In The Garden

The “Ray Of Sunshine” Meme

/ Ally Bean / 8 Comments

Last week Polly of caughtwriting tagged me with a lighthearted award known as The Sunshine Award.  It’s a fun little award/meme that lets me tell you, my gentle readers, a bit more about myself.

The rules are as follows: 1.  Thank the person who gave me this award;  2.  Answer the questions below – its all about favourite things;  3.  Pass on the award to other sunshine-y bloggers and tell them about it.

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1.  The Thank You.

Thank you Polly for thinking of me.  It’s always fun to find out what other bloggers have to say about the same topics.  I think that’s why I like memes so much.  They are a pleasant little peek into someone else’s life.

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2.  The Questions.

Favourite colour

Today it is aqua + cyan + teal.  Turquoise jewelry.  Ocean waves.  Soothing and relaxing colors that seem to call to me as the heat of summer is upon us.

Favourite animal

Cats.  First of all I think that cats are very handsome animals.  Then, of course, I  like how a cat with one disparaging glance can put anyone or anything in its place.  Good looks + attitude.  What’s not to admire?

Favourite number

Eight.  What I think is really cool about eight is that if you write it numerically, then lay it on its side, you will have the symbol for infinity.  Such versatility charms me.

Favourite drink

Vodka.  Preferably Grey Goose on the rocks with a twist of lemon.  It’s a simple and straightforward drink– easy to make, nice to sip, pretty to look when served in a cut crystal tumbler.

Facebook or Twitter?

Twitter, definitely.   I find it more informative than FB.  I like how Twitter’s 140 character limit forces everyone to get to the point.  And it just seems more fun to me.  In the moment.  A little wacky.

Your passion…

Interior design.  Over the years I’ve gotten more interested in knowing about design principles & color combos & furniture styles.  Then using what I’ve learned I’ve been slowly redecorating our home so the it is more inviting + cheerful + livable.  When I’m not stressed out about all the expensive choices I’m making, I rather enjoy being an active amateur interior designer.

Giving or receiving presents?

I find the idea of giving or receiving presents problematic.  I don’t enjoy shopping for anything, ever– nor do I feel like anyone needs to give me a present for anything, ever.  All of which means that I’m uncomfortable with both the giving and receiving of presents.  Truthfully, I’d rather spend time with the people who I love than spend time messing around with presents for them.            

Favourite day

Tuesday.  Don’t know why.  I just like it.

Favourite flower

Lately I’ve been on a daisy and zinnia kick.  The former because they seem to grow anywhere– and the latter because I’m determined to get them to grow somewhere.

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3.  The Award Ceremony.

As for passing the award along to other sunshine-y bloggers, here’s what I’m going to do.

If you are a self-described ray of sunshine [or you’re looking for something to do on your blog], then by all means do this meme.  It’s fun.  It’s light.  It’s a perfect sort of meme that puts all other memes to shame.  YES, gentle readers, this is the meme for you.

And with that, I have fulfilled my obligation regarding Rule #3.  See you later, meme-a-gators.  It’s beautiful outside today– and this little ray of sunshine wants to be out in the garden.

Hope Springeth Eternal In A Garden

/ Ally Bean / 15 Comments

The dianthus & salvia are in full bloom now.  After last autumn’s heavy rains that turned this planting bed into a mud pit, I didn’t know what to expect this spring.  But obviously the combo of rain + mild winter temperatures made for healthy plants with particularly intense colors.

Funny how things can work out for the best in a garden.

~ • ~

We planted this false blue indigo last summer but it didn’t thrive.  In the fall I was ready to pull it out because I thought that it was dead.  That’s how pathetic it looked.  But Zen-Den, who has much more patience with gardening than I do, said “let it be.”  He was right because look how vibrant this plant is now, and it’s not even in full bloom yet.

I just love being wrong about things like this.

~ • ~

I adore zinnias but have never had much success growing them from seed.  In fact a few years ago in a fit of frustration I said that I’d never try to grow them again.  But then I saw these starts at a garden center for a whooping $1.29 each, and I figured at that bargain price I had little to lose by trying once again to grow zinnias.

