My furnace has been running like crazy. It has a 2 stage motor, when the temp is really cold the 2nd stage will kick in pushing more warm air through the house. I am sure the gas bill next month will be out of sight.
But spring is coming. Sometime..................
(old picture)
Cold here. 29*. Tolerable, except the fuel pump went out in the pickup yesterday and DH is out working on it. We were getting ready to go get hay. Thank you God that it happened in my driveway and not out on the highway!!!!! Hopefully we can go get hay today. Down to 4 bales. May have to put the football games on record and start watching them when we get home.
Ya'll stay warm! Think I'll build a fire in the fireplace!
Gosh, I thought that 29 and 17 and such was warm, lol! We get tons of snow at those temps, and we always say that about it being too cold to snow, but when we say it we are referring to temps in the below 0 teens. Anything pretty much 10 below on down, and it gets too cold to snow, lol! Guess it's just a matter of what is normal for the area we live in!
Well, we got a break. It didn't snow yesterday, but I don't think it ever reached the 30's. For us, those are brutal temps. I ended up working on a genealogy project until the wee hours of the morning, so I didn't accomplish anything plant or jewelry related. Tomorrow, that all has to change.
JB, if you find seed for the CC, let me know. I will buy some. I ordered Park Seeds wholesale catalog the other day, so hopefully they will have some goodies too.
I have already started winter sowing seeds, but I won't start anything in the house until late february. I just don't have enough space and/or light in the right areas.
Well, time to get going.
Sea ya.
Do you suppose the to cold to snow has something to do with the amount of humidity in the air at the time? I am not good at that sort of thing, but it honestly never seems to snow around here when the temps are below 25 deg. Usually it is like 30 or less. Never when it is this cold. It is very dry today.
I had a panic attack this morning that lasted for hours. Scared the heck out of me as usual. God, I have to go back and do my Anxiety and Depression classes again I am sure. I am just a mess since the doctor told me about my heart. I hate not being in control of my life or feelings. The weather is not helping either.
I am taking an AARP Driver Safety Program online. If you take it your auto insurance will no doubt be lowered if you are in a state that is playing their game. LOL I got through the first Class and got 100%, Hope that keeps up. It is amazing what it shows you about your present condition and your driving. it is 8 hours long and you can work at your own speed. I think it cost about $16 but if you can save some insurance money why not. Besides, my license comes up in August and the State is messing with a new Bill that requires you to take your driving test over again after you hit 75. (not sure what the age is, but I am over it, big time) I am scared to death of tests. With one eye I have to be very careful. I have learned to drive safely with one eye and found many others out there can not see as well with two as I can with one. LOL
I got an email from a friend, well she was a friend until I read it. She said she is on a cruise and it is so warm and beautiful. I am going to write back and tell her I hate her.
Must water house plants now that I stopped shaking. JB
crit--
Thanks for posting the pictures with the bottles...
Am I correct in saying that it looks like there are two
bottles with the bottoms cut out and then slipped inside
each other???
Do you glue them together? or--do they just stay tigh?
As to what you could smear over them to keep them slippery--
how about veg. oil? Vasaline? Silicone spray?
Has to be something that won't freeze......
JB--
It is amazing that you can drive with just one eye!!!
That means you have no depth perception!
I suppose one can learn to adjust over time.....
You are one tough lady!!!!
Gita
ibartoo ..... what seeds do you wintersow? Can you do anything that naturally seeds? Like zinnia's, marigolds, etc. What do you do? I would like to try but don't want to waste the seed if it will ruin them.
Thx
JB ... I understand panic attacks. The first one I had I thought I was dying. Haven't had one since about a year after my divorce. I truly THANK GOD!
LOL about your friend ...er ... ex-friend?
Gita ... yes, you are correct, bottoms cut out and slid together. Since they are the same size you have to crimp one a bit to get it into the other, then they just STAY. As far as a slick 'em, veg. oil I think is too thin. I'm leaning towards very thing coat of vaseline. I don't think they like to have anything on their feed either, so that would work well. I also forgot to mention I put an S hook on the bottom end to hook the feeder to, and to hold the bottles up when I take the feeder down to refill. It's really a very simple do.
Crit Did you know that there is an entire Forum here at DG on wintersowing?
Here's the link
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/
And here's a link to a Winter Sowing article by MA's own go to seed lady and gracious hostess to MA spring seed swaps, Critterologist
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/585/
Judy
WOW....THANKS!!! I'm still very confused about it. Will go there
lol Crit! I'm in the same boat. That's how I found those links today!
