Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners #15

#3 is more orange than yellow, which tips the vote in the pink direction, as far as I'm concerned. Yes, though, truly lovely.

Beautiful pictures. Could#3 Possibly be called Tropical Dawn?
You sure thats not a picture of Bigfoot on a diet?
Half of my house lost electricity for some unknown reason. Just got everything back on. The TV was on the workable circuit but computer was not. Ran out of propane at the
same time. The first night was an adventure the second was not.I could survive without modern convenience but I'd be an unhappy camper.LOL
Kays a lucky wife,You are a romantic. Course you're lucky to have Kay also.
Have brought my ferns,geraniums and begonias in. We had a light frost but everything is still green.
The trees are just getting a touch of color. Nearly all the dogwoods are dead. So sad.

Okay, I stand corrected. That daylily isn’t Stella d’Oro despite what the tag says.

I’m still enough of a Yankee to get an illicit thrill out of roses in autumn. It feels like I’m getting something over on Mother Nature. I’m not sure how romantic Kay thought our outing was. My w/c isn’t motorized. She had to push me up a steep incline, but I know I’m loved because she didn’t let go on the downside of the path that ended in stairs down to a pond.

Maybe, Swamp Thing is one of Sasquatch’s offspring. I suspect they have the Chocolate Basil hidden among the elephant ears in the greenhouse. It was to warm in there for me to say long. Kay is trying once asian to keep a sample of each plant in her basil collection inside for the winter. That has never worked before, but she still tries. This year it is light reflectors made of cardboard covered with aluminum foil to increase the light intensity.. It is amazing what basil addicts will go through for a fresh supply. (Jim)

Photo #1: I know the CB is hidden in here somewhere.
Photo #2: Butterfly Garden

Last weekend (maybe--I think I'm losing track of time) I made Ray drive me to the Texas Forum NE West or South or Metro (I forget) but anyway we went to a DG Round-Up! It was so exciting to meet people in person whom I had only talked to (a little) online these past 6-8 months. I came away with a haul, although I can say, I can't tell everything apart. The walking iris looks like a daylily or maybe a spider plant (I put it by the bath tub). Rosemary I know, but can i leave it out for winter in a pot, or is it as tender as it was in MA? Do paperwhites and amaryllis really grow in the ground like Home Depot says, or aren't they tender too? Aloe I recognized, but same deal, do I keep it in, or leave it out? I'm prepared to grow everything indoors--I can't GET outside, anyway.

Jim, are you on Medicare yet? If so, you may be able to get them to buy you a power chair or scooter. The sick part is they have to ascertain that you're going to live long enough to be worth their investment. I.e., you have to document that you're not going to up and die on them leaving your heirs with this expensive customized power chair! I always thought that was kind of gruesome. Especially since they won't buy a shower chair or grab bars, but will pay for hospitalization, hip replacement, PT, OT, etc., maybe even nursing home and rehab facility, when you fall and break your hip because of lack of grab bars. Grrr, don't get me started on Medicare. Oh, you have VA stuff--is that instead of, or added to?

Vickie, we've lost power a few times since we've been down here--pretty awful! Are you stocked up or prepared for a longer power outage? Good thing it was only half your house! I hope you have staples, water, TP, etc. stashed somewhere.

