Neck of the Woods Chat January 2013

Good memory, Terri.

These were the "gardens" 6 years ago.

My clivia not budding yet but i feel confident it will. Just not yet. Growing well.
That was three years ago. But who s counting?

im refreshed while the sun shines. And frigid in clouds or dark.

R_R_R, your gardens are amazing, more so after looking at the before pictures. WOW!!

Thanks, Cat. We retired when we moved here, so we needed something to do!

So, I'm walking across the parking, face getting sandblasted by wind driven snow particles, and repeating my mantra...Its Refreshing! Its Refreshing!
Thanks Terp!

Now there's a great visual, thank you!! < =D **giggle**

It IS refreshing!

So is hosing off buckets and tools in 20-degree temps! < =D

THE BATHROOM FLOOR IS DONE!!!!!!!!! Wanna see!? Yeah, you do! =)

Here's what she looks like now, and Wheewwww, what a relief!!

Speedie, That looks great.
LOL Sally, I had a refreshing day yesterday walking from the parking lot to my job yesterday. DD Jen is training for a Marathon and hates to run on the treadmill so she has been doing her training outside in this frigid weather. One particularly windy day she told me she felt like she was running and running and not going anywhere.

hahaha
Great floor speedy!

Anyone signed up for Groupon???

There is one for Longwood Gardens!!!

Nice job, speedie!!

Not the flu, but, I got DH's mess! Sinus, ugh!!!

Speedie - the floor turned out great. I absolutely love marble and your pattern layout shows the color variation off to advantage.

I'm with Paul - I like the cold crisp weather, just don't want it to go on and on and will be more than ready for spring. I rarely even wear a coat going from house to car to work building and misc store stops. I keep one with me in case I break down or something, but I hate the bulk and feel the cold air is refreshing. Lucketts has a few inches accumulated from the snow flurries over the last few days - it is snowing lightly right now too. Stay warm everyone, and EMBRACE that fresh cold air when you do have to venture out LOL....

LOL Speedie, Well it was (only) a 7 mile run so I am sure that the extra wind resistance was good for her training. LOL

HollyAnn, admit it, she was on her treadmill and the video screen loop was stuck at "Dog Park". LOL!!! (oh, and that "breeze"? A BIG NASA FAN!!) Haaahahahaaa!!!

Just Kidding!!!!! < =D

Thank you for the compliments on the floor, it was a real challenge but a lot of FUN!! And I now have officially and truly earned the name "Groutbag". =) (eg: "Heya, what's for dinner tonight, Groutbag?") < =D

I'm with (and like) Aspen... I HATE bulky outerwear and steer clear of it when at all possible. I had errands to run the other day (it was in the low 20's that day).. had to load up the back of the truck with "clean-out-the-basement-JUNK" for a trip to the dump... so my sweat jacket was the perfect outerwear of choice. =) (I HATE long sleeves of ANY sort as well). Tank top, T-shirt, then sweat jacket UN-zipped with sleeves pushed up. Ready to EMBRACE the REFRESHING air! =)

Link Alert- Today I am noticing some oddball Links in highlighted, underlined text, such as the word now. You may not want to open these as they are probably just ads.
EDIT-- Aha, this just happened on another site so it may be my computer- grrrr uggghhh.

This message was edited Jan 27, 2013 9:49 PM

Don't forget that Bill's Caladiums4Less DG 15% discount promo is getting ready to end (31 Jan). I put my order in a few minutes ago. Pretty good deal... (Note the promo code didn't work until the final stages of checkout)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1289645/

I have seen them before a few years ago. If you remember where you saw them let the DG staff know.

I'm putting my order together today, too. Boy there sure are some really pretty new ones, too.

Speaking of lotus, has anybody ever been to the Kensington water gardens?!? I think that is what it is called. I heard about this evening, it apparently has acres of ponds and beautiful lotus blooms in August.

When I find the website I'll post it.


Oops I meant Kenilworth.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc95.htm

This message was edited Jan 27, 2013 10:47 PM

No I haven't, been to Lilyponds a few years ago.

Went last spring but its really best in August, I hear. No lilies blooming early summer.

When we go South down 295 there is a section I think Rt 50 that has a sign Aquatic Gardens. I have always wanted to stop and see what it was. Is that where you are talking about?

I believe so.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc95.htm

Kenilworth Gardens are locally important today as a part of Washington's Park System, its greater significance lies in its contribution to the botanical study and development of water plants and gardens under the direction of its founder, W.B. Shaw and his daughter, L. Helen Fowler. It continues today as a noted water garden under the National Park Service.