I don't have a clue yet if I'm too early or too late! Maybe I'll see you over there.
Judy
I have already put out seed that said 'sow in fall' .... but haven't done the regular seed. One place I read for Z7 was to set them out in March.
For you all "Never done it before".....I have ONLY tried Winter sowing once!
SO! I am in the same category.
I know the most "advertised" container are gallon milk jugs cut in half---
but I have to say--that they are hard to "hinge"----meaning to open up and see--
or open up and water.
They DO seem to work OK--but I found then hard to manipulate....
If I may suggest an alternative--try the larger Salad bar containers with the snap-shut
lids. Just melt some holes in the lid for air-circulation and some holes in the bottom for drainage.
I am SOOO tempted to try it again......but such containers placed in some protected,
out of the elements place is also out of sight--out of mind for me. I would never check on them
for watering or anything like that...Perhaps letting the elements take care of it would be OK.
These are like a ,sort of, outdoor "terrariums"....They are semi-covered and semi-watered by natural
condensation. but I think one still needs to pay attention to them to some degree.
I have several seeds that I KNOW need Winter sowing......
Basically, any plant that would, normally, drop seed in late summer/fall and which would, naturally,
germinate, on it's own, in the spring--having spent the winter in the ground. There are many!
I need to look over all my seeds and try to do this as well....Yeah! Right! ME?????
Gita
I have planted seeds outside that said to sow in the fall or winter. I real also that 2L pop bottles (I seem to use those a lot don't I? LOL) make good sources for outdoor watering. Just cut 2 snips in the top one to make a tab to slide over the bottom one.
crit--
Check out the 2 links posted above....They are good information on Winter Sowing.....
I started a new thread to discuss winter sowing and copied our above posts there.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1150939/
Hopefully some others will join in who aren"t keeping up with Holiday Cacti but know alot or want to learn more about Winter Sowing in our area/zone/circle/family
Judy
Crit and coleup, this is my first year wintersowing intentionally, so all I have really started have been hardy perennials. In addition to the forum here about winter sowing, there is a big forum on GW too. I don't use enough milk, to have a lot of jugs, but I do have a lot of 2 lt bottles. I just use a little drill to put holes in the bottom and then cut them about 3/4 of the way through to make the hinge. So far they seem to be doing ok, but of course there are no signs of life.
1 of my christmas cactus just opened it's flowers yesterday. It is a pretty magenta color. I wonder why it is so late.
JB, are you snowed in again?
Hope everyone has a great day.
Linda
Morning everyone......a very cold morning here in NJ. I am sure you are all feeling the same chill we are.
Linda, I have been patiently waiting for the Zygo cacti (Thanksgiving) also a Schumbergera but sold as Zygo by some people) to stop blooming so I can do cuttings and they are still budding and blooming. So are the Schlumbergera x buckleyi (Christmas), in fact they are almost in full bloom again. Crazy. The sun is so warm but the earth and air are cold. The greenhouse goes up to 105 during the day and I am afraid to open anything because if the sun goes in, the temp drops quickly. It has been a very difficult winter for the plants in there.
Does anyone else have any Holiday Cactus blooming? Actually, it is only January. Maybe we are just confused since it has been so cold.
Judy, I am not a seed person but I will visit your thread. Maybe I will give it a try. I can not grow seeds. Every time I have tried they die after a few weeks of sprouts.See you later. JB
crit--
Check out the 2 links posted above....They are good information on Winter Sowing.....
I bought 2 nice little CC today at Wal-Mart for $1 each. There were about 5 left, I may just go get the rest of them. :-) They were all blooming and had new buds setting on.
Great buy Crit!
crit--I don't know any Botanical names either.....Never been to Horticultural College....
I wish people would list both names--that way we all would know what you are talking about...
I sure hope that people that ONLY use Horticultural names would realize that 80% of
the average gardeners do not know what you are talking about.
It is my pet peeve on these Threads.....PLEASE!!!! Use the common names as well
so the rest of us will know what plant you are talking about!
Gita
crit--
As to what you could smear over them to keep them slippery--
how about veg. oil? Vasaline? Silicone spray?
Has to be something that won't freeze....
