Garden Movie 2012

August means hot and muggy in Tucson!

I am so happy that we are getting a great monsoon! My plants need it so much. Even cactus need water. Could this summer bring more rain please! Check out some ofr my cactus blooms here El Nino Winter is expected this year. I am hoping to see a lot more blooms next year.

The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.

Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, 'Please wake me at 5:00 AM.' He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and
he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, 'It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.'

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

My winter gardening post

I am now into cactus, so there isn't much to do for cactus in the winter.

I let the poor things rest. I DON'T water them. They grow very slowly if at all in the winter. I have a few blooms still but not too many. The rains of winter provide all the water they need. It kills me not to water them, but they don't need it. I have a terrible habit of watering my plants. That is sad part of winter, no blooms, or watering, or feeding, or trimming. Spring will be here soon. Check out some of my blooms this year. Click Here

So, with little to do, I clean the yard, and wait til spring.... whimper. I do have a few plants that I bring inside. I have a plumeria that doens't like cold. I will bring it in soon. Until then I Tweet, on Twitter about spring.

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Favorite Recipes

OK, it is recipe time. I know, it doesn't make sense on a gardening page. But, gardeners get hungry too!

My Favorite Recipe of all time.

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs.

3 ingredients

3-4 TSBP Smokey Mesquite Seasoning. (I prefer Weber brand)
1 pork rib section. (10-15 ribs)
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

On a large ovensafe brownie, cookie sheet lay the ribs meaty side up.
Generously cover entire top of ribs with mesquite seasoning.
Flip over to boney side, repeat seasoning. Leave boney side of rib rack facing up.

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Place ribs in oven for 30 minutes.
Take ribs out of oven and flip rib rack to meaty side up.
Roast in oven 15-20 minutes longer.
Remove from oven.
With great care, (the ribs will be very hot and slipery) separate/cut ribs into 2 rib segments and place them into a slow cooker set on high.

Pour entire bottle of BBQ sauce over ribs. Add a little water to the slow cooker. This helps the ribs stay moist.

Let cook for 4 hours or until you can't stand it one second more.
Your house will smell awesome.
Serve with tons of napkins.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment.

August 31st is here.. yeah! well, we can only hope the monsoons will come back. They have come and gone and come back a few times. Somehow, it hasn't rained much at my house. Everywhere but my house has had a good monsoon. I will keep my fingers crossed. I have big plans for fall for my garden. It would help tremendously not to have to replace any existing plants do to drought. I have lost a few plants, but not too many. I have to water even though it is monsoon season. Sad, but true. I will upload more photos this weekend.

I have tons of maintenence work to do in my garden, when it gets cooler. This includes painting and relocation of some plants. I am looking forward to October. I seem to like April and October for planting. October is fun, cool and far away at the moment. September is still hot, and dry. October is cool, and rains come back. I need to write down my ideas for my fall garden. Cactus and vines. I love vines. Does anyone know good vines to grow in Tucson Arizona? I grow cats claw easy.

Take care and Happy Gardening.

Monsoons are Nonsoons.. yikes

August, if I survive it, is almost over. My garden needs water. Monsoons have skipped my house so far. There is still some time, but, it has been a huge disapointment. I still have to water in the mornings. Most years I don't water at all because of the monsoons.

It is spring  so here is my photo collection so far!



I will add to it daily. Enjoy!

Hey, iti's been a great day.  I had a friend stop by and take me out on an adverture.  We drove all around the Tucson Mountains and saw all the wildflowers blooming.  It was a shocker.  Lots of houses where I didn't remember houses.  I grew up in the area, but it was not built up then.

Anyway, I ran into an old friend that I hadn't seen in many many years.  It was great talking about old times.
She has chihuahuas too!  Her chi was named Skosh!  what a great name.  I kept calling it Squirt~  very funny.  Adorable... I saw another chi there too.  It's name was Bubby.   Both were ADORABLE!  My dogs were not happy when I got home!!!!

