Confessions, still and again, part umpty-ump

Wise move, Kyla. I am working harder than I want to on planting right now. But, I do take breaks to rest. Oh well. I will muddle though. I did a lot of planting both yesterday and today and it felt good, but I have a lot to go.

Well, take it easy.....

Here's a confession! I spent a couple of hours this afternoon playing with my telephoto lens. I decided I hate my tripod and then belatedly realized that I really need to use it with the telephoto but I was stubborn and went on doing hand-held which ( surprise, surprise ) ended up to mostly suck. Arghhh. I'm not sure what was going on today. I think I will go up and visit my in-laws and see if my F.I.L. would like to give me too much wine! Maybe he can also give me some camera advice.

I confess, if I had the money I would install a large dome over my house and garden to keep out this infernal wind! Of course, if I had that much money I could just pack up the house and the inlaws and move to a more pleasant climate. The wind has been blowing hard for two days and nights now and we're both rather grouchy.

I had hoped to plant my big box of iris (my eyes are bigger than my garden too!) but I haven't felt like spending much time outside digging a new bed for them.

Katlian, I don't like wind either. Lets hope tomorrow will be more pleasant.

Wind has a very bad effect on people. It is pretty well documented that those who are borderline often go over the border during prolonged wind. I don't think very many people are unaffected by it. Van Gogh cut off his ear during the Mistral, a terrible wind that blows out of the Alps and down over the Provence where Van Gogh was living. Hang in there Katlian. I feel sure you and your DH will not cut off any ears -- and eventually the wind will stop.

As for the iris, luckily they are very forgiving. They can lie around in their box for quite a while if the box is decently ventilated. And by the way I have the same problem -- many iris and other plants needing to go in the ground or a pot. At least we aren't having wind here.

Wind is the worst. I'll take most other weather by preference.

Good luck with your planting pajarito. We buy plants because we dream of the beauty, but the dream comes through lots of effort.

You are so right, dparsons. My dreams are larger than my time and physical ability allow, but I am trudging on anyhow. Each day, I have planted some and potted some. I will have some real beauties next year, but I have so many more to go. Hopefully I will be less ambitious in my shopping next year. Some of what I am planting is from a year ago, so this grandiosity has been going on now for two years. Time to stop!

I've experience the same thing and I know a good part of it was the state my yard was in. The further the yard gets the less I'm inclinded to want to buy things because I want my yard to be full of plants. It does help to look at the plants for the day and think about the dream for them, not just the work. It also helps if I don't try to plant or work the soil when its over 95F outside.

I grew up with the Santa Ana winds. Shudder! They made everything staticky and sparky and shocky. Not to mention the infernal fires. The California fires have been on the French news every day lately. It makes me so very glad I don't live there anymore (So. Cal., that is).

I remember reading somewhere that the crime rate goes up in LA when the Santa Ana's are blowing. Forecast for tomorrow is light breezes so it should be better than today.

I got the iris planted by pulling out a few sunflowers and commandeering their bed.

I have to remember not to get too frustrated that my dreams for the garden take so long to accomplish. I could keep a team of skilled laborers busy for months with my head-full of ideas.

Me too, Katlian. I need to keep that thought in mind.

Things change! Maybe today will not be as windy. Interestingly, I've heard that practicing tai chi in wind can lead to illness. It certainly wouldn't be much fun.

Interesting, roybird. Maybe we all need to just hunker down during periods of high winds and try to keep our wits about us.

The wind does kick up more dust and stuff. I know people that will wear those white filter masks on really windy days.

By the way, I did go visit my F.I.L., who gave me too much wine. We put up 20 small freezer bags of green chile for his freezer and sneaked out all the bags of frozen green chile he had in there from 2007 and 2008! I doubt he will miss it as he and my M.I.L. don't eat it often.

You are a very good DIL. Very few people would clean out another person's freezer! Maybe next time you could sneak them out before they are too old to be tasty.

Hey Roybird that sounds like an excellent exchange: tooooooo much vino for toooooo much green chiles. tee hee

It was a fair exchange. Plus, they are delighted if we want something from their freezer. It is hard on them because they have always loved to cook and have parties but it has gotten to be too much for them now. Still, they always have wine and cheese before dinner. Last night M.I.L. was talking about a dish called "sarna" which she would like to have. I spent some time looking it up and found a recipe that was pretty much what she remembered. A friend of hers made it for her many, many years ago. She had the recipe memorized. It seems simple enough to do. Sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage leaves and canned tomatoes all steamed up in a pot.

