8/2/08 It's been four months, so I guess it's time to update you on my life. Kevin and I made our annual visit to the DeYoung Family Zoo in Wallace. It's quite amazing that we have lions, tigers, alligators, monkeys, etc. all living in the U.P. I have pictures posted from the zoo on my MySpace if you are interested. Maybe some day I will add a "Zoo" page to Magickal Gardens.
My garden got a slow start this year. Summer just didn't seem to want to get here. I've lost a few echinacea and two pincusion flowers :( I also dug up a few plants and shrubs that I was no longer fond of and added them to my compost pile. Unless you have an area that you want a never ending ground cover, DO NOT plant chameleon houttuynia. I'm STILL digging it out of my deck garden. And it smells horrible. It's pretty but also pretty invasive. My fence project is finally a reality! It really showcases the flowers in front of it.
Before - 2003
After - 2008
3/31/08 I've added more pictures to the garden page, tulips and lilies. I figured since we are suppose to get a storm tonight with up to 14" of snow by tomorrow I may as well look at Spring pictures since I won't be seeing them in person anytime soon :)
My Christmas Cactus is still blooming since October. Not as heavy as it was, but there are still blooms here and there.
I STILL don't have any birds to speak of. You know it's bad when I get excited to see the dumb morning dove parking it's rear on the top of the feeder or the black crow on the ground salvaging what seed has fallen. I do get the occasional chickadee, but I want more birds! I big flock of gorgeous, colorful, different variety of birds!
1/14/08 My "Friends" page is new and improved so check it out, but I'm still working on the "Garden" page, so don't give up on me yet. I'm doing my best to attract a backyard full of birds this winter. I even bought a heated birdbath for the thirsty buggers. So far, I'm not having a whole lot of luck. If any of you birders have any secrets on what you're feeding yours, please do let me know! I brought my amaryllis up from the basement, repotted it and started watering it. It took a while to start, but now the new growth is shooting up every day. I bought a new one this year and that one is also doing well.
10/20/07 My Christmas Cactus is starting to bloom. Does that make it a Halloween Cactus? Why do they call it a Christmas cactus if it blooms in October? Why!!! Tell me!
Since gardening season is over with, it is time to redo my "Garden" section. I have a few ideas of what I want, I think. Just check back for progress.
As for the garden, I did major overhaul this fall, and I can't wait until next year to see how it turns out. I moved around several plants that were a lot bigger than I had anticipated. To the back they went and the smaller occupants came closer to the front. I added a Flowering Weeping Cherry to the garden area along the lot line. I dug up and divided daffodils, tulips, and grape hyacinths and replanted them in new and (I hope!) improved spots and (hopefully) well planned out arrangements. I moved my asiatic and oriental lilies to a new spot. Irises were dug up, divided, replanted and many given away to friends. My fence project that I had soooo hoped to accomplish this summer didn't get accomplished :( Did I mention "Chipmunk War of 2007"? Geeze Louise there were hundreds of them *!@#^%%$ this year! The little vermin ate my crocus bulbs! Only spring will tell how many they actually didn't get to. Holes galore everywhere! I've never seen so many chipmunk holes dug around my plants and shed as there were this year. The anti-hunter I am even authorized the dreaded BB gun. The "If I don't know/Don't tell me" rule didn't work. The "proud" hunter had to tell me about the days tally when I'd get home from work.
End of summer also means end of RZR rides :( The Rhino was replaced by the Polaris RZR, well actually, the Rhino is still in the garage as we are still debating on selling it or keeping it. Buddy is just as happy with the RZR as he was with the Rhino. I guess it's a keeper.
4/6/07 I just added a new slideshow to my garden page and I also uploaded a complete list of what I have in my garden, give or take a few :) (Why are you still reading this? You should have clicked on the garden link by now!) I figure since we are getting a snow storm from hell and can't be outside, I might as well work on my garden from inside. Anywho, it keeps me from shopping online which I have been doing way too much lately. Right now, though, I have two pairs of the coolest shoes in my "shopping cart" but I have yet to hit the "purchase" button. Will power, I know I can find some. But, they are on sale...
2/12/07 I figured it was time to do a little redecorating. How do you like the new and improved Magickal Gardens? Move the frames around, change the font a lil, and poof, it's a whole new site. Let me know which way you like it better.
11/11/06 Did you think I fell off the face of the earth? Well, I did, but I crawled right back up onto the big blue ball and here I am actually writing an update! How come right now I'm visualizing the Bugs Bunny cartoon when the frog is singing on stage and when he's done all that can be heard are crickets chirping? Anywho, what's new with me? I guess not a whole heck of a lot. I really miss my garden. That is the sucky part of this time of the year. I planted some new tulips, daffodils, and some other perennials so I'm excited for Spring to see how they look. I moved around some other tulips and daffodils that were already there to make it a lil more appealing. I cut back my "Tahitian Bridal Veil" plant to see if I could overwinter it, but I don't know why it's not doing so well.
