Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Haircut Day


Sunday was haircut day.  Not my haircut, because I'm not sure the beauty salons are allowed to open yet. 

It was definitely haircut day for my lawn, though.  Not sure you can tell where I'd already mowed, but when I killed my mower, it needed a minute to recoup, so I grabbed my camera and took this shot.

It definitely looked better, at least in my opinion.

I had mowed the front lawn first, and when I went back to take a photo of the yard, this is what I saw.  My neighbor was putting up a fence.

I really chopped the flowers down, because I was ready to start over.

This is supposed to be my lilies of the valley, but all I see are leaves at the moment.  Maybe they are slow bloomers.

Overnight the rains came.  Downpours over and over, like we were caught in a loop of rain and really high winds.  You can see the devastation in my driveway and in the street.  I was of course, more interested in the little squirrel who didn't seem to mind that I was watching him or her.

Thankfully, it seemed to have found something to eat and was quite happy to allow me to take several photos.

That's when I saw the wall my neighbor had put up.  Somehow it made me feel very isolated.  Sitting on my front porch people watching wasn't going to be any fun, either.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon, and you can see many of my herbs are now either planted or outside.  Thankfully, my rosemary, which I almost killed last year because I put it in a sunny spot too soon before it had time to acclimate, is doing well.  I have it in a shady spot until I am able to slowly bring it into more and more sun.

I was able to get one of the hay bales that sat on my front porch all winter onto the back patio.  I didn't even notice until I saw in the photo, that the hay has covered the cabinet that holds my chiminea firewood.  I'll need to come up with a new plan.  I just dislike that the back patio is so small.

These are all Sweet 100s, those tiny tomatoes smaller than cherry and grape tomatoes.  I hope I didn't plant them too close together.

You can tell by the splatter on the sides of the white pots how hard it rained the night before.  You can't really tell I swept, either.

There was devastation and signs of heavy rain everywhere I looked.

A new plant this year is sweet marjoram.  There is nothing in the pot on the right.  I'll be planting basil there soon.

It's the same pot I'll be planting the basil in, but now it's on the left side of the photo.  The next pot has dill that found its way into the pot that overwintered.

I keep hoping this is cilantro (I call the seeds coriander) in the blue pot, but it's a bit too soon to tell for sure.  I have lots of seeds, though.

This is ONE very expensive Roma tomato.  It's also what happens when you allow someone else to shop for you.  Scott picked it out and paid a fortune for it.  It had better produce a ton of Roma tomatoes, or I'm going to be very upset.

My orange mint is doing quite well.

My pineapple mint not so much!

I had hoped my fennel would come back, but I allowed it to overwinter outside and it was definitely too cold for it.  I'll see if any of the seeds I saved will germinate.

In the cart are two new plants.  The one on the left is sage and the one on the right is chives.  Actually, each of these was a four pack.

How is your garden growing? I keep trying to get mine to look like Divers and Sundry's patio, but that isn't going to happen because she and her husband have a lot more space than I have.

Thanks for joining me for Haircut Day.   I always appreciate your visits and your kind comments, too.

24 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Glad you were able to spend time in the garden, but the neighbour's new fence is ugly! Have a great day, stay safe, Valerie

J said...

Morning Elizabeth, what an awful fence, blocks you’re view too, what’s the point of it? I thought most houses in the states were open frontages?
It’s nice to get out in the garden though, have a lovely day
Jan x

Helen said...

what a dreadful fence, seems very unnecessary too, to have such an obstructive boundary to your property. Well done on the spring makeover in your garden, always good when you get your herbs ready for the season.

Iris Flavia said...

Murphy is at it again, huh. Your mower, our sewing machine...
Ohhhhh, "peanut"! I haven´t seen our squirrel for too long, I worry a bit.
Hm. Did you talk to that neighbour?
Still too cold to plant anything over here. I can´t remember a May so cold!

aussie aNNie said...

Your garden is looking lush and lovely. We gave the lawns a haircut today and hubby and I are in need of one, next week thankfully having hair cuts. Sick of it being so long and covid grey... they are allowed to open here now after 4 weeks and huge pre cautions are being taken in place..xx

froebelsternchen said...

Sorry for the mower and this ugly fence ...
otherwise how happy you can be with your wonderful garden and planting! I love the squirrel. I have two here coming into my garden every day climbing up to the birdfeeder for getting the sunflowerseeds and nuts.
The birds grumble about them... so nice to watch!

Happy May dear Elizabeth, I am nearly not online these days ... just watching blogs on the phone and asit is not easy to comment with this mini-keyboard you don't get much comments from me now.Sorry, but I read and watch!

Best wishes from Austria
Susi xxx

Meggymay said...

That fence does look like it cuts you off , why do folk need them to be so high. Yes we have fences and hedges, but we can see over ,and speak to our neighbours as the land slopes and levels for the houses.
Your garden is looking so tidy and herbs are doing well. Fingers crossed your tomatoes give a good yield.
I loved seeing the red squirrel visiting your garden. The greys are taking over here, hence the wooden carved red in my recent post, it is situated in an area where they are trying to keep the red squirrels, though how they will stop the greys taking over is hard to think about.
Stay safe.
Yvonne xx

My name is Erika. said...

