News (not so) good. Part 2

Jill---I think that is it! I remember the "Winky" part.....
To me--it looks more blue than purple--but then that is often just in the eyes of the beholder.....

Here's mine...It is now more in bloom.

There's also a 'Winky Blue' (and a 'Winky Pink' & 'Winky Yellow' I'm pretty sure). I have both the blue and purple out back, I think (not blooming yet). It's hard to tell blues and purples from digital photos. :-)

Great going on the laptop Chris!! I love mine...hopefully it will get warm and stay warm enough for the recliner! It is cold and windy here today...that way for most of us. I have a truck full of mulch and I can't get motivated with this weather...GRRR!

Ladyg, What a great present! Ric and I love our laptop.
Gita, I am very ready for some warm weather. Our house isn't cold but it always seems so damp in here. We haven't
been lighting the fire the last month and just depending on the solar gain and a little baseboard electric at night.
Luvs, LOL on the truck of mulch. Our trailer is still full of mushroom soil neither Ric nor I have the energy to get it unloaded. I started another course of antibiotics hopefully they will kick this bug. Ric and I are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Does that sound right Chris ;+} LOL

I have been on the other forums. I hope you are feeling well. The bf's mother had a lymphoma several years ago, went thru chemo and radiation and is in remission. One thing that helped her energy was B complex, especially B12, as drops under the tongue. B12 is needed in the biochemistry in getting the iron molecule into the hemoglobin molecule. It is hard to digest as a pill, so people take it as nasal spray, under the tongue or as shots. Anyone with low iron may feel better with B12. They sell the drops by Spring Valley at Walmart and other places.

My crocus, early iris and hyacinth have finished and not much else has started, yet. I had a couple of phlox blooms hiding behind a rose. I planted some from a friend last year, but they never took off. I am glad a couple survived. Been busy killing aphids and pulling weeds.

I am checking out the forums for things that bloom this time of year.

I can't wait to get this new laptop set up the way i want it. And learning about all the toys that are on it. I want to get a carry case for it and see if a photo editing program I have is compatible with Windows 7 some new features to learn.

Gita I hope your furnace is alright. Our new one stopped running once and found out it was a fuse, Cost me a service call for a fuse we could have replaced ourselves. It is cold up here too, but that is nothing unusual here.
My Columbine are not even close to blooming. I just call them Old Fashion because they where here when we bought the house 38 years ago. The ones pictured look just like mine. I love them.

Here is a picture of gang and I I just blend in so well, giggle !!

Beautiful!!

Looks like a happy crew. Nice teeth too LOL

Lady, does your new laptop have a webcam on it? If it does, you can Skype your garden to us as you walk thru it (if your laptop has a wireless card). I think that we should work on getting something like this going as a group. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a group sitting in their own homes all watching you (or any of us) as you talk about what we would be seeing!!!

Chris, What a wonderful picture, LOL on the nice looking teeth. You are "rocking" the new look, how brave you are.

You look darned good, ladybird. If you're going for the Yul Brynner look, it helps to have a great looking skull. LOL What a nice bunch of people you work with and what a perfect birthday present.

Holly, I hope you and Ric are feeling better soon.

I thought you all would enjoy seeing that picture. I wear a cap or scarf up front, our patients would not mind if I didn't but we have some little children and new patients coming in so I don't want to add a shock at the beginning of the appointment, I save it for the end when they get the bill. LOL

I do have a webcam on this, but still have a learning curve I have to get through. I have a photo editing program that would not work in Vista and I want to try installing it on this W7. Tomorrow I shop for a carry case and flash drive. /memory stick.

It should warm up more tomorrow, so I hope to get outside and do some gardening. Then some rain moves in Sat & Sun I can't believe we are a day away from May. I plan to start a May bloom thread, so need to take a picture or 2.

I'm behind, but I read everything.

Chris, you ARE beautiful! And you really look healthy! I can't believe it's so close to May either. March flew by, but April was nice and long. I've been putting rhubarb in the freezer. I made two rhubarb custard pies Wednesday morn and shared one with Dad and another relative. We were really windy yesterday so I went over to my neighbor's to see her flowers. She's been putting in a lot of tulips and has a lot of lilacs. Unfortunately you had to get right in them to smell anything. Then I came home and weeded the bed I started weeding at the beginning of the month :o)

Now that it's warmer I am able to get outside earlier. I have to cut up veggies and cook rice for salad fixin's today, and that takes a while. We are also cloudy and windy. Rain's a comming!

