New month, new logo! This one was created by the wonderful t0rie. Isn’t it adorable?
Thanks, t0rie!!!
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Just to reiterate, for those of you who read yesterday’s entry before I went back and edited it: Those are NOT my Nicholas Sparks books. They’re laying on a shelf in the spud’s bedroom, awaiting a return to my mother, from whom the spud borrowed them. I myself am not a Nicholas Sparks fan – I did read A Walk to Remember, and I think that will suffice me, Nicholas Sparks-wise, for a lifetime.
Not that there’s anything wrong for those of you who like Nicholas Sparks, but I myself do not.
Repeat: NOT MY BOOKS.
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I know I mentioned last week that I’d ordered a couple of different kinds of high-protein cat foods online and was waiting for them to get here, and in the meantime I’ve been feeding the cats
Blue Buffalo Spa Select food. Well, the first bag of food –
TimberWolf Organics Serengeti Herbal Feline Formula Cat Food – got here late last week, and I emptied one of the bowls of Spa Select, so they’d have a bowl of each.
They LOVE the TimberWolf. LOVE IT. They’ve stopped eating the Spa Select altogether, and if the bowl of TimberWolf is low and I fill it up, they all come running to belly up to the bowl.
Also, except for one memorable pile of barf that had a hairball on top of it the day I introduced the TimberWolf to the cats, there hasn’t been any barfing. They all seem happy (they express their happiness by sleeping 23 3/4 hours of the day and racing around like hellcats the other 15 minutes) and healthy, and I have to say, the TimberWolf seems to be a hit.
Yesterday I received the bag of
Orijen Cat I ordered last week – just in time, since the little pigs finished off the bag of TimberWolf – and so far, it’s not a hit. They’re eating it, but they’re not loving it.
Score Board:
TimberWolf: YUM.
Orijen: Eh.
Spa Select: Yum. Ish. If there’s no TimberWolf, they’ll eat it.
(I do intend to give the Wellness so many of you recommended a try, too. We like to offer the cats two different kinds of food to keep them happy.)
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Your Political Profile:
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Overall: 35% Conservative, 65% Liberal
Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
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No wonder Fred calls me a “damn liberal”.
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Okay, time for advice, from you to me. Fred, the best handyman ever (and mine, all MINE!) finished the stairs from the computer room to outside over the weekend. I love how they look and how solid they are, but I think we need some kind of foliage planted on the sides of the stairs. I want something that will grow big enough to kind of hide the sides of the stoop, something bushy, I guess. I’m thinking of begonias along the lower part – near the stairs – but have no idea what would do well and grow big enough to plant beside the stoop.
Here’s what it looks like:
The amount of sun in that picture is about the most sun that area ever gets.
Got suggestions? I want to hear ’em! Leave me a comment or email me.
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I know that I’ve said in the past that
A Girl Named Zippy is one of my favorite books. Seriously, that is one excellent book; I love it, I’ve read it several times, I’ve listened to it on cd, and it’s one of the few books I’ve read that I’ve actually kept. I highly recommend it.
So I was excited to read another book by Haven Kimmel, this one a novel –
The Solace of Leaving Early – and with great anticipation I started it the night before last.
And sadly, I just didn’t care for it. At all. It bored me.
DAMNIT.
So I don’t recommend that one – but if you haven’t read
A Girl Named Zippy, you oughta.
And speaking of book recommendations, the
Meg Gardiner novels featuring Evan Delaney are really, really good. I stayed up ’til almost 1 in the morning the other night (morning?) finishing
Mission Canyon. It’s a rare author who can actually make my heart pound, but so far in the three Meg Gardiner books I’ve read, I’ve invariably found myself wide awake, heart pounding, reading as fast as I can.
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During one of Mister Boogers’ escape attempts, he ran over to sniff at Maxi. Maxi, as you can see, was quite displeased. (I love the way Mister Boogers’ back foot is kicked up.)
Orange kitties are just the happiest kitties on the face of the earth.
Tommy and Sugarbutt hiding under The Daddy’s bed ’til the movers leave.
Tommy tries to find a way into the boxspring.
That chick just loves to hang out on to of the shade. The better to get snatched up by a hawk, my dear!
