You have nice flowers Marion.

Chrissy

Thank you Chrissy!  I got compliments as well when I went to the last garden club meeting!
We all wore our summer outfits for the first time this year!  One of my friends noticed I was wearing a skirt!  I wore my green skort, stretchy skin tight yellow athletic shirt, and black booties.  I brought a rose with its first bloom in a 1 gallon pot to raffle off to a lucky winner. I like to give away easy to grow roses.  I keep the fussy prima donnas to grow myself.  I was told the "Double Knockout" I gave away is now six feet wide. 

There are rose shows in New England coming up!  One in Hope Rhode Island and another at the Tower Hill Botanical Garden!  The folks in Rhode Island work really hard to put on a good show.  I'm always impressed whenever am able to go there.  I like to observe how organizations are run. 

Soon, it will be time for my first round of golf of the season!  Most have already played their first round but I'm too busy working on the yard.
I got a new high lift blade for my lawn mower.  I can take my time re-sharpening the old one during the summer. I'll use the old one for mulching tree leaves in the fall.  I got some Ethanol Shield from Walmart to add to my small engine gas.  I have a Facebook Friend who said her old Toro stopped working.  Maybe a victim of ethanol gas left in the engine over a long winter?  Last winter instead of draining it I ran it duriing the unseasonably warm days.

A white rose I got from a friend.

I'm learning to pan fry cheese on the stove top after breading it with Panko.  Deep frying it was a disaster.
Canola oil didn't taste quite right, so I tried bacon fat. 
Better, but not as good as a mixture of bacon fat and extra virgin olive oil!
It is a test of my skills to decide when the cheese is cooked to the proper "doneness."

I'll often have leftover egg from my morning waffle that I can use to make pan fried cheese later in the day.
I don't like to waste any food and this sort of cooking helps me use all the food I buy.
Sometimes my snacks have extra seasonings left in the bag.  I'll add that to my cooked meals!
I'm constantly experimenting like that.
I used to hate mushy parts of tomatoes.  Then I read a recipe that said I could just spoon that out before cooking! DOH!

Yes lots of tips and wrinkles you can use cooking, I have a good range of oils from veg, corn, extra virgin olive, olive, cold pressed rape seed and mustard seed. Also a block of lard in the fridge, not that that gets much use but a must when doing Yorkshire puddings or toad in the hole.
 That rose that we thought had turned wild is the same as the climbing rose (seven sisters) but it was a standard rose before so how did that happen? Its 5ft away from the other one as well, might be a good idea to dig it up in the winter and plant it on the other side of the rose arch.

Seven sisters is a hybrid multiflora rose that would make a fantastic rootstock to grow in my acid clay soil.  No need to amend it.  Just dig hole and stick in in!  Done!  They passed a law officially making multiflora a weed in Connecticut.  They just added Japanese and Chinese Wisteria to the list of weeds, which means that it can only be grown for scientific research.  Wow!  I guess all my study of plants has resulted in me being able to grow Wisteria so I can advise gardeners in Connecticut how to efficiently control it.  I get on a ladder, cut off the seed pods, and compost them!  As a practical matter,the law means that folks will have difficulty buying Wisteria from reputable nurseries in Connecticut.  There were complaints about barberries still being sold!  My friend is going to rip the all barberrries out of her new home. Ugh!

Why is my yard an oasis?   I have lots of water.  Water ponds in my back yard for the Weeping Willow.  Actually, the Weeping Willow was planted to get rid of the ponding water.  But, is the first statement incorrect?  Does an oasis attract rain?  I used to launch and recover model rockets.  Trees eat rockets!  Trees alter the airflow around them.  Could that translate into attracting rain?
As more and more trees get cut down my Tartarian Maple is big exception! My next door neighbor has a Sugar Maple in rough shape that must look good to woodpeckers.

Does it make sense for a garden to be planted in elevated mounds of dirt or level dirt?
Perhaps this is merely a matter of preference.


Chrissy

Raised beds allow plans that don't like wet feet to thrive in gardens like mine!
Roses do worse in my climate if watered every day, as their roots gather both oxygen and water.
They suffer from oxygen deprivation if watered too often and will show this in their leaves.
I avoid this by not watering my estabilished roses.  I collect water from the Garage Roof using a 55gallon rain barrel and use this for all my watering.  No worries if I forget and leave the tap running!

I moved my Barzella Itoh Peony.  Instead of digging a hole I plopped it under a tree and added soil!  It has a pretty yellow bloom and another big bud!
I figure it will become established in its new home before the tree roots find the newly added soil!  The soil there is a mess of roots.

I put down cold intolerance as a current health issue.
I sleep under blankets when that is too hot for most!
I wear layer of clothes when the weather is warm.
I think I'd have gain weight to fix that.
But wouldn't that create new health issues?
I am in the normal BMI range right now, though doctors have told me it is OK to gain weight.

Quote from: Maid Marion on June 03, 2024, 07:54:51 AMRaised beds allow plans that don't like wet feet to thrive in gardens like mine!
Roses do worse in my climate if watered every day, as their roots gather both oxygen and water.
They suffer from oxygen deprivation if watered too often and will show this in their leaves.
I avoid this by not watering my estabilished roses.  I collect water from the Garage Roof using a 55gallon rain barrel and use this for all my watering.  No worries if I forget and leave the tap running!