Have a great day everyone, and Holly & Ric, get well soon!

We are trying, I felt better yesterday and it was a good thing I did. Ric was really busy not sure how good he felt but he was out working hard yesterday.
Ladyg you should the excitement at our house yesterday, it was a mad house of excitement. LOL JR is staying here for several days while his Mom has her surgery and recuperates and he brought his ducks. So he wanted to call his cousins and invite them to come and play with his ducks and of course my parents would love to see all the fun. So we had Jen with Lily & Lucas + my parents add JR and a couple of ducks running loose though the house and swimming in a tub. Several trips down to the Chickies to hand feed them, too. We had Stromboli, pasta and carrot & celery sticks and spring onions & radishes fresh from the garden.

It is calling for rain Sat and Sun so I may get a rhubarb pie made. Billy, how do you freeze your rhubarb?

Holly, what a hoot! Sounded like a real party day for you and Ric. Nothing cuter then baby ducks.
Hope you both continue to mend.

My grandma used to cut up the rhubarb and freeze it in a ziplock bag.

Holly, I'm glad you're feeling better. It's not right having to be sick in this weather. I hope Ric didn't over do it. Real ducks? How adorable! You had a wonderful houseful! Dinner sounds perfect!!

Garden Quilt. Me too. I do put them in another freezer container so the bags don't get little holes from being moved around in the freezer. I also measure according to recipe needs. Almost all my recipes call for 2 cups.

I just had two small pieces of pie. Why don't I just admit it, and cut into fourths! LOL! I'm going to eat that much anyway!

We have had pouring rain with a lot of thunder all afternoon. It just comes and goes. I ran to my elderly relative's house this morn and cut her rhubarb for her. She makes the blender pie. I hung clothes out and they got dry and DH grilled asparagus for dinner. It's been a good day.

My fingerlings :o)

GQ and Billy Thanks, I thought you could do that with rhubarb, just was not sure. I'll put a few bags away for pie this winter for sure.

Love that asparagus, I bet that one was easy to grill, LOL I picked 2 more big thick ones yesterday for supper, put them on the grill with my Jamacian Jurk chicken on stickes. DH made carrots for himself. will not eat asparagus. His loss, my gain. LOL

Got my H bed done. I still think I need a few more LOL

Chris, we haven't eaten it yet :o) His loss is right! Isn't grilled asparagus the best! (At least he still chose a vegetable :o) The bed looks great! So many different colors, and I love how many shades of green there is!

We're into May now and except for you having treatments, I hope it's a slow month, because it will get hot all too soon. I got another small bed weeded. Is it my imagination or are all the weeds hanging on better? I can't be losing this much muscle in my old age! It takes me all day, with tools, to weed a small bed!!

I hope you're gathering strength Chris, so you recouperate fast. Sneak some of DH's carrots!

I mowed yesterday and can't wait to see how nice the yard looks today :o)!!

Have a Happy day folks!

Billy what an interesting Asparagus stalk. LOL
Ladyg, A new month is starting hope it will be a very good one for you.

HollyAnn, someone was joking about hand of asparagus, ear of corn, head of lettuce. LOL!

It's warming up slow and the gnats are terrible! I start watering for my neighbor today. I got to the end of the alley and came back for my spray bottle. At least I smell like a cake :o)

I need to weed some more. I really need to identify the small weed that is covering every square inch of open ground. I hate it more than chickweed!

All those fresh veggies sound really yummy. I don't think I could keep up with a vegetable garden in addition to the flowering stuff that I already have.

Hopefully you will be at the swap to chop some pieces off my many Hostas, Lady.

We see a new weed all over the place this year. Very fine stalks with tiny white flowers. Very easy to pull but there are millions of them.

I bought about 3 dozen narrow used bamboo sticks to use on the 10 new dahlias that are coming up. Stick 'em in the ground then just wind some green knitting around them. Didn't want to spend the money for the holders in Lowes.

I think that I'm jumping the gun with some of the annuals that I put out. The weather is going to be fine for a while, but after Mother's Day, which is when we usually put out tender plants, it is going to go down into the 30's at night. This will turn into survival of the fittest.

