Daylilies – ACK
I have a confession – I do not like daylilies – at all. I don’t know why, they just really bring out a strong reaction of dislike when I see them. The funny thing is that I have tons of them in my gardens. They were all here when I moved in. I gave a bunch to my mom, but the ones that stayed have been multiplying and I have even more now than we had in the beginning.
Perhaps it’s the lines of the plants, that they have a tendency to look kind of messy. Maybe it’s the strong bold colors, I’m not a big fan of bright primary colors in the garden. Maybe it’s the shape of the flowers. I really don’t know why it is that I don’t like them. There are a few varieties however, that I don’t mind as much as others. I have a wine colored one that’s not bad and a light buttery yellow one.
I especially do not like the ‘Stella de Oro’ lilies for some reason and there’s a huge patch of them in the garden. They are filling a space and will be replaced with other plants when I have propagated or purchased new plants. Oddly enough I don’t mind the wild tiger lilies, I kind of like them. We have a few in the garden and I want to plant a large patch of them in the ditch in front of the hedge on the new lot.
It’s kind of interesting how flower and plant tastes are varied. We have certain colors, shapes, and textures that we’re drawn to when it comes to our garden. I find that I like white, purple and light yellow flowers in my garden and pretty much anything that provides something delicious for my plate.
Do you have any kind of plant/flower that you have a strong dislike for?
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A Little Homework Assignment
Last fall a friend of mine did a scrapbooking class where she had to come up with words that described herself. I loved this idea and thought it would make a great blog series. So I’ll be doing Alphabet in August starting – you guessed it – in August. I’d love to have you join me, either on your blog or in the comments each day.
Since it can be a little tough to come up with words to describe yourself I figured I’d give you a head start. Pull out a piece of paper write the letters of the alphabet on it and put it on your fridge. Over the next 5 weeks start jotting down words starting with each letter that describe yourself.
If you want to follow along on your blog I’ll be uploading the photo above to my Flickr account at the beginning of August and you can grab it from there to use on your blog. Post your words every day and link back here in the comment section. If you don’t have a blog just comment your words. I’m really looking forward to hearing what words you come up with for each letter to describe yourself.
So what do you think? Do you want to join the challenge?
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A Day to Recharge
As an introvert, being around a lot of people wears me out both physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I really enjoy gardening is because it’s a great way for me to get some quiet time alone to recharge. After a busy week last week with lots of trips out and about, I was sorely in need of some quiet time. Mr Chiots was heading out for the day to cheer on some friends that were running a race, so luckily I had a day to myself. I thought about working in the garden, but I had been doing a lot of that all week and needed a bit of a rest day out of the sun.
I checked We Took to the Woods out of the library a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to find any measurable amount of time to sit down and get through more than 10 pages at once. I decided to make the most of my day by spending it sitting on the front porch in my little folding chair finishing up the book. There’s nothing like a good book and a few hours of uninterrupted reading to restore the soul. Now I’m ready to take on the week!
What’s your favorite way to recharge?
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True Heirloom Plants
I talk about heirloom vegetables all the time. Most of the plants in my edible garden are heirlooms, passed down throughout the generations, but not in my immediate family. I do have a few plants that are heirlooms in my family. Plants that have been passed down from my grandma to my mom and then on to me.
This Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) comes from my mom’s garden. I got a start of it a few years ago. She got her start from her mom’s garden many years ago. I also have a peony that came from the house my mom’s parents bought when she was a little girl. It was already growing in the garden when they purchased the house over 50 years ago. My mom got starts from it when she had a garden of her own, and she’s given me starts of it as well.
I also have two snowball viburnums (Viburnum macrocephalem) that are starts from a bush my dad’s mom planted down at the family cabin and it’s been blooming beside the shed for as long as I can remember. I was able to get two starts from it last year. My grandma was always happy when it was blooming, she called it the snowball bush. It’s nice to know when I see these plants that my grandmothers grew and enjoyed them in their gardens as well, true heirloom plants!
Do you have any plants that are heirlooms in your family?
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My Well-Documented Life
I started this blog to keep track of my garden. Mostly for myself, I never really figured people would start reading it. Along the way I picked up some readers, they started commenting and this blog became about much more than just documenting my garden. It’s now a chronicle of my efforts to cultivate a simple life. One of the benefits of blogging is that now my entire life is documented through my camera lens. Just about everything I do is photographed from every angle. Take yesterday for example:
Mr Chiots was away for the day so I had a simple lunch of sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, olives and some cheese. I enjoyed a book while eating my delicious meal and of course I took a few photos. Yesterday was kind of a day off for me after a long busy week. I spent most of the day reading a book I picked up from the library called The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love. I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good book.
I bought a trout when we were in Cleveland earlier in the week to cook up for dinner and of course the process was documented as well. The ingredients, preparation and cooking were all snapped. I take a lot of photos that never even make it to the blog, some go on Flickr, other’s just sit in my photo organization software waiting for a future post. On a “normal” day, I take between 50-100 photos.
Mr Chiots even came out and took a few photos of me cooking the trout over the fire. I know you’re loving this colorful cooking outfit, boots and all!
We enjoyed the grilled trout with a side of brown rice with asparagus, garlic, lemon, ramps and a dusting of good cheese. Quick and simple as most of our meals tend to be.
After we ate, we were sitting in the living room and the sun was streaming beautifully through the window. Naturally I took a photos.
Of course there’s the customary photo of one of the pets as well, that’s taken throughout the day (does everyone do this?). This time it was Lucy posing so majestically in the woods while I was cooking the fish.
That was my yesterday. Simple, boring, and yet fully documented and now on the internet for all to read about. For some reason other people seem to enjoy reading & seeing all about it.
I like having a journal of my days and I most likely wouldn’t be doing it without the encouragement of having people reading each and every day. I do appreciate that you all stop by and comment each day, it keeps me posting.
Do you keep a diary or a journal of your life and what you do each day?
