Coffee and.....May22, Monday

We came from over here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/605499/#new

Don't be afraid and don't be shy. Just come on in, sit down have a cup of coffee and chat.

Someone will be along shortly with a snack too if you're feeling a little hungry.

Morning everyone!! FROST this morning....can you believe it!! I only covered a few annuals, so I need to take walk soon and inspect the rest. Didn't cover the strawberries- but the patch was pretty sparse anyhow. Supposed to have more tomorrow morining too.

Maria- I put in some solomon seal last summer and cannot believe what a big clump I have now. I just love that stuff- it looks so regal. Mine is the variagated kind. I planted some of the plain green and it is still one lone stalk after three years...

Darius- heat in the floor sounds toasty!! I taught in a bldg that had heat in the floor and I found my legs all swelled up - now that was years ago and the bldg was old, so maybe it was just a fluke. What happens if you have a leak in it tho? Do you tear your floor up?

Carat - is that neighbor your friend? I would be upset too....

Oz - out boat is a 16 ft fishing boat - nothing great, but it putts around just fine. I take that back - it didn't putt good last year - hopefully the problem was fixed. DH just got gas for it and it was 50 bucks- we fill from cans - we pull the boat out, so we don't have to pay the exorbitant prices. Too bad about the dentist....NOT.

Well, time for a walk

Morning all, Well the thunderstorms have passed for now, I hope. I tried to post several times over the weekend and then a boomer would come up and through and I'd have to log off... I have read all and can't remember squat this morning, lack of coffee..but hope all is getting better and good for those who need it.
Defoe, I only watch 2 shows faithfully, Desperate Housewives and Grey's. All know not to touch the remote during them or else face me!!
Janis, I love the new pets they are too cute, we have alot of them in at the rehab center. And a run on Candian Geese too...
Sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting on the counter some with sprinkles some not....enjoy...bbl....another boomer....Lauri

Good morning. Holiday in Canada today - Victoria Day - the Monday closest to Queen Victoria's birthday which was May 24.

We came close to a frost here too, but just barely missed it, I think. In the end, I didn't cover stuff. Hopefully everything was close enough to the porch and it was windy enough that things would be protected.

Hope you all have a good day.

Ann

We had a light frost this morning too, but it's gone already as the sun is up. Three iris are fully opened in front of the house, big tall purple ones. And the roses seem to be climbing several inches a day.

Had to watch the Sopranos last night so Desperate Housewives will be seen this morning, what's the question Dcat? I might be able to dredge up an answer for you....love those naughty girls!! Don't they seem to have endless time and money? And wardrobes? LOL

Yes, Maria, I agree with others your garden is lovely. We're still working on ours after five years, but I'm happy to see that the perennials are taking hold and thriving. Once they settle in, they really take off. I thought I had pulled out all the wild phlox down in the back corner, but there they are blooming again. I'm inclined to let them grow, but they would soon take over the whole corner so I'll have to thin them a bit, at the very least. Wish other stuff would grow as well down under those stinking trees.

My moonflowers haven't sprouted yet, hope they will soon. I have big plans for them!

I have to go downtown through our ripped up central interchange today for a retiree luncheon, so I'm going to keep this short and just give everyone a ~~~ and a wish for a good day.

Off and running, catch up later...have some pie....I had extra crust so I made a little apple pie to use it up. My merengue got a little weepy, but it tastes all right....should have put some cream of tarter in it but I didn't feel like hunting for it. ....serves me right.

Sheila

Sarv----- You will just fine with that rig and catch about as many fish as a lot of people with fancy fishing rigs. For many years I ran those fancy rigs. Everything you can imagine up to 225hp boats that would do 75 MPH. Since it was often a client type person paying for the gas it did not matter. Would burn 30-40 gals a day in those things in a 4-6 hr fishing trip. If I knew the pattern of the bass bite I would cover 40-50 miles of lake going to those spots i knew matched that pattern. The boat I got now is the last one I will ever own. It is not powerful is is a 4 stroke 115 hp outboard on a 18 1/2 foot boat called a Tracker Targa. I still have a lot of the goodies though like a 89lb thrust trolling motor on the front,2 depth finders,dual downriggers,two large live wells and a few other things. Live wells mean nothing really I rarely keep a fish. I enjoy the catching part of it more than anything else.

