THE ROUNDUP PARTY'S OVER!!! :(

Here I am on the other side of the living room.

And here shows looking out the windows.

Laurie, I was fortunate that my DDH loved creating and building things. No, not all our men are like that! Perhaps this is a wonderful new topic for the Philosophy 101 thread.
Maybe men are more creative where there is a lot of space for them to work in.

This has been absolutely delightful the pics, the commentary, and being able to be the mouse in the corner watching the party go on - did anyone get a picture of the unusual planted pot winner - I am curious as to what it was.
You all seemed to have "done it up right"
Lynn I noticed your special birds outside of your "girl cave" Do you mind giving me a source to purchase them?
If you were to come to my garden today, I would proudly show you my spider - black body ( at least 1/2" long) with bright yellow stripes at its sides - within its web it has woven a zig zaggy design It is a black and yellow argiope so exciting
It has been fun living out the weekend vicariously by reading this thread - thank you

Judi, I can just imagine how exhausted you are. Probably along the same lines as Lynn, Julie and me.
I get exhausted just having the two grandkids for one day!
Glad you are sharing our weekend with us!

I was asked what I want for my B-day. My DH went a got a load of dirt so I could get the bed started where the old cars where. With my new babies and the ones I had. Then when he asked me that, I looked at him and smiled and said " More dirt please" I thought he would start laughing but said OK.

Now speaking of B-days. Saturday was Lynn's B-day with all the other things going on too. But someone had this all planed out, cause there where 2 cakes. One for Lynn and one for someone whose B-Day that is Tomorrow. I was really shocked when they called me to blow out the candles, which I couldn't do well as I was still in shock. I have not had a B-day cake in years. "Thank You" Who ever it was.

Lynn and her cake

This was Lynn's gift from her Daughter
Love the color

This is when it arrived with the balloons. every time they moved during the next couple days I thought it was someone outside. LOL

Melissa, I am glad you forgot about the gift exchange....you are so right...I love my buddha! Mom and I have the day off today and we are being totally decadant...wandering through the garden, snapping photos, collecting some seeds, and basically enjoying rather than working...what a concept!

One of my projects was to tentatively introduce Buddha to his new home. He is meditating on the placement and will let me know if it is "right", and then I will make a more substantial foundation for him to rest on.

The Buddha looks like he has found his perfect home, so serene. Who did you get him from, anyway? He is a perfect fit for your garden.

Mary, you can post any picture that you choose, as long as it isn't one of my big hiney bent over showing the ever so unpleasant plumber's crack.

Laurie, if you ever want to come visit the PNW, you are very welcome to stay here. It would be divine to get together with you.
That offer goes to you Beahive, Jan, Portland, Red Chic, and all the rest of you

The path leading up to his grotto...he is basically dead center in the picture.

Mary, what is a party with out cake after all?!?!? Isn't it great when you have a DH that understands when you ask for dirt and doesn't think it is a joke? Gonna ask for compost for mine!!!

Thank you, Lynn. Very hospitable. I think it would be eversomuchfun to travel the world visiting DGers.

Thanks for the recipes as well.

This has been a very enjoyable RU (even if by computer screen and after the fact, but you get my drift). :)

Thanks Lynn. Sure looks like you all had a marvelous weekend.I have really enjoyed all the pictures. Hope to join you all one of these days now that I have an empty nest..I have a bit more freedom.

Like everyone, I have been looking at the pictures for a few days now. Looks like one great party and such a good turnout. I hope to be at a future one.

Each of you that showed your gardens have all found the most beautiful parts of our state and enhanced them to the nth degree. You are all artists and I am in awe of everyone. Such beauty. Wow

It is really fun to see some of the new faces and also the ones I've seen before.

Dirt and compost are fabulous gifts!! My DH has several times hauled a load of manure for me on Valentine's Day. This of course is the perfect gift in my mind, but a few of his buddies were aghast and told him he better go get a bouquet of roses or he'd be in trouble at home. He tried to explain to them that I do not take well to gifts of dead flowers, and that I'd far prefer a live blueberry shrub if he was going to get anything other than the manure. They walked away shaking their heads. And Laurie, not all DHs here are builders, though mine can build things and has many other practical skills that come from growing up on a farm on the prairie (hunting, baling hay, fixing tractor engines, milking cows, butchering chickens--though I do not call on him to do all of these currently). He also can do electrical wiring due to his training in the Navy during the Viet Nam war. However, his family had no indoor plumbing or electricity to their home until he was a teenager. Imagine going out to pump water in the yard on a WInter day at 40 degrees below 0, and putting the laundry for 6 children through the hand operated ringer washer. His mother was an amazing woman.

Jan, that is a great plan (travel the world visiting DGers) and I think you should do it. After all there are people all over. You could go to practically every continent, excepting Antarctica. I don't know if penguins garden.

I agree about soil for gifts. I have 6 compost, 6 top soil and 2 large bags of potting soil in the back of my truck. Went in to town today and the bed was empty.

I asked for (and got) a load of retaining wall blocks for my birthday. :)

Julie, Buddha looks great in his grotto. I have to admit I did have you in mind when I picked that out. ;)

Thanks Lynn, I do not post the private side of any one's home or dwellings that they may live in. Just like Sharon who took Pics of the inside of her home to share with us, even tho we where in it and roamed all over it (to die for) I would never post It. Without the OK.
But to let you know, I was so at home in it. as Steve called it 'The Man cave' LOL It was like a suite in a fancy hotel. But without the finer things in life, TV and the bathrm. But I was raise that way, we did not have those things (sorry did have a bathrm.) put the porta potty was the ticket
(Sorry Joey you had to clean it) LOL I would have but Lynn said don't worry about.

The stairs where a little scary at first too look at, but once up you where in a wonderful place.