Filled a large pot with white and red caladium bulbs with a nicely grown Purple Baron Millet in the center. Filled another one with pink and white Hanging Begonias and 4 more large sectioned and tiered pots with whatever I had hanging around. Needed to spend time watering the roses since it is so warm that they can't wait for rain.

Now its time to get cleaned up and sit outside with my favorite Blue Hawaii warm weather cocktail.

This is the first year I have grilled Asparagus, I don't think I want to eat it any other way now. So darn good! We get those little black gnats too, not as bad, but they really bite, they sometimes get trapped under my cap that was an extra piece of material in the back to keep the sun off my neck.

RRR, Your pots sound great. Post a picture when they get going. I know I am not by a long shot out of the woods with a killing frost. I just have to wait. Everything in the basement is just crying to get out. I'll open the basement window to get some fresh air moving. I don't think I can make that trip to the swap, I really hate to miss it but right now I am not even setting any dates to even go up to my DD boat. The side effects are just hanging on too long, and each treatment it gets longer. Hopefully this Wednesday I'll learn more.
My beets are starting to sprout, and I spotted my first hummingbird today. Yesterday I heard the oriole but he has not shown up at the feeder, have not heard him since yesterday.

So, Billy, You smell like vanilla? LOL

Well, been reading along and what an inspiration you are to all ladyG and a true lady to boot!!!
I bet your bed there will fill in quite nicely. Now how is it that you are grilling your asparagus? I did it one time in foil with some lemon pepper and it was quite good, but perhaps you have a better way?
Now that Blue Hawaii cocktail sounds inviting, mind sharing a sip?
Speaking of orioles, we saw our very first one yesterday, what a wonderful sighting, we almost never see them around here.

Come to our swap in Mount Bethel, Haighr, and you will get a large hurricane glass full!! Yes, we hope that we inspire LadyG as much as she inspires us. I'm telling you that she is something else. Just love her spreading all that positive aura around us.

Roses R Red, I googled my weed, and it's Persian Speedwell. Considered a valuable flower by some, but I don't want it!! I used light green yarn one year for tying up plants. It worked well and the color blended in. I'll have to get another skein. Too bad I never learned to knit :o) We can get frigid weather all the way to Memorial Day. It is such a disappointment when that happens. The containers sound beautiful and so does your cocktail!

Chris, I bought a small spray bottle, like the kind you get in a kit for cleaning glasses. It sprays a perfect fine mist and really keeps the gnats off. I use plain cheap double strenght vanilla. My beets are up an inch, the wren is here, but no hummer or oriole yet. I've been eating the oriole's grape jelly since they don't seem to find it. I read somewhere to put it out before they arrive and I think I'll do that today. Yep, I love to smell like vanilla!

Haighr, DH puts margarine on a plate and just rubs it on cold with his hand. He salts and peppers and sets them right on the grill. We use Country Crock. The butter doesn't seem to drip off and it's delicious!!!

Chris, I'll use the clean bright sunshine we have to send you a powerful prayer today. ((((BIG HUGS))))

Morning, LadyG. I knew I should have put in some asparagus years ago when it first popped into my head, but then we didn't think we'd be around so long in this house. Oh well, I'll just get some locally grown and enjoy it. I do have flowers on some of my peas, WOOHOO!!!

You truly are an inspiration to us.

LadyG, just wanted to thank you again for your support via Dmail... I just posted my own "not so good" news thread in the prayer forum, http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1093829/ (Please let's keep this thread for our Chris.)

We're going to beat this, I have no doubt!

Well Lady and everyone, it took me over 2 hours of reading to catch up on this thread. It's the only DG thread that I skimmed a few times during tax season and when my keyboard was broken, but I never really read it. What a great group you've all been. Lady is fantastic as usual. Billy, I've loved all of your posts as they speak to a world very dissimilar to mine. It's wonderful how supportive you all have been.

Chris, just please don't get any crumbs in your laptop keyboard!! That was my downfall. What a wonderful present. You absolutely deserve it!

Jill and I have been d-mailing each other back and forth for quite a while. I have also put her thread on my watch list. Love you, Jill.