More later

Yah! it's Sunday

Well, it is spring in Tucson and I am on my way to my garden.
I think gardening is the best.  I makes my happy. 
Everytime something blooms I am so excited. 

Yesterday I did so much of the hard stuff, today I can chill.

I have some soft jazz on the stereo, and coffee in my  cup.

It seems that life has calmed back down.  I am grateful for this.  It got way crazy and I don't like craziness.
I am just going to take it easy today and get a balance in my life. Finally the cold has left, or at least most of it. I don't have a thing I need to do today.  I will just play with my dogs and putter in my garden.

I will catch up on some podcasts, study spanish and pray.  All good things.

Hugs world... take care..

Life just went crazy, but oh well, ROLL WITH IT!

#1 Since my last post, life has gone crazy.  My life that use to be very controled, and predictable, isn't.
My job had pay cuts of 10%!  This is not good.  I have all other expenses rising and spring planting on its way.  YIkes.  My budget was stretched before he cutback.   Well, at least I still have a job.  This recession is getting old. Obama please do something...more on my polictical views on a different page of this blog coming later.

A girlfriend at work decided it was time to leave an impossible marriagel  So she moved in last night.  Just a short stay.  But, still stressful.

On top of all that a friend of mine died.  Her name was Irene.  I need to go to Green Valley and hang out with her friends today.  No gardening.. Just grieving.

Sometimes life just goes crazy.. and you just have to roll with it.

ok, I came home sick from work. I slept a few hours and felt better. 
I felt well enough to pull weeds. Not for too long though.  Today was a beautiful, but  windy day.
I started for feel bad quickly.  I did get all the weeds in the front yard taken out.  There is so much work to be done.

I should get the following stuff done this weekend.

Saturday
1.  Go to the Tohono Chul plant sale.
2.  Rake the front yard. and trim plants
3. Move the rocks from the front yard to the back yard.
4. repair and check the entire irrigation system in front. 

Sunday
1.Decorat newly planted cactus garden with rocks.and other items
2. Get new water timer for irrigation system and install
3. Check irrigation all over yard.
4. Plant more cactus.around yard.
5. Trim California pepper tree.

Yikes, I hope I get to see friends at some point. 
I should do more, but I should warm up to the gardening .. not just right in.

Oh yeah I forgot to write about last weekends big gardening adventure.
I planted all the cactus I had in pots all over the yard.  I made paths and hills.
I think I will save a ton on my water bill, pl.us this garden is so much prettier than the dead grass I had.
I won't waste water either.  I didn't realize I had so many cactus.  They probably won't bloom this year.
i am glad I did this while the weather was still cool.  I is easier for the cactus to establish themselves in cooler weather.  I wonder if they will be ok.  Cactus is tough though.

More planning to be done for the garden!   I have planted cilantro about  2 weeks ago. Salsa here we come! I see the first starts comming up.  I just love to be a gardener because I feel wonderful when I see the  beautiful living things grow. I don't have to deal with the crazy world when I garden.  No problems, danger, things to worry about.  I get to be in the outdoors, and be one with nature.  I can completly loose myself.  My dogs help me garden too.  They dig holes but not in the right places. I let them think they are helping.  They too enjoy the outdoors, fresh airs and hanging out with nature and me. 

So, spring is almost here.  I will get up earlier, say 5 am and start gardening for an hour or so, then get ready for work.  Weekends will be filled with planning, planting and watering.  I will try to get most of the big stuff done early, before the weather starts to get hot. Mornings start to get warm around May, and it gets hot in June.  Plants do better if you don't transplant them in the heat.  So I have tons to do!

Every morning I will check for new blooms  If  something blooms I will photograph it and put it up here for all of you to see.  I have hundreds of photos on flickr.com from previous years. (Click on the photos above to be take to flickr.com to see the entire set) 

My bedroom is designed to look like a garden.  The top half of the room is sky blue, and the bottom is brown.  It looks like the sky and the ground.  All around the room are large framed posters of my favorite photos from the garden.  I will make more this year and swap them out as needed. Life is too shart not to enjoy yourself.  There is pleny of time to be serious at work.  Live it up!

