Bragging Rights

So my sister Betty calls me Saturday morning. It went something like this.

Betty Boop…"Hey, whatcha doing?"

Me…. "Nothing much, how about you?."

Baiting Boop….."I’m just calling to see if you put your hummingbird feeder up yet?" (Drat, I know exactly where this is going)

Me… "No not yet, why?" (feigning ignorance while swearing a blue streak under my breath).

Boastfull Boop…"Because we saw a hummer this morning, put our feeder up and are now watching the first hummer of the season. I just wanted to tell you so you would put yours out." (Yeah, sure, that’s exactly why you called. Uh huh, right. ) "Oh I’ve got another call, gotta go" (I could actually hear her smirking as she said goodby)

So once again Bratty Boop wins the annual "Nah, nah, I saw it first" contest. And while there’s no reward like a free lunch or anything like that involved (why would I ever agree to something like that when I have never, ever won this stupid contest) the winner does get bragging rights, which she takes full advantage of every chance she gets.

While we’re on the subject of show-offs and braggarts, here’s another one.

no, not this one


not this one either

Yep, this one

Now Cola definitely deserves those bragging rights!!

Looky What I Found

The last time my youngest sent me an e-mail with that as the subject line, I kinda held my breath knowing something was coming that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. Sure enough it was a picture of a very large RATTLESNAKE that she came across while she was hiking in the middle of nowhere in Arizona. And it wasn’t a far-off shot either. Too darn close for my liking and of course I proceeded to tell her so. (As usual, it went in one ear and out the other. I think she even went so far as to say she never got that ranting and raving e-mail that I sent her)

But I’m afraid there’s nothing as dramatic or exciting as that on my post. Sorry for those of you who were wishing there was. Nope, just some more of the same old, same old.

As you know, I transplanted my tumbling tom tomatoes into the hanging baskets and they are now too large to fit under the lights, so I had to put them by the windows hoping they get enough light until it’s time to take them outside.

But looky what I found

Now I know this can’t lead to anything because as far as I know there are no pollinators flying around in the house. Right? So should I pinch this cute little thing off? A little help here, please.

I also found this while checking the Illumination Begonias today

It doesn’t really look like the beginnings of a flower, but I’m not sure, so I would appreciate a little help with this also. Are you getting the idea that I have no idea whatsoever of what I’m doing here? Well, keep that idea because I’m also asking about these Cuphea.

Maybe to look like this

I’ve never tried these before but when the phrase in the catalogue says hummingbird magnet…..well, I can’t resist. Have any of you tried these? Good? Bad? Blah?
Okay, I guess I’ve picked your brains enough for one day.

Oh, looky what I found…

Nah, not really. This was just a little reward for hanging in there till the end.

Ready For An Update?

The last time you saw my little seedlings was on March 30th. I know you’ve been dying to see how they’re coming along. Right? If you nodded yes, you’re in luck. If you shook your head no….well what can I say.

First we have the Bizarre Snapdragons. Not much to look at now, but just you wait a month or so.

Next we have Mini Bell Snapdragons. Unlike regular snaps that…well you all know what snaps look like... you can’t squeeze these little cheeks to open their mouths because they’re already open.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with mini bells here is a batch that I had growing back in 2006

Moving on.. how about these Tumbling Tom Tomatoes. First time you saw them they were about 2” tall.
They are now 10-11” tall.

I’m thinking I started these too early. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I mean thoughts about tomatoes, not those other ones that might be floating around in your head right about now.

Next we have the Illumination Begonias. Off to a slow start, they certainly made up for it because these are now 8-9” tall, and growing fast. Since we have at least 3 more weeks before I can start taking these outside to harden off I also hope I didn’t start these too soon.


Last but not least we have the monkeys (Mimulus). Plants are still fairly small, only about 2” tall but take a gander at these cuties. I know most of you would say to pinch them back, but I just can’t bear to pinch off their pretty heads. They make me smile and bring a little color when all the other seedlings are just a sea of green. And since they only take a month from planting to blooming and I have plenty of seeds left, I’m going to enjoy these while I can. Wouldn’t you?

