She's about to... 66... It's summer time!

Morning Faye, how are you guys doing? Hope it is not too hot or wet for you!

rofl....love those pics....rofl.

Hi Linda and Joyce. It is hot as blazes here, stayed inside this morning trying to keep up with the vacuum cleaner. Much rather be sweating outside..
Joyce the pictures are for real. lol He really was doing my toenails. Like I said, he is sweet starting at the bottom like that LOL LOL. I thought it was a good thing to do while the charcoal was getting hot enough to cook ribs.

Can anyone tell me what in the heck I can do with all these miniature clay pots!

Make pot people out of them!

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/claypotcrafts/ss/Clay-Flower-Pot-Person-Craft.htm

Thank you Linda, will check it out.

LOL! Hubs just said you must have mighty strong toenails to have to use a whetstone on them. Got my laugh for the day. Ray always looks happy :)

Lots of great ideas are here too, not just using miniature pots, and a lot of the displays are right up your alley, Faye. Calling all chicks!

http://www.inspirebohemia.com/2011/07/unique-garden-planters-and-displays.html

Red 8" diameter radar blooms are starting to open on Hibiscus 'Midnight Marvel'. Yesterday I found an online tutorial about how to propagate hardy hibiscus cuttings and took 5 to try. If any of you have tried, are they easy? This one is supposed to be hardy in Zones 4-9. The guide said it could take up to 8 weeks for them to root and used a cloche for a makeshift greenhouse. If they take, I'll have clones to share.

Let us know how it goes Fruity! Those are beautiful!

beautiful, Fruity! I start the tropicals, but now I aminspired to try taking cuttings of my Kopper King. it came back so big and strong this year.
Faye, you and Ray are an awsome couple! You look so happy!

I agree , I would love to take a side trip with you too!
for some reason, my rain lillies have bloomed, no rain since last tuesday?
when you cut the top off of a mammoth sunflower, you get instant bloom buds on the stems..( I just found these)
grown from seeds of last year morning glory
outside corner of potatoe patch which is now a summer squash/morning glory area
texas red star hibiscus.. i saw a yard full of them in wichita, they come back every year, so I am going to see if this one comes back.. i grew it from seed.

jasmine sambuc non stop blooms, easy to start cuttings, I have several rooting now..
zinnias and stuff
snowqueen hibiscus just now starting to bloom ( it bloomed all year inside)
caladiums and morning glories in a self watering hanging basket that is too heavy to hang, so I have it under the pear tree, with throny branches to keep the squirrells out of it
I made a lasagna bed and then bricks to make this a neat and tidy area, had to hack down the honeysuckles and wisterias so the passion vines could roam..
been on my list of things to do for a while, finally got the dahlias out of their pots, and the peacock gingers planted as well as the white impatians.. now maybe they will perk up?
oh and all the cannas susie sent me are behind to the left and up the north fence..
my list got smaller, but now I am adding to it. finally re-potted the prennial pink milkweed and re-potted the giant cestrum bush.

Beautiful blooms Debra. Can't wait for my snowqueen to bloom!

HAHAHAAAAAAAA Susan, Ray is using a sanding block on my toes, not a whetstone..but that is a thought for next time!
All the blooms are beautiful and Susan you know I'm loving that Red Hibiscus.
Debra, you have so many plants inside and out, how do you keep up with them? Do you know them all by name or are they labeled? Beautiful blooms.
Where is Amanda? Thank you Amanda.
Love & Hugs

Debra, Beautiful blooms and you even have green grass!
Dahtzu, you guys look mighty comfortable in the pics...rofl.
Poor DH is trying to roof the Taj MaCoop and it is hotter than ? let alone with black felt and black shingles. Geehz. We haven't had rain since (weeks?) I can't even remember.

I thought I had posted a pic of the duckies in their swimming pool, humm, maybe I posted on a different site, heck who knows...rofl.
But here is a pic of my babies. They are so fun and will dive and swim under the water. I put a swing by their pool under the pine trees and we just watch and laugh. I would say cheap entertainment until I start adding up the cost of the building, food, and whatever...rofl. Oh we have figured out they LOVE cherry tomatoes. I think I could get them to roll over and do tricks for cherry tomatoes.

