Friday, August 6, 2010

Fertilizer Friday again!


It's Fertilizer Friday!  Join Tootsie by clicking on the Fertilizer Friday icon to see what's blooming in gorgeous gardens from all over!
'Endless Summer' Hydrangea
I woke up this morning with one idea in my head---'I need a haircut.'  I get like this, I can put off haircuts and whatnot appointments for months and months, but suddenly the snaggy hair thing reaches epidemic proportions and I have to act now!

  I really should spend more time on my looks than I do, but for some reason it's low on my priorities.  I have a dear friend who has taken on the chore of trying to do something with my hair for years now, and she graciously accepted my pleas for help today.  So now I am sporting a brand new trim for the big events of next week, which include the TV interview and a niece's wedding.  Thank  you, Nancy!!


Coral 'Magellan' Zinnias, Dusty Miller and my favorite little boy statue
After returning home from my haircut, I was working on sorting through some papers when a large truck pulled in and a young man hopped out and knocked on the back door.  It appears this guy had a similar urge to my haircut deal when he woke up this morning; he wanted to know if I could 'help him out' by taking some blacktop off his hands.  Seems he was working on a jobsite and they ran out of room to put the blacktop, so if I would be a good sport, he would gladly bring the homeless asphalt to our driveway and pave the entire thing. 

"Wouldn't you just love to have a blacktopped driveway?" he asked.  "Just think how nice it would be!  And we would be in and out of here in a very short time, won't take us long at all.  We won't charge you for the blacktop, in fact you'd be doing us a favor.  C'mon, whaddya say?  Have we got a deal?"

I'm listening to his spiel, nodding my head, yes, I would like a paved driveway and it would be nice and it wouldn't take him long and he won't charge me for the blacktop........ah, wait a minute--- what?

"You're going to do this for nothing? I asked.  "Wow."




"Wellll...YES! The blacktop will cost you nothing!   I guarantee it!  We'd get around only $20 a (and here I'm not sure what he said....if it was $20 a square yard or square foot, but anyway, doesn't matter!) for labor and we have all the equipment we need to finish this job.  You will not be sorry.    So, what'll it be?"

I shook my head and wondered why I answered the door.  The reason I did respond was my visitor was dressed in an official-looking orange safety vest with a matching symbol on his the truck's side.  I really thought he had something to do with the highway department, foolish me!  Nope, he's just a guy running around with a load of  free blacktop to the first good home.  

(Kind of gives the term 'asphalt' a whole new meaning...in this circumstance, if I would have bought the terrifically discounted blacktop and it wasn't any good, I would have been at fault and also an as....ok, never mind!)  

Oh, by the way, I didn't buy anything!





I also didn't get a chance to take any pictures today.  After looking through some of my photos, I was amazed at how the gardens looked so much better last year in a drought than this year with all the incessant rain we had.  So, at the risk of being a 'cheater' the pictures in this post are all from August 2009.
Gazebo and petunias
Quarry & Cedars

Formal garden dome and coleus
North side quarry hill
Old front porch railings redone as entrance





Riverbed and annuals
'Goldsturm' Rudbeckia
'Fresh Look' celosia and the rest of my goofy color schemes
Front of the house
Quarry


And now I have to show you the prettiest flower in my garden last August--
My Mom, Lucille, at age 89, weeding!
I realize this is a poor picture of my dear mother (who will be 90 this month!!!!)  But trust me, to get even this close to the Elusive Lucille is a feat in itself, much like trying to capture a rare butterfly seated on a charging elephant on film and still live to talk about it.  Mom loves pictures, as long as they do not contain her image.  Her aim was off in this instance; she threw her trowel at me, but the pond is bigger than it looks and it fell short of bonking me in the head.  Mom is so feisty!

Before I forget, there's another project we've been tackling the last few days--moving a 50' wall of tufa stone from the west side of the house to the east hosta garden.  There will be more news on this tomorrow.  

See you soon!

Karen

9 comments:

Alison said...

Glad to hear you did not take the young man up on his offer, I'm pretty sure it was some kind of scam!

That Endless Summer Hydrangea is gorgeous, that might just be the next one on my "To Buy" list. Your stone walls are amazing, please tell me they're not all tufa. Also love that arch made out of repurposed porch railings. It's so great to see your mom still so active, my mom is the same age, and she can't even walk around the block without getting winded (she has heart problems). I know how your mom feels, I am the same way about photos with me in them.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures! Don't mind that they are last year's.

Darla said...

Be careful answering you door like that. Your gardens were beautiful last year. I like your mom. AND where is the photo of your new haircut?

Antique ART Garden said...

Your garden is absolutely spectacular.

Beth said...

Karen, Your gardens are fabulous! I love the quarry garden and the riverbed and also the entrance gate you put up (blue). How creative you are. And a hard worker, too! Do you do all the gardening yourself? That is, you and your mother? lol
Thanks for stopping by. It was nice meeting you!
Beth

klaraau01 said...

Thank you for sharing your beautiful garden and magical place

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Karen your photos are lovely even if they are a year old. I am thinking my garden looked much better last year also.

Eileen

Erin said...

I wish my garden looked 10% as well as yours does...your gardens definitely inspire me to keep learning.

Sandy said...

When I stop by to stroll through your garden,, "I don't want to leave"....just beautiful.. too bad it's not a year round thing up there!
Thank you for your visit to my blog today.. and cooling off with us.. I lived in central Illinois before coming down to florida and I still dont miss the snow and the work involved with snow.. but yesterday "I needed it".. was 105' index here and enough is enough!
Ok.. let me get back to my stroll.. lovely garden!
Sandy

Tootsie said...

your photos are outstanding!!! this year or not...they are definitely worth flaunting...congrats on the asphalt...enjoy!!!