Monday, September 13, 2021

Me On A Monday - September 13th

May I say I feel that this month is just whizzing by, ever so quickly.  Good Morning, I hope everyone is well.

Last Friday Mr Man & I decided to vote in our federal election at the early polls. Our minds were made up & unlikely to change by September 20th, the official election day. The line up surprised me, but it moved along fairly quickly & all the waiting was done outside & everyone was masked & kept 2 metres apart, so thankful for no rain & not too hot.  Reports on the one of community FaceBook pages made lots of notes about line ups, no line ups, so I'm encouraged that the pandemic doesn't seem to be discouraging people from voting.  Because there will probably be a lot more mail in votes this year, we have been advised final results could be a couple of days.  

Currently In Home Improvements: we have been having some trouble with the bricks on our outside chimney flaking & cracking;  it all comes down to the builder doing a very bad job.  It seems that the majority of houses in our sub-division are having the same problem.  We got a quote for replacing the bricks with either new bricks or man made stone - it was surprisingly expensive. We checked out the house painters that provide brick staining/painting & yes they could do just the chimney.  The man that came to give us a quote said he'd paint the chimney in white, (our siding is white),  I said NO, we'll pick a colour to match the existing brick ... long story short, the existing brick has been repaired & painted/stained to seal in a dark brown (Brevity Brown), that matches the rest of the brick, in a fraction of the cost - if you were driving by, you would not see anything dramatically or noticeably different.  Painter man said he was impressed with the colour & finished look.  I dislike the stress of choosing paint colours.

Currently In The Garden: started the long slow emptying of the annuals. It makes me sad, so I take my time doing.  I am in no hurry to move the last days of summer along.  One of the big barrel Morning Glory vines collapsed under it's own weight, taking down the supporting trellis, so that was an easy choice to cut down & empty the barrel.  I had another barrel full of red & white petunias that was long past its prime, so it was emptied.  The Cosmos that I planted in the ground are still blooming profusely & look lovely, lots of flowers.  The Cosmos that I planted in pots have tree trunk stems but not a single flower bud or bloom.

As I empty out the annuals, I take notes of what were successes & what were misses. Cosmos in the ground were a definite success & I've been collecting the seeds from them.  My plans of the blue, white & pale blue Lobelia in the water pump barrel were a success & achieved the look of frothy water.  Another repeat for next year.  My Gladioli were not successful in the pots, only two out of the twelve bloomed or actually grew at all. But they were both lovely pinks, so there's that success! 

And I'll leave you with this thought ... the chill pill I took this morning seems to have been a placebo




22 comments:

  1. I've been surprised how many plants that I cut back a couple of weeks ago are now having a second burst of flowers. Some of our flower beds have gone from looking 'full and very colourful' to 'slightly overgrown, a bit straggly and in need of a good tidy up' - a bit like me before I went to the hairdressers last week ;-)

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    1. LOL - slightly overgrown & a bit straggly - yep that just about describes me perfectly right now!! I'll be out in the garden emptying a few more pots today. Next Monday is yard waste community pick up - I've already got 2 bags full!

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  2. Glad you were able to find a reasonably priced alternative to replacing the brick. I myself like the challenge of choosing paint colors, but not when I am trying to match an existing color. But if I get to pick something entirely new, then I'm in heaven. Our potted annuals are still doing really well. I am sure many of our garden benefited from extra care this year as we all stuck closer to home. Since the hot, hot days are behind us, hubby will go to the gardening center this week to find a replacement plant for a small tree that died in our landscape. It was one of my faves, but he will be picking something else to replace it, as he was worried about strong roots to close to the foundation. I am looking to the void space being filled again.

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    1. I think that's why our house has varying shades of taupe & beige on the walls, paint colour choice for the walls scares me - the commitment because Mr Man HATES to paint, so if I persuade him to do, I get only one chance (lol). I'm better at picking colours for soft furnishings :) I am sorry you lost a favourite plant, I am sure that void remains you. Fingers crossed the new choice will WOW you in no time.

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  3. It's time for some of the annuals to be removed here. My cosmos didn't do well at all this year, and some of the annual nemesias have given up and look more dead than alive. It still leaves me with quite a lot of annuals but it does signal that summer is nearly over, doesn't it.

