I can barely spell delphinium







D-e-l-p-h-i-n-i-u-m.

I found a pleasant surprise this weekend -- my delphinium came back from the grave! (I realize that's a pretty common theme with my posts around here.) This had been chewed down by the devil woodchucks, and managed to come back again and actually blossom. I am beyond thrilled. I love the colors in it -- it kind of reminds me of the purple Rose of Sharon that we have. Did you know that delphiniums are also called larkspur? I had heard of larkspur, but didn't realize it was the same flower.  And, according to wikipedia: The name "delphinium" derives from the Latin for "dolphin", referring to the shape of the nectary.  They are also very poisonous to humans. So there. Now you've learned something today. This blog is nothing if not educational.




Delphinium, aka, larkspur.

I loaded these photos onto the blog over the weekend, and thank goodness I did that -- I have not been able to see straight for the past 18 hours. (It's kind of interesting typing this -- if this blog post makes no sense whatsoever, blame the following story.) I managed to pull something in my neck/back of my head yesterday while at the gym, giving me a near-migraine. This happened while I was on the elliptical -- a machine that does not require neck movement whatsoever. It was a searing pain when it happened, and then was just annoying for the rest of the day until the late afternoon. Then it became terrible again. I spent my evening with a hot pad on my neck, and took some Tylenol PM which had the exact opposite effect that I was hoping for -- I might as well have had a large cappuccino before going to bed. Josh came up with the idea that I should put Icy Hot on my neck as well, hoping that would sink in and help the situation.

Little did we remember that a certain little tiger cat LOVES Icy Hot. It is about 1,000 times more exciting to her than catnip. So as I was drifting off to sleep last night -- finally -- I was quickly woken up by what appeared to be a fur stole around my neck, licking the back of my head and purring. Then she started kicking me. Then she ended up on Josh's head, rolling around.  He told her to go to sleep, and she then ended up near my face, with her nose in my ear. I removed the hot pad that I still had around my neck and laid it down at my side to divert her attention. 

She slept with her arm around the hot pad all night, like it was a teddy bear. I told Josh I thought I heard her muttering something about, "My precious..." We left for work with her laying on the bed next to it. She was not giving it up. I'm hoping we don't have to stage an Icy Hot intervention when we get home.









Feeling blue -- in a really good way

I'm pretty excited about these babies -- I have no idea if they will do anything for me, but I had to try. I mean, just look at that color! The bulbs seemed pretty dry though, so there's definitely an excellent chance that they may not make an appearance next spring. But I hope they show up, and I hope they're as pretty as the package claims. I'm looking forward to spring already.

You're my boy, Blue!

Some pig

Pretty sure my husband would love to be Spiderman.

Is it me or is there an abundance of spiders this year? They are everywhere! Outside, inside, on the car, in the closet, hanging off the blinds. Big ones and small ones. Long legs and little legs. And they all see me coming with the DustBuster and head for the hills.

Josh spotted this monster today while mowing the lawn - actually, he almost touched it and yelled,"Holy $&@+!" (Who could blame him? If I had almost touched it I would have been screaming until I got to the car and peeled out of the driveway.) I'm pretty sure it's radioactive.

Oddly enough, when I was a little girl, one of my favorite books was "Charlotte's Web." I loved Wilbur the pig and all the characters on the farm, but above all else, I loved Charlotte the spider. She was so clever with her web, and was one of the sweetest heroines that I can remember. I loved how Templeton the rat brought her scraps from newspapers to get the material for her web words that saved Wilbur from the dinner table ("some pig!") and I was heartbroken at the end. (Infer what happens. I won't ruin the ending for you, and it chokes me up to think about it anyway.)

I have relayed this story to our many spiders and think that if they really got their acts together, we could pay the mortgage off. I'll even leave some periodicals outside for the woodchucks to thumb through.

 

My best get-rich scheme to date.

Best photo I've ever taken

While feeling a little artsy tonight, I clipped a rose off the rosebush and brought it inside. Then I took a photo of it with some tomatoes that came off the tomato plants. And it's totally the coolest photo I've ever taken. Just sayin'.

Lazarus



The dead shall walk again. Or bloom, at least.

I bought a mallow plant at the beginning of the summer.  At least, I believe that's what they are called. I'm referring to those gorgeous, dinner-plate sized blossoms that you see in people's yards around this time of year. They look ike a giant hibiscus (and are probably in the same family), and I have always wanted one.  So I bought one at Pettengill's earlier this summer, with dreams of these gorgeous blossoms gracing my yard.

The woodchucks decided that mallow meant marshmallow, and felt that this was the most delicious plant they had ever eaten.  What had originally been a lush, thriving plant was chewed down to toothpicks.  I was not pleased. 

Now, for some reason, they are leaving it alone.  Probably not enough to floss with at this point. But because of that, my little friend has made a come back.  I thought it was more than dead, so to see this quarter-sized blossom really tickles me. I named it Lazarus, even though I think it's a girl. And for all those of you who skipped Bible class, Lazarus rose from the dead, thanks to a miracle being performed on his behalf. I'm not sure what the miracle was in this case, but this baby just isn't going down without a fight. 

And yes, I need to pull that grass out that is hiding behind it.

Happy anniversary to us



Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

This week marks the anniversary of our first year of living in our house.

I am completely gobsmacked  that time has gone by so quickly. At the same time, though, it feels like we've always been there.  Maybe that's how it's supposed to feel. Either way, I know that Josh and I are both totally blown away by the fact that we are home owners, that we have this little oasis to come home to at the end of the day. A place where we can plant whatever plants we want, decorate however we want, and maintain however we need to. We can also walk around in our underwear whenever we want, so let that be a warning to anyone who feels like dropping by. (Yeah, like you people don't do that. Right. I know my readers.)

We have certainly learned a lot about home ownership.  And maintenance. And cosmetics. And entertaining. And how to keep the cat from getting locked into various closets, rooms, cabinets and so forth.

 



This is easily the nicest part of our lawn.



Years ago, I was in a friend's wedding and she had a Victorian themed cake with the traditional charms that are embedded in it.  (For those who may be unfamiliar, it was a tradition to have charms that symbolized various wonderful things baked somehow  into the cake or layered on in the frosting or however its done. Each charm is attached to a ribbon, and then each member of the bride's party gets to pull a ribbon to see what her fortune or charm would mean.) 

One friend pulled a charm that was a little engagement ring, indicating that she would be the next to get married -- and she was. Another friend pulled out a four-leaf clover for luck, and she has always seemed to have good fortune in her life. I pulled out a teddy bear, symbolizing that I would have a happy home.  At the time, that didn't feel quite as impressive as being the next to get married or having incredible luck for the rest of my life. 



I realize now that as long as I have these two to enjoy a home with, I made out pretty well on that cake thing. Pretty well indeed.





He's all mine, ladies.







Napzilla.



Not quite dead yet...

Two posts in one morning -- what am I thinking? I wanted to pay a quick homage to the lone pansy that we had remaining in the bed before the mums were planted. This one had spirit and spunk. Not bad for a flower that had chewed down about five times by the woodchucks, survived a horrendous heatwave and is technically a spring plant.  You made us proud, little one.