I'm still here.
I've just been crazy busy juggling a career while serving as director of the 2017 Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling.
My garden is one of the stops on the Fling.
But that's ok. Crazy doesn't bother me.
Nothing much has changed.
I enjoyed this container grouping so much I'm repeating it
next summer.
My dogs dug new holes
after I filled in
all the old ones and
are still pooping in the garden
when they think I'm not looking.
I redesigned my shade garden
- again -
because it's become an annual event.
I'd much rather make traveling here
or here
with him
an annual event but it hasn't happened yet.
My talents apparently lie only in buying plants
but not actually designing anything with them.
If I ever tried to make it as a designer
I'd be living in a van down by the river.
Native anemone canadensis spreads vigorously, suffocating everything in its path. I redesigned this area with plants whose leaves are large enough to shade out the anemones, hopefully slowing them down.
I updated my So Seedy 2017 page and
am planning on starting more seeds
than I have room for.
But that's ok, too.
My garden is one of the stops on the Fling.
But that's ok. Crazy doesn't bother me.
Nothing much has changed.
I enjoyed this container grouping so much I'm repeating it
next summer.
My dogs dug new holes
after I filled in
all the old ones and
are still pooping in the garden
when they think I'm not looking.
I redesigned my shade garden
- again -
because it's become an annual event.
I'd much rather make traveling here
or here
with him
an annual event but it hasn't happened yet.
My talents apparently lie only in buying plants
but not actually designing anything with them.
If I ever tried to make it as a designer
I'd be living in a van down by the river.
Native anemone canadensis spreads vigorously, suffocating everything in its path. I redesigned this area with plants whose leaves are large enough to shade out the anemones, hopefully slowing them down.
I updated my So Seedy 2017 page and
am planning on starting more seeds
than I have room for.
But that's ok, too.
I figured you were probably up to your eyeballs but I've been pleased to see you pop up now and again in comments on my blog or others. I'm sure it'll all come together on your end. I find that the loose ends I focus on are usually utterly invisible to anyone else, which is my way of saying don't sweat the small stuff. I hope you had a wonderful holiday break from work and, even if you missed out on travels with the hunk in the kilt, that you enjoyed your time with your family. Your son was home, right?
ReplyDeleteYes, he was and it was wonderful to spend time with him! It was the best Christmas gift.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I've missed you. I'm pleased to learn that you got to spend time with your son over Christmas - that's great news. Is there still room on the fling? I am pondering popping over the pond for it. Then again, will there be a fling if you are jet-setting with Hunky Kiltman?
ReplyDeleteWe still have room!! Please come join us!!
DeleteHey Tammy! Glad to hear you are still at it and have time to come up for a bit of air. I wonder what Hunky Beach Kiltman is hiding behind his back?
ReplyDeleteConsidering Kiltman is actually Hugh Jackman, let's not hope it's the claws he used when he played Wolverine!
DeleteEnjoyed your post immensely. I know for sure I would like to take a vacation where your imagination takes you. Still giggling. I don't think shade slows anemones.
ReplyDeleteSince Hugh Jackman isn't allowed to pack anything except that kilt and the second vacation photo is of Finland, I think a warm fire and lots of body heat will be the only thing that keeps the poor man alive. My imagination is a pretty wild place so we'd have fun, for sure!
DeleteYou are amazing! I am really looking forward to spending time in your garden. I especially want to take notes in your dry shade garden. I'm revamping mine, again! I just don't seem to be able to get it right.
ReplyDeleteThe next time I feel like an idiot, I'm going to reread that comment. I hope my garden proves inspirational and doesn't send you screaming for the bus. ;o)
DeleteThere is something about a man in a kilt. Especially THAT man! What a bright spot your blog is - I may have to look at it daily just to remember that, yes, the sun will return.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
DeleteGood to know that you're still kicking. Can't imagine all that you're having to do with teaching, having a family, and trying to get this fling organized. Your vacation ideas and companion do sound tempting. Let me know when you have a free moment and I'll call Hugh and see what his schedule looks like.
ReplyDeleteI am waaaaay overdue for a vacation so if Hugh is available, so am I! He must pack the kilt and nothing else....
DeleteDoes the word maelstrom apply? Three Dogs in a Garden had a lovely post of a drool worthy shade garden. Comfortingly, the owner said she had no plan.
ReplyDeleteIf not having a plan for a garden results in success, then everything should be fabulous next year! My garden has evolved from nothingness.
DeleteHappy New Year! It is good to see you back in the blogosphere! You have been busy in a good way, and I think your garden is lovely. One great thing about a garden is that it is never done, though it may seem so at least temporarily. I love the challenges that bring out my creative juices. I wish I had some of your native anemones; I tried them once and they promptly died!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping I've reached the point where I'm just tweaking my garden and not rearranging it every fall. I can't believe anemones died for you! They would take over my entire garden if I let them.
