Rain, Snow, & Cold

This morning we woke up to snow and cold.  Some snow on the lawn and snow sticking to the roof.  Later on in the morning it changed to rain.  During most of the afternoon the sun was shining between the drifting clouds.  Then in the late afternoon the wind changed from the south to from the north.   Then the snow began. 

Just before lunch I began the transplanting of zinnias and Wave petunias.  We went to Fillmore to get a few groceries.  We stopped at the hospital to visit Carol Gagger.  She is not doing well and has been taken to Provo by the ambulance.  When I got back and after lunch I watered them.  They had really wilted badly.  By this evening they had perked up some.

Left are Wave petunias and right are the zinnias

Bottom left are Zinnias and bottom right are Wave petunias.

We brought all of our plants into the house or in the garage.  Below is the big darcinia  that we have had for several years.  The three lemon trees that have been in pots outside by the garage door.  It was cold and snowing when we did this.  The darcinia was tied down to keep the wind from blowing it over.  I cut the strings, pulled it out and put it on the two wheel ball cart.  I then pulled it into the garage as pictured below.

There were six tubs and baskets outside the front door.  Two were hanging and the others were on the porch and steps.  The larger plant at the top left and the pine tree at the top right are house plants.

We picked up the pomegranate tree and put it on the cart and pushed it into the garage.

We also covered Robert's tomato plants in house one.  There are two doors on the north end that haven't been closed for years.  We moved a few things and pushed down a small tree the was blocking the doors from closing.   I shut the door and blocked the shut with two cement blocks.

The last thing we did was to cover the dahlias.  They would likely freeze.  It was snowing and the wind was blowing from the north.  We put rock on the edges to keep it from blowing away.

I thought that this was the last thing today.  Then it stopped snowing and the wind quit blowing, and the sun came out.  I went out to take another picture.  I have some cucumbers that need to be covered.  picked up another frost protection fabric and noticed none of the corn is covered.  I needed more covers and found one by the old lawnmower.  Problem, a flat tire is on part of the cover.  I filled the tire with air, and with a 4 by 4 lever.  I was able to move the mower far enough to free it from the grip of the mower.  It was the longest piece that I have and was long enough and wide enough to cover most of the four rows of sweet corn.

We will put every thing back to their right places after the danger of freezing is over which is most likely Saturday morning.

Comments and Suggestions are welcomed.

More Work

This morning we began work in the brums between the greenhouses and the road.  Carol was out there working and I was at the house looking for her.  I went out to help.  She pulled weeds and I used the shovel.  Most of it was foxtail and cheat grass.

There is a burm north of house one.  I cut a lot of weeds down.

Below is a trellis for the burpless cucumbers.  It is a 4 by 16 hog panel.

This Flamingo box elder tree appears to be dying.  There are only a few leaves and the immediate is swarming with box elder bugs.  Last fall there were thousands of aphids on the trunk and lower branches.  We may have to cut it down.

 The first thing this morning, we filled two tubs with purple fountain grass and petunias.  I dug the fountain grass last fall and kept it in house two for the winter.  With a saw I cut it in half.  Each basket got a half.  The petunias were growing in begonia  tub.  I didn't plant them, but they just come up.

Below is a canna lily that came up from seed in our vegetable garden.  This was also dug up last fall and kept in the greenhouse.  I grew most of the winter.  I have no idea of size or color. 

Three lantana plants were saved from last year.  They are starting to bloom now.  Two are on the front porch in black nursery cans.

Below is the darceina that was planted last year.  I brought this inside and has grown quite a bit this spring.  I pulled off the dead leaves.  It is about half way into the ground.  I connected to the drip line with a noodle and lead weight on the end.  The pressure pushed the tube out.  I tied it in with a twist.

This fertilizer has been in house four for several years.  I got a pallet of it from BYU.  I put four quarts in the green sprinkler and diluted it with 3 or 4 of water.  This I used to fertilize the corn and pole beans. 

