Coffee and...Part 16! :-D

Yep, Darius is right about how food is treated these days. It probably wouldn't hurt any of us to eat the way Grandma and Grandpa did if the food was the same, but thanks to mass production ... it's not! Chemicals in EVERYTHING! Sittin here with a bowl of some of that new popcorn without trans fats. I sure am thirsty, though. Anybody got on a fresh pot of coffee?

So right about food, my parents lived into their eighties, so most of their lifetime was spent eating home grown foods and local butchershop and farm fare, although I must say that in their later years, their diets got more like ours, incorporating more processed foods. Notice how much more you pay for organic vegetable and fruit? Less is more. The less additives and preservatives there are the more costly the item.

Spent most of the day out chasing weeds, and cleaning up garden beds. It's breezy but very nice. Golf got cancelled because they booked a men's tournament and neglected to tell our league about it, taking all of our tee times. That was one bunch of ticked off women! They will hear about it at the Park management offices I'm sure. so, no golf, hung sheets and bedding out on the line.

Going to go rescue the last of the sheets....no time for treats today.

I'm backkkkkkkk! Been catching up on all the things that have happened in a couple of days - man that rhubarb pie sounds yummy. My mom makes one with orange zest in it - absolsutely delish!!

I did the scariest thing and completely outta the box for me. I got a private tour of our states capital right up into the dome!! Man was it scarey. You had to climb a ladder straight up in a dark shaft between the layers of the dome. I thought I was gonna die (but took a zanax, so that helped) We kept going up and up and up. Then had to come down the ladder backwards. The shaft was so narrow that my back kept bumping into the wall and your arms were tight to you body. It was the wildest thing I have ever done. Actually I can't believe they are allowed to take anyone up there.....

Went on a shopping trip with 5 retired friends - all bought too much (who wears anything but jeans and t=shirts??) But we had a wonderful time laughing and eating and playing cards

Tonight is a retirement dinner for some friends- bought them all several lotto tickets- hope they hit it big!!

Oops someone at the door ---- BRB -- here's what it was: we have a new family that moved in across the road - 6 kids. Eight year old boy comes over here all the time and hangs around (home schooled) He just came to the door and wanted to borrow our tractor. I told him no - he is really bold and brassy - butts in conversations all the time and makes a pest out of himself. I told him that my husband is in charge of the tractors and he isn't home. He said "well I know how to start the tractor and run it" -he wouldn't take no for an answer... grrr I finally just told him to come back when my DH is at home and ask him (he will say NO for sure!!!)

Well, time to get cleaned up and out of the house - phew, I need to stay home for awhile.-

Grrrr.... here I am hat in hand with an apology for being late with a fresh rhubarb pie BUT it is now here and my oven is amazingly clean. What a mess I made!
Thought since I was baking I would do up some cherry pies, rhubarb and mince for the freezer. Well, ya know how they bubble.....peered in didn't seem to bad so took the 4 pies out and put in scalloped potatoes for dinner. Well they were supposed to be for dinner.
Here I am prancing around the kitchen all proud of myself and I look down ino the oven FIRE!!. Open the door toss in the baking soda - might I add it was a new box and I gave a mighty hurl.
Put the fire out but boy oh boy. Thinking I am clever I immediatelyl added vinegar to the glunk in the oven. At least the fire was out.
Covered in grim and spent too much of the day wallowing around inside the oven but here I. Enjoy the pie!!
Dianne

Hi Dianne - guess we should be on the nightowls thread! Woke up at 12:49 and couldn't get back to sleep so been playing games and finally starting to get dopey! Gosh, I am so hungry for rhubarb pie! I thought I make some last night but instead started weeding and planted 3 plants from IA RU. Still have about 25 to go in the ground! There's about 5-6 pots of Lily-of-the-Valley and they'll be fast ones to plunk in. Working tomorrow 10-6:30 so chances are they won't go into the ground til next Tues - day off.

DGD is overnight again - she told me her hand was SO tired at bedtime. I found a dead female goldfinch by the living room window - musta crashed and burned! - that little gal carried it around for about 2 hours, maybe longer, in her gloved hand, then she'd stroke it with her ungloved fingers and talk to it and tell me it was coming alive again. She was convinced it would because its head would move when she rolled it over - broken neck, I'm sure. Grandpa came home and tried to convince her he'd help her bury it - nothing doing! She became quite indignant - you don't put birds in the ground, Grandpa!! He did talk her into leaving it in the garage overnight - I think it's going to disappear before she gets up. I should have got a picture of her with it - her poor tired hand!

Poor little girl..remember when we thought that love would cure anything? If it's not there in the morning, she will just think it got better and flew away. Not a bad thing.

There's some leftover chocolate cake on the counter....when I made the cake for "cake day" I had to use a double batch because my best round cake pans are ten inchers, so I had a little left over to bake in a loaf pan. Put it in the freezer and discovered it this morning. Frosted it too, so you chocoholics just dig right in. Spent all day yesterday outside and it looks like that will be today's agenda too. Too nice to waste the day. DH is power washing the deck, half of it looks brand new. He's so thorough, doing all four sides of the railings, etc. Probably just as well I'm not doing it, I'd do the floor boards and call it quits.

Dianne, what an exciting pie episode!! Bet the kitchen smelled real good too! LOL When I made dinner last night, I remembered I had some fresh asparagus in the frig, and got it out. I had sauted some nice slices of Vidalia in a small pan, so I threw them on top of the steaks, put those in the oven to keep warm, and put the asparagus in the pan with the remaining butter. And onion juice...which, being sweet Vidalia juice, quickly cooked down and uhhhh......got very brown. OH all right It burned. #%@^!! Y'ad think after cooking for 50+ years I might have learned something about turning down the heat. But no........After dinner, DH turned OFF the oven...........Boy, I tell ya, if anyone sees me wearing my underwear on the OUTSIDE of my clothes, you'll know I've finally forgotten everything about everything! Geeeeeeeeeeeez.

Lawn service came yesterday too, and did the aerating so there's little brown plugs of dirt all over the yard, which stick nicely to your shoes due to our lovely clay soil. Back corner garden is a mess, most of the perennials are coming back but there's a fine crop of weeds to be tackled. And the blackberries need to be reminded about crowding out the daisies. And the Virginia Creeper has to be fastened to the arch because it's willfully traveling in the other direction. The sedum under the Black Walnut Killer Tree is coming up but it doesn't look happy. Have to go check my list of tolerants and try something else there. Got containers filled and put sweet potato vines in three of them. One for the front and two for the deck. Big Chicken has only one purple vine in it, so I'm going to look for a wave petunia in pink or white to keep it company. The list goes on and on. It's only 6am and still chilly outside or I'd be out there now.! Plus my caffeine meter is still on low...

Julie, how's your double vision today? Getting better I hope. Won't be long now. Although, when you are the patient, the days go by much too slowly.

Maria, thanks for sharing your pictures with us. What a wonderful visit you had. And Sarv, you were sooo brave!! I don't think I could have made that climb! When my middle GS was about 9, we drove up north to my sister's place in the UP, and he spotted a sign in Iron Mountain that said you could go down in one of the old mines, and asked if we could do it. I said, yes, but on the way home, when we'd have more time. So, on the way back, we visited it. Oh the horror!! They didn't use the original elevator that went straight down to the mine...they had carved a sloping tunnel and made a track for a tram down to the underground excavation.

The tunnel was so narrow, you could touch the sides if you put your hand out, and we kept going down down down....I was totally panicked but I didn't want to scare Alex so I just sat on that tram, paralyzed until we got down to the big open area below. It was pretty spectacular huge open space, pitch dark when they turned out the lights....but I could finally breathe. Then we had to go back up. Phew....never again. He remembers that adventure with delight, I get breathless just thinking about it.

Robert, will we see pics of your final project? You certainly made good use of your time. Bet your bride was as pleased as punch. (on that topic, how can punch be pleased? Darius?)

Edited to put a paragraph in this long babble.

This message was edited May 21, 2005 6:48 AM

Saw this in another forum/thread, and thought I would share it with y'all. And, Yes, I am getting dressed right now!!! No more browsing....no more DG for a while....gettin' busy.

