodie Friday... Funnel Cakes...

It is Foodie Friday at http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/
You have to check out all they yummy things...

I made a cookbook for my daughters a few years ago on Shutterfly... It had all their favorite recipes. I am printing this recipe just as it is in the book. At the end of all the recipes I told a story about each recipe... this one was just really funny, I thought you might enjoy the story...


Carnival Ladies Funnel Cakes


1 1/2 Cups self-rising flour
1/4 Cup sugar
1 1/3 cups milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Vegetable oil
Sifted powdered sugar

Combine flour, sugar, milk, and eggs in a bowl. Beat till smooth. Heat oil to 375 degrees (1/4 - 1/2 inch in skillet). Pour 1/4 cup batter in funnel: pour batter into hot oil in circular motion to form spiral.

Fry each funnel cake 1 minute or until edges are golden brown: turn and fry until golden. Drain on paper towel covered plate. Repeat with remaining batter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 1 dozen (5 inch) funnel cakes.

I began making these at Lil's craft show when you kids were young. Than Patty and I started making them for 4th of July parties at Paulette and Dave's. The kids fought over who would be first in line. Than one year all us girls, Patty, Paulette, Donna, Mary and I went to Deaf camp with you both and made them for all the kids. When we were ready to serve them up Paulette yelled "FUNNEL CAKES-FUNNEL CAKES ARE READY!!" But since all the kids were deaf it was really funny I thought we would die laughing!! We have had a great time over the years making Funnel Cakes even for all the neighbors in the summer.

Have A Good One,
Lynn

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!!

I know I should be happy it is spring and I know April Showers Bring May Flowers... But it is May and I would like to plant my flowers. With my indoor greenhouses and lights my plants have done great this winter. But if I don't get them outside soon, it is not going to be good!!! It has rained almost nonstop for 2 weeks. Enough is enough !!! My front porch is overflowing and my back porch doesn't look any better. At least my other greenhouse is out there and not in the house anymore...But I still have on inside... you can even see the lights through this window on porch... Sunday should be our window of opportunity for planting, then rain again...
I just want to be outside....
Ok enough complaining....
Today was a great for our Special Ed Kids. We went on a field trip to the Arts Festival, just for our special kids.. They had such a great time, this old lady was warn out, but we got to stop and have ice cream on our way home and the sugar kicked in!!! We beat the rain again today. It was a nice morning but about 2:45 the downpour came again... It is still raining!

I planted a few more of my baskets this evening, and told both my girls to bring their baskets for me to plant this weekend. Then it will be time for moms and my mother-in-laws... and a few girlfriends... Hopefully I can get some annuals in the ground next week, and transplant some perennials...

This Slate has hung by the front door for a few years now... It does have a little history.

It says "Welcome to the Hive" with lots of little Honeybees. Our local High School that the girls went to, was the EFHS Bees.... The dancers for the band were the Honeybees, the Band is The Busy Bee Band. Both girls were in the band. There have been lots of bees buzzing this house for quite a while...The band was very good, they even marched in the Rose Bowl Parade in 2000. We had a wonderful trip there for the Parade...

Hope you Enjoyed the pictures,

Lynn

May Flowers...

What's going on in my yard right now...

It is at last May and things are coming up beautifully...

My neighbor and I just walked around our yards today to see what all this rain is bring up. This rain has been what my husband calls a "Growing Rain". It has done just that, things are coming up like crazy. As we walked from flowerbed to flowerbed getting wet from the sprinkling of rain coming down, like two crazy kids laughing that we were getting wet. But somehow we just didn't care. It is that time of the year we both love. I couldn't have ask for a better neighbor. We both love our gardens and being outside working in the yards. We are always trading things back and forth. We love to just sit down with a cup of coffee (or Wine) and just chat FLOWERS...
There is no better time than spring in our eyes.

So here are a few pictures...

Do you see the Pink Polka Dots on this one??? It is a Pink Polka Dot Coral Bell.... It is just too cute...

Brunnera..

Perennial Geranium

Candytuft...Lily-of-the-Valley

Star Of Bethlehem

A few little things about this flower:

From the center of the rosette, there develops one or more flowering stalks about 6-9" tall. Each stalk terminates in a cyme-like raceme of white flowers. This raceme is rather short and spreading. The lower pedicels are 1-3" long, while the upper pedicels are somewhat shorter. Both the basal leaves and flowering stalks are hairless. Each flower is about 1" across when fully open, consisting of 6 white tepals, 6 stamens, and a single pistil. Each tepal is lanceolate-oblong; there is a green stripe along its outer side. A stamen has a yellow or light brown anther at its apex, and a white filament underneath. This filament is lanceolate or narrowly triangular in shape (tapering at the top), which is a distinctive characteristic for this species. The blooming period occurs during the late spring and lasts about 2 weeks. There is a pleasant floral scent. The flowers open during the morning and usually close by noon. Each flower is replaced by a 3-celled seed capsule containing several black seeds. The root system consists of a bulb about 1" long that is ovoid. This plant reproduces by its seeds and vegetative offsets (primarily the latter). It often forms dense colonies that can exclude other species during the spring.

The Star-of-Bethlehem is a surprisingly aggressive little plant with attractive flowers. Key features include the spreading racemes of erect flowers, and the triangular or lanceolate filaments underneath the anthers. These filaments are erect and surround the pistil. Other members of the Lily family that are somewhat similar in appearance include the Allium spp. (Onions) and Nothoscordum bivalve (False Garlic). However, False Garlic and the various species of Onions have umbels of flowers and the filaments of their flowers are thread-like. Another cultivated plant, Ornithogalum nutans (Nodding Star-of-Bethlehem), rarely escapes into the wild. It has nodding flowers on elongated racemes and each of its filaments have a pair of small teeth at the apex. The pedicels of this latter species are usually ½" or less.


Have A Good One,

Lynn