Garden June 2008 pics back yard

Here are some pictures from the back yard garden, June 2008. I hope you enjoy them.

This is Tuscan rosemary, with a hosta in front, and an iris in back. I really worried about it last year when I planted it, as it acted as though it wasn't happy, and looked like it was barely hanging on.
What a difference a year makes. It's obviously decided it's happy, and is really taking off.

This is my stand of mint and in front of them is my patch of thyme. Both are doing very well - I'll be harvesting some of that mint in a week or so and enjoying fresh mint tea. They're next to the lily bed.

These are the moonflower I got from your Aunt Sheba - as you can see, they're already starting to climb the trellis. I have 2 out of the pot that have reached the trellis as of this point, and I expect the other 3 to reach the trellis in a couple of days. Once they realize it's there, they'll really start taking off. I can't wait to get some pictures of them when they hit their stride and start producing flowers.

These are my "trumpet" lilies and the Oriental lily.

The Oriental hasn't started blooming yet, however it should in about a week or so. Behind it are the pink lilies (I can't remember their real name, so pink lily will have to do), just as I can't remember the real name for the "trumpet" lily either - oh well, blame it on my age. All I know is they're happy and growing and blooming and that's all I can ask for.

These are sunflower seedlings - the variety is called "Mammoth" because they're supposed to reach a height of 12 feet. I can't wait. I had more but those damn chipmunks got to them.

This is a side by side of the "standard" elephant ear and the Gigantus variety. Audrey, as I've said before, is a Gigantus. To refresh your memory, the reason I call her Audrey is a reference to "Little Shop of Horrors", the Broadway musical and film and the original black and white movie from the 1960's. Technically then, she'd be Audrey 3, since the plant in "Little Shop" was Audrey 2.

This is Audrey 3 - June 2008

Garden notes

By the way, it appears that the black elephant ear has decided it likes where it is and has sent up 3 more shoots. That stand of elephant ear is going to look spectacular when it all comes in.
Audrey is looking great, she now has 4 leaves up. None yet bigger than average, however I think she'll produce at least by next year when she's fully established in her pot.
The moonflowers continue to sprout, and I've got a couple of shoots from the sunflowers to come up. The day lilies in the side garden have begun to bloom, I'll post a picture later.
The mint is very happy, and I hope to be able to harvest some soon - I'm looking forward to a glass of cold mint tea on a hot day.
The trumpet lilies in the front have both started sending up their flower stalks, so I expect to have blooms within a week or three.
Stargazers in the back, probably a day or two and they'll start blooming.
Oriental lily, probably another 3 weeks before I see any blooms, but the calla in the side will have a bloom up in a matter of days.
It's late and I'm rambling. I'll put up pictures of everything as it blooms.
G'nite sweetheart.

Litha 2008 - Field notes

Well Andrea, you've known for a while now that I'm a Witch. (Technically, Universalist Wiccan, but I digress. I don't know whether I'll still be doing ritual or back to my old lazy self, however this is one that I want down for the record.
Here's what I 'm thinking.
Since Litha is traditionally the time that the veil between mortal and Faery is the thinnest, do a ritual that invokes Oberon and Titania, the rulers of Faery, as God and Goddess.
That's all I have at the moment, but then again this is just the initial planning.
More as it develops.

Election 2008 - History has been made -

It occurs to me Andrea, that you might want to know about more than just my recollections, and instead want to know what's going on in the rest of the world during your infancy.
I've refrained from posting my political views because I honestly believe that politics should remain personal, with my only soapbox being that you have to vote. Voting isn't optional, it's a requirement for us as a society to implement change and let our voices be heard. (You'll hear that a lot from me, darling, so get used to it.)
Anyway, yesterday on June 3 2008, history was made.
For the first time in our nation's history, an African American, Senator Barak Obama presumptively gained the Democratic party nomination for the Presidential race. I say presumptive only because it's not official until the Democratic Convention, just as Senator John McCain is only the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for the same reason.
Mind you, they both have their Parties nominations. Each has the required delegates to cinch their nominations, and the Conventions are only a formality.
This was a hard fought battle between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Obama, with Hillary running a very close second to Barak, however the people have spoken and Senator Obama will be the Democratic nominee.
Now for a little prognostication on my part. Back in the beginning of this race I said (and Grandpa Don can verify this for you) that it was going to be an Obama/Clinton ticket, and I still hold to that.
I say that Obama will nominate Hillary Clinton to be his Vice President.
Whether or not I'm right will have to wait for the convention, however it's what's being called a "Dream Ticket"... the two biggest front runners in the Democratic race united to bring down the Republican nightmare that has been the Bush administration. (Sorry, I'll stop now)
Historically, there has been one other administration in recent history that did the same thing - the Kennedy Johnson ticket of 1960.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that McCain's choice for VP will probably be Mitt Romney.
We'll see if I'm right.
Enough for now, I'm on the verge of going off on a political rant.

