Plant Experiment - 50% Success Rate

My FIL started all our Crepe Myrtles using a grafting method off of his existing plants. Click to see posts where we planted them at the Country House In-laws Crepe Myrtles & Our Crepes.

In theory, this method should work with any 'hard wood' shrub. We decided to try it on some Loropetalum & Camellia. 

Loropetalum - much more purple than this pic shows.

I don't have a pics of each step but here is how we did it:

1. Select a strong straight stem.

2. Scrape the bark off all around about 2" long.

3. Put wet moss all around scraped area.

4. Wrap tin foil around it, leaving the foil open at the top so it can get water. Make sure bottom is squeezed tight to hold water.

5. Let sit for about a year.

6. Cut just below the foil.

7. Plant in pots.

8. Trim tops back.

9. Give a good drink of water.

10. Once well established (hopefully), plant in yard.

Camellia ready to be cut from mother plant.

Close up of Loropetalum packet.

See how it's open at the top & closed tight at the bottom? It's leaning because the top of the plant had gotten really long & heavy. We did 16 Loropetalum & 4 Camellia.

Ready to be put in pots & trimmed.

None of the first Loropetalum we unwrapped had any roots. We thought it was going to be a dismal failure but we wound up getting 6 with roots, whew. All 4 of the Camellia had roots.

Loropetalum

Camellia

10 plants plus 1 azalea that I had cut off last year & stuck in the pot.

We wound up with 10 free plants. Of the ones that didn't root out, we think we must not have scraped enough bark away. Oh well, the experiment wasn't a complete bust.

Cross your fingers they live.....

Not a Dry Eye in The House

Yes, we had another death in the family. This time it was one of my first cousin's only son. He was 19 & had been fishing where he shouldn't have been. Although it's kind of a right of passage to fish in the Cobb Pond for all who love to fish. My Dad's crazy cousin owns the property that the pond is on & he doesn't allow anyone but his immediate family to fish on that pond! None of his family even wants to fish it & those that do don't even keep the fish they catch. Oh well, he's an A-hole.

Regardless, Evan & his buddy decided to fish by the light of the moon which they did until around midnight. When they went to get the boat out, it got stuck & he wasn't able to get it out w/the Ranger they had towed it in with. He went back home to get his truck & to drop his buddy off. He didn't want the crazy A-hole to confiscate his boat so he went back to get his boat defore morning rolled around. After he dropped his friend off he had an accident on one of the many back roads. The truck rolled & he was partially ejected, dying instantly. His buddy texted to see if he had gotten the boat & when he didn't hear from him went looking & came upon the accident. They think that maybe a deer had run out in front of him (that road is notorious for deer) & he swerved to miss it & had the accident. All speculation at this point but plausible nonetheless.

He was only 19, had graduated high school last year & had his whole life ahead of him. He was one of 9 who has died from last year's graduating class (can a class be cursed?). He will be sorely missed as he was a very kind, quiet & respectful person. The viewing & funeral were very difficult. But with the faith of the family & community we will all go on with our lives. His Dad is taking it very hard but has a strong faith as well.

Evan was the surpise child of my cousin who thought she couldn't have children. She is the youngest of 4 & her parents (my aunt & uncle) were thrilled, to say the least, when she conceived. He was very close to his grandpa who passed about 4 years ago.

During the funeral one of the songs selected was "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley:

When I get where I'm going, on the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do, is spread my wings and fly

I'm gonna land beside a lion and run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like to ride a drop of rain

Yeah when I get where I'm going  there'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going don't cry for me down here

When the following verse was played it made every single person in the congregation weep.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy

And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left

All so true. I do hope he is sitting on a dock with Uncle Therman & fishing to their hearts desire.

