Flower Power

A garden journal post with photo links so I don't forget to tell Linda anything :) I am always amazed at what continues to thrive despite my gardening philosophy of what can't survive on neglect should be in someone else's garden. I have no time for fussy plants that need any special attention, nevermind those that need to be literally coddled ! I am so glad there are so many plants that are not fussy. Although it looks like a pink Lupin patch, I planted yellow as well. Six buds opening today and they are all pink. The rainstorm turned the 'Therese Bugnet' into a pink carpet. I got a shot of Benedict's Abu Hassan open although it is just about done. I think if I blew on that flower the petals would fall but it is still stunning. The second bloom of the dark yellow Iris opened while the sun was out along with the red Columbine. The double blue Iris look very purple in the sun and the blue and whites opened on the other side of the entryway today. The mixed pinks - red, pink and white are opening but so far only a single white. The pink spirea, sanctuary peony, and white Bleeding Heart are all in bud. The peony are full of little red ants that bite and I keep forgetting that until I am getting bitten on the wrist, just above the glove. My first food crop besides edible flowers is Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' and they are up. Miles' fern patch got cleared out a few days ago and it has grown to sixteen. Iris was the word of the day though and they are blooming everywhere. Oh, and you asked me to mention when my delphinium started. It was a busy day in the garden here. I couldn't use the shovel so I decided to use the camera.

Penny Pie

This is Penny, our Rotty-Lab cross. Penny is skittish of strangers and she will bark whenever anyone comes into the yard. She is very mild tempered despite all her show behavior. She stays very close to me always and has endless patience to sit and wait for me to be finished whatever I am doing before we move on to the next thing. Penny was on her way to the shelter when she stopped here and decided to stay. She loves to play with the other dogs and is the most gentle of all of our dogs. She is also our most talkative dog and is constantly yakking at me in what sounds like a series of low grunts and growls. I never know what she is saying but it doesn't seem like she cares about that anyway.

Spring Shoots

Spring shoots are up everywhere in my garden ! This allium, along with lily-of-the-valley, tulips, siberian iris, narcissus, and tarda, are some of the bulbs that are up. The tarda are in bloom with the lily not far behind. I am still not seeing all of my new tulips but I am seeing enough of them to keep me hopeful that the rest are on their way. I can see delphinium, coral bells, and columbine coming but the only other blooms today are on the wild violet. Such an exciting time of year...

Francis Flick Flake

Our old man. Francis is a seal-point Siamese and is our oldest cat. He is very mellow but talkative. He has a particular meow that sounds just like he is moaning "Ow, my eye!" Translated to english, it means "open the door, please". All of the cats like to spend time in the catmint.

Baby Dog

Meet Tuk a.k.a. our baby dog. Tuk is our mellow Malamute. He likes to spend most of his time outside, regardless of weather. Although he will wander too far on walkabout occasionally, he normally stays in the yard, only leaving to chase something else out. Usually coyote or deer. Sometimes porcupines but they don't really run. At least not as fast a dog.

The Mayhem II

This is Moxie. Our Miniature Jack Russell Terrier-Beagle Cross. Moxie and her sisters, Didi and Maggie, are "The Mayhem". Of them, Moxie is our biggest trouble maker and this shot is absolutley typical of her. She is constantly off exploring, is very brave and is a bit of a loner. Moxie came to us as a foster dog and never left. It doesn't matter how often you bath or brush her, Moxie always looks like an orphan. Notice her mud pad feet in this photo? Although she doesn't like to come in from the fields, if we holler "Moxie ! Num-nums", she comes running just like this. She is as reliable as a swiss watch when food is involved and will often display behavior worthy of the Cirque du Soleil while waiting for her dish to be ready.

Wild Thing

This is MoeMoe, our Egyptian Mau or... little wild thing ! In this photo she is very Zen, something we rarely see with her. When you pet MoeMoe, the end of her tail curls and starts to vibrate like a rattle snake. She is constantly on the move and has been known to attack sleeping dogs.

Moe Moe is Solomon's shadow. You have not yet met Solomon here but when you do, remember to feel sorry for him because she is relentless in her pursuit.

taken with Fuji FinePix S8000fd

Time to Plan the Pots

These next couple of weeks are hard to get through in my garden. I am itching to dig but know that I'd best wait. So what gardening activity will fill the time? Planning the garden pots, of course. Most of my pots cannot survive -40 and have to be brought in for the winter. They sit in the basement with the bags of geraniums. This is the time to pull them all out, fill them with geraniums and then plan what to use to fill whatever is left. This one is always planted with something that resembles hair. She is my only garden gnome and is really the only gnome I have ever seen that I loved. No travelocity roaming gnome for me ! Picture is from last year... nothing is taller than a few inches here right now.

taken with Fuji FinePix S8000fd

Snow Day

photo by Miles with Canon Powershot A70

We had snow today. I have columbine, delphinium, tulips, iris and several groundcovers out there that were not happy. The finches arrived back for the summer on the weekend and we have had yellow-rumped warblers here for more than 2 weeks now. I am sure they were wondering why they came back so early. I guess that's why we haven't seen the orioles yet. Good news is that the snow didn't stay and by noon it was gone.

Jake the Snake

photo by Miles with Canon Powershot A70

This is Jake. He was adopted from the shelter. I didn't mean to get him and actively tried to find others to take him but in the end, he was destined for us. I was at the shelter picking up someone else's cat when I felt a push on the back of my shoulder. I ignored it. Again, a push, just a little harder. I shuffled slightly away and ignored it. We already had 8 cats, I knew turning around was not a good idea.

Apparently I didn't shuffle far enough and the next push was accompanied by a meow. When I turned around, there he was. Seemingly desperate. After dropping off the cat I went to get, I started calling everyone I thought needed a cat. No takers. Two days later I was back at the shelter secretly hopeful that he had been adopted. Of course, in the end, I am happy he wasn't. Jake is sweet but persistent. He loves to stick his face right in your face and purr. If that doesn't get your attention, he will proceed to running his teeth along the edge of your nose until you really feel it!

The Mayhem Begins

photo by Miles with Canon Powershot A70

Meet Maggie and Didi. Together with their sister, Moxie, they form "The Mayhem". Didi and Maggie are miniature Jack Russell Terrier littermates. Maggie is a smooth coat and is our smallest of the 11 dogs. Didi is a broken coat and was born with an old wise face.

Maggie is a people dog. She pays attention to everything you do and is instantly up if you stand or look like you might be thinking about standing. She follows whichever person is moving and is always at the ready. Maggie is also very bossy. At least she tries to be. We don't let any of them get too bossy... causes dog problems.

Didi is a little more adventurous. She will go hunting in the top field on her own, running from gopher hole to gopher hole, staring down them. She loves to hunt even if she catches nothing. I think the staring down the hole is her favorite part of the experience. Didi also has a very sweet side to her personality and she makes little grunting sounds when you cuddle her.

Both of them go everywhere at light speed.

... and we're off !

Welcome ! I thought I would take the first post to talk about the blog name and purpose although the second is harder to define.

The name evolved from many weeks of trying to decide what I would blog about specifically once I made the commitment to do the blog. In general, the blog topics would be from here...Sleepy Hollow Road... but about what?

I went through:
Animal Tales from Sleepy Hollow Road
Gardening from Sleepy Hollow Road
Photography from Sleepy Hollow Road
Musings from Sleepy Hollow Road

They all seemed equally interesting topics to me and I was starting to become claustrophobic in decision. I suppose "musings" best describes what I will do here but it will likely be musings about gardening, animals and photography - mostly.

The purpose may be more complicated or more simple but since I have not yet figured that out, for now, all I will aspire to do is stay connected with friends from afar and share my photos. I don't know what it will evolve to become but I invite you to come along for the ride as I make that discovery.

One caveat. Noone is authorized to read this blog with any eye to grammar. I expect this will be a "hope you notice the fresh roses on the table rather than the dust on the chandelier" kind of place.