My Gardening Passion Take One

Even on a rainy day-and we have had way too many of them lately-my garden brings sunshine. One thing I am going to try to do more of this year is to cut my blooms and bring them in.
These are my first cut blooms of the season

Outside the flowers are speckled with raindrops-below are my new addiction, thanks to my friend Mary, Earthwork Gardens Iris's. And of course I didn't save my order form so have no clue what the specific names are but they are very colorful.
This little lady fell over with all of the rain, her legs just couldn't hold the load

Oh but not so this one, standing proud
Another shade of purple holding onto the raindrops
Not sure if this one fell as well or if I forgot to rotate the picture. I am thinking the second may be so.
Colorful Lupine
With gorgeous foliage
A lonely painted Daisy in the new bed.
A single flower on this Harbell.
And Oriental Poppies-they are gorgeous
And look like tissue paper when they bloom
The Dianthis is certainly brilliant
My Windflower (I think-Mary, Lisa am I correct) was the second to bloom and is still blooming
My first attempt at a Clematis. They bring nice color to a Hosta bed
And the Hosta bed, I love my Hosta bed. It seems like diamonds are dripping off this Hosta leaf, oh I only wish.
Yes Hostas are easy, forgiving and just plain wonderful.
One rose bush out of three survived and survive she did with many blooms about to open

If it ever stops raining and the sun shines more flowers will show up. Take two will be posted then...if it ever stops raining and the sun ever shines again.

An Oncology Appointment, A Spanish Lesson and A Sleepover

Friday June 10th turned out to be an emotional day for me, a good day but emotional. It was my regular 6 month oncology appointment with Doc C. After the scare last time this one was totally the opposite. Doc C, who is a numbers guy, ran the numbers and decided that I have been on my cancer pill for the required 5 years (as of June 1) and because I am 6 years out (a 6 year survivor in October) and cancer free, I no longer need to take my Armidex! Not only that but I no longer have to go in every 6 months, let's do annually from here on out.
Yep wonderful news indeed but the emotions of this news are conflicting. Conflicting because while taking the Arimidex I was still doing something to fight the crazy disease and seeing the oncologist more frequently was a security blanket. It took a few days to wrap my head around it all but I am good with it all now and am patting myself on the back so there!
The above Iris pictures were taken at Earthworks Garden Center in Kasota. My friend Mary has passed on her Iris addiction to her good friend Bobbi....those darned addictions cost money Mary:)

That was the oncology appointment now on to a Spanish lesson. We spent the weekend in Prior Lake with the kids, David helped landscape (drove the bobcat) and I kept the girls busy so momma could work on the planting. At one point Julia sat me down for a 'Spanish lesson' She got out my camera books, sat in her lawn chair and paged thru them telling me we were having a Spanish lesson. Never mind that no Spanish was spoken but in her mind it was a Spanish lesson. Where oh where do they get this stuff? During that same 'lesson' she showed me a page in the book and asked me to 'find the letter d' and 'find the letter l' etc etc.....too danged cute.

Julia loves flowers and loves to help in the garden. Here her and momma are hard at work


Shelby seems to say, 'I can help'

'OK, if I cant help I'm just gonna see what this tastes Black Eyed Susan tastes like then'

'Who me, hey I'm innocent and grandma let me !' (BTW the leaf did not get any further into her mouth than you see in the picture so don't holler at me haha)
And feet, big sister who loves her flip flops
Little sis who loves naked feet. Yep both are grandma's girls at heart, although their feet are cleaner, for now.
And a sleepover. This was Julia's first sleepover. The first grandkid sleepover for us ever in fact. It went well even in the camper where we had absolutely nothing. Kelly provided the bed linen and the snacks and breakfast etc etc....but it was fun. We watched, 'Finding Nemo' way to late. In fact when I attempted to run the movie I realized that I had the external speakers on - all three of them. I wonder how the neighbors liked Finding Nemo at full volume at 9pm on a Friday night?


Peeko the lap dog found himself a new lap, pillow and blanket.
Grandpa and Julia sharing breakfast and Finding Nemo.
Anytime spend with good friends at garden centers and family is a great time. This past weekend was no exception.

A Tale That Is So Not A Fable

Where do I begin. Perhaps about here...it's been raining for days up here, raining so badly that it is impossible to get in the garden, the ditches are full and everything is mud mud mud.
We just get back from the doctor where I found out that I have walking pneumonia and bronchitis. Rest and antibiotics and plenty of fluids is the RX. David who is still on crutches with that broken leg decides he is going outside to do something or another. I let the dogs outside and a bit later go check on them. Roscoe has slipped out of the gate and is gone. Did I mention that at the time it was raining, not drizzling but raining hard. You know, like it's been doing up here for days which is why everything is muddy.
Both David and I worried about Roscoe being in the woods in the rain and with the many predators. Next thing I know David hops on the lawnmower and in the woods he goes with it in hopes of finding the little rat. Did I mention that it was and has been raining and everything is mud mud mud?
A few minutes later I look out to see a soaking wet Roscoe at the gate waiting to be let in. Roscoe but no David. After drying Roscoe off I fear my suspicions are true, David has once again gotten the lawnmower stuck in the mud, did I mention that it has been raining for days?
I grab my rain coat (David hadn't bothered with one) intending to find David and the lawnmower and there he is crutching out of the woods wet and minus a lawnmower. What, it's stuck in the mud, really?
David decides that we take the bobcat down with a strap and pull the lawnmower out. I can see the handwriting on the wall but apparently he cannot. Did I mention that it had been and was raining and everything was mud mud mud?
Yep here is the lawnmower stuck in the mud. I hook the strap to the lawnmower and to the bob and David backs the bob up in an effort to un-stick the mower......uh huh