101----- Let me tell you this Dentist had better be finding some cavities at the rate he goes through money. He bought that house 2 1/.2 years ago. That cost him $425,000. He bought the 42 ft cruiser the same year at about $220,000. He then had to have a nice dock to keep his boat in so he bought a new dock. There goes another $70,000. He also had a run about about 20 ft long and got rid of it and bought a fountain cigarette boat 36 ft long with one engine. Had that till the next spring when he bought a twin engine larger cigarette boat. Maybe $200,000 right there. At the end of that year he got rid of it and bought another cigarette boat about 42ft. Who knows what they are going to find when you go to the dentist. He may find that from reading all this food stuff in here and the discriptions of sarv's overindulgance,that you have 300 cyber cavities that will require attention and $10,000 to fix.

Well, I am up, slept in this morning, a rare occasion. Have tons to do so won't stay long now.

M5, just want to know your take on the dentist guy on Desp. Housewives.

No Oz, not your dentist guy!!. I had better do some research on the dentist I am seeing, maybe I have bought him a boat or two, maybe even a room or two in a new house!!. Seems like there is always more work to do in my mouth!!

We didn't have frost last night, but there definately is a nip in the air this morning.

Gonna get some laundry started, then who knows what will jump in front of me, today.

BBL

~~~to everybody.

Good morning

Well, I slept in this morning also. I was bushed. Doing nothing makes you *real* tired! LOL

oz by the time I finished reading your post I was thinking back over all those washed cavities ... yeah right! ;)

Meezers, thanks for the pie. Just what I needed with my coffee this morning!

Lauri, swiped a couple of those cookies also. I need some energy!

sarv and Ann ... can't believe you are still having light frost. Hope all your plants are
okay. I think there might be some chance of rain over the next couple of days for us. I've got to get my Messenger out this evening when the DH gets home, so I sure hope it waits a day or 2.

Well, I too have laundry to do and housework calling my name. Will check back later.
~Elaine~ .

Sheila, ohhhhh you knew i have been thinking of lemon pie for so so long... Eat one for me even 2 pieces.. My kitty has kittens mews sound like had longer then this week end.. when was gone. i can't find think in my closet which is disaster..The heat this week end was terrible with five kids 90's... they did get to climb top gloss or glass your choice to call it, got beet red thought be so tired would kink out, nope was hours before went to sleep and quiet.. Everyone have great day week.. blessings..

Twyla

think i made error and butted in yesterdays post so deleted it sorry, if i did now i will take this off.. so sorry to butt in.

This message was edited May 22, 2006 9:45 AM

Twylla
No one butts in on coffee. We always love hearing what is going on with everyone else. Sure sounds like you have *your* hands full with the kids. Whew ... sure glad I don't have any to take care of! LOL Now I do love the little ones ... but I love them when they are visiting for a couple of hours and then I can give them back to Mommy. I always enjoy your quote of the day. It goes well with my coffee! :)

Well, back to the laundry monster.
~Elaine~

Just popping in. DD#2 and BF just left for Montreal overnight. They'll be back tomorrow and we'll head to the cottage on Wednesday.

I'm finally working on the Viola Society Newsletter. Should have had it done 6 weeks ago. It's so late that I'll take a lot of copies with me to the Viola Congress rather than mailing them. I'm gonna try to get it to the printer late tomorrow or Wednesday morning before we leave.

Too cold to garden. Almost sure to have frost tonight; so I will spend some time bringing all the plants into the porch this afternoon.

I dealt with the laundry monster a bit this morning and also cleaned two bathrooms. Will do the third while DD and BF are gone and don't have it covered with things.

That lemon pie made me eat half of the left-over piece of key lime meringue pie that was in the fridge from Saturday. The meringue was like a marshmallow.

I've got a few threads in the Hosta forum - a couple of them questions. You hosta people, please have a look? Where's Kelly?

Ann

Believe it or not, I am terribly envious of those who have a touch of frost and a lot of rain. I would gladly take some of that cold weather and rain off your hands if possible. Once again, we are starting out the summer with 90+ in April, continuing into May. We did get one very nice weekend of rain here, but it has been dry since. My water bills are steadily increasing with no relief in sight.

