Florida Visit December

Took 3-4 days to get adjusted. I thought I'd be bored outta my mind. It looks like I'll be here until January 23 or so. Made a trip to "the farm" finally. The farm is is on Pine Island.

Where's Bubba? I Gotta Find Bubba! Oh there's Bubba. AKA Heather, my neice.

A few more pics. Neice Jennifer with her grandmother Mabel.

 And their father and grandfather. Ed (left) Herman (right)

Group shot of the cousins...Left to right; Ryan, James, Jennifer, and Heather.

See the video. It starts with a trip to the driving range with my son Ryan. Basically his first time with some kind of instruction. Followed with my first time on a horse.

Mulch Pit

Or you can call it the wood chip pit; next to the county garbage collection place on this side of Ellijay. The smaller piles shown are about six feet high and probably twenty feet deep. New and old chips, mulch or good composting stuff; whatever one wants to call it. I've been busy digging into the center of it and coming up with what I think to be some healthy stuff for the gardens I have scattered all over the place here.

Add some cow manure to the mix, once I can get it, and it should be worm city. I inquired at the dairy farm down the road about some manure. "Too  wet now." But finally I know a good source instead of spending $$ at Lowes. For five bucks a bucket (yard) I'm pleased.

Off To Florida Thursday. Some winter pics of my lovely lawn failure.

Creek running strong all month...

Time To Flee This Winter...again

I can tolerate 26 in the AM and 45 or 50 in the afternoon...but not this. My favorite time to work outdoors is between 8 and 11 AM, but wait until the crust on the ground thaws out? I've been trying to get the west side area done for a week now. Then it rains again. Sure I've covered it...but. I've actually been screen sifting (rocks) all the soil dug out and mixing with some really good composted wood chips from up the road...add some leaves to the mix as well. The horse crap guys never called me back and I don't want to press it. Maybe when I return from my trip to warmth.

I would suspect this will be good and fertile come late April when I can get some of those winter sowed plants in the ground. I also hope to get either horse or cow stuff when I return from Florida in late January. Yep, there's a cow dung place nearby...but they want money. Not sure how much yet, but beats spending all that money at Lowe's.

Got a little carried away with tilling other soil around the property. I knew I should have looked at the summer pics to find out what was growing where. So here were a few young Hostas I killed. I would suspect they won't come up now that they're six inches under now? The two in the upper left are under. Didn't touch the right side.

Speaking of Hostas. They're kind of growing on me. And lot's of other stuff I didn't like five months ago when I didn't know a hill of beans about this and that. So. How about a Hosta garden? Maybe I can finally finish off that area down by the creek (above). Check out this Hosta site.

And bring on the bog garden. Ever hear of elephant ears? I may get a few of 'em for the bog. They can get quite massive the way I'm reading into it. This place should be teeming with all sorts of stuff next summer. When the heck is winter over, dang it! OMG, it hasn't officially started.

West side...raised beds...shivering; not to scale.  Red wood ships will be buried, covered with fresh wood chips. I even thought of a low trellis in the back of a few beds with some climbing things. Leftover lattice laying around. Only the first one bottom left gets enough sun for a morning glory? But do they need morning sun? They won't get it until mid morning.

 On to Florida Dec 16 or 17.

Winter Snow

Just a sprinkling the other day...

These Dianthus continue to surprise me. Moreover, recent reading tells me they may make it through the winter months while flowering at the same time. Everything else around here is gone thanks to the 20 degree temps Saturday morning. Except that funky thing in the planter is still hanging in there.

Exception: Violas, marigolds. I plan on a nice showing of the Violas and some pansies (aren't they the same?) next winter by starting  from seed and containers in the summer. Should be very different along with other winter flowering things.

Noticed the other day an interesting find on the top of the roof. Looks like some shingles are loosening. I'm not about to explore it. That roof pitch is far too steep for me. No leakage the way I see it after three inches of rain last week. More rain on the way tomorrow. I'm assuming the heavy winds last week were the cause. Kind of rare for winds to actually have an effect here because of the location. Only when they blow hard from the north do I really feel or hear it. Mother has had wind chimes hanging for two years on the porch, but why bother?

More bulbs popping through the soil... Dutch Iris

For Sale. Eveything Is On Sale

A few weeks ago while walking the property I took some snapshots of sale signs...they're all over the place. Here's one I thought could be a deal. Right smack dab on top of the hill overlooking Cartecay Valley. There's a total of 12 acres but can be split. At the bottom of the hill is a creek that may run about two feet in width most of the time. Price? $15 K per acre but I'll bet that can be whittled down. Rumor has it the owner may be desperate, but that doesn't seem to be new thesedays.

Turning directly around or 180 degrees another sign. Not sure what they want for this one but it's something like 120 acres. Here's a county map showing property areas. The green dot is where I am standing taking the pictures. Dark blue is my property.

Next to the previous sign is another, something like four acres. Yea, I took one last summer but it didn't have any prices.

This morning while investigating a power outage (another tree down) I see another property up for sale. I've only moved 50 feet from the green dot on the map. Actually it's a modular home....aka mobile home. 1550 square feet. 3BR/2BA 1.5 acres. I investigated the sale sign in the window to where I was directed to a website. $59,900 or make an offer. It was repossessed but the sale does not include the land.

I suppose that's the norm for the rest of the country. For sale signs everywhere. On a more positive note I actually saw a new home under construction a few weeks ago. It almost looked strange.

Mexican Heather Has A Winter Coat

I guess this shrub oozes moisture when it gets cold? This morning the temps reached 26, but it's not the first time this fall. I've seen two days at 27 around 7:30 AM. Anyway it's all dressed for the cold. Not as green compared to a few months ago when it thaws out.

Dianthus still hanging in there although they look beat up with frost covering them. Give it a few hours and they look healthy as ever.

The whatchamacallit....Pineapple Sage continues along, although looking like it's no longer reaching for the sky.

Petunias take on a new look with the frost covering them...

And that thing in the middle of the hanging basket. No clue as to the name and how long it will last?

Few remaining Impatiens along the stone wall hanging in there...barely.