DeleteYour humor gets many of us through the day...good that you can hold on to it in the medst of the maelstrom.
ReplyDeleteI get bored easily so I like having projects to work on. :o)
DeleteHappy New Year, Tammy!
ReplyDeleteGreat to read one of your posts again :)
Good luck with all your seed starting. I have ambitious plans as well, but you're trying to grow many more seeds than I am! (Although interestingly there's not much overlap.) For what it's worth, if you run out of space indoors, I've found that cosmos and zinnias grow just fine sowed (or scattered) directly in the garden.
I'll be interested to hear of your experiences with Tithonia (tried once and got zero germination) and the annual Monarda citriodora!
Thanks, Aaron! :o) I grow tithonia every year and it does very well. The monarda citriodora germinated in 4 days!! The seed packet said it might take a few weeks. I've had annuals grow from seed scattered outside but I like starting them early so I have more time to enjoy them.
DeleteGlad to see that you're still there! I fear if I tried to make a living as a garden designer I'd be living in the next van over.
ReplyDeleteThen I'd be in excellent company!
DeleteI think it's so great that you start your own seeds Tammy! Your seed chart is very inspiring. Last year, I invested in my first shelving unit, my first official light and my first heat mat. I'm a huge newbie at it all, but I really enjoy it and hope to keep expanding over time. I agree that I'd much rather be traveling to places like that right now. I'm not minding that companion one bit :) Here's to dreaming about spring and the fling until then!
ReplyDeleteMy seed set up is super basic but it works. Someday I'd love those fancy LED lights but for now my Jumpstart lights get the job done. Seed starting is addictive. My secret is to grow plants that are very easy to grow. It's much harder to fail if you grow plants that don't need any help. :o)
DeleteHi Tammy, thanks for leaving a personal invitation to the blog fling on my blog. I really appreciate it! Unfortunately, I can't make it this year neither time-wise nor financially.
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that you are so involved in organizing it though and that your garden is on the to-visit list! Both things must be so exciting for you. I hope you enjoy the preparations entailed in it to the max and don't get too stressed out. But judging by your blog post it looks like you are on the right track ;-)!
Oh, and by the way it is nice to see you blogging, again!
Warm regards and Happy New Year!
Christina
I wish you could come. If only time and money were as endless as the stars, the entire blogosphere would be there! :o)
DeleteYou're very busy, Tammy. It's a great job to be a director of anything. However I wish you happy New year, new success, new goals, new plants and spots for to plant them all.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nadeza!! Happy New Year to you, too!
DeleteThank goodness, Tammy, I was wondering where you had gone! Wishing you all the best for the 2017 fling. They will love it! Back home, I'm eagerly waiting the crocuses flowering after a mass-planting in late autumn and jobs are starting to stack up in the garden. Despite it being winter, it seems this is a 24/365 garden!
ReplyDeleteI've been doing my duck impression: calm on the surface but paddling like hell underneath. My garden is asleep but I have lots of seeds/seedlings under lights in the basement.
DeleteI understand ... Lots of time for everything. I am now president of our master gardeners group in addition to webmaster/writer of its public web site. Keep drinking coffee. I do.
ReplyDeleteRay
I drink a cup of coffee every morning the size of my head. I'm hoping for a ridiculous amount of snow days this year so I have time to stay on top of everything!
DeleteBlessings, Tammy. As always, I found myself chuckling through "traveling here ... or here ... with him." So much to do, so little time. :)
ReplyDeleteI need more time, more money, or maybe just more perspective.... ;o)
DeleteI love all the optimism of winter, everything's going to grow and flower and work out like it does in your dreams... and then summer hits and even if it didn't work out perfectly you just have a bbq and a beer and it doesn't matter!
ReplyDeleteExactly!!! :o)
DeleteOh my ... cute dream travel friend! Love your blog ms. Casa Mariposa!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I do seriously need a huge vacation!
DeleteHow nice to have you back. I thought the fling organisation must be keeping you busy. Wow, what an impressive seed list. I never publish my seed list because I don't like admitting to the world and myself the shameful list of failures. The ones that never get sown. The ones that refuse to germinate or die off in their very first week of life. The ones I don' t get round to pricking out or even planting out. These abject failures are a secret I only share with my greenhouse and he is vey discreet.
ReplyDeleteI am crazy busy but I like having a massive project to work on after working all day because I am.... insane! I may feel quite differently once it's all done! But it's been a labor of love. I share my successes and my failures. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but if someone else besides me can learn from my mistakes, then it's ok.
DeleteOh, Tammy, if I only had one reason to attend this year's Fling it would be to talk to you again and see your garden! I'd never make it as a garden designer either:) You amaze me, though, with your organizational skills--when I was teaching full-time, it was all I could do to keep up with my family, let alone organize something as big as the Fling. Still debating on the Fling because of a possible conflict with the dates, but I guess I'd better get my act together soon before it's too late!
