Hey everyone back again, not been doing much blogging. I need to get inspired again, with spring somewhere near by (OK dreaming of it on a 20 degree day) I'm looking forward to our hellebore garden blooming. Currently we have 3 plants blooming see my facebook page  with the photos. The last three photos were taken last week, the other last season. I'm always looking for new and old gardening friends so friend request me if you have not already done so.

On Wednesday this week we got an 1/2 inch of snow. I took Baxter to the local park and we walked 3 miles in the snow. The back trail only had one set of foot prints going in and out, so we had that part of the park to ourselves. Still some lingering snow in the shadows here.

 See the only set of foot prints going in and returning by Baxter's feet. Baxter has been getting training from a family member who takes him for runs up to 6 miles. He has calmed down a good bit and stays with you in the yard without being leased. Well most of the time.

 Wanting home made dog cookies!

 Its really nice to let him run. Oh, I promised him a dog treat look at that tongue!

 OK, where's my treat? The snarled look is due to his one flaw the vet pointed out, a canine tooth slightly extending outward.

Behaving and posing for the camera. It took a long time to get him to actually stand still.

Next post will be some Witch-hazels I found blooming while garden visiting recently. And more winter flowers.

The new dog, Baxter!

Hey folks,

Hope some of you are still here it has been over 6 months since my last posting. I have missed many of your blog posts and hope to be here more often.

In mid July the new chickens started laying eggs. We usually get 3-5 eggs a day with our 5 new hens and a year old hen. Been enjoying the eggs very much. I learned the best way to make hard boiled eggs. Steam them for 15 minutes and then place them in ice water. Much easier to peel than boiling them.

The garden did great with lots of rain most of the summer. Cucumbers were in better numbers than I can recall ever. Tomatoes not so much the rain was more than they needed. Right now we have Swamp Sunflower, very tall asters, Japanese Anemones, hardy cyclamen and Miss Huff Lantana  in bloom in the garden. Today our Saffron Crocuses popped out of the ground!

The past few days I have pulled 6-7 wheelbarrows full of Japanese Bamboo Grass from the overgrown flower beds, the rain made it grow crazy. Good news is I beat letting it go to seed! Hoping to build a nice work shop and make a lovely new garden around it.

Back to what the posting is about our new dog Baxter. We think he's a a little over a year old. He's a terrier mix and wieghts 15 pounds. We adopted him after seeing him in a share on facebook that a good friend posted.

Baxter was found to need house training as he peed on the furniture the first night in the house. His training is coming along, as we are getting up in the middle of the night to let him out, no accidents yet! Our cat hates him as expected. Walking him he's a puller, got him a special harness for than and it is big help. He walks pretty well and will certainly improve. Around the house he's very active, chews on socks, chew toys are next on our list. Friday he gets his shots, next week he's getting fixed. We got him last Friday.

Here's Baxter with his new harness the lease pulls from two points, pretty cool. We bought it at the locally owned pet shop in Hillsborough on Nash Street.

 The first thing he did when I met him was to roll over to be petted just like this.

 OK office I give up arrest me.

 He jumps around so much getting any photos of him is a challenge!

Still got more bamboo grass to pull. Bunches of new plants Meg came home with. And we are planting lettuce, kale, mustard, spinach, Swiss chard and carrot seeds in the next few days. Also picked up 9 broccoli plants for the garden.

100th Post Spider Azalea

Yes it is hard to believe my 100th posting on this blog.

I forgot to show you a plant I'd never seen before that we found in several masses at Sarah P Duke Gardens a few weeks ago. It is called Spider Azalea, Rhododendron macrosepalum 'Linearifolium.'

This azalea was in the garden along with the camellia plantings. The blooms are not showy like most of the other azaleas. The form of the entire plant makes this a cool plant if you ask me. Below is a poor photo of what the mature bush looks like.

Spider Azalea was introduced from Japan to the west back in 1980. I was kind of shocked when we found the tag displaying the plant name as an azalea, it never crossed my mind this could be an azalea.

I'll leave you with this photo of Dot the Wonder Dog and Grumpy the one-eyed cat. Dot is Meg's daughter's dog and Grumpy is my very affectionate cat. They met just a few years ago. Grumpy would sit where he could keep his one eye on both the dogs at all times. These days Grumpy rules the animal kingdom here.

Peas in the Snow

Today as you saw in the previous posting we received 3 inches of snow. The Sugar Snap Peas were covered up entirely. About 3 pm today I took this photo as you can see the peas are peeking out. Bad news we might get 13 degrees in the AM, good news 4 days ahead in the upper 60s to 70s.
Meg, yes that is her in person!! My lovely lady and best friend too!
Dot the wonder dog, at 13 she still causes a lot of trouble being a Jack Russel Terrier.
Daisy Mae she's as old as Dot, yet follows her about anywhere as her partner in crime. You won't see her jumbing as she has bad hips.