Gita
Thanks for the thread. Alas, I must of read that somewhere at one time, is why I haven't done it yet. :-) It is buried somewhere in my brain, but still enough that I haven't done it yet. Either that or I have just procrastinated about it. lol
Gita,
I know what you mean about using the common or both names. I prefer if someone is giving specific information, they give us both names so we can learn if we want. That is why when I say something about a Zygo I also say Thanksgiving because that is how you learn. One reason I dislike the real technical forums is just that, I have no clue what the heck they are talking about. Many of us are in this for fun, not finances. I agree it is nice to know both, but I am not going to loose any sleep over learning that information at my age. If in fact I was making a living buying and selling and raising plants then that would be different. I think that is one thing I mentioned in the intro of this thread. Use both names of the common name. The same goes with using initials, some times I have no clue what you guys are talking about until I get used to the way you abbreviate. LOL HD, CC, GH.....we all do it and to new people it is really confusing.
Have you ever gotten a text from your grandkids? It is like trying to solve a puzzle. My grandson started to do that to me and I told him....spell it out....I am too old to play games. He is doing very well now. LOL And, I am learning to abbreviate also. This is not a one way street you know. We all need to help each other. At least that is what I tell him.
Have a good day. It is cloudy and going to do something later in the day or tomorrow.
At this point I could care less. I am going into town for awhile. Must get off this farm before I get crazy.
The Orange Zygocactus is in full bloom again. This is a beautiful plant. I can not wait to start cutting and selling. LOL
Beautiful!!!!!
JB -
that is gorgeous. Just wondering if you sell and mail them. There is one that I have been trying to find and have not. Please send me a Dmail.
Carolyn
Thank you ladies.
O.K. There is a definite problem with my cuttings of my old magenta/fuchsia Christmas Cactus. They have been in the Greenhouse all winter and seem to be turning a pinkish yellow more each week. I thought it was lack of sunshine. But, they do not need that much sunshine. Therefore, I am not sure what the problem is. I am going to transplant them all into another medium and see if they perk up. They are in coir now and maybe they are lacking in something. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
What makes them turn color is the question!!!!!JB
JB, do you have other CC cuttings in the same place that are doing fine? I'm wondering if those cuttings could be too cold.. I've noticed leaves going pink/red on the windowsill in winter. New growth often seems to be pinkish also.. but the yellow you mentioned seems like more of a bad thing. Could you try a bit of weak fertilizer water on them?
I was fortunate enough to get a great assortment of CC cuttings from doc, and they've turned into such pretty little plants! They bloomed well this year... I didn't do a great job of getting photos of them, though (kept forgetting to take my camera upstairs where they live!), but I got a few bloom shots. :-)
Hot pink...
pale pink...
peachy-pink
and tangerine!
They are beautiful. Thanks Critter for the comments. I am going to try and work on them
this week if the weather breaks and I can work in the GH without being uncomfortable.
It is either too hot or too cold outside to go to the GH and open up to work. I gave them some fertilizer a few weeks ago when I saw this coming. I am going to transplant them all . Yes there are some others in the same area that are o.k. They are a different variety. In fact I do not know what they are because they were not marked when the cuttings came.
Here is my Peaches and Cream (Zygo) still blooming. These plants just will not quit. LOL
I had a pale yellow one and a lighter peach, also. I don't know the variety names on any of mine; I just know that when Doc said he had a colorful assortment for me, he was sure telling the truth! It's been fun to watch them grow into "real" little plants and bloom. Along with the rest of my plants, they were pretty neglected last year. I am betting they will get bigger now with more regular water and an occasional pinch of fertilizer. I repotted them just last week, which should also make them happier, although I've noticed that they seem to bloom better when rootbound.
Love the delicate coloring of 'Peaches & Cream'!
JB--
Do you know there is a Peaches and Cream Brugmansia as well?
My first thought on your Zygos was that they are getting too
much light. I may be wrong......They do not like full sun,
being a Jungle cactus.
Gita
Gita. Hi, Not too much sun. The sun has not been shining for so long. I thought of that also.Then I realized the plants that need sun were looking a bit sad also. I think it gets too hot in there when the sun does come out. I am not sure..........at this point I could just throw them all away. The cuttings you sent are still alive, barely....they just might make it. Too bad it was so cold when they arrived. I have them in the house and watch them daily.
I do not know a thing about brugs. I killed everyone I had and gave the ones away I started from a friends seeds. I am sorry I am not a brugs fan.
Hope you are doing well. JB
Critter, that tangerine is scrumptious. Got my first CC from Doc at the swap and I'm ecstatic. IT BLOOMED AGAIN.
ooohh, purdy! I think I have a cutting from that one also, but I don't remember which pot it's in, since I didn't get a photo! Hopefully mine will bloom again next year. LOL
Rise, that is a beautiful flower. What is the name? Maybe Doc knows. It looks like peaches and cream but not exactly. You know what I mean. LOL JB
