Visit the Kelpforest (pt. 2)

Family sick leave = a little gardening
Sunset Magazine makes me a little sad, because I know my yard is never going to look like that. Especially when they show a yard right in my own home town.

(But my yard looks pretty good if you only look at the close ups...)

Been home yesterday and today because all the yardwork caught up to John and his asthma is letting him know it. He will not wear a mask when he's futzing around in the dirt. Yesterday, the kids and I found some potting soil and put Dad's Martha Washington geranium in a pot, and put some seeds in peat pots; sunflowers (Monet's Colors), purple coneflower (Echinacea), blanketflower (Galliardia), and California poppies (gotta have our state flower in there). Avalon was doing her best to dig them up as we planted them. I thought if they get a good start and get good-sized, we can put them in the planters and they won't get totally eaten (although that did not help one of the marigolds I planted last week). I found a couple of very old Salvia and Poppy packets that I had Angus and Gareth sprinkle in the planter themselves - if they come up, it'll be bonus, but I'm not expecting anything. I still have a cilantro plant to get in a pot, and I have some mesclun mix seeds to put in a window box planter as well. I am probably doing this at completely the wrong time - it should have been done weeks ago - but at least it's started. The Candystripe cosmos I put in the front planters last week seem to be doing ok.



Because there are so many weed seeds in the backyard soil, once its cleared, I'd want to get it wet, cover with it up with plastic, and let the sun kill all the seeds. Its supposed to take a couple of months in the summer, but at least it doesn't use any chemicals (of course, getting my dad's RV out of there would also help immensely). John tried it on the south side planter next to the house, but I don't think he left it on long enough. His friend Jerry came over and planted red bell, jalapeño, and habañero peppers, and we put John's herbs (catmint; lemon thyme; sweet marjoram; Siam Queen, mammoth, and sweet basil; and chives) in next to it, but I see a lot of little weeds beginning to poke up now that it's had a good watering.



My poor neglected rose bush; she's been blooming like crazy, even though she barely has any leaves. Normally, I consider roses the poodles of the plant world; they are high maintenance, require a lot of extra grooming and fussy about their conditions. I saw this one in a catalog a few years ago, though and she was just strange enough I thought we would get along. Unfortunately, since I had kids, I kind of forgot we had a backyard. I'm amazed the poor thing survived. She hasn't been watered, except for rain, for a couple of years. Once she's done blooming, I need to cut her back and give her a big snack of manure and mulch (yum!). Must be careful though; like me, she's rather prickly. She's called either "Candy Cane" or "Peppermint Stick"; I can't remember which.



The house finches are emptying the feeder every few days, and the kids enjoy watching them. Haven't seen any hummers yet though; the feeder has sat for a couple of weeks with no visitors. There are probably enough flowers blooming now in the neighbors yards to keep them happy, but I'll boil up some more sugar solution, keep the feeders clean, and keep looking. They are here, they just aren't visiting me.

A few more pics of things that are blooming:

And indoors...

Avalon found my recorder and was tooting on it, she was unhappy when I relieved her of it, so I played a little bit of Suo Gan (a Welsh lullaby) for her to cheer her up again (I only play a little bit - my brother is the musician in the family). Angus told me I should sing the words; however I tried to look them up, and it doesn't look like the English translation of the lyrics fit with the melody, and I don't know how to pronounce Welsh, despite it being part of my ancestry. Still a lovely song, though; I'll just be content with humming it.

All Griping Aside...
...sometimes 'ol Deadwood Bob (aka Dad) is pretty cool. I have a weakness for men's Hawaiian shirts. I also like dragons, especially those with a sense of humor. He brought this one home for me the other day.





The only problem with it is that it's polyester instead of rayon, as most of these shirts are.

Belated Dad's Day...
Sunday I made waffles again, although before I was done John requested toast from his place of paternal honor (that is, still in bed) because he was just too hungry to wait. He enjoyed his gifts (a golf shirt with flags on it, a mini calligraphy kit and some silver ink, and we had put in an herb garden earlier in the week) and the cards, especially the one Gareth picked out himself:

I wanted to get you and appropriately sentimental card for Father's Day, but I just kept coming back to this one with the fat guy holding the big fish.

Dad also got a shirt but only emerged when I knocked on the door to ask if he wanted some waffles while they were still hot. He had the door locked for some strange reason - did he think we were going to barge in on him?

Angus was with Grandma most of the day - she took him along to see some new puppies. Two weeks ago she had had Belle, her elderly Maltese, put to sleep because she was blind, deaf and incontinent, and her quallity of life was not likely to get any better. She looked like she was in a lot of pain just moving around. Angus was very upset, becasue she's been around since he was born, and still has not really processed what happened to Jay. She thought seeing the puppies would make him feel better, but it was a long drive to El Cajon from Long Beach and back. She put a down payment down on one, but they are still tiny - eyes not even open yet and still so tiny they fit in your palm.

Anyway, in belated honor of Father's Day, something I posted last year. (needs Real Player) It's still funny.43