Liar, Liar

I know I said I wasn’t going to post a picture of my Tête-à-tête daffodils on here, but since they’re still blooming and pickings are pretty slim around here I’ve changed my mind. So I lied, so sue me.


I’m also going to show you my Cola lilies. Well the start of them anyhow. Looks like they’re going to be huge again just like last year. These were the ones that were advertised as being 24” – 36” tall and actually grew into 54” monsters. But what gorgeous monsters they were!!


Next we have the little bleeding heart that I bought new last year. A few weeks ago, Miss Goody Two-shoes aka sister Betty, stopped over and I was lamenting the fact that I thought I had lost this little plant over the winter. I had checked it out a few days prior and there was nothing, nada, coming up. Well, wouldn’t you know, Miss Smarty Pants pulled off all of last years dead leaves, I prefer thinking them as a blanket, and there it was. New little green shoots. Well, since then it’s been making up for lost time and this is what it looks like this morning.


Moving on, this is the Clove Currant shrub that the aforementioned Miss Goody…. Pants gave me as a 12” starter twig back in 2005 and which is now 6’ tall.

Soon to look like this

She didn’t know the name, I didn’t know the name and it wasn’t until we gave another starter twig to FD#2 a couple of years later that we finally found out what it was called. (she knows things like that) But what’s important about this one is the fragrance. WOW!!!!!!! Yep, it’s that good!!!
And in a few weeks this heavenly aroma will be filling the entire back yard

And last we have the iris. Not very large yet but I’m happy anything is still here since something has been chomping and gnawing on it ever since the new shoots started poking up through the…um..blanket.


I’m not sure what likes to chew on these. With all the squirrels around here and the rabbit I see running through the yard every morning it’s anybody’s guess.


Oh, no it wasn’t that one,
It was this one.


Destructive little rodents!

A Couple Of Firsts

I know this is not April 1st, but there were a couple of firsts for me today. The first one is I finally got some blooms in the yard. My Tete a Tete daffodils finally showed their little faces. No picture here because everyone has their own to look at and I know you don’t need/want to see any more.

The second first is the first bee. Not sure why he showed up since the only thing blooming around here is the above mentioned daffy, and I don’t think they like those. Needless to say he didn’t stick around long. No picture because...well it's a bee.

The third first is a Rufous Sided Towhee in my backyard. No picture of him either because he was extremely skittish and immediately disappeared as soon as he saw me heading out the door with the camera, which is usually what happens anytime I try to take a picture of anything that flies, crawls, swims, or walks.

Next we have the first day it has hit the 70* mark, which also makes it the first day I have the windows wide open filling the house with something other than recycled heated air from the furnace. Yippee!! Cough, hack, sneeze, choke, gasp. Not used to this stuff!! Count your blessings there's no picture of that.

And finally, it is the first day I have taken the new cart for a walk down to the store. I know, I know, that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, but unfortunately it is a big deal for me. It actually took me 45 minutes to talk myself into it. For some unknown reason, I feel very conspicuous and self conscious walking down the street dragging this cart behind me. I know as soon as I walk out the door there will be dozens of people going by, gawking, honking, laughing, pointing and generally having a good time at my expense. I’m sure parades will spring up out of nowhere, television crews will show up and I’ll be the lead-in story on the 11:00 news.

Paranoid? Perhaps just a tad. Fact is, only 2 cars went by the whole time it took me to walk to the store, and neither one of them slowed down to look and laugh but I still felt uncomfortable the whole way. That is until I finished shopping and started home. Six heavy bags of groceries snug inside the cart, big wheels rolling effortlessly along, strolling down the sidewalk without strain, pain or aching arms. Ha, look who’s laughing and pointing now. I am!! Eat your hearts out passersby’s. You wish you had one of these, don’t you? Whoo hoo!!

If you want to see a picture of this, check your news channel. I think I might have seen a tv truck hiding in one of the side streets.