Garden June 2008

Here you have a picture of the potting I did today. I put down about 30 moonflower sprouts, and about 15 sunflower seeds. I'll be transplanting the sunflower to the sideyard as soon as they're big enough to survive out of their pots. The moonflowers will be both planted and gifted to neighbors as soon as they're big enough. I'm getting some climbing roses from one neighbor in exchange for some of the moonflowers, and I'll be giving another neighbor some since she gave me the canna lilies that are now on the side yard.

Moon flower seeds I got from your Aunt Sheba. I sprouted them using a ziploc bag and a damp paper towel after nipping the ends off the seeds and soaking them for 24 hours.

This is what the plants look like when they start growing - believe it or not, this is just 3 days after I put the seeds into dirt.

This is the mint bed and the thyme bed. It's kind of blurry, but the mint is on the left and the thyme on the right.

I'm so happy to see this little guy coming up - it's the first sign that the black elephant ear I planted last year will be coming back. Below you can more easily see the size difference between the normal elephant ear and the black elephant ear.

This is what the bed looked like back in March of this year. I really had my doubts at that point that anything was going to come back.

This picture is my lily bed. I have 3 varieties of lilies growing here; Stargazer, Oriental, and the one I call "trumpet" lilies since I can't remember the exact name of their species.

And of course, my newest installation, the trellises. I'll be putting the moonflowers down along the fence so they can grow onto the trellises, and as I said, trading a few moonflowers for some climbing roses, who will also be using the trellises.

As you might guess, Andrea, I do love my plants. It's a vice but it's one of my healthier ones.

Delayed update (sorry)

Yeah, it's been about 2 weeks since my procedure, and I haven't posted since the night before.
My bad, you can yell at me about this when you're capable of understanding, Andrea.
Anyway, it went without a hitch, however the only wrinkle is that I've used up all of my FSA (Flex Spending Account) for the year on the previous round of Physical Therapy (8 weeks of hell) so I can't afford to do the PT (Physical Therapy) that I'm supposed to be doing - why can't I afford it, you ask?
Because of this little thing called a co-pay. Cigna considers anyone not my Primary Care Physician (PCP) to be a "specialist" and instead of a $20 co-pay, I have a $40 co-pay.
At 3 visits a week, that's $120 I don't have and can't spend.
So, I have to do exercises at home and pray that my shoulder doesn't freeze again.

On other fronts, my gardens are doing very well. I had a neighbor give me a number of canna lilies , in addition to an iris (exact variety unknown at this point) which I put in the side garden. They're in back of the elephant ear and hostas, and when they establish will provide an excellent backdrop for the plants in front.
Your Aunt Sheba gave me a number of moonflower seeds, of which at this writing I've only been able to get 2 to sprout - (I have high hopes for the next round of sprouting, as I'm trying a different technique - besides, if I get more to sprout, I will be able to trade with a neighbor for a climbing rose (unfortunately, Wikipedia doesn't have a page for them, so no link - but as soon as I get them, I'll put up a picture so you'll know what I'm talking about) )
The mints and thyme plants your Grandpa Don gave me are doing well, I'm really hoping they overwinter this year, as the last patch of mint didn't survive.
I have also started a pot of grape tomatoes, so hopes are that they'll take off and I'll get another huge bush of them this year.
Well, at work so must go for now. I'll write more later, probably during lunch tonight.

Surgery in just over 4 hours

Today is May 14th, and I'm due to be at Emory Spinal & Orthopedic Clinic at 6am to do paperwork and get my anesthesia started, for the procedure at 7am to fix the frozen shoulder.
Why am I writing this at this hour of the morning instead of sleeping?
Because I can't sleep. I've been in bed since 9pm last night, and actually managed to drop off for a few hours, but keep waking up, and now it's to the point that I can't get back to sleep.
It's sort of like when I was doing major amounts of coffee past the time I knew I shouldn't, but in this case, I think it's more nerves. (Especially since I had a total of two and a half cups of coffee yesterday, and one of those was 75% decaf).
The arm is giving me minor difficulties, by twinging and being annoying however this is definitely more related to the procedure than to anything else.
Am I doing the right thing? I think so. I've been dealing with this for over about a year now and it's time to get it fixed once and for all.
I'll write more after the surgery.
I just wanted to get this down for the record.