Apropos of Nothing v.13

Good luck Willow and DH when you go in for skin surgery, that they get it all and you recover quickly. Sorry I didn't say this before. Sometimes I only manage to read the last few posts during the workweek and I miss things.

Good luck and happy tromping to Laurie on the Moonwalk!!! You must be out there right now, beating the streets en mass Wow!! Thanks to you also for putting in this effort to make a difference.

Too bad about the seeds, Pony. I wonder if they got washed away in Winter rain or if that unusual December frozen cold snap affected them somehow.

I take it you have had adventures such as these, Pixy, and are familiar with the adrenaline as you wonder if the tree the come-along is wrapped around will hold, if the truck will end up over the edge of said ravine (most hopefully with nobody in it), if DH will have a heart attack while cranking furiously on the ratchet....

This message was edited May 15, 2010 6:14 AM

I have almost given up on seeds - except for carrots and radishes. I'm not very good at seeds.

Yes, good luck with the skin surgery!

Laurie, I suppose you have a special fancy bra to walk in. Maybe with little lights on it to light up the night.....

I don't even know what a come-along is, and I would end up in the ravine for sure.

Judi, I imagine you would not get yourself in the situation where your truck headed for the ravine in the first place. Anyway, I got this definition from "wisegeek" and the key words are "portable enough to use in almost any situation" so we could get it to the spot where tow-trucks cannot venture.

A come-along is a hand operated ratchet lever winch. A winch is a mechanical device used to wind a rope or cable, while a ratchet is a mechanical brake that keeps the line from unwinding. A come-along is convenient and portable enough to use in almost any situation, because it is small enough to carry in one hand and weighs an average of only ten pounds (about 4.54 kilograms).

DH used to say a real man needed a truck with a 'wench' on the front.

Willow, I think that would be a winch on the front, and a wench in the cab!

You'd think that would make sense. I think they meant strapped over the hood like the deer or elk. ^_^

I think I remember the winch thing from physics class a long time ago......and the wench thing from the movie Tom Jones, also a long time ago. But I never thought of a wench on a car hood, or a winch as anything I would ever be using!

Now I have the image of the poor wench strapped across the hood, like a mail-order bride that tried to change her mind at the last minute. So when the truck pulled up to the barn and the man untied the wench, she looked around and thought "well, what this place needs is a garden..."

Right on judi.

My daughter had her offical graduation ceremony today from Le Cordon Bleu in Portland today.(with honors Yeah!) She actually completed her studies in November and has been working as a Chef for 6 months now. Moments like these make me happy! They all had to wear silly hats..LOL!

Congratulations to your daughter, both on her graduation and on having steady employment in her chosen line of work. That is an accomplishment to be proud of.

And congrats to the talented daughter for also having the good sense to come from gorgeous genes.

I love all the winching and wenching.

I agree that congrats are due to WW's daughter for talent and beauty.

And I just completed the walk 2 hours faster than last year - coming in at 6 hours 50 minutes! I think all of the planets and stars lined up just for me last night, it was that feeling that it was 'once in a lifetime'. What a great way to spend a night - and what a night! Now I am going to sleep. Right after I have some toast. And tea. And paracetamol, and arnica.

I was just thinking about you, Laurie! So synchronous. How wonderful that your expectations of warmth & worth were fulfilled.

Thank you SK, expectations fulfilled is a great way of putting it! Especially the ones I didn't know I had!

Laurie, Congratulations! Two hours faster is a big accomplishment. And sorry it was Judi's daughter, not mine.

Judi, Congratulations to both you and your daughter on a job well done. She is beautiful.

Apologies Judi - raising a child is nothing to be overseen about - I usually remember the headline name, but I had been up all night (my excuse, hopefully accepted). Now had a bit of sleep.

Um...I think it is Bea's beautiful and talented daughter!!

I'm on my knees begging forgiveness. Judi doesn't have children at home. Sorry Beahive, a moment of senioritis. And sorry Laurie for leading you astray.

No worries. I am sure all your children are wonderful and all of us are proud of our children! Thanks all!

Bea, congrats to your daughter. I've always been very curious about that program and thought about taking it. Okay, dreamed, given the cost and the fact that I would only be doing it for me and not for employment. I don't know if I could hack it tho.

Laurie, you mean you walk in your bras and that's it (well, pants and shoes I guess)? Wow, you would NOT want me on that walk! LOL Good excuse to go out and get a really cute new bra tho!

Yes it was Bea's daughter - not mine! And congrats to her!

Laurie, congrats to you as well. Pics? I wouldn't want to be in public in my bra, either. Maybe a bikini top, but not a bra. But then if there are a bunch of women all in bras, I guess that would be ok. Maybe.

Congratulations to the Bea's daughter, the working honors graduated chef!!

Go Laurie, what a wonderful accomplishment.

Holly, Sounds you had one of those adventures that I have always described as the kind that "gets better with age". Not much fun when you are there at the time, but will make a great story several years down the road and leave you shaking your head and wondering what you all were thinking letting yourself get involved. Being blessed with the father, brother, and husband that I have shared my life with, I have had dozens of those types of adventures over the years. Fortunately, they are fewer and farther between now that we are all getting older and (somewhat) wiser.

Bea, you must a be very very proud Mom right now! Congrats to your daughter.