 The darker gray is the above fertilizer from above.

 here I made a row for the Burpless cucumbers.  The wire hog fence below will be held upright.  Hopefully I will stand the fence on its edge.  The long burpless cucumbers will be trained to climb the horse fence.

The fall crocuses are being crowded out by the foxtail.  I dug it all up.

First Tank of Weed Killer

I went to the doctor

When I got back I poured in a quart of  Round-up.

I mowed the lawn

Moving, Cleaning, and Fixing

Pomegranate Tree
What I did today for the most part was not on my to do list.  The pomegranate tree/bush was moved from house two to it place at the west end of the kidney,  There are about six pomegranits on it.

The darcenia is three or four years old.  It spends the winter in house two with the pomegranate shrub and three lemon trees.  It had a lot of dead and damaged leaves which I removed and now looks pretty good.  I drove three conduit pipes into the ground and with some twin I tied it tightly to the pipes to prevent the wind from blowing it over.

At the corner of the garage we planted a pussy willow tree.  It had been there nearly 12 years.  Each spring we would cut pussies for display in the house.  It got so big that I cut it back nearly to the ground a couple of years ago.  It grew back with some promising stems, but they did not amount to much.  Last year they died.  I thought that I would have someone with a backhoe dig them out.  Today I decided to cut the tree stumps at ground level.  It was fairly easy cutting.  I hauled the stomps to our trailer.

 Looks much better after digging out the weeds and removing the stumps.

 I but the three lemon trees in nursery pots that are nailed to the ground with fourteen inch spikes. 

Another angle.

I took my computer to Fillmore to get it fixed.  It would not connect to the internet.  Dan hooked it to his monitor and keyboard.  It worked for him.  I brought it home, hooked it up and still would not connect to the internet.  There are four ports for the eithernet connection.  The first one was being used.  I hooked it to the last one and WOW,  it worked.

While in Fillmore I bought some spark plugs for the lawn mower.  I put them in and the mower would not start.  I forgot put the plug cords on.  I did it and it started right up.  I bought some silicone to stop the leak.  I put a lot on the inside.  I had to put some on my finger and then reach in and apply it to the back.  I also put it on the front which you can see.  I don't think that it will leak anymore.

Last fall Carol received a small pack of wild flower seeds during a Relief Society event.  I planted them in the fourteen inch tub.

I removed a lilac fan from the garden and threw it away.  Carol got it an planted it by the back porch.  It survived a couple of winthers and not is blooming.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed.

To Much to Do

I went to Fillmore to make a deposit and pick up a bunch of parts to put the spray tank together.  After I got home I got all the tubing and every thing together.  I tightened one clamp with my drill and broke a fitting.  Back to Fillmore to replace it and gas up the car.  I got everything fixed right and  Jim helped me hook the power to the pump.  He had to change a few things. But it began to pump the water.  The tank was leaking where the water is sucked out of the tank..

TV From Cedar Mountain

Yesterday, we were not able to get any regular TV channels from Direct TV.  We asked Jim Masner, our neighbor to see what he could to get some reception.  When we returned from the temple, Jim said that he would be over to hook the TV.

We figured it out.  We would drill a hole through the floor back and a little right of entertainment center.  We then went drilled a hole in the closet in the toy room.  The hole was by the air intake pipe dfor the fireplace.  We put a cable through the holes.  We checked the crawl space and they were placed perfectly.  The cable by the entertainment center would be connected to the TV.  The other end of the cable would be connected the antenna on the roof.  To get it to the antenna on the roof we had to make a hole through the ceiling of the closet in the toy room.  I made the hole and we pushed the cable up through the hole.  Jim in the attic could not find the cable.

I made other holes and pushed all of the cable through that hole.  I made one more hole slanted about 45 degrees through the corner.  I made the hole larger and pushed a long shaft through the hole.  We were looking in the wrong place.  I crawled the blower fan and under the insulation I fount the shaft. I pulled the cable, but it was not long enough.  I attached another cable to it with a coupler.  Finally we got all hooked up.  The TV was working.