New for Okanagan gardeners, Icicle hydrangeas

 

 

 

Announcing the newest variety of Hydrangea available to Okanagan gardeners, Hydrangea paniculata “Icicle.”  Available anywhere the temperatures are dropping, and there is some dripping water. 

 

 

We really need to get some eve droughts.  Apparently no one ever bothered getting them installed before, and the freeze thaw definitely isn’t good for the plants at the foundation. And having icy water dripping down my neck every time we go through the front door just doesn’t work for me.

 

 

On another note, guess who is having his claws clipped rather close from now on?  Well the Big bad Boo! that’s who.  We just bought two lovely area rugs, and Boo decided that they were scratching posts, not a good idea Boo.  Not even three days in the house, and they are showing signs of distress.

 

 

With laminate flooring everywhere, he is very happy to have this great big scratching post laid out for him on the floor.  Now he gets to keep his feet warm, and sharpen his nails.

 

 

Well I have other plans!

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

I can’t find _ _ _ _ and the _ _ _ _ seems to have disappeared?

 

Moving, a perfect way to lose, or break almost anything that is near and dear to you.  All day long it seems like we are asking each other, do you know where the "_ _ _ _ “ is, or have you seen the _ _ _ _ lately?  How do things disappear into thin air, out of a cardboard box, never to reappear again.  Especially when you know that you packed them at the other end.

We are missing a few items that have a huge sentimental value, my husbands participation medal from his first marathon.  The photos, the medal, the paperwork, all gone… The little alarm clock that was on my night table for over a decade, ever since my Mom gave it to me…gone.

I’ve since found the frying pan, and the baking rack, but the salad spinner is gone.  The cute little cache pot I used for small plants is broken, a beautiful glass bowl is chipped, and my wonderful dragonfly bird bath has a broken wing.  All day we ask each other, have you seen the _ _ _ or the _ _ _, it’s like insert item, so much is misplaced, or maybe missing.

Many of our boxes survived their upside down delivery, and I honestly don’t know where in the two part move it happened.  Somewhere along the line, the boxes in my craft room have been turned upside down, not a good thing for boxes with small parts.  So all of my carefully packed crafting supplies are hither and thither…that’s life I guess. But can’t anyone read “this side up?”

Seems like his highness, Bootsie has settled in nicely.  He loves the space, and aside from the neighbours yappy dog, hasn’t any problems.  He follows the sun, moving from room to room.

Stuff is getting out there, but it still seems over whelming messy, and I have a problem with that.  We have almost decided on a paint color, I know…I keep teasing you with hints…but the house is messier then I like, and I just haven’t seen the sun for so long that most of my shots are blurry with the lack of light.  I did find my flash, and I will need to organize some shots to share..please be patient. 

Between the move, setting up house, and helping out my Mom, and Dad, we are a little wiped. It’s slowly getting better, now if I can just find the _ _ _ or the _ _ _ life would be grand.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

If winter tarries too long, make your own spring

 

The gardener in me being ever the optimist, I am celebrating the fact that we didn’t move up here to the “frozen north, or land of endless skies” until the beginning of December last year.  Winter tarries long here, holding on with icy fingers, and giving in begrudgingly to spring. 

Whenever spring is coming….there that’s the realist in me.

By moving here in the middle of winter, we shortened the time I have to live without green things growing, at least for the first year.  Who knows what I am going to do next winter, make my own spring I guess.

Down on the coast there are crocus blooming, there are BUDS on the branches, GREEN BUDS! And yes that was all capital letters, it was required by the gardener in me. So who’s whining, not me, it’s just that gardener chick that lives inside of me.

Winter is tarrying, taking it’s sweet time, hanging out, flirting with us, giving us the occasional day of warmer above 0 temperatures, and then snatching it back with a vengeance.  They are predicting –12 C this week.  That’s pretty cold if you can’t do the conversion.  In fact when we lived in White Rock, that would be “alarm bells” cold.  Seriously cold, as in ice half way up the windows of the condo kind of cold, but we are made of sterner stuff now, and this house has better insulation.

In a recent trip to the “big city” of Kelowna, I noticed that the closer we got to the city, the less snow there was.  It’s kind of hard to admit that my sister [she who knows houses] was right, and they do get less snow there then we do.  In fact Kelowna was brown, while here it’s white.  It’s white, snowy fluffy stuff everywhere, including my garden.

Which has the gardener chick in me wringing her hands, and worrying if spring will ever come.  Well that’s fine, I have over 30,000 photos on my hard drive, and most of them are flowers, I can print them out and plaster the house with them should I so choose…so take that winter!

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams