"Deck the Walls with Boughs of Holly..."

Yes, Walls.

Because of Miss Exuberance, we are being completely sane and not putting up a tree.

Miss Exuberance; aka Sofie.

I decorated the other night, Pandora blasting Christmas Carols and Baroque Music.

Pile of mini ornaments waiting to be put up:

Of course I had help...Penny holding down the ornament wrappers.

Finished Garland:

The Angel in the center of the wreath:

Snowmen in the Dining Room:

So when I and hubby sit in the living room, it's all nice and festive.

Blogging Sloth

Yep, that's me.

I have two plants that I must write down right now lest I lose the tags and forget them forever.

Euphoria graminea - Tan Speckled Pot, white center blooms.  Clibrachoa - Same pot, yellow blooms.  I'm trying to overwinter the tall plant (don't know what it is)


Euphorbia graminea - Diamond Frost.  What a stunning container plant!  Stayed nice all summer long.  Lots of blooms all the time.  Nice low height to accent taller plants.  I'm over-wintering the plant that I had with it.  I did not keep that tag though.

Another great performing plant was Clibrachoa in white, pink, and yellow.  I liked them so much I accidentally bought a set twice.  Brought it home and went - "Well, it'll make a nice grouping."

Here's a gratutioius picture of Sofie the Rottweiler from about the same time frame.

I remember reading somewhere to leave your carrots in the ground over the winter and just dig them up as you need them.  I don't think they meant years like this where it has been pretty dang warm for Northern Idaho.  Look at these monsters I dug up today!

And here's a gratutious picture of Penny around the same time frame (Why, yesterday!)

Just another day in the yard...

Life in the garden has been good.  The hummingbirds have come back a little, but not enough for me to get some shots.  I saw a fledgling Robin out yesterday.  This is a buddy of his resting on a garden hoe on my hill.

Pumpkin loves to scratch on my raised beds.  I think it's great.  I'd hate to have her trying this in the house.  Sometimes she's even coordinated enough to balance on that one inch to sharpen the claws.

 

 Thanks, I feel better now.

 Goofy Sofie and Penny after a romp around the yard.

Kermit found this toad out front, so brought him to the pond.  He immediately started climbing up the pond plant.



Something about this looks likes it is out of a fairytale.

 Hollyhock from the garden at full bloom.  First one I've ever been able to see.  The deer would always get them before the blooms 

Challenges and Joys...

Having a new young dog is awesome and a little tiring at times.  She is a counter surfer, even bolder than Farro if those of you who knew how Farro was can imagine.

So, I set up a Sofie Defense System.  Those cans have pennies in them.  In theory, when they knock them over, it will frighten them and they'll stop putting their paws up there and stealing things.  OH, like two servings of fresh Cherry Cobbler.  

I see two problems with this and Sofie.  One, she isn't phased by many noises now that she's acclimated.  Two, no more than a few minutes after this shot, I was sitting at the dining room table.  Sofie went over to these cans, daintily put her paws inbetween them and sniffed the cans.  Did not even wobble them.

So we'll see.  I'm sure she'll try to get up there at some point in time today.

Out in the garden today:

Sofie with her Koi

Penny being a flat dog.

Penny by a garden box of Basil, Sweet Peppers, Sunflowers, Cucumbers and Beans.

Bean Sprouts

Cucumber Seedlings

Sofie's big paw and my white foot.

How to tell that it's early and that I haven't had coffee yet.

A Rainy Sunday Morning

Perfect for lazing about.


Luey and I pitted a lot of cherries yesterday.  Kermit is making Cherry Cordials from part of them.


I still need to pick the other half of the tree with a tallish.


Here's half of the cherries.  Sofie thinks they are OK, but not great.  Snow Peas, those are great.

I decided that I am not going to let Sofie up on the sofas.  One, she's big.  Two, she needs better manners first.  So for cuddling, I sit on the floor.

I have a Hollyhock plant that is blooming this year.  I have never witnessed a Hollyhock bloom here, because the deer love them.  I got one in my garden, it made me happy!

Made some cherry tarts this morning, came out meh.  The dough is too salty.  Store bought.  Won't do that again.  Waiting for the menfolk to get up.  Then they are going to cook breakfast for us.

Busy as a Bee!

But, no Bee pictures. We had some rain, and then some great sunny days, so I've been really busy in the garden. Took out the Snow Peas and the Lettuce. Put in Basil, beans, and cucumbers. Planted some more peppers, and freshened up the planters. Put out carrot seed too.  Tidied up the walkways and did some general maintenance.

Peppers and Strawberries

Basil transplants, Cucumber and Beans are from seed.

A Pumpkin!

I'm going to kidnap my youngest from Moscow today to meet the new pooch.  Everyone have a great weekend!

Fabulous Lillies

I had some time to go through Sofie's vet records and discovered that her 1st Birthday was yesterday!   It seems that when she was 9 weeks old, she weighed 10lbs.  At 5months, she weighed 35lbs.  Big Puppy!


She's a smart dog, but very shy and fearful right now.  I'm waiting for her to become comfortable with all the changes, then I'm sure the Rottweiler adolescent BRAT will appear.


She loves running around the garden, and is very aware of walking/running areas vs garden space.


My Lillies came into bloom!  I gathered all of them up from the garden here and there, and planted them together.  The smell is wonderful when you walk by, or have the breeze blow it by you as we sit by the pond.

Lillies

 New Fish - the small one.

Sofie