Mary needed help with her computer, so we called the grandkids!
We each woke up at 6:30 a.m. with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and clippers and nippers in the other. The sounds of slurping coffee and whizzing steel jaws were enough to awake the roosters.
Our Mexican Bush Sage was getting out of control!
Before
Within minutes, we filled a 90-gallon trash container to the top. These are Mexican Bush Sage, a hardy plant that will re-bloom abundantly in about 60 days!
The bees were unhappy about us trimming their food source, but other food sources are available around the property.
I was worried about my dimming lamp and thought I might have to throw it away. However, I took it apart and found that the lens came clean after soaking it in the sink with dishwasher detergent.
Inside the black removable top was a tiny circuit containing a single LED that controlled the on/off based on the available sunlight. I also found a compartment with a 1.2-volt rechargeable battery, which I replaced with a new one. After that, the lamp was back to its original brightness. I have another ten to go!
Shine, little guy, you have a two-year life extension!
I heard a blaring, blatant, blinding, booming, brassy, bold scream and realized Mary’s “Spidy Detector” had gone into overdrive!
I observed a giant spider hovering above where Mary was trimming the roses. Quickly, I used my iPhone to take a photo of the spider and positioned it against the background of a rose so that it could be easily seen.
This garden spider produces venom to paralyze prey, but it’s harmless to humans. I used a broom to capture the insect and relocated it to the yard, allowing Mary to continue trimming the roses.
Why did the man return his new pair of spider silk trousers? They looked great, but the fly kept getting stuck.
Mr Spidy had a large web across from the vertical garden, just above the white roses.
What do you call it when you have too many spiders in your house? A no-fly zone
As I was tidying up, I noticed a giant praying mantis.
Did You Know? Mantises are an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The most prominent family is the Mantidae. Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks.
Praying mantises possess stereo vision, and thanks to the placement of their eyes, they also have a wide field of vision. Each of their eyes has a fovea—a concentrated area of photoreceptor cells that lets them focus and track with acuity.
They eat a lot of bugs and are considered generally suitable for the garden!
I allowed him to wander, and he vanished into the garden within minutes.
We discovered a group of tomatoes at the top of the vertical planter, with one ripe and the rest to follow later this week.
The vertical gardens hold a lot of surprises.
I water my plants twice a week and use Miracle-Gro on them. The planter is overflowing with strawberries, eggplant, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and herbs.
Trimming done, we cleaned up for an outing.
Mary and I got ready and went to the Elks Lodge, where a holiday boutique took place. We weren’t sure how it would turn out, but it was a huge success. Mary found several treasures, mostly little Christmas gifts for our loved ones.
Neat garden decoration ideas!
Everyone praised Mary’s costume at the Halloween party, and some even noticed mine.
She loves our little hats!
During the holidays, many women want their partners to dress up. Mary mentioned she dresses me for the holidays and that I have more Halloween items than she does. This needs to be fixed.
She was dressed to kill!
We planned to go to Roger’s Gardens in Costa Mesa. So, we headed south for a twelve-minute trip to reach there. Unfortunately, the place was overcrowded, with cars lined up for a block to get into the parking lot. After voting, we decided not to visit them on the weekend, and we will go there on Monday instead. Our next destination was Home Depot, as we needed some edible flowers and ground cover for the south forty.
After our brave gardener leveled the area, I attempted to plant Irish Moss using a spade, knife, and trowel. However, it proved more difficult than expected, and I could only manage to plant one-third of one of the four flats of cover. Irish Moss is a resilient but slow-growing plant that takes several months to fill out in a garden. Nevertheless, once established, it has many practical applications.
I must trim the surrounding trees to allow more light to hit this garden area.
We still have three and a half flats to go! Carlos will get the job after all when he returns on Friday!
The flats were heavy, being about four inches thick with soil!
While cleaning out the two raised beds in the back, I found some cucumbers we will be dining on this week.
I like gardening. It’s where I find myself when I need to lose myself.
They were found inside the grape vines, and their colors hid them well!!
Mary was planting flowers on the patio while I helped by digging holes and sweeping.
We come from the earth; we return to the earth and garden in between.
After planting the ground cover, I sat and watched Mary work. This statue reminded me of our future.
Ah, we hope to grow old together and still work in the garden for a long time.
Scout, of course, was lying on his bed watching all the activities. I asked him, “What’s the easiest way to stop a dog from digging in the garden?” He barked the obvious answer, “Take away his shovel!”
Mary looks great even when she’s dressed casually.
It is getting dark; the day is done!
We went inside at 5:00 p.m. and called Colleen and Robin to check on them. All is well with Robin as he recovers from another round of COVID.
We had a great chicken stirfry and a vino glass while watching TV! By 9:00 p.m., we were ready to crash!
