Coffee and ..... for Saturday, September 9th

Welcome to the new day!

It just occured to me that someone else needs to put some cyber goodies on the counter while our resident 5 star baker, Maria recuperates. Maybe I'll even get a chance Sunday or Monday as I've decided to give the trade show a miss this time. (Don't hold your breaths though, you know what happens to so many of those good intentions!)

Here's the link to yesterday's thread http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/648767/

I'm just checking in before going to bed, no thanks, I'll leave the worm for somebody who needs it. I usually have cereal.

Defoe, our JRT, Fritz, had ear problems. He scratched at them a lot and shook his head often. His real family (we are just part time) thought he had ear mites and had been treating him for that with some otc meds. I did it a couple of times, but when he didn't get any better I took him to the vet to see if he really had mites. Nope, yeast infection. Only 2% of dogs actually have mites, the rest have yeast. I did the prescribed drops of yeast killer and something else for bacterial infection caused from the dog scratching his ears. Then a ear wash and rinse more drops and another wash and rinse a week later. I woundn't do it again. Poor dog! I did a google search on "yeast infection dog ears" and here is what I came up with... tea tree oil will take care of the yeast, and feeding a little bit of yogurt every day mixed in their food or just plain will change the ph in the dog's system so the yeast won't like the environment. The minor infection goes away by itself when the dog quits digging at his ears. Pretty simple and sure a lot less trauma for the dog. The tea tree oil is something you can get at a health food store, put some on a Q-tip and apply it to the inside of the ear. Use a clean Q-tip for the other ear so you don't contaminate the oil.

I'll be gone most of the day tomorrow, taking hubby to the airport in Boise and stopping to take plants to Ponditis on the way home. She has a yucca for one of my new flower beds that she has been keeping for me for several months now. She invited me to go nursery hopping but I won't have time and she needs to stay indoors with all the smoke from the fires. I would love to do that some other time when I am down that way and not in a hurry.

My hubby brought home a Portland paper today and there is an amazing story in it about an emergency room nurse who came home from work and found an intruder in her home, he attacked her and they got into a struggle and she strangled him. Then she went to a neighbor's house and the neighbor called 911. That guy sure picked the wrong house to burglerise and would have been smarter to run instead of attacking her, but you know, male ego and no brains. He was out of prison on parole, had been in prison on several kinds of charges including manufacturing drugs (probably meth) and attempted murder. He won't be causing any more trouble. The article said he was 5'9 and 180#, she is 5'7 and 260#. She has been an ER nurse for 30 years. Dumb guy, really dumb. Of course most crooks aren't known for their intellegence. Her injuries were not serious, she was treated at a hospital and released.

Now I need to sleep, see you tomorrow evening. I hope this story doesn't keep any of you awake tonight.

Godd Morning,

I think I will take that worm today. I looked in last evening but was so tired I couldn't speak. Went to bed early and now up very early.

I was awake yesterday morning at 4:21 for the dogs and couldn't get back to sleep. Needless to say I was on the job by 7. Worked a long day when the boss came at the end of the day to check on the job and pay us, he found he had not brought the check book in his truck.

Not sure about his agenda, and he seemed like maybe he would have preferred we wait to get paid, but he didn't come right out and say it. He doesn't get final payment on that project until today some time. He had to drive all the way down to Micanopy to get the checkbook. He said he could make the drive in 30 minutes. I knew he was embellishing. He left at 3:45 and came back just after 5.

When I am the boss, getting my people paid was first order. I waited to pay myself until after the job was settled. I never forgot what Friday means to workers and the importance of treating them with that respect.

Unfortunately, since I need the cash for the time being, and no other offers on the table right now, I will muddle on and just beware of this mans shennigans that I have been forwarned of. The other worker who was there before me, has only been there 2 weeks and he is quitting today. The college kid went back to college so he quit. A new girl came yesterday and she needs the money too.

