today's toast postie

[magicicada]

the weather was cool and slightly windy today, so i had a second unexpected batch of gardening fun. that and h_postmortemus consented to play with super-adorable sylvia. i have now gotten almost all of my new plants in the ground. the yellow coreopsis is in front of a band of will-be-blue-when-they're-blooming salvia which is in front of some very tall yellow rudbeckias. the effect should be stunning if everything blooms properly. one of the ways gardening challenges me is that i like the look of english cottage gardens, but tend to plant in grids. i made a real effort with the last couple of plantings to go for more of a drift effect. as a result, the band of salvias looked a bit asymmetric (yes, i know that's the goal) and unbalanced (not good). so i stuck in my new lamium (white nancy) off to one side to help balance things out. hmmm.... we'll see. i've got one small shrub sized patch left in that garden bed and i'm trying to decide what to put there. i could move my ailing azaleas, but i'm not sure this spot is any better than the one they're in. my best theory is that i planted them to close to the oak trees and the proposed new spot is under a huge tree. can't remember what kind for the life of me. one of them flowering NC trees.

still to be planted: mini hosta and oh yes, the unnamed garden bed by the kitchen door which is contiguous with one of the unnamed front garden beds. that bed will get the english lavender, 5 rose plants, a rosemary and some redistributed bearded irises.

i haven't mentioned the veggie garden yet as it's fairly carefree. i should rip out the cabbages, brussel sprouts and broccoli. i have not had any luck with this family at all, as their pests are absolutely ravenous. dipel has had no success and i will try floating row covers next time. if there is a next time *glare*. the lettuces have finally bolted *sigh*. i should plant a second batch. if it's not too late, i might plant some squashes, but i suspect it is. all in all, i'd say gardening is going better with a small child than pregnant with one.

sylvia was generally in good spirits today which helped a lot with getting things done. while i folded clothes she practiced sitting on the bed, protected by a special baby bunker composed of pillows and a comforter. she did pretty well and at one point, she was sitting up, holding and shaking her cube and looked very content. i think the ability to sit is going to help a lot with her general frustration level. we are managing to get her in her crib for an hr + nearly every night and are trying to start a nightly routine in hopes of helping her to learn to fall asleep.

sylvia has also started her modeling career and is doing quite well. i knew she'd be helpful at some point, but i thought we'd have to wait until she was big enough to load the dishwasher. (it's a joke, son, a joke i say)

lessee, what else happened today. at lunchtime it was still cool so we had sandwiches out at our picnic table. dinner was casserole, but it was mighty tasty all the same.

Comments

[fizzgig-bites.livejournal.com]

You're very lucky. Anna won't let me garden and after she started walking, she helped *cringe*. I replanted lots of plants, especially my orchids who don't like the roots messed with.

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

this is where ed can provide an assist. most of my gardening i have gotten done in small raids while jeff was watching sylvia. jeff could not watch sylvia for me while she was in utero and the problem then was that i was too tired. i still need to take care of myself for sylvia, but even if i get a little overheated, i can rehydrate and everyone's happy. i am a bit concerned over the 'helping' stage. i'll need to give her a garden bed of her own. hmmm, front garden bed number 5. i'm not looking forward to the 'don't eat that' stage. i hope this will be made up for by the 'dig up anything that looks like this' stage. i remember hours and hours of digging up dewberries from my mom's garden, and those things have thorns!

[fizzgig-bites.livejournal.com]

Anna has reached the "don't touch me! I wanna do this, no that!" stage. Ed tries, he takes her into the commons backyard while I work in our backyard. It buys me a few minutes. Mostly, it has been raining so out side is very short. My orchids seem to love it.

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

i understand. i'm enjoying the good life while i can. there are some things that jeff just can't help me with. our rain finally stopped and things were really nice for a couple of days. of course, you're in miami so the temps will probably be in the 90+ range ;)