January Is The Door To The Year

I am not a big fan of this month, not normally, but it has been spectacular so far! Sun almost every day, temperatures in the 40s, and there is so much to do that I haven't even had that warm weather withdrawal that I normally get at this time of year. Hmm, weird. I hope I didn't just jinx myself since I usually get so sun deprived that I just want to crawl up inside a Tool video and die. Not this year, oh no!


So, we went out and about yesterday, first to a brunch of Dim Sum (not a huge fan, everything was too doughy) and then a trip to the Asian market. I cannot recommend these places enough. Their produce is dirt cheap, as is their tea. You can walk out with two heavy grocery bags for under $30, so needless to say, I'm a big fan. I am also a big fan of this beauty which is the first thing you see when you walk into the store-

Samarai is almost as big as his horse, yikes! Oh, well. When he breaks the back of his steed, he can always fly off on those wings of his. (??????) I know. I just ignore the silliness and concentrate on the fact that their cilantro is 50 freaking cents. Oh, and if you don't have a strong stomach, stay away from the fresh fish area. A tank full of angry looking frogs is not the nicest thing to start your day looking at. It made me keep imagining this:



From there, it was off to the Botanical Garden, which is a wonderful oasis of warmth and beauty in this grey, though sunny landscape.
More after the jump.

Starting Things Off Right

This orchid is a stud. It just started opening this morning and this is the second time it's re-bloomed, two new stalks each time. Here's a picture from last February-

If you have any that aren't doing well, just send them to me. For some reason, they like it around here. They must be metal and trip hop fans.

Each To His Own Inspiration

If you are like most people with a garden, you started in March and continue to plant, weed, prune, hack and tweak well into Fall. I'm in the 'hurry up and grow' phase of arranging planters in addition to looking for inspiration for the fringe areas of the yard. Then, I remembered: I took a ton of pictures at the Home & Garden Show last February! Inspiration reinstated!

The picture above is from the Holden Arboretum 'Alice In Wonderland' display that took 1st Prize. More after the jump.

Caption The Housewife, Gang Green Edition

A few of the housewives showed up for a famewhore photo op Central Park Beautification project this past week. Why anyone would ever give Ramona a sharp object is beyond me. Jill and Leather were there as well but they made them leave when all the plants around them started dying. That cat pee and Hell fire!

Busy Little Bee

Sorry for the lack of posts today but it was a busy day chez McSlore. We didn't even have time to golf or go to the Indians' Game! We got the stream cleaned up, including the chipmunk burrows on one side, I potted a ton of baby Hostas and hanging plants, trimmed stuff and almost fell on my ass when I put a step ladder on loose soil. Also, we are one step closer to the new bar being done since the Mr. moved the cabinets into the kitchen, and we got glass block put in the basement windows. What a relief. Those old windows were awful.

You know it's Spring when people start hanging out on their porches again, but what's wrong with this picture?

C'mon now, people. 

On My Walk This Morning..

I spotted some beautiful Helleborus poking through last Fall's leaves. And I had a full belly, compliments of the crab cake eggs Benedict at the Inn on Coventry. I highly recommend it. They put red peppers in their Hollandaise and it is mind blowingly good.

Caption The Housewife, Clitoria Edition

I'm switching things up and doing a plant this time. It's more interesting than these bitches anyway!

My Orchid

I posted all those gorgeous photos of orchids yesterday and completely forgot ours. She's a beauty and the first I've ever gotten to bloom twice. There was nothing even remotely like it at the Botanical Gardens, which either means it's super rare or insanely common. Since I got it at Fresh Market, I'm going to go with the latter.

Orchid Mania At The Cleveland Botanical Gardens

It's a good thing that we went to see all the gorgeous orchids today since it ends tomorrow! Oops! 
The place was packed and I apologise for the sweats wearing heathens in the first picture. Cleveland is not exactly known for being a fashion mecca.

A bunch more after the jump.

The First Signs

Snowdrops..

..and some fuzzy crocuses.

Of course, my neighbor across the street gets twelve hours of sun in her front yard everyday so she has dozens of daffodils already in bloom. I'm thinking of getting myself an Elsa bouquet a little later. Like midnight.

Wherefore Art Thou, Spring?

Drizzle, drizzle damp and dreary. I am so sick of winter, and where the heck is that early spring we were promised? That buck toothed rodent is going to receive a sternly worded letter from me, harrumph!


In the meantime, here are some pictures I took of my Spring flowers in years past. 

Double tulip. These bulbs do not age well and I only had three survive to the second year. If you have the room, it's best to lift the bulbs in June after all the foliage has died down and move them to a very dry spot for the summer. Otherwise they get water logged and rot.

more pictures after the jump.

Pond Waterfall At Night

Soothing.

Nasty Fridge

This is just an update from me to you. In case you didn't know, I write recaps for TVgasm. I am doing three this week, followed by two per week until June. Sadly, my blog has suffered because I can't cut back on golf or gardening, now can I?
I'm going to go clean the fridge and then plant some more seeds, and by the looks of some of the gunk in the bottom of the Frigidaire, I could probably accomplish both at the same time. So if you need any thyme, you can pick it fresh, right out of the crisper.

Extra points if you can guess whose fridge the sign was posted on. Hint- They have an 'employee' named Buster.

Geraniums In January

I am a compulsive gardener. I love plants, look forward to the seed catalogues arriving in January and the first spring bulb popping out of the ground in February. I have a pretty decent green thumb but I'm no Pierre Belon ( he's the one who brought tulips back to Europe from Turkey, among other things).

I have one plant that is insanely healthy. I've over-wintered it in the sunroom two years in a row and it's blooming indoors for the second time! It's like the plant equivelant of Fertile Myrtle. I expect to see little baby Geraniums crapping their pants and drooling on the floor any day now.

I Can't Read My Computer Screen In The Sunshine

That is why I haven't been posting as much lately. Expect a pretty sporadic summer from me as we will be traveling a lot and golfing and seeing as many friends as possible. I love you guys but you live too far away! So don't yell at me.