But I have the weekend off and DG is back to normal operating speed and I'm getting a little antsy to get back out in the gardens. There another round up south of here on the 23rd and I need to get my trade list worked up.

I think I told yall that I had Jeremy put deer netting up around the veggie garden. The yard fence borders 2 sides of the area and Jeremy planted some 2X4's on the inside area and strung the deer netting all the way around. Well anyway, someone has been digging under the netting and ripping holes in it. MY DOGS!!!!!!

I don't catch them at it, and as smart as part of my dogs are, I believe if you don't catch them in the act, the scolding is just lipservice. So I am lining the border that is in my dogs yard with huge flower pots to block their way. I know that it is the smell of the composted manure that is enticing them, but dogs will be dogs.

It's still dark out and even though I am only 5 1/2 hours from my former home, my position on the map is further west so sunrise and sunset has changed. During the peak of summer the hours of day light is longer here than Lauderdale, not as long as those of you in Wisc and Michigan, but a bit longer, none the less. Anyway, point being, changing the clock back will be welcome. Getting up in the dark is for the owls. But we still have well over a month before that happens.

I guess I better get this posted before I lose the worm. Will check in later when yall get outa bed.

:^)))
Molly

LOL I missed the worm which is just as well since I'm on that nasty 4 letter word.....diet....UGH!! Not really a diet just cutting back, way back on goodies.
I got the new bed for the day lilies and glads dug and planted yesterday and found a couple of muscles I forgot I owned. Now to get the 3 other lilys I bought planted today.
Glad they got Daves fixed I was starting to have withdrawls yesterday. I was timed out so many times I finally gave up and took a nap.
Well ~~~~~~~~~~to all and I hope everyone is feeling better and loved ones are getting better, better post this before it goes poof (frist one did). BBL...Lauri

I'm going back to the historic house I have been working on for a final clean-up. There must be 50-60 garbage bags full of trash to haul. There is still fine dust everywhere; the broom just won't take it up. So we are bringing a swifter to go over the floors since there is no water.
I am going to a rally for out state senator tonight. I hope I can go to a friend's house and clean up and change as the rally is at about 5:p.m. and I am going to have a big gap in time from whenI finish cleaning the old house and the rally starts.
One major chore is going to be pulling down lose wallpaper with a pair of long barbeque tongs. Old wallpaper may look bad, but nothing like loose wallpaper hanging down.
Next Saturday is the big push to get the house closed up and weather-proofed until it sells. I have at least one very interested buyer.

I'm up, it's five thirty and pitch dark outside. By the time I finish this there should be some light on the horizon. DH got up at 4:30 and I heard him so I got awake too. He's going on another road trip with his buddy, for, what else, car parts. His buddy has at least 6 or 7 cars, but when he needs to haul something large, there's alway DH and his truck.

Had trouble getting here all day yesterday and into last night. Wonder what's going on? Seems to be happening more frequently lately. I thought maybe it was my computer so I did a little housekeeping and dumped some cookies, but that didn't help. Ran the Ad-Aware and that didn't help. Kept getting page not found. Maybe since nonmembers have access to so many threads now, it's affecting our access.

Still no rain. Gardens are looking so shabby and I need to get out there with my clippers and get rid of the uglies. And collect some seeds. That will be a good job for today since I won't need to feed anybody but myself. Plus there's a little blackeyed susan down the road that's gone to seed and I'm wanting to stop and grab the seeds from it, too. Maybe I'll just drop those where I'd like them to come up, rather than wait for spring to sow them.

Twyla, what a cute little blonde! Kittens and kids are quite a combo. My cats were always very patient with my DGSs and never got scratched. Says more about how the kids were taught to handle pets than it says about the cats!

Golf was not so hot yesterday, told my partner that I must have been a cow in a previous life, because I always end up in the longest grass. Seriously thinking I should give it up, between the rotater cuff problem and my knee affecting my game, perhaps it's time. I don't dare mention it to my partner now, so I'll have to see how I feel next spring.

