Aiden's stocking

The rains have returned and that means it's time to stitch! This project is a stocking for my youngest nephew Aiden. It seems to be moving along quickly, but I don't think it will be done in time for this Christmas. Maybe, if I didn't have to work...

Checking His List Stocking designed by Donna Race

10.4.11

10.6.11

10.10.11

10.14.11

10.23.11

Today is a rainy Sunday, football is on, apple sauce is warming in the slow cooker and I'm looking forward to another day of stitching.

Be a pansie!

I thought some fall color would be nice on the porch. Tony's Garden Center was having a sale on fall and winter pansies. Perfect!

English Breakfast Dahlia

She's a beauty!

Lupine

A few weeks after I took this picture, some creepy white bugs took over and ate my beautiful Lupine. :(

Stop and smell the roses

It smells as just as pretty.

Never done weeding...

Lupine, white Surdiva and pink Million Bells

Hens and Chicks

The rhodies are so pretty when in bloom, such a sticky pain when they're not.

Didn't get very many tulips or daffodil blooms this year. Maybe some better soil and compost will produce more flowers next spring.

The husband will get a mow in if it ever stops raining.

I guess the late trim on the roses didn't harm them too much.

Done weeding

Grassing, is more like it. There is a lot more grass growing in my flower beds than there are weeds. Not sure which is worse.

I may have waited too long to trim the roses back this spring. We'll just have to wait and see.

My mom and Nephew Keegan made this.

Grow already!

Pretty.

Growth

I guess one good thing about all of this rain is that we save money on our water bill.

Mother's Day

Tony's had a sale on hanging baskets - buy two get one free. I picked up this fuschia for my mom, a pink Million Bells basket for my sister and Camille got an orange Million Bells basket for me.

These flowers are so beautiful.

One week later...

Oy! The rain!

Remember this...

Ta da! Kept the Hens and Chicks, added some Yellow Ice Flower and something else that I am forgetting right now. Yay for Tony's!

I picked up an English Breakfast dahlia bulb, too. Trust me, it's in there.

Two of the four tulips that popped up this year.

More progress with the first weeding of the year!

The pink rhodie is starting to bloom.

Spring has sprung

Well, kind of.

One of my goals this year was to put a bit more effort into taking care of the yard this year. Unfortunately, this has got to be one of the wettest springs in Oregon history, so finding the time to get out in the yard when it is not raining has been a bit of a challenge. This is where I started...

I got four whole tulips this year. I think we need to start with some better dirt and compost.

Red rhodie and purple rhodie. They are so pretty when they bloom, but what a sticky mess when they're done!

I got a fair amount of daffodils this year. I also noticed that my flowers bloomed later than the neighbors' flowers.

The poor cherry tree barely even blossomed this year!

Rose bushes and pink rhodie.

This has got to go!

What to put here? I've thought about planting something that is pretty and/or smells good and climbs (jasmine, passion flower, clematis) here and letting it grow into the broken windmill that sits next to this pile of rocks.

What to put here? I'm thinking about digging up that grass and planting some dahlias.

Yes, it is April and our Christmas lights are still up. That plant hanger looks awfully empty.

The landlord may fix up the deck and paint the trim this year.

One of my goals within my goal of keeping up with the yard is to buy locally. There is a great garden center right down the street from our house (Tony's Garden Center just before 104th and Holgate). I bought these three plants for $8 and some change - blue Lupine, Million Bells and something else that I am forgetting right now.

Progress! An afternoon of weeding.

Time for a cold one...