Growing Impatiens for Spring

Thank you all for your kind comments on yesterday's post concerning our frightening little episode. I am pretty sore today after singlehandedly pulling the range around the kitchen after it caught fire yesterday, our island is a very heavy piece of furniture and I moved it too. I must have breathed in a considerable amount of smoke and the fumes from the fire extinguisher because I coughed all night, which is another reason for the soreness. Thankfully that has pretty much subsided.

Today was a major cleaning day in the kitchen. How in the world does all that junk and gunk get behind and underneath appliances? YUCK! We've decide to get a new floor put down before we get another range. This home was a builder spec, so we had no choices in the building process. They put in the cheapest WHITE vinyl flooring and I have hated it with a passion. A golden retriever and a gardener do not need a white kitchen floor, really, who does? They're coming tomorrow to measure for the new floor and I've been clearing the pantry and laundry room floors and scrubbing the smoky dust off everything. I had been spending way too much time on Blotanical and things were quite dusty. :)

While working I kept reminding myself that I needed to take care of the impatiens today. I had great germination success with both the purchased seeds and the ones I collected and saved. They already had the second set of leaves and were getting very crowded in their little peat pots. They had to be thinned.

This is the hardest part of the whole growing process for me. I hate to thin plants and then throw perfectly good little plants away. I have a tendency to put off this painful process at the peril of all the seedlings. I attempt to spare as many plants as possible while thinning. Last year the impatiens that were transplanted didn't fare as well as those that stayed undisturbed in the peat pots. I still have to try though.

I soaked the containers, that were saved from plants I purchased last year, in a bleach and water solution to make sure they were disease and pest free. I then filled them with a sterile seed starting mix and transplanted the impatiens with the most roots attached. I had a perfect sized box that I put into a trash bag to make it water proof. It isn't pretty but it's economical. Hopefully, these little transplants will do better than last years. I still had to throw away so many though. I wonder if I'll ever get used to that.

I am growing impatient for spring.

Much To Be Thankful For Today

I was on my way out the door today to go to the nursing home to see my mother-in-law, when the phone rang. It was actually a call from the Director of Activities at the nursing home, who had a few questions regarding her f-i-l who was just diagnosed with dementia.

While on the phone with her, my son, who was downstairs preparing lunch, came and told me that there were sparks in the oven. I went downstairs and opened the oven door and the heating element was on fire and it was spreading to the bottom of the oven! I quickly got off the phone and pulled the oven from the wall to unplug it. I moved the island and the kitchen table and pulled the range to the sliding glass doors, it wouldn't fit and the fire was spreading. I had my daughter call 911 and I grabbed the flour and threw a hand full in the oven, causing it spread more. I then remembered that we had a small fire extinguisher somewhere in the pantry. I had never used one before and had no time to read the instructions. Thankfully, I figured it out without difficulty and put the fire out. About that time, the police pulled up, and a couple of minutes later the fire department came with two trucks and a rescue unit. They quickly reassured me that the fire was completely out and they graciously moved the range to the garage.

I was pretty shaken, having seen once how quickly a kitchen fire can spread, but other than a ruined range and some difficulty from breathing in the smoke and chemicals from the extinguisher, we came out of this one pretty well. I'm so thankful that I had not yet left the house, the outcome might have been far different.

It is pretty shocking that a heating element can get so hot that it splits into and completely disintegrates as it burns. Scary.

So, I guess I'll be getting a new range now.

Oh, and the above picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, other than it was one of my first attempts and creating a collage. I still have difficulty doing that on Adobe Photoshop Elements and need a lot more practice, but it's fun to play with.

February Garden Blogger Bloom Day

This month marks the one year anniversary for Carol's Garden Blogger Bloom Day. I started Robin's Nesting Place in early April and participated in my first GBBD that same month and have done so each month since. This months will be short because I have almost nothing in bloom. Even my kalanchoe gave up and doesn't have a single bloom. I'm so glad I have this lovely primrose, she is certainly the best of the February GBBD show .

I am still amazed at how long this orchid has bloomed, I think I said this last month too. I had never had one before, because it is hard for me to justify spending that much money for an indoor plant. Thankfully, this one was on clearance when I bought it.

The gerbera daisies have survived the winter indoors so far and are still giving be blooms. This one is the only one with an open bloom, but several others are putting out new buds.

I've already visited several southern gardens for GBBD, the blooms are so refreshing to see, yet at the same time they invoke a bit of that little green monster called envy. I'm trying to remember that spring will be here soon too.

Pink on Parade For Valentine's Day

Angela from the Cottage Magpie gave a challenge to do a post on pink things around our homes. It was very easy for me to find pink things because I love feminine things and use a lot of floral patterns in my home. Usually I'm drawn to the rose patterns with pinks and reds. When selecting journals or notebooks, I also usually go for the most feminine floral ones.



I'm also drawn to pink flowers in the garden. For some reason, they are the ones that make me the happiest. Since I've become interested in photography, I've discovered that pink flowers are generally the easiest to photograph.



Without further delay here are my pinks on parade.



























~Happy Valentine's Day~

Birds in the Snow

We were expecting quite a winter storm but thankfully most of it bypassed us. It was just enough snow to make the roads messy.

I'm from Alabama, on the rare occasion when it snows in Alabama you go to the store to get enough food for a month and you don't drive in it. I have been fortunate that even though I've been here for seven years, I haven't had to get out on the roads before the snow plows run.

Yesterday was different, the roads were horrible and I had to take my daughter to work and then go pick her up afterwards. Not fun! Now I remember why I hibernate in the winter. I much prefer the Alabama way.

I'd much rather sit at home and watch the birds. So much more relaxing.



See how relaxed Libby and Lilly are when they watch the birds? Much better than freezing windshields, messy roads and white knuckles.