More Tulips (Red Ones!)

Here's another bouquet of tulips on the landing in the house.  Next to the flowers is an old antique doll chair that has been in my family for over 100 years.

Giant Tulips from the Yakima Market

Each year, the Yakima Market in Bothell gets several shipments of these giant tulips, and I'm usually around to scoop several bunches of them up!  These look lovely in the living room, and the color is positively lustrous.  They usually last one week, which is quite a bit of time for them to be indoors in vases.  I'm savoring every moment!

Update on Nala the Dog

Nala has been with us for almost three months now, and she is settling in nicely.  She loves having someone home with her every day, and she gets a ride in the car nearly every day, and a trip to Maltby Park about three times a week.  She sure is tired out at the end of the day, and sleeps like a baby all night long!

Her hair has grown out, her allergies are under control, and she is the picture of health.  We love having her with us!

My New Pantry

For the last month, after some minor water damage from the laundry room into our beautiful family room, we re-located the washer/dryer into the garage, where the floor slopes outward to the garage door and into the driveway if a plumbing mishaps occurs again.  This left the laundry room empty, and after installing a lovely ceramic tile floor, we turned to some design firms to create plans for a pantry for that space.  After obtaining three quotes, I chose to work with California Closets in Bellevue.  The designer came up with a beautiful plan for the room, and it all gets installed tomorrow at noon.  I'm so excited about my first custom room, and it will allow me to move items from cramped closets all over the house into this space created just for these types of storage purposes.

 There are drawers, baskets and even counter space in the pantry, and my tiny laptop can pick up a wireless signal in that room.  This will take my 'organizing' to a new level!

Vintage Red Pickup Truck at Garden Show

I love this old pickup I saw at the Snohomish Garden Club plant sale yesterday at The Farm at Swan's Trail.  I wish I had one just like it to drive from home to Flower World, the Maltby Cafe, and downtown Historic Snohomish.  Anyway (sigh!), it was fun to have my picture taken beside it!

The Seed Trays are Ready for Planting

This week, I am completing the process of putting my heirloom sees for vegetables into the seed trays for cool weather growing in the greenhouse.  Late May or early June, these small plants can be transferred to the garden, when all danger of frost of cold weather is past.

Red Tomato Plastic Mulch

This year, I am trying the red plastic "tomato mulch" to see if this helps my tomatoes grow more quickly.  The red light wavelengths in the plastic stimulate the growth of tomato plants through a reaction with a specific pigment in the tomato plants (phytochrome). This seems to be true, but it also seems to be dependent on the amount of sunlight and maybe even temperature - something very much out of our control.


Whether red mulch means the end of late season green tomatoes remains to be seen. However, colored mulches in general appear to do a better job of warming the soil than black plastic, which at least gives your plants a head start.

I'll report back at the end of the season to see if this worked!

Daisy in a Sea of Fleur de Lawn Grass Mix

Last year, I broadcast a pound of the Fleur de Lawn grass mix developed by Oregon State University.  This daisy is one of many that took root in the lawn this Spring.

Close Up of Crabapple Blossom

Isn't this a stunning close-up?

Flowering Crabapple Tree

As always, this lovely ornamental tree steals the Spring show when it comes to vivid color and sweet scents!  I bought this tiny tree back in 2002, and in ten years, its grown tall and strong, and provides shade on our backyard grilling patio.  I love to sit under the blossoms early in Spring and admire their lovely shades of pink and magenta.

Beautiful Spring Rhododendrons

My most spectacular rhodie is this peach-colored beauty in the back yard.  It was a small shrub eleven years ago when we moved in, and its now over 10 feet tall.  It's absolutely loaded with lovely flowers.

It's the first thing I see in the morning when I get up, and it brightens each day.

Empress Wu Hostas

I went to the Antique Rose Farm on Saturday, and while it's a bit early for the roses, I found two gigantic Empress Wu hostas that will be taking up residence in my new flower bed in the back yard (beneath the apple tree).  These hostas can get as large at six feet tall!

The Snohomish Garden Club Plant Sale

Yesterday dawned clear and sunny and warm, a perfect day for the Snohomish Garden Show.  The drive along Riverside Drive to Swan's Corner was beautiful, and the plant sale was in full force when I got there.

All plants were grown from seed by the Garden Club members, and I came away with two flats of perennials and two broccoli plants.  I'm searching for the right place in the yard for each new member of my plant family.

The Back Yard in the Evening Light

You can almost smell the fresly-mown lawn as the sun was setting last Sunday evening.  My cabin beckons me, and I'll spend many happy hours this spring and summer planning and gardening and dreaming.

