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| Lilac Rose |
Wow, it feels like February is whizzing by, doesn't it! It's already the 5th?
I went to the office on Wednesday and Thursday. I had forgotten how long my work day tends to be when I add an hour long commute at the beginning and end! On Wednesday, I didn't leave the office until 5:30 p.m. and I didn't get home until 6:45 p.m.
I felt too tired to go to the office on Friday and worked from home, instead. It rained in the morning, which was nice for the garden. In the afternoon, my gardener friend came over to do the garden, but before he could do that, I had him take down the Christmas tree (I had finally un-decorated it!), put it back in the box, and store it in the garage for me. Afterwards, he pruned the roses and weeded one of the rose beds for me. Saturday, I still felt a bit tired, so I took it easy. Later in the afternoon, I went out into the garden to take a look around.
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| Pruned Roses and Weeded Bed |
We found out why so many of my rose bushes were dying (besides the effects of the drought):
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| Rose Borer Damage |
Several of the rose bushes had rose borer grubs in the canes! The adult wasp makes a small hole in the cane and lays her eggs inside. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the inside of the cane and it kills the canes from the inside out! My gardener showed me some of the grubs and he had a few choice words to say to them! I don't spray my roses, so there's not much I can do about treating the insects, besides pruning the roses quite drastically or uprooting them, altogether. For now, we are pruning them all the way down. Most of the rose plants seem to have just one healthy cane remaining.
On a more cheerful note, the oranges are ripening, nicely:
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| Oranges Ripening on the Tree |
I picked one to bring inside with me to have later in the day:
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| Freshly Picked and Cut Orange |
I also picked a lemon and then, I saw this miniature lemon:
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| Miniature Lemon |
It's the size of a small lime!
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| In Comparison with a Regular Sized Lemon |
Saturday evening, I renewed another skirt by replacing the elastic in the waistband. I also pinned the waist bands of three other skirts, so I know how much to take in, but haven't actually done any sewing. One of my friends phoned and I had a nice chat on the phone with her. One of my cousins called, too.
Today (Sunday), it rained a bit in the morning and the rest of the day was very dark and overcast. I should have gone grocery shopping, but I didn't feel like it. So, I decided to postpone the grocery shopping for another couple of days.
I made more cream of wheat/uppuma for my brunch, today, and I doubled the quantities in order to have enough to take to the office for my brunch, tomorrow. Dinner was fried rice, using ground beef and some frozen corn. Slices of apple for dessert.
Today, I ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher, scrubbed the stove top including under the burners, wiped down the kitchen counters, tidied the living room a bit, and watched the Superbowl on TV. One of my cousins called in the evening and came over for a visit, which was nice. I also chatted on the phone with one of my friends and with my neighbor.
I also worked on setting up my monthly budget and January spending, but I'll save that for another post, I think.
This weekend, I am grateful for:
- Fresh fruit from the garden
- Rain for the garden
- Video chatting with my daughter
- Chatting on the phone with family and friends
- A visit from a cousin
We are expecting more rain, tomorrow. I am also planning to go to the office; I hope the morning commute won't be too crazy due to the rain.
How was your weekend?
From someone who lives in a colder climate, your oranges and lemons seem so exotic to have in your yard. Do you eat many of them?
ReplyDeleteI do eat all of the oranges. I've saved some of their zest, too, since these are organic oranges. I don't use any pesticides in my garden. So the peel is quite safe to eat, after being washed, of course.
DeleteI generally have more lemons than I know what to do with them! I use them in my cooking, make lemon marmalade with them, juice and freeze the juice for making lemonade, pick bags of them and give to friends or take to the office for anyone who wants them, etc. My mother used to salt and dry them to make something we call "lime pickle" (because they make it with limes in Sri Lanka), but I don't much care for the taste of lime pickle, so I don't bother making it.
Lovely bright photos. Sorry about the roses. I can't wait until Spring so I can see things growing again. Still in Minnesota and having fun with daughter. Hope you got some rest over the weekend!