Everyone is always so ambitious here, makes me feel pretty lazy. I really dont have much left to do, though, I am downsizing due to the lack of rain the last few years, kept 17 brugs in pots, and I guess after this season I will be giving them away, too. They are pretty, but too high maintenance for me. I want to get some daylilies planted in front (they have been in pots for 2 years..sigh) and some of the lilies (that are also in pots) in the ground. I will have to get out very early in the morning to do that since our days are already over 70 when I get up.

I know I do not post much, but I sure enjoy reading about everyone's lives ...I feel like a member of your family.

Kris

thanks so much Elaine ..
was cool minne. in my mother said but she said had to use oven.. no no cooking hit her tiny tiny 3 rooms up . it is so hot . i'm off to try find new kitties .. she watches me try to sneak in there, but i will clean my room so good excuse..lol.. it needs it so no excuse. i have become so lazy.. . have great day all..

Twyla

earthling I know the feeling, the water bill here is climbing but I don't know if we are using more water or if the meter guys finally got OUT of the trucks to read the meter! Finally hitting 90 here and I can tell you I wasn't looking forward to it.

Hi everyone. Hope, you are certainly welcome to be here and make comments, so don't feel like you are butting in. Anything anybody posts here is available for comment as long as the comments are not nasty. You are off to find new kitties, can you get some pictures for us to see? Baby kittens are so cute. I try not to use the oven when it is hot outside, to keep it from being hot inside. We don't have AC, just open windows in the evening and all night, then close the house for the day. It gets to be 85 plus inside when we are having 95 plus outside. I have given some thought to a window AC unit, but just keep putting off getting one. My little toaster oven has spent summers outside on the porch for several years, but it quit working so now I need a replacement. I suppose it got unhappy with the outdoor environment even though it was under a roof and never got wet. When I get a new one I will put a plastic bag over it and maybe it will last longer without getting some kind of corrosion in it's inner parts, or bug nests, dust, or whatever. One thing we do have that keeps the house cooler than it would be otherwise is an exhaust fan in the attic that is on a thermostat. When the thermostat went out one summer we were quickly reminded of how effective it had been. Hubby replaced the thermostat and we were comfortable again.
Today is rainy. I did a quick job in the garden this morning, got wet, gave up. It's good for a lot of things, pastures and fields, but my garden has enough for now, and the lawn didn't get mowed last week because it rained on the day I was going to do it, and has rained every day since, not steady rain, but frequent showers. The forecast looks wet through the weekend, bah, humbug! Between showers I could get out and pull weeds that are taking over the place. My corn and beans that I planted on Thursday last week need some heat to go with all this wet. Other things are loving it.

Oz, my dentist retired and sold his practice to a younger dentist, and is now living most of the time on a large sailboat somewhere in South America. The new dentist is very good and caters to cowards (me).

My cold is dragging me down, so I don't have much ambition today. I should buy stock in a tissue company! This is a slow motion bug. Usually I think I might be getting something on day 1, then on day 2 I know I've got something, day 3 it really hits, then after couple of days I start to feel better. This one was a scratchy throat for 3 days before it decided to get serious over the weekend. I guess spending energy riding instead of fighting it wasn't the best thing I could have done, but I didn't feel bad until the ride was over. I did get wet but not cold.

~~~~ at everybody I missed, I still need to go back and read posts from the weekend, but first I might take a nap.

Hey, I see something brought the lurkers out, hi araness and earthling, good to see you again.

Hope, this is not an exclusive thread, you do not have to worry about being rude when you come in and comment.

My day has gone well, I have done laundry, still a load to toss in the dryer, applied the protective sealer on the front porch and walkway, made a meatloaf for supper, took DM to her appointment, and now heading out to DMIL's to water her flowers, and pick strawberries.

Just a quick peek in to see what was going on.

I will BBL.

Happy rest of the day to everyone.

Welcome Hope and Earthling, if you want a place to gripe, you'll feel right at home here.

