Finally have something to say...

A lot has been going on and I just haven't had much time to write. I will attempt to give an update with only having one cup of coffee in my system. Be patient, this might be rough.

First off, I've had to do a lot of soul searching the past few weeks. I wasn't lying in my last post about not saying anything when you didn't have anything good to say. I realize that it is so easy to judge others when you finally have your stuff together (or at least hope that you do), but it still doesn't make it right to judge. I think as Christians we fall back on the responsiblity of saying and doing the right thing, but we also are supposed to love one another and help each other out when we are able. I know I'm being cryptic, but let's say that after several weeks of turmoil, I'm starting to be at peace, which is good. Still not ready to talk about everything, but I'm okay with that, too.

Secondly, this past week has been filled with great news! On Wednesday, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law found out the sexes of their twins. Two girls!! I cannot tell you how happy I am for them, and for the rest of the family. With four grandsons on the Lollar side, it was about time someone had a girl...and now we have two coming...probably in September. Congratulations Phill and Angela! They will steal your heart in every possible way!

Later in the week, I received a phone call from my mom. She had her results of the latest CA125 come back...it's at 7. This is the only way right now to keep track of the cancer activity, and this number is way lower than we could have ever expected! Mom was so happy, I could hear the joy tumbling out over the phone. Hard to contain yourself when you get the news that the gruelling chemo worked. We have a lot of questions for the cancer center but they aren't open until Monday because of the Holiday weekend. The biggest question of all? Because the numbers went down so drastically, does this mean she is receiving Avastin treatments? What else could cause the numbers to go down??? Whatever the reason, we are ecstatic.

My mother was telling me that on Wednesday, when she went in for her latest Avastin treatment, there was a woman in her 30's that was receiving chemo. It came out that she had Stage 4 breast cancer. My mother told her that she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian, and was now in remission. This woman immediately started to cry...filled with hope that there was a chance to kill the cancer!! My mother gave her a hug and told her to NOT GIVE UP!! There was a reason my mother was sitting in that chair, doing her treatment that day. She was there to give that woman hope at that particular moment. I believe that. How powerful it was for my mom to be able to deliver good news to that woman. To offer her story and to offer that shred of light at the end of the tunnel. I do not know how long my mom will be in remission, but if she made it through this to offer her kind words and encouragement to other women...then she should be around for a looooong time. Those that know my mother, know she isn't afraid to talk. To anyone.

Lastly, I received great news that my best friend is now in the double digits of his tour in Iraq. He will be coming home and starting his life again with the woman he loves. I am so very, very happy that the countdown is coming to a close. How I have missed him!!!

Three things to be grateful for today, as we celebrate our Independence.

Life, hope and friendship.

Happy 4th of July!

My momma always says

If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all....

A lot has been going on around my neck of the woods. I haven't had a lot of time to blog, but I am alive. Stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day

I am so thankful to have three men in my life. My father, father-in-law and my hubby. They truly are heroes in my book.

In my opinion, there are only a select few that can really live up to the father name. I look at my own father and remember growing up looking to him for the consistency in my life. He was always calm, level headed, truthful. His faith in God was the rock in my household. Things didn't always go just perfect in our family, but he held it together with love and respect. My father had a wild son and a rebellious daughter who constantly came home with issues to be dealt with. I look back on those times and know he never stopped loving me. He always came up with advice that I took to heart. When my dad spoke, I listened. Thank you, dad, for being there for me, for giving me slices of your wisdom, and setting the example that I wanted for my own hubby. You are loved so much by me!

I've known my father-in-law for almost 15 years. He is one of the most kind hearted, giving men that I have ever known. He works hard (too hard) for his family, and would give the shirt off his back to a complete stranger. He is the father of my hubby and I thank him for raising such a fine man. I see pieces of him in Brian, and I chuckle, because they are so much alike. I find that I am at a loss for words on how important he is in my life. I just couldn't imagine him not being there.

My own hubby. From the very start, he has embraced fatherhood in a whole new way. I hear stories of women that say their husbands don't help with the kids, and I look at my honey and say, "Thank you, God, for giving him to me." He is the most helpful man who has pride in the fact that he does it all on his own. He loves his children to the point of heartache, and I love him so much for that. There has never been any doubt in my mind, you are the best father of them all. I love you.

Happy Father's Day!

Truth

Sometimes, even when you finally start telling the truth, it doesn't make things better. The truth is a hard concept. I've always prided myself in telling it, although with tact. However, I've held a lot in the past couple of weeks, and after doing that, I tend to explode. The truth comes out of me like a volcano erupting. It spews, and it doesn't spew gracefully.

Although there is a bit of me that feels good that I'm not acting like everything is peachy, a part of me feels bad for the glimmer of truth that was revealed.

Rain barrels and breakin' the law

For the past couple of years, I have thought about buying a rain barrel to collect the much needed moisture that I could use around my gardens. I actually went around and looked at several types, even looked into making my own.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my husband about it, and he told me, quite frankly, that it was illegal to do so in the State of Colorado. Uh, WHAT?

Here is what is stated:

A. Colorado Water Law requires that precipitation fall to the ground, run off and into the river of the watershed where it fell. Because rights to water are legally allocated in this state, an individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. We must remember also that rain barrels don't help much in a drought because a drought by its very nature supplies little in the way of snow or rain. The reuse of household water (gray water) is regulated by the Colorado State Board of Health Guidelines On Individual Sewage Disposal Systems (PDF). Local health agencies are responsible for implementation and enforcement of the Guidelines.

Link to additional information:

Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet on Colorado's Water Situation (Western water rights & using gray water (PDF).
Prepared by the Colorado Division of Water Resources, April 2003 on Gray Water Systems and Rainwater Harvesting in Colorado (PDF)



Simply stated, the farmers get my water. I don't. Californians get my water. I don't. Asinine.

However, a new law has been stated...effective July 1, 2009:

ANY SYSTEM OR METHOD OF COLLECTING PRECIPITATION FROM UP TO THREE THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OF A ROOF OF A BUILDING THAT IS USED PRIMARILY AS A RESIDENCE AND IS NOT CONNECTED TO A DOMESTIC WATER SYSTEM THAT SERVES MORE THAN THREE1 SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGS, BUT ONLY IF THE WATER THUS COLLECTED IS USED FOR ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:
(A) ORDINARY HOUSEHOLD PURPOSES;
(B) FIRE PROTECTION;
(C) THE WATERING OF POULTRY, DOMESTIC ANIMALS, AND LIVESTOCK ON FARMS AND RANCHES; OR
(D) THE IRRIGATION OF NOT MORE THAN ONE ACRE OF GARDENS AND LAWNS.

As long as I submit an application, the water is mine. My plants say thank you, and so does my planet.

Tornadoes

The weather today is calling for rain, hail, winds up to 60 miles per hour and a chance of MORE tornadoes.

Now, I know the chances go down tremendously since I don't live in a trailer (seriously, check out the stats!) but all of the funnel cloud activity has made me think of what I would be devestated to lose if my home was hit by a tornado.

The first answer, of course, would be fear for my children.
The second is, all of my pictures of my boys, and family members. I have tons of pictures in albums, along with thousands of pictures in my computer. Completely irreplaceable.

I don't worry too much about my house, nor my car, or any other thing that I own. Just those two things.

What would YOU be most worried about?

Need your opinions!

I'm looking for a birdbath for my backyard and can't decide between these birdbaths. I can get the them in pretty much any natural looking color and wish I could post the colors I'm wanting, but I don't have the choice. As designs go, which one do YOU like best?

Planting with Plant Select

I'm reading a wonderful book called "Durable Plants for the Garden" which is made by the Plant Select group here in Colorado. Lovely book. The pictures are outstanding and the illustrations are to die for. I've loved looking through and reading each page carefully. However, something to keep in mind when growing Plant Select. They are a cooperative program through the Denver Botanic gardens and Colorado State University. Just because they say that every plant will work where YOU live, isn't necessarily the case. As a gardener, I love to try new plants to see if they will make it. It hurts when they don't because the first year, the blooms are spectacular, but it also hurts the ol' pocketbook. I'm not knocking Plant Select. Their intentions are superb and God knows we all need help in picking out plants that will work here in Colorado. With the shorter growing time, the conditions becoming more and more arid (although you'd never guess that this year) and the cold winters, it's nice to have a list of plants that are durable and will survive these harsh conditions! I appreciate you, Plant Select, but I'm compiling a list of plants that are iffy that you've come up with.

Salvia darcyi 'Pscarl' Vermillion Bluffs
I fell in absolute adoration with this plant a couple of years ago. I love reds in my garden, and here in Colorado, it's hard to find durable plants that have a red bloom. This particular type of Salvia is RED. Not pink-red, not orange-red, but RED. It also is great for the back of your gardens because it gets HUGE. The first year I grew it, it grew fast and the blooms lasted forever. It didn't come back. I went to my local nursery and bought another one. It did great that year, and didn't come back. So, I bought two more the next spring. One I left alone (I didn't cut it down until I saw growth) the other I did cut down. The one I left alone is growing fine, the other one is dead. Hey, a 1 out of 2 ration isn't too bad! I would suggest mulching it very heavily and leaving it alone until the end of May. The roots are huge, so they are trying to make it, but it's very iffy out here. I just had a customer come in and buy 18 of them from the nursery because it brought the hummingbirds out to Bennett, CO and the customer was overjoyed. His didn't come back in the spring, either.



