This Perfectly Imperfect Life

This beauty popped open yesterday!

My own Sunflowers?!

Thursday, July 31, 2008 9:03:04 AM Started Yesterday, 7/30/08 My mind is so full lately! (Writing wise and other wise!) Last Wednesday, I wrote about how a NY Times article led me to wonder what I’m trying to capture in all the photo’s I take of my flower’s and veggies! The article was about journalist/author/critic Janet Malcolm, who’s book “Burdock” comes out tomorrow, which is a new venture for her. The book is comprised of 28 photo’s of 28 different Burdock tree leaves and a 2 page essay introduction. Her editor, Ilene Smith, says they (the leaves) are Janet’s “ultimate biographical subject” and “are also at some level deeply autobiographical.” (Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/arts/design/20shat.html?scp=2&sq=Janet%20Malcolm&st=cse ) Later the same day, I also wrote about how I worry about my potted treasures (flowers & veggies) when I know there are nasty storms coming! (Silly, I know!) I recalled how I’ve been known to wildly run outside in the mid...

The tomato's are from my garden, the cucumbers and zuccini are from my brother-in-laws. I chopped the ripe ones up for cucumber and tomato salad to go with dinner. (Just drizzle with olive oil mixed with red wine garlic vinegar and balsamic vinegar and seasoned with pepper). Tomorrow I'll use the left overs mixed with bagged salad greens to go with dinner. Very satisfying to cook with ingriedients that you, yourself have grown!

Took this pic yesterday - my roses are doing so well and that makes me happy! Watching a wonderful documentary about Walt Whitman on the PBS series American Experience! For once I am glad Hubby was flipping channels! Though originally from Long Island, he passed away in Camden NJ. I wonder if his home has been preserved as other passed on authors homes have been around the country and Europe? If so, I would like to visit it. I have never been one for poetry (though I have tried) but I think I may take out his Leaves of Grass from the library soon.

Bout 100 degrees today! So hot that even with the ac on, it got to 75 degrees in our livingroom! The kitchen was even hotter! Tomorrow is supposed to be worse! Even if I did not have pleuracy, I would not go out in this heat! The ac in my truck is broken! More lovely roses opened today! About 6! 9 more buds appeared too! I am very pleased with this garden purchase!

You betchya we are! High 90s yesterday, the same today and through Wednesday! It is 10:44pm and 83 degrees with 70 percent humidity!!! Not a bad time to be under Doctors orders to rest and take it easy! My strep infection started to go into the lining of my lungs, something called pleuracy. It is very painful and can make breathing difficult too, not to mention already being run down from the strep infection and having my Monthly Visitor! Oh, this pic was taken this afternoon when I ventured outside to see how all of my flowers and veggies are doing in this heat! It is 1 bloom on my Rosa Radcon Pink Knockout Rose.

Yesterday I did end up taking a walk to buy flowers yesterday afterall. The walk there was windy with rumbles of thunder coming from the dark grey clouds. I asked Brianna which flowers she wanted me to pick and felt drawn to the ones I picked. The walk home was still and disgustingly humid! I talked with her along the way about the flowers and where to put them. Once home, I put my treasures on the patio table and changed into a tank top and shorts. I lit both of my Blessed Mother Mary candles, placing one on the mantle and one on the patio table. Afraid it was going to pour at any moment, I set to placing the flat of magenta Petunia's and 1/2 flat of pale lilac colored Petunia's into their new homes. I took some pics which I'll post soon. Honestly, I did a bit too much physically, given the humidity and just having had an i.v. treatment 2 days before, but I kept plugging away, chest pains & all until I was finished! Then I sat for a long while. When the rain finally ca...

I had my 4th I.V. treatment at home on Tuesday. It left me very tired and wheezy, but ok. Yesterday, because I woke feeeling fine, I did a little too much off the bat and found myself having 2 big dizzy spells & back to being as exhausted as I was the previous evening! I knew I should rest, but I didn't want to go back inside, so I sat in the sun in one of the adirondack chairs you've seen many times in my photo slideshows here. For as long as I've had them where they are now, I've never sat in either of them! (Since last summer when the relandscaping was done?!) It was very windy which made sitting in the sun so comfortable and relaxing! (Gorgeous weather but the wind blew pollen around like crazy so everything was glowing with a greenish coating of it by dinner! I had so many sneezing fits!) Initially, I wrote in my journal for awhile, about some things I did outside, a few things I'd like to do out back to make things look better and seeing the 1st butterfly ...

This here is my Bleeding Heart bush! I cannot believe how big it is already and that its blooming! Hope the short cold snap coming Saturday night doesnt shock it too much!

well, here's my little contribution in celebration of earth day today ~ not turning on any of the lights until dark (which i do normally & i tend to light candles on cloudy days just because i prefer candle light!) - walking to the library, hardware store and foodstore instead of driving the truck (which i do often, not all the time, so i can get out for a walk) - cleaning up all the trash that winds up along the creek that runs along side of the property (i only go on the other side of the fence into the creek area once a year ~ yick! ~ i pick up trash along our fence line as needed!) ... and i'm going to plant the celosia seeds (harvested in november!) that i found last night as i started a MAJOR cleaning in our bedroom! (i didn't know dust bunnies could get that big!) lots of stuff to throw away, lots of stuff stacked in the corner for the town yard sale next month! i still have to go through my book case and my closet, but the rest of this room is done! (thank goodn...

Brought home a half flat of pansys and a yellow primrose yesterday from Foodtown! They were on sale for $3.99 and $1.24! Think I may go back tomorrow and pick up more before the sale ends!

Bleeding Heart is coming back! Yippie! Cant wait!

I found these popping up in a pot out front and Im not sure what they are! Guess we shall wait and see!

I named this the Mystery Tree last year! Its a beauty 1st thing in the spring when its barn red buds open to these strawberry ice cream pink flowers! Then its leaves turn a dark read wine color through the beginning of winter!

yeesh! yesterday started off with a NASTY sinus headache on top of my cold! i was in bed until about 3:30 yesterday afternoon! throughout the day i was also getting either back spasms or stabbing kidney pains on my right side, so i'm not sure if my back's acting up or if i've got kidney stones again! i took my 2nd to last exam for my gardening & landscape design class and got a 75% on it (my lowest grade for the entire course!) but at least i passed! got 1 left and i plan to take that later today! once i was finally up & about, i took some garbage out & found the beauties in the pics above just outside my fence by a tree! (only they had no pots!) guess someone decided they'd had enough of their easter flowers! i was so excited & uplifted by this find! ('a gift' as i called it!) ok, that's actually an understatement! i was giddy over it! (yup, i'm a gardening geek through & through!) once they're done blooming, i can either le...

My Aunt told me the wk before that the Snow Drops were up all over her property! The ones here turned up the end of last wk but I never got around to taking a pic! I am sorry to see Winter go, especially since we had more warm weather than cold and only 1 substantial snow fall! But the gardening bug has me itchin again!