Coffee and...Part 6 :-D

Icecream anyone? mmmmm! yum! yum!

Darius will be heading out in the morning. Everyone, please pray for safe travels for her. I'm worrying a bit, but trying not to. :) Her O2 is packed so she's not using it tonight. I'm concerned that she'll wake up tired and not rested. If the whole trip is too much (12 hrs.), she may stop at her cousin's for the night (9hrs.). She's staying off the interstate because her little Nissan doesn't run with the big boys!

Night all......zzzzzzzzzz...........zzzzzzzzz..........

Julie, that got a giggle out of me. I can relate.

I managed to discipline one section of 'Spin's gardens today. Her Salvia x Jamensis had grown clear across the path and intermingled with another salvia so that took some doing clearing it out.

The rest was a little weeding of the ubiquitous oxalis and ice plant and grass that pop up in the bark mulched paths.

Then we went out for a late lunch of a mexican meatball soup [Albondigas] and garlic bread. So I just need a spot of tea at this point while I read what all are doing. ~Blooms

Kooger...thanks for the update. Darius is definitely in my prayers tonight. Be glad when we know she's safely there.

Hey Blooms, is anything aching tonight? :-D Sounds like you've working your little buns off. Obviously I haven't. LOL

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ~me too~zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

~julie~

You mean I'm the only one up this morning? lol Lucky me had DGD overnight. I also got to watch 15 minutes of her dance class practice - Parents' Night. DD was at the doc's and couldn't get back in time to pick her up. DD's been sick for over a week already. Doc figures it's Influenza A but is probably past the stage of testing. Gave her a Z-pak and told her to stay home for 2 days. Hope that helps.....

Well, our dear friend should be a couple of hours down the road already. Praying all goes well!

Intek cleaned the laundry room carpet yesterday. They'll be coming in a day or two to repair the plaster. Then DH will put some sort of baseboard up. Then I can get all the stuff out of the family room! Yeah!!

Winter returned with a vengeance yesterday. I think the high for the day was about 15°. Brrr! after a couple of days in the 40s and one 50. Actually am glad, I was starting to worry that my bulbs would start sprouting and it's wa-a-a-a-y too early for that!

Time to get some breakfast for DGD. Here's some 'eye candy' for you.... Samantha's the center girl, in the black outfit. :)

Kooger, that's quite a GD you have there. Taking dance lessons will be something she'll remember all her life. I know I do...and there are some really great lessons learned there besides dancing. (I loved it! and I loved the teacher and the pianist. The pianist was blind but he could always recognize each of the girls by the sound their taps made on the floor...never could sneak up on him. LOL)

I hope your DD is feeling better real soon. The flu that's hanging around this year is a tough one.

I'm waiting for mail today. Hopefully I'll get my seed starting supplies I ordered early last week. And if they get here I'll be busy setting up the shelf system, heat mats and lights. I can't believe that I still have about two shoe boxes full of seeds to start. LOL Especially since I have nearly 85 containers sitting out in the snow. If this keeps up I *will* have to start a nursery. :-D Or at least have a hugh yard sale for the left overs. hehehehe (I guess worse things could happen!)

Well, I'm off for a fresh cup of coffee and then it's down to the basement to see which things I can move to make room for the seeds.

~julie~
P.S.
Darius, if you check in (Or, Kooger, if you talk to Darius) I want you to know I'm thinking about you and still praying for, as Kooger said, your safe arrival.

Hey, Jule - I will take any of your leftover plants you need a home for! I mean hey, what are friends for? LOL!!!!

Darius get there soon!

Gosh Kooger she's cute! I think she is going to cause some heartache in the not too distant future! Dancing classes do them so much good too. Those that go develop a very graceful way of movement.
Hope Darius is going to pace herself, thats a long drive. I will be watching for her to check in too.
I've brought some English 'Ginger Biscuits' (Cookies) this morning. Language problem - it says biscuits on the packet which could confuse you guys, the English don't have Cookies in their vocabulary, and what are called biscuits here would be called bread rolls in England. anyway Ginger 'Nuts' as there other name is are like a hard molasses cookie, crunchy, very gingery and marvellous for dunking in coffee! Anyone join me?
Carol

Hey Kooger, speaking of well - nothing related to this but don't forget to send me your SASBE for the castors, hollyhock, and the 2 kinds of Rudbeckia! Got 'em saved for you!! :)

Nicole

Oh and Carol the nuts/bread rolls/biscuits/cookies sound great! LOL Pass me a few!!