A Gardener's Musings

Sun dappled memories
Of summer's bright flowers,
Like a living Monet
Where we while away hours.

Sweet butterfly hugs
And tree froggie kisses;
Oh, the wonders and joys
A non-gardener misses!

Hey Everyone! Yesterday I worked in the yard ALL day! I got several weeding projects 98% done (That number shrinks when daylight hits again), planted up the HUGE terra cotta pot my DS found for me (I think it holds 3 large - 2 cubic feet ea - bags of potting soil...even with some non-soil filler at the bottom) planted rosemary, lavender, salvia, Silver lace vines (started from cuttings) and THEN the mailman came! After opeing the boxes (:-O I still have a thank-you note to write!) I planted Helleborus, Japanese Anemones, GORGEOUS foxglove plants, 2 Beautiful Lady's Mantle plants *and* a fantastic clump of Crested Iris! It was a GLORIOUS day for me! At the end of the day, I sat out in the shade of the pine trees and imagined what all this will look like in a few months...Unbelievable! You'd have to see what I started with to appreciate my dream. LOL

I think I'll be happy to see spring arrive in the future knowing that I won't have nearly this much work to RE-do! :-D

Today, I'll probably work in my shade beds...plenty of annuals to get into the ground there. (Impatiens, Polka Dot plants, and torenia to start)

Can I still grab a piece of that Rhubarb tart? (I LOVE this virtual 'pot luck'! Never run out of food!)

The vision is still frustrating...especially at the end of the day...but I'm seeing improvement. Thanks for thinking of me.

I gotta get outside...DH says there's rain coming in a few hours.

See ya later!

~julie~

FYI on Jim, GeorgiaRedClay, Prayer Thread
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/512312/

Judy

Thanks for the link, Judy.
~julie~

Julie, glad you are allowed to put things in the garden. Help to keep busy while you're waiting for things to improve. THEN of course, you'll do the other one. and then, things will be brighter and clearer.

My DS came again yesterday, de-limbed the dead parts of the peach tree. It's a goner, but has a few branchings left with greeen and peaches forming. At summer's end we'll finish "doing it in" and replace with a plumcot. First I'll get this years peaches, tho. /;-)

The tree was planted too close to the front porch. And has already lived longer than most peach trees get to. I've lived here fifteen years and it was at least ten yrs old when I moved in. It's as tall as the house, I never did know how to trim it. And the previous owner had trimmed for landscaping value not fruit.

Then DS cut, raked, burnt all the weed grasses around the edge of the property - 100ft along the south side and another 120' along the east side. Then he installed my swamp cooler and got it working.... which was good as we officially went to 98* in the shade ['twas 100* on my thermometer, which hangs in the shade on the north side of the house.]

He interrupted his job of replacing my windows to get rid of these fire hazards so I can go east to NY to visit my sister without the fear the whole place is going up in smoke. We've already had a coupla grass fires in the valley.... there will be more AND now I know mine won't be one. HURRAH.

Ya see, about ten yrs back I set that 60'x100' lot on fire when the cottonwood 'cotton' lay filming it all - at the time I had no idea this cotton has a sort of explosive /well extremely flamable/ gas within it. It just went whoosh. I've learned to wet that stuff down daily while the tree is shedding it. The local tv station ran a piece showing it's dangers... AFTER this little fiasco.

NO - Ididn't strike a match just laid down the cig I was smoking in process of planting a six-pack, the film of cotton stuff was hardly visible. And it doesn't catch fire, just flashes: whoof and the fire starts when it reaches the standing dead grass. OMG

I'll just grab my second cuppa in a to-go cup and get out there right soon. ~Blooms

Pleased as Punch comes from the Punch & Judy puppet shows...

Blooms, bet you ARE really glad to be rid of the fire hazard! The cottonwood story is scary.

Julie, how wonderful to have a glorious day in your garden, and great that the vision is improving.

Kooger, hope the baby's hand is less sore today, and that she thinks the bird got better and flew away.

M5, I doubt I could have done that mine tunnel. I barely made it through an old MRI machine a few years ago, and in fact they had to pull me out once so I could sit up and not throw up.

Sorry if I missed anyone...

