Oct 21, 2024 - Where has all the time gone!!

 I cannot believe it has been almost 2 years since I last posted. A lot has happened in that time of course!!

I am now a MeeMaw with a healthy year-and-a-half-old grandson. We are now full-time RV living. Unfortunately, we did lose Rango on September 1, 2023. I am still not over that sudden loss. He ended up having cancer and the growth accelerated once we moved down into the valley. With the loss of Rango, Dixie did not know how to be useful since she was his support dog for so many years. We finally found a new home for her and she is now an emotional support dog for a young man with Down syndrome. She has found her calling and is doing wonderful. Pepper is still with us, but might have a new home in November. The young man we gave Dixie to was supposed to go to his mom in Indiana, but his neighbor needed her more. So, he might take Pepper as the replacement dog for his mom. We shall see, but either way, Pepper is still a good dog and we love her.

I am loving my new job with the accounting firm I got on with in February of 2023. Let me rephrase that, I now am really loving my new job. My first manager was very toxic to work for, but she has left the firm and I now have two separate managers that I work with. One is in the Flagstaff office and the other is in the corporate, SLC, office. They are both wonderful women to work for. I am loving what I am learning working for this firm. It has been so great to work on my accounting knowledge once again!

As for crocheting, I have completed a couple of projects. One was a quick baby blanket for the grandbaby. I then completed an afghan that is now on my couch. I have done another blanket before with this same pattern. This one is just larger and more of a large throw.

Chevron Afghan by Dragon Stitches

I am currently working on 2 more blankets:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunburst-granny-squares

I have made another blanket using this pattern before. 

This one is the Spiked Granny Stitch. I love how this is working up.

I am trying to get back into my crafting and just be more creative. Without a yard to work in, I was missing having some outlet for myself. I have actually found a new YouTube channel to follow called Brianna K Designs. She is so creative and has shown me new stitches that look so much fun to do. I went to her Etsy shop and bought a few patterns to work on once these projects are complete. This is her lovely blog: https://brianakdesigns.com/. And here is a link to her Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BrianaKdesigns.

I am looking forward to blogging about my creative works once again. I was missing this outlet as well. I might not have any followers, but I never created this blog for that reason. It will be nice to go back and look at all the projects I have began and hopefully completed!!

Cheers, Winnie!!!

Winter Wonderland!!

 We have had non-stop snow since November. I believe the town will need to start hauling off some snow real soon. It is such a Winter Wonderland right now!!

Just a few pictures to highlight January so far!

This was our drive to the ski slope on Jan 1st!

One of the few slopes that I was solo on!
This was prior to me having a breakdown on the slopes.
The snow was heavy and I could not see very well due to the flat light.
The steeps were all moguls and I fell more than once trying to get off the mountain.
Lessons learned and I wouldn't trade them for anything!!

My Amaryllis bloomed and is giving that pop of color I need during these snowy days!!

My paperwhites are just as stunning!!

I am hoping for 2023 to be a year of memories!

Wrapping up the Year!!

 I can say creatively, I have had a great year!! I didn't do any crocheting, but gardening has done wonders for my soul.

I am saddened that we will not be on the old homestead this coming growing season, but I am looking forward to a simplified lifestyle. 

We headed out East for the last weeks of October. We enjoyed our trip so much. We did run into some rough weather on the way out and the windshield and roof of the truck got messed up from someone slinging a mud flap. We came back through Louisiana to New Mexico so we would not get stuck in that horrible early-season snow and cold snap through Nebraska to Wyoming. I can now say that I have been to all the Southern rim states now!!

Once we were back, I began the job-hunting chore. It was brutal at first. I had been out of the interview game for some years now. Luckily, I found a job very quickly and it is with an accounting firm!! No more administrative/personal assistance for me!! The best thing too is they were willing to conform to my start date of Feb 1st!! They offered me more than what I am making currently and there I have advancement room!! I am over excited to begin this new job. I wished I could start tomorrow, but I have to stay until I can get my severance. The severance is what will get us the new camper to begin our RV lifestyle!!!