Nicole, thanks so VERY much for the reminder. It totally escaped from my mind (not a difficult thing to do!) I'll get one ready to go.
L.
(I'm losing the pc, DGD wants to go on Playhouse Disney. See ya's later, much later - grin!))

I'm with you on the mind thing. I am always calling myself at work, leaving me voice mails to remind me to do things! LOL!! My car looks like a giant sticky note there's so much crammed in there! Can you say fire hazard? LOL

Nicole

NIcole...you really had me LOL on those 'reminders.' I especially like the voice mails. Me, now I use email to do the same thing. :-D

Say, if you have any leftover casters, I'd love to have a few. I've gotten a few seeds from various members, but I can always use more. Listen up, if there's leftovers from seedlings, you'll be first in line.

Carol, I'll definitely try one of those 'biscuits'. That's not an unusual term to me. That's what my Mom called them until the 'Okies' set her straight. ;-)

~julie~

Woman I have a BIZILLION castor bean seeds!!!!! I have 9 packets in my office with another 10-20 at home.

How many do you want? Oh and I am a seed addict but have cut myself off until I can actually grow everything I already have in my possession at the moment. Otherwise people will start calling me a 'collector' instead of a gardener!

Nicole

Hi everyone. Tea and some of those cookies sounds just perfect. It's been a busy day already and feels good to sit down for a bit. I had to take the pickup to be serviced, so I poked around in nearby 2nd hand shops and came home with 5 containers to plant things in, 2 garden books and a valentine card for my hubby. I also went to our local discount store and bought onion sets, it will soon be time to set those out and plant peas. The temptation to buy things with pretty flowers on the label was successfully conquered for another round. The ground reappeared early this year so I feel obligated to put something in it. There's only one other year out of the past 12 that I felt like I could put seeds in the ground early and that was in April, so Feb might still be a little soon. However, I don't have much to loose and everything to gain if it works. I could risk some lettuce, chard, radishes, beets...... they will all take some frost but maybe not our 15-20 degree nights. Can you tell I'm arguing with myself about the wisdom of extra early planting?

I hope Darius will call somebody to let us know she arrived safely. That's a long trip alone when she isn't that well yet.

Have you noticed that Dave has put the morning glories back on the page header? I like it. The plastic looking daisy was too generic and the morning glory was designed by the early DG members, waaaaaaaay back when we had only a few hunderd people and a handfull of forums. I looked at the membership numbers yesterday and we have over 136,000 members now. If I remember right DG was formed in about August 2000 and I came in Jan 2001 when there were about 400. Nothing has grown like DG except weeds!

Well thanks for the tea and cookies, I'm off to get something done outside on this beautiful day.

Yes, I'm glad to see the morning glories back. Now the header looks great.
At the risk of talking too much about my sister, Glee, she got the results back from her PET scan and it was negative. Her cancer has NOT returned in her lung. This is wonderful. Now I hope she gets a break for everything...

wonderful new, ws!!!

Nicole...I have about the same number of CANNA seeds! LOL Not to mention that I have probably close to 4 dozen canna tubers coming from the Co-Op. I think this garden thingy is ADDICTIVE....(oh duh! ;-)) So how many in a packet? I'm planting them for the foliage and height but more for the mole repellent qualities. (I *hate* moles!)

Mary, I've been reading about the winter planting of some veggies, too. I can certainly tell you that, as soon as I can scratch a trough in the soil, I'll be trying some radishes and beets. Sure sounds like you had a great day out shopping. I've been trying to get DH to take me to a place about 30 miles from here that has the 'Trash to Treasures' kind of stuff...and I'd love get over there. Oh yeah, I saw the change of the header...I had two windows open at the same time and when I refreshed my forums the new one came up...Whoa! What happened here? LOL I like it much better than the "flower"...this is more like the DG I joined. :-)

Betty...that's fabulous news for Glee. And I'm really glad you let us know. Isn't it strange how little it takes for people to become involved in other's lives?

