HOORAY FOR RAINY SATURDAYS!!!

Zachary has been here all week and I am so tired.   I was truly hoping for a little extra sleep this morning but Zach was up at 5:30.

The weather here in Texas is going to be rainy and cold today and tomorrow, so we are stuck in the house.  The gardens are truly a mess this spring and the weeds are definitely winning the battle.   The weather has been rather warm all winter so the weeds have truly flourished, which means lots of extra work (shame on me).  Pulling weeds in the winter does not compute in my brain.   I want to stay in the house and read books on gardening rather than actually garden.

 Daffodils are blooming and putting on quite the show and some of the tulips I planted last year have come back.   I never expect the tulips to come back here;  the weather is too hot in the summer for the tulips to survive but low and behold, they are giving me a pretty good show this spring.

One of the great things about winter is the constant parade of garden catalogs that hit my mailbox.   I can sit for hours with a cup of coffee pouring over all the catalogs and dream of great summer gardens.   One of my favorites is Gilbert H. Wild and Son.   They have the best prices on daylilies and a good product.  They also have peonies, hostas, lilies and other plants.   When they have a sale; THEY HAVE A SALE!!!!  Here is a link to their web page.

http://www.gilberthwild.com/

Gilbert H. Wild has bargain daylilies, some for the low price of  $2.00 and if you are trying to fill in a large space and you like daylilies, then this is the place for you.

Another favorite of mine is Crownsville Nursery.   They carry a large variety of salvias and my favorite nepeta, 'Walker's Low'.   Their product is excellent and the way they pack their plants for shipping is the best.   I have never gotten a 'bad' plant from them and have always had great success with their plants.  Here is a link to their page.

Crownsville Nursery

One website that I discovered last year is Annie's Annual & Perennials.   I discovered these nice people on Facebook last year.   Their plant material is top notch and their website is lots of fun to roam around and learn about some very different kinds of plants.   Annie's is out of California and being an east coast girl, I was not familiar with alot of their plants.   I ordered some of the plants last year and had good success with them.   If you are on Facebook,  friend these wonderful gals and take a look at the lovely photos they have on their facebook page.  You won't be disappointed.

https://www.anniesannuals.com/

Annie's also offers a wonderful feature known as a "Wish List".   If they don't have the plant you are looking for, you can put it on your wish list and they will notify you by email when your plant is in stock.   I love this concept because I would never remember to go back and check to see if a plant is back in stock. Clever of them, don't you think???

There are only a couple of garden centers here in the San Antonio area, so I am constantly on the lookout for good mail order nurseries.   I love having a garden full of plants that are different and lovely to look at.  One of the local nurseries is The Antique Rose Emporium.   This is probably one of the prettiest nurseries I have ever been to.   Their rose selection is amazing and their perennials are excellent.  The Antique Rose Emporium also has a website and they have 100's of roses.   Shrub roses, mannerly climbers, wild climbers, tea roses, partial shade roses, Texas pioneer roses, container roses and a large selection of Dave Austin Roses.   What more could you ask for???   Here is a link to their website:

https://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/

Well, my dear friend.   I must close this note and go play with Zach.   Thank God for rainy days; playtime is important, too.  Miss you bunches, my dear friend.

Hugs
Ro

JUNKIN ON SATURDAY

Saturday was Market Days at Canton, Texas.   This flea market is one of the best in the country, some 10 square miles of "stuff" to browse through.   What a way to spend the day for a junker like me.  It's impossible to walk the whole thing but we (as in the family) have our favorite places to go, so we go right to work looking for those great little treasure we can't live without.

I don't own a wide angle lens, so this is just a small snippet of the size of this place.   One can find chickens, nuts, soup, and vintage everything.   I have a few favorites that I always find things to take home with me (chickens not included).

                 I found a very nice 'flow blue' platter among all the lovely china in this shop.

  
        A great shop full of pottery.  Don't you just love these beautiful blue pots.  The color is just perfect for spring.

                                             Pretty vintage perfume bottles

                         This couple made the most beautiful burlap and linen pillows. 

I love this chandelier and wanted to buy it for my craft room.    It was just a little over my budget and a certain husband was not being swayed to let me spend a 'little more money'!!!!    Maybe the next time I go, it will still be there.

How can one not love the name of this shop???   Lots of goodies to rummage through here.   They had some lovely vintage linens and lamps.

And this is my favorite shop, GIRLS GONE JUNKIN.    I always find lots of trinkets for my journals at this shop.   I found some vintage buttons, scrabble letters trimmed in glitter, white ribbon with buttons already sewn on, and a terrific buy on community silverware.   The girls who work at this shop are just the friendliest bunch and so helpful.

These are just a few of the photos I took last Saturday.    I am so looking forward to going next month.  The market days are only open once a month, first Monday weekend of every month.   Since this is Texas, the best months to go are always the cooler months and of course December is the best for all the great Christmas trinkets one could possibly want.

