Friday, April 25, 2008

Any Master Gardeners in the House?

I have some beautiful flowering trees in my yard that my grandmother planted years ago. There are a few trees that I know what they are. There is one that I know is an apple tree, but I don't know what kind. Although it produces little green apples. (Granny Smith, perhaps?) There are one or two trees that I am positive about. Those are the bing cherry and peach trees.


The funny story about the peach tree is this:

When I was little, we had three peach trees in the center of the yard, bordering our garden. My brother, Eric, and I used to throw the peach seeds, pits, whatever you call them, at one another. My grandparents would fuss, saying, "Don't you do that! We'll have peach trees growing up in the middle of the yard one day!" We'd laugh and as soon as their backs were turned, we'd be at it again.

Eventually, the peach trees began to do poorly and had to be taken down.

About ten years ago, my grandmother stopped putting out a garden, due to failing health. After she passed, a little tree sprouted right in the middle of the yard where the garden used to be.

Out of curiosity, and since it wasn't in the way, I let the tree grow.

Guess what? It grew to be a lovely peach tree! It gives off some wonderful fruit!

Was that Grandma's way of saying, "I told you not to throw peach seeds at your brother!?" :)
Or was it her way of saying, "I'm still with you, and I still have a sense of humor?" Who can say? :)

Here is one of the blossoms from that peach tree:




In retrospect, I wish I had inquired of Grandma while she was living as to what these trees are. However, the acre is filled with trees, and unless I wrote everything down, I wouldn't trust my memory, anyway.

If I can't get any answers here, I'm going to consult a friend of mine who is a master gardener. From there, I guess internet research is my best guess.

Please feel free to comment and tell me if you have a clue what these trees might be:

This one is brilliant with color, and some of the blossoms grow directly out of the bark, as shown here:


Another view of same tree:



This is a shrub of some sort. It is nestled amongst pine trees in a shady part of our yard. It seems to be thriving, though there is virtually no sunlight in this portion of the property. I think these photos are going to look lovely in my scrapbook at some point!





This is the apple tree blossom. This tree produces little greenish yellow apples. I'm not sure exactly what kind of apple tree it is.


This tree is also in a very shady part of the yard. I have no clue as to what it is, but I don't believe it bears any fruit.



This tree has blossoms that are so muted in color that you have to get up really close to notice them at all. Also not a fruit bearing tree to my knowledge.


I also don't know what this tree is, but it looks suspiciously like the apple tree blossoms shown above. It's just that it has never produced fruit of any kind. It is in a very sunny part of the yard.

That's it for now. You may not be able to help me indentify these trees....but at the very least you got a peak at the spring colors I'm enjoying in my yard this month!

Have yourself a great weekend!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Lately

Lately I've been asking myself why I even keep this blog if I can't be bothered to post but once every other month, if that.

I know the reason is simple: there are some of my blogger peeps that I don't have contact with any other way.

They are important to me, and I cherish having them in my life. I love going to their blogs and keeping up with their lives. I love hearing about their joys and triumphs. I like dropping an occasional comment as time and internet connection permits.

So I'm keeping this blog, and I'm going to update it a bit more often. Once a week? That's a goal I can achieve, I'm sure.

So don't give up on me yet, my friends! :)

There is a lot of stress in my life right now. Particularly involving my teenagers. Stress and heartache and dissapointment.

This, too, shall pass. One day I hope to have three well adjusted, happy, fulfilled, selfless, spiritually in touch, emotionally sound children.

Until then, I'm just taking each day as it comes and I'm thankful for the good stuff that's happening in my life.

After all, neither one of them are felons. They are in good health. They aren't expelled from school nor are they failing in any classes. They aren't skipping school and they are not going to be parents any time soon. Yes, they have crappy attitudes, and it's like pulling eye teeth to get them to help around the house. I guess crappy attitudes and teenagers often go hand in hand. So, I'm doing my best to be patient. Sigh.

I've been thinking I have a lot to look forward to in my life right now. That keeps me going.

SOOOOO......

What do I have to look forward to?

  • With that tax rebate check that's on the way I'm planning on getting a new couch and chair for my living room. Woo-hoo! (God willing.) I've had new...(I'm not counting gently used furniture)...furniture once in my 17 years of married life and it was cheap so it only lasted a few years. So I'm excited!
  • I got some free stuff from Creative Memories for having excellent sales last month. The box is to be delivered today. I love it!
  • It's Spring! I look forward to having some sunshine each night when I leave work. I may actually get out of my winter funk!
  • Jess and Jo just got their spring pics taken for school and they are always great pics! I'm looking forward to seeing them soon.
  • I ordered some stuff for myself through a mail order catalog to include: a new sewing kit, that fancy new craft light cutter for scrapbooking and some organizers for the home. I haven't purchased anything through mail order in a long time. It's fun waiting for that.
  • I'm going to church again, and I truly look forward to it. The church I'm going to is about ten minutes away, in a little town that neighbors ours. The pastor, Rex, is a man I've known for 14 years. He was (and still is) the chaplain at our area YMCA, and I used to work there. A few years ago he was preaching at the church I grew up in, but the attendance has been so poor, they reassigned him. The atmosphere at this neighboring church is amazing. There is such a friendly, welcoming feeling there. It's uplifting. I'm looking forward to getting up each and every Sunday. There is about 50-60 people that attend, and they go out of their way to welcome guests. There is a 1/2 hour time to share what's going on in folks' lives and time to pray for the concerns of others. Jo and I started going on Easter, and since then, Jess and Josh have started going. It looks like Josh is going to get involved with the church basketball league, which I think will be a good step in his life.
  • I am thinking in May I might get to meet my blogger friend, Denise. Nothing is set in stone as far as a date, but I am keeping my eye on the calendar and our budget for an opportune date. ~Crosses fingers.~
  • One of my friends from back in elementary school is getting married Saturday. Yay Trish! It's going to be an informal outdoor wedding. I haven't seen Trish since 2006, so I'm looking forward to it.

My brain isn't allowing me to think too much more at this point. I know there is a lot more good stuff going on in my life, but alas, work calls.

Blessings to you and your family! Thanks for checking in with me!