Julie, I think that Budda is going to been very happy there.

You know I ask for dirt, got 2 trucks full. And I have a big truck, But what I notice in my garden. I do not have a fairy, how sad is this.

Back to the barn.
Once you top the stairs its like a entering a suite, the beds the setting room I can not tell you how great this was.
Coming up the stairs, the beds.

You can see which I camped on, all the windows the fresh air I was in heaven. going past the beds was the not sure what they call it , But I would call it a very relaxing hide a way. Its beyond the screens.
.

The hideaway, I could live here. It is wondeful.

Got to Happy Happy
Forgot the pic. LOL

But the real scary part was to have to get up in the middle of the night to have to P.

But the really really bad part was making down those stairs for coffee in the morning. Joey Bess his heart but a hand rail up. I'm a mountain goat going up, coming down is a whole nother thing.

Laurie and those that where not able to attend this RU. I hope that all the pic's that have been showen on this tread, You have enjoyed I'm not done yet LOL. But time to do this Is a little much. I will be down loading alot on the site Julie started.
I posted all the rocks there.
http://s1008.photobucket.com/albums/af204/pnwroundup/

I have a rock story to tell, as I had a problem with the rock aspect of the get-together. I chose a rock to bring that had been in a collection of rocks, shells and driftwood on the windowsill of my living room. I erroneously thought that I was the only one who put rocks there. When we were getting out of the car at Lynn's house, my DH asks me, "What are you doing with my rock?" and proceeds to tell me how and where he found it. It appears special to him, so I decided to let it be. That means I owe you a rock, Lynn, and I'll have to give you a rain check on it. Hopefully we will see each other at a future gathering and I will bring along a different rock.

Julie, when I saw that natural little grotto, I just knew you would place the Buddha there! It's just perfect. Maybe a few more ferns and some moss? Or maybe he could sit at the rear of a small water feature? Not necessarily running water, just maybe a shallow saucer shape with still water and a small water lily in the summer? I have some I could share with you.

It's interesting, Laurie, that you notice how different the homes are here. I have always envied the historic homes you have in England because they have such character. I know that sometimes the amount of 'character' a home has is directly related to how drafty or cold and cramped it can be, but somehow that seems a small price to pay to live with such rich history. Our home was built in 1964 and we chose it primarily for the property and for the solid structure. You can't buy homes built like this anymore unless you build them yourself. Everything is solid, no particle board anywhere in site. We had to do extensive remodeling and worked with an architect/builder to design that part and blend it with the original house. Our house is certainly not historic by any stretch, but we did want it to look as though it was meant to be built this way originally. Mike and I have been talking a lot lately about what kind of home we want after this one, and it will certainly be smaller. The next home we'll likely build from the ground up.
Certainly all men in the U.S. do not build things anymore, but in certain parts of the country it is considered part of being a man to know how to 'do' things - like build fences, walls, do electrical wiring, change the oil in the car,, fix a toilet, etc. It seems strange to me, because my own father didn't know how to do anything at all and was rather pathetic when he tried (bless him), but I have always considered it very desirable in a man to know how to engage in this kind of activity. My own husband can do all these things, and if he doesn't know how, he can learn how. I do like that about him. It is very attractive. Of course, he is also very well read and well spoken, and probably the smartest man I know, so there must be a balance between brain and brawn in my book. Soferdig can wax eloquently about that.

count on it.

I have a few more pictures to post. Then I'm going to be out of commission here while I get my class ready for an open house on Friday, and you might not hear from me for a while. Have a good Labor Day everybody.

This pic is of Lynn and Tilly in Lynn's garden. I think they were discussing varieties and taking cuttings.

Lynn and Steve in front of Lynn's house.

Mary by a dahlia that she was admiring in Sharon's garden.

Pixydish, good luck in your "future plans". My DDH and I were looking to "downsize" but found the current place and HAD to have it. Now I currently have it by myself, with 5 bedrooms, but wouldn't give it up for the world.
(By the way, you don't have to clean the areas that you don't use very often---like twice a year or so.)

Yep, Holly, that was Cheyenne, the taller one. She definitely coveted it.

Rachel among the roses at Sharon's, looking out at the view and imagining Mt. Rainier hidden in the mist across the valley.

Breakfasters around the table at Sharon's. Everything was absolutely delicious.

My son with Phoenix.

Back to the beginning. The clover leaf swimming pool at Lakewold.

A rose. I don't know where, but I hardly ever get a picture of a rose. You just have to imagine the heavenly scent.

I would gladly trade houses with Sharon. Her home has so much character. Her gardens have maturity and so many stories to tell.

Joey did a lot of the work here when he built the house 12 years ago. He lived in a little travel trailer here on the property while building. We built most of the barn, too. We call it a barn, it is actually a big shop, no animals. He just finished putting down the hardwood floors and the last of the electrical in the loft the day before RU. I am so very proud of him. He can teach himself how to do anything.
Holly, that is a cute rock story. Don't worry about getting me a rock, for heaven's sake. You have done so much. I just thought rocks with names on them would be something memorable to mark this fun event.

Good pictures everyone.

Holly, your son was such a great kid. He never once complained that he was bored. You must be very proud of him.

I love that photo of Lynn and Mary in Lynn's garden. They look like they've just been caught enjoying themselves!

Holly's son is very sweet. Too bad he and Andrew don't live closer to one another. I think they got on well.

This message was edited Sep 2, 2009 10:49 PM

They were laughing because I asked them to turn around and look my way so I could get a photo from the front rather than their rears bending over the plants. Now I really better go to bed. Work comes early tomorrow morning. Emory enjoyed meeting Andrew. I think he wished he could stay at your house rather than tagging along for more garden party, but didn't know Andrew well enough for that.