That is a beauty of a hardy hibiscus there frutiy. Does it live year round in the barrel? I have probably 5 plants, 3 are planted down where the grey water is discharged and probably the only thing blooming in my garden. Gotta love them because they come up so late and have such great big blooms. Never tried taking cuttings, I know the one with blackish leaves is suppose to be sterile so seeds won't work.

Iike a duck in water :)

Happgarden - Please pardon my intrusion on the thread, but your pictures of your ducks in the swimming pool brought back some memories. At one time years ago when my boys were still growing up, I got a dozen duckings just for fun. One died quickly, but the rest were healthy. They turned out to be about 6 males and 5 females. Before long we had to fence off the males as they were after the females EVERY MINUTE! After we put up the dividing fence, the boys hung around it and made comments about the ladies (sounds familiar?). We got pools for both sets and really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, the story did not end well. One morning very early 2 neighbor dogs cllimbed both our fences and killed ALL my ducks. Another neighbor saw it, came running, and called us. But it was too late. Only one was alive and horribly injured. My DH took care of her to stop her pain. The terrible neighbor was totally unconcerned about the whole thing (dogs will be dogs, according to him). I did not report it to the police or anyone as there was nothing to be done and we had to live next to these people (they stayed there for several more years - same trashy behavior). I am afraid our boys got a harsh lesson about what life can bring. But at least we had the enjoyment of the ducks for some time and good memories. After that I got some bantams and triple fenced with locked gates (their pen was like Alcatraz). They lived for many years and brought much joy to me.

stillwood, your not intruding, anyone is welcome to coma and chat with us!

Sorry about your ducks, some neighbors just don't care about others property, but watch what happens if something happened to their dogs!

Happ give then some watermellon if you want to see funny also I went to the river netted some minnows & put in their pool Oh so funny :) my molly duck follows me in the garden for me to dig worms for her . get a shovel & dig around them :)
very very hot glad i don't have to go to the fair grounds. tonight I'm going to just sit back .
here where it is cool .

stillwood I would like to introduce myself to you.. in person. I'm so excited, I live in Henderson and that means we are not far apart. Just maybe we could meet half way and have coffee, tea or just chat. Gosh, lol, I'm already seeing you at the Round-Ups, and yard sales, and my back yard. My name is Faye, married and looking forward to meeting you.

Faye, that would be so nice if you two can meet for coffee!

stillwood, Keep chatting with us! As you can see, we talk about whatever is on our minds. It's great seeing a new face and would love for you to attend one of our RU's that are held in June. Really do hope you and Faye pick a place to meet soon. You'll enjoy the time and will be in good company :)

Loving all your beautiful pics, Debra!

Thanks. I enjoy the watering of it all. I get to see what all is new.

You know, we raised chickens, ducks, geese and rabbitts for about 5 years when we were on the farm. I just took all the eggs, fried chicken and baked duck and fried rabbit for granted. I miss the crowing, quacking and honking. when I go to my sons, I have duck and geese families to throw food too. they act like they own the place. Fond memories of the poppa king goose chasing my little sister at age three and pecking at the back of her pants. Please say a prayer for my sister. Here we go again.

Wish I could go to RU and meet you guys. I hope you and Faye get to meet up, I love meeting DG family. Stillwood, we welcome you to this family.
here we are meeting some DG'rs in Florida. We stayed about 3 days there.

my sister Sherry, KayJones, and me.

KayJones and Floridaheat with a stictocardia

I am glad we went. She coughed the whole time, I just knew she was sick.
*sigh*

Can't sleep and had fun reading this thread! Dj, in that photo you posted of your iris sale the second picture has some wild turkeys or some kind of bird in the lower right corner looking thru the sliding glass doors? Or am I imagining that? We have a lot of critters but not birds, what a cute photo of ducks in a pool. Everything here is growing so well, and yet I'm hearing about all the drought damage in Midwest, sounds really bad. Somehow we've been getting quite a bit of rain, there was a heat wave while i was out of town but it was relieved by heavy rains, tomatoes, beans, okra and eggplant are as good as ever. Now if the figs would just ripen, I absolutely love fresh figs sliced on a plate with a dollop of goat cheese or blue cheese, yum.

