Week 20- Oregon City, Oregon - May 15- May 21, 2023

In 2021, I collected many flower heads/seeds from some white daisies that were growing in the corner of our hay field.  I carefully plucked off all the the seeds (about a million seeds), mixed them into some potting soil, and then in the spring of 2022, I flung them all over the upper part of First Slope.  In 2022 the plants grew - but not tall, and they did not flower.  In 2023 however, in the spring, the plants grew wildly, forming big bushes, they showed buds and then flowered - beautifully.  We've tried to identify them and can come up with a "maybe" name.  We thought that they might be biennials but can't find any white biennial daisies in our plant books.  And this is why, in all of my plant ID classes, I never had to key a plant in the Compositae family any further than just saying "the plant is in Compositae family.  We may never know, and Helen Gilkey and LaRae Dennis have both died.  Here is our final name, Chyrsanthemum leucanthemum, Oxeye Daisy.

 

And, here they are today, May 21st, covering First Slope with their wonderfulness.

Our books say it is a perennial and very common.  It'll probably turn into a weed.

Cats are still happy.  Will be interesting to see how they react when W&W come home.

I added to a wildlife habitat - in Sector 1.  Haven't seen any wildlife yet.

Dad worked mightily in the garden.  He added mulch (sand and mulch) and fertilizer...all by hand and cultivated it with the tractor.

One day Bev's kids came over and helped plant sweet corn.

We picnicked in the front yard under the magnolia.

Speaking of trees ....of the eleven trees I planted last year, eight have survived!!!!!  I have place a red flag by each and a little individual bag of Irish Spring (deer repellant) tied to each one.

I finished two outdoor projects.  First was to finish cleaning up all of the rocks that a nasty squirrel spread all over the bark nuggets in the bed by the front door.  That little squirrel#$%&&!

I did the thankless job of cleaning up behind the barn - where three million maple seed had germinated.  I pulled everything out, rakes and hoed, and put everything back.  Also sprayed other maples that were further from the building.

Our ice maker stopped working - probably because it was very hot....and there might not have been enough circulation around the refrigerator because of all the hand towels on the top.  (I threw half of them out).

Bev's cat, Pickles, had another litter (May 17th).  This time she had only four.

We have started cutting firewood again.  I've saved a bunch of thin branches to make wood for the Solo Stove.

Nicely stored in 18 boxes under the balcony.   I'd like to do another six boxes before we leave on July 31.

My Mother's Day gift came - a PORTAL by Facebook.  It's kind of neat, but I have a lot to learn.

My first two sweaters I knit when I was in high school.  I used them for skiing.

Sunday dinner was at Bev's  Ryan related his experience on Saturday when he presided over the funeral of a Tongan ward member.  His adventure was hilarious -  of course we weren't living it.  There was tons of confusion between an LDS funeral by "the book" and a cultural Tongan funeral.  I should have recorded it.

Jessica made fry bread.  It was as good as last Saturday's.

..........and so went another week...quickly.