6th Anniversary

Today marks the 6th year of marriage to the most wonderful husband! It was a most perfect day; clear blue skies and only mildly warm. That is saying something for Texas! We went to the arboretum. We saw tons of mums about to burst with color! But they hadn't burst yet. We did appreciate all the many variations of green leaves. I love the variety of plans, hate cliche plants. When perusing plants in the garden shop I refuse to buy flats and flats of a plat that everyone else has and you see on every corner. I want to have a unique garden, full of surprises. True my garden looks like an overgrown hodgepodge of odd plants. It has no rhyme or rhythm. It is not so manicured like the arboretum. I prefer to think of it as a free-form English style garden. Perhaps I should call it Herrera style, because we just buy and plant what makes us feel good. Anyhow, I digress. 

What really struck me today at the Arboretum was the amazing textures we saw. They had not just weeping willows but weeping pines. Conifers galore. Green ones. Blue ones. Silver ones.

I fell in love with the most amazing plants, mostly ones that were way, way to gargantuan for our modest yard.  There was one that looked rather like a 6ft marijuana plant only chartreuse and dark lime variegated. I doubt it was, being that it is illegal and all, but I can't tell you the name of the plant because we never found a label.


Jesse and I also pointed out many plants that we had killed over our years of gardening. To our delight we saw some flowers that we have in our yard currently.

I am envious of all the shade that the arboretum has from century old trees. Why? besides the fact that 100 year old trees are one of God's most amazing gifts to us mortals? It means they have shade for their ferns. I dream of a shade garden covered in ferns and hostas. I have no idea why but I find them beautiful and relaxing. Perhaps because every time I look at them, it means that I am out of the blazing Texas sun and in the cool shade.
Yes, it was a perfect day.

Preparations

Two days until school starts. I am ready for the most part, just finishing my introductory power-point. That helps me stay on track so I don't forget to tell the students anything. I look forward to getting back to teaching. Summer is great, but when school starts you know cooler weather is not far behind. 

 Plus there is something to be said for making a difference in a student's life. I love to see how much progress the students make, in spite of me. I love to see a student at the beginning of the year say on their  Reading survey, "I don't like to read." I beg them to read books in the beginning. 

Then by the end of the year I have to fuss at the student by saying, "Put the book away, please." I find it curious that at the end of the year they still say, "I don't like to read." That is the cool thing to put down, I suppose. So I have created a closet reader. I'm OK with that. 
I'm ready to make a difference again, even a small one.

Writing

I haven't written much so I thought I might practice what I preach. Write, write, write!
1st draft, not polished in any way.
 
Back to School
New school,
new principal,
new coworkers,
new kids,
new friends,
new experiences,
new joys...


Shiny floors,
fresh paint,
grand entrance,
bright halls,
softly lit rooms,
bold posters,
smiling faces...
This is what I see as the new school year begins.


Trepidation,
anticipation,
excitement...
This is what I feel as the new school year begins.

"I will fail them."
"I will teach them incorrectly."
"I will make a difference in their lives, for good or for bad."
"I am trained for this."
"I can do this."
"I can help make their lives better."
"I can help them feel the joy in reading and writing that I do."
These are my thoughts as the year begins.

Help me.
help the kids.
guide me.
guide the kids.
help me reach them.
help them reach me.
help me teach them.
help them teach me.
This is what I pray as the year begins.

My Garden

As you saw in my last post, My Balloon Flower Plant bloomed and died very quickly after it bloomed. I guess it wasn't happy with its location. So we had to go get 2 new plants to replace the one I lost.

This is called Lobelia erinus Techno Heat. We got this dark blue variety as well as a light blue variety.

Light blue Lobelia









I also took pictures of some of our plants that are thriving.

My Autumn Sage- Hot Lips is covered with blooms like this.

Blue Daze ground cover is looking pretty!

This is my first Cockscomb. He is looking a little wilted along the edges but the flower looks nice. I wonder if he will make it?

In the foreground is my Delphenium that is about to explode with blooms! The bottom of the plant is turning yellow with the effort, so I cut some of the flower buds off.


Behind it you can see the Kangaroo Paw and Zinnias.

My Dianthis is also going crazy with blooms. I probably should cut off some blooms on this one too. You can see the yellow leaves at the bottom.

Gerbers are happy as always.

Kangaroo Paw Flowers look neat.

Overall plant looks happy. (I think I watched too much Bob Ross as a child. He always talked about happy this and happy that.)

My Lavender plant has a pretty bloom. (actually 3 blooms)

My Fern Lavender plant has a bunch of blooms. Here is one.

My Wave Petunias are abundant. They used to be solid, bright purple, but now the color is leeching out. They look almost variegated now.

This is one of several blooms on my purple Verbena. It is supposed to be speckled.

Here is my red Verbena.

My White Rosebush is doing well.

Here is a close-up of the flowers.

These are the same Zinnias from my last post. They used to be bright, solid pink. Now they are turning white. They are still pretty though.





Hope you have enjoyed my garden!

Gardening and Sickness

 We have been doing some gardening lately. My Balloon Flower Plant bloomed, then promptly died. 

Three Weeks ago: We have been filling in our new slightly larger flowerbeds that was created when he had the stone border put in. Here are some things that we planted.

 We have several types of Lavender. I forget which is which. One is French, one is Spanish and I don't remember the rest.

This is called a Fernleaf Lavender, a variety I had not seen previously. I have a passion for Lavender so I collect every variety I can. We planted all 5 lavender plants along the walkway to the front door. That way when they attain full size they will hang over the sidewalk a little. People will brush up against it and admire how lovely it smells.

We have a Wave Petunia, which is supposed to be very heat tolerant. So far it seems to be thriving in the spring heat.

I thought this Dianthis looked neat.

 I call this the Fuchsia dot plant because I don't have the foggiest idea what it is really called. 

 This is a Penta Flower.

This is our rose hedge under our front window. I love English styles gardens, and roses under the window are an English tradition. I love the English style because of its relaxed feeling. Not stuffy French manicured style. I am not good at sticking to a plan. Once I get to the flower shop, I throw that out the window.

On the other hand, I like Japanese style gardens. It seems like a contradiction and it is. I have never tried to create a Japanese garden in my yard.

Back to my front Garden. We bought 5 rosebushes. The 3 in the middle are actually rose "carpets", a low growing variety. The 2 on the ends are a more traditions Hybrid Tea Rose bush. However day by day, the one closest to the camera is dying. The leaves are turning yellow, the flowers are wilty and don't bloom. We turn on the soaker hoses daily. We put special soil in the hole that the nursery recommended but I fear that is not enough. This rose bush was a red and white striped flower. All the other bushes are red or white flowers.

This is called a Torch Plant. It has a most intriguing bloom.

White Salvia (Sage) is on the left side of the garden. We thought it would look good with the white stonework.

No Texas garden would be complete without Zinnias. Ours have done something strange though. The pink is leaching out, so now it looks like pink and white striped flower. It is still pretty though so I am happy. I suspect that it has something to do with the acidity or lack of acidity. 

We also have Verbena. 

The Red Verbena is NOT next to the pink Zinnias.

Lastly, why have I not posted lately? 1- This garden was a lot of work and took time. 2- The school year is winding down and very busy. In Texas we had TAKS testing to drive us crazy. 3- I have been sick... twice...kind of... I had a really high fever 2 weeks ago. I was out sick from work for several days. I didn't go to the dr. because I hate them. They torture with sticks down throat. I got better w/o dr.
Then this past Tuesday, I got a rash on my arms. I thought it was an allergic reaction to perfume. (Middle school kids discover it this time a year and bathe in it!)  Wednesday the rash spread. Thursday ALL my joints began to ache... agony! It hurt to write. That is not good when you are a teacher!
I went to the dr. They tested my blood for everything. Friday, joints still hurt, rash going away. Dr. says it is a reactionary virus. Reaction to being sick 2-3 weeks ago. I told her I had been sick 2 weeks ago. She gave me medication. Starting to feel well enough to type now. I do not look forward to getting old and arthritic!