Mama's New Home

We had been collecting plants for a few weeks & this weekend was the time to get her landscaping done. She never had many plants around the old home & it always looked a bit barren. We had some plants that we started & several we bought. The only thing she requested was azaleas. Here's what we installed today:

Purchased:

10 azaleas
1 plant with purple flowers that I can't recall the name, but is supposed to get large.
2 blueberry
2 crepe myrtle
12 aztec grass
8 daylillies (sister's)
4 lavendar
4 lorapetalum

Grown from starts:

1 camelia (sister's)
1 gardenia
3 hydranga's
2 sago palms
5 pine trees (sprigs received from Greenscape)

What a beautiful day to work. High in the 60s with bright sunshine. She & my Sister live in a small town about an hours drive from our city house. We got started around 11:00 & it took 4 of us about 6 hours to complete it all.

In addition to the plants, leaves & mulch, hubby put down 3 landing pads in pavers (leftover from front walkway in city). 2 for the stairs into the house (front & back) & 1 for the trashcan which her young neighbors kindly take to the curb for her.

We are most worried about her being able to take the 50' hoses off the hose racks & get them rolled back up. They are not the most expensive hoses & not very cooperative. We will see how she does w/those.

We are back at the city house & will be working with plants once again today. We grafted some lorapetalum & camelia's last summer. We'll be cutting them & putting in pots today & hopefully get those planted at the country house this fall. It's going to be another beautiful day with highs in the mid 60s. Got to get out there & get yard work done before we hit our normal hot & humid days in the 90s. Miserable conditions to work in for sure.

Pick Up Sticks

Remember that game we played as kids & loved it? Not so much as an adult. Guess I should have had kids so I could get them to do it now. Too late! Actually the picking up doesn't bother me. It's the unloading onto "the pile" that I don't like.

While Greg mowed the weeds (it's green from the road so it's all good) I picked up sticks along the driveway. I know, if you just leave them they rot away, but we like things nice & tidy when we can get it that way. So, picking up those sticks along the driveway was my weekend responsibility.

3 loads just like this.

Here's what he was mowing down:

Bitter weed is what we call this in our neck of the woods. It stays away after a couple of mowings. It's really very pretty but 8 acres of the stuff needs to be cut. Done in about 3 hours.

After I finished that task I took a look at the garden.

Boy, those weeds have grown in a month! Starting that particular task at 2:00p in 80 degree heat probably wasn't the smartest idea but I did get to use the shed roof off the garden shed with a nice breeze & it made a huge difference. I weeded each bed & then took a 5 min. break in the shade & breeze. It took just under 2 hours. No after pics, sorry. Greg string trimmed around the edges & I pulled from the bed itself. Had a whole Mule load full. Put them on "the pile" as well. We'll eventually burn that pile but for now it's just growing.

Anyway, spring has sprung at the Farm. Of the trees installed last year ... 1 maple, 1 willows & 2 peach trees made it. 1 maple & 2 apples didn't. Here's one of the peach trees in full bloom.

Need to prune.

Spring has sprung!

Quilt Retreat 2015 - Lancaster, SC

Normally, I travel to my friend's (Debbie's) house the day before the retreat, spend the night at her house then we head on to the retreat itself. This year the retreat was scheduled to be held only a few miles from her farm. That saved us about 3 additional driving hours, yeah! Here's a link to her farm - Fox Trot Farm they sell lambs & lamb meat products.

I arrived on Friday afternoon & unpacked quilt stuff then moved on to my room which was in a lovely house built with much love throughout the ages. The house started as a small log cabin in the 1800's & added on as the years & the family grew. Mrs. Catoe decided to turn the house into a Bed & Breakfast at some point & has decorated each room beautifully. Here's the website if anyone happens to be in the area - Homeplace Bed & Breakfast. They are a Christian based family & very family oriented. Many family members still live on the property & have goats, horses & cows they take care of. They have an Open House & Betheham Marketplace during the Holiday season. You tour the house (with a Christmas tree in every room - 33 in all!) then the family puts on a play in their large barn. The play depicts the birth of Jesus through to his homecoming.

In addition to the house you can rent the banquet hall to do whatever you please. We obviously were going to quilt the days away. My friend & her local quilting buddies decorated it with first class quality quilts on display along with work stations for each of us. There was also a cutting station & design station as well as ironing stations on either side of the room.

