Simply Norma

I am thankful today for hostas and ferns. We have so many of them in our yard and the deer (most of the time) have left them alone.

This year the hostas have grown exponentially. (What a neat word!) Instead of dividing them, I have moved some around the property to make room in between the plants so air can flow.

The picture above is of the side yard in the back. It faces southeast. Yes, southeast. There is minimal sun that gets to this area so I’m hoping (depending on cost) to have our large trees trimmed to allow light to filter through into the yard.

One major plus to our house is that it stays cool (mostly) in the summer and warm in the winter. Most of the light we get in the house though is in the winter unless it’s directly overhead.

I figure that if we trim only on the southwest side we should be okay with keeping our house at just the right temperature and perhaps be able to plant some colorful plants in this area. It sounds like such a great idea to me. Yes Norma! Do it! Do it!

Yeah, okay … someone needs to give me a little shove to get estimates and it may as well be me.

Sometimes I get so focused on the yard work I’m doing that I miss a lot of what is happening on my property. But not my helper — a local neighbor boy. While clearing leaves for me recently, he came upon an “infestation.” He’s used this word before with the weeds on my property and this time he was right — again.

He took me to the subject tree to show me what was happening. From afar it looked like the tree had dead blossoms on it but once I got closer I could see what he was talking about.

Not a pretty sight, eh? The leaves look like there is something poking through them. It can be considered pretty if it was natural to the leaf but it’s not so it goes into the ugly category. Although — since it’s “natural in nature” could it be considered pretty then? Too philosophical for me …

A search on the internet educated me that, although the mite distorts the appearance of the leaf, it does no harm to the tree itself. There is no remedy for it either unless you kill the mite right as the leaf is ready to open. I don’t think that will be on my list of things to do next spring.

There are other similar mites such as the sugar maple spindlegall that also infest trees.

The mites overwinter under loose bark and pruned or scarred branches. They are not easy to detect either except with a microscope. No — I don’t plan on hunting for one so you don’t have to send me one.

So — it is what it is. Another Minnesota insect that has come into my life. I doubt the insect education will stop here.

It has the legs of a daddy-long-legs spider, the body of a mosquito (although much longer) and looks like it’s spooked with its buggy eyes.

I have no clue what this insect is although my local neighbor boy tells me they are everywhere and are harmless. Hmmm … he says that most bugs here are harmless — should I believe him? As long as it doesn’t invite itself inside my home I will call him harmless.

Anyone know what it is?

I haven’t posted much recently as I’ve been spending my mornings outdoors cleaning up our yard. One day, I looked uphill and saw long green stalks that went from our neighbors property into ours and almost all the way to our house. There were so many of them and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed them sooner. Last year, they weren’t there unless they were a lot smaller and I didn’t notice them. And I don’t know what they are.

So I’ve been pulling them up one by one. Fortunately, the root comes up very easily and I hired a neighbor boy to pull weeds with me.

After 7 hours the side of our property (to our property line) is now clear. We filled almost 12 large garbage bags of weeds. And that doesn’t include any we have yet to pull in the back and street side of the property. Our 95 lb yard waste container can’t fill everything we have so I’ll have to dispose of the rest of the weeds in a couple of weeks.  I haven’t ventured to the other parts of the property to see how much we have left to go.

Fortunately, the backs of my legs don’t feel as sore as when I started although the 7 hours of weed pulling weren’t all completed in one day.

The mosquitoes were out and I received 2 lovely bites to add to the 4 I already have. They look so large and red …

I believe once the major clearing of weeds and branches is done the property won’t look as unkempt.

I have so many outdoor projects this summer that the inside painting will have to wait until winter. Although, I am still working on the main floor bathroom which seems to take forever. Every time I see a dent in the wall I have to fill it with Spackle and sand it.  I will sand one more time then I can prime and paint it. The contractor we hired to replace the countertop, toilet, light and exhaust fan will come out the next time it rains. I can’t complain about his timing though as his work is very good and he does it inexpensively for me.

Owning acreage takes a lot of work but I’m not complaining. I get lots of exercise.

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Minnesota weather is like a see-saw. I’ve seen hail, lightning, thunderstorms, high humidity and then perfectly beautiful days. I’m thankful … to be alive that is.