Bridges Penstemon
I bought three of these three years ago and have lost one each spring. It's another red. Plant Select says this one will last the longest of all of the Penstemons. The first year it didn't bloom (which is pretty normal for Penstemons). The second year, after losing one, the other two bloomed beautifully. The third year, I had lost a total of two. I will say that it takes very dry conditions, and Penstemons are known for not liking wet feet in the winter...and my hubby might have dumped too much of the snow off the driveway on my plants this year. However, it was a VERY dry winter...so I'm not sure that was the cause.



Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red'
Are you seeing a red theme, here? This salvia has actually done very well for me, but that might be because I've coddled it during the winter. It's also on it's third year and comes up beautifully. I mulch it all the way to the top and last fall I cut one down and left the other up to see if that made a difference. It didn't...both came back with no problems. However, my dad has also grown this, and had to replace it this year. He lives NW of me. He didn't mulch it like I told him to, so he might try that this year. From what I've heard from customers, they've been treating it like an annual. Hummingbirds also love this plant, and what people will do for hummingbirds!!


Delosperma 'John Proffitt' Table Mountain ice plant
I haven't planted this before, but we lost over half of them in the nursery containers over the winter. Another plant that doesn't do well with wet feet. Not sure what happened, but I'm not happy they didn't survive. Hopefully it does better in the ground.



Plant Select has tons of other varieties (check out their site) that perform wonderfully, though, too. My suggestion is if you see a plant select variety early in the season, grab it, because you won't be able to find them later on.

A list of my favorites:

Buddleja alterifolia 'Argentea'
This is a monster, growing 12-15 feet H. It blooms off of old wood, which is unlike most butterfly bushes. The flowers weep down, and they are PLENTIFUL. Just a beautiful show in the earlier summer-late spring.


Cytisus purgans Spanish Gold broom
It's hardier than any other broom I've seen and seems to be unaffected by alkaline soils, harsh winter conditions, etc. 4-6 feet by 4-6 feet. Evergreen.


Carol Mackie daphne
OMG. I love this plant. The variegated leaves, the smell in the spring. Great speciman plant that performs very, very well. If you don't have one of these, go out NOW and buy one. 3-4 feet by 3-4 feet.


Princess Kay plum
Fall color is exquisite. Smaller speciman only getting 15-20 feet high by 12-15 feet wide. The white blooms in spring are clustered, so they are very noticeable. I love this tree. The aphids love this tree, so protect it.



One I've never tried but will be on the lookout for is the Phlox bifida L.C. Beck Snowmass phlox. The blooms look like little snowflakes.


All in all, Plant Select keeps getting better at producing plants that will work in Colorado. If you haven't enjoyed this book, it's sold through Amazon.com. You will love it! Thanks, Plant Select, for trying out new species, and keeping Colorado beautiful!

Bloomin' Tuesday!

Please go to Jean's site to follow other's Blooming Tuesday's pics! What a wonderful way to show everyone what blooms in your neck of the woods!

Yesterday I actually had some time to take pictures of all that was blooming around my gardens. I'm enjoying getting to know the ins and outs of my camera (after a year and half of owning it, mind you!) I sure wish I had my camera when I visited my dad's gardens yesterday. All I had was my cell phone, and it just didn't do them justice!!

Hope you enjoy! Remember that you can click on the picture for a larger image!


A rare treat every year, my Mr. Lincoln rose. Not quite blooming, but always a site to behold either way.


'Rondo' Penstemon. I just added this one to my gardens. I am a huge fan of all things penstemon and keep adding to my collection every year.




Rocky Mountain Penstemon


This little bugger was so hard to catch, but he was filled with pollen, and he just LOVES my Zebrina Mallow!


I personally want to thank Lauren Springer for having me stumble upon this gem. Knautia. I absolutely love it when it's in full bloom.

Reminder to self...and help with plant ID?

When telling my 6-year-old son to pull weeds, make sure I point out what is a weed and what are seedlings.

Just lost my Alcea rosea 'Nigra'.

On a positive note, I went to go visit my father and finally saw his gardens in early June for the first time. Absolutely breathtaking. He also was kind enough to dig up some plants for me that had volunteered, so I have more digging to do!

Here's a couple of plants he was kind enough to share with me. I know the genus, but not necessarily the exact and was wondering if anyone could help?

I know it's a type of Allium..but what kind?


It's a salvia, but I don't recognize the pink spires after blooming...without the pink stems! Any help?



Here's another pic: