School and the THAT tree

Hey All. So first things first there is this...

Go me! A quick note. You can't get the honor roll without perfect attendance. So I never missed a day or was dismissed early or was late and I got a 96% or above in all tests/homework. No I could get a perfect attendance without the honor roll but even if I got straight As if I missed one day I would not get honor roll. This is done every month so hopefully if I keep things up I will get six of these for my entire schooling time. Will let you know if I do! I also got a little pin that says "Perfect Attendance" too but my cat was playing with it and I have no idea where it went.

Now onto the garden! The reason I know most of you read this =P

So there was this tree in my backyard that I really didn't like. I think it was just a bird drop or something as it wasn't really near anything. There are others of the same species around the neighborhood so that's my theory. Not only that but it is the same that my old neighbors had where I was growing up. And we hated them (both the trees and the neighbors ).

So that's the offender. Not only that it blocked some light for my apple tree and just didn't look nice. And it kept dropping leaves on the neighbors. And here it is now.

MWHAHAHA Took that fucker down! Sadly I did manage to fuck my hand up doing it. I only have a rusty/old handsaw/ripsaw. Not even a bow saw so it was slow going. Had to tie a rope around the last branch as I was cutting through it to make sure it feel where I wanted it to and not on my apple tree, or the neighbors roof or even on me! I had planned and still plan too trimming all the large branches tossing the small twigs and leaves onto the compost pile and putting the larger branches out for the trash. Sadly my messed up hand put those plans on hold. Hopefully I can do that sometime this week or the next weekend. Will be easier too once the branches dry out to snap them off. Then going to have to saw the stump down further and get some lye to take care of it completely. I don't even want to attempt to dig that fucker out. But as long as I can keep it from regrowing I will be happy. And of course once I get the stuff into the compost pile it'll make even better soil for my eventual garden! The other tree in the picture will eventually have to go as well but I think it's some sort of oak so I am just going to trim it and try to keep it sensible while I decide what I want to do with it.

Onto what else I did!

So I cleaned out and planted in the other planter.

Can't really see much right now but eventually it should be good looking. Left the already in place rose bush that was in there. I am not 100% sure what color it is but it was very much not taken care of so hopefully it will bloom once I've gotten it healthy again. Along the fence/gate was a very pretty pink rose that roommate's mother gave us. She claims it's a climbing rose hence putting it against the fence but I am not sure if it is or not. We shall see! Around them  I put the mini roses that she gave us too. All of them were very expensive and we had stuck them in pots just to keep them alive while I figured out what to do with them. Well they where getting really root bound so I had to do something. I am hoping that once everything fills out and blooms it will look nice. We have some red clover growing here and there and I want to get some and plant it in that planter so it covers the ground. I think it will look nice. Now if only I can get the stray cats from shitting in it. I do so love roses  I used to have a very nice rose garden growing up so this is a very nice addition for me.

Some updates!

Remember a post or two ago when I showed off what I did with the other planter? Well that almost black rose bloomed!

It's not really "almost black" and rather small but I am hoping that is due to the aphid infestation that it had. Took care of those and it's actually growing again. Not to mention that I also transplanted it when it was budding so that probably didn't help. Either way it's looking better so I have my fingers crossed.

And finally

I planted my iris. Never grown an iris before but this is called "Dracula's kiss" and the picture in the catalog looked real nice and it was on sale! Yes I know it's just a bucket with soil in it but I didn't have any pots. And that used to have my poinsettia in it but it died. Oh well next year. I have been soaking it for a couple days just to make sure it was still alive. I got it a couple months ago and never planted it. So it seems like it was still dormant but it started to sprout in the water so into a pot it went! Eventually I will get it into something more suitable or even in the ground but as I said first time growing an iris so will see if it survives or not heh.

Well that's pretty much it. Cut my hand open on a pane of glass on Friday but was able to superglue it back together so no big. Did laundry and dishes. But due to screwing my other hand up with the tree I wasn't able to get as much done in the backyard as I wanted too this long weekend. Oh well at least I got some stuff done. And every little bit helps! Just did a lot of inside stuff. Cleaning, dusting, homework, etc. Well I'll see y'all next time!

Also...I've got like almost 200 views... who are you people? I started this just to link to friends so I wouldn't have to type everything out again and again. Just...kinda weird.. heh

Well so far so good

So there is this.

So far so good eh? The new class I am in is alright I suppose.  Just getting started. Will get a new transcript at the end of January that should have more  of my tests on it heh. Time will tell how this will work out. I sincerely hope it does.

Nothing much

Not much to report today. School was alright we had our pizza and movie party today for being the winning class of the gingerbread house contest. It wasn't very good pizza and we only got two slices per person.

Then had to go to the mall *shudder*. Roommate's mother's birthday is tomorrow so we went and picked up some gifts for her. On the plus side got this new ornament from hallmark for about $5. All their Christmas stuff was on sale. I want to start doing this again. Back when I was younger every year my mother and I would go out and get a new ornament for Christmas. It kinda stopped when she got sick and then when she passed away and I moved away it fell by the wayside. But this year I am going to start doing it again if nothing else in her memory.

So that's about it! I'll be doing some more gardening this weekend so expect more pics and updates!

Front garden, my cat, and stuff

Well my last post was about the backyard. Figured I would do the front yard today or at least what I have done with it!

