Monthly Archives: June 2020

Patience

Gardens, , ,

This is a hollyhock that I have grown from seed. I started six of them indoors last spring. This is the lone survivor. When they reached a few inches in height, I transplanted them to my flowerbeds. This one in the rose bed will bloom soon.

Hollyhocks are biennials. They don’t bloom until their second year. So I am eagerly waiting to find out what color it is since I planted a packet of mixed colors. I check every day now for any hint of color.

I started several more hollyhocks from seed this year. Although they do reseed themselves, you have to plant them for two successive years to have blooms every year. I am keeping this year’s seedlings in pots until they are bigger in the hope of having a higher survival rate.

The anticipation is real!

Benefits of the Sit-Stay

Dogs & Other Animals, Gardens, , ,

Zekie holding a stay in front of the irises

Zekie staying by the wygelia

We walked around the yard this afternoon checking out various plants. As Zekie walked by some of them, I thought what a beautiful photo that would make. So, I told Zekie to sit, and then to stay.

He is familiar with this process now. I can saw his name to get him to look at the camera and he continues to hold his stay. He waits for a release command which could be in the form of:

  • Ok-meaning you’re released to move about
  • Come-means come to me
  • Ok, let’s go-which means come to me and we will proceed to walk

These are just commands as I use them. Unless you are competing, it really doesn’t matter the words you use as long as you are consistent and can communicate with your dog to get the results you want.

With most dogs, keeping commands short, one or two words is best. This is what I do for all our dogs. Zekie is very communicative and seems to be able to comprehend sentences at other times though. Such as, “be quiet or you’re going in your crate”. (“Be quiet” when used by itself is less effective.) “Where is daddy?” “Go get your bone.” “I’ll be right back.” He responds appropriately to all of these sentences.

An intelligent mind can be both a blessing and a curse in a dog. They spend lots of time thinking. It is up to us to channel those thoughts in a direction that we find appropriate. Otherwise, the dog will channel them as he deems appropriate, and we may not agree!

Still Mulching

Country Life, Gardens, ,

I spent several hours today weeding and mulching my peony and iris bed. Hubby tried to weedeat it for me, but the plants are just too close together. It caused too much destruction. So I am weeding by hand.

I will finish tomorrow. I was driven inside mid-afternoon by the large amount of fly bites I was getting, along with the biting gnats and bees, it was too much for me. Even though I had to take an antihistamine to deal with the various bug bites, I must say the flowerbed is looking good.

The bed also contains false indigo, hardy amaryllis, and a young red maple. I don’t know how I ever had time to work. Retirement is exhausting!

The peonies in this bed should bloom soon and I will post pictures when they do. I want to start posting more pictures on my Sanctuary Acres Facebook page, so you may want to follow that as well. I promise there will be no political posts on that page. Maybe an occasional spay/neuter comment. Mostly it will be photos of our flowers, gardens and animals.

A Day In My Gardening Life (Mulch!)

Country Life, Gardens, ,

My plan this morning was to spend it mulching flowerbeds. I went outside and found my husband sorting wood left from past carpentry projects. I took off my gardening gloves and stopped to help him, so it would get finished before the rain came. I didn’t want to get the mulch smell on the wood. We finished some of the work in the rain. Looked for my gardening gloves but couldn’t find them.

Since it was raining I went inside until things dried out. I decided to work on some financial records for our dog rescue for the rest of the morning. Next thing I knew, it was lunch time. Looked for my gardening gloves again. I have another pair but didn’t want both pairs to smell like mulch. Couldn’t find them. Ate lunch. Looked for my gardening gloves. No luck.

Got out new gardening gloves and helped husband mulch the rest of the flowerbeds in the patio area. Still no gardening gloves, but the beds are looking great.

Then, we checked on the vegetable garden. This resulted in hubby and me weeding the row of beets, radishes, and turnips. A gardener’s work is never done, especially in the spring time.

Weed free plants with blooms do not come easy or free. It is, however, a labor of love for us.

Never did find those gloves.

Pizza, pizza!

Cooking, ,

Homemade pizza is always a hit.

I make my own dough which provides enough for two pizzas. I make one and save the other half of the dough in the refrigerator for another day. That way, you get fresh pizza two times. Or you can make both at once and have leftovers. I just use the dough recipe in my bread maker cookbook.

This pizza has garlic & herb spaghetti sauce. The toppings are black olives, diced red pepper, mushrooms, freshly grated Asiago cheese, and white cheddar. Baked at 400 degrees for 17 minutes.

I was out of red sauce when I made the second pizza so made it mushroom and spinach Alfredo. I used a half can of cream of mushroom soup for the sauce and gave it a sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning to spice it up. It was delicious.

I find that you can make pizza with just about anything you have on hand. If you don’t have anything to use for sauce, some olive oil and freshly minced or sliced garlic work just fine. Give it a try!

The Gray Tree Frog

Dogs & Other Animals,

I found this visitor on the patio this afternoon when I put up the sun umbrella. He/she had been sheltered underneath the umbrella. This is a gray tree frog. They change colors to blend in with their surroundings. I have seen green and brown ones, but with these markings, they are apparently still considered to be the gray tree frog.

You can see his toe pads which are sticky for clinging and climbing. I performed an internet search and was surprised to find that these little guys can live 7-9 years! They eat mostly crickets, but also a variety of other soft, small things such as worms, moths, mosquitoes, etc.

I love to listen to the songs these little guys sing. Maybe I’ve been listening to the same frogs for the past several years! Nature surprises me again.