Re: Butterfly Junction

countrynaturals 12/8/2016, 11:32 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:You have a beautiful yard, CN. Lots of shade... How does that affect your plantings?

The shade is very helpful. Nothing survives our summer sun.

countrynaturals 12/8/2016, 11:44 am

trolleydriver wrote:CN ... your yard is like a park ... very nice and inviting.

Thank you, TD. We definitely bought here for the land, not the house, which still needs a total remodel. Sad

We have 2.5 acres on a gentle ridge with a redwood grove and a gorgeous view of the valley and distant mountain peaks. Every time we get a little gumption, we start another outdoor project, while inside, after 3.5 years, I still don't have a dishwasher and our only working shower is one of those tiny, cheapy, flimsy inserts. Rolling Eyes

countrynaturals 12/10/2016, 4:56 pm

I tried winter sugar snap peas and don't like the results. Instead of being fat, crisp, and juicy like the ones I planted last spring, they're flat, tough and stringy. Now I'm wondering if I planted the wrong seeds. I have 2 opened packets. One just says "sugar peas". The other says "sugar snap peas." Embarassed

I will try again in January and be more careful. Rolling Eyes

Another experiment was to plant peas, then cover with several inches of leaf mulch. It took almost 3 weeks for them to germinate, but they're coming up just fine, so now I know that winter peas will grow here, when I figure out how to plant the right seeds. pale

My next project will be to go through all of my posts here, and turn them into a journal to add as another sheet to Marie's awesome spreadsheet. I love you

countrynaturals 12/13/2016, 12:54 pm

Bad weather coming over the next 3 days. Up to 8" of rain, nights down to freezing, and wind gusts up to 50 mph. I'm hoping they're exaggerating, but I took a nice long tour of the gardens and greenhouse, just in case I'm cooped up inside until Friday. Mad

In the greenhouse/butterfly house, the caterpillars are doing fine and the butterfly nectar plants couldn't be happier, so if we actually have winter butterflies, they won't starve.

Here is the lantana.
Butterfly Junction - Page 5 Lantan10

Here is the milkweed:
Butterfly Junction - Page 5 Milkwe10

Now I can come back here and look at my flowers when I can't visit them in person. geek

**sanderson** 12/13/2016, 11:47 pm

Nice!

**AtlantaMarie** 12/14/2016, 7:38 am

How pretty!

countrynaturals 12/14/2016, 11:57 am

Thanks, Y'all. After Christmas I might paint the lantana on a rock to brighten up the dreary landscape outside. I did that with sunflowers out front and it works, since I know the flowers really were here at one time and will be again. Wink

**Kelejan** 12/14/2016, 12:54 pm

countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:CN ... your yard is like a park ... very nice and inviting.
Thank you, TD. We definitely bought here for the land, not the house, which still needs a total remodel. We have 2.5 acres on a gentle ridge with a redwood grove and a gorgeous view of the valley and distant mountain peaks. Every time we get a little gumption, we start another outdoor project, while inside, after 3.5 years, I still don't have a dishwasher and our only working shower is one of those tiny, cheapy, flimsy inserts.

I think you have your priorities right. cheers

countrynaturals 12/14/2016, 1:54 pm

Kelejan wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:CN ... your yard is like a park ... very nice and inviting.
Thank you, TD. We definitely bought here for the land, not the house, which still needs a total remodel. We have 2.5 acres on a gentle ridge with a redwood grove and a gorgeous view of the valley and distant mountain peaks. Every time we get a little gumption, we start another outdoor project, while inside, after 3.5 years, I still don't have a dishwasher and our only working shower is one of those tiny, cheapy, flimsy inserts.

I think you have your priorities right.

Thanks, Kel. I feel validated. I love you

Now back to planning my next garden. Who needs a dishwasher, anyway? Rolling Eyes

**AtlantaMarie** 12/14/2016, 3:34 pm

I have to agree! Once you have the land, you can always work on the housing...

**trolleydriver** 12/14/2016, 3:38 pm

AtlantaMarie wrote:I have to agree! Once you have the land, you can always work on the housing...

Just a few days ago I told Mrs TD that I love the outdoor projects but I do not like the indoor house maintenance work. Very Happy

countrynaturals 12/14/2016, 4:29 pm

trolleydriver wrote:
AtlantaMarie wrote:I have to agree! Once you have the land, you can always work on the housing...
Just a few days ago I told Mrs TD that I love the outdoor projects but I do not like the indoor house maintenance work.

Amen to that. lol!

**Kelejan** 12/14/2016, 8:11 pm

CN. I have never had a dishwasher but then there has ever been me and my DH.

It reminds me of my late MIL when she gave some money to her youngest daughter who was at BC University and lived in one of their small apartments. To my MIL's disgust she bought herself a dishwasher which took up space in the tiny kitchen and was in the way of moving around the room. For once I completely agreed with my MIL. :-)

countrynaturals 12/14/2016, 9:14 pm

Kelejan wrote:CN. I have never had a dishwasher but then there has ever been me and my DH.