Wish me luck.  It could happen, right?

This & That

/ Ally Bean / 23 Comments

{april – monday – morning}

√  I told you something hinky was going on.  If you follow me on Twitter you might remember that last Thursday I tweeted: “There’s a sheriff’s helicopter circling the ravine behind our house & 2 police cars racing up/down the street. This is not normal.”  Over the weekend I found out what had happened right here… in the ravine behind our house… in the middle of the day.

A police officer noticed a car without license plates driving through town.  It was a stolen car.  So, the police chased the four men in the stolen car into a cul-de-sac in our subdivision where the driver of the car crashed the car into a tree.  The police immediately apprehended one man, but the other three men escaped on foot and headed into the ravine that runs throughout this subdivision.

That’s when the helicopter started circling our house.  Eventually, [about 10 minutes I’d estimate] thanks to the helicopter overhead the police caught the other three miscreants without any shots fired or destruction of personal property.  Good job, eh?

√  We planted the pots by our front door with coleus this year.  We chose Mosaic, Jazz Rose + Black Dragon with a spike in the middle for height.  The colors should coordinate nicely with the green pot itself and the surrounding red barberry bushes.  [For an abstract rendering of the colors we’re working with go here to this cool blog called Field Trips in Fiber.]

√  I tried a new recipe.  On Friday I found this recipe, Homemade Chocolate Pudding with Baileys, in a blog called My Baking Addiction.  I realized that I had almost the correct ingredients in our pantry, so I decided to make the pudding with what I had on hand.

Because I used fat-free half & half (instead of heavy cream) + 10 bite-size pieces of dark chocolate candy (instead of semi-sweet chocolate) what I made was more of a sauce than a pudding.  Which does not matter because this was the most delicious tasting almost-pudding I’ve ever had.  I’ll make this recipe again with [or without] the correct ingredients to eat as pudding– or to put on toasted pound cake + vanilla ice cream.

√  As some of you know, I collect Le Creuset coffee mugs.  I have one of each color.  This weekend I got a mug in the newest color, Marseille.  I’d describe it as robin egg blue-ish [peacock blue-ish?].  Alone it is a lovely shade, but in our house it truly goes with nothing.  Zilch.

All of our blues are cobalt, or denim, or rather grayed– and this new color with a touch of green in it looks very out-of-place.  Still, it makes my collection complete, so it can stay.  But nothing else of this color will be entering my house if I can help it.

The State Of Our “To Do” List

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

I am glad that it’s the beginning of a new week.  All our doing last week just about did me in.  It was stressful.

On the upside, we finished 3 projects.  The mail box post, which we repaired & painted, is now sporting a new shiny black mailbox.  The inside molding around the new [non-leaky] window in the bathroom is caulked & painted.  And the dingy old sheer panels on the home study’s French doors are tea-dyed a lovely shade of tan, ironed & back in place.

On the other hand, we started about a dozen more projects that for one reason or another we couldn’t finish.  I really wanted to have more projects completed by now, but everywhere we turned we encountered obstacles.  Weather.  Indecisiveness.  Lack of supplies.  Whatever we wanted not available.  No-shows by tradesmen.  Hours spent online trying to find furniture/accessories that will fit into our small room dimensions.  And on & on it went.

Four years ago when we decided to stay in this house & remodel/update it, I had no idea that we’d still be working on it today.  I thought that 1 year– maybe 2 years, tops— would be all the time that we’d need to re-do the house.  Not that I thought that everything in the house would be completely finished, mind you;  I just figured that we’d be where we should be for people living in a thirteen year old house.

However, despite my above grumbling, I will say that the progress we made last week is wonderful & encouraging.  I’d even venture to say that with one more week like this last one, we’ll have all the bones of our house in place.  Then there will be photos for you, my gentle readers– & a long-awaited sense of completion & belonging for me.

Until then, ever onward go I.

{An observation: this situation reminds me of when I got my Master’s degree.  I planned for it to take me 3 years, but for one reason or another it took my 6 1/2 years to complete.  Near the end of my studies, I didn’t care what courses I took.  I just wanted the whole process finished so I could move on with my life.  Same feeling here & now.}