After the Civil War, 37 acres of this land were bought as a farm by W.B. Shaw, a war veteran who had come to Washington to work in the Treasury Department. Shaw pursued his hobby, the growing of water lilies, on the marshy sections of his land. He imported 12 hardy American white lilies, from his native Maine and grew them in an abandoned ice pond. As the lilies thrived, Shaw dug more ponds and began to experiment in hybridization. In 1912, Shaw and his daughter, Helen Shaw Fowler, began to sell their lilies commercially and daily shipped thousands of 63 varieties of hand-picked lilies, to Chicago, Boston and New York. During his lifetime, Shaw was responsible for developing many new varieties of lily, among them the Pink Opal and W.B. Shaw and the Helen Fowler water lily varieties, all still grown commercially today. The "Shaw Gardens" produced lilies available nowhere else in the country in the marsh's 35 different types of soil.



Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
NPS Photo
Mrs. Fowler, who ran the business after Mr. Shaw's death in 1921, agreed to permit the public to view the lilies on Sunday mornings during the height of the season. During the 1920s and 30s, visitors numbered as many as 5-6,000 per day. Even though it was one of the largest lily farms in the world, the Shaw property was particularly attractive because it had been left almost entirely in its natural state.

In 1924, Mrs. Fowler was persuaded to permit local residents to attempt to have the ponds brought under public ownership; among the most enthusiastic supporters was Mrs. Calvin Coolidge who, along with President and Mrs. Wilson, was a frequent visitor to the gardens. The extent of the gardens remains essentially unchanged from 1938, the year they ceased operation as a commercial enterprise and became part of the National Park system.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is located in northeast Washington, DC, near the Maryland boundary along the tidal Anacostia River. The entrance to the Aquatic Gardens is just west of I-295 (Kenilworth Avenue), between Quarles and Douglas Sts., on Anacostia Ave. It is open daily from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. For more information call 202/426-6905. The Gardens are not within close proximity to a Metro station.

This message was edited Jan 28, 2013 9:10 AM

We really should come down to see them this summer. In our area we have a huge stand of American Water Lotus at one of our Wildlife areas. It is beautiful to see in the summer and the smell is heavenly.

Let's pencil in a group thing for summer. But be aware that the neighborhood looks pretty sketchy, and you will probably not want to eat at any of the fast food places nearby. Could bring picnic or adjourn to College Park/ Greenbelt area for eats.

National Arboretum is very close. Kenilworth by itself would not take a whole afternoon.

Sounds like a great idea, Kenilworth and the National Arboretum with lunch. Yes that is the one I have seen the neighborhood looks pretty sketchy from the highway.

The national arboretum is in a terrible area as well. there are designated picnic areas at the national arboretum and their new visitor center will be open next week. They have been in a trailor for a few years now waiting.

There is Security in the property so do not worry about your vehicles while we walk. Lots and lots of regular nice people use the Arboretum.

I love love love the Arboretum. Never saw anything sketchy inside it.

Happy happy Birthday Flowajen!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1296300/

Thanks!

OH BOY OH BOY, HAPPY BIRFDAY FLOWA!!!!!!!! < =D

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Jen, Happy Birthday to you!!! Hope it is a good one.

I actually went by the National Arboretum trying to get home from work today - unintentionally LOL. I work in Southeast DC and live in Northern VA. Normal route is Southeast/Southwest freeway and over 14th street bridge into VA. If there are traffic backups, there are alternate routes - like getting to the beltway right before the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and then into VA. However, I didn't LISTEN to the traffic report before I got started, and ended smack in the middle of a huge backup on the Southeast/Southwest freeway. After 40 minutes, I had barely moved. I decided to get off on an unfamiliar exit ramp into DC just to get out of the traffic jam - figuring it would come out somewhere that I would recognize. Well, it turned into New York Avenue and then ?, but at least I was moving. Before I knew it, I was going by the National Arboretum - so that is where it is (not that I could find it again by the long out of the way route I took LOL) I finally came out on the beltway at Route 50, and 1 1/2 hours after I left work, I was back where I started from if I had just gone the beltway route in the first place. Three hour commute, but it was an adventure...

Hey Terri you almost made it to my house! There was a huge back up on Rt 50 eastbound due to high winds on the Bay Bridge.

Given that the Nat Arboretum is such a close straight shot for me it's a wonder I haven't been there more often.

Judy, when I saw Route 50 I jokingly thought I should just keep going to the ocean and skip work tomorrow LOL. Glad I didn't, otherwise I would have been smack in the middle of yet another backup - oh, the joys of Washington DC and surrounding area traffic... Back to the National Arboretum - yes, definitely lets make this a MAG get together - I'm in!

thanks for the b-day wishes


I def do not like getting lost in DC

One day, aeons ago, (before he got a work truck), DH was doing some (electrical) work in DC on Pennsylvania Ave.. his (personal) truck had broken down and I had to go pick him up. This was before we had cell phones, by the way. So, there I was, driving up and down Penn Ave, making U-turns RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE, back and forth, for HOURS.... eventually I had to go home to get ready for work (afternoon shift)... and it turned out he'd gotten a ride home with a co-worker but had no way to contact me to let me know. WOW, try to imagine even getting ONTO that section of Pennsylvania Ave now, let alone making U-turns up and down it in front of the White House for hours! Haaahahahaahaaa!!

I pray for all of you who have to work in DC, it's not a treat of a drive! < =/