I Found an Advantage to a Flooded Garden

Pine needles float!

 Which makes it much easier to rake them out.

 On the other side, the Lamb's Ear I planted last  year does not like water. I hope it survives the flooding. So far it looks OK.

It was very windy while I was outside trying to tidy up the unflooded areas. Hopefully, that wind will dry this out more quickly.  Under this water there is only a few inches of soil. The rest is rock. That is why it takes so long for the water to leave. . . the ground just does not absorb it.

I saw one of my Tango lilies coming up under the water.

I do hope the water leaves before the bulbs  rot!

I did a new leopard/hot pink table today. I have not  yet posted it on my tablescape blog, so you, my loyal readers,  are the first to see it..I mixed the leopard dishes with pink polka dots!

My centerpiece was inspired by this piece of "garbage" from the Big Kahuna. 


He and his wife were throwing it away. Then they thought of me.  They know I love their garbage. So the Big K brought it to work Friday and asked me if I wanted it. Really? Are you kidding? YES, I want it! It has great patina...tiny bit of rust...very heavy. WHO would throw this treasure away?  I probably should be embarrassed  that they think of me when they paw through their garbage.

But when their junk turns into this centerpiece.............

What is embarrassing about that?  I envision using this great piece often. I really love it!

A Gift from the Big Kahuna

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day I Love to Read Christmas Novels. Last week I showed you a Mary Kaye Andrews Book, Blue Christmas, that I read.  Today I got this book:

I was surprised to note that it was based on a number 1 single.................I don't think I have ever heard it....but then I am musically challenged (as the Big Kahuna likes to tell me).  

A few weeks ago, he gave me an Ipod Shuffle

which he loaded with about 40 songs. Wasn't that nice of him? He's a very kind boss.

Anyway, now I have to figure out how to load more songs on to this thing.  I have it in my ears right now as I am writing this post.  I am listening to "Beautiful Day" by UTube.  Is that the correct spelling?  I have never heard of a musical group called UTube...YouTube?? (Thanks, to Dianne, I now know it's U2!) Nonetheless, it's a nice song.  The Big K is really a music lover.  He says I can be trained....LOL...maybe so.

Now the song is 'Satellite', Collective Soul.  I like this one.


It seems the Big K and I have similar tastes in music--even though I had no idea that I liked these songs.  . .   Picture Kid Rock  & Cheryl Crow # 1 Collection.......I think that is what the Ipod Shuffle said...........I like this one, too!  Cool! Maybe I can be trained to appreciate music.
 
What a great gift from the Big K!  .... Now it's 'Remember When', Alan Jackson...........this one I know. I love A. Jackson!
 
I must remember to go into work tomorrow and thank the Big K again for this wonderful gift.
 
Now if only he could load some Christmas songs for me.............................

I have talked about the Big Kahuna so much that I have decided to give him his own category, called "Big Kahuna".  So now you can read all the posts where I have mentioned him under that label.

I Voted, I Removed my Fingernails (Ouch!), and I Made a Delicious Pasta Dinner

all in one day! LOL.

Early this morning I lost an acrylic fingernail. It was the third one since Saturday. I decided I was ready to remove them all and go with my natural stubs. I called my nail technician and told her to cancel my 4:00 p.m. appointment today and all of my appointments for the rest of the year, as I was going 'au natural'. She said the reason they were falling off was the change of weather....Yeah, whatever the reason, I am not happy with paying for a service that seems to be going downhill....I have been going every two weeks for at least 15 years and I feel that they should last the full two weeks.
So instead of getting my nails done after work, I went to vote. Then I came home and prepared a nice pasta dinner with hamburger,onions, pepperoni, red and green peppers....,

mushrooms....Ragu tomato sauce and cheese sauce...

Rotini pasta and a heaping spoonful of the Big Kahuna's special seasoning (I think it's Emeril's recipe).

I made two casseroles so I could freeze one for later. I am all about cooking once and eating 5 times!

YUM! It was so good. 



Sorry, I do not have a recipe. I just tossed in whatever I thought looked good!  We had it with green beans.

I can tell that Thanksgiving is almost here.  Why?

Because my 'Christmas' cactus is ready to bloom! It always blooms near Thanksgiving.

I Felt Very Overwhelmed at Work Today

I had so many different important things that had to get done--early morning mandatory insurance meeting, weekly labor report to the Big, Big Kahuna at the home office (should have been sent yesterday, but I ran out of time), meeting with bride/groom and parents for a big January wedding after they have already informed me they can't afford the bar costs--required some pretty creative suggestions on my part to get to something they could afford, 100 people for lunch on the F&B Director's day off, a convention for 2011 that I turned down last week because they were too large, but our local CVB director asked me to send a bid anyway......just in case they were smaller.........that is like saying..."hey, can you waste an hour or more of your time to send room rates, meal quotes, and vendor set ups to a group that won't fit in your hotel?" Sure, no problem!