OK, brace yourselves, I'm going to whine. Wasted half my sunny day making that trip downtown for the retiree luncheon. I can see our former employer is doing some budget adjusting...these used to be nice event, hors d'ouerves before, and soft drinks or beer available at a bar set up for us, and usually great food at the place which is known for excellent cuisine.

Today, they had a couple of punch bowls, filled with something that tasted like Kool Aid, no bar at all, no hors d'ouerve table, dining tables were preset with salad and dessert, and everyone got the same entre'. One carafe of coffee for eight people, no decaf, and no waiters to ask. Entre' was noodles with beef chunks and flavorless gravy, and green beans. I'm thinking the facility did not do the lunch, and it was catered in. They normally have a fantastic menu to select from. Never saw anything like this before. And for that I drove 50 miles....? Think I'll pass on the future invitations.

Now it's so late in the day I don't feel like starting anything outside but I think I must. I'm going to repot the coneflowers and daisies I got so that they can develop better root systems before I stick them in our clay soil. And I need to change my clothes before I get dirty.

Dcat, I think that new character is some kind of a slimeball, but not sure how he fits into the whole picture. I think they will leave us with a cliffhanger. Grrrrrrr.

Sheila

Wet, wet, wet! Rain expected for the rest of the week too. Well it is good for all those poppy seeds I scattered yesterday between rains. Finished the last shingles on the gateway wall this morning and it looks much better.Part of yesterday was OK and I was able to dig up grass and weeds by the back fence so that landscaping it won't be as bad. Put the Clematis henryii in a tub out by the blue arbor and planted a white Wisteria to grow over the top of the arbor's roof. (Henryii only gets 8' or so) Only found 2 slugs and 3 snails in front this morning.Followed Vlad the Impaler's tune and skewered the slugs on a wire plant lable. Gooey but effective. May "have to" go to the salvage shops and see if there is an old multi-paned window I can fill the gateway gap with.

Well, found out one of my new babies is a male :(( Males get aggressive around mating season, and will turn on you. I have a friend checking to see if getting him neutered would stop it, but I'm probably only going to be able to keep the little girl. Since I'll only have 1, her name is gonna be Petunia. Not sure why, I just like it. DH picked Frick and Frack... but is sill with only 1 LOL (I thought it was silly to begin with but.... I let him have his fun LOL)

Don't have time to comment to all.... the little ones are waking up (just like babies, I tell ya!) so ~~~ to all

Huggers
Janis

Might look better, at least from inside, with stained glass in clear and muted colors so as not to obscure the view, but select 'see-throughs. But then who needs another project ? Have a great day, I'm vegitating till the rain passes.

Hi! Hope everyone had a good weekend. I skimmed over the weekend posts this morning, but can't remember any of it now.

Our Relay for Life earned upwards of $53,000. Contributions will still be coming in over the next couple of weeks. We had a great time, little sleep. It was so nice to see so many teenagers taking such an active part in the event. Many of them have had a family member affected by cancer.

The monsoons have stopped and since yesterday the winds have been terrible. I noticed a couple broken plants. They did warn about frost in our area for last night, but when I got up at 5:30 it was 45.

Hope - Just pop in here any time you like. This is the best group of friends you will ever find on the internet.

Tonight I need to attack the laundry monster. If the wind dies down, I need to get a couple things in the ground. I stopped by a really neat nursury yesterday. I had been by it several times with DH, but he only stops for things with motors and wheels. I only got one plant with purple flowers. I've already forgotten the name, but it attracts butterflys. I look at the name when I get home and let you know what it its.

Gotta get back to work, see you all later.

Callie has 3 ,under my bed up by top my side looks like 3 not callico.? darn.. she watched me after i heard mewing i could track them down.. i- ok now, i could not get under bed to reach them.. they have to be this week ends.. so tiny tiny, she was so big i thought 4 or 5. this is plenty.. have nice eveing 90's here awful..i broke belt on vaccuum and i can't remember where spare is so have to go to wal marts.. but air cond. quit drove home 4 hours in that heat yesterdayso no way today... i can't take it old age......

Hope, I'm in south central florida with an un-air conditioned vehicle. Too hot to drive anywhere!

Robert, "I want that!!!!!"

Blossoms openend today on one of the peony trees

Maria, the Peonys are beautiful, breathtaking.