Ouch, electrical problems can be hard on the wallet. Did you have to hire an electrician or did you know someone who could do the work? I wonder sometimes what the person who originally wired our place was smoking. It isn’t dangerous, just weird. Rooms at opposite ends of the building are on the same circuit.
Lol. Nadine lost some of her interest in learning how things were done in “the good ole days” when the amount of real labor involved became clear. She still like going to historical fairs to WATCH how things were done. She would practically live at the library if she didn’t have her own computer and access to the web. Kay is chomping at the bit while she learns all the hotkeys needed for blind people to be on the web.
What kind of rosemary did you snag, Carrie. Prostrate rosemary is more tender than the bush variety. I’ve heard of gardeners growing the bush type in ground in zone 7. (In a protected area, I’m sure.)
We grow paperwhites in the ground for whatever that is worth. I even found some growing wild on the edge of the woods. A squirrel or something must have stolen some bulbs and forgot where he buried them.
I don’t think my GP would sign off on a motorized wheelchair. He is a firm believer in his patients doing as much as they can for themselves for as long as they can. On the level I have no trouble with a self-propelled w/c. Pulling myself up hills is tough!!!. The doctor found some things he didn’t like at my checkup yesterday. I have a CT scan tomorrow and an ultra-sound on Friday. I had my flu shot today. I’ve never gotten seriously sick from a flu shot, but I always feel grouchy and tired for that first 24 hours or so afterward.
Kay says she has to change her orange and blue Auburn Tigers fan fall flower bed colors to the red and white of the Alabama Crimson Tide because GD#1 chose to attend the University of Alabama. She is making a list of plants that bloom red or white during football season. lol.
Photo: I guess the scrap metal company that created the infamous pig dressed his creation in a UA jacket to make certain people know he is a University of Alabama fan and not a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks / ;-) (Jim)


This message was edited Oct 17, 2012 6:32 PM

UH,Jim...............Our colors are red and white also...........GO HOGS LOL
Ashamed to say They are already in trouble this year.

Hope those tests turn out ok.

No Stealing our pig that is a feuding matter! LOL.

Yeah Jim, crossing fingers for your tests.

Interesting article series in NYT on what do you do when one little test says you need a specialist who says you need 5 other tests etc. etc. and you wind up spending a lot of money, energy, getting frantic, duplicating tests etc. I guess for most of us those extra tests were worth it; it wasn't a wild goose chase. If I can find it again, I'll include a link to the article.

Dad Gum Jim! I'd already got my road maps out.
Still keeping fingers crossed for your tests.
Bought a beef roast yesterday. Will cook it all night with onions. Will throw some potatoes in it along with some carrots. Definately time to start cooking again. May cook the same thing for Thangsgiving. Everyone is complaining about Turkey again. Maybe I could make a meatloaf in the shape of a turkey!LOL Anyone have an idea what kind of dressing I could make with it?

Yum, now I’m REALLY hungry. Kay rose before I did and ate the leftover eggplant Parmesan for breakfast. That was what I planned to do. I guess great minds think alike. Lucky for her we have more eggplant and I'm is in a cooking mood. It was 48° this morning. Time to dust off the slow cooker.

I heard a funny one yesterday that was new to me. Question: What is the difference between a pigeon and a small farmer. Answer: The pigeon has no trouble making a deposit on a John Deer tractor .

I would have kissed my VA doctor if I wasn’t so scared of her. When she saw all the test I was scheduled for, she went through my recent records and pulled the results for test the VA had already done saving me some money. One more test to go, but it is looking like nothing more serious than a simple infection. I wish the the doctor would just wait and see if the anti-biotic clears things up because this last test is an uncomfortable one, but that just isn’t the way doctors work. Gr-r-r.

In the name of keeping a written record of what is where in the gardens, I decided to count all our containers this morning. I thought there might be as many as 50. Not counting things like my porch rail planters and the “sedum snake” (a retaining wall made of concrete blocks with the cells of the blocks planted.) the total was 145 with more on the work and potting benches to be repainted or re-filled with soil. Sheesh! Kay says we only need about 15 or 20 more. ROFL.



Photos #1 and #2: I didn’t count this one as a container, but I like it. Wrought iron patio sets are pretty, but not very comfortable. A few years ago, Kay put a child’s swimming pool atop a wrought iron table and filled it with soil for planting, but the weight of the soil after an especially heavy rain was too much for one of the table legs. She cut off the table legs with a hack saw and made this. The tomatoes are simple to harvest. I think I will plant snow peas after frost does in the tomatoes.

Photo #3: This is one of Kay’s favorite weeds..um-hum…I mean native plant. It isn’t much to look at when it goes to flower, but the smell is incredible. Very sophisticated scent for something with the common name dog fennel.

This message was edited Oct 20, 2012 12:28 PM

We had church services outside by the river today . The weather was perfect. I discovered I don't sing well acapella. In former years all the churches in the community got together, but some churches aren't showing now. That is sad. Maybe, they have some objections to the afternoon park event. But, if that is the case, they could just leave before it starts. The local military history geeks and gun geeks put on a show. In period costume using period weapons. Why do some people try to politicize everything. If kids knew what a battlefield really looked, sounded, smelled and felt like they wouldn't romanticize war and we wouldn't have so many wars. History would become a visceral thing when a child knew you can feel the vibration of a cannon firing down to your bones. To know that battle is usually a smoky confusion, the air filled with the acrid smell of cordite making your eyes water. I think that is needed to counter act the way TV and movies gloss things over. In today's reenactment they showed a young man lose it and try to run away. He was shot by his commanding officer. That kind of stuff really happened. They showed a field doctor risking his life to treat both his own soldiers and an enemy soldier. That really happened too and the children who were watching saw and applauded him. The story that is portrayed isn't a reenactment of what happened here 149 years ago. Those events would be impossible to stage. That is a story of how 16 people (A few disabled veterans, old men and boys for the most part.) defeated a band of 44 mercenaries saving the town. The people in the reenactment just try to capture the flavor of what the Civil War was like. I can't see anything wrong with that.

Ok I'm done ranting and I'll step down from my soap box lol.

Photo #1: The Gray won this year's battle reenactment. That seems to happen a lot. lol.

Photo #2: But, the Blue and the Gray always take their bows together in the end.

Well I am writing as Amargia but Seacane is still a pain.

Jim I love your pictures and your stories and point of view. Ray and I don't romanticize war. He had the, er, pleasure of being in one and my parents were such doves that my sister and I weren't even allowed to play with water pistols.

Now something changed by the time my brothers were born, because my brothers definitely played toy soldier type games with each other. The funny thing is my sister and I each had 2 girls, and our two brothers are looking to each have 2 boys, they have 3 so far. And the oldest boy (who is maybe 14 or 15 now) is an expert on ammunition, weapons, nuclear warheads, what gun goes on what plane, the difference between a rifle, revolver, a magnum, a colt, and a pistol and a musket and a crossbow and a long bow and and a drone and yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah. He can go on for hours. You can tell I find it little dull. His little brother is the same way with baseball statistics. But how this future president of the NRA came out of this Quaker pacifist peace march grandmother is quite astonishing. I guess it's all to do with extremes.

I have now rosemary, coleus, walking iris, aloe and a few other things all angry at me that they are inside and not outside!

LOL Brought back memories of Saturday matinees(SP) of westerns and playing cowboys afterwards.No TV back then.
Both my DD,s were soccer and basketball players. As were their sons.They could'nt be called pacifists They were killers on the field.
Carrie,When other plants die from frost,they will thank you.

I stayed for the re-enactment because I was curious to see them fire the cannons. The "throats" of the five the city has collected are different. I was curious about how they would sound. I guess that makes me a sort of gun geek. After the first cannon blast Kay turned her hearing aid off and still flinched every time one went off. I think she and Nadine just hung around for the roast corn, boiled peanuts and funnel cake.
Kay and I both spent most of yesterday in doctor's waiting rooms. Kay finally got in for her 9-o-clock appointment around 11. We just had time to grab lunch and make it to my 1-o-clock appointment in another city. Well, I guess doctor’s appointments are one way to catch up on your reading.
I've been reading “A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the food crisis on American soil" about the connection between the oil supply and the food supply. It made for good Halloween season reading. Scary stuff. The book helped me better understand why Kay is pushing things more into food production. I can support the new direction now that I know my daylilies are safe. Aside from attracting pollinators, you can eat daylilies if you are hungry enough. Lol.The author’s definition of farming is rather loose covering anyone involved in food production.
We were behind a truck hauling peanuts on our way home. I was teasing Kay that if we followed him we could catch enough peanuts blowing off the truck to make our Thanksgiving peanut pie. It is probably a crude winnowing process. The peanuts light enough to blow out of the back of the trucks probably aren't that good, but it does explain why there is the occasional peanut growing alongside the road. (Jim)