A few random tidbits you may not know about me...I like hot yellow peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions on my pizza. I have a recurrent dream about Christmas trees. In my dream, my Christmas tree is still up, sometimes dried up to heck, but it is well after Christmas. WTF does that mean? Ok, I know I'm a freak, but come on, what a silly dream to have.
Now the sad news... Mixxie died October 1st :( It's just Coco left now.
On the brighter side, it's almost time for Girl's Shopping Weekend!! Life just can't get any better than that!
8/13/06 Even though I have a major case of arachnophobia, I thought this was a really cool picture. Click on the thumbnail to see him up close and personal.
7/15/06 I am so slacking on getting updates on my site. My bad! I've been busy working out in my flower garden and I'm also taking an online Medical Coding course. Other than that, nothing much is new. Kevin, Buddy, and I went on a jaunt on the Rhino last night. Buddy just loves to go for rides. There are only two times during the day when he is behaving, one is when he is sleeping and the other is when he is riding on the Rhino. Whatever it takes, I guess!
I've started a MySpace which can be seen at myspace.com/magickalgardens. It is just amazing at what people will put on their sites! Some of them are like watching a soap opera. Do people not realize that EVERYONE can read these things? Or, do they just not care who knows all of the gory details of their life? Anywho, it's quite entertaining.
I've been putting most of my garden/flower pictures on Web Shots as it is much easier than posting them here on my website. Click on the link to see what's new at Magickal Gardens
Watch the video
that I created through
One True Media
12/17/05Pictures are posted from our night out during Girl's Shopping Weekend in Marquette. Click on the "Friends" link on the menu, then on that page, click on December 9, 2005 link. We had a great time on our weekend. My shopping is done! Yeah! Sassy even got some wrapping done on our weekend. Thanks to Jamie and Annie for the midnight run to McDonald's. I'm glad Lori beat her "flu bug" that she had. We missed you dining with us for 3:00 a.m. Taco Bell, though!
11/7/05 Sad news.... Mocha died tonight. I'll really miss the little guy.
June 26, 2002 - November 7, 2005
In happier news, Buddy is coming up on his first birthday, December 4, 2005. He is such a character. He LOVES to antagonize Susie and Chloe to no end. I actually had to go out and buy the cats a cat tree so they could have a safe place to run and hang out when they didn't want to put up with him. Hey, any excuse to buy something new for the kitties :). He is pretty smart, too. He knows several commands such as "get a drink" when playing. He will stop and run to his bowl and get a drink. "In the cage" when we both are going to be gone for a length of time. "Bring me the ball" and he will bring us his favorite squeaky ball. Which, btw, he has lost somewhere. He can sit, though it may only be for a few seconds. Puppy ADHD? On another note, I just ordered our THIRD electric blanket because he chewed up the cords of the first two. It is still in the box because I'm leery of putting it on the bed.
It's time for the annual girls shopping weekend in Marquette!!! December 8th, 9th and 10th. I'm so 'cited! We always have a good time hanging out together for the weekend. I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends. Boy, didn't I just sound like a "suck up"? :)
5/7/05 It's been a while, but I'm back. Not that I went anywere, I just haven't felt like adding anything new. I figured I'd get a few pictures of our newest addition, Buddy, up so everyone can see how damn cute he is :) I used thumbnail format, so just click on the thumbnail to see it larger. Buddy is 5 months old now. We couldn't stand not having a dog after Joey went to a better place, so we did some searching and found a litter of "schnoodles" in New London, Wisconsin. Yes, Buddy is a cheesehead. What can I say.
1/11/05 This update is dedicated to Joey, our faithful little buddy who was 15 1/2 years old. He was our loving friend, pal, best dog in the whole world and we will never find another one like him. He was one of a kind, that's for sure.
We had to have him put to sleep on December 27, 2004, after an illness took over. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, walking my best friend into the vet's office but not walking him back out with me. I had to be there with him so he wouldn't leave this world alone, without someone who loved him unconditionally by his side.
I love you, Joey. We miss you something awful and the house is empty without you here. I keep expecting you to walk into the living room and paw at the couch while I'm surfin' the net, or to trick me into getting up to let you out when you really just wanted a treat.
Thank you for being there for us for the past 15 years. You will never be forgotten.
4/25/04 Thought you'd like to see what I've been up to. Click on the link to see before and after pics of our bathroom remodel project.
Yesterday, I started cleaning out all the dead flower and stems left from last year. The new growth is coming along great. Well, it's poking through the ground at least :)
1/10/04 Just thought I'd share a pic of Chloe....
