~ El Nino -- I Loves Ya ~

We are 'still' harvesting collards from the garden. It's the end of November in NORTH DAKOTA!! I could really, really get used to this.

~ Sunday Morning Spot of Tea ~

Jack keeping my chair warm and watching my cuppa Red Bush tea.

How to make the most out of a blurry photo...

PhotoShop it with a watercolor filter! This may be my favorite photo of Solomon, but he was spinning around and the photo was quite blurry.

~ A Trip down to the Hills ~

Solomon ~ 3 years

~ Happy Birthday Jack ~

Eleven years old today.

You are a GREAT dog.

~ Oh, the Irony ~

Dog under the dogwood.

~ Not as Promised ~

... by the manufacturer of the Topsy-Turvy regarding abundant yield, but I blame it on the weather. Looks like a dozen tomatoes will make it to the table and who can complain about that?

~ The Dog Days of August ~

Well at least in photos. The dog days of August did not materialize this year, but Jack is enjoying the great temps and sunshine regardless. Old dogs love a nice summer day -- as they should.

Kirby-Kim Family Reunion - Summer 2009

It is with heartfelt gratitude and admiration to Amy Sievers for her beautiful photography and artistic eye in capturing our family reunion in Maryland this summer. Thank you Amy. And to my friends -- enjoy this slideshow. Turn your speakers on.

STUDIO 205 ~ Amy Sievers at: http://www.studio205.net/

~ Freak Hail Storm adds Adventure ~

Half way through putting a new roof on the house a freak hailstorm from nowhere pelted the area. Only a minor setback while things quickly got covered and when the sun came out the job was completed. The new roof looks awesome.

~ Sampling ~

A corner of the backyard. The 'sandbox' has exceeded all expectations for producing an amazing amount of food in a very small space. Can anyone spot the apples, and a peek at the cherries in this photo? [you will have to click to enlarge the photo]

~ This Poor Chap Must Have Had One Heck of a Migration ~

This is the ONLY butterfly I have seen all summer which is amazing considering I have about thirty-eight thousand trillion jillion flowers in my yard. This poor guy looks like he flew through rain, hail, sleet, and a plague of locusts to get here. At least he's made a few friends with Mr. BumbleBee and Mr. Daddy Longlegs.

~ Two of My Favorite Things ~

Purple Basil

Prostrate Rosemary
Ooooooh... the culinary possibilities!

~ Rescue Project - Summer 2009 ~

Each summer I find a plant at the nursery that is near death and usually marked down to 25 cents or even as high as 50 cents and make it my project to save. Last year it was a most pathetic looking verbena. By summer's end it was the probably the most beautiful plant in a pot. This year this sad little varigated coleus spoke to me and despite, or because of a miserably cold summer he/she? thrived and even flowered this past weekend. I really should have taken a before photo, but suffice to say none of the original leaves are here.

~ I Love Bees ~

Click on this photo to enlarge and see

the iridescence of this guy.

We seem to have a dozen or more kinds of bees this year. These guys are the only ones that stay in one spot long enough to photograph. Those whose legs are dripping with orange/yellow pollen just flit around too quickly to capture with the lens.

Incoming.

Safe landing.

Sour Cherry Jam Anyone?

Absolutely no complaints about the cherry harvest this year. The branches are so laden with fruit they nearly hang on the ground. I just need to make sure I get these picked before the yellow jackets show up. They can pick this tree to the pits in about 24 hours. Birds like the cherries as much as we do also.

Tomatoes ~ The Bottom Line

We had a less than a stellar summer as far as growing vegetables that love hot sunny weather. Collards and beets have done wonderfully, but the tomatoes have managed to mostly grow spectacular green leaves. :) The fruits appear to be ornamental size and a gorgeous green so far. I'm hoping we get some warmer weather and the sun makes an appearance for a week or two to change this. If not -- I'll have resort to the brown paper bag trick.

I was not impressed with the topsy turvey thing-a-ma-jig this year, but in all fairness I don't think the growing season was a good one to judge by. I will give it another go next year. Only a handful of tomatoes of medium size and not even beginning to turn red. I also had a lot of trouble with leaves yellowing which I am going to attribute to the cool, no, make that cold summer.

This plant is over 7 feet tall growing along side the house. It is having a race with the hollyhock next to it -- which appears to be winning at this point. The tomatoes are cleverly hidden deep within the plant. They are decent in size -- a delightful green color.