More tomorrow..

Hear we go.
Spring is almost here. I have a list of items to get done.

1. Get weeds under control. The rains have been great but the weeds are coming back.

2. Plan my garden. I took out the grass last weekend. New area is ready to plant! I will draw it out. I will also cultivate from existing plants to save money.

3. Trim back whatever has frozen this year. This is not too bad this year. My bouganvilla froze and died, but that leaves a great spot for a large cactus. I will have to write it into the plan.

4. Clean out the fountain. It's a mess, and needs a good scrubing.

Hey World

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Sorry. Anyway, it had been so long that I forgot my password and had to fight the mighty powers to get a new one.

It is raining in Tucson.... we need it so badly. Yeah... but I was going to take the grass out of my back yard today. RATS.. oh well. Weeds love rain. Maybe the will grow and kill my grass. I got tired of trying to keep grass green. I costs way too much in dollars and my time.

I got a new laptop and fell in love with Twitter. I am glad about both. Twitter knows me as @tucsonchica Follow me on twitter.

Hey the rain seems to be subsiding... yeah!!! The sun may try to peep out soon. Maybe the grass pulling out process is on!

More later

OK I am back!

What I wanted to say was I recovered completely from the toe fungus. I am so glad I have attacked it and got it under control. I have heard of people who have fungus in their toenails for years.

All I do now is continue scrubbing the toes, all of them and keep my feet off the floor.
I wear shoes. I do put moisturizer on my feet every day. So, I hope the events I have written about has helped others. Thats what blogs are suppose to do for everyone. Help each other.

So, Spring is almost hear. I have so many things to get started in my garden.

Moving on... from feet back to gardening.

Hey, by the way, if you tweet on http://www.twitter/, look me up. I am @tucsonchica


6 months.. yes, 6 months of recovery from the nail fungus that once attacked my toes.

Yikes... all better now. They are healty and pink. Most of the 6 months was the time it took for the nails to grow back. I think the actual fungus stuck around for around 3 months. It slowly retreated. In the wake it left a yellow, dried out nail.

I think this blog should go back to the orinal gardening blog it use to be. Let the past be the past...but first some last words about the ordeal. Yes, it was an ordeal....

The only thing I want to say is that don't give up. Keep up the care. Even if there is no significant improvement..I would suggest to see a doctor if the fungus gets worse after you have treated it for a month.

Read all the posts that I have written about the cure of Toe Nail Fungus. Try my solutions, or invent your own. the true solution is ATTENTION. Strange as that seems, I think that fungus doesn't like attention. Once I started the care, the fugus started to RETREAT. I might be crazy, but I will never ignore my feet again. Most important of all... no more pedicures from strip mall Nail Salons. Nope, not me.. I have learned my lesson.

I spend the time to take care of the feet that allow me to walk, run, skip, and experience life. etc.



I had taken my feet for granted for most of my life. NO more.



Everyday I still scrub all my foot with Tea Tree Oil soap (infused with 1/2 ounce pure tea tree oil) as though I am going into surgery.

I still where shoes EVERYWHERE. Inside, outside... and no POLISH! Toe nails need to breathe!!!!!!!

I still where clean white socks in my athletic shoes.

I keep the heels free of caluses, and moisturized and toe nails short.


It has been fun journaling about the problem, but, it is time to move on. I know it is sad, but it is a good thing. Healing and letting go!

Anyone seen a good movie lately?

Gardening now is for weekends only. I can't see in the dark.

I did have 3 gorgeous blooms on my cactus this morning. Amazing for a November day. It has been extra warm this month. I have never had a cactus bloom in November before. AWESOME !

Have a great day!
Hugs Coriel aka at twittter: @tucsonchica

Turtle Pumpkin Pie recipe at Kraftfoods.com

Turtle Pumpkin Pie recipe at Kraftfoods.com

Toe Nail fungus - continues to improve

Hey, it is almost winter, and several weeks into wearing closed toed shoes. I haven't seen the return of the fungus. I must admit I wear socks with tennis shoes. I pull off the shoes the minute I get home. I thought it would be a bad thing, but shoes and socks keep the toes cleaner than they were in sandals.