Picture#1 is the Cannon that has the loudest voice and you can fell its roar too the bone.
Picture#2 &3 has a deeper roar but wow I think they should name this cannon “Smokey”
Picture#4 here is a picture of a peanut huller wagon quite full huummm could I sneak up there LOL.

There are several new food plants growing here because of my efforts. While searching for sachi inca seeds I became acquainted with a couple in Costa Rica who are also working to increase the number of food plants that are grown locally. I planted seeds just before we had a tropical storm last week and I now have lots of little plants which I'll be sharing with other people who garden. I have a Hawiian-type papaya which fruited this year (after many failed efforts) and I went to town and passed seeds out. My Malabar spinach has been popping up here and there. I have some goldenberries growing well. We had a little fruit in the spring. I'm hoping they will naturalize. I've shared lots of dragonfruit cuttings. I can get lots of different seeds in Ca. and many companies will send seeds here. They are clamping down on allowing seeds to go from Mexico to Ca.

I'm also growing some things for the birds.

I have a lot of different tomato seeds and my friend Manuel, who has a farm/garden/orchard and I are embarking on seeing if we can get tomatoes to grow here year round.

Many of the fresh fruits and vegetables sold here are not grown locally even though many of them could be with the proper seeds and some effort. This area has been so isolated for many years that there are a lot lot of options now for increasing locally grown food crops.

My neighbors who spend summers in Washington state just got here to their winter home. They are also working on growing new food plants.

katie

Welcome back, Katie. Hope things are going well post-surgery. You make a good point. Even if the US made all the necessary changes to give us a secure food supply (not very likely until we are forced to in my opinion) Mexico and Canada would also have to implement the changes for it to work.

Amargia could go as local as a 100 mile diet and not have to do without much we are accustom to having. Coffee, chocolate and some spices would be about the only things that couldn't be obtained in a 100 mile radius. For desert regions, areas with wicked winters and highly developed areas, it wouldn't be as doable. No balcony, rooftop or vacant lot could go unused in cities.

Kay's basil collection had already started to look sad inside. She hasn't given up on a fresh supply for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, however. She put her basil collection in the mini greenhouse. I doubt that will work either. Basil is such a heat lover. I don't know why she tries so hard. The basil that comes out of the freezer taste fine. It is only the texture that suffers.

The spinach is large enough to start harvesting. I snagged a few leaves for sandwiches in place of lettuce. Given a choice between lettuce and spinach, I'll choose spinach every time. (Jim)

Welcome back Katie. You are so sweet to share your seeds.
I've been wanting to start our garden back up,but alas no one in sight is even intrested in gardening. So I'll stick to container gardening and do what I can in wild pickings and learning.
I too think hard times are coming.
Am still a little puny. But will probably live. LOL
One of my grey cats did a special good deed tonight. My white kitten,Foxy (A total pest) had'nt really been accepted by my other cats. Prissy came in with a dead mouse and dropped it down in front of lil Foxy,then sat back and watched the fun. I let Foxy play a couple of hours (Trying not to gag) till I threw the mouse out. It'll be nice to have another mouser around.
Guys, If I got a cellphone would I be able to upload pictures from it to DG? Thats what I may get myself for Christmas.

I'm proud of you, Vickie I'm amazed at how the woman's liberation rhetoric disappears when the dog's kill something. The ladies have decided cleaning up dog gruesome's is "guy's work." lol.