Good remedy for lens brain! The vino eraser.

It is stuffing the cabbage leaves that is hard. Not too hard, but not something I have done very successfully -- but then I didn't work too hard at it.

Well, the weather was very nice today and we got 20 feet of walkway (10 bags of concrete) poured by 11am.

I don't want to think what my mother has squirrelled away in her freezer, she's such a packrat. Of course, we still haven't eaten all of the leftover lamb from last summer :)

Roybird, what do you stuff the cabbage leaves with?

Katlian, she said ground beef. The recipe I found said ground pork and ground beef. I have to confess I'm tired tonight. We went to the annual Labor Day party that a friend has at his ranch up near Las Vegas, N.M. It was fun and pretty as always. I'll post photos soon. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Windy weather weirdness: while out an about today I observed the wind blowing from 3 different directions (by way of various flags flapping). At about 1:00 it was blowing from the East, 2:30 from the Southwest, and at 3:15 from the North.

We got a lot of thunder and lightening and a little bit of rain. Not very much, but I am grateful for every drop. I went up to the Jemez Mountains for a truckload of manure and passed through a hail storm -- 2 inches of hail along the road, rain, then a dry patch and then a place with a little rain. Definitely what I would call scattered thunderstorms. This is in a one hour drive!

Dave, there is one spot on my ride home where I have to pass the county courthouse. Somehow that building creates a vortex so that the wind swirls around and hits me from three different directions in the span of two blocks. One instant I'm being blown towards the curb and the next I'm pushed out into traffic. That's my least favorite spot on the whole ride.

I can identify with the shifting winds while riding. This was a steady breeze though. No buildings, only the mountain might have influenced this but I don't think so. I think the atmosphere was in an unstable state.

We saw various storms passing by. Looked like there was a little rain in the mountains near Pecos and isolated thunder showers and lightning here and there. Not much wind where we were!

I confess that the 268 spring bulbous things have arrived and EEK! WHAT WAS I THINKING ?!?!?!? I shall bolster my confidence with a refreshing beverage(s) tonight and then begin placement tomorrow. I'm sure I have a plan somewhere.
I planted all my luvly new things from the sale ^_^
sambucus nigra
salix integra 'Flamingo'
Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford' (well why not, I've killed 2 already, what's another murder :O)
tiarella 'Mystic Mist'
macleaya cordata
polemonium regatans 'Stairway to Heaven'
and something tagged as a pasque flower but not but I like the foliage so I got it anyway
no viburnums that I wanted :(

I think you need more bulbs dahlianut. You should have at least 365, one for each day of the year, and perhaps few extras for special days.

Well I actually may have to plant that many as I had to dig up umpteen tulip bulbs to get a peony in so they have to be replanted too. Can you say 'bulbous blitz'?

I can say bulbous blitz, but not more than twice in a row.

bulbous blitz
bulbous blitz
blubus blutz

oooooooo I forgot I ordered fall blooming crocii both speciosus and zonatus ooooooooo. I 'swooped' a tad out of the lawn so I have the perfect spot for those. Dave-who-is-Dave I say blub the second time (snorkle)

OH. Don't tell me you have a lawn transporter! How long would it take to "swoop" our entire back lawn, Dahlia??
It sounds like you have a blutzification project.

I have a crush on my trusty edger dear Picante ^_^ I impatiently wait for pics of your swooping on the shady side of your back lawn. I am totally in luv with the other side. Also methinks there must remain enough lawn for Piper Fox to do her beluved laps and yoga after her walks. I am on a blubification mission for sure!

I confess that I really, really want this for nightime solstice dancing http://www.amazon.com/Kikkerland-1592-Solar-Disco-Ball/dp/B001A04PYG

Doesn't the sun set at something like 1:00 am on the summer solstice dahlianut?

Not quite but close. Between 10 and 11.

Maybe that would be better for winter solstice dancing when it is seemingly dark for 24 hours.

Hmmm. I think it would work better for equinox parties. Because if it glows only after dark, there isn't much dark on the summer solstice, and if it needs sunlight to recharge, well, there isn't much of that on the winter solstice.

Conclusion: We'd better have an equinox party.