Fruit Trees are Pruned

Here's my Maggie, going to take a little nap. She is more spoiled than ever.
Today my favorite orchard man came over and pruned my fruit trees. They didn't need a lot of pruning, just kind of shaping them up. I was glad to hear that it's o.k. to plant flowers around the trees. I thought they would use too much of the fertilizer.
So, now I am excited about pruning the roses and deciding what I'm going to plant in the yard. I can't tell yet what will survive the low temperatures we had this winter.
I bought a new container of Round-Up the other day. This one is "extended" Round-Up. The saleman said it would kill the seeds as well as the weeds. I'll have to be careful where I use it. Definitely around the roses. I'm not going to plant anything else around the roses this year so I can get rid of the weeds!!!
Finally finished the January/February newsletter for the Winton Historical Society. They will go out Tuesday. Some of the members will meet late morning to fold them for mailing. Now it's time to start thinking about the next one. I hate to panic at the last minute. I'm hoping the people who said they are going to write a story will come through with it. If everyone sends in their story, it should almost fill the next issue.
Wouldn't that be wonderful. . . .

Overgrown

I never thought all the plants in the raised bed would get so big! Some of them will have to be removed. Joe the gardener will be here Saturday to work up the ground around the patio. Maybe this fall (or winter) a couple of the plants will be transferred there.
I'm still looking for the Red Coreopsis. I should have bought the sorry-looking plant I saw last winter! Oh well. I can always take a chance on that online nursery.
The newly planted Irises still look good, but I will be glad when new leaves start to grow, then I won't worry about them anymore.

The recipe book project is coming along nicely. We now have 410 recipes and I am getting anxious to look into publishing details. It's about time to form a cookbook committee to hash over the many options and make decisions. I'm ready!!
But we did give everyone until the end of December to submit their recipes and there are a lot of people who haven't sent in their favorites yet. We need a minimum of 500 and more would be better. So, send your favorite recipes to wintoncookbook@aol.com

I have another project going. I borrowed all the original newsletters from Andrea and I'm scanning them, making a jpeg out of each page; then insert them into WordPerfect so the pages in each newsletter will be in order and each newsletter will be one document. (And not each page a separate document) After that, each newsletter is made into the PDF format. I'm going to put them on CDs. Sometimes a new member of the Winton Historical Society wants all the back issues of the newsletter and we don't have copies left over. We will have these CDs available at the Winton Old Timers for $5.00 each. They can print out a hardcopy if they want or just read it on their computer.

Irises and Other Stuff

Isn't it amazing how Irises can multiply! I dug up 28 clumps from around the patio and had a carload to give away. Joe the gardener came Saturday and got the ground ready for my new Iris bed. I had room for 39 plants. I don't think I will have to dig them up again for about 3 years. Each little plant is so small and I worry that some won't make it, so then I want to keep duplicates, just in case. They are very hardy though and it's rare to lose any. But still,I need to find another spot for some left-overs. Those will be my give-aways next year.

The other day I was sitting on the patio and looking at the white tree rose and wondered about the black rope hanging from it. I didn't remember using a black rope when tying the trunk to the stake.
Finally decided to get up and go investigate, just in time to see this black and white stray cat jump out of the rose tree!! I've seen him in there now 3 days in a row. Wonder why he likes to get up there. There is no bird nest in it.
He sure likes to hang around here. I think Maggie's been bragging to the neighbor cats about how good she has it. She LOVES her canned cat food and as soon as she is through eating it, she wants to go outside. She's either bragging or it runs right through her.

I received 6 delicious recipes in the mail today from one of our Winton Historical Society members. I have to say, this centennial recipe book is looking like a real winner!! So many good recipes from our good cooks. We have 404 recipes now and we're hoping a lot more will be turned in at the Winton Old Timers next month.

Don't miss this chance to have your favorite recipes and your name included in this recipe book that is sure to be a collectors item in years to come. It will be a popular souvenir of Winton's Centennial celebration in 2011. Many people will want to buy this book for Christmas and birthday gifts as well.