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Monday morning musings no. 26-a quite rainy weekend, a little baking, a landscape update and 5 finds.
Monday Musings
Good morning friends, did you have a nice weekend? We had a much needed quiet weekend. I am not sure why but I’ve been very tired lately. I sleep 8 hours a night and then about a half and hour after I wake up I feel like I need a nap. Maybe it is just the change in the weather or maybe I am not sleeping as well as I think I am?
Rainy Weekend
Saturday was rainy, muggy and ugly out for part of the day and blistering hot the other half. I spent the blistering part of the day in the yard pulling weeds, and picking up pinecones. I may or may not have mentioned this but we live a house/neighborhood surrounded by Longleaf pine trees. The trees are beautiful but they drop pinecones all year long. After a few windy days last week they were everywhere so I spent about and hour picking up cones. If you need some pinecones for crafting I’ve got you covered.
Juliet, Kim and I shared our “weekend meanderings” posts. In case you missed it I shared “all things lemon”, including a delicious recipe for Lemon Raspberry cheesecake bars, and several lemon finds from Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma to name just a few.
Baking
Yesterday I made a batch of lavender lemon shortbread and they were scrumptious! I will share the recipe with you this week.
I also made a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and I used this recipe. Juliet wrote about her love for cinnamon toast last week on weekend meanderings and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed it too. Unfortunately I do not have Boudin bakery close by so I made my own.
Last but not least, I made 2 batches of hot fudge to serve this weekend with the homemade no-churn ice cream I am making.
Landscaping Update
In the front beds close to the house we are still waiting for 6 peonies and the climbing fig. Hopefully that will be planted soon.
In the “weed circle” as I fondly refer to it, I planted dahlia, a bunch of wild flowers and some other flowers of which I forgot the name. I was so excited because the dahlias have been doing amazingly well, then this week I went out to check on them and they were gone! Something, either the rabbits or the deer ate them all.
Backyard
In the back yard, which is not starting until next year because A). the design is not finished B). the kitchen remodel is the priority, in the bed they moved the dwarf Japanese maple tree too, I decided to add a few plants where I tore out some shrubs.
I decided I wanted to look out the window and see peonies. So I looked up a few videos on Youtube and many people suggested bare root peonies. About 5 weeks ago I soaked them in water, searched for the little red nubs and then carefully planted them with no more than 1 inch of soil covering their tops.
Peonies
I have been out there every single day looking for signs of life. One bare root I am pretty sure is not going to do anything, it looked like a shriveled root and had no little red nubs on it. One popped up out of the ground and is s-l-o-w-l-y growing bigger, and the most promising root that had the most little red nubs is doing nothing.
I am embarrassed to say that I actually took a spoon and a paint brush out there a few days ago to do a bit of archeological digging to see if anything was happening. I gently scraped away the dirt and used my paint brush to push off a little more and the good news is that there are little shoots coming up. After I saw the little green shoots I gently pushed the dirt back over the top and hopefully it will continue to grow.
Peony Thoughts
I have never had peonies and did not realize that when you plant from a bare root that it takes a minimum of 2 years for it to”grow up.” And it won’t flower for 3 years!
I can’t wait that long for a peony, so I went out to the nursery and bought 5 plants and they are now in their new homes. I am hoping that by next year I will see a flower or two.
I think I might need a lesson in patience and in gardening.
My containers on the other hand are doing great. Some are filled whith herbs and the other flowers and ferns. Luckily they are close to the house and so far nothing has been nibbling on them.
5 Finds
I found five things this weekend that you might enjoy.
Can you ever have enough sandals for summer? I have several pairs of this style sandal by Sam Edelman and they are very comfortable. I do not however have this natural raffia sandal and am thinking of adding to to my collection.
Blue and white is a classic color combination all year long and this year it seems like blue and white dresses are everywhere for summer. This dress is not only beautiful but reasonable prices ad well. I recently purchased this dress and this dress and they are both beautiful and comfortable.
Do you need a new tote for the beach? Groceries? or to use as a hold-all? This pearl encrusted bag with leather handles could be an option.
“Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.”
Looking for a light “beach read”book to read this summer? This one comes highly recommended.
Image Freutcake
Making desserts is my cup of tea, it is not for everyone though. If you are looking for a few dessert hacks for your Memorial Day celebration check out these three.
That is is from Monday Musings No. 26, I hope that you have a wonderful week. Thank you for spending part of your day with me.
Monday Musings No. 101
Monday Musings No. 100
Monday Musings No. 99
Summer Pin-spiration on Pinterest
I’ve gone the bare root peony route before— seven years later, it almost comes close to the one I bought at the nursery last week in size. I would only do bare root again if I really couldn’t find a special color or variety from a nursery. I lack the patience! Good luck with yours! (I’m guilty of checking out the dahlia tubers I planted in the same way— digging and looking to see if they are doing anything!)
Christina, I am laughing out loud. I cannot believe I did not do more research before I did that. Oh well, hopefully in 7 years…mine will do something. In the meantime, I now have 5 in the back that are pretty good size and should bloom in the next two years.
Dahalia tubbers are so strange looking and they don’t even look as if they are alive. I don’t blame you for checking in on them. Do you dig yours up and use them again the next year? Or do you start over?
I left last year’s tubers in the ground but they rotted over the winter so I started fresh this year. I know some people in our area can get them to over winter and return, but I just can’t! It’s okay, I get to try new things every year. ☺️
As for the peonies, I’m no expert… but an expert did tell me blood meal at planting makes a big impact. I’ll be trying it when I plant my two new itohs soon, and report back!
I can’t belie your Dahlias were gone! The animals have no mercy on plants.
I love Peony but I don’t have the patient to wait so long for a bloom. Also they only last such a short time. After all the waiting it would make me crazy.
Hi Elizabeth,
Oh I’ve been there with the dahlia tubers. The first time I planted them I planted 17, and out of the 17 tubers I only had 4 come up, and two of the four didn’t make it to year two! One time we were up in northern California at a Costco, and they had these gorgeous huge mature ruby red Dahlia bushes for sale for the most amazing price and we bought two and brought them home, planted them and hoped for the best since our weather is way more extreme with the heat where we live. They have done exceedingly well, and we are thrilled! Since then our two original surviving tubers come up and graces with some beautiful flowers every year, and I have added a couple tubers that I bought from a very reliable Dahlia farmer. They’ve also done well. Gardening can be hit or miss sometime, but it’s really important to know your soil, check for shading and hopefully everything will cooperate and grow! One thing you don’t have any control over is any critters that might decide they want to make a meal out of your beautiful flowers! I hope that doesn’t happen to you and that you get to enjoy many beautiful blooms on your lovely property! I’m also amazed at all the baking you do, you are incredible!
……..and don’t forget Elizabeth, after waiting several years when you do get buds, you will see little ants crawling all around them – don’t brush/hose them off as the buds need the ants to continue opening those beautiful blooms!
No rain here yet and so hot (98 Friday) – perhaps showers this afternoon, gardens need a good soak.
Sleep is really important – I’ve been getting extra since dealing with the food poisoning issue for over a week – and thanks dear for the get well msg.
Hugs – Mary
I tend to get eight hours a night.