Hey, I may get a 'working vacation' next week. A friend wants me to come and help her while recuperating from a hospital stay. Might be good for me to get away from here (home, not DG!) and try to get a clear picture of what I need/want to do for my future, and help someone else at the same time.

The down side is no computer.

Then, pray tell, where will we get our answers????

LOL!

Meezers, love that poem - here's another one y'all might like from:
http://www.freshlit.com/monet.htm

Monet's Elves
By Dr. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda


At first, Monet didn't see them, tricky thieves
of light, stealing forth on the backs of shadows

to deceive him. They were there in long shafts
of speckled red, mistaken for snapdragons, there

in the potpourri of roses and humming of bees.
How they carried on in the pond! Like acrobats

they swung through a willow's leafy canopy.
Hanging from slats of a Japanese bridge,

they disguised themselves in the swing and sway
of tall grasses. From a distance, he caught

a glimpse of their wild flight through sweet peas,
a leap into air enchanted by day lilies.

In the Clos Normand, they slid over archways,
slipped out of jackets, became jaunty viridian spots.

When he strolled close-by, Monet knew they hid
beneath blanket flowers and nasturtiums.

On his knees he startled them to leaf tips:
glimmers all over his well-tended garden.

He welcomed their mischief into his studio.
They are there in the paintings, lively in play.

Have attached a Monet painting with willow and bridge.

Darius, hope your week brings you closer to a working plan.

Blooms, does this mean a new garden space?

Julie, looks like we don't need Kooger's basement to revel in the treasures of Davey Jones Locker - I turn 59 this year, and still, each day and plant in Spring is a gift.

Kidneyguy, I don't remember anything like this happening with the antique stove we inherited with our old house back in the '70s. It eventually petered out with silent dignity. But this new one from the local utility company with all the electronic bells and whistles is almost as scary as Blooms' cottonwood tree.

Sarv, your adventuring into that dome is an inspiration to us all.

Balvenie, is any of that rhubarb tart left? Would love to carry a piece up the hill to the shade of a silver maple after today's green foray.

Marcia, where are those pictures of Moka and Pippin? with a little people, too? Monet's Elves are waiting...

Oops - forgot the Monet painting -

edited to say, "hmmmm... the picture posting mechanism that is in the DG email feature seems not to be here... any advice appreciated...DH wants to leave...think i'll go have my next senior moment with DH for a change...LOL

This message was edited May 21, 2005 2:10 PM

Just picked a bag of rhubarb for my mom to take home to make a pie!! I'm not a pie maker, but should learn as she is getting really old to be doing pies.

We all sat out back and watched as the president's plane flew in - awesome to see. He is speaking at a local college graduation. We waited for over an hour and a half and it only took a couple of minutes for the whole thing to be over. Second time I have seen it and it still gives me goose bumps.

Gorgeous weather up here today, but I am still bushed from the shopping trip. I should get my rear in gear and get something done, as it is supposed to be stormy and rainy tomorrow, but I just don't have the energy to do it. Besides DH is out fishing for the day and I think I may just loaf too. He told me I could mow the lawn - fat chance of that!!

Gotta refill the hummingbird feeders, then a little snooze....

Sarv, I got stopped on the expressway years ago (along with others) when the President came to Atlanta, stopped close enough I could see the cars. They closed the entire expressway! Did you know they travel with 2 identical Presidential cars so if one breaks down, there is an immediate spare?

You guys! Talking about closed in places and HIGH ladders! Are you trying to bring on a bad case of vertigo and clostraphobia in this old head? LOL I never could have made through *either* of those journey's. I got *stuck* just trying to climb a step ladder and cross over to a deck frame that was only *6* feet off the ground! Seriously! I froze! And close quarters? Uh uh! Not me! I can't breath!

Blooms...really appreciate that little tidbit on the cottonwood. I had NO idea they would do that...and we have a LOT of it up here. (Glad you're still here to tell the story.)

Thanks for the poetry, people...I love it! I learned that little habit (loving poetry) from my grandmother...about the same time I learned about gardening.