So I will suck it up for another month. Another cherry on top about the new job is that it is hybrid. I only go into the office one day out of the week. The rest is remote work!! I am serious when I say that I am over the moon happy to find this position!!!!!

So the holidays have come and gone. I did not overly decorate the house. We barely did anything outside. Most of the Christmas decorations are at their expiration date and will be going into the trash when I begin taking everything down on Monday. I started doing some small undecorating this past week so it won't be so much at one time.

So here is a roundup of the year. It was a good year. There were some decisions that were forced upon me, but I think my new career chapter will be the best yet!! As for gardening, I had some struggles in the beginning but found my niche in the end. 

Goodbye 2022!! I am looking forward to 2023 and all the new adventures we will take!!

Cheers,

Winnie

October Beauties!!

 We are now a good week into October. The mornings are in the mid-30s and afternoons low-70s. I cut down and pulled up all my sunflowers this past weekend. I did save a few of the stalks and seed heads. I still need to start harvesting all the seeds I have so far.

I planted more bulbs over the weekend. I transplanted my pinnacle hydrangea to a more sunny spot in the yard. It is nothing but a woodsy bush right now. Maybe it will come back. 

I have 64 more tulip bulbs to plant. I think I will place them throughout the back corner garden and the front one. I hope I am still at the old homestead this spring. I just cannot tell with Stacey some days.

I did do up a fresh-cut flower arrangement using mostly zinnias. I loved the fall colors it was vibing.

My cosmos are blooming so pretty right now. I know if we do end up with a house with a yard, I will plant a bunch of cosmos. They are so whimsical looking.

The pretty cream mum I planted with a few pansies is showing touches of lavender. It is so beautiful.

This weekend will be a few more bulb-planting and probably looking at ways to over-winter my geraniums and lantana plants. Other than that, yard work and gardening are petering out. I will need to cut back the iris and gladiolus next weekend and ensure all the beds are weeded.

Fall is in the Air!!

 We have been staying around the high 70s for the past couple of weeks. We are dropping into the low 60s during the day and high 30s at night starting tomorrow. Rain is coming as well. Fall is definitely in the air!! The apples are just about ready for picking. I was able to pick a container of plums before they passed their prime. 

Sunflowers are ready to be pulled. There are some blooms left but mainly droopy heads of sunflowers. I have over 60 bulbs to plant this weekend. I think I will cut back the iris and maybe the gladiolus too. I have three that are still in bloom, but after this weekend they will be spent. I want to get all the flower beds clean and weed-free before winter hits.

I  have one more mowing of the grass this weekend and then that should be it for the season. I will wait right before we head out on vacation in October to plant all the mums I have in containers into the ground. They might come back next year and might not. I am not too worried about it.

I did begin collecting some of the sunflower seeds. I have quite a bit just from three sunflower heads. I have a lot more to let dry out some more and then I will harvest the seeds. I will work on a head each night until they are done.

I am kinda relieved that we will be moving in July. It gives me the opportunity to enjoy the hiking and biking trails this spring and summer without worrying about plants so much. What survives next season survives. Wherever we land next year, I will set up a really good irrigation system so watering plants doesn't become an obsession again.

One thing I will keep in my landscape wherever we may end up is definitely sweet alyssum. I cut back this hedge of alyssum either late July or early August and it has flushed back even better!!

I have really enjoyed the little flower bed between the patio and greenhouse. The black-eyed Susans, alyssum, violas, and babies' breath are even more vibrant this late in September.

Everything else is going good. I finally got my resume written and uploaded to a few job search sites. I will hit it hard after vacation. I am looking forward to a new avenue in my career. Its scary but exciting at the same time!!

Fall Bulb Planting

 I have been planting so many daffodils these past couple of weekends! I have thus far planted nearly 80 bulbs in the back corner garden. I think this will look so gorgeous this Spring. I will plant a few tulip bulbs in that garden as well. I think between the daffodils, tulips, irises, and peonies that garden will be very vibrant this spring!!