Petunias in the Galvanized Tub

Here is the season's first bunch of petunias in my galvanized tub that I dragged home from Seabrook last year.  This basket of flowers will double in size before the summer is over, and will entertain us with its beautiful purple and gold display (go Huskies!).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Two containers of organic strawberries arrived last Thursday in my Mother Nature's Organics bin, along with some rhubarb.  I made two Strawberry-Rhubarb crisps, and shared one with John and Kelly over the weekend.  The ruby-red tart rhubarb was a great combination with the sweet strawberries.

My New DeLonghi Coffee Maker/Espresso Maker

After much browsing and research on coffee makers, I finally found the one I wanted for my kitchen.  The DeLonghi machine is a combination drip coffee maker and espresso machine.  With my French Press as a third option, I now have many different ways to make coffee and coffee specialty drinks.  They will complement my Slow Food dinners and organic cooking and baking, and will bring out the best flavors of my Starbucks coffees.

Juno's Tulips in Full Bloom

Juno's memorial tulips from Kelly across the street finally opened up fully in the last week due to the warm and sunny weather.

A Saturday Morning Frittata

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen last weekend, cooking and baking.  I started out the weekend assembling many of my organic vegetables to make a veggie frittata.  You can see my organic mushrooms, red and green peppers, fresh spinach, red onions, and Yukon Gold potatoes.  It was a great breakfast to start the weekend, and it was served with fresh sliced avocado and tomatoes, and paired with Great Harvest Bread Company's Blueberry/Cream Cheese bread.

Poppies at Flower World

These lovely red poppies were growing in a barren flower bed at Flower World over the weekend, and I happened upon them on my way to see the chickens in their coops.  The world was perfect that day, with warm sun, gentle, fragrant breezes, and the trees and flowers opening up.

Susan's Cabin

Last weekend's beautiful weather allowed me to open up the cabin, air it out, and move the lawn furniture outside.  I spent some time relaxing in my canvas chair, sipping iced tea and making my plans for the garden.  I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time out here soon!

New Bark in the Front Yard

The gardeners came by last Thursday morning and laid down finely-ground red cedar bark all around the perimeter of the front yard.  They did a beautiful job, and the bark is about three inches thick.  It really makes the front yard look groomed and well-kept.

First Fuschia of the Season--Front Yard

This lovely fuschia inhabits our Asian Pear tree, which was recently pruned.  It's a lot more open and exposed this year, so it may get too much sun.  I'll keep an eye on it and perhaps move a basket of petunias there instead.

Dust off the Beach Cruiser Bicycle!

I got out my beautiful pink bike this last weekend, and got it all ready for Spring and Summer fun!  I rode it occasionally during the Fall and Winter, but nothing can compare to riding in the warmer seasons.  I have dreams of cruising down the streets of Seabrook, the ocean air in my hair, with not a care in the world.  Less than three weeks to go until I actually DO go to Seabrook!

Preparing the Raised Beds in the Garden

Over the long fall and winter months, I put batches of my compost into each raised bed and worked it into the existing soil.  Last month, we 'double-dug' each raised bed to give good aeration and to more evenly distribute the minerals and micro-organisms in each square foot of the garden bed.  Last weekend, we dumped a bag of three-way garden mix into each raised bed, and this weekend, I will work it into the existing organic matter.  Then I can start planting my cold weather crops such as peas!

Kelly's Tulips--2012

Once again, Kelly's tulips are putting on a great show at the entrance to our neighborhood. The intense lavender color can be see from quite a distance, and these lovely flowers subtly guide us home each day. This is the only bunch of tulips in the neighborhood that the cottontail bunnies don't touch.

The Orchard is Alive!

All of the fruit trees decided to open their buds and bloom on the same day this week (Tuesday!). The apple and cherry blossoms have a wonderful fragrance, and it's fun to walk through our 'alley' of fruit trees and dream of abundant crops in mid-Summer.

Primrose Basket

This bag of primroses made it through the winter, and is now coming forth in wonderful flowers and colors. It likes its new location in the shade garden at the end of the pasture.

Ruby Red Rhubarb

Rhubarb is the first crop to appear in Spring gardens each year, and my Ruby Red is once again no exception! It's such a thrill to see something with some color emerge from the ground.

In a week or so, I'll have enough rhubarb for strawberry-rhubarb pies, a favorite of ours. We always make two pies so we have one to share with our neighbors.