I would love for you to have a camera. I think all the daylily pics Debra (lovemyhouse) posted were taken with a cell phone. The cable to connect the phone to the computer usually comes with a new cell phone. If not, the cable is easy to come by. The electronics department at Wall-Mart usually carries them. I want to upgrade my digital camera to a Canon EOS Rebel, but every time I've saved up for it something happens and I have to use the money elsewhere. I found a great deal on a van this time. I needed a vehicle I could get my w/c in and out of easily more than I needed a new camera.
Kay reminded me of a food item not locally available that I would have a very hard time doing without. Wheat! She also raised an issue I hadn't considered. Not that long ago, when it was normal to eat only local foods, people developed regional deficiencies. If the soil is lacking something, the plant and animal foods that come from that soil will also be lacking something. She said her sister who grew up in Arkansas and Oklahoma developed a goiter due to iodine deficiency. (I guess salt wasn't iodized in those days.) Army recruiters ind WWII spotted the problem also. Health problems making people unfit for service tended to cluster in certain regions. To maintain our health, I suspect CSA's and food exchanges are going to be a necessary part of the future. (Jim)

Photos: In the final stretch of autumn, pink has left yellow in its dust. The hydrangea blooms are even more spectacular now than they were when it was warm. It was too windy to outside so we did a vase of our flowers.

Your flowers reminded of my grandmother, who picked all her flowers before a hard freeze and we had a house full of flowers.
One of my school friends mother had a goiter on her neck. It seemed huge.That was back in the 50,s
Grandmother had a small wooden box hanging on the wall in which she kept salt.
Thanks for the info on camara phones. GOOD GREIF! That means I'll have to clean house. LOL

Yay that Katie is back with us! Katie, when I was researching the article on quinoa I found things like US gov't research on "lost" crops of Mesoamerica, including not only quinoa but lots of other stuff I had never heard of (and of course can't remember).

Do you mean that at this time of year there are no more yellow flowers? Up North there are asters (purple and pink) but also helenium, chrysanthemums, black-eyed Susans (and that whole group) which tend towards the fall-type colors of yellow, orange and brown. I'm not even sure what other pink flowers there are besides asters.......I'm sure there must be some, though. Well, yeah, hydrangeas are in the pink-purple-blue family.

We've only had a brief, tiny taste of cold weather, but the wind was wicked and broke the stems of taller plants like the pink zinnias. I think I will add a more compact form next year. The 'Endless Summer' hydrangea is well named. The only asters that have done well for us have lavender petals and a yellow center. I just finished reading a book specifically on how to garden for fall. Next year, I will plant fewer seeds over a longer period of time and cut back things in summer so we can have flowers like rudbeckias, sunflowers and mums later in the season. Yellow and pink will battle it out again in winter. The tea olives vs. the camellias. That makes up some for not having a fiery leaf display in autumn.

Kay hit on the perfect garden task for Halloween. Prune back the 'Flying Dragon' orange trees. The fact that those two trees are still around is proof that gardeners have a masochistic streak. Some ranchers consider a hedge line of Dragons more effective at keeping livestock in than barbed wire. I believe it. Those two little trees produced more than 100 fruit. I have to admit that is an amazing sight, but I'm happy we only have two

I've been making use of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant ID to learn more about the native flora. Thanks to the site I can say that the purple false foxglove is putting on quite a display. I don't care that it is considered common. I think its bloom time makes it special (Jim)

Vickie, after telling you how easy it is to download pictures from cell phone to computer, I have to admit that I tried it today and I haven't been able to get my computer to recognize my cell phone. Duh. I'm so bad about losing cells, I do tend to buy cheap ones. Hope you have better luck. (Jim)

Photo: Japanese Hardy Orange 'Flying Dragon: The knights had it easy! They had full armor and they only had to slay dragons. I'm expected to help tame the wicked beast. No fiery breath, but many impressive claws. Picture#1One down. Picture#2 One to go.

Jim, how do they taste? What do y'all do with them? No, I am NOT getting an accent. It just seemed like the best word for the job.