Stonework!

What a beautiful Saturday! We had stonework done around our front flowerbed and tree. I am quite pleased with it!

I am so excited that I can finally dig into the garden and fill it with flowers now that the border is done! I looked online at several interesting flowers; Kew Red Lavender, Clematis Romantika and the Empress Tree grabbed my attention. The empress tree had blue flowers and can grow around 5 feet every year! I love lavender of all kinds. Clematis has been calling my name ever since I saw it at my dad's house a couple of years ago. 

My goal this week is to remove the top layer of old mulch, dig out any weeds and grass, level out the bed with fresh soil and remove those nasty old holly bushes! Then Saturday we can go plant shopping, come home and plant them immediately before they die.

Spring is exhausting but so rewarding at the same time.

It is finished

Well, life has been crazy stressful lately. I have known that the school where I work would be losing students and teacher to a new school that is being built. I learned in January that my position as an ESL teacher at my school would be going away (not officially but through deduction). I have been sitting on pins and needles for 3 months. I hoped and prayed that I could go to the new school and teach. The majority of my students would be going to the new school and many of my teacher friends would be going there as well. The added bonus is that I have heard great things about the new school's principal. Plus, as a new school it will have all the latest technology.

I was at a conference yesterday. One of my friends there received a text saying that one of our friends learned her fate for next year. I knew that meant that people were starting to be informed. After the conference was over, I decided to go to school to find out who was going to the new school and who go to stay at our school. I learned that many of my friends are going to the new school. My teaching assistant friends do not yet know their fate. I continue to pray for them. As an ESL teacher I did not yet know my fate, since the principal had to decide about the core subject teachers before he could think about the other subjects. I figured I would hear something next week. As I was leaving the building, my principal caught me. With a smile she told me that I got the job at the new school. While I am sad to leave my friends at my current school, I am excited to begin at the new school next year. I continue to pray for my friends that still await their fates. I hope they do not have to wait long and that they will be happy in their new jobs. Most of all I praise God that he has yet again taken care of me through troubles and taken care of my future.

P.S. On the weekend of March 20th we got several inches of snow. Someone told me, "You know it has snowed too much in TX when you drive down the snow-filled street and you do not see a single snowman." What a bizarre year for weather in TX.

From Snow to Flowers!

 

Can you believe not quite a month ago I posted pictures of snow?

I can't tell you how happy it made me to feel the sunshine on my face and soil in my hands!

I think the blue flowers are beautiful!

This spiky petaled Gerbera grabbed my attention.

 Isn't this lovely?

Jesse and I are making plans to build a pergola over our porch in the back. Unfortunately that will eat up most of our gardening budget. Doing stonework around our front flowerbeds will eat up the rest of our budget. I had steeled myself to this fact until today.

While out running errands, we saw a Callaways. On a bright sunny, warm afternoon, we had to go in. I saw the flowers and my resolve crumbled like dry clumps of dirt. We'll just have to go into debt. : )

Snow Days!

I heard on the news today that Hawaii is the only state in the US that doesn't have snow on the ground today! I got around 7inches of snow on my street! DFW area got between 6-12" of snow. We have only had that much snow one other time in Texas' recorded history! School was canceled on Friday so Jesse and I took a walk with the dogs, down to the park at the end of our street.

I couldn't get over how pretty everything was. I didn't even mind the cold.

  

My Yorkie trudged through the snow eagerly... once I threw a treat for her to find.

  It wasn't easy going but she was a trooper.

Isn't that the cutest face you ever saw?

She eventually got tuckered out and had to be carried.
Not Isis though...

 

She found her treats in the snow too.