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Best Photography Blog

Now relax, look deep into these eyes before you even think about voting for someone else if you know what’s good for you.

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No threats this time. I promise your life will be full of flowers and butterflies if you vote for me.

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Let me remind you that not voting for me is an udder mistake. I’d hate to have to tag you. Moohaha

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Yosemite Sam’s “Widows & Orphans Fund”

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Life in the country doesn’t necessarily take on a slower pace. Rural residents have the same work, family and family pressures that keep us as busy as any urban dweller. We run in the same rat race but if you look at our roads you’ll see a big difference. We don’t have as many contestants.

We also have more than fellow rats on our roads and the state has put up some signs to make us aware of a few of them. The most common of all around here is likely to bring you to a dead stop.

30 some years ago deer were hardly seen but with the decline of small farms much of the marginal land has been left to grow wild and it’s become a boon to the deer. Now it’s nearly impossible to drive anywhere without seeing one. Hitting a deer is a common experience I share with many north country residents.

Not all the small dairy farms have vanished so once in a while there are more cows than vehicles on the road in Pierrepont. Being put out to pasture around here doesn’t necessarily mean someone is going to have a retirement party.

Horses signs can be spotted too although you really don’t see horses on the road that often except pulling an Amish Buggy.

So of course we have signs for that. Now this is Life in the Slow Lane

Drive enough around here and you’ll come up behind something there are no warning signs for.

I take it all in stride. I’ve learned to slow down but sometimes I wonder if I’ve taken it too far when it comes to work. I seem to attract attention that worries me just a little.

My eyes are bigger than my truck. Picking out plants at my favorite nursery is always a challenge. Like a kid in a candy store I want just about everything in sight. Wanting at least 25 of each doesn’t help. So there I am trying to get acres of choices to fit into my truck. Even using a two level system doesn’t help provide enough space. My wallet proved to be too big for my truck too and I had to come home with cash unspent

I end up as always having to make tough choices. I want variety so the count for each choice is limited. After careful consideration I end up with 13 different varieties and a total of 116 plants

- 4 types of Astilbes (21 pots) will make a good start at one job.
- 3 types of Sedum (31 pots) are not nearly enough to go around to 3 different jobs.
- 20 pots of Ajuga is not gong to cover the area I had in mind.
- 2 varieties of Phlox (34 pots) will make a good start in 2 yards.

With no room to spare I managed to squeeze in a couple more plants I coun’t leave behind.

- 4 pots of Coneflower ‘Fatal Attraction’ will make guest appearences at a couple of places including my garden.
- 4 pots of Sanguisorba nenziesii are going to go into my garden. These are new to me and I’ll see how well they do before I use them elsewhere.
- 2 pots of Chrysanthemum ‘Snow Lady’ – These are a nice dwarf variety but there was just no room left – Big Sigh

So how much area will a truck load of plants cover?

Not much

It won’t take long to use these up. It’s getting late in the season so it looks like a return trip is going to happen sooner than later.

I can’t believe I forgot to take photos of the ‘Plantage’ while I was there. Next time I will so you can see how difficult it is to decide what to haul away.