Making Decisions - toxic plants

Well, I had to make a decision about a couple of the shrubs.  I've been learning about what they are, and researching online.  I was at Patuxent Nursery and found some shrubs that were the same as some of the mystery plants in the yard.  It was called Nandina.  We have them in 4 different places around the house, the previous owner must have liked them.

I did some research and found out they are toxic to birds and cats, now it didn't mention dogs, but since we have mostly senior dogs I was concerned.  I wouldn't want one of our kids to wander up and start munching on a toxic plant.  Since we had three more around the house, I decided the one in the back hill had to go.

Here is what it looked like in early June.

The Nandina, also known as Sacred Bamboo or Heavenly Bamboo is the tall shrub in the center.  But it's toxic and it had to go.  But, it was perfectly healthy and I didn't know if is was sacrilegious to cut down a plant called Sacred Bamboo.  (Oh No, I've got to cut down a Sacred Shrubbery - Monty Python forgive me.)

But part of this gardening stuff is pruning and weeding and making decisions (oh god, more decisions.) So far I've discovered that I like the planting of new plants more than the trimming and pruning of existing plants and shrubs. But with the nurturing of the new comes the pruning of the mature.  So I got out the tools and took down the Nandina.  Now we have a hole in the lower area below the path.  You can clearly see a stone from the garden path in the gap.

But now we can see the blueberry bushes, the butterfly bushes, and the azalea on the upper part of the hill. We've been discussing options to fill the gap, but we're getting to like the view of the upper hill. I know it was the right decision - for reasons other than aesthetics - but it's nice to have the aesthetics work out too.

Saying goodbye to Sadie

We took Sadie in as a foster about 3 years ago when her mom was going into a nursing home and couldn't keep her anymore.  We promised her mom that we would take care of her and find her a good home.  We've never found her the right home and she’s been part of our family here ever since.  Tonight we’re going to have to say goodbye.  She’s 15 years old, has cancer, glaucoma, and a persistent ear infection that the best specialists in the area cannot clear up.  We've seen her slowing down over the past couple of weeks, and she’s stopped eating.  We've been through this enough with our elderly dogs that we know it is time to say goodbye and let her go.

I’ll remember her as the one who was so attached to me that she had to sleep up in bed between my legs. When I came home from the hospital after my heart attack she wouldn't let me get more than about 6 feet away from her for most of the month I was recovering at home.  She has never been a lap dog, but she makes sure she has a spot where she can see me and keep an eye on me when I’m home. She follows me from room to room and when it’s time for bed she’s been known to stand in the living room and bark, calling me to the bedroom down the hall so that she can get up in bed. She usually beat me down the hall and was waiting on the corner of the bed by the time I got to the door.  She had an assertive personality, her nicknames have included “Sassy Sadie” and “Princess Sadie.” She’s a barker and that was why we had to insist that any potential adopters lived in a single family home – she would have been a poor neighbor in an apartment or row house.  She also did not do well at adoption shows since she was usually trying to dominate the other dogs by barking and carrying on.  So we were never able to find the right home and we became her forever home.

Tonight we have an appointment at the vet to let her go. We've done this before, and we’ll probably do it again, but it’s never going to get any easier. I’ll hold her in my arms on the drive over; we’ll carry her in and a little while later we’ll leave without her.  We’ll come home and give the other three some extra loving and attention and going to bed tonight won’t be the same.  I’ll have too much leg room.

We'll meet again at the rainbow bridge.

Casa Mariposa: It's Raining Farts and Frogs

I saw this post this morning and shared it with Gloria.  She seems to think I actually wrote it under an alias...  However, I did enjoy it enough that I want to share it.  The link to Casa Mariposa is on the right side of the blog if you want to check back periodically ans see what she's up to.

Casa Mariposa: It's Raining Farts and Frogs: I'm sitting in my home office as I type this and I can hear a frog behind me, as in - right behind me. I even turned around and moved a ...

A Garden Visitor

We were having a cookout last night to celebrate a friend being in the country for the first time in 8 years (he lives in Thailand.)  We were sitting back with some other mutual friends after the cookout and enjoying the company and the evening.

After dinner conversation came to a halt as eight grown adults stopped to look at a baby rabbit explore the grass.  The cuteness factor won out.

We have a lot of rabbits in the yard and the yards around us.  Something I have noticed is a lack of squirrels. Every place else we're lived, I've always seen plenty of squirrels - and the dogs have loved chasing them out of the yard(s.)  But here we don't seem to see them very often.  Which is OK with the dogs since our current crowd are mostly seniors (ranging in age from 8,10,15,to 17.)  The only one who chases anything (one of the two who is not blind) chases birds.  She even started barking at a plane once as it appeared over the horizon at the top of the hill in back.

Fortunately for the rabbit population, our dogs don't seem too interested in them either.

We also have a couple of chipmunks out back.  I saw them for the first time last week. I heard them first and looked over in time to see two of them running down the pole at the top of the chain link fence.

While I'm talking about the kids, let me share a picture that one of them snuck into last night.

That's Truman at the bottom right.  He was trying to check out the buffet before we all had a chance to get to it.  I love the tongue hanging out!  We had Baltimore pit beef, steamed shrimp, hot dogs, seafood salad, vegetable pasta salad, deviled eggs, watermelon,and roasted vegetables.  Dessert was strawberry shortcake, homemade ice cream, and Berger cookies. Several bottles of Far Eastern Shore wine, a couple types of beer, and sodas rounded out the menu.

Did I mention that I'm hoping to include cooking, gardening, and the dogs in this blog?  I hit on all three today.

Starting off with the Cherry Blossoms

Since this is the first post of a new blog, I think I should start with an iconic subject: Cherry Blossoms.  Living near Washington DC, and loving to take pictures of flowers, I have a growing collection of pictures of Cherry Blossoms.  This one is from a tree in our backyard - and is my current favorite.

I had to remove some deadwood from this tree this year. I noticed the branches last year, but didn't want to do anything yet.  But this year I'm feeling more confident - I hope the yard survives!

The cherry blossoms only lasted a little over a week at their peak, but they're iconic to the DC area.  For the rest of the summer we get to enjoy the shade. Since it's on the west side of the patio we get late afternoon shade.

Moving forward I am hoping to share pictures and stories from the garden, the dogs, and cooking efforts.

About three years ago we bought a house with a spectacular garden and yard. We are sharing with 4 rescued dogs (all cocker spaniels from Oldies But Goodies Cocker Rescue) and a rescued cat.  I'm currently trying to rescue my yard from myself as I learn more about what grows here in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC (zone 7.) I'm also learning about what these things are that are already growing here - the former owner loved perennials.