So I was trying to write a Veterans Day article but I couldn't figure out what VDay had to do with gardening. DH (my personal Vet) talked about "from the killing fields to the growing fields" but he's better at sounding heartfelt where I just sound sappy. The red white and blue garden has been done, I think. I could do plants named "Stars and Stripes" maybe.

Hi all,
I want to show these pictures of what i call mt, "Tower Gardens."
I have planted about 10 or 12 different plants in each.
Here in Western Washington, many flowers are still blooming.
I am working on building instructions that will appear later.
Paul.

Hey, Paul, welcome! So, looking good! I see petunias and other stuff I'm too tired to recognize -- S.A.C.? maybe? DH plopped some petunias in the one container he planted out here -- I thought to myself "they'll never make it through intermittent watering and no fertilizing, blah blah blah" but it's a good thing I didn't say anything out loud because guess what's still going strong? Gorgeous white petunias! Looking forward to your instructions.

Hi Carrielamont,
On the left tower, belonging to a friend on her patio, I have planted:
Day neutral strawberries, purple bush beans, impatiens on the shade side, and sweet 100 tomatoes on
the top, along with the petunias you see.
On the right tower I planted:
Purple bush beans, Day neutral strawberries, swiss chard, lettuce, leeks, impatiens and green peas
on the shade side and grafted tomatoes in the front of the tub.
Today I still have green tomatoes some beans still growing. The strawberries look good but quit
producing the 2nd week of October.
Paul

Hey, Paul! Long time, no see. Welcome back to the forum. The first looks very doable, but I'd like the challenge of the second one. That's a "Wow!"
Vickie, the book I wanted you to check out is on its way to you. I had Powell Books send it directly to you. Sorry for the delay.
There isn't much of interest to write about at the moment. We are doing our usual autumn clean-up which isn't very exacting. I like to leave most things until February for the birds. The most colorful thing to be found here in January is our cardinals so I try hard to keep them happy. Mostly fall clean-up involves keeping the limbs and pine cones picked up and the pine straw raked. (Pine straw is a slippery problem when it falls on ramps or the slightest slope.) I would like to replace most of the pines eventually., but they are huge and professional arborist are expensive.
Kay has been child-proofing the garden for the holidays while I've been reading a book on making gardens dog friendly and dogs more garden friendly. My dearly beloved is wondering where I'm getting some of the suggestions on child-proofing considering I've never raised a child. I simply remember what I just read and think puppy with disposable thumbs. ;-)
Carrie, other colors kept creeping into my red, white and blue garden. That is why I call it the Old Soldiers Garden now. Things like Purple Heart tradescantia seem appropriate because of their name and symbolism. Others because they have some military history attached. Yarrow was added when I learned soldiers once carried it for stanching wounds. Some are personal remembrances of soldiers that have died. (Not necessarily while still in service.) Kay has added several plantings in honor of disabled vets who were strong influences on her. She learned Braille and perseverance from a man named Travis Ivy who was blinded and partially deafened in WWII. The garden is a bit of a hodge-podge, but every plant has a story revolving around a veteran or being a soldier, in general. I will have to look again to be sure, but I think a veterans organization did one of the specialty gardens at the local botanical garden. It may take a little digging, but I think you can pull off a fresh perspective on veterans and gardening. (Jim)

But Jim, I have to do it IMMEDIATELY!!! NO personal vets or stories allowed in my article--it has to be either my story or ALL about your garden. WHY do I always wait 'til the last minute??? (Sorry for caps, just feeling more crazed than normal.)

I am recovering from a, #of serious falls over the past 5-6weeks. Also.
am at the final phase of a2wk really bad cold. Barely moved x
Absolute nesseties. Om told ear balance not working righr.

PS-- computer down &slowly learning this. $#@#%*:+*
Droid max cell

(((Sheri))) My step-father had some problems with his ear balance and consequently had dizziness and unsteadiness that troubled him for a while. Somehow he got rid of the ear thing without breaking anything. I hope you feel better soon. Falls are no fun.