I was very happy for this day to end! Luckily, it all turned out pretty good...



I decided I deserved a little reward when I got home. . . so I poured a glass of Chardonnay and did a bit of shopping --- 25% off and free shipping....could not resist!





I bought three of the same belt in colors to match things I already own...a couple of bead ball necklaces to match the bracelets I bought last month...a green/black necklace because I wear a lot of green/black and really needed it!



See that big brown bangle bracelet on the bottom?  It is suede with orange/blue embroidery........so cool!



I am trying not to buy any  more clothes because I have no closet space for them.



I also felt like creating something ...... so I have started another blue jean purse with black vinyl accents... Here are the four blocks I made all sewn into one 8-inch block....

Not sure where I will go from here....but when I get it done, I will show you a pic.

A wine Connoisseur I am Not

About two months ago, the Big Kahuna (my boss) took a trip to California. While there he toured a few wineries and ordered a few cases of the wines he liked.

The Big K is somewhat of a wine connoisseur. He has been trying to educate me (with little success) for the past five years or so. He is appalled that I still enjoy the cheap boxed white wines.

He ordered a case of this inexpensive (to him--I have no idea what it costs) red wine. He likes reds, but I am not all that fond of reds. He gave me a bottle of this one to try. When I saw the bottle I thought it would be perfect for a Halloween tablescape!
Every week he asks me, "Did you try the wine yet?" Every week I have to say no.

So tonight, after half a glass, my box of cheap Chardonnay ran out, and I decided to try it; because I did not want to dirty another glass, I am using a white wine glass for a red. (just want everyone to know that I do recognize the difference! LOL)

After my first sip, I thought, "Whoa . . .tongue jolt! It's very, very dry. But I kind of like it.

I googled the wine and found this review:
The Twisted Wines 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon has a bright nose that features a ton of red raspberry and lighter hints of vanilla. When you take the first sip you'll find a medium-bodied wine that alternates between dark and bright berry fruit characteristics. Touches of candied black cherry emerge, and lead to the finish which continues the berry theme, along with spice notes in the form of white pepper and nutmeg

Yeh...that is exactly what I was trying to say! I did notice that there was a little tang on the tongue a few seconds after swallowing the wine...that must be the pepper and nutmeg spice notes...

I think I still need more teaching before I qualify as a wine sommelier.

With my glass of red wine in hand, I went out to water the containers. This corner of the deck is beginning to look interesting, even though there is just one tiny flower in bloom.

To my eyes, the big canna and Elephant Ear leaves are just as lovely as flowers. Like wine, cannas may be an acquired taste. I used to hate them. Now they are, without a doubt, my favorite flower for the deck containers.

Just look at those stripes:


A few days ago, I changed the wagon wheel garden. I brought a big pot from the deck and went in the woods and found a stump that I've used in previous years. It already had a Black-eyed Susan growing inside, so I wheelbarrowed it (it's heavy)to this area.
I am not really loving this vignette. I will probably make some changes this weekend.


I know a little more about cooking than I do about wine. I made a pretty tasty macaroni and cheese for last night's dinner. No little blue boxes and powdered cheese for this girl! I will probably have leftovers tonight.

I hope you are all having a good week. I can't believe tommorow is Friday already!

I Hope the Big Kahuna Does NOT make Me Start Doing this Job

Human bed warmers 'help' Holiday Inn guests sleep

No kidding......this is verbatim from the release:

Guests staying at the London Kensington branch of Holiday Inn will be able to avail of a rather unusual service this week.

Human bed warmers are being employed at the hotel to help guests get a restful night's sleep.

Staff members dressed in all-in-one sleeper suits will be sent to warm guests' beds for five minutes before they get under the covers themselves.

A spokesperson for Holiday Inn said: "People want to leave the cold outside and climb into a warm bed.

"The bed warmers service is a bit like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed, warming it up before guests climb in to give them a great night's sleep away from the cold - of course they jump out before you jump in."

Commenting on the move, Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said it could help people get a good night's sleep as a warm bed, with a temperature of approximately 20 to 24 degrees, is the ideal environment for rest.

I swear if he starts making me perform this job,I'm out of here!

Warning--Work Rant

I am off work for the rest of this year. The only positive about never being able to take a full week of vacation (I ALWAYS have to work on Monday) is that I have 4 stray vacation days hanging out there for me to use up.

I work in a very weird environment--nobody is happy when you take a vacation -- they all act like you are being anti-company or something.