The hall also came with the use of a commercial kitchen. Each person makes at least 1 dinner & we all snack on the leftovers for lunch or make whatever we each brought.

A couple of the girls had some weather delays out of KY & didn't come until Sat. Debbie made a wonderful Tuscan chicken soup, bread & salad the 1st night. I cooked on Saturday & the menu included pork roast in the crock pot, smashed potatoes & broccoli casserole, plus homemade rolls that got really brown (read, burnt on the bottom) but still very tasty.We went to a local restaurant Wagon Wheel, on Sunday so that constituted our large meal of the day. Oh . my . gosh, the fried squash they serve was wonderful!

Our friend from KY served Taco soup & cheesy corn muffins on Monday night. Mrs. Catoe & a couple of local quilters joined us & it was a wonderful meal complete with family stories at the end. Plus, she made homemade pimento cheese & we had grilled pimento cheese sandwiches for lunch one day.

The last night was for leftovers. I also made my famous stuffed mushrooms & a cheese dip that left something to the imagination.

All in all it was a great vacation at a wonderful location. Here are a few pics:

Cathedral Windows. Not mine! This was part of one of the master quilter's bedspread!

My Starflower Block - the beginning of a special project w/special fabric. Later post.

My crooked Flower Basket Throw - I don't like triangles!

Headed to Another Quilt Retreat

This time in Lancaster, SC. Not so far to drive & the place where we are staying & quilting looks to be fabulous. Here's a pic of our workroom:

Doesn't that look like a bright & lovely place to sew? Can't wait. Should get there early this afternoon. Will post update when I return.

Without a Date

Bet you thought that was a statement about my situation tonight. Well, you would be right but that isn't the reason for my statement.

Greg is at the Country House building his shop work benches as I type. I am in the city after a day of trying to find fabric & other assorted items for my Mama's new house.

While out & about today I found that I was less than a couple miles away from a local 'green market' that is held at a beach park but didn't open until 2:00p. I decided to treat myself to lunch at one of our old hang outs nearby, while waiting for the market to open. I had a salad & broccoli soup ... plus a glass of wine. That made me very relaxed & sleepy but I went to the market for raw milk, yogurt & a flat of eggs anyway. One of the booths was selling sour dough bread which I love (a bucket list item of learning how to make) & bought a round loaf. Then I went home with the intention of a nap after that wine.

Got home, unloaded & decide to do another project instead of a nap since it was close to 3:00p by this time.

I have a cheap (very cheaply made & only paid $3 or so) slim ladderback chair that I decided would go well in my Mom's very small bedroom. I thought she could use it to help her dress in the mornings. I decided I would go ahead & stain it. I found a very small can of 'oak' stain that I used & it turned out great. I'll poly it tomorrow.

Back to my dateless situation ... A couple of weeks ago I somewhat reorganized the outside freezer & had found some meat product frozen in a rubbermaid container w/o a date on it. While in the garage staining said chair I remembered the frozen container & took it out. Upon opening it I found that it was Pizza meatballs that I made & froze .... last year sometime. I think it was around March or April. I opened the container & they looked fine. A few ice crystals on the top ones but otherwise fine.

I had opened a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce last week for some leftover cabbage rolls & had about 1/2 a jar leftover. I decided to heat that up & put in the meatballs. It's simmering on the stove now & I plan on cutting a couple slices of that bread & having an open faced meatball sub with freshly shaved parmesan on top.

I really have no idea how long those meatballs have been in the freezer but am going to eat them anyway. Will be looking at pics of  Greg's shop benches & eating a meatball open faced sub by myself tonight. Long (temporary) distance relationships are like this.

I am making a crock pot beef roast with smashed potatoes & fresh brussel sprouts tomorrow night, to have with my Bunch when he gets home tomorrow.

Hope everyone is enjoying this Hallmark Holliday & enjoying spending it with whomever you so choose ... even if it's with questionable meat from the freezer, without a date.

New weeds & a Shoulder Saver

Went to the Country as usual on Friday night with a trailer & truck load full of stuff. Greg wanted some of his garage back.

We got up Saturday morning & unloaded it all. First up was the shelving units. There was a World Market near our city house that was closing. After the merchandise was sold they started breaking down the shelves to sell. I was able to get 10. The shelves themselves are made with 3/4 solid wood & are 36" wide & 19 inches deep. Perfect for my future pantry. ($15 each) I also had one of the wire shelves I got from work that we took as well. It will definitely get some use. (free)

Greg had bought two used lateral filing cabinets from a discount/used office supply store. Will be used for storage of some type. ($20 each)

I had purchased a big rug & long hall runner at an estate sale a while back. (I think the rug was $35 & the runner $15)

We had a ceiling to put up in the garden shed so we headed to Lowe's to buy sheets of strand board. Greg had bought this device a few weeks ago beccause we knew we had ceilings of dry wall & this strand board to hang as well as eventually doing the walls. He used his ever present Northern Tool coupons to buy at a discount.($100)

If anyone has hung sheet rock or plywood on a ceiling you know how hard it can be. I used to hold the dead man but Greg would just about tear his shoulders holding his end up & the screwing it to the studs. With this tool, you just lay the board of top & roll it into place then raise the to meet the roof & screw into place. Truly a shoulder saver. It breaks down & stores nicely too. It can be used on vertical walls as well.

I took this pic of the storage shed a couple of weeks ago. I like the sun shining on it. That stick  in the whole you see in front, was where one of our oak trees used to be before it (& the other 2) up & died on us.

We put a shed roof & a mini deck on the back of the shed. I didn't match the roofing material so it looks a little red neck but it will be a cool space to get in the shade during the heat of the summer, while working in the raised beds.

Putting insulation on the spigots - yes we have water!

Speaking of the raised beds I noticed the weeds have already started coming in (they don't kow it's winter). There are some new ones that I haven't noticed before & are actually quite pretty. If anyone knows what they are, please leave me a comment as I have no idea about weeds except for the dreaded Bermuda Grass that hasn't shown it's ugly head yet.

This one is almost like a succulent & seems to only be in the blocks.

We've had this before but I don't know what it is.

Only 1 of these on outside of one bed, it has purple flowers.

This one is inside 2 or 3  of the beds.

Many have asked about my Mom & she's doing great. She is getting her sugar under control & the Endocrinologist was pleased. Our long term goals & to get her of injected insulins & back to 1 pill a day. We have the follow-up cardiologist next week & hope we can evenually lesson some of those meds as well. Thank you for all your thoughts & prayers. Her new house should be delivered next week so expect next weekend to be very busy. My sister & I have been buying all new stuff for her since almost everything she had was completely worn out. Of course, many of the items I have purchased have been from Estate Sales. 

Oh well, going to heat up leftovers for dinner & have the stupid game on but we never sit down to watch. Like many, we listen for the commercials then go back to doing something else. Hope everyone has a great week.

Glamour Girl ... Not.

Went to the country Friday night. Ate on the way & didn't arrive until 8:30p. We had a wood rack that we needed to move in order for the power to be ran to the electrical box.

The rack on the left needed to be moved but of course we had been piling stuff all around it. At least it was the rack with less wood. To top it off it was very cold Saturday morning. It was in the mid 30's with a wind chill around 29. Don't let that blue sky fool you. The wind was howling & blowing straight where we needed to work. I found my ear muffs that I love but guess what, they were broken so I had to improvise. I put on my Boggs rubber boots, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt & found a thin hoodie to help cover my ears (I can't stand my ears to be cold) & also donned a fishing hat to keep it all in place. Here is the pic, before I put on the flannel lined denim jacket & fuzzy gloves covered by work gloves. Mama Pea, I can't believe I am sharing this but here goes.

Not my best look but it definitely did the trick. Husband moved the wood on the rack itself & I tackled the crap extra stuff in front of it. By the 2nd load I lost the big jacket & the fuzzy gloves & looked pretty much like I do in the pic.

