BOUNTIFUL DAISY’S

 

A little STORY about little DAISIES in my GARDEN!

ONCE UPON A TIME A GIRL named Elizabeth had the chance to plant and create a quarter of an acre.

She actually was so depressed by the backyard that came with the house she was almost in tears!

The backyard was full of PINE TREES and vinca and poison oak.

The land dropped off after a small deck.

Bottom line it was DARK and UNUSABLE!

CONTESSA SPOKE HER MIND,”I HATE PINE TREES AND DARK GARDENS!”

ITALIAN’s RESPONSE:THE BOYS AND DOGS WILL LOVE IT!

ALWAYS THE POSITIVE ONE THAT ITALIAN!

NEVER MIND I TOLD THE REAL ESTATE AGENT NOT TO SHOW HIM THIS HOUSE AFTER I HAD LEFT the country to go back to ITALY.

My job in 1994 was to find a HOUSE to buy in TEN DAYS.

I HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT REAL ESTATE AGENT IS READING THIS!

What did she do SHOW HIM OUR HOUSE TODAY!

WHY?

IT WAS THE CHEAPEST ONE ON THE MARKET!

SO,

THE ITALIAN came up with the plan!

To terrace it.

To create More usable space.

So, that is what we did!

Concrete planter pavers were stacked one on top of the other and filled with dirt.

HERE I STAND ON TERRACE TWO!

 (Wall behind me of green is concrete blocks)

The middle school in town was building a NEW GYM.

I told the truck driver to follow me home !

It was a short drive and cost zero money to DUMP!

I called THE ITALIAN thrilled with my cleverness.

He tells me there is NO WAY AN EIGHTEEN WHEELER CAN TURN TO DUMP IN OUR DRIVEWAY!

I TELL HIM THE MAN IS DOING IT NOW!

HE IS BRILLIANT!

HE HAS THE TRUCK JACK KNIFED.

(bent at an angle).

We had wonderful neighbors they all came to shovel a bit on the weekend!

THREE terraces and 26 years later

CONTESSA is NOT in TEARS ANYMORE!

Those slate stepping stones were put in this SPRING.

As we had grass for years but our pet GEESE ate it and then the PENNYROYAL that I planted from a 6-pack off our master bedroom took FLIGHT and self seeded way down there!IT was FABULOUS but it gave a PURPLE flower come summer……..that bothered me as my garden was ONLY yellow and white flowers.I HAD made my decision after reading THAT TWO COLORS GIVE MORE IMPACT.

WHAT IS THIS DAISY?

YELLOW AND WHITE!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU KNOW ME I WANTED A FLOWER STAGE!

BUT I LEFT IT ALONE!THE SMELL WAS INTOXICATING AND THE FLOWER WAS VERY SHORT LIVED!

Weeds arrived and other assorted growth so it was not what one would call PRETTY.

IN the winter it became muddy.

SO,THE ITALIAN WENT TO WORK AGAIN.

STONES IN PLACE AND WE PLANTED MORE PENNYROYAL.

BANKSY LIKES PENNYROYAL HE EATS IT……..SO WE PLANTED MORE!

AND PRAYED!

AS SPRING ARRIVED AND WE WERE HUNKERED DOWN FOR COVID-19 for months a green plant started to GROW.

THE ITALIAN wanted to chop it back………..I SAID NO!

TO ME WEED OR FLOWER THE GREEN WAS BETTER THAN THE DIRT!

THEN I REALIZED WHAT IT WAS………..

Daisies symbolize innocence and purity.

This stems from an old Celtic legend. … Freya is the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, and as such the daisy came by symbolize childbirth, motherhood, and new beginnings. Daisies are sometimes given to congratulate new mothers.

(WELL, I AM A NEW GRANNY!)

THE TYPE OF DAISY THAT HAS APPEARED IN MY GARDEN IS GERMAN CHAMOMILE.

Chamomile is the common name used for several species, but German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is the one with tiny white daisy-like blooms on spindly stems.

As the LITTLE CONTESSA in training taught me they can become EARRINGS!

YOU GRANDMOTHER’s out there can have fun teaching and sharing this NEW TRICK to YOURS!

Tip: Cut the stem long and turn like your screwing a nail to get it in your ear!

 

EVEN THE ITALIAN WAS HAPPY!

LOOK HOW TALL IT GREW!

THEN THE STAR JASMINE BLOOMED!

BOTH OF THESE IN THE SAME WEEK!

I AM LIKE A LITTLE KID IN A CANDY SHOP!

 

MEANWHILE back in the KITCHEN we were having a nightly visitor!

BANANAS are kept on the kitchen table for MR. BANKSY’s daily breakfast.

A Banana was eaten three nights in a row………skin pulled off and discarded on the table.

NO POOPS like a MOUSE would leave behind!

SO I MADE A TRAP………..CORNMEAL.

TRA LA…………we have tracks!

 THE ITALIAN thought it was a BIRD as there was no trail of POOP.

I was more inclined to think it was a little Mouse as THAT CAT loves to bring them and show me!

When HE is not resting up after a NIGHT of HUNTING!

PLEASE PLAY DETECTIVE…….what is your OPINION?

BIRD or RODENT?

Could this adorable ORANGE CAT have caught a little varmint and left him to his own devises running around MY HOUSE?

SUN BATHING through the SKYLIGHT!

MEANWHILE BACK INTO THE DAISIES I GO while you contemplate!

I may NEVER come OUT!

JASMINE and Abutilon meet THE SPANISH STEPS!

 

BELOW WATCH BANKSY THE TEA CUP PIG WALTZ THROUGH THE DAISIES!

51 seconds of video 

 

 

 

THERE IS YOUR ANSWER!

A VERY SMALL Minnie Mouse?

THAT tail goes on FOREVER!

Does that mean it’s a RAT?

LAST TWO NIGHTS HE HAS BEEN A NO SHOW!

 

GUESS WHAT…………HE IS BACK!

HE NEEDS A NAME?

LONG TAIL

SUPER SLEUTH

LORD MOUSE

PLEASE ADD TO THE LIST………….XX