Movie Time with Nala

Nala has spent the last 10 years with my son, Dave, watching TV 24 hours a day. When we first got her, she would go down to the family room and stand there, waiting for us to turn on a movie or TV show.

Now, in the evenings, she goes down and barks until we watch a movie. Nights that we choose not to turn on the entertainment, she trys to 'herd' us into the room, and whines at us.

We have gotten her weaned off constant TV in the last 9 weeks, and now, every few evenings, we'll watch an episode of something, and she is content with that. She lingers on the couch for a few minutes, however, expecting the 'show' to last longer, but finally complies and heads out with one of us for her last walk of the evening.

Spring Dusk

Last evening, I enjoyed a walk around our place, taking stock of the lawns, flower baskets, garden space, and outbuildings. I am enjoying my shed/cabin and greenhouse immensely this year, and all of the spring activity is exhilirating!

Here's a great shot of the raised beds inside their 'bunny-proof' picket fence, with the woodshed and greenhouse in the far end of the picture. There was the sweet smell of freshly-mown lawn and blossoms in the still air last evening. Ah, Spring!

Orchard Mason Bees--2012

We put out the Orchard Mason Bee boxes last week, and so far, there is no evidence of them chewing through the cardboard to get out and pollinate. We watch them daily, and soon, when the temperature has been stable and warm over a period of five days, the two boxes of larvae will metamorphose into small pollinating bees. You can see one of the two boxes attached to the 'bee condo', the place where they will eventually return after two weeks of pollinating the neighborhood and stay until next fall. At that time, we will remove the new larvae and let them overwinter in the refrigerator until next spring.

The Woodshed is Full

For the first time in eleven years, we burned all of the wood in the woodshed this last winter. We usually have at least a half-cord left, but the weather was unusually cool and damp this last fall and winter, so the use of the wood allowed us to clean out the shed and prepare for the next load of wood.

Living in Maltby allows us to meet many local artisans and vendors. We found a family that recently set up a non-profit organization selling wood and giving the proceeds to a boy's home in Snohomish. They delivered the wood several weeks ago, and over the course of the last week, the wood got transported wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow into the solar woodshed.

The wood will have six months to 'cure' in the sun's heat through the polymer window, and by October, we will be enjoying the dry hardwood in our Sweet Home certified woodstove.

Apple Blossoms

Our newest apple tree burst forth in bloom last week, and the white blossoms are a stark contrast to all of the evergreens in the yard. This tree is the first to bloom, and the remaining 8 trees have buds waiting to open. It's a beautiful display in the orchard in the springtime.

The Front Yard

The leaves are finally unfurling on the maple trees in the front yard. There's a hint of leaves and buds on the Asian Pear also, and the grass/moss is turning a darker shade of green after the onslaught of multiple snow storms and heavy rains.

The gardeners weeded the beds and removed the leaf mulch we laid to cover the roses and primroses over the winter. New bark will be put down this coming Thursday, and the help of the gardening team is making it much easier for us to maintain this large yard this year. I now have time to do the 'fun' things, such as tend the flowers, edge the lawn, and plan for future plantings.

Giant Fuschia Basket

My first large basket of the year made its way onto the hook by the garage yesterday. I found the perfect white fuschia at the Fred Meyer fuschia sale, and struggled to lift it up to the hook. It's in a fairly sheltered area, so hopefully it won't be affected in the event the temperature gets near freezing in the next few weeks. It's always risky to put out these baskets in Hardiness Zone 8a, but I can't resist these fuschias, so I'll take my chances!

The Front Porch

Spring has arrived on our front porch! I found a lovely purple and blue viola basket, and the tulips and baskets given in memory of Juno look great after almost 10 weeks. The house looks welcoming as we drive down the long gravel drive each day. And I still love my cerulean blue door after several years!

New Ceramic Tile

A week ago, we experienced some water damage from the laundry room into our family room. Since this had occurred three years ago, we made the decision to move the laundry area into the garage to prevent further mishaps and damage to the new berber carpet in the family room.

Once the laundry room was vacant, I decided to turn the area into a walk-in pantry, a much-needed space in this small 15oo square foot home. In preparation for California Closets coming in next week to measure the space and build out the pantry, we decided to hire a contractor to put down a ceramic tile floor in that room and at the bottom of the stairs leading into the garage. The colors are beautiful, and we enjoyed working with the contractor (he was born and raised in Russia).

The tile floor and grout is dry this morning, so now I am prepping the walls of the old laundry room and will paint them a subtle yellow hue--"Straw". It's our favorite paint color, discovered at Seabrook when staying in a home there, and have used it in our family room and master bedroom.