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    1. As I said I was very surprised by the Cosmos in the pots not flowering. The weather is sending very mixed messages about the season; afternoons of humid weather, chilly, need a sweater mornings & glorious but early sunsets. I noticed that the pine trees have an abundance of cones, which means snow & cold this winter :(

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  4. Were the potted cosmos in fresh compost? Cosmos can be tricky and are always best planted in weak soil; too rich and the nutrients all go into the plant and foliage, and very little into making flowers. Pinching them out while young also encourages shorter, bushier plants with more bloom. I'm glad you still got a few though. I hoped for some self-setters from last year's seeds, but no such luck. My petunias have not been half as good this year as last, and some of the busy lizzies are starting to go over but I simply can't bring myself to pull anything out yet. I've cut back some perennials and been rewarded with a second flush of colour though!

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    1. This time of year is so fickle for flower growth & display. I have a few petunias that are giving me a last hurrah. Thanks for the tidbits about Cosmos. I've read that they don't like the "good" soil, so I'll plant next year in the dirt rather than pots. I am timing my pot emptying with the free yard waste pick up service for September & then I'll tackle the perennials for the October yard waste pick up. I don't have the space for a compost pile in my yard. The pick up stuff goes to a community compost site, which then sells the "black gold" in the spring.

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  5. Made note of your successes and will try some of them next year. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Cosmos apparently does not like "good" soil, so next year in the dirt again, no pot life for them as I grow other flowers that do need to be fertilized.

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  6. We're in Wisconsin for a week, but most of the annuals will need to be cleaned out when we get home. My geraniums still looked good when we left, as did the marigolds along the fence. Tracy started the marigolds from seed and they have been wonderful this year. I'm always sad when the flowers begin to fade. I'm never quite ready for summer to end.

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    1. I'm with you on refusing to let summer go gently (col). I think the colder weather isn't going to be good for advancing 4th, 5th, 6th waves of COVID. Being able to be outside for any meet up with friends has been the only way I've felt safe about gathering - clinging to that with a sweater or two is how I'm dealing with the change in season.

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  7. Glad you were able to cast your ballot early! Our election for recalling our governor will be held tomorrow (Sept. 14), although my daughter and I cast our ballots, early. Already one of the candidates has refused to say if he will accept the election results if he doesn't win, so, I guess that is now the "new normal" where our elections are concerned! :(

    Glad you found a more economical solution to replacing the chimney bricks!

    Yes, time to clean up the garden, isn't it? My gardener and I are thinking of pulling out the tomato plants - I picked most of the remaining tomatoes from one plant and, most probably, we'll pick the rest of the tomatoes on the second plant this week and uproot them both. I'm already planning what to plant in the winter, though! Cool weather plants like snow peas, broccoli, lettuce, etc. :)

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    1. I was looking at my geraniums in the front garden (in pots) & thought I'd like to have a go at over wintering them. They are the most beautiful true red (no orange). I've read up on several methods & I think wrapping in newspaper will suit my space. I see in the news that your former President is still ragging on about the stolen election - which does not do any good for the country. Sad, so sad.

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  8. We voted around supper time on Sunday -- a very quick in and out.

    In my previous garden, I loved how the cosmos would popup wherever they chose year after year.

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    1. I discovered quite by chance, but a self seeded pansy blooming yesterday-what a surprise, so I am most hopeful for the same surprises from the Cosmos next year. Yeah to quick voting.

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  9. I bought Cosmos this summer and have been pleasantly surprised by how well they're doing. :)
    Re voting - we've switched to postal voting for the time being.

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    1. I am not sure why, but there wasn't an easy mail in option. If you wanted a mail ballot you had to call to get it sent, which we only discovered when our voter cards arrived on Friday. No matter, going to in person vote was a reason for some mascara being applied! (col).

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  10. It's a shame the builder did such a poor job, but I'm glad you were able to get a fix you like. Garden planning goes on all year, doesn't it :)

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    1. The builder declared bankruptcy just as he was finishing the last 15-20 homes in our sub-division but 2 months on, opened a new building company with a new name. We had no recourse because of the bankruptcy. :(

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  11. Glad you've got the building problems sorted satisfactorily - they can absorb a lot of energy :(. You're really speeding ahead in the garden ... we're having a milder autumn so I'm dragging my heels a little. I grew some cosmos from seed this year and despite their initial legginess (not enough light), they're still blooming - but my dahlias are a total flop: insect-eaten and flowerless. Hey ho ...

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    1. Oh the energy of just finding a reputably company to do the work, any work. I am hoping for a long slow Autumn.

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