Hi Kooger...when you get news from Darius be sure to let us know. She's been on my mind all day. I couldn't ever take on a trip like that alone...much less if I wasn't feeling up to snuff. Darius is 'something else' that's for sure.

~julie~

I'll let you know if she calls. I should have told her to call the minute she 'lands' and not wait till her 'puter is back on-line. That could take half a day and I'd just as soon know quickly - less worrying time. :)

Yeah for Sis, Woodspirit. Always good to hear 'all clear' when it comes.

I too like the garden look of our morning glories on the header - felt the other a bit generic and 60's flower child.
Not that it really matters. It's just so nice Dave lets us play in his garden.

I was chewing on some chives out in the herb garden earlier today and now I'm regretting that impulse. Was clearing up the herb bed here at 'Spin's in the aft sun. So nice. - to play in yard in sun in winter ~Blooms

Just checking in quickly, hope it's not too late for visiting. Woodspirit, I'm so glad your sister's cancer has not returned. I emagine the relief is just beyond words. You are not bothering anybody sharing concern and then good news! At least that is the way I see it. A kitchen table is where people share these things.

Today was bright and sunny. The greenhouse got up to 90 and I had to open a vent and raise a window for a while. The amaryllis that came in a box with a bright pink flower and the name Telstar is in bloom and is something totally different, greenish with pink steaks and pink edges. So, now comes the fun of trying to identify it! My afternoon included a horseback ride out in the hills. The sun went behind the Elkhorn Mountains at 5 pm and I got home at 5:30 in time to feed the horses just before it got dark. It was cold and I hadn't worn gloves, didn't think of it when I started out and the sun was shining. Thankfully I did have a jacket and a stocking cap and the wind wasn't blowing.

See you in the morning. Might bring some blueberry muffins if I get ambitious.

Woodspirit-so happy to hear about your sister.
Drat, wanted to wish Darius a safe trip-just in case you are checking in-travel safe and enjoy.
Spring-planting..we are getting a bit more snow; can't wait until the Garden Expo this week-end; I am going, even if my sis cannot make it-I need some color!!
Went house-hunting again-Jeesh--acres of sub-divisions-huge houses, no room for gardens. There is the grey/off-blue one and then the huge, biege one down the road (dozens and dozens of them- in all hues of the same color. The developers have been buying the farmland up the past few years.
Got to get those daylilies into planting medium this week. or I won't have a chance of seeing if I get anything to grow-spring might get here--any month now.
Any pastry left? Could use some with my tea.
Hugs to all of you. Going upstairs to warm the toes.

I'm with you Kooger...I'd rather not worry either. Especially after the last bit of trouble Darius had. That scared me half to death.

I've been playing Euchre tonight (after watching 'House' on Fox...love that show!). Did you ever download the Euchre program?

Blooms, does that mean they don't necessarily "agree" with you? :-) I don't have much trouble with those sorts of things...only bleeding ulcers (yuck!) but DH has to eat early or pay the consequences. (I envy you that warm sunshine but ours will get here eventually...I hope. ;-))

Mary, I'll bet you really enjoyed that ride. 'Telstar' eh? That's a name I'd love to have in my collection...I don't suppose it would matter which flower was attached to the name, but I sure do love my Amaryllis. I have several but I think they needed to rebuild their strength. All I've gotten so far is leaves. And I haven't been doing anything other than what the packages have instructed. Oh well...there's always next year.

There's some frosted brownies in the pan on the counter. Grab a cup of nice relaxing herbal (I think there's some chamomile and maybe some hibiscus) tea and then we'll all hit the hay.

See yahs in the morning.

~julie~
Darius, we're thinking about you...hope you not wearing yourself out.

ws - glad the news was good for your sister - reminds me of my sister'. She has curvature of the spine and it is pressing on nerves and eventually on essential organs. She is in turmoil about getting surgery - permanent rods up her back, body cast for 6 mo and never will be able to work again. Plus surgery isn't a guaranteed cure. She spends many a sleepless night worrying. Plus in continuous pain. She is skin and bone - I on the other hand am relatively healthy, but battle the bulge continually!!