What a relief to have all those dental visits over with for the duration, Bonnie. Now if Darius would get in somewhere and get fixed, that would be good news. Did that colt show up yet? Too bad about your DGD's hamster, but that is quite a long life for one of those little guys. I love buttered beets! And pickled. And sweet/sour Harvard style.

Hope this finds everyone feeling much better today, and no new ailments show up to plague any of us. Having had so little to say, I'm wondering why I felt it was so urgent to get on here yesterday!!

~~~~~ to Maria, IO1, Darius, Robert, Suzie, WS, Dorothy, Kooger, Elaine, and everyone else who was going through withdrawal yesterday. See you all later today after I have accomplished as much of my to-do list as my back will permit!

Sheila

Good morning all, just about ready to head out the door to attend pool school. Probably won't be back until noon or after. So just a big hearty ~~~~ for now, and will catch up later.

Good morning every one, talkiing about gardens, Sheila, went out first thing with Samson, shoes got soaking wet. I remember my MIL always put on some, what she called 'rubbers'; over her shoes and would chastizs me for not doing so, lol. Did I ever tell you I always played Golf for many years, Played on the MA amateur golf league never as a single though, always with a partner, we won quite a few times.
Glad I missed all that mess everyone seemed to have had yesterday, I am like you Bonnie, pushing the botton many times, it is frustrating to be so persistent and impatient, lol

That is an amazing story about the nurse Mary, good for her but ,oh boy , it could have gone the other way.

It is a gorgious day today, took some picture of stuff still in bloom or just beginning like the sedum

here is the cultivated Joe-Pye-Weed, about 8 feet tall

another one with Samson

and some pretty dahlia

Maria, what beautiful pictures. The dahila are so pretty I think mine have mites or something and are about done for tho I am going to trty to save them with a spraying. Do you grow hostas? If so when can I safely transplant them? I ahve several that I planted too close and the need to be moved . TIA...Lauri

Sorry to keep you all in suspense. I got a bug - of the intestinal type - I'll spare you those details - and spent most of the day on the couch. Tried DG once and gave up.

Mary guessed right. I was terminated. Not a big surprise, it was going to happen sooner or later with the insane rules they have. I found out that my Supervisor/Team Leader lied to me. Back in June she wrote me up for talking on a call. I was not, the last conversation of the call had not dropped off my screen yet but the call was over. Both parties said 'SKSK' which means 'Stop Key Stop Key' and signals the end of the call. (It comes from the days of the telegraph.) It can take up to a minute to clear your screen if you don't hit F5 and I didn't hit F5. I told her that and she said don't worry abt it, it was taken care of. I assumed that meant she took it off my record. NOT! That put me at 6 WPs (Work Performances). That put me at the DML (Decision Making Level) and in termination jeopardy. There is a rule that no one knows abt (big surprise, eh?) that says the DML level stays for a full year. Even if other old WPs drop off after some months, you still stay at DML level and if you get any WPs at all, you are fired. Period, no ands, ifs or buts abt it. I thought I was at 5 WPs.

So when I got that write up for Tues for talking on hold (hold was for 101 mins, ringing the whole time - causes instant insanity LOL), my TL came back to work on Thurs. -guess she took a loooong wknd (must be nice, no CAs can do that without jumping thru umpteen loops!) she called me back to her office and said you are terminated. I argued for 15 mins that I was at 5 WP and she said it didn't matter. Also spoke with HR and she said those are just guidelines, you can be terminated at anytime, even with 1 or 2 WPs if they decide to do so. Unreal!

I spoke with the SD Dept of Labor dude and he said that it sounds like they know exactly the type of person they want and if you do not fit into that criteria, you are on a short list and they will get rid of you. They want robots, people who will do what they want without complaining (to them) and who don't rock the boat. I will proudly admit to not being that way. I try to help people, I try to make things better for people and also for the company. I would like to be proud or at least pleased with the company I work for and in it's present state, no CAs (Communication Assistants) are proud of CSD.

