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Guerneville

We stayed at a little cottage in Guerneville so that my husband could compete in the Iron Man triathlon in July. The Vine Man swim portion begins in the Russian River at Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville and then ends at Windsor.

creative-gardening-shoesMy husband rode his bike to the race start while we slept (5:00 a.m.!). Later, the kids and I took garden pictures of the beautiful rose garden at the cottages before driving to Windsor to watch Daddy transition from the bike to the run portion of the triathlon.

The cottages had a rose garden enclosed in a garden wall. I liked the little shoes on the garden wall. They must have been cemented on because my children didn’t attempt to try them on.

Rose gardens sure are beautiful. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and a neighbor in a future home will have a rose garden that we can enjoy but not have to maintain.


P7310009The cottages also had a vegetable garden. We would like a vegetable garden someday too. Our lemon tree has just one little lemon again this year. I’ll have to do a lot more gardening research before attempting a full vegetable garden.


wildflowers-guernevilleWe also found a wild flower garden at the Guerneville cottages. I bet that’s a nice life: gardening and running a bed and breakfast along the Russian River.

My husband ended up completing the Iron Man, by the way. Go Daddy!

Getting Rid of Aphids

This rose is covered in aphids. Ick!

This rose is covered in aphids. Ick!

Earlier this year, aphids were covering our roses. And I mean covering! I sprayed them with a general insect spray, and it didn’t help at all. Two weeks later, I sprayed them with an insecticide especially made for roses. That didn’t help either. My brother mentioned that he uses a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile soap in a spray bottle of water, and that all of his vegetables and flowers are doing great. So I gave it a try.


I didn’t measure the exact amounts; I used something like 1 tablespoon of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Pure Castile Soap in about 16 ounces of water. I blasted the aphids with the solution on the strongest squirt setting that the spray bottle could manage. The roses were drenched, but I honestly didn’t care if I used too much and ended up killing the roses (if you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I have a love/hate relationship with roses).

The aphids are gone. Yay!

The aphids are gone. Yay!

It worked!

It’s been a month since I squirted the roses with Dr. Bronner’s, and I still rarely see an aphid. Yay! (And my organic gardener friends will be pleased.)


Rose, Iris, and Rosemarry Bouquet

rose-iris-rosemarry-bouquet

This beautiful bouquet is made of roses, iris, and rosemary from my brother’s yard.