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Thursday 4 March 2010

The Sky .. The Guys .. and a Lily or Two ?

Yesterday morning I was desperately fixated on seeing a dramatic sunrise .. I just want to see those fabulous REDS in the morning sky .. I know they will eventually paint my horizon but this is not the time .. way too early ..
But little sneak previews try to tease me ...
A bit here and there with the sun creeping up ..Smudged clouds are beautiful .. so yes .. I have to take pictures of an almost "look at me sky"
The bottom picture is where I caught the fiery globe of a sun last Spring .. it was amazing ..
These clouds hold faint colours and soft shapes .. there was actually more colour to them than the camera picked up.
Then that almost "mackerel sky" with the scaly clouds ..
Winthrop still deep in thought .. but no longer so deep in the COLD .. and the yard is becoming less snow covered .. but still scary with a clean up needed when the weather permits .. he has a good sized kingdom to look after for a small gargoyle ;-)
Dave and the boys are just too happy not to be snow covered at last .. plus the deck is clear ..
I may hear them dancing on it at night when they think we are all sleeping ??
I have slipped a few times .. bought more garden books to add to the groaning collection .. another obsession all of us gardeners have right ?
What do you do when your significant other aka "husband" adds to your garden addiction by finding some lily bulbs that you mentioned in passing .. I would like a few more "Casa Blanca" lilies .. and WOW ! .. out of all the packages on display he finds THE ONE with said favored lilies ..
Now I will have to be so much more serious about fighting that nasty beetle ;-(
If any of you have tips and tricks with controlling that bad bug .. will you let me know ?
I have heard Neem oil is helpful .. manually catching the beetle and doing away with it .. UGH ! works .. any other methods please share ? thanks !!

20 comments:

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Wow, Winthrop looks SO MUCH happier than he did last week! So nice of your hubby to buy the lilies for you, I am hoping to add some this year too. :)

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

What lovely sky photos Joy! Don't you love that the weather is warming up and the snow is all going away! Yipee!!!!!

Did your hubby really get you those bulbs? That's amazing. Mine never goes near plants; he's afraid of buying the wrong thing. Silly guy... Doesn't he know gardeners will embrace anything and everything they get?

So far I've been good about not picking up any spring bulbs, but tomorrow morning I'm going to be at WalMart to do some shopping and I can't promise I'll behave. Damn it. There's too much temptation out there already!

VW said...

Looks like I'd better get to Costco soon - if they have lily bulbs up where you are, they must have them around here, too. Yeah! Spring is almost here!

Deborah at Kilbourne Grove said...

Bad, bad, Joy, still addicted I see. (Like I am one to talk. lol).
Hated lily beetle, I think they are all over Kingston, and they went aftger my beloved frits first, evil little buggers.

RURAL said...

What would I do if only by my merely mentioning something so wonderful as a Casa Blanca lily, my beloved brought it home to me?

Stand up and cheer! What a great husband you have.

Jen

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Oh I love the cassablanca lilies! The sky looks beautiful(-: I love clouds like that!
The boys may be dancing at night! You better get some pictures of that!!!(-:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful sky shots, Joy! And kudos on the books, bulbs, and boys!

Cat said...

We had a snake bellied sky here the other night too and I thought of you.
Glad to see the ground.
I just picked up some books, but they were on bread making, cheese making and yogurt making.
Today I went to the garden and found the first bud on our white raspberry.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Rebecca girl !
Winthrop is definitely HAPPIER : )
I do dread that darn beetle but the lilies are so beautiful .. and what could I say to husband ?? LOL

Martha girl .. You have to know that there are a couple of lilies in this bag for YOU girl .. 18 is a little too many for me ;-)
Hey .. I didn't know Walmart had bulbs ? .. I may have to JUST LOOK ? I mean that ! and YES ! the sky is so much brighter at 6 AM and earlier .. this weekend is supposed to be amazing too : )
So happpppyyyyyy !!

VW .. girl I swear we had this same conversation last year at this time .. in fact I would bank on it because we talked about Chocolate Cosmos ! I haven't been able to find it yet this year .. let me know how you make out there ?

Deborah .. you are so RIGHT girl .. the beetle is every where in Kingston and I keep the numbers of my lilies down as much as possible .. I hate those little buggers with a passion too !!

Jen girl ... believe me , no one could be more surprised than I when he found them ? LOL I am still in shock this morning ? ;-)
Maybe if you whisper in your husband's ear at night when he is sleeping ? I read some where that it works ? LOL

Cindee girl how is that finger of yours ! I have to come over and check up on you : ) YES !! Casa Blanca is such a beautiful white lily .. I have Star Gazers too so they make a great contrast : )
The boys are definitely up to some clog dancing at night I'm sure !!