I need to pick up one more package of the double-bloom pink daffodils and one more package of the double-bloom yellow daffodils. I am just shy of 10 plants to finish up a line of daffodils along the left side fence in the back corner garden with the pink daffodils and I decided to plant the yellow ones along part of the fence line in the side yard. I need one more package of the yellow ones to finish up that fence line as well.

I went to Home Depot on Saturday with the sole intention to pick up potting soil and 1 more package of daffodils. Well, I ended up with three new houseplants, four mums, six pansies, six dragon snaps, two cabbages, and one aster. I blame it on Keith because he had me look at some mums and then I saw the cabbage and it lead to potting up three new fall containers.

I love the color combo of this mum and pansies!!

I did move out the huge lime sweet potato vine from my front porch container. It had around eight tubers on it. I am going to try and grow my own vines next season with these tubers. I tried to remove the lavender that I placed in the container next to the garage. The bad boy is rooted in. I will have to try again soon because it requires such little water that any planter combination might end up looking like crap. I placed a boxed wood in the center of the planter and they are fighting one another for dominance. So I will attempt to remove the lavender on Sunday and transplant it in the front corner garden area.

The rest of the weekend I spent cleaning up our master bathroom so I can repaint it during the week. It has mold all above the shower area from when we removed the wallpaper and painted only one coat of paint when we moved in. I will apply some mold-resistant kilz paint and then paint it the original blue color we painted in the beginning hopefully tonight and tomorrow night. I think I might paint the hallway bathroom the same blue this week as well. We will then have to remove the wallpaper in the hallway and paint. Rango and Pepper decided to put a hole in the wall and now that it is patched we have to repaint the whole hallway. It is crazy how a golf ball size hole can cost so much time and money to repair. I am pretty sure we will have to repaint areas in the living room as well. The dogs have a solid dirty spot by their beds that are against the wall. I might be able to steam clean the areas. I hope that is all I need to do.

I think this might be the last weekend I can get a fresh-cut flower arrangement out of my sunflowers. I made an arrangement using only sunflowers with purple sweet potato vine as my frog.

Changes are happening.....

 There will be some huge changes happening in my life in the upcoming months. I already knew my contract with my present employer was ending in July next year. I just was not aware that she was going to severance me beginning in February. I was going to begin my job hunting in February, but now I will have to start as soon as we return from vacation in November. This will also impact our leasing of the old homestead I am sure. We have not discussed that aspect of the job termination just yet. I know last year when I received my final raise from her, she had included $1000.00 a month off my rent as part of my pay. So, if my severance ends in July does that mean I have to be moved out by then or will we need to negotiate rent? I am not sure where I will find employment, but if it is as far away as what Keith drives each day already, we will move closer to the air base.

Right now I will concentrate on revamping my poor resume that hasn't seen the light of day in 15 years. Again, I am not surprised that the company was closing its doors. I am just surprised that she wants to end our working status in February. I kinda see her point of view. If there is no company come July, why keep paying someone an additional 6 months of pay. I get it and totally understand. I was just a little floored with how soon this is happening now. I feel that I will find a new job quickly. The worst case is I work for Cynthia full-time until I find a more suitable position. I think I could work for Cynthia with no problems, but she might not want to match my pay and Keith is worried about her age and the longevity of the company.

My plans for the garden next year are vamping down. I will not try and plant as many plants next year as I had planned. I might try and start a few of the plants I have in seeds, but not all of them. One reason is why waste good seeds in a place I might not see their full growing season and also we will not run irrigation to the back corner garden now. That is a lot of hand watering!!

I do want to try my hand at growing the Muenster Lavendar from seed this winter. I know wherever we end up, I will always plant me some Muenster Lavender. I will also harvest some of my sunflowers for seeds. I will not utilize my galvanized raised planter beds. I will tear those back down and just plant seeds/plants straight into the ground next season in the areas I have the raised beds.

I am nervous and excited about the next stage in my career.  I will have to get used to working with other people again and working back in a full office atmosphere, but it is only for another 10 to 15 years at best that I have to have a game face. LOL!!