Darius i know sitting here suffocating to hot to be in house to.... OH up date there is 5 kitties if i could just get a ways under bed but no way.. but put light under see 5 . I'm scared shes not feeding 2 tiny tiny ones.
I love peonies to never got to grow here, my sister has great big red blooms when hers bloom in northern Minnesota..

Maria-Beautiful peonies, for some reason i've never had a tree peony. I guess i'll get one soon!

Sorry for those of you who are roasting, I'd love to send some air conditioning down. It's headed down from 45 to 38 here,possibility of snow.

Can't get out to cover plants. The good news is I'm just bruised, the bad news is the lawn tractor rolled over on me while we tumbled down the hill today!...VERY lucky to get out, tomorrow I'll get a picture.

Now I'm headed off to vegout. Read all the posts and will write tomorrow.

Nite all, from a very thankful gardener!!

dmc, how terrible, my lawn is down a hill too, I have never cut a lawn in my life never mind mowing it down the hill.
Please be careful from now on, you were very lucky!!!!

Dorothy!! Glad you aren't hurt, just bruised. One of our friends in NC years ago (Doc Watson's son) rolled his tractor and killed himself.

Now I am VERY cautious.

Just stopping in quick like before I crash. Have had a busy Monday. Won't bore you with the details. :)

DMC~ so sorry about your mishap. Glad you're okay. That sounds *very* dangerous to me.

Got the tomatoes sprayed today and noticed at least 3 more Roma's that should be ready in another day or so. I can hardly wait since I sent my first 4 to Mama. :) Of course we did eat the *very* first one! LOL