Laurie, I am truely impressed. What a good feeling it must be to not only beat your old time by such a margin, but to know that you did it for a very good cause. GOOD JOB!

Can someone please remind me what the heck this plant is? I got it at the RU and can't remember what I was told it was.

Ligularia. Nice tall yellow flowers. Good plant for part shade and can actually take some sun if it's getting enough moisture.

You sure about that? None of my ligularia have foliage that is so fingered.

This has been in full sun since last summer... oops?

Hmmm- it does look a lot like this: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51696/

Ah. I'm so sheltered -- all I have is L. dentata, obviously.

Pretty!

Thanks for the ID, Katie! :)

The leaves are pretty different on them. Hey, if this likes the sun, then put it there. I have a figwort in dry sun (it's supposedly a bog plant) and it's doing incredibly well, so I'm not going to mess with a good thing. :-)

Also, protect from slugs. They just LOVE ligularia. I grow mine in sun, but they get plenty of water. Otherwise, the leaves just about lay down in the middle of the day in the summer.

I'll be sure and give it plenty of water, then. the slugs haven't been in the back yard at all this year- kinda weird, because I've been having to go crazy with sluggo in the front yard.

Been in the bush so congrats Bea, nice bra hike Laurie. I have always wanted to do that. And yes lingularia loves to Montana sun. That one is called the "rocket".
I will soon have some of the most beautiful Picts from today's walk in the sun (though I had no bra on). LOL

Stripped to bras - but they are decorated and some are fantastic complete with fairy lights and pompoms!! (I'm afraid I am a tad more modest, and resorted to an assortment of long necklaces and glow in the dark stars) And the guys wear bras too! And quite honestly, when you are a flock of 15,000, all different bodies, some showing more wear and tear than others, you quickly forget about the bit that don't quite stay where you ideally want them. And the support on the street is fab! Just fab - at 4 in the morning we had 5 dutch guys, stripped off to pants singing us pop songs as we went through Fulham - not quite sure the residents loved it, but it was funny.

Sofer, you would be more than welcome to join in - as would Gwen and Portland with nary a glance of surprise or disapproval. (For a short time I was next to a couple who dressed as fred and betty flintstone, complete with tigerskin bras)!

I know there are photos on Facebook - try searching for Moonwalk London 2010, or possibly Walk The Walk - I don't have an account so not sure of the search term.

On the plant front, I hadn't realized Ligularia was snail bait - mine is never effected - wonder why? AND, those big jelly baby slugs - I just read an article that said to not discard those but put them in the compost - only eat dead material. Its the little grey ones that do the plant damage. So Portland, this is probably why the Vet refused to euthanize.

Laurie, that sounds like such a good time! And fancy dress, too... how can you miss with a crowd like that?

Apropos of nothing: two hatched junco babies in the greenhouse, 2 to go. A robin's nest with two pretty blue eggs up in the rose arbor. I'm helping mom and dad robin fend off a pair of hungry crows. I like crows, but they can just go eat someone else's robin eggs. Momma junco is just about used to me coming and going in the greenhouse. Now she doesn't leave the nest unless I clank around too much. Probably because the eggs are so close to hatching. I will post a photo of the first baby later. She graciously moved outside to scold me so I could take a quick photo.

Cover your eyes, Summerkid- whining ahead. :p

(Disclaimer: I am not looking for sympathy, validation, advice or assistance. No need to respond to this at all- I'm just blowing off steam.)

I'm really ticked off at myself for not realizing I had an actual health problem months sooner. I'm feeling much better now that I'm on the thyroid meds, the only thing getting me down is the back pain, but I generally don't let that stop me from getting things done.

I look at the pictures of all your beautiful gardens with loads of things in bloom, and I just want to beat my head against the wall. I had such big plans in the fall- I was going to have a bounty of spring blooms, yadda yadda... Pffft. I didn't even winter-sow anything. I was too out of it to care over the winter.

Now that I'm finally back in action physically, I'm being held back by stupid financial issues- my truck needs new brakes and I think something is wrong with the front end, there are some very disconcerting noises coming from it. No way am I going to haul heavy loads of rocks when that's going on. Can't afford to have the truck worked on because of the huge vet bills for Henry, and the ridiculous amount of money Tracy spent on my birthday. (bless his heart- he loves to spoil me, but he really spends a lot more than he should on my birthdays, etc. We ain't rich, for cryin' out loud!)

So yeah... Just whining about stupid stuff that's really totally unimportant in the grand scheme of things... I'm irrationally frustrated because I feel some ridiculous need to 'catch up' to all you cool kids with your big shiny gardens... LOL it's totally stupid. I should just be grateful I have what I do and make the best of it. Right? Right.

End of childish rant- you may now return to your regularly scheduled discussions. ;p

I'm saving up for a REALLY BIG whine but thankfully it won't boil over today because I have pony's ...

You know what, hon? You're not behind. You're NOT! You are where you are & you are above ground AND feeling gooooooooooood ....

You were supposed to cover your eyes! Thpppppppppppt! :p

Yeah- like I said, totally irrational. I'm just um... channeling a three year old who wants the same toys her friends at daycare have... or something. LOL!

Trying so VERY hard not to offer sympathy, advice, validation or assistance. Trying to cover eyes & type at same time ... while avoiding steam.