Went to a 50th BD party for a friend - had a glorious time, but overate and spent a sleepless night - eating tums. Why do I do such stupid things!!! DH has way too many beers and a huge burrito and was just fine....grrrr

Gonna spend the day lazing around the house- getting some freezing rain and snow today, so I plan on staying off the roads.

Nothing good in the house to munch on (finished all the carmel corn doing a jigsaw puzzle!) hmm, have to look in the cupboards to see what I can whip up. I really need a cookie right now - anybody have any???

thank you all for your kind remarks. Her son, Trey and I have been hoping she'd go on company disability and then retire. Well, she called and said "I can't go back to work, anymore." I asked her why (as if lung cancer and then 4 crushed back vertebrae weren't enough) she said, "There's a cooking show in the afternoons that comes out of Savannah and it's terrific; unrelenting good southern cooking, and I can't miss it."
So there you are. I guess you can tell her mood is upbeat. We used to live in Savannah in the '50s and have never gotten over missing it, so we resolved to go to Savannah this year if she can travel.

What a lot of good news, I'm so glad for everyone whose families are recovering, etc. Spent the last couple days hovering over DH who is, of course, DYING of the flu, which I had last week but naturally he is much sicker than I was..........honestly, MEN!! Then last night he sweated out his fever, which meant a complete change of bedding this morning as his side was soaked...glad I use double mattress pads. On the bright side, we have sunshine today after having snow showers last night.

Don't have any cookies but here's some biscotti left from the last batch....they are dunkable but I think I'll have some of those ginger thingies, no matter what they call them in the UK.

Good luck house hunting Marcia....when we decided to build and started looking for land, we were hard pressed to find anything that wasn't McMansions on tiny lots. If you can afford to build one of those monstrosities, why wouldn't you get some extra land with it? Who wants to watch their neighbors scratch themselves? We finally found a "subdivision" that hadn't been developed yet, with lots which were all at least one acre, and even though we didn't want to be bound by covenants we finally gave in. I'm still not happy to be in a subdivision but land is getting so hard to find here. At least we have gardening space. And we're the only ones that have any flowers, the rest all have just grass and shrubs.

DH is all for more garden beds and less grass mowing...and he's really handy at digging and moving stuff, although I have to keep a close eye on him! Last year he found the little wild violets so attractive he plopped a bunch of them all over the front tiers, in spite of my warning about how invasive they are. Let it be known that I am now a serial killer. Roundupped them right into flower heaven. And I'm still struggling with the juglone from the black walnut tree, although the sedum I put in last year did fairly well. I have a list of things that are supposed to be resistant, and I'm trying them all.


Oh Kooger that little girl is a cutie pie! I took dance lessons early on, and at the teacher's less than subtle suggestion, my parents decided that dance was not going to be my forte'. Two left feet would have been an improvement in my case. Sigh. She looks as if she really enjoys it, and it will be a great enhancement to her life experience.

Julie, I watch House too, and I really like the show, which means it probably won't be back next season! I'm still watching reruns of Becker....so that tells you how long the stuff I like lasts....but then, I'm hooked on the Apprentice too.........

Have a sunny day everyone...

Taking my daughter out for a birthday luncheon, then going to work. So glad I work whatever hours I want....
We need to start another segment of this thread; it's taking too long to load.

Coffee for me this morning please. I still have some butter cookies left, sarv..... Left a message on darius' cell phone - her message is cute - "if I don't answer, I'm behind a mountain". lol Hope she's there!!

You guys are all so kind - I'll share one of Samantha's 5th birthday pictures - no proud grandma here!!

Thread loading okay here - we're only at just over 100 posts, usually gets close to double that before it gets slow. My guess it's the server overload thing again. Dave said the slowness will come and go for awhile.

and one more...... promise.... lol

Princesses all! DGD is the only one looking at me!

Hi, GOB's... I arrived safely (not sanely) last night about 11 pm after a 13 hour trip and lousy directiions from my sister for the details to her house. Stayed up until almost 4 am winding down and talking, so I'm not even reading watched threads today (yet). Just wanted to say thanks for the prayers for safety!