Last week during a 3 inch rainfall, I went outside to bail water away from the house to make sure there were no leaks that came into the basement. Our house only has 2 small gutters and the rest of the is gutterless. I’m not sure why they built it that way but they did.

When I stepped outside with my rubber boots, rain jacket and large bucket in hand, I noticed that the rain was running from the roof above the garage to the ground and then around the house where there is a large patch of rocks on the side of the house.

I quickly placed the bucket where the rain was coming down the most to stop the current and headed back inside to get the shovel. This was going to be quite a challenge as the rain was coming down faster than I could possibly bail it but, I was up for the challenge.

While shoveling the rain from the side of the house (which must have been 3 inches deep already) I heard a loud rumbling in the sky. Thunder. I hate thunder, well, unless I’m inside then  think it’s beautiful. Bending over to shovel more rain, I saw a flash of light about a foot to the right of me. I screamed but there was no one around to hear me.

I quickly ran inside the garage by the side door. I had almost been hit by lightning.

How’s that for excitement? Getting hit by lightning is not on my “Ten Top Things To Do Before I Die” list. No, my life didn’t flash before my eyes — does it ever really or is it just small bits of thoughts that pass? I’ve often wondered what that phrase menat.

Today clouds are again hovering and threatening rain but this time I think I’ll stay inside and just hope for the best. I’m ready to meet my Maker but I think I’d rather not spend more time in the grave than I need to. I’d rather just see Him in the clouds when He comes the second time.

I don’t often go to movies as I find them a waste of money and time, but this Memorial weekend my family and I decided to go see what all the rage was for the recently released movie called The Avengers.

We went to a movie theatre in Oakdale, Minnesota called The Marcus Theatre. The place looks huge on the outside and it’s just as big on the inside. The sound quality was really good although a wee bit loud for me. The digital picture on the screen was clear and there were comfy chairs. I had thought since the movie was such a hit that there might be a long line but with the release of a new movie there weren’t very many people at the showing we went to.

I should probably say that I don’t like violence whether it is fiction or non-fiction so my opinion will be biased.

Did I like the movie? It was okay. The basic plot is about the “avengers” saving the world from aliens. There was a lot of action and things flying around (both human and alien bodies).

I feel creepy when I see eyes that have no eyeballs or that turn different colors. It makes me squeamish so I had my hand in front of my eyes while the scenes passed. Another scene that I thought rather gruelish was when the “Hulk” pounded an alien over and over again on the ground.

Who really, I mean really, enjoys seeing these kind of things happening whether real or imagined? I am not immune from wasting my time sometimes and this was probably one of those times.

So, call me wimpy or just call me different. If you enjoy lots of action, violence and fiction then this movie is for you.

Last year I spent a lot of time removing the grass from the front yard as the grass was not healthy and quite patchy in spots. We also didn’t want to have to mow a small bit of grass.

I’ve now finished my spring cleaning of this area by removing most of the leaves and debris that fell during our spring storms. Now it’s time to landscape and I’m having a wee bit of a problem visualizing what I want done. Truth be told, I’d like to have a very simple perennial shade garden with some spots of color — kind’ve Japanese style but with no pond although we have a drain in this area.

The two two-by-fours you see are lying across the drain and the area slopes too far down. I’d like to make a Japanese type bridge that will cross this drain, 4-5 feet long, but the area seems too low and I feel I need to regrade it somehow. Otherwise I’d have to have a pretty large bridge that will reach from one side to the other and I think it will be out of proportion to the yard.

I’m wondering if I can bring in some cement blocks (like the ones on the front of the house in the picture below) then add more dirt to make the ground higher and add more rock. I’m just not sure if that will make it stable enough.

On the positive side, I have found quite a few places that have Japanese bridge kits that I can purchase and have my husband build for me. I could do it myself but as I tell my husband “there are some things that men should do.” I tell him this, not because I think women can’t do certain jobs, but as incentive to have him help.  (laughing)  Hey! It usually works!

Any thoughts out there?

I’m hoping to put in a couple of small trees that will be deer resistent and shade tolerant  along with a few other perennial plants so all I have to worry about is leaf/debris cleaning next spring. I hear there is a nursery called Gerten’s in Inver Grove Heights that I can get a lot of my plants from. I’m hoping to make a trip there sometime soon.

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