Ten Mile Road Trip #3: Field Trip With Mom

My mom is visiting us here at Lake Roosevelt. I left my students in good hands today with their favorite sub and took a day off to spend with her. We started the day lounging and drinking coffee while catching up on news,weather,comments on the blog, and coupon cutting.

Later in the morning we departed for our ten mile (actually longer) road trip to Kettle Falls and Colville. We found some healthy plants at the Flour Mill feed store We were very tempted by the cute free kittens, but kept walking out with our plants.

JEJ and I discovered this restaurant in the fall in Colville. I wanted to take Mom here for lunch. The Courthouse Cafe is across from the Steven's County Courthouse and is a lovely place for espresso, baked goods, breakfast, and lunch. We enjoyed a hearty lunch and got some fresh baked cookies to go.

Next we were in search of a Rose of Sharon for Mom and a trumpet vine for me. Wynne Street Nursery has an incredible collection of perennials, blooming shrubs, and just about everything else these two gardeners would want. We both found exactly what we needed. We gathered our purchases together when we returned home for a picture.Our field trip was over. Between full tummies, the heat we weren't used to, and our search for the perfect plants we were worn out when we returned home. Rest time was in order before any thoughts of dinner. Annie was ready to join us!

A Week-End With Two Special Mothers

I am not a mother myself so Mother's Day week-end is a perfect time for me to do something special for my mother and sister silver valley girl. On Saturday I prepared a Mother's Day Eve dinner for the whole family. It was fun to put this menu together: White wine citrus sangria
Greek Watermelon Salad

Mediterranean Steak Salad
and with much gratitude to JBelle... the Pound Cake of Bellemaison with strawberries and cream. The recipe can be found here.
We attended a Mother's Day Tea at French Gulch Farm and Garden on Sunday. It is an amazing gardening destination tucked away off I-90 between Kellogg and Cataldo off the Kingston exit. The owner had a plant sale on the grounds while another woman did the tea up the hill in another building. The food was delicious and the surroundings were exactly what this gardening girl loves. What could be more perfect than spending Mother's Day with my two favorite mothers enjoying scones and lemon curd, sipping lavender tea, wandering through the gardens, and being able to take home herbs, variegated grass, and basket stuffers? We said good-bye to my sister and Mom and I headed to my house. A perfect way to end the week-end was having one special mother come home with me.

SIbling Assignment # 20: A Tribute to Our Mother

I made this for Mom in second grade. We found it in a box recently.

Today we honor our mothers. We celebrate the vibrant lives our mothers continue to live. We fondly remember those mothers and grandmothers no longer with us. Our sibling assignment this week is to write a tribute to our mother. Raymond Pert’s is here. Silver Valley Girl’s is here.
As I looked back on fifty-two years of time spent with my mother I wanted to reflect on the words of wisdom she had passed on to us as we moved from childhood through adulthood.

Words of Wisdom from Mary Idell West Woolum
- I don’t care if the gash on your foot is bleeding. We always cut toenails before rushing a child to the emergency room.
- Don’t ever drive a car in northern Idaho if the roads are slick.
- In case we get in a car accident, don’t wear old underwear with holes in it.
- If you deadhead your annual flower blossoms, they will come back bigger and better.
- When you cut lilacs for a bouquet, pound the stems with a hammer before putting them in water to make them last longer.
- Don’t eat your Halloween candy all the first day after trick-or-treating.
- Don’t pull the drawer in the frig out too far. (it requires an unbelievable rearrangement of the kitchen to fix… I know-been there, done that).
- Only have one day a week to water all the houseplants. That way you can keep track of whether you have done them all.
- Save every check, bill, receipt, and document for the last fifty years. You may need that information at some point.
- Always keep a stash of candy in undisclosed places for late night snacking while doing school work.
- When recycling food cans, wash them, peel the labels, and smash them before putting them into the bin.
- Always keep your frig and basement food shelf stocked with enough food to feed a family of five. When your children and grandchildren come to visit nobody can ever say, “There is nothing to eat.”
- Don’t run with that sucker in your mouth. You might fall and choke to death.
- Return all VHS tapes after watching shows I’ve taped if you want more taped.
- Don’t run any faucet or flush a toilet when somebody is showering in the basement. You will either get scalded or frozen. (been there, done that also)
- Read to your children, get them library cards, and have shelves of books in the house.
- Teach your children how to cook, bake, preserve, and freeze food.
- Emphasize the importance of cutting coupons, doing rebates, and checking grocery ads. If a watermelon isn’t ripe or you weren’t given the discount on prime rib, go back to the store and have them make good.
- Don’t ever start smoking.
- When you are diagnosed with cancer, educate yourself, be positive, and believe you will beat it. Always go out and weed the garden after your first chemo treatment.
- Subscribe to a good collection of magazines. Have them organized by year so when anyone needs information on any subject the magazines are available.
- Two things to remember when you teach school. Always buy good quality shoes so your feet and legs won’t ache at the end of the day. Don’t wear jeans to teach.
- Always wash down the walls and the ceiling of your kitchen once a year whether it needs it or not.
- Please don’t ever forget… there is no place like home.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

I found this in an antique store and gave it to Mom for Christmas a few years ago. It graces a wall in her living room. This is what it says:

It is a wonderful thing
A Mother
Other folks can love you, but only
Your mother understands.
She works for you, looks after you,
loves you, forgives you
anything you may do, understands
you, and then the only thing bad
she ever does to you
is to die and leave you.

Sunday Scribblings: Second Chances at Gardening

The topic this week for Sunday Scribblings is Second Chances. I wish I could have a second chance at gardening to redo some of the mistakes I have made.

This first mistake I made was planting Bishop’s Weed (aegopodium podagraria). It is a lovely green and white variegated plant that starts out as a helpful ground cover. It then spreads and becomes invasive. I have it everywhere now and find it impossible to get rid of. A friend of mine tried getting rid of this ground cover by spending hours one year pulling every little root out of the bed. I could try that since I hate to use chemicals in my garden. I can kill a clematis and delphiniums, but not these. (also known as Gout Weed).

Starting mint was the second mistake I made. I was thrilled to begin an herb garden and found mint in different flavors. I also added lemon balm to the mix. Now I have both herbs everywhere and none of it really tastes like lemon or mint. If you want to do mint I was advised much later, always put it in a pot and keep it out of the garden. At least the cats enjoy these plants!

Calendulas (calendula officianalis) are a lovely annual flower that are edible and many people use to make soap. They provide a lovely border of bright yellow and orange blossoms, but then they self- sow everywhere. One year I had one whole raised bed taken over by calendulas. I think the dogs carried the seeds on their pads. When the stems and leaves first popped up the plant looked like many others I wanted. By the time I could identify the self-seeder, the calendulas had taken over again. If you have a place that you want to fill up with self-seeders, calendulas are a good choice. It is also called pot marigold. If these are kept in a pot like mint, they would have probably worked beautifully.

I love variegated plants and a couple of years Mom and I found a new variety of green and yellow Artemisia (asteraceae) at a plant sale. They were beautiful the first year. They added color and glowed as the sun shone on them. Now the plants have moved everywhere. They now have grown taller, taken over beds, and look gangly later in the summer. I saw one had popped up way across the yard by the gate. I need to get these under control this year!
We had a farmer friend bring manure in when we were trying to amend our soil. I think the manure helped the soil, but quack grass is not a good choice as a cover crop. We had quack grass everywhere and JEJ aggressively pulled grass for months so beware of manure and what it may bring into your garden.

Here is a short list of perennial plants that haven’t needed a second chance in my gardens. They have always been successful and I would recommend them for a first chance or a second chance garden:
Columbine (Aguilegia) grow well for me. They do spread, but then I can move them. These flowers grows in well drained soil and bloom in late spring. (this is in my sister's garden)
Violets are one of the first bloomers in the spring garden with their beautiful purple flowers. I also love the freckled species that blooms a bit later.
Chrysanthemum (asteraceae) is a standard favorite in my fall garden. With good soil amendments and water these carry the gardens from summer into fall with a beautiful variety of colors.
In another post I will share other favorite plants. What are your perennial favorites ?

Spring Bouquet #6: Lilac Time at Mom's

This is for you Raymond Pert.

Today I was able to enjoy a bouquet of lilacs at my Mom's house. The vase is a special gift she received from my brother Raymond Pert. He painted the beautiful design on it. Below gives you an idea of why lilacs were such an important part of my childhood. This is the back fence of Mom's yard in Kellogg in the morning light with the now green hills in the background. You can just smell the wonderful scent.

A Treasure: A Child's Garden of Verses

After writing about this book in an earlier post here I dug through the shelves at my mom's house in April and found the original copy. She let me take it home. I love the tattered cover, the illustrations, and the themes in the rhymes. This poem ends the book:

To Any Reader

As from the house your mother sees

You playing round the garden trees,

So you may see, if you will look

Through the windows of this book,

Another child, far,far away,

And in another garden, play.

But do not think you can at all,

By knocking on the window, call

That child to hear you. He intent

Is all on his play-business bent.

He does not hear; he will not look,

Nor yet be lured out of this book.

For, long ago, the truth to say,

He has grown up and gone away,

And it is but a child of air

That lingers in the garden air.

- Robert Louis Stevenson