I moved my Barzella Itoh Peony.  Instead of digging a hole I plopped it under a tree and added soil!  It has a pretty yellow bloom and another big bud!
I figure it will become established in its new home before the tree roots find the newly added soil!  The soil there is a mess of roots.

Interesting, that is.  Thanks for that information.

Chrissy

I get Kadoya dark sesame seed oil from the Asian Market so my stir fry smells authentic!
I am lucky to be able to get both Asian and European specialty foods at very reasonable prices.
I also get choice American foods like 100% Vermont Maple Syrup!
 Adjusting seasonings to taste is another cooking skill I'm working on.
 Cooking wines often come with a lot of salt it is not necessary to add more salt when using cooking wines!

Oh, it may be desirable to have lumpy raised beds. This can route more water to plants that need it.
I'm still working on what works best.

I found this small kid's watch in my collection and put a lithium battery in it.

Spotted some weird activity on my credit card!  Someone charged me for something then did a charge back for 15 cents less!  Called it in and they cancelled the card so they may not have even gotten the 15 cents.  Think they were just testing the card number or something.  So I spent half an hour changing my autopays.

Spent the day cleaning out my garage.  Now I can see the garage floor again!

I've been rearranging the kitchen! 
I have plenty of space but a lot of it isn't being used effectively.
I realized I no longer need a drawer with tools for quick fixes.
Too confusing at my age to have screwdrivers scattered about the house.
So I'm movin all the screwdrivers to one spot in a big tool chest!  I used to collect tools until I started to run out of stuff to buy!
It is much cheaper to shop for XS clothes and size 7shoes on discount!

I've learned to cook cheap chuck stew meat so it is like Tenderloin, soft and easy on the teeth but not much flavor.  The soup is good though.

I'm spoiled with highly seasoned stir fry f flank steak that has a wonderful taste and is reasonably tender if cut thinly across the grain with a razor sharp knife.

I went to the doctor today and explained that my low heart rate may be due to taking care of the yard.  Sort of like running a marathon. Lots of stuff I want to do before the sun sets. She thought my resting heart rate of 43 was OK but doubled the dose of my blood pressure med it was a little high for someone on meds.  I told her I do vitamin D for six weeks in the dead of winter.  She said my blood work is fine.  Presenting female with my hair down, I am more likely to remember to bring up issues to discuss.

I switched from my basic black crossbody bag to a blingy white VS bag and pink credit card holder.
The VS bag has more room and seems more girly to me.

Went to the market and bought flank steak, a loaf of French bread, brownie mix, sugar, an ear of corn, and a freshly made BBQ flatbread pizza.

I bought a naughty toy on Amazon using my Awards Points. The total came to $0.00.  I archived the order for a little bit of privacy  It can in a ubiquitous Amazon white and blue mailing package.  It won't show up on my credit card statement.

Woo Hoo!  I can play golf!
I hooked up with a friend I met in Cape Cod a few years ago.
He used to be in the industry a few years ago but hasn't played due to injury.
I learned he's been an umpire since the 7th grade.

I hit my first drive straight down the middle of the fairway.
The only one of our foursome to hit a good shot. 

New course, but I instinctively knew where the next shot should go, as long as I could see the pin.
If I got lost I just asked my friend for advice!  Guys like it when you ask for advice!
He complemented me a couple times on my iron shots, as they kept getting better and better.
Not only can I make sweet sounding contact, but my ball goes high and straight!  Perfect for getting over water hazards and sand bunkers.

Don't play much with others but pretty much nailed all the little social niceties needed for enjoyable play with others.
We had no trouble keeping up with the group in front of us.

We both had a wonderful time and he thanked me for the idea of playing golf as we both had a few hours with nothing to do otherwise.

It's addicting.... Be careful! And it can be pricey!

But if nothing else, it's a nice way to get outside.

Of course, Mark Twain famously called golf "a good walk, spoiled" 😉

Yes, my former big boss was given the ultimatum to stop playing golf or get better grades!
I'm at the age where my body won't let me play as much as I'd like to.  I manage my practice reps to avoid golfer's elbow. 

As for as the cost, there are plenty of old 9 hole golf courses with character around New England that don't cost a lot.  The course we played was $35 during prime time on a weekend with a motorized cart! Before I left for Rhode Island I remembered to change the beneficiaries of two of my investments to my new favorite Charity.

I have lots of great golfing clothes I can wear on the course. Soon it will be warm enough to wear skirts!
I've been using my Braun IPL on my legs all winter.

I've been so generous giving roses away in the past that folks have given me free roses in return!
Two more this past weekend brings th 2024 total up to nineteen rose bushes that cost me $0!
I like to grow fussy roses that are hard to grow.
I like to give away roses that I think are easy to grow in our climate. 
Often these are big healthy roses that are better than you can find at a nursery as they have big root systems to support a modest amout of  top growth.
Nursery roses are limited by the small pots they are sold in while customers look for lots of top growth.

Marion

I just bought this $20 bikini bottom from Revolve. Fits great!

 I can wear XS sizes fitted for women like this cute pink chef's coat. This came via Amazon.

I will wear a long sleeves PJ top over a sleeveless nightgown to stay warm for an hour or two before I go to bed.  I do a lot of wardrobe changes as the weather goes from the 50s in the morning to the 80s in the afternoon.

I'm nearly done with the kitchen drawer reorganization.  Took out most of stuff I never use.

The grass is growing great.  Won't be long before the bare spots fill in.  If not, I move sod to fill  in the bare spots myself!