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Phoenix

Category: Holidays | Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:34 am

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Today we went to Phoenix. My sister is going home to Illinois on Wednesday. I thought it would be warmer but it was cool there. Not as cool as it was here this morning. It was only 20 F. here this morning. It was very windy too so it felt colder. Our house is only sixty degs now. We started a fire and brought in more wood when we got home. The big mulberry tree in the front yard had all of its leaves last night. This morning they were almost all gone. I had to laugh when I looked out the window. The whole front yard in about knee deep in leaves. I only have petunias blooming now. I haven't looked into the back yard yet. It may be half of knee deep in leaves. Oh, well! It is supposed to warm up by the end of the week but I think winter is here to stay. No snow though! It was probably about 60degs in Phoenix.
We had our sweatshirts on. We stopped and walked around the outlet mall that is about halfway home. Just before you climb from 2.000 ft to 4,200 ft. That's what makes it cooler here. The altitude.
I quickly made a pot of tea and started some vegetable soup for supper.

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Holidays

Category: Holidays | Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 9:16 pm

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Christmas is only 28 days away. Since I never start Christmas before Thanksgiving I have a lot to pack into those 28 days. Yesterday, I rearranged the living room to make room for the Christmas tree (which isn't going up yet) and the little bear tree. Brian says he will install the tree so the branches can settle down. The tree is artificial so the branches are already down when it goes up.
Today, I started the day making banana nut muffins for breakfast. I made enough to share with our neighbor. When I called to see if they wanted warm muffins for breakfast, the answer was, "Sure, just let me put my pants on." He had just gotten out of the shower.
I made a loaf of Honey Wheat bread in the bread machine. It turned out very well this time.
Then, I made a raisin spice cake in a bundt pan. It will last until almost Christmas. It goes into a tin like fruitcake.
Then, I made Sally Lunn. That is an egg bread. It had to raise so I made a double batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. By the time I divide them with the neighbors they will not last long.
I made pfeffernuesse cookies the day before Thanksgiving. They are in a tin with an apple. When the boys were home I had to make a double batch and they didn't last long. These will last a week or two. My neighbor is from Germany and he really likes those cookies too.
It is cold and windy here today. Wind gusts 20 to 30 mph. It is only 38 degs so it feels very cold for us warm weather people. The rain and snow went to the north of us. Hooray!!!
Tomorrow I may go to Phoenix. My sister is leaving for Illinois on Wednesday and I would like to visit with her and my other sister before she leaves.

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Choices

Category: Choices | Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:00 am

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It seems every day we have to make choices. Sometimes they are called decisions. But, since I dislike making decisions choices is my word.
When my computer quit we had to make several choices. To fix it or buy a new one. What kind do we buy? Where do we buy it? How do we pay for it? When do we buy one? Do we stay with a dial up connection or do we go with the local cable connection? So many choices. These were just a few.
The choices were finally made. None of them were easy choices. We bought a computer that suited our needs and was reasonably priced. We didn't buy it at a computer store as the prices were considerably higher in the specialty stores.
We chose the computer desk at the same store. We chose a corner desk. Only one problem, we don't have an available corner. So it's against a flat wall. We didn't have a flat wall either. It entailed moving things here and there to make room. Some things were moved clear out of the house.
It's a big desk so the next choices were where to put each thing. On the top shelf, on the bottom shelf, in the middle. Somehow, things got put where they worked best. I quickly filled up the empty spaces.
Next choice, internet connection. Do we go with the dial up we had or with the faster cable internet? Faster is also more expensive.
Christmas is just around the corner. We are on a fixed budget so we decided to go with the dial up until after the first of the year.
I may get a cable modem for my birthday. It's soon after the new year.
When to get internet reconnected was the next choice. That was merely finding a time when Dan could come and install the firewall and virus protection and browsers and the other things that needed to be installed.
I bribed him with dinner and used up his entire evening.
There will probably be more choices to make before things are all the way they should be.
The next choice will be what to eat for Thanksgiving dinner or how much to eat. Then, how many miles to walk on the treadmill to compensate for how much I ate. Maybe I'll put that choice off for a little longer.