I have a Droid too and I can check DG on it but I hate trying to post anything--I'm very impressed!!!! I say it's my "smart" phone, and it has me outsmarted.

Sheri. Do take care. Whats to be done about your balance problem? Is it an inner ear infection and can be fixed?
LOL I'm computer challanged .....A droid sounds like a Martian.
Jim, Hodge podge gardens are the best kind. They always have a personal touch and story.
Paul, Am jealous of your veggies and your locale. The only place in US I've not been is the northwest.
Glad you joined us.
Tell us about that non southern accent Carrie! Next you'll be saying "taters and maters."ROFLO
People were incouraged to plant gardens during WW2. Am not sure why.But it was the patriotic thing to do.

Looking forward to the book Jim.
Vickie

Hey, folks, does anyone know anything about BOTTLE TREES? Are they a particularly southern tradition? Do they have to be blue?

I think the Trash to Treasure forum has several threads on them. You can search here or Google them. Originally southern, they are now widespread and all colors. kb

Yes, I've been looking on the T-to-T forum! Thanks, Katie. I figured I knew some southern folks here. (Don't really know the Texas people yet, and the North East folks are all north and east.)

Hi, Sheri! Hope you are feeling better. Kay keeps a walker around for her “dizzy blond” days. Something about the shape of the ear canal makes people in her family very prone to ear infections .
Your return made me think of something else I would like to do in the Old Soldiers Garden. I think there should be something especially for the women who have served. Any ideas?
I’ve been educating myself on plant hardiness zone systems. I thought I’d found a system more practical than either the USDA system or the Sunset xone system. The USDA system sounds good until you stop to consider that Dallas and Seattle are in the same zone. The Sunset system has promise, but it
still needs work to be useful in the eastern half of the country. The Kurpin system is something even I can wrap my mind around, butt I can see some problems. We fall solidly into a Kurpin category (sub-tropical). But, I had a much harder time trying to figure out what category Vickie’s stomping ground would be in. (Continental, Mountain or Steepe?) The Kurpin system was developed around 1900 by a meteorologist/botanist namedVladamir Kurpin. Today was the first I had heard of it though. (There might be an article somewhere in our laughable attempts to develop a workable plant hardiness system, Carrie. One that you could actually relate to.)
My attempts to domesticate my wife continue. I was upset with Kay for disappearing into the creek side woods for most of a day. It is a dangerous stretch of woods filled with raveens. Holes and unexpected drops. . I don’t think a person can take two consecutive steps on level ground. I was so worried I went in as far as I could to find her..and discovered why she does it. Along the creek there are plants you don’t see in tamer terrain. I found a gorgeous blue bloom. Can’t find a match for it in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center database. Maybe, it is a garden escapee or November isn’t its normal bloom time. It could have popped up late after the deciduous trees dropped their foliage and it had more light.
Kay is still in hot water for disappearing so long. They have tracking devices for hunting dogs who get lost in the woods.. I wonder if they have tracking devices for wives.
Photos: Kay ventures into the woods to hug the trees and Braille the different ferns and mosses, but it was the siren call of these blue blooms that drew me in.

Loved the pictures. What kind of critter fixed the den? That blue flower is a beautiful blue. If you find out what it is,Id like to know too.
I went for a walk in the woods today also.Had fun kicking leaves.
My cats and my walking cane went along too. My knees will complain mightly next few days. LOL It was a beautiful day. Found some hickory nuts. Acorns are non-existant this year. The deer may need a handout later.Speaking of nuts.......I bought a coconut yesterday. Have'nt had one in several years.
Got a great book in the mail today,about container gardening.Thank you Jim and Kay.
Looked at the pictures. Will read it tomorrow.A new book is always so much fun. Later it'll become a good friend.
Give my best to Nadene.How is she doing?
Time to think about Thanksgiving. Grandson is having it at his house.I'm bringing the dressing.Am thankful I don't have to do all the cooking etc.
Christmas shows have started on Hallmark chanel. Much too early but am taping some for later on.
Vickie