Wow, your yard is so far along compared to mine. I can tell you mowed because my lawn is like yours. You give it a haircut and it does look better. And that fence is quite fortress like. And not attractive as far as fences go. But I wouldn't mind the extra privacy it would give me but I can see how it does block your view. I think it might grow a lot of weeds underneath it also. But it nice to see all the plants outside and signs of nice weather. Hope you have a super Wednesday. Hugs-Erika

RO said...

I'm guilty of NEVER mowing a lawn(lol). I hate doing that stuff so much that I even managed to get out of doing it while in the Air Force. You did a really good job, and yay to all your plants that are growing so nicely. Once again I've planted a few things in pots and hoping to see some action soon. Sending some elbow hugs your way! RO

Barbara said...

Ugh, a fence like that has its place, but along your front yard makes no sense. I hate it when neighbors do things that always look awful. I guess there’s no accounting for bad taste. On a positive note, your growing things are looking good for early May.

Karen said...

I worked it out with my neighbor to have them not put up a fence ~ I let their dog wander over into my yard instead. My cats are indoor so it's ok. I just planted some plants too and will post pics next week I hope. You have a nice variety started and it will be fun to watch it grow. Happy Weds!

Nancy said...

Things are greening up so nicely and lawn mowing season is here!

kathyinozarks said...

Good morning, I am loving all of your herbs-I love collecting the mints-there are so many good ones to choose from one of my most favorites was chocolate mint-I need to find some of that again.
what a change of views with the fence-blocks everything looking that direction-sad.
enjoy your day hugs

kathyinozarks said...

I went back and looked at that fence again after reading Barbara's comment-they build that fairly high off the ground-weed city for sure. you may want to plant some sort of flowering bushes along there-lilacs? would break up that ugly fence.

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Your plants that are growing look good. I'm not looking forward to lawn cutting season starting. I can probably go a week or two more, then I'll have to start mowing. :-(

CJ Kennedy said...

The Leaf Lady put up a fence 30 years ago. It was the best thing she could have done. Fences do make the best neighbors. Your yard is looking good as are all of your plants. STill too early to put things outside as we can still get a hard frost until after the middle of the month. Take care.

da tabbies o trout towne said...

you have a lot of nice starts Elizabeth; I have 5 flowers I want to put in but the lows this week are in the 30's...and it's SUPPOSED to be MAY !!! ☺☺♥♥

Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) said...

The backyard looks spiffy with its new haircut. ;)

I love your herb garden. I am not able to keep herbs alive, except for rosemary. As long as I put it outside and forget about it, it thrives. The moment I bring it inside... I kill it. LoL

Divers and Sundry said...

What an un-neighborly fence! I wonder why he thought that was a good idea :(

I love your wagon. The sweet marjoram is sweet :) I've given up trying veggies. I just don't have the sun for it. Chives have such pretty flowers. I have some that bloomed the first year. It does keep coming back, but again, doesn't bloom because of the lack of enough sun. All patios are delightful whatever the size :)

DVArtist said...

Nice garden. Mine is doing well too. I can't find any herb seeds in my town. I do have some basil growing. Your yard and garden looks great. Did you know the fence was going up?

Lowcarb team member said...

So nice to see the squirrel.
I'm wondering if you could perhaps put some plants by that fence, it would break things up a little …

All the best Jan

Caty said...

OOh all your plants and flowers are beautiful Elizabeth !! Loove them, and your garden looks amazing with hair cut.
I don't really like that fence, it's very bland, ugly. Perhaps you could paint some flowers and butterflies on it(like we saw at the Art center), you are very creative. And you also can plant some bushes to hide it a little bit, so you could have a beautiful view.
It´s a sunny day here today. have a very nice afternoon, and
Big hugss, Caty

Jeanie said...

Your garden is far ahead of mine and looking good. That's a fabulous rosemary. I can't winter them so they never get very big. You have been really pummelled by weather this year, haven't you.

The fence. Our neighbors at the lake who built the ugly house and tore out all the trees built a long white fence last summer. (I think that our little cottage didn't appeal to their oversized standards!) It's not a bad fence but I know what you mean about not being able to look down the road. Assuming we get north this year and can do it, I'm planning on getting some "tall things" -- some spinners, maybe a trellis of sorts (I don't think it would be legal to paint my side of the fence, since it's theirs.) I figured if I can grow some tall vines, maybe clematis or morning glory, it will cover the fence. We'll see -- I have a lot of shade. We might also plant another tree there, too.

Words and Pictures said...

I've reached the stage where I think I'm going to have to try giving my own hair a trim... it's turning into straw!! I'm quite glad I have a tiny paved courtyard, so there's no lawn-mowing to be done, but like you I'm enjoying taking care of the flourishing plants and vegetable seedlings in pots. Lovely to see the red squirrel. The native reds here have been crowded out by invading greys... you can really only see the red squirrel in Scotland these days. I hope they manage to hold out there!
Alison x