If I was the Big Kahuna and one of my employees gave up EVERY SINGLE MONDAY of the year to work, NO MATTER WHAT, I would be very happy with the dedication of that person and I might even reward that person with an extra day off now and then, just for not having to try to do all the reports, payroll, Accounts Payable, etc. that she is doing on those Mondays that I would have to learn to do. NOT THE CASE where I work. I am sure that legally I don't have to be subjected to working 52 Mondays a year.

The reality is that I don't really mind. I just mind being taken for granted and listening to remarks like, "How do I know how many vacation days you have left? You are the one who tracks them." Like I am cheating or something. (In addition to Sales, I am also the Human Resource person, & the Executive Assistant. Let me add that most hotels pay three people very hefty salaries for those 3 positions.) I can see where he might erroneously think that as the others are off for their full two-week vacations and I am only off for my 4-days. It may seem as though as I am off more often. Oh, well, after 24 years, I am used to it. Nonetheless, I am so very close to telling him to take that job and shove it!

So no work talk for the rest of the year!

Oh, my, these truffles are good!
They were part of my wine-on-top-of-the-package Christmas gift. I just opened them yesterday. MMMMMMMMMMMMM. I am only allowing myself two per day to savor their melt-in-the-mouth chocolate goodness. I have not had my two for today yet. Perhaps later tonight. Thanks, Chris!

While putting away the Christmas decorations, I decided to get rid of some games that have been sitting on the shelf for the past 15 years.
Just look at all of these games!

I also found a portable BBQ grill that has never been taken out of the box.
I think I bought it for DH before we were married (we've been married almost 21 years). I guess that gift was a DUD! LOL

It looks like we need to make a trip to donate to the thrift store.

I finished a new table runner yesterday.

Tomorrow I think I will begin hand quilting one of the quilts I finished piecing last fall.

It's Labor Day -- What better way to Celebrate than to Work?

O.K. I hear all of you saying that you can think of many more enjoyable ways to spend your Labor Day.

For me, it's just part of working in the hospitality industry. I work every Labor Day. I only had to work 5 hours anyway. Of course I also worked 4.5 hours Sunday.........such is life...the Big Kahuna has no sympathy for people who whine about working.

I did get to enjoy Labor Day. We had our annual party at DH's brother's home yesterday afternoon. It's a tame party...lots of good food, good company and conversation, and a few alcoholic drinks...I did not have any, but they always have beer, wine coolers, etc. Nobody over indulges....maybe that's because our local priest always comes to the party! LOL. I did notice that he had a few beers.

I took a coconut cake which actually turned out pretty good and everyone seemed to like it. I was happy about that since everything I bake lately seems to flop.

Heitagehunter left me this comment:
I just had a oriental poppy bloom, it has just open today. About a month ago I had one bloom but it was not formed correctly this one is small but very pretty.
I have had been growing oriental poppies for 15 years and have never had this before.
First of all, I would like to welcome you, Heritagehunter. Thanks so much for taking a moment to comment. It is interesting to know that I am not alone in my first time Oriental poppy rebloom. It must be some weird weather phenomena. Mine bloomed a couple of days ago and the bloom was smaller than normal. I noticed today that one of the other 3 buds is drying up.

I finally got to use some of that curly grass in a flower bouquet(s) on the table I did yesterday.

I think it makes a great accent.

On my way home from work today, I noticed that pretty blue weed flower was blooming along the roads. As soon as I got home, I changed clothes and headed out to get some.
I added them to my centerpiece. Last year someone told me the name of this wildflower, but I can't remember it at the moment.

I am planning to relax the rest of the day.

We will have a nice dinner of grilled chicken breasts, fresh corn, summer squash and tomatoes from the Farmer's market, and fingerling potatoes.

I hope you are all having a nice Labor Day.

Obedient Plant

About seven years ago I went on a garden tour and saw a big mass of a very delicate blooming plant. I asked the gardener what the plant was.

Obedient plant.

I had never heard of it, but went right to the nursery after the tour and bought two one-gallon containers of it in two shades of purple. This is the lighter purple. It somehow escaped my vigorous disposal efforts from the past two years. At first I was happy that it was spreading so nicely. I kept digging up sections and planting them in many of my other gardens. Before I knew it, the stuff took over!

I've been pretty successful in getting rid of it in most of the areas. Now I think I am glad I missed this area. It's a nice big swath, which I like, and it's growing in an area that is almost pure rock 3 inches down so my plant choices are limited. I think I will leave it here.

Here is the distant view so you can see it in relation to the rest of that garden. It's on the front right--just look at the flamingo head. You may need to click the picture if it's cut off on your monitor. You can see the blooms are quite small. Any idea what this bloom is? This is a macro shot of just a tiny element of the full bloom.




If you guessed globe thistle, you're correct.

Every year we garden bloggers have to get the requisite pic of a bee on the thistle.

Time for me to get ready for work. Yesterday was a rather pleasant 10-hr day getting caught up from the four days I missed last week. The Big Kahuna did a fine job taking care of a lot of my work. After today I will be all caught up.

