This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Going back to 5/24/13 when I brought Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin rose (my first DA) home. A birthday present to myself. I couldn't stop taking photos of her!  She was coming back strong last season (2014), until a very late cold snap, and she never recovered. Debating on replacing her with another this year. I'm not sure it will be in the budget (if there even is a gardening budget this year, that remains to be seen), but I do miss Gertrude so! I think she and Julia Child would get along famously, although I'm afraid Queen Elizabeth is getting a tad put off by being surrounded by other famous women ;-)   Do you have a favorite rose you once grew that you no longer have in your garden?

#GardenWalk now has its own home and can be found here ! I've wanted to do this for quite some time and I'm thrilled to finally have it up and running! Please bear with me though, as it's a work in progress while I get the kinks worked out. When I return from vacation next week, I'm going to kick things off with a #GardenWalk Celebrates Autumn Round-Up! Of course you can still and always will find the Archives for #GardenWalk here at The Portable Homestead here  or find it under the Pages listing on the top left corner of the home page. 

My apologies to everyone! I have been having issues with scheduled posts again and instead of them showing up here, they've disappeared.  So, today I am going to feature tweets from the week ending yesterday and we'll pick up again next week as usual. I invite everyone to take a look back at the #GardenWalk hashtag feed by clicking here so you can see the inspiring late Summer shares from gardens around the world! A note about #GardenWalk Thursdays: Because I started doing the Weekly Round-Up and combined that and the #GardenWalk Thursday Featured Tweeter into one post a while back to avoid double posts each week and the Weekly Round-Up is getting such a positive response, I've decided to discontinue #GardenWalk Thursdays altogether.  You may share whatever day of the week you like or daily! And I will continue to share as well and do the Weekly Round-Up here. And now for this week's Featured Tweeters! Hope you have a nice evening (another variation same plan...

Welcome back everyone! This week's #GardenWalk Thursday Featured Tweeters are: A Charlotte Garden: August isn't so bad this year! http://t.co/Jzv3towml4 #CLT #gardenwalk #GBBD — Daricia (@aCLTgarden) August 15, 2013 come on...you know you wanna!!! http://t.co/Q8AHjjDMfM #gardenchat #gardenwalk #dirtyfingernails #flowers #garden #summer #grow #bloom — Glenda (@Tootsie_Time) August 15, 2013 And now for the Weekly Round-Up Featured Tweeters for the week of 8/10 through 8/16: All summer the Two Faced Scarecrow http://t.co/iROYkiM2Cc #gardenwalk #gardenchat pic.twitter.com/U6U4sCJTaU — Old School Bill (@BillsGarden) August 10, 2013 Garden Walk - August 2013 #RoseChat #GardenWalk http://t.co/x6nOU1aoud — Chris VanCleave (@RedneckRosarian) August 11, 2013 @edbegleyjr Gardening 100 ft from the beach. Notice the guys on bikes with surfboards? #gardenchat #gardenwalk http://t.co/V914oD1o1h — Melissa J Bond (@MelissaJBond) August 12, 2013 “ @Bloo...

Instead of doing 2 posts for the #GardenWalk Featured Tweeters each week, once on Thursday and again on Friday or Saturday, I'm going to try combining the 2 posts into one weekly post, which will appear here on Friday or Saturday each week and will feature both those who share for #GardenWalk Thursday and those who share daily throughout the week. First up, our #GardenWalk Thursday Featured Tweeter for Thursday, 8/8/13: Favorite pick today in the veggie and cut flower garden. #gardenwalk #gardenchat pic.twitter.com/I6GiBfq8yy — Bren (@BG_garden) August 9, 2013 Heres what Im bringing in from my #gardenwalk tonight @bloominchick pic.twitter.com/nhYo5HVHcB — Bren (@BG_garden) August 9, 2013 And now for our #GardenWalk Featured Tweeters for the week of 8/3/13 through 8/9/13: Evening #gardenwalk #rosechat #gardenchat #flowers #gardening http://t.co/5mrmQt7QGZ — Teresa Byington (@agardendiary) August 4, 2013 The #hibiscus are so full of #flowers thi...

