Time for New Year Resolutions!

I guess it is that time of the year again. Time to make the resolutions for the next year. I made some last year and even wrote them down. Now if I could only find where I put that list.
Well I found it. Guess I better add review resolutions weekly and add notes on my progress. Here is my list.

Visit Mom once a month.
Reduce my weight to 165 to 170.
Focus on the positive.
Post on Photo Blog and Garden Blog once a week.
Make to do lists for work around the house.
Clean up trash along the creek.
Read 1 book a month.

I didn't so well with last years resolutions. Here is how I measured up.

I might have visited Mom once every two months. Bad son!!!
I did reduce my weight to 174 from 184. Close but no cigar!
Focus on the positive. This one is hard to measure.
That didn't happen as you can tell by looking at the number of post here.
No lists made but I did build a pond.
I picked up one bag of trash.
Don't think I read one book all year.

Somewhere I have read that you should develop a plan of attack for your resolutions and monitor your progress weekly or monthly. Also you need to make your resolutions measurable and not so broad like I did with "Focus on the positive". In theory it sounds good but how do you measure that?

Well I think I will give this some additional thoughts and come up with a better list. I will probable include a couple of the resolutions from last year and add some new ones. Also need to figure out a way to keep track of my resolutions and measure my progress.

Fall Harvest

The fall brings the harvest. On the farm growing up the fall was the time to harvest the corn and milo. Now that I am away from the farm I find myself collecting seeds and cuttings from the garden. Most of the seeds I keep are the easier ones to grow indoors next Feburary or March. The cuttins are of some of the easier plants to over winter. Unfortantitly some of the cuttings never make it out of the water after rooting and into dirt for the winter. I just plant them straight out in the pots next spring.
The dark red seed are from some pepper plants I grew this summer. The one on the bottom left is the black pearl pepper. The pepper starts out black and turns red when mature. The one in the middle is one I have grown in the garden for years and keep collecting the seed every fall for the following year. I am not sure what it is called but love it! The light pink seed pods are from the hardy begonia. This is the first year I have collected the seeds. It reseeds itself rather easily in the flower bed so I thought I would start seeds to take to the garden club and give away. What I mean when I say reseeds itself easily I don't mean invasive. They are easy to control by pulling the seedlings out of the ground. The vines in the back are cuttings of a couple of vines that I like. Not sure what they are called but like to use them in haning baskets and pots.

Well I will stop rambling on. I hope to have a post of my seed starting next spring.

Honey Perfume Rose

This is the first year that this rose has bloomed. I have been pleasantly surprised by this rose. It has been blooming all summer without any problems. I would highly recommend it for your garden.

More Sticks

Well I have gotten a little more motivated since my last post. It could be all the cool weather we are having or just boredom but here is a picture of my natural trellis. I am not completly satisfied but it will do for now.


Just have one done right now, still pondering what the other one should look like. Basically like this one or different design but still with sticks? Here is a picture of a stick I found with a 90 degree bend in it. I was thinking I could mount it on top of a couple of other sticks it would look like a roof. It is kind of heavy so I think I would need another one like that to make it sturdy and give it that trellis feel.

Then there are the sides of the patio. I would hate to be having a party and one of the guests would have a little too much to drink and stumble and fall off the side. The way it is right now there are no sides to bump into. Plus having a railing of some kind would act as walls to the patio. Also would make the patio feel like an outdoor room. I have an ideal in my head but I am not sure if I can find the right sticks with the bends in them that I want.

There will be more posts to come on the patio.

The summer blues

This time of year always makes me feel a little blue. It has been this way for the last few years. I have lost the motivation to get out in the garden and do anything. Scott has been a head heading like a mad man the last month and I just come out and sit by the pond. It isn’t the lack of projects. I have a list, it’s not too long but nothing on it seems to motivating me. I guess I just need to make myself start something and see if I can get excited about it.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the garden. Once I get a project started I will post my progress.

Random flower pictures from the last couple of weeks

The yellow angel trumpet is always wonderful in the summer. Myself and another gardener had a discussion about its name. Datura or Brugmansia arborea,which is correct?
Gaylord looking out over his kingdom!
I believe this is Chocolate Ajuga. I am really pleased with it growth over the last couple of years. Especially like the shinny large leaves.
You know it is late July or August when the magic lilies come up.
A different angle of Gaylord. That is sum and substance hosta in the back with the caladiums.

What is blooming this week.

Not sure what most of these are called. I need to do some research and see if I can find the names.

This is the native midwest cone flower
This is the flower from my Lady in Red Hydrangea. It should be a pink flower but Scott changed the ph in the soil and now we have blue.

I bought this Coconut Cone flower last year. I was very surprised that it came back and bloomed like it did last year. Two years ago I bought a double decker cone flower and it has not bloomed the same as when I bought it.

Northland Garden Club Garden Tour

Last weekend was the garden tour fundraiser for the garden club I am in. We had some very nice gardens on the tour and three of them had ponds. It was interesting seeing how others had built their ponds or had someone build the ponds for them. The first pond shown here had some Koi that looked like a foot or longer but the pond was a lot bigger than mine. I guess I will need to add on!?!?

Pond Project

Well the pond is almost done. I need to add more mulch and the sitting area need something to cover the mud. We haven't found something we like that doesn't break the bank.


The rocks to the left of the chairs are for Bonnie to walk to the stream and get a drink. She hasn't jumped in the pond yet for a swim but she loves walking in the stream.

There are two streams the main one and the side stream. This is the side stream and the next picture is the waterfall for the side stream.

This is the main stream and the main waterfall.