Tankene

Happy Birthday to Tankene Ice Mist on June 24th. What a beautiful purbaby I am. I call for my Mom like this: " Ma-a-a-ah" and she comes running and answers me with her own reply. I have been chasing Princess Sinatra hoping she'll be my girl but she is a " princess" and refuses my loving gestures. I just met another NFC who lives in Germany who is just beautiful. Hello to Siena Snowfox-you are so foxy! Hope we can be friends.Keep thoses purprints coming. Signed, Tankene Ice Mist

Birthday Blessings

My birthday falls in June along with my husband, two daughters, grandson, sister and Tankene, my new kitty. It is a crazy month. The first part of the month began like this: my dear friends suprised me with gifts on my desk at work, a yummy lunch, more gifts, and my family had a surprise party Friday evening. Here's a note I wrote my friend explaining some of the details:
Good afternoon Sunshine, It sure was great to share some laughs and food last Friday! Many thanks for the dazzling blue pottery and the pink forget-me-nots, so -exquisite- I planted my reluctant-to-bloom, Christmas Cactus in my new pot with lots of rich soil. Did anyone hear my 911 message I sent out over the windwaves on Sat.? "Help Sunshine- I am working too hard in my garden." I over worked my hands and back and ended on a heating pad Sunday evening-ahh--as for the "surprise " party on Friday evening, Trace cleaned the house and made delicious chicken, my girls decorated the house, complete with balloons, butterflies, and sparkles. Blake blew up balloons and put sparkles in some mystery balloons- I had to "guess" which balloons had the sparkles inside, stomp on the balloon and collect the sparkles. Blake ended up throwing sparkles into my garden-- so one morning I may see a little flash of light and "Voila" a tiny sparkle will light my way! My winner's prize was a corn plant! What a blessing to have such loving friends and family! I really had a Happy Birthday.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blueberrries:nature's super fruit!

Blueberries come in many varieties but we settled on the 'SharpBlue' and O'Neal because they are supposed to be delicious and easy to grow. The botanical name is ' Vaccinium corymbosum ' and they are a nutrious addition to the garden. One of my gardening friends said to plant them with peat moss on the bottom of the hole and some orchid bark on the top of the surface so I'll have to give that a try!

Earth Day

Earth Day is on April 22 and my dear friend is graduating from work to play. How joyful to have more time. Enjoying family, friends, and pets, gardening, creating, writing, and helping others are just some of the blessings of taking off the yoke of daily work and putting on the welcoming cloak of play.Congratulations!

Feb. Dream Gardens

My dear gardening friend, Sunshine, and I picked our dream plants today over coffee. They are Forsythia, Lilacs in pink, purple, and white, the Snowball Bush, and lots of Wysteria draping through the lath house. These are all plants that remind us of our youth and other gardens in long ago time. Aye we were a wee bit wistful for those days of yore and the special people who tended our dream gardens so lovingly. Jesus thanks for all the flowers you let us enjoy. I forgot to add cherry trees to the dream garden.The cherry buds are almost ready to burst into bloom - so enjoy this picture of last year's glory and the blessings of the flowers of Spring.

Bareroot Planting

Last Saturday was unusually warm for January. The thermometer registered about 68 in the sun.The sky was a cerulean blue and my hands started itching to plant something in the moist earth. "How about we get a bareroot peach I asked my husband?" Trouble is we would have to travel about ten miles to get to the nearest garden center and neither of us was into driving. After all it was Saturday and we were feeling lazy. Trace had an idea! "I'll call Richard in San Jose and ask him to pick up a bareroot peach for us at Home Depot." Richard answered the phone from Starbucks and said he'd take a look for us. The next thing I know, Richard had bought us a tree and a bag of good manure and driven all the way up to the mountains to deliver it to us! What a guy. He refused to take any money and all we could do was marvel at his kindness. Now that's a good friend with a great heart. The bareroot peach is called a "Red Haven Peach" It should have medium sized fruit and is considered one of the best tasting peaches. We planted it Sunday and I can see it from my bedroom. It should be very lovely when it's larger and in bloom.I discovered a cool website: Trees of Antiquity that sells heirloom trees and berries.