First things, first...By my calculations, Darius should be at or very near her destination. :-) Do I sound like a "mommy" fidgeting around waiting for one of my kids to get where they're going? LOL I can't help that. And can you tell I'm not a person comfortable driving more than 5 miles from my house?
:-D I real gotta hand it to those of you who can jump in a car and go where ever you want to without really thinking about all the traffic betwee 'Here and There." I saw a commercial for the TV show 'Monk' the other night and nearly wet myself laughing. Poor guy, someone else was driving and he's scared stiff and bracing himself for a turn that's still 2 miles up the road. (I can relate! LOL)

Sarv, sorry to hear about your sister's situation. I have several friends about the same. It's really hard watching them go through that kind of pain.

Betty...couldn't help but smile over "why" your sister couldn't go back to work. But I'm very happy to hear *good* news along with a sense of humor. I hope you *do* find the time and Glee is able to travel. It's wonderful getting to go back to a special place.

As for me, I'm planning on finishing up my Winter sowing this afternoon. I have about 25 more packets of seeds to sow. I got all the jugs cleaned, cut and numbered...and all the plant stake labels made yesterday. So now all I have to do is fill them with soil, plant the seeds, and get them buried in the snow. Check off ONE more of my pre-spring tasks!

Yesterday, DH got a new catalog (Sportsman's Guide - a discount place) with some mini-greenhouse units in it. I took a look and compared them with the ones in the Gardener's Supply and several other gardening catalogs. Since all I'm looking for at this point in time is a spot where I can harden off all the plants I have or will have inside, these little "tents" will work fine. I got 3 of them for $30 apiece...they're 4'W X 8'L X 38"h Have 4 zippered windows and even come with a shade cloth! They look pretty close to the same as the ones in garden sources and I'm saving at least $30 per unit! But the best part is that I won't have to pay property taxes on them...hehehehe

DH will build a 'shelf' (or bench support) to put them on so I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to work with the plants. The space under the shelf will work great for storing the ever glowing collection of pots, containers, potting supplies, and of course MILK jugs! :-D

The more I think about having a place to put all the new plants for hardening off, the more excited I'm getting! I won't have to spend the whole day taking them out and, just about the time I get them outside, bringing them back in to the basement. YEAH for ME!!!

I'm going to get a fresh cup of coffee...can I fill yours at the same time? Can I offer you a brownie? They're really rich! Yummy

~julie~

Hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She made it!!!!!!!! Whew, that's a relief!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAHOOOOOOO!!!! I've been waiting for THAT post! Kooger, thanks ever so much for letting us know. Is she 'ok' or is she pretty tired from the trip? (I'm still worrierd about her health...was there any breathing problems during the trip? I sure hope not.)

Ok...update on my 'green houses' LOL
Here's what they look like
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=181699
And here's what I just wrote in another thread about how they're going to be used...
Dh is going to build a 'bench' to raise them to working height for me. They'll be situated against the wall of an open carport so I can work in them from both sides. I suggested putting pipe in the ground so I could work on the benches in mid summer (I'm doing hypertufa containers) in the shade. DH suddenly remembered that we still had several roll-up awnings left over (but still brand new) from a couple of our big 5th wheel campers! SUPER fantastic! All that plant and project room ....and NO property taxes!!! :-D

(Can you tell that property taxes are a big concern for me? LOL)

~julie~

Julie, Julie, Julie, ya gotta scroll up and see her post! she was posting same time as you! lol

P.S. I've been playing euchre like a madwoman. I'm doing pretty well with the 'Cut Throat' on 'Hard'. Just love it!

LOL I can't believe I MISSED her post!!! :-D
I'm so happy this morning...first becase Darius had a good trip, and secondly because of my new project in the thinking process! :-D (I can't believe how little it takes to make me feel GOOD again. hehehe)

My goodness, the ideas are just bursting in my head.

Kooger...we *have* to get together and play Euchre online. I really don't like playing with some of the "strangers" you get in the card rooms...they can get pretty upset if you make the wrong move. hehehe And I'm glad you're having fun with the program.

See y'all later
~julie~

Morning all, tho it isn't in the rest of country, it's still morning here in So Cal and I'm still on first cuppa. Brought some bananas in as I've been hankering one. They just taste so good some days that I think my body wants the potassium.
mmmm wonder what we use it for????