Alas it was not to be. It had been raining and everything was mud mud mud. My good ole bobcat tried to pull the mower but it sunk, oh did it sink in the mud.

David thinks that if I (who has pneumonia and bronchitis) just find some logs and put them under the tires he can then get the bob out....OK.... He finally gave up and got out of the bob.
Does it look like the logs helped? Nah
David decides that both machines will have to stay put until it dries up. I think there is a better chance that Noah's Ark will come first and float them out but hey, what do I know?
Yep a true story only at the Woelpern's.

Adaptations

Since David has been 'out of commission' we have had to make a few adaptations. For instance we had planned on siding the house and putting in new windows this spring. Needless to say our plans have been put on hold. And it has been an eye opener for me to really realize what having two able bodied people in the house means....and what David really does do around here. The simple things like letting the dogs in and out of the house. He can do this now but the first week he just couldn't really do anything. He still cannot take the garbage down to the end of the drive and bring them back, take his dirty plates to the sink, get his own water...etc etc etc. So yes it's been interesting and an eye opener.
Despite all of this I have been able to get a little gardening started. Good ole Mother Nature has kept me from doing more, her and of course my broken legged husband:)
The sedum garden has been cleaned out and is looking quite nice


And the hosta bed, I love my hosta bed. In a few weeks they will have grown a ton
Annuals in the pots
And in the front of the house. Only one of my three rose bushes made it through the winter.
This is my first bloomer of the season and it is gorgeous. I so wish I knew what it is...Mary oh Mary got any ideas?

The flowering trees look and smell wonderful
The one behind my new garden art windmill is a deep red
And then, because he needed something unloaded from his trailer, David taught me how to run the bobcat. Not only did I learn to run it but I'm pretty damned good at it if I do say so myself. Ummm Jess, I would say that is my bobcat face don't ya think?
My first bobcat project was to tear apart and move one raised vegetable bed. I then moved buckets of clay out and brought even more buckets of black dirt in to make a brand new flower area. I have yet to plant anything in it, it's been way too wet.
Once he started feeling better and the leg was less swollen David got antsy. Because he couldn't run a 'real' floor sander on our new living room floor he decided he could roll around on his side with his small hand sander and get her done. And get it done he did. Now he waits for me to clean it up and he says he is going to be able to put a coat of varnish on it...really????
Yep he even helped me put this gate in at the front door area. Under his tutelage I dug all of the poles in the ground, leveled and screwed them together. Here he is pre-drilling the screw holes for me.
We make a good pair the two of us. I said to him the other day, you really have to like one another to be able to live like we do. I wonder if he likes me enough to go buy his own bobcat since this one is now mine???

Mother's Day And A Potty Party??

Oh yah no more diapers is truly a reason to celebrate for sure and no better day than Mother's Day-just about the best present ever:) Kel made a deal with Julia-if she could go one week without wearing diapers she could have her very own potty party. Julia has been uncomfortable in diapers for a while now but just not motivated enough to do anything about it..this however was the carrot that worked! I set crippled Grandpa up with everything he needed at his fingertips and off I went to the party.
And what is a potty party without your very own, new and pretty cool looking undies. They even come rolled up and fastened with tape just like grandma's do.
And tacos in a bag

And balloons, Julia was promised her very own potty party balloons that she so graciously shared with her sister
And a potty party cake. Kel reports that the cake maker at the DQ got a good little haha when she told him what she wanted written on the cake. Grandma and Grandpa are pretty proud of our Julia Bernice Leonard!
Not to be forgotten our little Shelby playing Dora guitar with daddy
And just being her gorgeous little, easy to please, happy go lucky self

And because it is Mother's Day-
It is a day to cherish
A day to reflect
A day for a loved one
That you'll never forget

Her valuable lessons
Were taught with love
She is to be honored
When looking down from above

She is sure that she had
The best job ever
When times got tough
We could be found together

Yep that's my momma
About whom I write
I will always remember
Her bright shinning light.

Happy Mother's Day to a few special momma's in my life-
Momma Loi, my aunties Sandy and Etta and to three very good momma's who I am especially proud of- Kelly Jo, Jen and Rachel

Happy Mother's Day to you all and may you have potty parties too:)