Sonnystone Acres

we’ve have quite a week:  gloomy rain, cold (to me) temperatures, and now we’re back to warming sunshine.  i’ve taken a day off tomorrow to get my garden in and am working on my porches and other container plantings.  the gardening obsession is obsessing me. 

but not so much that i’ve forgotten the run for the roses this saturday.  while the kids are taking their istep tests, i’ve had plenty of down-time to study the horses and have come up with a couple who i think are sure bets across the board:  sidney’s candy and line of david.  supersaver, calvin borel’s ride, can’t be ruled out, but i’m still thinking only a show bet on him.  the lovely filly, devil may care, gets a nod just because she’s a girl and i love her name.  how about you guys?  any ideas? 

i haven’t bought my hat, yet.  it’s supposed to rain, so i’m thinking maybe a rain bonnet with some artificial flowers stapled on. 

note:  scroll down to the bottom of this page and look at the blog roll–it has my new garden blog linked.  check it out. 

We extend our love and prayers to the Carr Family as they grieve the loss of Wayne Carr, their loving dad, grandpa, brother, uncle; also to the many, many people who called him friend, recipients of his prayers.  Wayne died this morning at 2:30am with his family surrounding him.  Funeral arrangements are being made at Pierre Funeral Home.  

Today is the 13th birthday of my oldest grand-niece, Alex.  I can’t find a decent picture of her (yet) and that’s to be expected since she usually disappears at the family gatherings, off texting or with something in her ears so she doesn’t have to listen to rest of us.  She’s a very smart girl.  And pretty, too.  Because she was 6 years old when the rest of the babies started being born, she’s sort of in a class by herself.  I love her very much and am so proud to be her Auntie.   Have a great day, Alex!  ( I WILL find a picture; if someone has a good one, email it to me so I can post it)   xoxoxo

Sorry that I have neglected Sonnystoneacres so much, but I’ve finally finished over at the new blog, so I’ll be back to “normal” posting this week.  the new blog is called growing every season and is dedicated to my gardening/birds/critters and the lessons i have learned and am learning from them.  Sonnystone will now be about people and events and whatever else I happen to be doing at the moment.

Speaking of that, I went to see the Sugarbean Sisters at Civic Theatre yesterday with Cousin Lana and it was okay.  The fun was a little dampened by the fact that my sister’s father-in-law was taken to the hospital in last stages of COPD.  Lennie and his sister, Pam have been family for 40 years and I love their mom & dad.  I’m headed down to the hospital this morning to see if there’s anything I can do. 

In the meantime, thanks for sticking around….La, the family garden stake is prominently displayed out front by the holly bushes, but nothing stays in one place too long around here. 

Have a great day!!

4-11-10, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

this weather has been so consistently beautiful that i’ve begun to be suspicious…..especially since the forecast is for more and more. i won’t let myself put in veggies, yet, but the ground is warming and i’m forging ahead with moving the perennials and filling in the new cottage garden. i shopped around and bought my new stuff at ronnies fruit stand–i highly recommend them for hardy, inexpensive plants and planters. i put in 6 hollyhock, 3 liatris, 3 delphinium, 4 daisies, and 3 purple coneflower alongside the “old” lemon balm, anise hyssop, and the others. we (mostly husband) moved 13 hostas, 5 alongside the garage and 8 along the front porch. that leaves a big blank area where we’ll be putting in a brick path from porch to porch. about this time of year i begin to feel a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done and start to scale back some. i was going to completely overhaul the veggie garden, but settled for one new raised bed for the better boys. i don’t know where to put the asparagus, so it’s just lying in a heap on the back porch. >sigh<

you can’t go wrong with a beef roast, onions, carrots, and potatoes to fill up a hard-working husband. he’s now snoring contentedly. he had some trouble with carpal tunnel syndrome and went to the doctor this week. doc k sent him over to an orthopedic who injected his wrist, bringing about immediate relief. why didn’t they do that when i had the problems???

hope you’re all enjoying the springy thing……

4-7-10, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

For quite a while, I’ve been planning to start a new blog. I have written a thousand posts in my head while putting off actually doing anything about it, making excuses like “after I get back from vacation” and “I have to get the garden work done”. Actually, the whole premise of the new blog was to journal my garden year, starting April 1, and when the bloggystuff didn’t immediately upload on 3/31 I just started posting it on Sonnystone, my old reliable. Now that I’ve got the new blog ready to post, I’m suddenly conflicted. I feel rather unfaithful and guilty about abandoning the blog that has, on many occasions in the last almost-7 years, been my comfort. It is a chronicle of my family and my home, but……not me. I give you the facts, jack, but not often my thoughts. I guess, that’s what I’d like to do in a new blog: write my thoughts. The guilt has shut me down, though. I can’t write a thing over at the other blog without deleting and feeling lame-o—

I’m going to keep trying. In the meantime, Sonnystone Acres in the Springtime is something new everyday.

4-4-10, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

okay, i’m a day behind. hope you all had a happy easter. unfortunately, i forgot my camera when we went over to sister’s for lunch. you’ll have to take my word for it that the kids are still cute, the adults are charming, and the food was delicious. when we got back home, we managed to completely finish our project! all of the perennials are now moved and placed where i want them. some of the lavendar looks like crap, but the rest is in good shape. now to the fun part: shopping and buying.

have a great week!!

4-3-10, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

the day started out rainy, but the skies cleared and the temperature warmed. i’m still waiting till the tilling is done before i can do much, but my magnolia is quickly coming alive. the lawn is covered with violas of all sorts and i am loathe to cut it. we made a trip to rural king, the most exciting place to be on a saturday night when you’re our age. we’re invited to sister’s for luncheon tomorrow, but we’ll try to get some work done before and after the festivities.

blessed easter to all………..

4-2-10, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

yippee, it’s planting time—in my world, we start with splitting up and moving the perennials. the black-eyed susans (rudbeckia) have been squeezing out over the walk, so we pulled out the first foot and moved them over into a newly-emptied bed. we had taken out the bee balm and split three into 10, placing them along the east back of the house around the rosebushes that we moved to under the library windows. in order to clear the spot for the rudbeckia, i put 3 purple coneflowers, 3 sedum, 2 daisies in pots till the new cottage garden is tilled and ready. after the perennials were all watered in, husband went back to tilling (more stones and breaking up roots) while i planted onions (sweet georgia and spring) and threw out carrot, beet, and spinach seeds among the lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli. i still can’t figure out where to put the asparagus….

gardening is the only work that i don’t consider work, especially the planting part. well, maybe cooking isn’t work for me, either. i topped off the day with chicken breasts simmered in my homemade pesto and tomato sauce with penne. we slept like babies last night and when we woke, the rain had softly and steadily soaked the soil. as i walked out to get the newspaper, i reveled in the sight of my lilac and magnolia budding and blooming, the new gardens looking like they had happily settled.

why we call it sonnystone, originally uploaded by rightbug?.

it’s not just so we can call ourselves sonnystoners (wink, wink, nudge,nudge), but it’s because of all the stones, really big stones, that we’ve uncovered as we have dug our gardens around the house. of course, it’s also because of Son E. Gato, RIP. these are the latest archeological discoveries. cute legs on that guy, too, doncha think?