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Showing posts with label Hilltop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hilltop. Show all posts

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Question for the crowd ...

Remembering that the only stupid question is the one left unasked ....

 Does anyone know what this flowering plant is called?  We only have this one plant in our front garden ... and it is doing beautifully in this heat!  It is tall ... maybe 24" tall ... with long, pointy leaves ... lots of fragrant pink blossoms on each stem top ... and is just a beaut!

Any one know?  I want to get some more, but don't know what it's called.

ETA:  thanks to some very kind readers ... it is Phlox!  I only knew of phlox as the kind that grows close to the ground, cascading over walls and flowers in culverts, etc.  Who knew that Phlox paniculata, known commonly as Summer Phlox ... or ... Garden Phlox ... or ... Perennial Phlox ... or ... Tall Phlox comes in gorgeous colors and blooms all summer -- just try a google image search and see all the gorgeous colors. [The culvert ground cover seems to flower in the spring and then loose its blooms and just is a green ground cover.]

The ironic thing?  A friend gave us "Tall Phlox" (supposed to be white) to transplant but ours hasn't bloomed yet.  But, boy that pink variety is having a "field day"!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

A Year Ago Today ...

We moved into "Hilltop Farm" ... and what an amazing year it's been! Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and good wishes that have gotten us where we are today.

We love you all and pray for you and yours daily!  May God bless you abundantly ... as He has us, here in the Old Dominion!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The start of something big ...

always begins with a small step (even if it does take all day on a balmy 60-degree spring day):
Today, dh and I began work on a tree house for the kiddoes ... these two 2x8x12s are the start for a platform that will elevate the kids about 10' up ... with rope ladder, rope bridge to another platform (anchored by a nearby oak) and generally a place to hide-out/sleep-out.  For now, the large beams are holding up a swing ... and they are loving it!

More to come as this particular project progresses here at Hilltop!

BTW, here's what a clafouti looks like ....
This is the one we made for St. Bernadette's feast (Friday, April 16th) ... mixed berries and slivered almonds, since I had to use almond extract as I ran out of vanilla extract (who runs out of vanilla extract!!!!!)

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Hospitality: visits from old friends are the best!

We are so fortunate because we have dear friends who
don't mind driving hours (even in Friday traffic on I-95) to come visit us ...
sleep on our floor ...
hang out drinking good wine and smoking (or just smelling) good cigars ...
playing at the lake twice in one day ...
staying up late reading ...
cooking sausages over a barbeque while pancakes sizzle on the griddle ...
even sharing a good cry or two!











So, from Hilltop Farm,

thank God for old friends and their new babies (two since last we hung out together!) ...

Make new friends, but keep the old
one is silver and the other gold!


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Farm: Mad dogs, Englishmen and my dh

We've been living here at Hilltop Farm now for six weeks and the theme for the last week or so has been ....

At twelve noon the natives swoon, and no further work is done -
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

(song by Noel Coward, 1932)

But, Mr. Coward forgot my dh in that description.
You see, my dh is a school teacher and August is rapidly coming to a close and so, even though "it's one of those rules that the biggest fools obey, because the sun is much too sultry and one must avoid its ultry-violet ray" there is my dh in the front yard fighting the battle between the vinca and the liriope ... taming the much overgrown azaleas ... mulching the magnolia ... separating the pebbles from the topsoil so we can minimize the pebble areas and reap the harvest of the now-aerated dirt ... puttering in and amidst the natural beauty of this place.
Yes, dh is out in the 90+ (with humidity, more like 100) degree weather fixing the "farm" so that he can finish before the school year starts (or at least be at a reasonable stopping point).

Well, dh may be like the Englishmen and the mad dogs, but what am I?
I am out there too ... screeing gravel, spreading mulch, planning the garden produce and (most importantly) thoroughly enjoying the time with dh while the kiddoes are in the a/c playing! Only String Bean joins us occasionally. But that's ok ... because if it was good enough for Coward to sing about, it's good enough for us to do!
[I promise pictures soon of the work we will have done by the time dh goes back to teaching. we are whipping this long-neglected spot into shape!]