Am just waving to all tonight. Will try to do better tomorrow!

~~~ Elaine

Hi all,

Wow, dmcd, that was too close a call! Please be very careful in future. If that was likely to happen again, I think I'd just go for a downhill "meadow" and forgo the mowing.

M5, oh boy, talk about temptation! Lemon meringue is my absolute favorite. (and I find that the meringue gets "weepy" with the cream of tartar as well, no matter how carefully you seal it to the crust as soon as you have to refrigerate it.) Sorry about the not so great luncheon. I've generally found those group affairs to be a bit below average in general. Sounds like you were lucky before this.

Mary, hope that you can shake that virus really soon (and that it's not the same one that was going around in this area recently --- that one seemed to take forever to get rid of.) How about trying the chicken soup and actual rest regimen? Do you ever slow down enough to just veg out a bit?

Great going suzieq. It sounds like it was a really successful relay.

Twyla, have my fingers crossed, hoping all the kittens make it! Don't know how you can cope with that heat.

Hi earthling and araness! I think that I too, could handle a frost easier than super high temps and drought. Of course, having just transplanted a bunch of things today, I'd rather not have to deal with a frost either!

Had a nice chat with Bonnie (defoecat) in the early afternoon then actually managed to get a few things accomplished. Both the tarragon plants I'd bought are now in the ground and I also planted out most of the poppies I'd started from seed. Started some "alfalfa tea" using darius's recipe (thanks, darius, I can almost hear my garden giving thanks too in anticipation). Threw some of the alfalfa pellets and some yarrow into the composter in an attempt to get the mix to heat up! We have such a preponderance of dry leaves that it seems near impossible to get the compost "working". Started potting up some of my volunteer nasturtium, wild bergamot, and cilantro for the NE roundup next month. I'm also planning to dig up some of the copius amounts of oregano and lemon balm from the yard. Made a one-pot meal with a lot of veggies and some chicken/mushroom/herb sausage that DH picked up at work.
Now I've suddenly remembered that I really need to wash my hair tonight, so I think that I'd best cut this short and go take care of that.

Good night everyone. (Especially those I didn't get to address individually. That reminds me too, yesterday I seem to have remembered everyone except Molly who's taking care of getting this thread posted every day. Sorry Molly!)

DMC, please be careful on that thing. So glad you were not seriously hurt. Did it have a rollbar and did it help.

Hi all. Yesterday we hit 106, today we hit 71. High winds and a enough rain drizzles to just mess up the windshields. Dont know yet what tomorrow has in store for us.

Molly, your constructions seems to be coming right along. Are you going to have the steps coming down inside the orchid house the same as they are now or do you intend on changing them?

I sat a stewed over the pasture issue and then called my best friend and asked if she would have her DH mow the edges of the pasture along the fence line where the grass had grown to about 18 inches high. The rest was left as is. Then I bribed her with a couple of plants to purchase 50 NO TRESSPASSING signs and hang them along my entire property line. Then I called her up and told her to go to he11 in such a diplomatic way that she was asking for directions and thanking me for the vacation suggestion. I am a very willing to work with just about anyone but the way she went about it just sent me to the testy side.

Mary I am glad that you had a good ride, now sit down and rest a bit. You need some time to recoop and get healthly before you really get a doozy of a summer cold.

Twyla, butt in and comment as you please. We are a friendly group of gabbers that love company. So pull up a chair, grab a cup of your favorite and try a piece of that pie while you have the chance.

Bal, it is beautiful. I would be proud to have that in my yard. Great job....

Maria, the peonys look perfect. They dont do well here. The heat is just to dry for them...

Have a wonderful evening all and best of the day to everyone for tomorrow.

Well, I am plumb tuckered tonight. I didn't think that I accomplished all that much, but when I sat and thought about it, wow, I did do a lot. Tomorrow is a Dr. appointment for DM in the am, and a funeral for a church member in the pm. So will have precious little time to accomplish much.

Another day has passed and my good intentions to comment to each and every goes by the wayside again. The only comments I make tonight are:

dmc, glad you weren't seriously hurt in your lawn tractor accident. were you practicing proper lawn mowing techniques, ie, mowing up and down the slope rather than across? My DH flipped the lawn tractor a couple years ago, by mowing across the slope, and believe me, he takes care on that slope now. I used to mow when DH was still working and farming to help him out, but would mow all except that slope. I mowed it once, and since I never liked carnival rides, it was too much like that for me. I never felt the need to shout WHEE, on any carnival ride, but several other not so nice words flew out of my mouth the only time I rode a ferris wheel!!

Bal, that arbor is absolutely breath taking. I agree, from the outside, it doesn't seem to need anything, but the inside shot, made me think that a very sheer pastel colored glass would be the ticket. Kinda of like looking through rose colored glasses!! Don't want to obstruct your view out, but maybe to make it a little less open feeling to passers by.

Maria, I love the tree peonies. They are so stately looking, but when in bloom, look sort of like a tall lady in a ball gown, every elegant.

M5, the dentist guy on Desperate Housewives does look like a sleeze ball, so sterotyping him, I would say he is a "bad" guy. Sorry for the 50 mile drive and a lousy lunch. I try to stay away from those organized things, would much rather have a good old pot luck and good converstation any day.

Mary, why don't you take some advice from someone, McCool maybe, to try the chicken soup and rest. Let those kitties play nurse to you for a couple of days. The virus that made it's rounds here awhile ago, was nasty, and left me with a hacking cough for weeks. I am just now sounding like I didn't escape the TB ward.

Hope, so the kitties are some that one of your mamas had. Don't they get in some of the most out of the way places to do that. Why don't you set out a nice box, with a blanket, and an opening she can navigate, and see if she will relocate there.

Picked some strawberries this afternoon, and have homemade cake to make strawberry shortcake. It is on the counter, so have yourselves a bedtimes snack. They are so sweet, takes very little sugar to get them to that perfect taste.

So to start a little survey, tell how you make your strawberry shortcake. Here in Kentucky it is made with a yellow cake, or angel food cake, strawberries and whipped cream. So how do you like yours?

Well, gonna check some other forums, and will be back later to wish all good night.

lol.. she is only mother left have a neighbor who hates animals coming thru his yard we all know what he does.. but hopefully she will not leave yard.. know she did once though to have these now... i had her a very nice box fixed she would have no part of it. but i'm going to try scoot on floor once more get them try it maybe she will inderstand what i want her to do..Strawberry shortcake any way i can get it!I have got to start watching what i eat diabetic.. its high every time I check it..
Dmc sorry about your accident so glad not hurt badly to.. hope all have a restful night..

Twyla

I don't believe I am late, I am just not real early.

Meet us over here for some coffee and: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/606109/