I still scrub them every morning, as though I am going into surgery. I also scrub all my foot. I use Tea Tree Oil soap, infused with more tea tree oil. I have listed all the item I used in a previous post.

Maybe, (gasp) I was wrong about closed toed shoes. If they shoes don't squeeze your toes together, and you are wearing socks, I think it is ok. I only wear sneakers during the week, and change to sandals for the weekend.

Maybe, just maybe I am protecting the toes from dirt, and further injury by wearing socks.
I assume so, as the disease has not made a come back. I still put on vapor rub on the toes that were affected every morning. I won't stop being aware of the fact that moisture is bad.

Anyone out there have a comment? Reply to this post. How are you getting rid of your disease?

I was thinking that fungus is a parasite... eeeeeeewwww. It can't live where I won't let it.
It bothers me that I went so long with out nail/foot care. I thought that pedicures once a month WAS GOOD CARE. With the help of the technician lying to me about the black stuff on my toe being a bruise. That is what bothers me. She lied so I wouldn't know she gave me fungus. She wanted me to come back, over and over. She didn't care about me or my health. She didn't want me going around telling people about the disease she gives to poor unfortunate clients.

Going forward I will continue keeping up the scubbing, moisturizing, and removing callous from the heels.

I have't spent a dime in pedicures, but the feet look good.

Write me, and let me know how your process is going.
It is winter, and I am inside, instead of out in my garden. I have time to reply to folks.

Remember, no pedicure from strip mall salons!!! or anywhere else for that matter.
Fight the urge... GO BARE...

ok, now I have an issue I need help with...

Here is a great blog on the subject I had never considered using lemon grass oil. If you have tried this product, please let me know how it works.

Earlier I blogged that sandals are the answer to keeping toe nail fungus away... I still believe this, but my new job requires that I wear closed toed shoes. NOW What....?

I guess I will where them, with socks... clean white socks. You do what is required, and hey, jobs are not easy to find.

I will take them off when I get home and dry out my shoes... wearing a different pair of shoes every day will help. Shoes that are dry, and clean must be better than dirty moist shoes. Glad I live in Tucson! It is very dry here, especially in September. I can take sandals with me in the car and change shoes in the car. In some parts of the world, this may be a problem.

I will keep you informed. EEEEEEGAD.....

As far as treatment goes, I am still scrubbing my toes every morning with Tea Tree oil soap, infused with real tea tree oil. ( As though my toes are going into surgery) I bought the product at Wal Mart and added my own pure Tea Tree oil in addition to what ever strength that it had in it. I really don't want the toe nail fungus to come back. Duh!!!!

I guess I went way over board in this endevour. But, hey, I could do worse. I do run out of nail brushes quite often. Don't ever let anyone else use your foot care tools, as fungus is contagious.

In addition to the extensive cleaning in the shower every morning, I put on Sea Breaze astringent. That alcohol based product really soaks into the nail and attacks the fungus, and appears to keep the black stuff away. I found out that the fungus can permanently change your nail growth, and act as a parasite to your body.

That's it ... no more toe nail medicine, as all indications are that the fungus has gone.
I still put my toes in the sun whenever possible. The healing power of the sun was key to the removal of the fungus.

And I wear shoes/ slippers all the time. Inside and outside. This was the most difficult change as I have spent most of my life bare footed. Learning to wear comfy slippers inside was a challenge. In winter it will be easier.

Reminder: Toe Nail Fungus doesn't like

Sunlight / Fresh air
Clean DRY enviroments
Mycocide - Walmart $20.00 Camp Phenique, Vicks Vapor Rub, Sea Breeze Astringent
Attention of any kind ( it likes to be left alone and go unnoticed.)
Alcohol based products
Tea Tree oil /Tea Tree oil soap scrubs daily


So, provided you keep the above in mind, fungus should not be on your feet.

Please reply and let me know how your are doing with your efforts.