When i do my asparagus, I just put it on the grill, watch it, if it is cooking to fast I move it up to a grill rack that is for toasting buns. When the fork goes in easy at the thicks end it is done. No salt, no oil, no butter, nothing. Tomorrow I eat asparagus again, yea!

I'll keep the vanilla idea in mind right now certain smells bother me. A few times I had to leave the front desk at work as a few patient's cologne and aftershave made me almost gag, but then I think they took a bath in it. LOL
Persian Speedwell, great in a combo planted, I did not think it would survive our winters.

Hey, guy's I'll be getting a big head here with all the compliments, will they grow hair? Actually I got a little teary eyed. Such good friends here!

Stormyla, thank you. It's nice to know I'm helping.

I'm so mad at myself. I had a mouthful of tea and DH said something funny. For the first time, I actually sprayed some of it out laughing. Drops on my keyboard, and it hasn't been 100% since. I just got everything new in February and have been so careful. We sprayed computer screen cleaner in it and then air to dry it. It doesn't stick anymore, but it still messes up sometimes.

Chris, laughing, DH picks it up and if it droops over it's ready!! It only grows hair if we bull ''manure'' you :o)

We have persian speedwell in the grass the way people have creeping charlie. It is so time consuming to pull in the flower beds. I finally figured out that is why I'm not accomplishing anything when I weed. It will dry out in a day or two and I'll try hoeing again. Unfortunately it gets around plants and I'm back to hand picking.

Yesterday stayed windy and chilly. I try not to complain and think about a steamy hot July when I wish there was a breeze. Doesn't work. We drove the jeep around town and I made rhubarb shortcake. We've been cutting back on sugar for a couple years and both agreed it was a bit sweet! I grew up on this recipe.

Chris, take a spoonful and pass it around!

Lets not go there with creeping charlie, I have been fighting this stuff a long time. I gave found out that mulching the beds good helps with it removal, the roots come out easy in the softer soil.

That looks really good, Billy I made something like that several years ago when I did not want to mess with making pie crust. Quick and easy. Now do I really have to pass it around ? LOL
We will be getting cooler weather again, so probably not much outside gardening for me.

Chris, when we first moved here in 1976, we had creeping charlie. DH went around pulling it everytime he was outside. He managed to get rid of it. Two neighbors have it completely undermining their grass. The one neighbor fought it every year with everything recommended. She solved it by moving :o(

Chris, I hope you are doing well. You all put me into the mood to roast some asparagus. It was yummie, but my asparagus was a little too thin. I usually buy the really skinny ones as I like to use them raw as dippers for my hommus. That's a favorite lunch for me.

My entire lawn was invaded by Creeping Charlie last year. Three applications of Spectracide Broadleaf Weed Control took care of it in the grass. The beds are a different story. That stuff grows over and under the edging and the rubber mulch strip. With the voles entering and exiting the beds, there are always disturbed spots for it to take hold again. I'm always ripping and spraying the stuff.

Chris, I thought of you today as I was cutting back some Hyacinths. The Chionodoxa you recommended was so beautiful this year. I hope that it will spread quickly. The Siberian Squill had lots of tiny bulbs that had gone to seed. I hope they will increase too. I didn't realize that they would make such seeds. Hope I didn't weaken them by not cutting them back earlier.

Good Mornig Chris, the weather has turned chilly and we might get rain tomorrow. I mowed yesterday, but it was so windy I couldn't take being out anymore, so I walked down to my SIL's. She's in the middle of town, I'm on the edge. We sat on her porch because it wasn't windy! There's a fertilizer plant across the road from me, and big trucks and sprayers are in and out all the time. There is a tree-line and weeds that grow up to hold back some of the dirrt, but it still gets tiresome. She lives across from a grain elevator and it can get dusty there too! These businesses are in town and should be a mile out! The town kind of grew around them. The railroad tracks ran past the fertilizer plant, so it was here first.

It's grocery day and I don't even have a menu in my mind for the week. Summer is hard. I need to be outside instead of in the kitchen cooking. We really need to eat the rest of the old meat out of the freezer. DH needs to grill some chicken hindquarters! I'll have Franks Hot Sauce on mine!

Well, now I'm hungry. I guess it is time for breakfast. I can finish the frosted mini wheats so I can buy more!

Have a good day all!

