Category Archives: General Gardening

I wouldn’t make a good baker…

As someone who likes order and structure in my life and things around me I wouldn’t make a good baker. Baking needs precise measurements to get things right. I am more of “a little of this, a little of that” type of cook.

The day after Christmas here in the States and it’s chilly and wet outside. No yard work today! When I arrived back in Raleigh yesterday afternoon from the coast the sky was blue and the sun was shining. The temperature was a little chilly but it still was a good day to walk around the arboretum.

The prunus Mumes and witch-hazels were beginning to bud out. I need to add a few to my garden!

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The mahonias, too, were blooming.

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The winter flowering irises where beautiful and always a nice surprise!

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For some unknown reason I wanted potatoes and onions this morning which brings me back to the point of this post. I had no recipe in mind. I sautéed onions and garlic in some oil. Added a few cut up potatoes and some spices such as cumin, turmeric, a few drops of tobasco, and red ground pepper and half-an-hour later my tummy was full!

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Thank goodness for the spice rack!

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Back to the garden. Winter is the best time to do the hardcore maintenance. I will be working soon on the brick boarders and stepping stones. It is also the time to look at the basic structure and layout of the garden. It may be time to tweak the positions of those plants which grew larger than expected!
Xxx

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Winter has settled in …

Temperatures are regularly reaching the low 30s now but there still is plenty of color and life in the garden.

Some creature was hungry and was able to remove one of the side covers from the kitchen compost bin . I will have to shore it up with some bricks or rocks.

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The nandinas, which line the fence and house, are loaded with berries.

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The Oakleaf hydrangeas are still holding on to a few red leaves.

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“Jacob” hellebore is loaded with buds.

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This clump of galanthus has been blooming for a month!

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Many plants which look dead still provide some structure and architectural detail to the Winter garden:

Basjoo banana

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And hydrangeas

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Also, the Boylan Heights Neighborhood ArtWalk was last Sunday. Lots of people and some interesting art.

http://artwalk.boylanheights.org/

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Paper Flowers from Flower Thyme   https://www.etsy.com/shop/flowerthyme

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And the chickens in the community garden were busy checking out all the activity!

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XX

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Thanksgiving, Christmas Black Friday sales, and a tornado on the coast of North Carolina!

It’s unusual to have tornadoes when the weather is cool. They usually require storms created during hot and humid weather to form the thunderstorms which produce them.

Last Tuesday a tornado hit Atlantic Beach, North Carolina then crossed the Inter-coastal Waterway and striking Morehead City, North Carolina damaging buildings. This is the area where I grew up on the Southeast coast of the United States.

The National Weather Service estimated the maximum winds were 125 miles per hour. It left a 200 yard wide path and was on the ground for just over five miles!

When I was home over the holidays we drove through a few of the areas which were hit.

Below, Two pine trees on the garage of a house.

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Trees on a car.

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Luckily, no one was killed or seriously injured!

Thanksgiving was the usual feast with my family which included turkey, ham, coconut pie, many other typical desserts and sides! I was stuffed making it worth the two-and-a-half hour drive!

Hmmm, old-fashioned coconut pie!

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Playing with my nephews dachshund, Rosco, who is as feisty as Gus!

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I also had the opportunity to attend an early Black Friday sale with my sisters at 8pm on Thanksgiving. Hundreds of women fighting over $19.99 boots! It was crazy! I stood back with the husbands and just watched. It took about half-an-hour until the stacks were gone!

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People were also putting out their Christmas decorations!

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Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

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