The Gazebo Outback Garden Forum

Fall Color

stutler — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:34:13 GMT

The summer was reluctant to leave us this year but it finally gave up and the colors have been beautiful. I took these pictures in the back yard today.

http://www.thegazebooutback.com/fall2009.htm

Regards to all -- Ben

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wte1uk4A5eU

Happy Birthday Ben

Pburgh — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:51:40 GMT

http://www.theweathervane.info/forums/f9/

Your garden friends over at the weathervane are celebrating your special day. Stop over and all your old weather channel buddies will sing happy birthday to you.

Hope you have a wonderful day.
Karan

My Home Town

stutler — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:54:17 GMT

Some pictures of my home town at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfi3SSJPG9Y

-- Ben

IT"S WAR!

hesterredhen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:29:49 GMT

    With the possums eating my tomatoes, and the raccoons and possums eating my melons, plus all the birdseed for the coons, they have put me in a rather nasty mood with interfering wildlife.    I hunted when I was young, but never enjoyed the killing. At that time I hadn't yet gotten up close and personal with a couple of the other pests.

        With my trusty 16 Gage Double Barrell in tow, the score is now Moles nothing. Becky 2!

And that goes for the groundhogs as well.

                                                   Sam 1, Becky 2.

Guess I have finally gotten to that stage in life when I don't mind so much to wait patiently and watch for the moment to shoot.

                                                      GOTCHA YA!

    Told you they bring out the blood thirsty side of me, (not to mention the bruises on my shoulder).

     But we won't mention all the water I poured into their runs and dens before they went to that big rodent graveyard in the sky.

                                                            L. Red Hen

What Is This Plant ?

stutler — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:30:21 GMT

To All

This beautiful flowering plant is growing in my next door neighbor's garden. It is about 5 feet tall and covered with blooms. No one has any idea where it came from.

Can anyone identify it ?

regards Ben

Brazil Adventure

hesterredhen — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:53:35 GMT

    As promised, this is on my son Matt who has been working on a drilling rig off the coast of Rio De Janeiro for awhile now. He works 4 weeks off shore on this one and then comes home for 4 weeks. He had been out for about 2 weeks or more when I realized he hadn't answered my last email for a couple of days. Not unusual, so figured he was busy and so was I. Checked with his sisters a day or so later and they hadn't heard from him either. But since he was on the rig with about a hundred other people with no place to go we figured he would contact us later. His only way is email. (And even when he does email getting any information is limited. He is a man of few words!

    In about a day or 2 our youngest called and told me that she had missed a text message from his cell phone that afternoon, and all it said was "Are You There? She checked with his girlfriend to see what she knew and she had gotten the same message. Now we were really concerned, since the only way he could use his phone was if he wasn't on the rig.

        Finally Brandy got another text and found out he was in a hospital in Brazil under   quarantine. They hadn't found out what he had yet, and wouldn't let him out. Was talking about just leaving and catching a plane home. I told her to tell him he could wind up on CNN causing an international incident if he tried that without the government's permission.

   He said he had been very sick but was better.( Only very hungry since he wasn't able to eat the food.  Matt is pretty particular about what he eats, even when he is feeling ok. An that is an understatement!
Nothing packaged, or microwaved. Steel cut oats and brown rice.
  Grills a lot of his meat, makes a lot of stir fry, and homemade soups, and usually only fresh vegetables, and fruits. Plenty of water, but not chilled.  And above all he eats
REAL baked potatoes about TWICE a day.) I look at him and think was this really the teenager who kept me busy buying Mountain Dew and Pizza and baking cookies??

   I was pretty worried. We didn't know what city or hospital. I didn't know if he had his phone charger with him or if it worked in that country since he usually doesn't call until he is on shore in the states. I told his sister to get this information as soon as he contacted her again. Was afraid his phone would go dead before we found out more. He had told her that they had evacuated him and one more guy by helicopter with the same thing. The other guy had been taken to a hotel but Matt was quarantined and they would not release him until they had tests results back. He had been sick for a few days on the rig, but he couldn't remember how many before they airlifted him to shore, where he passed out in the hospital. Matt is seldom ever sick.

    I went on line and got the numbers of the American Embassy, and the U.S. Counsel, for working hours and after hours. We also have friends that are pretty well connected in the offshore business, and the one man is good friends with another big wig .( When I asked what his position was, I was told he was "Over the Americas, North and South.  He also knew Matt. )

   So as a worried Mother, I talked to our youngest daughter again . Told her to ask Matt if it was time for me to pull out the big guns and

contact our friend for help. Didn't get an answer for about 12 hours. She called me , unable to control her laughter.

     Matt's reply----- DON"T NEED HELP>>>>>>NEED POTATOES!!!

I knew then that he would be all right.

   We eventually got some of the pieces to the puzzle filled in when he was able to call Brandy. We found out more when they let him fly home about 5 days later.

   The government had a hand in his being quarantined as well as helping pay for the bill. He wasn't in Rio as we thought but in a city north of there. He said the medical people were all pretty nice just not the food.

They were checking for swine flu and other tropical diseases. They still haven't let him know what it was---------- only that he wasn't contagious anymore. He is due to fly back to Rio in a couple of weeks.