Marcia...did you get caught in the Madison 'floods' the other day? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it on the news. (still in the market for some moss? It's beginning to turn green now...so I guess it's alive. hehehe)

Oooops! gotta run!

Later!

~julie~

BlueS, in a matter of speaking. The only grass alive out there is that which grows within the half circle I water for the peach. LOL

So planting the new tree out more in the middle of the yard will change the entire aspect . My vision keeps changing as things die or are overcome with b_ch grass which I'm a gona roundup.

I'm watering the edges. We'll work out the rest another day.

Show us painting, Please. Sometimes I think that's just the way some of those guys saw the world... needed glasses, couldn't see edges. Painted what their eyes saw. And I see fairies alla time. or almost see em. or catch them in a pic. have since I was a kid. ...smiles... ~Blooms

Darius, a change of viewpoint may help, and getting away from the mold [however inactive] will be a definite plus. But no 'putor? Whatever will we do? Learn to Google for ourselves?

That won't work when we're looking for practical advice on which way to put the wallboard. horz or vert? LOL

I'll be checking in on dial up so may only be on once in a while. and I'll be gone a month. WOW can I handle that?

Sarve: [He told me I could mow the lawn.] ROFL wasn't that nicea him. But you reminded me - my sister will have rhubarb. I'd forgotton that. hurrah.

Julie, I climbed the spiral up the Statue of Liberty's arm to the torch, back before they stopped that. You had to go all the way up before you could start down and all I could think was ""what am I doing this for" LOL the spirals weren't really wide enough for a size9 foot either.

Mosow had a real problem with cottonwood cotton a few yrs back... teen agers dropping matches in the corners where it accumulates. whooosh

I just spray wet the gardens down when it's floating in.

Old Song... While I was at the laundromat feeding quarters (all 42 of them!) into the machines, all I could hear in my mind was Teresa Brewer singing,

"Put another nickel in...
In the nickelodeon...."

And, here's what happens when you read in a large bed all to yourself and don't check the sheets thoroughly when you change them...

Darius, is that what they call 'pulp fiction' ? 'musta been a pretty hot novel. lol

LOL, Robert!

Actually it was one of my favorite books, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I think you'd probably like it.

There are several I re-read occasionally besides that one. I'm due to re-read Atlas Shrugged again soon (I do it about every 5 years), and The Four Agreements.

Starting Mark Haddon's "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time". DW says it was good. The four agreements was interesting too.

Savr,....re: mother too old to be making pies........Your mother will never be too old to do things that she want's to.....the operative word is Wants.......let her be....my grandmother, much to my father's horror, loved to scrub the front porch on her hand and knees......she was 81.....She told him that she keeping getting down..........so she can Keep Getting Down....I now appreciate what she was talking about....LOLOLOL

Hi, darius.....

Darius - your poor book! Is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand? I've wanted to read "The Fountainhead" for some time, but can't seem to get into it. Maybe on vacation - upon which we leave a week from today!!!!!

and.....now I'm singing that song "music, music, music!"......

I've been working hard this weekend. Yesterday pm I mowed for the first time this year. Yes, it was rather tall in places but I made it. We've got moles in the back yard bad. I'm treating them but don't seem to be doing much good.

Then last night I pulled up the carpet in Heidi-cat's room. Oh, I hate to spill what at terrible house keeper I am and all, but you can't keep up with an incontinent cat. Anyway - all that mess is out of there and tomorrow we're putting down the vinyl tile. We've decided to do that everywhere until we lose the two that are making the messes. Tooie's 17 and Heidi's 13 - so I can live with rather cheap flooring - better that carpet I can't get clean - for a few years. I figure that and a couple of those indoor/outdoor, hose off area rugs and we can survive and be much happier too!

Today I went and got all my hair cut off (very short!) and went to Wallyworld...then came home cooked lunch and we just finished strawberry shortcake....with MIL home grown strawberries - YUM! I still have some left if anyone wants any!

Ya'll take care, ya hear?

m /:-)

Darius...LOL...and I thought *I* was bad about not checking things before they go into the washer/drier. (Today, it was BLUE masking tape...Lord only knows where THAT came from.)

Hap...I understand that "getting down" bit too...really well! I do most of my gardening on my knees because it's easier...but heaven forbid anyone is behind me when I get back up on my feet.

BBug...Vacation? Ahhhhh...that sounds SO good right now. Hope you enjoy it a LOT!

Hi everyone...Bye, everyone...;-)

~julie~

GOBs, thought you might like 3 Monet paintings, which I'll post in succession here. These are from: http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=13&msg=new
and I'm using the exact same names used on this website.

Did you know he put up quite a battle with the local municipality to dam up the river in order to make his pond? I'll bet we all have war stories to tell about what it took to make our gardens. Seems, even now, the purtier the garden, the more disheveled moi.

Enjoy -

Monet, Waterlily Pond 1897 - 1899

This second Monet is a detail from a series he did of waterlilies that wrapped entirely around the 4 walls of a room -

Monet, Morning - Right Center Detail 1920 - 26

One more -
Monet, Irises in Monets Garden 1900

Monet is said to have had 200 prints of Japanese woodcuts in his home at Giverny - France was flooded with these early to mid 19th century, and the Japanese were also influenced by European artists, in reverse. I don't want to bog down this thread with two many paintings - let me know if you want Japanese woodcuts on a similar theme.

Darius, Blooms and BBug, I look forward to hearing about your different changes in milieu and ensuing adventures/insights.

Julie and Hap - oh the "getting down and up" bit - I suspect I would have lost that ability quite a while ago if the garden didn't make me do it.

Balvenie, Darius had very kindly said to me that she would like to read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged with me - am going to run down a copy this coming week - I never had the experience of sharing a book with other minds' perspectives and attitudes. Why don't you join us (hopefully when Darius gets back?)? Anyone else?

Sarv, your high altitude adventure reminds me of one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's homes - his writing room was a kind of turret perched on the roof that could only be accessed by ladder through a trap door in the ceiling - the things some of us do to find a perch ... or a pit, M5 - LOL

I was fortunate enough to visit the Monet gardens in Giverney (sp.?) France a few years back, and the caretakers, presumably the estate, are keeping it up very well. It is lush with flowers and water interests and you feel as though you are standing inside one of his paintings. Interestingly, the house is large, but welcoming, the kitchen is all yellow, the main room is quite large, Monet must have entertained a lot of guests. We were there at the height of the tourist season, so rather than try to take pictures with hundreds of people in them, we settled for buying their postcards and such. It is a lovely place. I would love to go again.

Spent all day in the flower beds, arms are sunburned, nose and forehead too. Seems as though most of the perennials in my "bad" garden have survived. It's the back corner of the yard, and partially shaded, soil was clay and rocks but has improved over the four summers we've spent dumping compost in it. It may finally be paying off. Last summer when I was working back there, pulling out canadian thistle that seems to want to return every year, I looked down and found my legs covered with little red ants. Did the happy dance, but I wasn't very happy. There was a huge ant hill just past our property line....one trip back to the garage and lots of anti-ant stuff later they seem to have moved on somewhere else. At least I didn't see any yesterday.

Haven't seen any hummers near the nectar, but the finches are having a party every day. Cats are glued to the windows, which are now covered with nose prints. Also having a fine series of naps in the sun...is it ever too hot for them?

In an old house we lived in years ago, we had radiators which circulated the hot water heat. One in the kitchen was under a counter extension, and had about 10 inches of space between the underside of the counter and the radiator. We had a board on it, and my little bluepoint siamese used to sleep there. We also had those hanging containers that you kept filled with water to provide some moisture in the dry winter air. At least once a week, her leg or tail would droop off the shelf into the water, and she wouldn't notice it as the water was very warm. When she shifted position, and the appendage got cold, she would leap up, bump her head, stagger across the floor dazed from the heat, and then get offended when we laughed. She probably thought we stuck her foot/tail in the water to annoy her. But it was never too warm under there for her, so she always went back for a repeat performance.

We often refer to our cats as "cheap entertainment". Although, when I look at the vet bills, I wonder..........Their office visits cost as much as mine!

LOL I know the feeling, our puppy is loving me trying to garden since she loves the smells, but she isn't known for her grace and it's like watching a bull in a china shop. She get's so angry with me for laughin at her as I try to untangle her from baskets, netting etc. She gets this very offended look on her face when we laugh and will go and hide for several minutes like she's to ashamed to face us.

Good Morning everyone...
Karen, thanks for sharing the paintings. They bring back my one and only visit to the Art Institute in Chicago many years ago. I remember being completely enthralled with Monet's work...I could have sat for hours just staring at the paintings in that room. (BTW...thanks for having me on your mailing list for what I've called the Monet 'experience.' It really gave me an early spring this year. ;-) )

Yesterday was another fruitful day for me in the garden. I spent most of the day trying to get one particular bed in shape, pulling weeds, cultivating, planting and realigning my new brick border. By the end of the day I was pretty tired but very satisfied with I had accomplished.

It really felt good to be down on my knees digging...and felt even better to get an idea for a plant or group of plants that would look good in a certain area, then be able to walk over to my gh units or garden shed pick up the plants and dig them in. I feel like I own my own nursery! LOL I guess, with everything I've been given or have grown this winter/spring, that's exactly what I *do* have. ~chuckle to myself~

Granted, my plants aren't as big as the ones I might have been able to buy (key word there is *might*) at the store...but they'll grow. And I've learned a lot by all the mistakes I've made.

Today, I'm back outside to move another mountain of bricks so I can border another big island bed. This is where I wish my DH was a little more interested in gardening than in building RC model airplanes. It's taking me *forever* to get the manual labor done. :-D Oh well...at least I can truthfully tell the doctors that I'm getting a good dose of *exercise* on a daily basis.

That's it for now...y'all have a GREAT day!

~julie~

Julie if you figure out a way to get the DH intrested please let me know. My DMIL is a MG and has fantastic gardens so he grew up having to be her "muscle" and he hates it! Has no intrest and could care less if the plants die or live. He'll help out if he has to or is bribed but I would really enjoy us doing this stuff together.

Saint

What a bunch of chatty gals you all are - I so enjoyed reading all your posts!!

I spent the day out in the garden and came in at night to find myself a lobster!! Yikes!! - bad for the old skin. But I did read in the paper that we are overusing sun screen - our bodies need the vitamin D from the sun.

Something is biting off my plants at the ground level - probably cut worms = although I have never seen one in real life. I need to replant several things (it's ok as I started a ton of things and have extras!)

Cloudy here today and severe storms expected in the afternoon. I am just gonna lay around - have a ton of laundry, so may start that.

DH and both sons and GS went fishing for the day - they had a glorious time. Came home and they all had eaten. I was in a snit, so roared off to the local Wendys and sat in the parking lot reading and eating (my fav thing to do!) Sometimes men are so thoughtless - they ate right down the road from our house and couldn't give me a buzz (and they have cell phones. grrr) Anyhow, I am done with my snit. Actually it is better off that I wasn't there as they all drink too much when they are together and I get ticked!! That's my complaint for the day!!

Gonna go out and get some fresh rhubarb before the rain comes- I'll leave some on the counter for anyone who wants a little bite (rhubarb crisp....)

Saint...I'd be happy just to have friend that I could garden ...or at least *talk* gardening with. One thing DH *does* do is take a morning walk around the yard. Of course that means that *he* is the first to see things blooming so he tells me...and that spoils the adventure of discovery for me. LOL

Hey Sarv...I know just how you feel about them sitting there with cell phones in their pocket or on their belt and not bothering to give you a call. I'd have been in a 'snit' too. LOL But I would have been too lazy to get in the car and go eat by myself. I probably would have eaten a bowl of frosted mini-wheats and stayed in a snit for a whole lot longer. :-D ~OH, and those cutworms! This year our soil is literally crawling with them. I've never seen SO many. When I see the evidence, I go hunting for the culprit and squish his green guts out all over the place! ~evil grin & cackle here~

I haven't gotten outside yet...DH "mentioned" that his 'hanky drawer' was looking pretty empty these days. (Hrumph...as if having 5 doz instead of 2 doz make all *that* much difference!) So I started laundry...I guess that means that Sarv can go out cuz there's no sense in BOTH of us doing laundry at the same time. hehehe

~julie~