DAHTZU AND EVERYONE - thanks for the warm welcome. I was raised in Henderson (many years ago) and still have a cousin there, so we get over every once in a while. I actually am out in Granville County (Franklinton is just the mailing address). Retired last September 30, 2011 and still getting the hang of this retired bit! I still marvel on Monday mornings that I don't have to pack up for work (worked 37 years at Duke Medical Center - laboratories). My DH and I are doing a bit of traveling now (while we can) - he retired 31 December, 2011. Both in good health at the moment, so decided we had better travel while we can. The fall and winter will be much quieter as we slow down. Perhaps a good moment for a meet will come then. I admit I have a tendency to keep to myself (not anti-social, just rather shy). But I do enjoy the sociabilty on these threads at DG. Thanks again.

Melanie

Judy, that is a turkey, that is one of her babies!

There are a few swaps open if anyone is interested.

Neck of the woods...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1270225/

Christmas in July...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1270265/

Hi stillwood so glad you came to chat. My DH is building a taj MaCoop and if it gets any more secure I am not going to be able to get in it...rofl. So sad about your ducks and the dogs, bet your kiddos were upset along with everyone else except the neighbor..... Geehz that would be awful. We have grown really close to these guys, the same as you all did, but thank you so much for the warning. I can use any info anyone has. Oh retirement that is what I am dreaming of......Sounds like you all are really enjoying retirement which is great. I can't imagine not having to clean up on a Sunday to get ready to go to work on Monday, just to be able to keep doing what I want when I want. Counting down. ;)

Oh Deejay we have given the ducks watermelon and omg talk about slurping and carrying on...rofl. It is too funny. Actually I think they are eating better than me! We have two lame ducks, dh knew nothing when he purchased these guys and they do ok, but we have to put them in the pool and take them out when they are ready. When DH builds the final area for them he is going to build a "pond" that we can drain at ground level so the lame ones can get in and out on their own. Do you suppose that water would be to "hot" with fertilizer to use on plants?

You need a ramp to go in and out of the pool!

Debra sounds like you all had a great time on your trip together and so glad you got to spend time together. I hate to hear that about your sister. Is this something new or a problem from the first round?

problem from first round. doing biopsy on the node on one lung, and drawing the fluid off the collasped lung, won't know anything until next week.
gosh, I wish I had a pond. Mine leaked so now it is a bog, I lost my water lillies and other pond plants. *sniff*
106 today. I am whipped.
old picture.. i miss my duke dog so much. it was a year ago around this time I think, maybe in June.
I am losing track of time. tonight I cleaned out my purse. hooray! LOL
first tropical house garden, 1979, Joe's place. LK, look at the tv! LMAO
anyone have old pics to share while we sweat to death?
I made this silly collage of my sister, the last one there is when Alexandria was a baby, she is 17 now..
4th grade, can u find me?

Love the old pictures!
And Duke is so precious, I miss my Karoosh too!
2nd picture is of my Mom on her wedding day, she was 18.

oh those are great pics, Linda. Love your doggie and your mom is beautiful.

Sorry to hear about your Sister Debra! Please know she is in our thoughts and prayers!

Oh Debra I am so sorry to hear about Sis, sending lots of prayers her way.

I am enclosing some pictures to cool you all off with. Yep, we are hitting above 100 again geehz. It was still hot this morning when I got up before sunrise and that is in the country.

ahhhh that is just what I needed.. a rememberance of the good old days when it realy used to snow! Great pics, Joyce. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers of Sherry. I am so worried. They are drawing off the fluid on the collasped lung tommorrow, yet her daughter, the 17 yr old spoiled brat, accused her of faking her illness. Got into a huge fight, she hasn't slept but two hours in two days cuz she can't lay down and breathe. stupid brat. I could just strangle her.( my neice)
108 here today, 110 on this coming Sunday. ugh.

Here I am.

I read the thread and Debra sorry to hear of your sister's condition. I will pray for you and her both in my way.

Fay and Raye - you are so silly - it doesn't seem right to reply to that photo of you up there with your big feet being sanded down with a concrete block, but I did - and will keep smiling thinking of you both. It tickles me to see how you keep all our plants together. One of my vines is doing well, and I would hope that soon she will send out flowers. That's the one in a container trained onto the arbor my neighbor gave to me. I planted one in the ground on the other side and it is still busy sending down roots, I guess. Not a single runner.

