Gardening in the Desert (in November!)

I believe that I have mentioned that I am an iris "fancier". I brought a small number of iris with me to the desert and The Mister built me two "boxes" for them to live in.

The first year, we did not have the watering schedule quite right, but the second year, I had some lovely blooms.

The problem was, though, that I could only see the blooms if I went out the backdoor, around to the side parking area and walked behind whatever was parked there.
This is the view from beside the car trailer looking back between the pick-up camper and the cinder block wall. Not exactly a "garden setting"....


You can see that they look a little neglected. That is because they have been neglected!

The other bed looked worse!

That is because these guys have been eating the rhizomes (the fleshy part of the plant that stores all the energy for next years growth).

After the initial surprise of being thrown out of their comfy flower bed, they are pretty fast!

These two guys were racing back to the dirt.... for a minute...

Anyway, The Mister volunteered to move the boxes to the front yard.

Any gardening in the desert begins with this:

Once I saw an article in the paper about putting in a lawn. It began with, "First dig up your yard and take it to the land fill. Then buy some good dirt."

This is the new location. You can see that there is a large trailer parked cheek by jowl with the flower bed. In order to bring the plants, plant markers,the dirt, shovel, the soil amendments etc, it was necessary to put the ramp of the trailer down and open the side door. Then, I walked through the trailer and out the side door with each load. (The other option was through the kitchen and living room and out the front door.)

After another trip to the garden center for more soil, I got the plants in the ground.

It is still an odd feeling for me to be planting in November. In my Kansas garden, if the plants were not in the ground by Labor Day, or at the very least Columbus Day, it was iffy that they would make it through the winter. Here, they still have a couple of months for the roots to get established before winter.

Another thing that is different is that in my previous garden, I only watered once a week, or so, to get plants established. Then, if they couldn't make do with what mother nature provided, they couldn't stay in my garden.

Now, every plant gets its own little sprinkler!

I am really excited to have my flowers in the front yard where I can see them easily and share them with passers-by! I hope I have some photos of lovely blooms to share next year!

The Car is the Star!

In Las Vegas, there are many conventions. This week is Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week. There is a huge gathering of car people (mostly men but some women), who are fans of cars and all things automobilia. It is a joint convention of SEMA (Specialty Equipment) and AAPEX (Automotive Aftermarket Products). If you have a car guy (or gal) in your home, then you know that all the famous car people come to these shows to see, be seen, and sell!

At the Expo Center, there are millions of square feet of space devoted to car parts, products etc. Each seller tries to attract attention to their booths.

One booth used my car to attract attention!



The good people of Clean Tools requested the presence of my Isetta to grace their booth! I must say that it looked right at home and very special! I was so proud to see it looking all shiny and cutie-wootie!

At the end of the week, it will come home and leave the glamour life behind. There are no more car shows until spring, so it will have to be content with getting attention from the occasional visitor to the garage!

In my garden

Before I moved to the desert, I had a garden with lots of flowers, but mainly iris. (actually, hundreds of iris) When we prepared to move I tried to find homes for them with my neighbor, my garden club friends and, for the favorites, with Dearest Sister.

I brought a few (20 or so) with me, but our yard does not have much room to plant things. Most of it is covered with concrete, or rock with specimen plantings of shrubs and palm trees.

The Mister built a couple of planter boxes in the RV Parking side of the yard for the iris. Nothing like the place of honor along the front walk of our old yard, but a place for my old friends.

Our back "yard" and I use the term loosely, has a wall that separates our yard from the yard behind us has a lovely vine growing on it.

Our first spring, we were delighted to see the flowers that appeared!




After the flowers, there were little green berries! Imagine our surprise when we returned from a fall vacation to this!




They turned a bright red-orange in the ten days or so that we were away.

I still miss the plants and flowers of the mid-west, but I am learning the flowers and plants in this dry, harsh environment and learning to appreciate them more as each season passes.

It happened again!

I am working on a set of tea towels for Dearest Sister to give to her MIL as a holiday gift.

I had a mishap with towel number two and had to repair a small fray that occurred when I was pulling the fabric tight in the hoop.

Towel number three was nearly finished when the same thing occurred! I was finishing it up and a passer-by asked what I was working on. I attempted to pop it out of the hoop and show her, when I felt the same "give" in the fabric. Sure enough, the fabric had given way, although fortunately, not as severely as with towel number two!

Thankfully, number four was completed without issue, but I finally took steps to prevent it from happening again.

I bought this adjustable hoop.

My regular hoop is a vintage wooden one with no adjustment screw to catch my thread. The inner hoop is oh-so slightly smaller with an inset of felt sort of inlaid that holds the fabric secure.

I have used it successfully for many, many projects and it feels like an old friend.

I am kind of liking this new one, though. Who knew that I would be won over by "new technology"!

Home again!

Eleven days and 3200 miles later, we are home!

Some highlights:

Fall foliage!


String Cheese from Oceola Cheese Company, Oceola, MO. Worth the trip if you are within 100 miles!

Birthday lunch in honor of Dear Daughter (Ms A) with Wisest Sister at Andre's- Worth the trip if you are within 200 miles!

A wonderful visit with Dear Aunt - I had a really good time asking about some of the family history.

A visit to Greensburg - to see the progress in rebuilding.

Completed travel projects :

Four dishcloths (using up odds and ends of yarn)

Five baby hats for a charity knitting project.

Two more tea pot tea towels!

I am glad to be home, wearing sleeveless t-shirts and going barefoot! It was really cold some of the days of travel - even for someone who has gotten used to the desert!

Heaps of laundry awaits, so more particulars later!