ROTFL!! Actually DH's favorite meal is when I call out it's ''fend for yourself'' day. Trouble is, he eats junk food, so I try not to use that card too often.

I decided we are going to eat out of the freezer. We have chicken thighs, and legs and thighs. I got out the thighs and hope he'll grill the others.

I have one bag of spinach to use and hope the rain brings on the newly planted quicker. I have brussels sprouts and lima beans too. I also have canned venison that is great in a pinch. Wednesday, I made plenty of spagetti and we have a dab left :o) So, I do have my ways of creating a meal in 15 minutes when I had no idea what we were having.

I woke up at 1:30 am and came out to check the neighborhood. I caught lightning in the east and south. It started raining around 2:30 am and is done now. We got a half inch. I'll take it. I watered the garden the other day. I also heard the words, low's in the 30's. No no no!

Has anyone tried the Ball Park black angus hot dogs? YUM!!! We're even eating the less fat ones. Did I say YUM?

I was weeding last night and kept hearing the robins. I looked up and there was the baby, fresh out of the nest. He listened to me talk awhile then hopped to the edge of the road. He was still there when I needed to dump the weeds. When I came back over I picked him up and set him in the flower bed. He started squawking and set the parents to pipping Then he hopped into the grass again. I picked him up and set him in the bed in a more open spot. Squawk again, pip again. I looked over and there was the neighbor's cat. I shoed him away and just hope the little guy made it thru the night.

Chris, a baby picture for you. Hope you are feeling ok.

My "don't feel like cooking" meal is an omelet. I just add some veggies and cheese, sometimes leftovers. Quick, easy and affordable.

It is going to rain tomorrow, so I am going to catch up inside starting with the kitchen. I need to make some mayo and salad dressing. I also defrosted a chicken to roast. I'll have leftover chicken and chicken salad for nice weather days. I also have to make another batch of food for Tiffany. I serve her a combination of cooked meals and quality kibble. (Tiffany is my Westie)

Tiffany found a new thing to bark at, hip hop music. The new neighbor was playing it rather loud as I was busy trying to plant daylilies received in a newbie swap before it got dark. She doesn't bark at my music, but I don't have a subwoofer attached to my stereo. (Couldn't help that one)

GardenQuilts, I never met an omelet I didn't like. I have small round pyrex bowls and we will mix all that up and make "Egg McMuffins" when we have english muffins.

Smiling over Tiffany. Our neighbor has been playing something that reminds me of old movies on an island, where the natives beat the tom-toms for days before they are going to attack. Makes me feel like attacking first, LOL. I see why torture works! At least they are nice neighbors and it really doesn't bother me much.

Chris, I know your next treatment was in May, so I'm betting that's why you aren't here. Dang my memory.

It's been windy here for days and we have a freeze warning tonight. I counted out hot caps, deli buckets and pots that roses came in to cover all the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cabbage that I couldn't wait to get out. I had to do the tomatoes because one nice stem snapped at dirt level, by being tangled with another. That's why I plant extra. I have peat pots of squash for me and my Dad, and watermelom and muskmelon just for Dad. I wish I had room for them, but I don't.

We are so lucky to have homegrown melon stands close. I could it it every day of my life, along with the hot wings and jalapeno poppers. Hey, meat, veggie and fruit! A balanced meal :o)

My iris are just starting to open as the lilliputs are going out. I've been taking notes already with ideas that may or may not happen. I sure do like a long winding iris bed like some I've seen here, but where and how do I sneak it in? I'll get back to you on that!

We had 1/2'' of rain and I was hoping the asparagus was really going to pop out of the ground. We have thin ones making a frond already. When we are done cutting, the stalks will grow off and on all summer. What a fine mess of asparagus we could have in the fall!

I hope you are able to check in soon Chris. I'll be back to calling you Lady again.

This isn't far from my place. I just love his idea. She was my kindergarten teacher.

I had my 4th treatment on Wednesday, numbers are still going down, my oncologist wanted to go for 6 treatments but will give me a break from the chemo in the mix. Wednesday was a long day, the computer was down in the lab and they had to record the results by hand. I have more scans scheduled in 2 weeks and am now on potassium pills.
When I got home I was so tired I went to bed early and just veged for a few days, napping and watching the TV. I'm still in resting mode.
Just wanted to check in with you all.