MsDebbieP's Garden

Great plans Debbie. Hope you will show us the progress of building your backyard…

-- Michal, http://gardentenders.com

Thanks Buli… I hope I “MAKE” progress in the building of my yard :)

and great job on the GT Site :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Debbie I have just looked at the map and I had a gt Aunt who lived and died in St, Catharine’s, which I can see on your map. We also have family still out in Ottawa.
I am hooked on genealogy…............you can probably tell.
I didn’t realise until I had joined that quite a few of you are from Canada.
What a large garden you have, looking forward to seeing more photos.

-- Derbyshire------- English Countryside

I’ve done some genealogy as well. it’s fascinating.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Deb, I see by your location that you are just off the route we take to upstate NY. Might have to meet you for coffee some trip!

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

door’s always open!!
Let me know when you are down the road and I’ll tell you how to get here.
(Don’t trust anything Bullseye says about my directions!!) haa .. and as he’d tell you: if you get lost a farmer will escort you right to my door!! :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Well thus far the “flying by the seat of your pants” is working really good … as your yard is quite beautiful!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

aw Thanks GramT :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I love your gazebo. It is a nice place to get out of the sun on a hot day, and enjoy a nice lemonade, tea, or cold beer. Whatever fits. LOL

I used to have one at my old house, and it was our favourite place to be.

-- jroot

Thanks J. :)

we had a HUGE storm last night (came up fast and furious). The tarp is down—it ended up on my peppers, tomatoes (I hope they are ok).
And our patio table/umbrella was just about to blow off the deck when a break in the water came and Rick was able to go out and pull it back onto the deck to safety.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

We got that same storm, I think, MsDeb.Within 15 minutes, it went from “might rain” to “holy waterfall!”. Took down some more tree branches, and beat down a lot of plants. At one point we had water up over the curbs. Also lost power for just about 6 hours.

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

I hope that you are both ok as well as your gardens! Haven’t had a drop in 24 hours but sure is cloudy!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

yes, we lost power as well. It was nasty. But it was fun to light the ol’ oil lamp. We don’t do that very often.

We lost one small branch on a maple tree and the tarp (oh and the sheets that were still on the line trying to dry out from the last rain and then from the rain before that, and the rain before that).

Our “floats” in the pool are still in the pool! I can’t believe it. I guess they were being pushed down so hard by the rain that the wind couldn’t do anything with them.

I haven’t looked inside the trailer yet or inside the gazebo, but they are still here so that’s all that counts.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Wow!!! We got an awful angry sky last night about 7pm … then terrible wind, but nothing more. We had to grab our canopy that was over our patio cuz it was a “traveling”. Guess we got off “light” compared to you guys.

I’m just glad everyone is okay!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

me too!
at one point I thought that the entire gazebo was going to fly away. The only way I could keep an eye on it was to catch a glimpse during the lightning strikes. At first, the tarp landed on my pea tree that I planted this spring but only a couple small branches came off it. phew..

and – everyone and the house are all ok :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Wow, I can’t believe we got nothing this time around … guess I will count my blessings. Again, glad everyone and basically everything is okay. (And yah, I like the oil burning lamps too … I always imagine myself back in time … maybe on a prairie somewhere; fire roaring, me knitting in my rocking chair, hubby cleaning his gun and it snowing outside something fierce – hehe!!!—See what happens when you have way too much time on your hands—hahaha!!!)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

We’re all fine, gardens got a little beaten down, but the branches were fairly small, and did no damage. No way I could check on things during the storm, it was pouring so hard every window in the house looked like we were under a waterfall !, After, well, except for the sogginess, we got off pretty lightly. Friends of ours had 8 inches of water in their basement, another friend said you could row a boat down her street.

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

doh.. never thought of checking the basement!!! yikes.

yes, GramT… there’s something really “good -feeling” about living that lifestyle.. well I think it’s more “exploring” that lifestyle. Don’t know if I could handle it 24/7/256 days a year

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

me neither … but it is fun to dream and romantic-ize that era and time. It seems like a simplier time, but when you really think about it, I’m not so sure … maybe uncomplicated is a better word.