Did anybody get a manual with their body? You know the care and keeping and how it works.... like with a car or scooter?
Me neither. So I'm left going "How d'ya work this thing?" as I try to get my left hand to help with the weeding. LOL

Those greenhouses sound a good idea, fold em up and put away when done with them??? No permanent structure, I like that.

Good on you, Darius, keep on keeping on. Good luck on your search for compatible digs. I too could not choose Fla- NO mountains at all. And sticky hot. Great place for Easter vacations tho. heehee and mid-winter getaways.

Ducking head to avoid slings and arrows, I'm off to play in the sun in the garden. ~Blooms

~giggle~ @ Blooms 'ducking' :-D

Yep...that was what I was thinking too, Blooms. I don't really have a spot for a real greenhouse and these will serve the purpose I need them for. I was really surprised when I realized that DH had only paid a little over $25 ea for them. AND they are made from rip-stop fabric not plastic that would only last a few years at best. I think I made a good decision.

Well...DH just finished signing up for Social Security. I'm glad we're going to be among the ones that are still eligible but I'm really worried about our kids. I know, I know...we're not supposed to talk about 'current events'. So y'all didn't read that, ok? ;-)

So now that we know where we stand (until income taxes are done) I can breath a sigh of relief ~sigh~sigh~sigh~ I needed that! LOL I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. NOW I should be able to get back to small talk.

Speaking of which...HEY DARIUS!!! Sorry I missed your first post after arriving. We were posting at the same time and I rarely look "up" after I've posted. So glad to hear you made it...and really excited for you having the time with your sis and everything. ENJOY yourself! And feel better, too!

~julie~

Good morning/afternoon or whatever you have. I''ll just fix myself a cup of this orange spice tea and sit here by the window.

Darius arrived safely, oh good. I thought by mid day we would hear from her. It sounds like you will need a day to rest up from the trip before you start house hunting.

Blooms, potassium helps your muscles. Lack of it causes leg cramps and irregular heart beat. Diuretics (sp) can wash it out of your system. Strange that they give something to heart patients that can do funny things to their heart...... I have a friend that had low potassium and had all kinds of trouble including shortness of breath until she started taking potassium every day.She had been on a bata blocker for years and years because of irrigular heart beat and her doctor thought a diuretic would help her because she had a bit of fluid in her feet and ankles. What he didn't do was a blood test, she was already very low in potassium and the pills made it worse. He finally sent her to a cardiologist for tests, guess what? no heart trouble, just low potassium. These doctors amaze me sometimes, the more I hear the less I want to go to them. Give the body the right building blocks and it will heal itself. Potatoes, bananas, V-8 juice, all good sources of potassium.

Julie, those mini greenhouses sound pretty neat. I went to the website and looked at them. Putting them up on a bench is a very good idea that will sure save your back.

This morning I played quite a while in my greenhouse, repotting some more of the cacti now that I got cute little buckets and such to put them in. I'm still picking fine spines out of my fingers. Of course I thought of the gloves after, not before.

Thanks for the tea. Have a great day, count your blessings.

Glad you landed, darius. I am convinced that 90% of people give lousy directions, even leaving out turns altogether.

So happy to hear Darius is in her sister's place...have a good visit...and plan where ya'll want to live.

I guess I will just go on to bed ...wishing all of you a good night!! Jo

Hello and glad to see that you made it Darius.
Oh, some of that orange spice teas please!!
Was on a writers chat that featured one of my favorite authors-Jayne Anne Krentz, interesting, but I didn't win an advance copy of her next bok! Sob**now I have to wait a few months at least. I have Many virtures, patience is not high on that list.
Julie-doing to check that greenhouse..and I won't even start on property taxes!
Hopefully off to a renovators supply store to poke around tomorrow, sounds like an interesting place-builders contribute what they don't use and it is resold to the public and the $$ goes to Habitat for Humanity. A win-win situation.
I need a vacation-somewhere warm>>>>

Marcia, we all want to vacation somewhere warm, but really just want winter gone. LOL I worked in 'Spin's Calif garden in tee shirt today until little breeze came up and sent me running for sweatshirt... next thing ya know the sun goes down and it's not even six o'clock.

MaryE - I knew there was a reason I just love potatoes. Can make a meal with just potato. ANd do. Often. Right now I just want sharp cheese and crackers. And it's crumbling all over the keyboard. oh rats!