As we were working, one of my cousins pulled up. He had been trying to contact my Mom & didn't realize she was at my sister's & was concerned. I'm sure he thought that I looked pretty silly but didn't say a word, just gave me a big hug. We chatted with him a bit & then he helped us push the boat out of the way (behind the wood pile) & then he helped move the wood rack itself.

We left early this morning so we could stop by my sister's to say hello to my Mom. She's doing great just having trouble deciphering her meds, but in good spirits. My sister took her to church this morning so she was happy to get 'dressed up'. My sister will continue to educate her on the meds so Mama will be straight when she's ready to live in her new place.. Please say a prayer for my sister. Although, she is much more patient than I am it can still be very stressful.

While there my BIL cut us some fresh broccoli from their garden & while we were standing around chatting, his parents new additions stopped by to say hi. They are 2 pregnant females that were given to them. I'm not sure of the breed but they have identical dark brown crosses on their backs (apparently the whole herd does). His Mom calls them Jesus donkeys. They are very protective of the cattle they have. And they are verrry loud brayers (right term?).

Next week, we should find out when the new trailer will be delivered & what our timeline is. Until then, I've got a busy week. Hope everyone is getting back in the groove after the Holidays.

Update on my Mom

This is a post to primarily document my Mom's issues, so skip until next post if not interested.

She had a Heart Cath done on Monday, after a long weekend of tag teaming with my sister to stay w/her,  Had several family members sit with us during the procedure which went well. Had to put a couple of large stints in & then the long 6 - 8 hours of laying flat began. My sister, BIL & niece went to lunch & I stayed, just in case. Mama had been such a trooper up until then, but her back hurt from laying flat so long & she began to complain. Not much but enough for me to apologize to the nurses. They completely understood. She was able to move her left leg but that was it. I had to make her stop trying to lift her right leg & she didn't want to eat lying flat on her back. Can't blame her at all.

Sister came back from lunch & they told us she could go home on Tuesday. My sister asked if I could get her to her house the next day. We don't want her going back to her old home, it's just not safe enough. My sister went by the trailer place & picked out the colors for walls, carpeting, etc. It will be delivered in 4 - 6 weeks. She's going to stay at my sister's until then. If everyone gets too crowded, they will set up their camper, on their property, for her to stay in once she's stable.

For a 77 year old she hasn't had any real medical issues. She was diagnosed w/Type 2 diabetes about 4 years ago. She kept listening to too many others about their preventions & took matters into her own hands. She did take her insulin but changed her diet considerably. She lost about 30 lbs in 3 months & cut out ALL carbs & sugars for over a year. We think that may have contributed to her diabetes not getting under control. Maybe, maybe not. She didn't consult w/Dr. just made drastic changes.

Anyway, the final prognosis was Pulmonary Embolism & Coronary Artery Disease. She is currently on a boatload of medicine which we are going to verify all Meds in the next few weeks. She is getting used to a new routine & according to my sister tonight, getting the hang of it. Instead of just testing & injecting herself once a day (w/the long acting insulin) she now has to inject & test 4 times a day plus injecting herself with a fast acting insulin. She will do this until it's time to do an A1C test (or something like that) to see what her real blood sugar is.

We're following doctor(s) orders until we can research & ask questions about the amount of pills she is on. We think it's too much of certain things but it's just a hunch at this point until we know more. The hospital is definitely not the place to get specific info as they throw so much at you at check out time that it's very overwhelming. I can't imagine being an older person trying to understand it all on their own.

She never had to take any pills until now & they all look alike so we are worried that she will get them confused. So that's another educational item we are dealing with. So for now, sister will fill her AM & PM containers.

Dr. appts for the next 3 months & then we will hopefully be on an annual basis. The best news is that her strength is good (she could climb up in my SUV by herself when leaving the hospital) & she's testing herself & giving all the insulin shots herself. We just have to get the pills situated then we'll be good to go. I think my sister will give her, her car keys back on Sunday so she can go visiting & to her church by herself.

Thank you all for your prayers & well wishes.