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Previously
2006: “Hey little Tom, is yer Daddy home, did he go and leave you all alone, uhn-huhn, I got a bad desaaaaaaaahr, whoa-oh-oh, ahm on fire,” I sang, Elvis-ly.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: Every time Madonna opens her self-important mouth these days, she just annoys the shit out of me.
2002: Thank god I vacuumed yesterday, so he won’t be eye-to-eye with a thousand rambling dust bunnies composed of cat fur.
2001: Who’s the dumbass now, huh? That’s right, me.
2000: I stood there and watched the bag go by, thinking to myself “How did he get it to keep going like that?” ]]>
Nice Masthead! 🙂
Love the stairs, Mr. Fred did a good job with them. For plants, I’d suggest Hosta – some of the bigger varieties would grow high enough to cover some of the stoop part. You could also put some shade loving annuals in beds at the foot of the stairs.
You could also put lattice work around the underside (Unless you were going to use it for Kitty Condo space) and train English Ivy all over it.
Hydrangeas! They’re easy to care for and grow anywhere…and depending on the acidity of the soil, you have have blue blossoms or purple. I have two with half light blue half lavender blossoms then one with deep purple blossoms…I love them.
It’s like Mr. Boogers is doing the kiss foot pop where your foot pops up behind you as you kiss. Cute!
Heh 🙂
Overall: 70% Conservative, 30% Liberal
Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal
Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal
I think they would look nice painted (white, brick red to match the bricks or a dark green). I think the hydrangea is a great idea. Also some fragrant vine trained on tall lattice against the house on either side of the steps. I like the idea of covering the lower parts with lattice too.
I love how my kitty boyfriend’s (don’t tell Petey) eyes are darker than his fur.
I agree about the hydrangeas. You could also plant lily of the valley, fuchsias, that cinnearia or whatever is is (you commented on it’s prettiness on one of my photos). Begonias love shade, so they’re a good choice, too. Oh! Sweet woodruff gets tiny white flowers and smells So Good all year ’round and it loves the shade, too. They don’t grow very big, but you could have yourself a nice little garden spot right there.
And in closing, I, too, love the Haven Kimmel biography books. I actually liked Solace of Leaving Early, but not like I liked Zippy or Got Up Off The Couch. those two books are pure genius.
My vote is for Hydrangeas or Clematis trained to grow up a lattice.
Oh, I love the Zippy book. I’ve never even thought to look for other books by that author, but now I know. Glad you told me about the bad one. I bet lilac or snowball bushes would look good by the steps, but either one might draw the bees. Actually, anything flowering might draw bees, so you might keep that in mind, right there by the door and all.
Have you read She Got Up Off the Couch by Haven Kimmel yet-loved it.
Fast growing, low maintenance Spirea will work- they do flower but will grow out of control unless cut back periodically.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this logo. It made my heart smile the second the page opened. Yay Torie!
I’m going to go take that test. I think my results will be about the same as yours.
I think azaleas would be nice on either side. Or gardenias would be nice and would smell wonderful.
I think hydrangeas would be lovely – also maybe a railing on either side of the landing?
Hostas would love the shadiness, and some varieties have white blooms that smell heavenly. Hydrangeas in the back and hostas in the front would be so pretty.
“Zippy” is one of my all-time favorites, too. Did you like the sequel? I haven’t read it yet.
Mr. Boogers would like a screened porch instead of steps.
I love hostas, too, but they’re low, so put them in front and to the side of the steps. Hydrangeas or azaleas are gorgeous and would grow to about the right height as long as you don’t get the shorter azaleas like I have along the side of my house. Read the labels on your hostas, some varieties like sun, some like shade.
Hydrangeas are my favorite flowers so I’m not trying to discourage them but don’t they need sun? I’m pretty sure azaleas and gardenias do as well. I like the idea of putting up lattice and painting anything you don’t step on white. I think growing ivy up the side would work, I see ivy in the shade all the time. I’d plant hostas along the edge of the deck or something fernlike. It will give it some softness while you wait for the ivy to grow.
Hydrangea do well in part shade like that, and they grow nice and tall and bushy. In winter they would not look awesome, though. Maybe Nandina (which is evergreen in the south)? Gardenias also can do well in part shade. (Both Hydrangeas and gardenias like acidic soil, so stock up on Hollytone if you go that route.)
Love the logo! So cute!