Till the next time, have a wonderful day.  Miss you bunches, my dear friend.,

BEEN GONE and BACK AGAIN

Well, I certainly have been 'missing in action' so to speak.  Things have been just a little crazy and I was not sure what direction I wanted to take my life.  I have since found my way back and I am ready to go ahead with great gusto!!!

Since I have been gone, I want to tell you, we have a new PUNK.  Her name is Lola Rose and she was born on November 29th.   She is a little cutie and is growing by leaps and bounds.   We are so happy for our Chris and Candice.  Adopting is truly a challenge that most people would find extremely difficult but they stuck with it.   Lola is truly a blessing and I thank God every day for putting the birth mother and my kids together.   I will tell you more about the adoption process in the near future.

 Thought you might get a kick out of seeing one of the many 100's of pictures I took during the holidays, trying to get a great photo of all the PUNKS.   I am always amazed how difficult picture taking can be when one is dealing with children.  They never want to cooperate and I wish you could have heard all the complaining about putting 'good' clothes on just because Nana wants to take a picture.  The 'photo session' went on forever with only ONE decent photo!!!

As you can see, Zach doesn't want to sit still for the picture.   His Mom was across the room and all he wanted was to be with her.  Bella and Matthew certainly have grown up alot since the last photos I sent you.   I find it hard to believe that Bella will be 8 this April and Matthew just turned 7 last month. 

Well, my dear friend, I will close this note by saying, I am one lucky NANA!!!  The PUNKS are all so special and fill my heart with so much love.  Hope this note finds you well and looking forward to spring, as much I am.  Much love to you from all of us. I miss you bunches!!!

Up and Down the Road--gotta have a kid fix

I have neglected writing to you  for a few days because I have been visiting my kids and the punks.  Now before you think I am a horrible person, I refer to my grandkids as my punks in a very loving way.  They are absolutely the best thing that every happened to me.  My husband and I headed up the road last Friday to spend some time with the family.  It was the most perfect weekend, that is if you don't count the rain.  We don't!!!!  Rain has been pretty scarce in these parts for almost a year, so when it rains we are extremely happy.

Saturday we went to watch Bella cheer at the Pee Wee football game.  I am not a huge fan of cheerleading for 7 year olds but they sure are cute.

Then it was off to lunch and the mall to return some clothes at the GAP that I bought for Bella.  She grew a whole 2 inches at the end of the summer.  I told her, she needs to stop that growing thing right now.  She is growing up way too fast, it seems like just yesterday that I was kissing that sweet child's bald head.   My daughter, Melanie and Zach (the youngest of the punks) met us at the mall and of course GAP was having a great sale plus I had coupons.  Zach got a few things that he desperately needed.

It was 6:30PM by the time we all got back to Chris' and Candice's house, so it was pizza and salad for dinner. The evening went by quickly and it was time Bella and Zach to head for bed.  I would have liked a little more time to spend with them.

Sunday was State Fair Day.  We all got out of the house and to the fair by 10:00AM.  That is really good considering 5 adults and 2 kids had to take showers, eat breakfast and get all their gear together to spend a whole day at the fair.  Our son-in-law, Dennis and our punk Matt met us there.

The morning started out terrific.  I took them on the huge ferris wheel and I got suckered into taking Matt on one of the roller coasters.  Needless to say, I couldn't walk when I got off the darn thing and I really thought I was going to lose my breakfast. It was not pretty!!!  The rain came just as we were about to go have lunch; it was perfect timing.  We say the animals, new cars, mounted police horses, had our share of junk food  and of course the rides!!!

 Now if there is a puddle to be found, my 2 punks will have to play.  I was just waiting for one of them to fall in!!   By this point, we were all soaking wet and the adults were ready to call it quits.  We went on just a little longer.  We still needed to go see the new cars.   For all you Transformer fans out there, they had the Bumble Bee and Side Swipe cars there from the movie.  And Matt was not going to let us leave till we saw the cars. 

By the end of the day, we all were pretty tired and broke.  It was time to go home.  Zach didn't fall asleep till mid-afternoon; such a good kid.

We headed back down the road on Monday and it's always good to be home.  By Tuesday morning, I had a cold and was missing the punks alot. For all of you, Nanas and Grandmas out there, you know of what I speak.  There is nothing better in the whole world than being a Nana.

I miss you, my dear friend. 

Till the next post, have a good one.
Ro

What's in a name? Having the name of the most beautiful flower.

"Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination." CW Earle

My imagination can virtually run wild when it comes to roses.  I would plant every rose available if I could afford it.  They simply move me more than any other flower, the colors, the fragrance and the look.  The rose to me is the most perfect flower.

Roses have a long colorful history and have been symbols of love, beauty, war and politics.  Fossils of the rose have been found around the world, dating back 35 million years.   Greek Mythology tells us Aphrodite gave the rose its' name and the goddess of flowers, Chloris created it.   There are frescoes dated 1700BC, which illustrate a rose with 5 petals and pink blooms.   Discoveries made in Egyptian tombs revealed wreaths of flowers including roses.

