Even the yard art gets into the fun!
Merry Christmas!!!!
Note:Fingers and toes crossed,hoping Dad will be home on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.He has a date with a certain Christmas Angel,which he has every intention of making.
Here she is in all her Christmas bling……
(check out those shoes!)….
Continuing on with the Christmas theme…..
The poor,poor,poor Angel’s Trumpets…..
They were so effected by this past week’s colder weather.
Poor thing…..most of it’s leaves are gone,but still it is trying to ring in the season.How could one not love this plant?
Thankfully,one of the plantings survived enough to put on a show.
Even though,every spring,they return from the ground,I still take cuttings,Just in case…..But,I truly believe,they are aptly named,for they do not give up easily and give a great shout when they bloom.
More signs of the season from TheGreatWall……
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas!!!!!
On another note:Dad fell and broke his hip this past weekend.But not to worry.He did not need surgery,and is now in the ReHab Center at Tampa General Hospital.And complaining…..As only he can…..
The Divine Miss Emma is coming to visit,for Christmas,and he is bound and determined to see her outside of the hospital.”Oh no.She can NOT see me here.”
One 91 year old man working hard!
You go,Dad!!! Rock on!!
Here we go again…….
A front passed through TheGreatWall around noon,today.The temperatures have started dropping.And tomorrow and the next night we are due for freezes!
Time to get out the freeze blankets and strip the sheets off the beds!
Isn’t this supposed to be a La Nina’ winter? Guess Mother Nature didn’t get the memo…..
Cuttings have been taken.
And I think they make for very pretty,Christmas-y floral arrangements.
Tomorrow,we’ll be putting the hoop house back up over the veggie garden.
Anywho……..
It may be frightful outside but inside TheGreatWall headquarters it is beginning to look like Christmas!
The tree is up!
l-r:a blown glass palm tree,me!,and of course,a flip-flop!
And you had to know we’d have a pink flamingo on the tree……..
Merry Christmas!
On a sad note:This past week we lost YardBoy’s 88 year old mother.The woman who taught him everything he knows about growing roses(and that’s a lot!).And who made the best macaroni salad you have EVER tasted!Seriously!I’m not kidding. It is the BEST!
But after years of poor health,her body finally gave out.We are thankful she is with the Lord,and is tending to His rose garden.
Mama Pat,you will be missed dearly
After last winter’s freezes,one would think this gardener learned their lesson…..
Not a chance!
Shouldn’t I have learned from the damage to those tropicals,the spring cleaning,the sleepless nights,covering plantings,and all of the worry,etc?
Nope,not me!
Nada!
I dove right in and planted more tropicals.
Just not as many.
Yep,I went to the other side and planted more Zone 9 natives.
However,some tropicals remained.
And that’s why TheGreatWall looks like this right now…..
Love you Angel’s Trumpets.
You came back from last year’s freezes so well,how could I not love you?Cuttings have been taken from you,in hopes you shall live on.And you were just going to bloom again(for the 5th time!-you rock!),too.So sad…….
The veggie garden……
YardBoy came up with this idea of a sort of hot-house for the veggies.He bought up the last of the freeze fabric he could find,and made a sort of hoop house with the fabric and PVC pipe.We have so many tomatoes,peppers,lettuce,Swiss Chard,green beans,etc. close to ripening,it was more than worth the effort.We picked the last of the broccoli and shall be enjoying that,tonite,for dinner. The cabbage,turnips and collards will be on their own.
Most of the tropicals look like this.Yep,I used all of our sheets,etc.(sorry visitors to our guest rooms.),and the Christmas lights I bought after Christmas,last year.
(only a gardener would buy Christmas lights,at 50% off,for their garden)
The orchids have all been brought up to the protection of the house.
All are in bud.
Even my Dad went along with that…..
Here’s hoping for another mild night…
May the weatherman be wrong!
These photos have been edited in PicNik,which I am madly in love with.I even upgraded to the professional.Check it out.
The first Sunday,in December,in fact……
YardBoy in his robe,
And I in my pj’s,
Had just settled in,by the pool, for our first cup of coffee.
When what to our wondering eyes should appear….
But a Red Shouldered Hawk!
and I heard him scream as he flew outta sight……..
Merry Christmas,humans!