I would put plastic lattice around the base of the stoop. No maintenance and no wood eating insects. PJM rhododendrons, hydrangeas, honeysuckle and viburnums will grow in the shade. And Fred needs to put risers on the back of the stair so someone doesn’t put their foot through the back of the stair and break their leg. Happened to my cousin. I cringe just thinking about it.
A Girl Named Zippy & She Got Up off the Couch are both awesome. I agree about The Solace of Leaving Early! I hated it so much that I gave it away, and that made me very sad. Maybe she should stick to memoirs, because clearly she is a genius at them.
I agree that the stairs need to be painted white, and that you need a hand rail. The variety of Azelia that gets really big would be pretty up against the house, with some smaller plants (like all the ones suggested above) would be pretty! Also, the idea about the screened in porch is the best idea yet for the kitties!
Camellias would look lovely there. I also second the idea of painting the steps. Nicely done Fred!
I’d put up some of that plastic lattice and be done with it. But I have no green thumb.
My vote is for hydrangeas and hostas. Low maintenence and both hard to kill.
Lilac or Jasmine.
I have jasmine on one side of the patio and it has a slight perfumy smell on warm summer nights. It does well with no attention, pretty hardy.
Fred did a great job on the porch, it really looks like a professional carpenter built it.
I would vote for hydrangeas or azaleas or rhododendruns. the the rhods have kind of ugly foliage. There are some new hydrangeas that are supposed to be super bloomers and they bloom for a long time during the season than the older ones. They are all under the Endless Summer kind, there is one that is plain Endless Summer that will turn pink or blue depending on what you sprinkle on the ground or, of no sprinklering, if you soil is naturally acidic or alkaline. The other is an Endless Summer type called Blushing Bride, it has pale blooms and looks pretty in the pictures i have seen. Bif blossoms too. Plus they dry nicely if you want to do some in house bouqets. You just cut the branch, hang it upside down til it dries, and voila! Nice job on the steps, Fred!!!
You definitely need a handrail, and lattice around the edges of the stoop/porch/whatever would look lovely. Then, if you wanted to plant something, it would be up against the lattice and you wouldn’t have to deal with anything that got underneath the stoop/porch/whatever.
I work at a nursery and I think plumbago would look great there. It will grow out and up with a beautiful blue flower. Good luck !!!!
I agree with the handrail idea and suggest that you consider Virginia creeper. My folks have one that’s done a great job of softening the rough edges of their front porch. But we’ve really enjoyed the hostas, clematis, and spirea in our yard, although the blooming time on the last two are pretty short.
Ferns are good because they get tall enough and will handle the shade well. Also, you could go with ornamental grass. Check them out though, as some are perennials and some aren’t.
I am with the hydragena group — I love ours. We have them planted on the north side of the house which is almost always in the shade, and they look gorgeous.
Except for this past summer, which didn’t flower for some reason; I am thinking it’s because of the drought we had, and I didn’t water them enough. However, they had gorgeous, healthy green leaves, so it still worked out.
I think since you have the best handyman ever, Fred should build some bead board planters to sit along side of the stoop and fill them in with hostas or hydragenas and maybe a trailing vine of some sort and maybe even some smaller planters for each side of the stairs and fill those in with azaleas or impatients. The planters would hide under the stairs.
I think peonies would grow big enough to cover the area. I am not a gardener so I have no clue if they would grow in so much shade or if they would grow where you are at all. I just think they are beautiful and would look very good next to the porch. 🙂
My first thought was hydrangeas also. Although the idea of Fred making you some flower boxes would look great too…where I live, the dirt is terrible and everything needs to be raised. Good Luck!
I have hostas in my garden and the slugs eat great raggedy holes in them… I’m in the UK though, so I don’t know, maybe you don’t have so many slugs in Amerikee? Or maybe it’s too hot in your bit of the US? They do have pretty flowers.
I found your quiz VERY interesting:
Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal
Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
…and I thought I was a dyed-in-the-wool liberal!
So, how come you have so many Nicholas Sparks books? (JUST KIDDING!)
OK, I love orange kitties, too. When my cat was missing, a stray showed up (eating the food I’d put out to lure my cat home). I befriended him on the porch, sitting with him, petting him, letting him sit in my lap. As soon as I brought him in, he became his now usual bitchy self. He aggravates the older cats (the kittens get him back, though), and meows bitchily if you touch him other than the occasional head scratch. He will sit in my lap occasionally, causing me to suspect his motives. Is Rufus broken?
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