It reminds me of my late MIL when she gave some money to her youngest daughter who was at BC University and lived in one of their small apartments. To my MIL's disgust she bought herself a dishwasher which took up space in the tiny kitchen and was in the way of moving around the room. For once I completely agreed with my MIL. :-)

I've had them off and on through the years. It's nice having the extra counter top space and empty sinks, but I'm used to doing dishes by hand, and even with a dishwasher, there's still lots to clean up by hand, so I'm fine without it. Butterfly Junction - Page 5 3170584802

**Scorpio Rising** 12/14/2016, 9:48 pm

R

countrynaturals wrote:
Kelejan wrote:CN. I have never had a dishwasher but then there has ever been me and my DH.

It reminds me of my late MIL when she gave some money to her youngest daughter who was at BC University and lived in one of their small apartments. To my MIL's disgust she bought herself a dishwasher which took up space in the tiny kitchen and was in the way of moving around the room. For once I completely agreed with my MIL. :-)
I've had them off and on through the years. It's nice having the extra counter top space and empty sinks, but I'm used to doing dishes by hand, and even with a dishwasher, there's still lots to clean up by hand, so I'm fine without it.

I had a dishwasher once in my life so far. It far and away my favorite appliance. I missed it once I moved....bad. My favorite appliance.

**Scorpio Rising** 12/14/2016, 9:59 pm

Icountrynaturals wrote:Bad weather coming over the next 3 days. Up to 8" of rain, nights down to freezing, and wind gusts up to 50 mph. I'm hoping they're exaggerating, but I took a nice long tour of the gardens and greenhouse, just in case I'm cooped up inside until Friday.

In the greenhouse/butterfly house, the caterpillars are doing fine and the butterfly nectar plants couldn't be happier, so if we actually have winter butterflies, they won't starve.

Here is the lantana.

Here is the milkweed:

Now I can come back here and look at my flowers when I can't visit them in person.

Well you have done everything you can! NICE! Those babies stand a chance because of you!

countrynaturals 12/16/2016, 3:45 pm

December 16, 2016 -- 1st day outside after 3 days of steady rain and freezing nights. Found a Gulf Fritillary butterfly in the GH, a newly formed chrysalis, and there are still caterpillars on the passion vine plants inside. I have flowering nectar plants in there, but the butterfly hasn't found them yet. It doesn't seem to be doing very well, but maybe it will improve as the day gets warmer. I can't do any more for it. Sad

Just for grins, I checked my in-ground passion vine and found a caterpillar out there, too. I'm going to leave that one alone. It's amazing how they can survive in this weather, but I guess they do. Shocked

These pics are lousy, but they document what's going on, so here they are.
Butterfly Junction - Page 5 Frit-g10

**trolleydriver** 12/16/2016, 5:09 pm

CN ... I think the pics are great.

**sanderson** 12/16/2016, 9:21 pm

trolleydriver wrote:CN ... I think the pics are great.

+1

**AtlantaMarie** 12/17/2016, 6:19 am

**Scorpio Rising** 12/19/2016, 8:51 pm

Suz, they look great! Your butterfly just looks early. You have done all you can! And your babies are getting the best shot they would ever ever have!

In your own words of advice to me last Spring, looking good, but don't get too attached! I love you

countrynaturals 12/30/2016, 10:37 pm

Last week Katie got a furniture donation for the sanctuary/thrift shop. One of the items was a huge cabinet -- 45" wide, 72" high, and the bottom part is 25" deep. Would you believe it fit perfectly on our sun porch with barely 1/4" to spare in one place. A custom cupboard couldn't fit any better. It holds every bit of my ugly indoor garden supplies. It only took the guys about 10 minutes to get it in and set it up, and I spent another hour cleaning and organizing. Now my porch looks like part of the house again, instead of an old garden shed. (It was so bad I wouldn't even take a "before" pic. Embarassed

) Here's how it looks, now. Tomorrow I'll get back to planting seeds -- @#$% cats destroyed the last batch -- dumped them on the floor -- I think I'm Brussels sprouts cursed! Butterfly Junction - Page 5 671790

**sanderson** 12/31/2016, 6:17 pm

Wow!

What a nice setup.

countrynaturals 12/31/2016, 6:39 pm

sanderson wrote:Wow! What a nice setup.

I have now upgraded our "sun porch" to "sun room." Last night I turned on a Celtic music CD, took my caramel coffee and my knitting, and sat out there under the plant lights and smelled the citrus blossoms, while feeling absolutely decadent. Wink

**sanderson** 12/31/2016, 6:46 pm

countrynaturals wrote: absolutely decadent.

Absolutely decadent!

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