Garden cultivation of roses began some 5000 years ago, probably in China.   Roses were grown in the Middle East during the Roman Empire.   The Romans and Greeks worshiped this aromatic flower.  They were known for throwing rose petals all over their floors for special events.

Some believe the early tea rose got it's name from the early tea clippers that transported tea from India and others believe it got it's name from the scent of the rose.   The Damask rose got it's name from the ancient city of Damascus.   The Persians were the first to find a way of extracting the pure rose oil from the Damask rose.   Rose oil is still the key element in toiletries around the world.

The Crusaders brought back many species of roses to Europe from the East.   The rose form has also been used as a heraldic emblem.   For instance, the red rose was used as the symbol for the House of Lancaster and the white rose used for the House of York .   This was the War of the Roses, 1455 to 1487.

In the 17th century, roses were in such high demand, that the rose and rose water were used as legal tender. Napoleon's wife Josephine established an extensive collection at Chateau de Malmaison. The garden contained more than 250 species.  Botanical illustrator, Pierre Jospeh Redoute completed his water color collection, "Les Rose" in this garden. It is still considered the best botanical illustrations.

Cultivar roses were introduced into Europe from China in the late 18th Century.   Most modern roses can be traced back to this ancestry.   This was the beginning of repeat blooming roses and made them important to hybridizers setting the stage for breeding work with native roses for hardiness and longer blooming seasons.

The rose also has been used as a religious symbol.   The Catholic rosary was originally a string of dried roses.   The white rose is associated with the Virgin Mary and the red rose represents the blood of Christ.

Today, the rose count is over 30,000 varieties and remains among the all-time favorites in the garden.

Are roses important to you?   Do you love seeing them in your garden or in a vase?

Hope this day is wonderful for you.  Go out and take some time to smell the roses.   It will  make you smile. Time to go and weed the garden and get my hands dirty.


Till the next post. Have a good one.
Ro

"

Good-bye Summer

Spent yesterday taking down the gardens with more to do.  I normally hate to see summer end but this year is a different story.  With little to no rain and water restrictions, the gardens really suffered.
Let's bid summer a fond farewell with a look at a few photos.

I have lots of plans for later in the fall. I need to move some "Texas Sage" shrubs to the back garden.
I also have some grafted roses I need to get in the ground.  They have been a pots since spring and they are big enough now to go in the ground. 

Some of the Hostas are big enough to be divided. They are going in the side bed under the Photinias along with a box full of Daylilies that is sitting in the garage refrigerator.  Daylilies do very well here, so I use them alot to fill in large areas.  They really do tolerate the heat nicely.  I have a great source for Daylilies: www.gilbertfwild.com  They have great prices and their products is very good.

These wonderful Mallows have done beautifully in the back of the front garden and they have reseeded all over the place.  There are now several that I can move to the back garden.  I am so happy with this little sweetie. 

Lillies do OK here but they bloom very early. I have a few varieties but my favorite Orientpet do not grow here, way too hot.  I have more to put in the ground this winter.  I usually keep them in the refrigerator till late December.

Now that the days are getting cooler, I am back outside alot more. I can actually put in a full morning without feeling over-heated. I am still praying for rain!!!!  Hope you liked the photos.  Drop me a comment and let me know how your garden is doing.  Are you getting ready for winter? 

Till the next post, have a good one.
Ro

Favorite Magazines

You know, I love my magazines.  There are 10 magazines that come into my house monthly and at least 6 that come bi-monthly (I can already see you shaking your head).  OK, I admit it; I have a problem.  I am a addict, junkie and totally happy.  The problem is the piles that seem to accumulate that drive my husband crazy.  I do eventually get around to cutting out all the pictures and articles I want to keep but sometimes it takes awhile.  This particular magazine I don't cut up.

The magazine that I truly like for the articles and not the glossy photos is Cook's Illustrated.  This magazine's layouts are all black and white, easy to read and contains information such as best products to buy for a featured recipe.

  I was reading the recipe for 'Chicken Cacciatore' in their 'Italian Favorites' issue and there is a segment about diced tomatoes.  The author wrote, "Unlike most canned produce, a great can of diced tomatoes offers flavor almost as intense as ripe, in-season fruit."  The article recommended Hunt's Diced Tomatoes and Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes.  Now before you start telling me that nothing beats fresh, sometimes fresh isn't always available.  

 Regular articles in the bi-monthly magazine, 'Quick Tips' and 'Kitchen Notes' are full of great information that any cook needs to know.  From Rescuing a Broken Sauce to Easy Zesting, the tips are helpful and a quick read.

 Over the years, I have discovered that beautiful photos of food aren't necessarily important to cooking.  A recipe I make very rarely turns out like the photo because of the all "doctoring" the artists do to make it look perfect (somewhat similar to what the artists do to models to make us all wish we looked like them, snicker snicker).  As long as the food tastes good and the recipe is fairly uncomplicated, I am happy without the glossy photo.

I plan on doing a review of one of my favorite craft magazines in the near future. Maybe we could compare notes on some favorites of yours. Why don't you leave me a comment on your favorites.

Till the next post, have a good one.
Ro