The Morning’s Exchange
K: “Sweetheart, , I’ve been trekking those woods since age 7. “
J.: “You’re not 7[years-old anymore!!!
K.: Yes, I move much slower and more cautiously than I did back then…which means I’m less likely to fall now and gives any creature that wants to avoid me plenty of time to get out of my way.”
J.: “Honey, there are caves back there big enough to house bears!”
K: …but we don’t have bears. It’s too hot for them here.
J: I saw a den dug out of the raveen wall and big tracks around its mouth!”
K: Foxes or feral dogs probably. The mud makes deer tracks look the size of moose tracks.”
J. thinks: “This isn’t working.”
J. says after an appropriate pause: “Oh, I forgot to tell you! I went ahead and purchased the new Zoom Text 10 update.
K: “No kidding! My computer will talk to me again?”
J: Yep, I installed it yesterday. It seems to work fine.”
K. runs to computer and boots up. Plans to wander in the woods forgotten. J. smiles smugly.

Vickie my back is complaining for my jaunt lol seems like I cant do things like a kid any more, DARN oh well there are perks to my age though. Pleas tell us what you think of the book after you have read it. Does it deserve a place on our recommended book list? Nadine is doing well she is loosing mass and muscling up a bit for a job at the Wal-Mart distribution center. (Jim)

Oh, Nadine, the Wal-Mart folks are striking on Black Friday because Wal-Mart is making them work on Thursday! Are you a strike-breaker? (Or whatever those people are called that are brought in to cross picket lines...) Jim & Kay, sounds like a match made in heaven. Vickie, our family in Fort Worth says we may not have Thanksgiving at our house; we must go to their house. I guess it's easier that way, but this place still doesn't feel homey. Looking at stockings to buy or make. Congrats to Nadine!

Sheri, I finally have a positive ID on the crinum I sent your way. They are crinum bulbispermum. The common name Deep Sea Crinum fits them perfectly. Their long, glossy, light blue-green foliage does make me think of a strange sea creature. A very nice smelling one.
Vickie, do you have the crackable kind of hickory nuts? A few years ago Kay handed me a basket full of our local hickory nuts, a length of copper wire and my cordless drill. She asked me to make a simple autumn wreath. Well, it seemed simple. Just drill a hole through the nuts and string them on the copper wire. I had to exchange my cordless drill for the more powerful old corded drill to even make a dent in the nuts. I managed to make the wreath, but it was a struggle. Never again! The shells are tougher than black walnuts! (At least the variety that grows wild here is.) Aside from mixing the wild hickory nuts in a basket with other local nuts as holiday décor, the only use people put the nuts to is tossing a few in the charcoal grill for a hickory smoked flavor.
The holiday tradition is to put the pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts in a rustic basket along with an ornamental nutcracker. I definitely consider it décor. The idea of cracking hickory nuts or black walnuts with a pretty hand cracker is laughable.
Carrie, Nadine says if they were willing to pay her time and a half she would work. After all, the 3rd Thursday in November is an arbitrary date to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Laying out a feast is the easier part of Thanksgiving in my opinion. There are issues to consider when planning the modern Thanksgiving get-together that the pilgrims never had to contend with. Do you dare invite both the new and the former wife? (If you don’t, you will be seen as taking sides.) Do you dare invite the same sex couple when you know there will be others there who are violently opposed to the idea of gay marriage? (Yep, their personal choices are between then and God and it isn’t my place to judge.) Do you invite the biological grandparents of the boy who calls you Grandpa when you know they don’t know how to react to his Asperger syndrome? (I say maybe if they see other people interacting with him they will see how it is done and accept him as is.) There is the usual vegetarian/omnivore conflict. (There are plenty of good vegan dishes to get through that one and you just accept the dietary debate as a holiday tradition. Before the meal begins you give thanks for all the wonderful food and when it is all over you give thanks there were no knockdown-drag out fights. (Jim)