    If nothing else my children keep my life from being dull



                                                          L. Red Hen

It's all about the rain!

hesterredhen — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:12:31 GMT

Hello again,
       It's raining still here in South Central Illinois even as I type. Our creek has just decided to meander across the west lawn for the umpteenth time this year. Hard to get the mowing done in between rains. We were finally  able to get the bank cleaned up on one side a couple of weeks ago. Maybe the magic lilies will have a chance to shine next month. At least the ones that haven't eroded down the bank. As soon as it is not too muddy too walk I saw a huge bunch of the bulbs had been uncovered by all the water over the creek bank that will have to be replanted. They are tough though.

      The farmers here in our county reported 10,000 acres of corn not planted due to rains preventing them from getting it in early enough to mature before frost date. Some of my vegetable garden suffered the same fate. I may still be able to put in some for the fall. My early tomatoes are just starting to ripen. Those are the heirloom types I ordered over eBay and planted in April. The garden centers around here didn't have any ready that early. I also noticed a few of my peppers are nearing picking size. I never got my cucumbers planted, but may still try. I really wanted to make pickles this year. Limited time in between rains made it necessary to pick and choose what I got done.

    I don't know about you guys, but it seems that in this 7th decade of my time on this ole earth I move at a much slower pace than I really like. But still happy I can.

   Sam has had some heart problems this spring so we have been taking time out for lots of tests, Dr. visits and hospital trips. Our son Matt, and our grandson, Michael were able to get the crop in. But not before Sam came home from having heart catherazation on a Monday and was back up on the tractor with them on Wednesday, oxygen bottle and all. I follow him out the door shaking my head,but it falls on deaf ears.
This has been his way of life forever. and I'm pretty sure he's happier for it.

   This has been one of the prettiest springs and early summer I can remember.  Because of all the water, everything is lush and green.

       The  phlox and asters just won't quit growing. They are at least a foot taller than normal. You need a machete to get through the paths.   That   just
makes it easier to watch the tiger swallowtails and frittalaries from the kitchen window as they stop by for a drink from the blossoms. The gold finches have been frantically collecting the seeds from the sweet rocket. I try and leave the tall stems and let them go to seed just for the birds. They look like butterflies themselves flitting from plant to plant. When it comes to tidy or wildlife, I usually choose the latter for my garden style. Of course the help they give in scattering volunteer plants is a bit to keep up with.
     Then there are the raccoons. They keep bringing me lots of unwelcome gifts, (weed seed bought in on their fur and scattered about where they are least wanted!) I keep feeding them anyway. It's worth it to watch the mama's and their babies in the spring.

I was sitting watching Larry King about 1:30 in the morning last week. Sam was asleep and Michael was working out of town on a conveyor in a coal plant.  The house was quiet.   All of a sudden I was startled when the  dinner bell by my back porch started ringing. It sits on a telephone pole about 6 or 7 feet high. from the ground and right next to my back porch where I can step out and ring it for the guys to come and eat. I thought Michael had come home early. I opened the door and looked.
Nobody there. Then I saw the muddy footprints on the bell. The raccoons had used it to jump over to the bird feeder about 3 feet from it. They just climb up on the porch steps and then the telephone pole. Easy reach for them.

Usually I don't fill this feeder in summer because of the coons, but the rose breasted gross beaks have been feeding there all spring and I hated to let them down. They are so beautiful. We feel privledged to have them.

   Well, I think it has stopped raining so best make the most of it. Till later.




                                                         L. Red Hen

LET'S GO PENS

Pburgh — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:13:55 GMT

I'm in a cheerleading mood. The Penguins are playing tonight for the Stanley Cup. Detroit has a great team.......... but
LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!!

FROST ! On May 19

stutler — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:05:44 GMT

I had to cover the the tomato plants and the impatiens and bring in the potted geraniums the last two nights. Frost on May 18 and May 19 around here. -- I could understand if we lived in Michigan but this should not happen in West Virginia. I remember that it snowed on my wife's birthday ( May 19 ) when we lived in Lansing, Michigan.

Crazy weather !!! --- Ben

Mother's Day

stutler — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:34:30 GMT

I was pulling a few weeds in the garden last evening and I ran across a true example of mother's day.

I chanced upon a rabbit in the leaves and it was very reluctant to move. As I got closer it ran away and I discovered several very young rabbits hidden in the leaves. Later , from a distance, I watched her return. She was very careful not to reveal her treasure but after several diversions she returned to her young.

The male rabbit was no where to be seen and, at this point, the survival of the little ones depended solely on the devoted care of a loving mother.

--- and so it is -- Happy Mother's Day --- Ben

The Rhododendron

stutler — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:13:08 GMT

The state flower of West Virginia is blooming -- beautiful !

The Vegetable Garden

stutler — Sat, 09 May 2009 11:05:55 GMT

I planted my green beans about 2 weeks ago and they are breaking through. The weather around here has been cool and wet.

I planted my tomatoes yesterday trusting that we will not have any more frost. The 10 day forecast looks good -- hope so -- I don't like to cover the plants.

I planted some impatiens and geraniums yesterday and plan on some more today.

Everything is green in Vienna this year due to the cool wet conditions. I bet you are still having frost up there in Duluth. Plant a pansy or two. it won't be long now. --- Ben

The Honeymoon

stutler — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:38:00 GMT

I was a beautiful wedding and a super honeymoon.

http://thegazebooutback.com/honeymoo.htm

Best wishes to Anna & Dave for a long and happy marriage.

PULL TOGETHER

More Wedding

stutler — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:52:58 GMT

More pictures submitted by Jennifer Fenton mother of the flower girl Audrey and the ring bearer Tyler.

The Wedding

stutler — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:26:52 GMT

We take great pleasure in introducing Mr. & Mrs. Anna & Dave Cosper.