DeleteThank you, Sharon. Glad you are enjoying your stay with your daughter. Hope spring comes early for you.
DeleteBeautiful pink rose..
ReplyDeleteProud you were able to work from home on Friday..
I had a nice weekend.. Did not accomplish much.. Grandson came and spent the night with us.. So mostly..we spent the time talking with him about college, his life, etc..
Thank you, Judy. Sounds like you had a nice weekend and visit with your grandson. Often, those kinds of talks with the young people in our lives are more important than housework, I think.
DeleteI am like Live and Learn and the thought of growing citrus is too exotic for my climate. Even though we are pretty warm most of the year, we do have deep freezes a couple of times a year that citrus can't tolerate. How wonderful for you though!
ReplyDeleteMany of the houses here have citrus trees in their yards; I guess we just take it for granted.
DeleteOh that is sad about the roses! I didn't even know there was such a pest. I don't use pesticides either. I think I pruned my roses too far back again, but hopefully they'll come back.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that your oranges are good enough to eat. I love California navels, they're my favorite. I don't care for Florida oranges and ours are quite bitter, which is why "pick the oranges" has been on my to do list for several weeks now. I probably should just drop it, I still haven't done anything with the grapefruit that I picked from my neighbor's tree... before Christmas! Ugh.
I loved that picture of the gorgeous lilac rose!
Thank you, Nathalie. I hope your roses come back without any problems; I'm pretty sure they will. You are supposed to prune them back quite a bit and leave just 2 or 3 healthy canes per rose bush.
DeleteMaybe Florida oranges are meant for juicing? Or, perhaps, your tree has some grapefruit mixed in with it?
I am so sorry about your roses. I have had that happen here also. I don't spray my plants or trees because I am very chemical sensitive. YOur lemons and oranges look delicious...what a blessing to have them right there and waiting for you. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie. I'll see how the rose bushes do in the spring. I picked another orange, today. They don't ripen anymore once they are picked, so I leave them on the tree as long as I can.
DeleteI'm so glad you have the option of working at home when you are feeling tired. An hour or more commuting each way is a lot, especially if there are delays, and the travel is a lot to add to a day's work.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about your roses. Our son has a rugosa rose in his yard in the city and it is very fragrant, but some evil little critters called Rose Chafers like to zoom in and devour the blossoms, and also sample other blossoms in the hanging baskets that daughter-in-law buys. Like you he doesn't like to use pesticides, especially with a young child at home. Fortunately these bugs must have found a new place to plague as he doesn't seem to get them as much now.
Bushlady
Bushlady, I have a type of beetle called rose chafers, here, too, although this beetle might be different from the ones in Canada. The ones I have in my garden are the ones with a greenish metallic hue: Cetonia aurata. They used to eat my peaches, when I had the other peach tree!
DeleteHow lovely to be able to pick oranges and lemons from your garden. We used to have a small fruit and veg plot at the bottom of our garden when we were little and I can remember eating the raspberries off the bushes, so much so there were never really any left to pick!
ReplyDeleteI never have much luck with roses. They seem to last the year I buy them then die. I buy a lot of roses for the house but they have absolutely no scent to them at all which is a shame. Seems to be the norm for roses these days, though I've no idea why. xx
I think the roses grown for cut flowers are bred for appearance and not fragrance. Sorry you are unable to grow roses. They do need a sunny spot, I believe. Over here, they recommend a spot where the plant will receive at least 6 hours of sunlight, daily.
DeleteI sympathise with the loss of your roses. When I moved here, there were three half-dead roses which I lovingly transplanted and nurtured to life. Two of them were doing really well but last year I accidentally damaged the tap root of one of them and killed it! I was quite upset as it was a very sweet little peach rose. (You will see photos of it on my blog!) I am now hoping that the remaining one will thrive this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's always sad when plants die; I hope your remaining rose bush will do well and reward you with many flowers!
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