I hope you all have a great work day today -- whether at home or elsewhere.

In Spite of the Rain, I Got a Lot Done Today

The Big Kahuna is on vacation so I had to go into work early this morning for just a short time to do the deposit and a few other things. It was pouring rain when I went in. I got home shortly after 8:00 a.m. and the rain had stopped. So I went out and worked in the gardens. It sprinkled a bit throughout the day, but I worked right through it.

Earlier in the week I had bought two containers of red petunias. I took one of them and split it into 3 plants. The second container was left as I purchased it, but I arranged it so that it looked like it was spilling out of a rusty old milk can. I put it all in the new path area.

The pink bloom in front is a heuchra that I moved from the rockwall garden.

Here is a closeup of the rusty milk can. See the frog I put in next to the astilbe I moved from another garden? I have fun with him, putting him in a different place every year.
We also hauled out the bird bath.

I like this picture of a drumstick allium that is growing in the middle of a Sedum Autumn Joy that I moved from a deck container last year. I couldn't resist a picture of the artistic curve of the allium. It will bloom as a small pink ball.

I also hand pruned the yew hedge that leads up to the deck entrance. It was encroaching on the sidewalk path. I took a good six inches off and now we can walk along the sidewalk with no problem.

Yesterday we went to pick up DH's new grill. It's his Father's Day present. Right now he is heating it up to grill some chicken breasts.

I have prepared six chicken breasts for him to grill. I plan to use the extras for chicken pot pie which I intend to make tomorrow.

All in all it's been a good day. I did not get any of the much-needed housework done, but I plan to do it tomorrow--unless something more exciting comes up. Life is too short to turn down a more exciting activity. I can always clean next week. :)

Moving Tulips in Full Bloom

Do THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I tend to buck the experts and move plants whenever the urge strikes.

The urge struck today.

My red and white parrot tulips bloom way in the back of my rockwall garden where they cannot be appreciated to their full potential.

When I got home from work today, I decided to move them. I think the Big Kahuna forcing me to do those planters yesterday has given me back some of my garden mojo....thanks Big K! It was also in the high 60's when I got home today, so that helped.

I dug the tulips out of the ground. Here are the first three.

Look, this one has 3 babies attached.

I pulled them apart to replant.

I dug a hole about six inches deep and popped the blooming tulips in, carefully filling in soil around each side of the bulb so it would not break off.

Look, they are even standing tall after I replanted them!

I planted the bulbettes in a different spot and only dug about a 4-inch deep hole. I should water them in, but so far I have not done so. The soil is still a bit moist from the recent rainfall and I doubt that I will go back after I cook dinner and clean up. But, really, YOU should not do as I am doing. YOU should give them a good drink of water. It's the old "Do as I say, not as I do". LOL.

I have been noticing a lot of allium blooming in areas that I don't remember planting. I swear that 10 minutes after I plant something I forget that I did it!
Here is one of the areas:

I would not normally put purple allium with purple tulips. It all blends together.

Usually I would put orange tulips with the purple.

These tulips were already planted and I must have just stuck a few allium in this garden last year.

For the past week DH and I have been enjoying California strawberries.
Most years the berries we get from CA are not very good.

They are big and hollow with no flavor.

This year is a pleasant surprise. The berries are delish!

For the past five nights we have had a spinach salad with strawberries,red onions and poppyseed dressing.

Tonight we finally finished the last of the two quarts of berries we bought last Sunday.

What a Cool Tulip!

They call it the Ice Cream Tulip.



It came in an email from Breck's today.


Isn't it wonderful? At $19.99 for 3 bulbs, I don't think I will be buying any. It takes at least a dozen tulip bulbs to make any impact in my garden (2 dz would be better) and I'm not paying that much per bulb. If you want to part with $6.00+ per bulb, you can go buy them here.



Danielle, thank you for your comment regarding the name of my tulips in the last post. I went and looked up the one you suggested. They do look similar, but I am not sure they are the same.

Mine are multi flowering (4 or 5 tulips on each stem) and those did not look to be. Mine did come from Breck's. I need to write to Brecks about the mix up. Maybe they will know for sure what they are.



I still have not been out planting. I think it's going to warm up a bit by the weekend so I may get out to at least do some weeding and work on the garden path.



Last night I went to look for annuals.....pathetic selection! I will have to pick out something because tomorrow the Big Kahuna wants me to do 4 planters at work. I am not in the mood to plant my own, let alone his, but he insists

Last year I wasn't in the mood either, so the Big K & I went out and just bought 4 potted containers and popped them in the bigger planters. I thought they were boring the entire season (I am not a geranium lover, but it was all we could find). I hope to improve upon the planting this year.

Wish me luck!