11/27/03 Serious slacking in the updates are going on here. It's been almost three months since I've updated so there is tons of stuff to add. No, not really. Our annual Girl's Shopping Weekend was held a month early this year to accommodate everyone's schedules. Three days of shopping, what more could a girl ask for? Sassy and I went Thursday after work and Annie, Jamie, Natalie and Lori met us on Friday. We got to celebrate Lori's birthday a couple days early with the help of the Applebee's waitresses. Sorry, Lori! :) It was a great weekend spending time with my friends, shopping, eating and shopping some more. And, my Christmas shopping is pretty much completed!
Now that winter is here, I have a kitchen table full of plants that I brought in from outside. Hopefully, all will survive the winter. I planted tons of bulbs this fall and I can't wait to see what comes up in the Spring. I haven't really done much at all with bulbs before so this will be an exciting Spring!
The last few months have been rough as my Grama passed away October 1st from multiple myeloma. I miss her very, very much. It's been quite an adjustment not having her around.
Chloe is growing like a weed! She is still full of pith 'n vinegar and keeps Joey and Susie on their toes. She has a liking for water and unfortunately the toilet is one of her places to play in. I had to add a foof to the piggies cage because she just would not stay out of there. Her other favorite past time is chasing the fish as they swim in the aquarium which she is doing right now.
I guess that's about it for now. I will try not to stay away so long!
8/31/03 It's Labor Day weekend and you know what that means. Summer is coming to an end :( Hopefully, I will have my landscape timber project done in time to plant some Spring bulbs that I have on order.
Chloe is adapting very well to her new home, expect that she is really po'd at me right now because I gave her a bath. Susie is not adapting to the fact that she is still here. It doesn't help that Chloe likes to tackle her pretty much every waking hour. I'm not really sure the gpigs are real happy about her taking over their cage either.
That's about it for now, I hear the Dairy Queen calling my name. Later!!
7/17/03 My garden page has been updated and lots of new pictures added. Happy birthday to Annie who celebrated #3? on the 15th. Plant? What Plant? I don't see a plant!
7/6/03 New addition to the family! Chloe is a 10 week old, white, female kitten who came to live with us July 3rd. My sister-in-law brought her to us from OshKosh, WI. Of course, pics are posted on the "kids" page so check her out. She's a cutey.
6/30/03 There is some serious slacking going on with my news updates. I'll make this one double the enjoyment, fair enough?
I haven't really been up to much this summer. We did have a "Girls Day Out" and went to Marquette for dinner and then went shopping. Sassy and I received our Italian Charm Bracelets for our birthdays. Jamie got hers for her birthday in April, Annie's birthday is coming up in a few weeks so she will be getting hers and the young'un of the group, Lori, will get hers in November. These bracelets are really cool. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check them out on the net. Just do a search for Italian Charms and many different sites will come up. We are starting each other out with a bracelet and several charms that remind us of each other. My charms included a computer (who would have thought? hehe), a purple butterfly because of my garden and a "Best Friends" charm which we will all have on our bracelets.
Speaking of gardening, I've been adding new plants, pulling weeds and visiting various greenhouses in the area. I hope to get some updated pictures of my flowers on here soon.
This Saturday is my 15 year high school reunion party. We are getting together at the Barge Inn though I haven't decided if I'm going yet. I've pretty much been laying low lately. It kind of puts a damper on the party pages though :( Vacation starts Friday, yeah me! Ten days of no alarm clock.
4/22/03 I'm happy to see that my mailing list took off like a charm.........Thanks to all TWO of you who joined. (note the hint of sarcasm there). Hope you all enjoyed Summer. You know, that one warm Monday that we had a couple of weeks ago?
4/11/03 I'm slacking again. It's been over a month since I've updated, but there's not much new to tell. We've inducted a new member into the "Nerd Hall of Fame". My brother and I bought mom a Dell for Mother's Day. Well, of course, being the nerd that I am, I couldn't wait until Mother's Day, so we gave it to her last week. She is doing well learning the world of computers adapting from her WebTV.
Question of the Week: How many of you sleep with the TV on all night?
I guess I did have a near tragedy a few weeks ago. The light on my aquarium started burning. I just thankful that we were home at the time because it could have been really ugly. Lesson to all who have aquariums: Turn out the light when you are not going to be home. It actually burned a whole right into the flourescent bulb.
Ok, it's bedtime. G'nite.
3/7/03 New pics have been posted for your viewing pleasure. February 22, 2003 View at your own risk!
OMG, this is funny... I promised I wouldn't mention any names, but I have to share this story. One of my friends had told me a few weeks ago that her computer "died". "It just died. It won't even turn on." A few days ago, she told me she was going to call the computer fix-it guy to look at it. That evening, her husband said, "What are you talking about, the computer is working!" "No, it isn't," replied my friend. "Yes, it is", replied her husband. It turns out that somehow the surge protector cord was plugged into itself instead of the outlet on the wall.!!! Is that hilarious or what???
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