Moved the tree rose to the ground today. It had a lot more roots then I was expecting. But come summer it will look nice spilling down and flowering with the ornamental grass behind it. Also put some of the mini roses into the same pot as the lemon tree being there was room and it will look nice. Have to move the rest of them soon they are getting real root bound. Also you can see the two "living Christmas" trees I re potted as well.They are two different species and from two different places so hopefully one lives =P

Not much else was done. Did some minor clean up. Here you can see the lavender and the ginger. Also my other apple tree. It's a ultra dwarf Fuji. Need to move it to the back porch sometime so it can get some light. Need to cut a lot back before spring/summer hits and re pot some stuff too. Eh it'll get done when it gets done.

Some updates to my bedroom. You can see the amaryllis that I got along with "paper white" Narcissus. They where on sale so I picked them up. Hopefully the amaryllis gets erect sometime soon. But they are both growing and getting greener then when I first got them! Also I picked up some fabric at Jo Anna's for the mirror on my bureau. I don't really like mirrors and we have others in the house. Not to mention being it was at the foot of my bed kept scaring myself when I was trying to sleep. Also being it's next to a window the sun would reflect right into my face. Never a good thing when your trying to sleep. Had some scrap fabric up there but saw this thought it looked nice so I got some cut to fit and glued it up!

And now my cat! We brought him inside in April no idea when he was born.He was in the litter from one of the outside cats. His name is Vanyel. And here you can see how much he's grown. In the middle in when he was a kitten kitten, up top is a couple months after he was brought in, and finally a picture I took of him yesterday. He's getting big! He truly is my cat as he loves to lick my nose and headbutt me. Not to mention he sleeps on my chest and next to me in bed. I love him to death! Once things settle down after the new year going to have to get him fixed. Going to take him to the vet that roommate's parent's go too as he is a real nice guy and a hell of a lot cheaper then the vet I was taking him too. Sadly Vanyel is the last of his litter all the rest passed on due to Faded Kitten Syndrome which is quite common among stray cats. Still sad. But Vanyel survived and I love him to death.


Not much else had to replace a window in one of my tenants unit. That was a pain but at least it's done. The glass had a huge crack in it so replaced it with plastic. Easier to cut and won't shatter! Also apparently their tub was plugged up. I hate, hate hate hate doing plumbing in these houses. Everything was set up real weird and there is no space to work. But I got it clear. Had to send all 60 feet of the snake down the kitchen sink drain to clear it but it's done. At least for now!

Well Happy New Year everyone.

First post and garden

So I did some gardening today. Figured I would post some pictures.

The planter originally had some weird plants in it. No idea what it's called but I call it the "cat shit plant" because it's roots look like cat shit. It's some sort of tuber ornamental and it's damn difficult to get rid of.

Start of summer I coated the whole thing in thick black plastic and let it bake in the sun. That seems to have helped. So yesterday and today I went ahead and ripped it all out and put the new plants in. Along with some actual weed barrier cloth. Hopefully that will help. The rocks where what I had laying around the backyard already so I just added them to keep the barrier down and make it look nice.

So I have a Rose in the middle a citronella geranium and on the other side of that a late x-mas present. A "Christian Dior" hybrid rose. Hopefully everything takes and it looks as good as it does in my head. I have been wanting to get a citronella geranium under my window for sometime now. In the summer these little gnats like to come in through my screen and wake me up with their buzzing. Hopefully this will help! If not at least it's nice to look at and smell.

 In the whiskey barrel pot I have a butterfly bush that I had in a smaller pot on the front porch but I moved it to the larger one in the back so hopefully it will get enough sun and room to grow. Eventually it may go into the ground as well haven't decided yet.

 

 This is some orange honeysuckle. I am not 100% sure if it means that the flowers are orange or it smells like orange. Either way it was a gift to my roommate and was getting really badly root bound so I put it next to the porch and hope I can get it to grow along the awning and look nice. Will have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't die. Shouldn't now that it has more room to grow and it has a lot of new leaf buds.

 That is one of the stray cats that we have around our property. We call her "Little One" or "Little Mama" as she had a litter of kittens in our backyard. Sadly only one survived and he became my cat. Will post pictures of him later.

That's a money tree that was here when we moved in. Not much to say except that it's a trooper. It's lost all of it's leaves when it gets way to hot or way to cold but always comes back. Nice little ornamental. You can see the bush behind it that I am starting to take out. Along with the oleander. I dislike both of those bushes but with limited space in trashcans I can only take out a little bit at a time. And I have to make sure to get replacements that I want. The oleander covers the wall to roommate's bedroom so in the summer it helps keep some of the heat off the wall. I was thinking of replacing it with either a couple elderberry bushes or maybe some jasmine.

 And my current pride and joy. This is my Apple tree. It's less then a year old. Well I mean it's older then that but I've had it for less then a year. It's put off some new growth not a whole lot but I hope that changes come spring and summer when it starts growing again. It's only suppose to get about 10ish feet high so it will be perfect to keep within the confines of the backyard. Already had to fight off an aphid infestation on it. I always have trouble with those.

Well that's about it for this post I suppose. Will post more pics as I get things settled. Once I can bend the backyard to my will it should prove to be a nice place to sit in the evenings.