On to a fun topic (gardening), I finally got some blooms on my other dahlia that I planted in the back corner garden. It is more yellow than orange. I plan on digging up the tubers and replanting them next season in containers.

Another pleasant surprise in the garden this past weekend was another gorgeous type of sunflower blooming. It is the fuzziest sunflower I have ever seen. I just love it!!

In early July, I transplanted a bunch of succulents from this one planter I had tried to keep alive all winter. They lived but the container was just too small for all that was in it. This is one of the combinations I did and these little guys have tripled in size!!

With so many coneflowers, sunflowers, and zinnias that are in bloom in the garden, I decided to make another fresh-cut flower arrangement. This one is slightly smaller than the weekend before, but I just love it.

So lots of changes happening in the next few months, but nothing we cannot handle. I think this push is what I need to utilize the degree I received last year and to make the type of salary I truly deserve!! Nothing but good things will happen!!!

Sunflowers are on my mind!!

 I cannot write how much I have enjoyed my sunflowers this season!! They have just made me smile every time I gaze upon them and see all the pollinators gorging themselves!!

Gorgeous Color!! Wish I had more than one of these!

This one plant has just produced so many flowers!!

Love the pointy blooms on this one!!

This one plant has many blooms and many more waiting to burst open!!

Busy Bee!!

So Monday morning I thought it would be great to gather some sunflowers, marigolds, and coneflowers and make a bouquet. I added cilantro and sweet alyssum as filler greens. I love the way it turned out!!

Gardening Wins!!

 Since I began my journey this season by really working on gardening, I have had some failures and some wins. A few fails were not producing any vegetables at the time frame I thought I would. Let's face it, I only have a handful of cherry tomatoes that might truly produce this season. I lost spinach, lettuce, okra, cucumbers, dill, chives, and eggplants. 

My goal this season was to make the backyard a little oasis that we could enjoy. I think we have succeeded. I sit out on the back patio and in the corner garden nearly every morning. We did have some type of animal die under our shed and sitting outside in the evenings is difficult until the smell completely dissipates. But other than that, we have enjoyed our backyard all season.

Many of the flowers that I thought would not survive have and not only survived but are thriving. I am loving how the grass has come back in our backyard. Last year the landlord had completely devastated the backyard with repairs to the septic and then trenching electricity to his garage in the back. We had a rock and dirt backyard last year. We have worked so hard to finally have some green grass. It isn't perfect but at least it is grass.

This whole area was nothing but dirt and rocks
last summer. Although it is nowhere how it should
be at this point from the time we began renting
this old homestead, if nothing else is destroyed
it will be so lush next summer.

I am still loving the fence we built during our Covid illness. I am very surprised it is still standing considering how horrible Keith and I really felt. I got in my galvanized raised beds and cannot wait until next season when I will fill them with sunflowers and vegetable plants!!

Another big win I feel, is when I removed all the plants struggling in the hanging containers on the arch and added them to the rock patio flower bed. They have thrived and doubled if not tripled in size. I am really shocked that the pansies are still so beautiful this late in August!!

My cilantro is out of control along with the parsley. But the green textures in this flower bed are amazing. 

The wildflowers I planted in the small flower bed between the greenhouse and patio have just exploded. The yellow coneflowers are blooming and just add so much dimension to this sweet little spot.

The wild marigolds are so vibrant and full in front of the shed!! One side is larger and fuller than the other one because it receives a lot more sunlight. Next season I will have to figure out something different. Maybe planters flanking the doors as long as the dogs do not mess with them.

Next week I will try and update on the back corner garden. I did some weeding and removing of some rocks. I think I might have killed a couple of lantana plants due to moving them in the heat of the day. I am working hard on bringing them back. It was a dumb rookie mistake especially when one was blooming the brightest and sweetest blooms.