Basement dry??? Hope so!!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

uncomplicated.. that’s the word. You got it.
Difficult… but uncomplicated.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Ya make me laugh with that one.Nothing was simple then.Washboards,itchy wool,make your own soap,beat the blankets on the line,fill the tub pail by pail for a bath and no shower,no computer,no microwave,no tv,no air con etc, etc. etc. ha ha ha

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Well I never said my fantasy was “real world” ... hahahaha!!! Just transport me back for a quiet evening … then back to reality and conveniences please. :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

I got that downpour last night,and thunder and lightening, as well. First the windows on the east side of the house were rain covered then the north, then the west and eventually the rain was coming from all directions. It was concerning alright. The rain continued all night and all this morning———then the sun came out. Some flowers were weighted down with the water but everything relatively unharmed.
My MsDeb, an acre to work with! I am looking forward to see it’s progression.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Bon.. you make me wonder why people complain about life these days. We should never complain about anything.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I agree MsD. People don’t know what hard really was. I have a lot of stories from my grandparents to remember those times.Especially during the war when jobs were really scarce.Just remembered another one.Filling the coal bin and emptying the ashes every day when it was cold.Yuck.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

I remember coal and the stove in the basement .. but just barely. And then we got an oil furnace.
I remember going to the outhouse “for the last time” when we had a bathroom built in the house. My mom says I was too young to remember but I do.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I remember those days too MsD.We didn’t have a basement so we had an oil space heater in the living room. My brother lit the toilet paper on fire one day and there was no more out house so my dad built one off the back porch.A lot closer when ya really had to go potty.The only running water we had was in the kitchen and we only had cold.So every time you wanted to have a bath out came the wash tub and we filled it with hot water from the stove.Yuck…good ole days…...NOT. HA HA HA

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

yah, there are many things that I can deal with but running hot water for showers… yah, I draw the line.
Of course I could rig up a solar powered and I guess I could survive.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Solar powered heating for the shower. Now that’s a good idea.

Here’s another one. Maybe we should have a competition to see how we are using resources like solar, wind, etc to help save our natural resources…...and our energy costs. LOL

I remember those days, way back when we had a hot water heater in the bathroom. If we wanted a bath, we had to turn the heater on and wait for a few hours to get enough warm water for a bath. Otherwise everything was cold. Not a bad idea. We could get by with a lot less hot water than we needlessly use. When I took a trip to England a few years ago, one guest house I was in had only cold running water, but they did have an infrared heater attached to the shower. If one wanted a warm shower, one had to put a coin into the heater and we got a timed warm shower.

-- jroot

yes, when we are inconvenienced we can live without a lot of luxuries… we don’t like to have to work for something.

wind: I use the clothesline. I think that is about it for me but I do keep the lights off as much as possible and the heat down low and I don’t own an air conditioner. And I multi-task trips to town. Rarely do I go for a single purpose.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

With a whole acre you have plenty to keep you busy Debbie. The gazebo looks like a great place to have a meal, a drink or just to hang out in.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

Yes, I’ll be busy. I do great until the middle of July and then I start running out of steam

The gazebo (now called “The Cabin”) is a treasure! It is great for me time, Rick & I time, our family bonfire breakfasts, and the Gatherings that I hold every month. I am SO grateful for it. Love it.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

The Cabin now has an Eagle feather in it. A friend gave it to me.
She and I are planning a Gathering on the beach at Turkey Point, Lake Erie. They have Eagles there but she has never seen one. The local “bird man” gave her two feathers and she shared one with me.
When we were planning the Gathering we went down to the beach to find the location for our event and there in front of us was an Eagle standing at the edge of the water. Our location had already been chosen.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I love watching the eagles soar.They are so big.They introduced them to this area a few years back and the population is growing nicely.I just wish they would scare those darn cormorants away that were stupidly introduced here.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

ah yes, the cormorants…...... enough said.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan