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Thursday, March 03, 2011

Creative Zone!

The big bottle wall is getting started, slowly. So far I have hauled in 2 yards of sand on my trailer ($60.34). I gathered scrap 2 x 8 s and made a 4ft x 12ft sand box to create our bottle designs in before we start building it. The sand box below has just under a yard of sand in it. For those of you that do not know what a yard is, it is 27 cubic foot. You can see one blue bottle in the lower right corner. Getting a yard of gravel tomorrow, then we'll be able to start the digging. Looking at the footer digging it should be a lot of work.
The creative zone (aka sandbox) should get three designs in it as the bottle wall should be that long.

I also have a electric cement mixer I bought in the back of my van. Not a very expensive one, it should mix 250 lbs of concrete or mortar at a time. Might save my back and shoulders a lot of aches and pains. I have a deck to build next week, I plan on doing the footers with it.

More news about our garden, we are going to start beekeeping. My friend Jan is going to help me get it started. I've a queen on order but we have one obstacle, bees need to be ordered in November, nobody has any. We are joining to local beekeeping club and going to the monthly meeting next week. Hoping somebody can help us out with bees.

Here is another photo of the driveway Flower Records and Pickwick crocuses. I keep wanting a good open flower photo, but the sun spoils the shot, when the sun goes away the flowers close.... We had a new light blue crocus bloom today, a total surprise as they just popped out of the ground with blooms. They might be tommies, I got them from Brent and Becky's late last fall.
 Camellia baby number 2! Those leaves are nickle sized. I do not know what variety of camellias my camellia seedlings are from.  I mixed all the seeds up, making it all a mystery we'll have for the next 3-5 years. We have one plant I took seeds from in our garden that has red in the leaves, hum.  Number 1 seedling has 4 quarter sized leaves already.
Baby Moon daffodil planted in the fall of 2009, these blooms are just over an inch. It is a miniature daffodil. Bloomed much later last year, I had a swallowtail butterfly nectaring on them.

The seeds we planted  two Sundays ago are coming up. The radishes, arugula and mizuna are what is sprouting thus far. Still eating all the lettuce, mustard greens and kale we can eat, have given a lot away to friends too.

12 comments:

  1. Great Spring photos! It will be fun to watch the progress on your bottle wall. (I had a blue bottle not long ago... I was tempted to mail it to you!) ;-)

    Bee keeping. YOU like to keep busy! And I know we'll see some great photos.

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  2. Randy, don't you feel some pressure? Your blogging friends are watching the wall construction! Good luck! Crocuses are so cheerful and colorful even when their blooms are closed. Talk to them nicely!
    Thank you for such a nice comment on my post! Gardening is in your blood!

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  3. Love blue glass. I am looking forward to seeing what your sandbox evolves into. Very cool.

    Your crocus photos are great, you must either stand on your head or lay on your belly to get those shots.

    Congrats on the Camellia seedling number two.

    I look forward to hearing about your bee keeping. I am intrigued by the possibility of having my own honey. hmmmmm.....

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  4. I'm looking forward to your bottle wall and how it turns out. I love that daffodil, I've never seen one like it before.
    BTW I told my husband your suggestion of using scraps to add support on the insides of our raised beds and he thought it was a great idea. Hopefully we'll be filling them with soil this weekend.

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  5. How cool that you are doing beekeeping. Very exciting. Those crocuses and daffodils are so pretty.

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  6. Shady,

    Yes I don't like to be idle very much always keeping busy, seem overwhelmed with things I want to do most of the time.

    Tatyana,
    No pressure, these kind of jobs are what I excel at. Do think this job is big enough that I need a crew of helpers.

    Janet,
    I use a camera with a swing our screen it can be adjusted to shoot all kinds of angles.

    Catherine,

    Baby Moon is pretty cool, it is one of my favorite daffodils.

    Meemsnyc,

    Beekeeping should be fun and I have a friend to help me get it started. I read 1/4 of the beekeeping book last night.

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  7. Anonymous6:46 AM

    Hi Randy, Baby Moon is adorable! I will be adding some to the bulb order this year for sure. Your bottle wall looks extremely interesting. I can't wait to see how it evolves. We also have Pickwick, it is one of the prettiest crocus, IMHO. :-)
    Frances
    ps, things are way ahead of last year, which was way late

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  8. Dear Randy, It looks like you are going to have a outdoor museum section devoted to blue bottles in your garden soon. I am wondering how tall your wall will be. . . lovely photos of your spring bulbs!

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  9. I a so very happy you are becoming a bee keeper. I wish it was allowed in my urban area....I shall be following your process.
    Always wonderful to see your blooms. I have a few yellow crocus in bloom...just a few. Thundershowers today. Hopefully the temperatures will stay above freezing.
    Your bottle garden looks very fun.
    Congrats on your babies...growing from seed is my favorite. I feel so close to my plants when I sow and grow.
    Have a great weekend,
    Sherry

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