Lessons learned for sure!! But the back corner garden is coming along nicely. I do have some sunflowers blooming in that area. They are nowhere as tall as the ones in the sideyard, but they are still full of buds. I plan on planting some daffodil bulbs among the irises this weekend. I think the two plants intermingling will be so beautiful this spring. Plus the texture of their foliage will add to the cottage garden vibe. I think it is also time for me to plant the yarrow and cone flowers that are in pots in the front garden beds. Water just pours straight through the pots that the yarrow is in. 

My goal these next few weeks is to get all the flower beds clear of any weeds. I will need to spread roundup all over the grass and weeds in the front corner garden bed and begin structuring out the layout for it. Some grass is growing back up in the existing flower bed. So some front yard maintenance this weekend. It is hard to work on those beds sometimes because they are in full sun all day. I think the tree might shade that area for a very short time in the morning.  But I will just dawn my sun hat and get to it this weekend. I have such high hopes for the front yard next year.

Enjoying the Flowers!!

 Not many pictures were taken this weekend of the gardens. I cleaned up the front flower bed around the gladiolus and planted what tulip bulbs I had on hand in that area. My gladiolus is thinning out this year. I think this Spring I will need to add some fresh bulbs. I have a lot of small plants growing from the original one, but they are not producing flowers. I think adding at least one bag of bulbs will give it a good refresh.

I am still loving the small beds around the back patio. They are just so whimsical and magical with the sweet alyssum and showy baby's breath. I also just love how the violas peak through all the white and green.

This was early morning and the violas were still sleeping!!

I am just loving this little plant that packs a punch!!

I am looking forward to when these marigolds bloom!!

Another plant that is giving me joy each day is the succulents I planted in the white hanging planters for the arch. They have grown so well!! I do fear that they are receiving too much water from all the rain we have received these past couple of weeks.

Other than watering and maintaining the gardens, not much has gone on. I have been figuring out layouts for the beds for next year. I did get a couple of galvanized raised beds. Keith put them together this weekend. I have to figure out the best and cheapest ways to fill them. I think I will do the no-dig method of filling the bottom with trimmed limbs and then laying cardboard over that. We shall see how it goes. We need to trim the front yard tree that is right by the drive. It has a lot of hanging limbs that need to be cut back. They will definitely fill up the beds. I just have to be mindful not to plant any perennials in the raised beds because the soil level will change when the bottom decomposes.

Speaking of decomposing, Darren and Stacey have either uncovered something dead on their property or had some very stinky compost dropped off behind our place. I cannot even sit outside without wanting to puke from the putrid smell. I will be discussing with her the horrible smell this week!!

Lets talk about sunflowers!!

 I am so enjoying watching my sunflowers grow and begin to bloom. I  have never planted sunflowers. I don't know why I have waited so long to do this!! Just watching them first sprout from the ground to where they are now is just phenomenal!!

Just look at those little guys reaching for the sun!!
This picture was taken July 6th. I believe we had
planted the seeds around June 7th.

When they started growing, they really started growing!! My staking was so
underestimated to how tall these guys were going to get.
This picture was taken on July 14th. Such a huge difference in less than 10 days!!

The first one to begin blooming. Love this color!!
Two months from first being planted!! 
This picture was taken on August 5th.

Still my only bloomer at this point. But just
one day later it is fully open and loving the sunshine!!

Same day, but a better angle of the full bloom!
As you can see, there are lots of buds on this one stem.

Next plant over and we have a gorgeous yellow one!
This picture was taken on August 14th.

And there they are in a row. This was early morning
The sun was just beginning to peak over the ridge.

I am going to try my best to harvest the seeds and resow them in the spring. I have a few other locations throughout the yard I want to plant sunflowers. The box they currently are in is great, but the plants closer to the house get a lot of shade mid-day and on. So I will not plant any sunflowers in this box next year but instead move them down closer to the shed where they will get full sun all day.

I am working on cleaning up and planning how the corner garden in the front yard will be laid out. I think I will plant the sunflowers in color blocks and stake them with this year's stems. I saw where you saw off the roots at the end of the season and allow the stalks to fully dry out. They say to leave a little bit of the leaf knob so you have a way to thatch twine to them. You can find a tutorial here.