This morning I stepped outside to take in some morning air and my first impression was that I had been transported through time to Jonestown. I just hope the Kool-Aid is cherry flavor – my favorite. Oh by the way, white is not going to be the new color, this is just the coating.

Though Leo is the one that had to do all the work. I am proud of myself though for keeping my promise to clean out the bed on Thanksgiving Day weekend. I cleaned out the bulb bed, which was fairly simple, as all the green had turned brown. I did notice that several of the corms in the front had leveled up a bit. The worst part was the weeds. And you might notice in the upper left-hand corner some flowers that are going to bloom. My guess is that they are more Narcissus.

In the south bed, I decided to cut the Chrysanthemum at the stock, as they had grown to 3-four feet high. I am pretty sure they will grow back, but only time will tell. The Zantedeschia are very prominent now and very big. I was going to transplant the Hippeastrum into the south bed, but I want to wait until they bloom first.

And fortunately enough for me, I spotted this huge Latrodectus geometricus (brown widow) before she spotted me and decided to take a bite.

I must admit that I am very pleased to see more Narcissus coming up in my garden, though I am curious as to their decision to bloom in early fall versus spring, when I kind of expected them to bloom.

You know, I used to enjoy blogging, but now it seems to have become work. I think the main reason is because my devotion has changed to crocheting and knitting. I fear, too, that I have forced myself into a corner and I am now afraid to express myself  for fear of reprisal or negative repercussions from revealing too much about myself.

I began by journaling my personal life. Considering my current circumstances, I don’t feel that I have much too offer anymore. Much of this feeling has to do with the fact that I am not gainfully employed. You see, my confidence has always stemmed from my work and without work I feel I am nothing. I certainly have no money to participate in many social events and as such, my only companionship nowadays is my dog, Mojo, whom I love with all my heart.

I think I may get in the habit of daily posts again, journal-worthy or not. Perhaps this will be the beginning of restoring my confidence. My websites are paid for until April 14, 2011, so I better make good use of this blog until such time, as I already paid for a cell phone for one month and have not used it or received any calls, which accounts for a complete waste of money I can’t really afford to be spending.

A couple of days ago I noticed a Narcissus bloom…finally! And then I almost forgot to take  a picture! When I took the following picture yesterday, I noticed another bloom coming up. My best guess is that they needed to be in the ground and the moving them around delays the bloom.

This weekend I am hoping to do some serious gardening. I need to cut down the bulb bed, do some tree trimming and some transplanting.

These are the kind of fireworks Mojo and I like.

I was all excited, thinking I had spotted my first Latrodectus variolus (black widow). As it turns out, it is not a Latrodectus variolus, as much as it is a Latrodectus geometricus (brown widow). What should I expect at a Mexican home?

Daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Alaska’) are such happy flowers. I was obviously premature when I took the previous picture, as the flower had not opened up fully. Today’s image was a bit tough to get, as it was windy and Ms. Daisy was just flitting about without a care.

If it looks like a grasshopper, it doesn’t mean that it’s a grasshopper. Apparently, this Phaeneroptera nana (Mediterranean Katydid) is faring better than one of her relatives did in September 2009. If she ain’t careful, she may meet the same fate, as I have previously seen some webs hanging around flower garden. I think it’s so neat that I even have this insect in my yard. I wish there were more of them.

After fifteen months, I finally have my first Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Alaska’ bloom. I can’t believe it took so long, when the Tagetes I planted on June 7 started blooming within two weeks — both grown from seed.

I should be able to post a picture of my Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Alaska’ tomorrow or the following day. the petals are extruding from the bud and stretching out. I am surprised that my Tagetes grew and bloomed so fast – within a month – compared to my Leucanthemum, which has take approximately fifteen months since planting. In the meantime, I happened to glance over at my bulb bed and discovered – what I thought was an interesting caterpillar – Crocosmia flower pods.

While I was there I decided to take another picture of my Zinnia ‘Giants of California,’ as the bloom appears to have matured slightly, though I would hardly call them Giants with respect to the bloom.

I have noticed that the majority of my Chrysanthemums are yellow blooms when they should be half yellow and half purple. I wonder if the bees have been playing around in King Acres. This observation does not even taken into account that fact that my brother mowed about one third down, thinking they were weeds. Idiot!

Today I almost lost my breath at the beauty of this Gladiolus and its color.

And I am so disappointed with these Zinnias. This one grew to a height of approximately 2.5 feet and only gave a bloom approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. She’s lucky she even found her way to this bed and that I saved her from the six baby snails I found on her underside.

I am still patiently waiting for my Leucanthemum and Tagetes to bloom. Stay tuned. I must comment on the richness of my images viewed on my new iMac…phenomenal!