Cool Weather

Well, I had to turn the heat on today. I really do not like to turn the heat on and then turn the air back on a few days later. That is a common situation here in the South. The temp in the house got below 60 last night, so I relented. Last year we had to turn the air back on briefly in December.

I finally got outside and planted some bulbs and pansies. A good thing, too, since we had a hard frost last night. My beautiful impatiens had finally had enough and died. I planted tulips and daffodils and hyacinths. Every year the ground gets a little easier to work so the bulb planting went quickly. My daughter was a big help, dropping the bulbs into the holes I dug and covering them with dirt.

We have some gorgeous fall color and if my camera was working I would take a picture and show you. Our camera never worked after our vacation. I've still got to get the pictures off the memory card. Hubby is looking at getting another one. He has been wanting a SLR camera but I didn't want to spend the money. Now I guess it is necessary. I think I might buy myself a small camera to carry in my purse.

We had a great time at the Auburn game last weekend and I know I should do an entire post about it but I have been so busy. I am enjoying the new job but between it and school activities it leaves little time for the non-essentials like blogging and reading blogs. I still find time to read, somehow, though.

I'm working all weekend and I just wanted to do a quick post because I'm not sure when I'll be back. If I didn't get a chance to visit your blog this week, I'm sorry and hope to visit soon.

Wednesday

Yesterday I went for my Red Cross first aid training. I am certified in first aid now. If you have a minor accident while I am nearby I know how to call 911. Just kidding. It was a pretty comprehensive course and luckily covered a lot of the legal aspects of what you can and can not do. I hope to volunteer in our school's clinic. It did not include CPR and I might go back for that. It has been many years since I took CPR and the procedures have changed.

I'm feeling a little blue today. I didn't exercise yesterday and then I blew my diet in a big way. (Because once you realize you've blown it you might as well blow it big, right?) I'm working today and tomorrow and then I have a 3 day weekend without a lot of plans. Maybe I can pull myself out of this slump and stop being so lazy.

Our area Water Department has put us on water restrictions. This is as good an exuse as any to stop watering & fertlizing the flowers. They seem to be holding their own. I'm still wishing for a little tropical storm to blow some rain & cooler weather our way.

Purple Secretia

I get a lot of search hits on my blog from Purple Secretia because of this blog entry. Because it seems a lot of people are searching for this plant I thought for fun I would write a little more about it. There is no entry on Wikipedia about it so perhaps people just want to know what it is.

Purple Secretia is a purple perennial plant that thrives in our area (zone 7). It blooms in the summertime with purple flowers. It is found everywhere in landscaping in our area because it looks so good with contrasting colors. (It looks excellent with orange lilies or various yellow flowering plants.) It spreads rapidly, and returns every year. I discovered this plant a few years ago and have enjoyed having it in my garden ever since. It is very difficult to kill. It's roots spread & run deep and unless you manage to get every last one of them it will return to you the following spring. After it emerges from the soil you can transplant it to other areas of your garden or give some to a friend. More will grow in it's place. It seems to thrive in our semi-drought conditions and grows equally well in sun or shade.

I am not pretending to be an expert on this plant, I am just telling of my experience. I have found it difficult to locate in major garden centers. The employees will generally not know it by this name. Small nurseries usually have a few plants as I believe its largest use is to landscapers. In late October or early November when I generally plant bulbs in my garden and pansies I will sometimes pull the remaining plant out of the garden (not actually by the root, just the portion above the ground) to allow room for these winter & spring choices. Don't worry, it doesn't seem to mind this and will return in late April.

Not the best pictures but it gives you an idea.

Thursday

Yesterday, I took the kids to Point Mallard for the day. We went with another family from school. This park has a wave pool, an Olympic pool, and several water slides. Lots of fun was had by all and we returned sunburned despite the sunscreen.

Today, my daughter had a dentist appt. We went by the elementary school on the way to register for fall and by the University fitness center to register for swim lessons. We tried to feed some ducks lunch but mostly fed turtles (Too hot for ducks? Maybe they've flown north for the summer. Smart ducks!!!) We went to Cracker Barrel and had breakfast for lunch.

In a little while when the sun starts to hide itself behind the trees I've got to go out in the 90 degree heat and fertilize the flowers. The drought has not been kind to my garden. I'm glad that summer flowers here usually bloom well into October.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Plants that Grow Well in The South (Zone 7) 1. Begonias 2. Impatiens 3. New Guinea Impatiens 4. Celosia 5. Coleus 6. Hostas (perennial) 7. Marigolds 8. Mums 9. Vinca 10. Purple Secretia 11. Lilly 12. Pansies (fall planting) 13. salvia I have planted all these in my garden with great success. The secret (I believe) to beautiful flowers is water, fertilizer, and pest control.

Wednesday

Yesterday, after hearing the news of my granddaddy's death (see Tuesday's post) I went on with my plans for the day. I went for my morning walk and then headed to the plant nursery. I finally got the landscaping done that I talked about here and I needed to get some annuals planted. As usual I bought far more than I should have when you consider the work involved. The landscapers had put in a lot of mulch and I removed some of that to mulch around the trees in the front yard. I set out a lot of flowers. The hardest part (because the soil is quite easy to dig in) is watering them afterwards. I found out that in the process of removing the old bushes some damage occurred to the sprinkler system. The sprinklers are no longer watering my flower beds. So for the time being I'm going to have to water them by hand. Ughh!! My daughter, B, was a big help with the planting and watering. There is still a lot to do! But, oh, I am so sore today.

Our new furniture was delivered and hopefully somebody is coming today to haul away the old sofa. Last night, I went to Lowe's to buy a new chest freezer (one of the smaller models). My son's birthday is coming up and he wants an ice cream cake. My freezer is always so full that this would not be possible without the new purchase. I buy a lot of entrees, etc from Schwann's. I've wanted to try their frozen pizzas but didn't have the room. Also, we never have the room for ice cream. That's just wrong, folks! We put the freezer in the garage and it was cold in only a few hours. I am looking forward to filling it up.

Today, I am at work. But I'll be off for the next few days with the funeral and my scheduled off time. I have some posts worked up and I'm going to try and post them this weekend.