I now have 4 neighbors' gardens to tend.

I have several raised beds I have planted completely. One friend (the one who loaned me her car) is still gone to Winston-Salem, and I have been planting things in her garden while she is gone. I put one of the corkscrew vines in a corner under a new fence/pergola she had built recently and it just took off! I had to get it into the ground or do something with it - it was in a 3" pot and the runner it sent out was almost 2' long. I still have 2 plants in small pots. One is supposed to be for my brother in PA. The other one was supposed to be for Neener, but I might have to put it in another pot on a trellis somewhere. It wants to run!

I was only joking but yesterday after looking at the weather forecast I said I would have to get up at 3 a.m. to enjoy the 74 degree temperature. My brain woke me about 3:30 a.m. or so and still awake. Cleaned up the kitchen counters and I will hook Snoopy up and walk around the block. It's funny - I could stop in those 4 yards to water/tend while we are walking. Now would be the ideal time. I am not keen on the heat. We did have warm summers, but you know we had window units. Court and I decided that it's the having to wear grown up clothes in the summer that makes the heat no fun. For me, the mosquitoes take the fun out of whatever's left.

Court paid me a compliment last week and told me my garden looked like a powerline easement. The ultimate compliment! Just exactly the look I've been striving for. Crazy I know, to want prairie in my yard in urban NC, but I'll keep working at it. Stopped pulling weeds because they're keeping the soil cool and helping my other plants.

Some of you know I started a new job which I am ridiculously happy with. Faye and Ray - I go to exit 177 on I-85 to work at City Hall. Not much farther to you. That sure is a long stretch, but the job is part time. Classes at NCSU start on 8/16 and I am (as ever) concerned about costs. The Volkswagen is coming today (!!!) and I will be delighted to have her back. May as well leave you with the photo my mechanic took after she was loaded on the trailer.

Happy Friday. :)

xox
A.

That car looks like new!

A lot better than my truck looks!

Morning everyone. I drove top San Antonio yesterday to see my ortho Dr. Then I was driving across town to go see my son, and some lady in a brand new Chrysler on my right side, decided to try and make a left turn, hit my Acadia, and shoved me Into a big metal utility pole. The Acadia is totaled! I spent a few hours in the ER, had lots of Xray's. Dr. say's everything is fine, just bruised. Todd had to drive the mustang to come and get me to bring me back home. My left knee is swollen and bruised, and my lower back and neck is sore, but all just bruised and whiplash. Guess we will be working with the insurance companies to get it all straightened out!

Hey all!! Just been catching up. Don't get to DG as often as I used to. My Desert Rose that I picked up off a sale table in Hilton Head last fall is finally blooming. I had no idea what I was even expecting, but it is really pretty.

Nice rain the last few days and a lot cooler.

Glad to see all the pics of everyone and get caught up again.

Neener

Hey Neener, glad to see you posting. Love that rose, it is very pretty.

OUCH!
Amanda, be at "the" cabin and we can have a pedicure line for Ray. I love all the plants that you dear RU ladies and any I get from DG friends give me. they are little treasures. So glad you got your V W home..she/he's looking good, now time for that (this way) road trip.
Debra, you and your Sister are in our prayers. Will there ever be a cure for Cancer? Ray will start Radiation soon and will go Mon.-Fri. for 6 weeks. Cancer is back (we think) M.R.I. couldn't prove nor disprove that the growth is cancer because of all the scar tissue from previous surgeries. I'm scared to death, and if it wasn't for prayer I know holding on would be impossible for me.
Linda thank God you weren't hurt worse. Vehicles can be replaced but you my dear friend cannot.
Welcome back Nita. Didn't you know we were missing you? Now don't you go AWOL again! Loved the miss dial..do it again anytime. Hello to Martha for Ray & me.
Love & hugs to all.

oh dear Linda! I AM so glad you are okay!

Faye, thank you, and your coleus and caladium collection is beautiful.
Amanda, so glad u got your baby back.

Neener, I love my desert rose, it has red blooms. I hope we get seeds.. LOL

My Acadia, and the 2012 Chrysler 300 that hit me...