Hello Nancy girl ! Thank you .. I try to be good each Spring after winter madness but .. well .. we all tend to slip up a little ? haha

Cat girl aren't those sky patterns amazing ? I could watch them forever : ) You are so hard working with all the projects you are into .. I get tired just reading about what you are doing ! Hope you are resting up in between girl ! White raspberry .. now that is interesting .. sounds like a type of wine to me ? LOL

Kyna said...

Wow, I haven't heard of a lily beetle before O_O. I don't think those come down this far South...I would hate that! I already have enough problems with japanese beetles...those things are my menace :(

Anonymous said...

A lovely sky and the boys do look so happy, is that a bit of boa feather on one of them? lol Casa Blanca, what a fabulous find, good going for the hubby! Do be careful out there, Joy! :-)
Frances

Kathleen said...

Your hubby is a "keeper" Joy! How thoughtful and beautiful the lilies will be too!
Glad your snow is retreating. Soon it will be green in your pretty yard. I bet your winter aconites are just waiting to bloom ~ we're in the same zone so they have to be close, right?!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Kyna girl .. I almost (swore) I would NOT have lilies because of those little buggers .. BUT.. why should I be punished because those bad boys are so bad .. SO .. if it is war they want I am going to be ready this time !! You might even 'hear" me ? way down there ? hehehehe .. oops ... blue air coming ! Ha !

Frances I think you have found out the secret to Dave and the boys .. they are actually female impersonators ?? LOL of the gnome and gargoyle line ? I just knew that boa would give it away !!
So far all I am doing is waiting for landscapers to come and give me an estimate .. I met another one at the garden show today so having three quotes should give me a fair range to wok with in the budget .. I can't wait !!! : )

Kathleen girl .. my aconites are in more shade than they should be , so the snow in that exact area is slower to leave and warm the soil up .. so .. they will be a little later but something to look forward to : )
Yup : ) husband is a sweetie pie !

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

How exciting to see the ground! I think it's sweet that your husband found the lilies for you :) Gardening books are very hard for me to resist too, especially during the winter.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Catherine girl: ) YES ! No matter how many garden books we have there always seems to be room for just one more ? LOL
YES !!!!! bare ground is in my line of vision and if possible the pollarding will happen this weekend .. ah ! Spring is creeping in ever so slowly but surely : )

Anonymous said...

Is it Japanese beetles you speak of, or some other dreaded pest? Those guys are my most dreaded pest! There has to be something non-toxic we can do to control these guys, because they make me crazy. Every morning I'm out there with a rubber glove on, picking them up and dropping them into a cup of soapy water. Ewwww! One day, I counted 75. This is NOT working!

our friend Ben said...

Our deck is finally clear, too, Joy, as of yesterday. OFB kicked off the last chunks of ice and snow, while Shiloh leapt around trying to catch them. I have NEVER seen her so excited! A good time was had by both, and boy am I enjoying seeing that clear deck.---Silence

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Robin YES !! it is those horrible creatures from hell I have to worry about with the lilies .. I heard that neem oil is supposed to work some what effectively with turning them off .. I hate them with a passion because I don't have a lot of lilies I just thought maybe I might escape them .. but no .. we have to find something that really GETS THEM !!

Silence girl it does make such a difference finally coming out of the freezer eh ? I had over 5 hours of cleaning out the borders and trimming back trees this morning and it was WONDERFUL .. smelling the earth and some of my herbs .. anise hyssop was even amazing .. I just know Shiloh had to be so funny watching her enjoy trying to catch the snow chunks ?
What would we do without our furry souls eh ?

Vetsy said...

Hello Joy...I'm loving your Sky pictures.. If you don't mind me asking...what type of camera are you using to take such fabulous pictures of the Sky?

Got your question about wanting a separate blog for your Sky photos.

Yes, it is a blogger format. All three of my blogs were created separately.

On your blogger Dash board You'll see the words.. (MANAGE BLOG) then look to the far right corner of your screen, click the little blue words that say ( Create a blog), Once you click that it will prompt you on how to create it.

Hope this helps and is not too confusing.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi There Vetsy girl !
I did create one called the "Sky Me" but when I activate it , it takes over and my garden blog is left in the dust ... it must be something I am doing .. eventually I will figure it out before it drives me insane .. which isn't far to go for me anyways ?
Gardening is my chief drive now so I'll probably figure out the sky blog over the winter.
My camera is an Olympus SP-59OUZ
With 26 x optical zoom and a 12 MP format .. it is a little sensitive so I really have to take more time to make sure I am focused .. but it does take great pictures and Thank You girl : )
I have more to post but I am having weird days when I can't concentrate so it takes me forever to get one done .. aarrgghh ! LOL