And finally, the grape tomato plant growing up the fence on numerous stakes and about twenty pieces of twine holding up the 4-5 foot branches. The plant itself taller than the fence which is 6.5 feet tall. There are a gadzillion grape tomatoes on this plant -- all that fabulous green color. If they ripen we'll be up to our eyeballs in grape tomatoes and that is not a bad thing.

~ Mallow ~

Somehow our weather got switched with Seattle's weather this summer minus the rain. Cold and clouds are persistent even to the point of having to turn the heat on in the morning. I didn't think my mallow would amount to much but planting it in the trusty old whiskey barrel has been to its liking. The year 2009 will go down in the books as the summer that never arrived.

~ Rejection ~

Guess who doesn't care for blueberries.

~ 10th Summer ~

Older, lumpier, missing an eye and some teeth, but still getting better with age.

Jack ~ Summer 2009

Sandbox and TopsyTurvy Update

I no longer hear complaining about the 'sandbox' :)

Say what you want about North Dakota (good or bad), but we can grow some serious tomatoes in the land of 17 hour days in the summer. For only a short while in this contraption, the tomato plant is stellar.

Bergenia cordifolia

Bergenia cordifolia. One of my favorite shade garden flowers. I just wish that it bloomed later when the rest of the garden has filled in. It's a lone voice in wind so early in the spring, and an odd fellow at that. This plant stays green throughout the winter, and our winters are harsh [30 degrees below zero]. It will bloom once and then it is done but the leaves stay a glossy green. My camera doesn't do the blooms justice. The pink is literally flourescent.

Watch This Spot

That itty bitty plant sticking out from the bottom (see red arrow) will be a future perfect tomato plant free of bugs, disease, and everything else that can go wrong when you plant it in the ground -- or so the advert says. It all seems too good to be true but I'm giving it a try. So far I've learned that this bag 'o dirt is heavy and finding a place to hang it was a challenge. I can't imagine how much more it will weigh with a full grown plant and serious root ball. Anyway, keep your eye on this spot for updates.

The Sandbox

So what does one do when they want another raised bed garden but don't have any space? They build it right smack in the middle of their backyard much to the chagrin of their spouse who has named it [through gritted teeth] "the sandbox." Why is it that he hasn't seen the plus side of less grass to mow? The painting theme was unintentional. Since coffee cans are no longer made out of metal we had to use one gallon painting cans. Without them the cutworms would snap off the tomatoes at the dirt level overnight. We also seem to collect painting sticks like some folks collect old newspapers. I think of this as the Italian garden: tomatoes, basil, rosemary, lettuce, and Italian flat beans are growing here.

I Love This Tree

Caragana arborescens 'Pendula'Weeping Pea Tree
Siberian Pea Shrub

Yellow

They're back, which means summer is around the corner.

I hope that is true.

Audience of One

This Cedar Waxwing was very interested in watching me do the dishes.

Closure

We buried Dan's ashes yesterday. It was a beautiful, calm, warm Sunday afternoon. In a few days this apple tree will leaf out and many birds will enjoy a bath and refreshing drink here. Dan would be pleased.

Rest in peace our beautiful red and white boy.

Spring Break

March - 2009

Sepia

Shapes

Ears Up

Preparing for liftoff.

Feeling Stripey

Old Dogs Love a Nice Fire Box

Jack

~ He Was My Dog ~

Dan

11/29/2000 - 10/9/2008

Dan was the best darn Basenji in the world. Although he never 'barooed' like a Basenji he could bark with the best of any breed of dog. Dan put to rest that misconception that Basenjis don't bark! We never lost a pair of shoes, underwear, toilet paper, or any type of bedding to the chewing behavior that Basenjis are renown for. He actually enjoyed his crate and would often times choose that as his afternoon or evening napping place. He never counter-surfed, tried to escape from the yard, or dash out a door. He could even be trusted to stay in the house unsupervised (not something Basenjis are especially noted for). He demanded attention pretty much 24/7 and expected nothing less than complete adoration. He got that in spades from both of his people gladly.

We miss you Dan.

A Suprise Visit After the Sub-Zero Temps

Our winter feeders this year have been mostly Pine Siskins, RedPolls, and a handful of Juncos who decided to overwinter here. This is the first I've seen of Purple Finches -- and to think they have made it trough our arctic temps!