Welcome to the #GardenWalk Thursday Round-Up! It's #GardenWalk Thursday! Share your bloom pics & your tweet may be featured on The Portable Homestead later today! #rosechat #gardenchat — Jo (@BloominChick) August 1, 2013 Today's Featured Tweeters are: (Click on the link in each share to view their photos) Good #MorningGlory #gardenchat #gardenwalk #vines #floralicious #gardening #eyecandy #flowersofinstagram http://t.co/B3rtHsNxpO — Nancy Wallace (@SassyNancy) August 1, 2013 One of my fav potting areas in my garden... #gardening #gardenchat # #gardenwalk #pottingbench http://t.co/qPQfyI0Iuv — Teresa Byington (@agardendiary) August 1, 2013 I want to thank Nancy/ @SassyNancy and Teresa/ @agardendiary for sharing with me via the #GardenWalk hashtag on Twitter for #GardenWalk Thursday! Want a chance to be a #GardenWalk Featured Tweeter here on The Portable Homestead? Participating is super easy: Post your photos to Twitter using the ...

Welcome to the #GardenWalk Thursday Round-up!   Featured in this post are some of the great shares posted today on Twitter: New no-till bed connects 2 short beds. Pole beans, leeks, & 3 pepper plants that needed homes. #gardening #gardenwalk pic.twitter.com/jpgvI1jPsD — Nan (@notillgarden) July 25, 2013 Good gray morning turning things green #Gardenchat #GardenWalk pic.twitter.com/SGQq2lLvbe — Old School Bill (@BillsGarden) July 25, 2013 I want to thank Nan/ @notillgarden and Old School Bill/ @BillsGarden for sharing with me via the #GardenWalk hashtag on Twitter for #GardenWalk Thursday! Want a chance to be a #GardenWalk Featured Tweeter here on The Portable Homestead? Participating is super easy: Post your photos to Twitter using the  #GardenWalk   hashtag in the tweet that goes with your photo.   Or if you are posting your  #GardenWalk  to your personal site, leave your link to it in your tweet. What are you waitin...

Back on June 26th, I wrote about my decision to change the name of Diggin' Around to The Portable Homestead (click here ) to warn y'all changes were coming to this here blog!  Well, we've now reached phase 2 of the change, the new header is in place up at the top of the blog.  Soon, the actual address for my blog will change too, which will likely require you to re-follow me.  Because I've been Diggin' Around so long, I felt it only right to give fair warning before the final change comes. One can end up with so many 'loose ends' online.  I'm also working on tying up all of mine and bringing them home here to The Portable Homestead.

Please visit my latest #GardenWalk post on #gardenchat Connect*Share*Grow by clicking here to find out who our #GardenWalk Thursday & #GardenWalk Weekly Featured Tweeters are this week! You're sure to be inspired by this rosy pair!

Knock Out Rosa 'Radrazz' in my garden today. It's not only #GardenWalk Thursday, but our "Featured Tweeter" returns to Connect*Share*Grow this week with a few new twists! Every Friday, I will post two #GardenWalk "Featured Tweeters" on Connect*Share*Grow , picking one as the #GardenWalk Thursday featured tweeter and another as the Weekly #GardenWalk featured tweeter.  This way, those who share daily and those who only share on Thursdays all have a chance at being a #GardenWalk Featured Tweeter on Connect*Share*Grow .  (Depending on the shares in a given week, there may be weeks were the featured tweeter will be the same person for both). If you are chosen as one of the #GardenWalk Featured Tweeters, I invite you to share a bit about yourself with us on that post in the comments section that go along with it on Connect*Share*Grow .  (A few brief questions will be included in the post for you to answer). Participating is super easy: Post...

For my latest post on Through My Eyes 360, click here . For my latest Garden Walk Thursday on Connect*Share*Grow, click here .

It's time for #GardenWalk Thursday! For more info, click here .

It's that time again!   #GardenWalk Thursday on Twitter .  I featured a photo of an awesome Hosta in this week's post on Connect*Share*Grow !  To view, click here .

For my latest edition of #GardenWalk on Connect*Share*Grow , "Why #GardenWalk?" click here .

Visit today's post on Through My Eyes 360 by clicking here .

My Dogwood has only just begun to bloom!

(Autumn Joy Sedum - click on pic for larger view) Even in the bitter cold, my garden warms my heart when I need it most! If you're a fellow gardener on Twitter, tweet your garden photo post link or your photo directly to Twitter including the #gardenwalk & #gardenchat hastags and you may be featured on The #gardenchat Blog for today's #gardenwalk Thursday ! Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®