ReplyDeletePlease come please come please come please come! I am dying to hang out with you again!! We had so much fun together. I do hope it fits into your schedule. :o)
DeleteI just found out about this by following Garden Bloggers Fling on Instagram. What an honor! I'd love to visit you and your garden, dog poop and all :).
ReplyDeleteGet your butt down here!!! It is such a blast!! Remember the post you did when you mentioned the garden blogger meetup you organized a long time ago and everyone was worried the other was an ax murderer? Well, none of are ax murderers!!
DeleteHa ha ha...I went to 11 years of those get togethers until they kind of fell apart two years ago. I'm actually conspiring with Kathy (GardenBook) as we speak over a possible Fling attendance. We had already planned a pre Fling trip to Longwood and Chanticleer.
DeleteHi Tammy, It's hard juggling everything, but it's good to keep our blogs going even if we post less often. Have a good fling, I'd love to come along but it's a bit too far away! Happy new year
ReplyDeleteI wish you were closer! My blog will keep chugging along. I just have to manage my time. :o)
DeleteLovely to hear from you, I've missed you! Well of course you can do crazy....nuff said! I did enjoy seeing the pics of your garden in full bloom, roll on the spring. Good luck with your seeds.xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks! Crazy comes naturally to me. It's my main skill set.
DeleteLove your humor, Tammy. And glad I'm not the only one without a plan. P. x
ReplyDeleteI make my plan as I go along. Yeah yeah.. that's it! I'm thinking on my feet! ;o)
DeleteHappy New Year Tammy girl ! ... You never fail to make me laugh ( kilt guy was the bomb !) .. I have that same broken gene .. buy loads of plants yet have next to no designer skills .. go figure ... I would be in a pup tent by that same river .. I think the van is a step up from that ? LOL
ReplyDeleteYou will be an amazing director and your garden will be stunning as usual ... so no worries on that front .. no stressing out OK ?
Now enjoy what down time you have so your brain cells don't explode ... no one wants to clean gray matter off those walls !
Take care
Joy : )
My head might just go up in flames. That might be less messy. I think that river bank is filling up with gardeners. Our living spaces might be oddly arranged but we'll be a happy bunch!
DeleteHappy New Year Tammy!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even realize that was Hugh Jackman. God he looks so young in this picture! I am assuming that someone threw a bucket of water at him to make those muscles look all the hotter, but there is the strangest ring of water in the left foreground of that picture. Most mysterious! I know I am missing the point and failing to imagine what must be hiding under all that plaid. It's just that he looks so young that I feel creepy at my age doing anything more than wondering about the weird ring of water. Tammy you need to give me a few lessons in crazy!
I hope there are still spots at the Fling. I'm just waiting for money owed from a publisher to finally arrive to cover the registration. Hubby has requested the vacation time and should hear shortly. We're thinking of flying. It's cheaper than I would have thought. I am super excited to see the redesign and to meet the dogs. Here's hoping I get my act together before the registration fills up!
That ring of water is odd but I was more focused on how authentically he's wearing that kilt.... I really hope you come to the Fling! There are still spots left. :o)
DeleteYou are a riot! I am so sad to be missing the Fling this year. I would have enjoyed seeing your gardens in person so much. But...it's the height of soccer coaching season and well, that is my other passion. I will enjoy reading the posts about the upcoming fling. Wishing you a great start to 2017!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wonder why soccer is a summer sport there? Our summers are warm enough that we'd all die if anyone played soccer in the heat. I wish you could come but I totally understand. You will be missed!
DeleteOh Tammy. You never fail to entertain. I too buy plants I have no room for. It's an obsession/compulsion. I can quit anytime. But why?
ReplyDeleteQuitting is for quitters and you, my friend, are not a quitter.
DeleteHa, my garden is in a similar state (unless you count grouping by color as 'designing'). I have had to have a firm come-to-Jesus meeting with myself that I can no longer buy plants until I actually know where they are going from now on. Good luck with all the fling organizing!
ReplyDeleteI had that talk with myself, too, and then promptly did the opposite. Actually, I limit my impulse buys to just a few plants but that little rebellion keeps me going for weeks. ;o)
DeleteHello and greetings from Finland, the country of snow, cosy cottages and Aurora Borealis! :)
ReplyDeleteI noticed your blog both in Nadezda's and Ann's (Garden Spot) blogrolls and enjoyed this post very much.
Wishing you a happy weekend... and happy gardening!
Life sounds very busy ! Still,like you, I can always find time to buy and sow far too many seeds, and then have to try to find places to plant them! I also share your talent for buying plants too - I excel at that - then have to try to find places to plant them. Do I sense a pattern ???
ReplyDelete