Stay tuned for the Pantry Progress!

The Potting Shed

Tomorrow morning, I will spend several hours starting my vegetable seeds (tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce) in peat pots. In a few weeks, they can be transplanted outside and into the garden.

My Baker Creek seeds await, and tonight they are sheltered in the greenhouse/potting shed.

Here are some words to invoke the gardening mood.

"Step into the potting shed. The air is warm and smells of earth. Terra-cotta pots tower in the corner like soup bowls on a kitchen shelf, hand tools hang in rows, bins of soil and peat moss beckon. And there are the seeds--in packets, in jars, in plain envelopes. The sprouting of seeds is the first job of the potting shed, but it is the place where gardeners grow, too."

Linda Joan Smith --The Potting Shed

Life in the Greenhouse

Yesterday, the temperature in my greenhouse got up to 100 degrees! The polycarbonate walls and roof of the structure attract and retain heat, and considering it was only 65 degrees outside, it's easy to see how I will be able to 'overwinter' many of my wonderful flowers and perennials inside the greenhouse this fall and winter.

An Easter Cross

Our neighbors John and Kelly left this flower-laden cross at the entrance to our neighborhood after Church last Sunday, proclaiming the story of Easter and the new life this day promises to us. The bright Spring flowers were a moving tribute to the spiritual significance of the day.

Easter Dinner at Mardini's in Downtown Snohomish

This year, we had Easter dinner at the newly remodeled Mardini's in Snohomish. In previous years, they served a buffet, but this year, the meal was served 'family style'. After we were seated and ordered our beverages, plates of fresh fruit were delivered to the table. After a few moments, platters of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, sausage and ham and a white fish garnished with red peppers arrived.

As you can imagine, it was a feast worthy of the Easter afternoon, and we enjoyed the great fare, lovely sunshine, and the company of our family.

Kaila and the Great Maltby Easter Egg Hunt

Here's Kaila on Easter Sunday with her basket, preparing to find the three dozen Easter eggs hidden in the pasture. As you can see, she lost her front tooth, and the Tooth Fairy arrived about the same time as the Easter Bunny the evening before!

Nala the Dog

Recently we ordered a DNA test kit for Nala, and sent away cells from a cheek swab to find out her official parentage. When my son adopted her at 8 weeks old, no one knew what she was, but was categorized as a labrador/border collie mix.
Three weeks after submitting the sample, I received an email from the DNA analysis company, and Nala is primarily German Shepherd! Her third tier of DNA has some Australian Shepherd in it. We were surprised, to say the least!

Australian Shepherd seems to be the defining contribution, and it's an interesting dog. It was developed in Boulder, CO in 1938, and was bred to herd Australian Sheep. Nala is quite the 'herder', and has the keen intelligence of both the German Shepherd and the Australian Shepherd.

Here is Nala last weekend posing in front of my cabin. She looks festive in her new scarf from Knicknack Paddywack Dog Boutique!

Spring is Here!

Today, it got up to 71 degrees in Maltby! I was up early to work in the yard and got a brick pathway repaired, fuschia baskets bought at Fred Meyer's "Fuschia Saturday", and worked in my greenhouse. The day would not have been complete without a drive to Maltby Park and a walk for Nala. She loves her trips to the park, and there were dozens of Little League Baseball Teams playing this afternoon. The air was fragrant with the smell of apple blossoms and freshly-mown lawn.

The Gardeners Arrived Today!

For many years, I've wanted to hire gardeners to help me with my yards and gardens, and today my dream finally came to fruition! My arborist Jason recommended someone to me, and he arrived at 8 a.m. this morning with his crew. It was pretty exciting to see someone else mowing the pasture, weeding my raised vegetable beds, and edging the front yard! Next time, they will mulch and lay bark on all of the flowerbeds, and continue to weed the front yard.

Here's the picture of the newly-mown pasture and garden. It's going to look so lovely in the summertime!

Firewood for Next Winter

For the first time since we moved to Maltby, we used all of our firewood these last six months! Our solar woodshed hold 1 1/2 cords, and we've always had some left over from other winters. This year was unusually cold, snowy and damp, and we had a fire in the wood stove all they way through the month of March.

Our new load of wood arrived earlier this week, and the cord and a half should fill up the shed completely. This will allow for six months of sun and warmth to completely dry it out before we have our first fire next October.

Now the task of filling wheelbarrows up and transporting them to the wood shed begins. It's a great workout!