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More yard work!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:50 pm

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I thought I was about done with yard work for a bit. But we had a windy day and now the yard is covered in leaves from the big mulberry tree in the front. I am thinking I will just wait until they are all down before I do anything with them. I will probably get up tomorrow and decide I can't stand them all over the ground and rake them up and compost them.

I thought we were all done hauling wood. Our sheds are all full. We have enough for this year and next year and maybe the year after. Yesterday, we hauled a truck load for our neighbor. He is elderly and doesn't walk very well and has no way to get to the slash pile anyway. I guess hauling a load of wood for him was our good deed for the day. Our next good deed will be to take our chain saw and cut it for him. It's not a job to do alone and he's liable to hurt himself trying.

We also hauled another load for our son. He hauled two loads but his truck isn't as large as ours. We'll probably help him cut his next week when he has another day off. I wonder if helping a kid of your own is considered a good deed or a duty.

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Birdbath

Category: Herb Garden | Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:42 pm

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I stated in a previous entry that I had bought a birdbath and it held water. Now, it doesn't hold water. I broke it. I was trying to take the base off to fill it with sand and I twisted the top and it twisted into two pieces. Now it doesn't hold anything. Ah well!

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Yard work!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:30 pm

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My yard has seven different fenced sections. There is the little yard by the kitchen door where the grape arbor is located. The dog has a house in the shade of the arbor. She can sit on top of the house and look over the garden and bark at anything moving in the alley. The gate is shut at night to keep her away from the alley. Skunks and javalina use the alley at night and we would like to keep her away from both. The garden area is fenced and is about 28 by 40 feet. Part of it is terraced and part is flat. The big yard is along side of the garden and little yard. This is the dog's play area. There is a small wash going through it to drain water from the next door yard which is higher than our yard. The wash goes through the garden too. The big yard slopes down to the alley. The back of the shed yard is not fenced on the alley side. As we just had the big hill of dirt flattened, it will get a fence as soon as it dries out so I can "contour" the dirt that is left. The work yard, includes the lower driveway, has the big shed, the wood sheds, the garden shed and a little storage trailer. I have a garden bench for potting, etc. Brian put a shelter over it. Portable, so it can be stored during the winter. There is a terraced flower bed next to the house where my herbs currently reside. There is the section where the herb garden will be. It has roses and trees on all sides. Two of the trees are very small but will grow eventually to the size of those already there. The front yard has two parts. One part faces the road and slopes down to the drive one way and has a stone wall down to the lower front yard. In the lower front yard is our gravel patio. This is where we will put the waterfall in the spring. We found a pond tub for five dollars at a yard sale. My son says it is big enough for fish. I'm not sure about fish because the neighborhood has many stray cats. Brian thinks water plants would be nice. I guess I will have to research those now. I dug a new flower bed by the front fence. I think I will plant those vines that I got from a lady in Scotland along that fence. There are small areas within these big areas too. Now, I need to figure if I need to thin the Peter Pan lilies. There are many of them but only a few bloom in late spring. They were already there when we moved here so I'm not sure.

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Bird bath

Category: Herb Garden | Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:11 pm

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I bought a bird bath to put in the herb garden. It's only white plastic, but it holds water. Now, the dog won't have to share. She doesn't chase the birds away but she comes inside to drink after they use her bowl. Pretty soon, I will have everything but herbs in the herb garden. I need to look and see if I can transplant some things this fall or if I have to wait for spring. I have thyme, oregano, sage and lavender that I could move. But, I could also wait for spring. The trumpet vine is getting ready to bloom again. It was blooming when I planted it. No picture, I'm afraid. But soon maybe.

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Welcome to My Blog!

Category: Herb Garden | Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:13 pm

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Hello! My name is Dooley. I live in Arizona. I do a lot of gardening. Not everything grows but I still enjoy doing it.

Yesterday and today, I planted 175 bulbs. I put 80 of them along the flagstone path in my new herb garden. I planted 50 daffidals, 75 grape hyacinths and 55 tulips total. The only herb in my herb garden is rosemary and I think it may have died. I'm waiting to see if any new leaves come on it. I have some pictures but right now I have no way to put them on the computer. Hopefully a new computer will arrive for Christmas and then I can post pictures. I have been taking pictures.

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