How can you be proud of scamming the American public? Their excuse is that the FCC doesn't allow us to warn peeps but I read that ATT and MCI and Hamilton have successfully implemented programs to block the vast majority of scam calls. It all comes down to money, millions of it. Every phone call you make, and I mean ALL of you, has a small charge attached to it. That small charge, multiplied billions of times, goes into an account that all the relay providers are paid from. They submit the number of minutes they provided to callers and it doesn't matter if they are deaf users or internet users. The majority of the internet users are scammers from Nigeria, with a few from West Africa and Ghana. They use stolen credit cards and fake money orders and fake bank drafts.

CSD was started as a phone service for deaf people by a deaf man. He developed it as a mission to the deaf community and received non-profit status. I believe he has been sidetracked from that mission quite a few years ago. Money drives him now and he will do anything to protect that money. The company employs abt 3,000 peeps and in 2004, the CEO paid himself $857,000. Quite incredible, eh? He took a $300,000. pay cut in 2005 - I don't know how he could make it on half a mil!! Poor man! And we make $8/hour. Pretty sad statement there. He makes more than any other non-profit CEO in the US. The President of Red Cross doesn't make that much and she has hundreds of thousands of employees and volunteers. Go figure.... it's all about the money and only the money. Another reason why there is no union there - they'll find a way to dump you. They 'remote' you as much as possible until they catch you making a mistake. I'm quite sure I was 'remoted' on Tues. because I never saw a TL walking by. Also, the gal I spoke to was also on a call and was not written up. Interesting, eh? ...... life goes on .....

Everything happens for a reason. The shop is sold, we are buying a truck with the proceeds, DH will run by himself for the most part until DS graduates in May and then we'll hit the road together. This just changes the timing somewhat. I will also have to buy Cobra insurance for a month to cover my surgery. I was surprised, it wasn't as much as I thought it would be. And I can't believe how relaxed I feel to be away from that constant worry and stress. Life is good! :D And thank you, my friends, for worrying abt me. I hope to be able to meet more of you while on the road - hmmm, maybe I'll have to have a 'Coffee at Truckstops' thread. LOL

Oh my, Kooger, I'd last there not even a minute!!!!

Gotta admit, I lasted almost 1½ years! I am rather amazed! lol

Morning everyone- cloudy and cool here- no sun in the sky all day!! We had a wild storm roar thru last night= wicked lightning and thunder and downpouring of rain. It happened just before 9pm and many football games were halted. DGS was supposed to have his first game this afternoon, but it was cancelled as they have to make up the unfinished games of the night before. So I have a whole day ahead of me with no obligations - other than cleaning -laundry detail!!

I should go shopping for something to wear to a funeral on Tues. I have nothing fitting for this time of the year. Plus I have a couple of pounds haning on my tummy that make mydress black pants too tight to wear in public!!.

Maria, beautiful pics. I need to remember to nip back my sedums - they are so tall they have crashed apart in the middle. I'll have to post a pic of my dahlia bed. I have 40 tall dahlias in it and I love it. I do dread digging up all those tubers tho and trying to find a place to winter them over.

M5- I hear ya on giving up the golf. My shoulder still gives me twinges once in a while. Reminds me to slow down...and take life easy.

wood - good luck finishing up the house. Laughed at you taking down wallpaper with tongs!! How much would a house in that condition sell for?

Molly- smack that boss for trying to have you fall for the 'left my checkbook' stuff. Glad you got your pay. How long do you plan on working for him? I never realized that we in Mich have longer days than you guys. It is so dark in the morning here too and I hate it as I am a morning person. It is 9:30ish here and we have all the lights on in the house. Plus with all the doors/windows shut because of the cold weather - it sure feels like fall.. Hope the dog don't just hop over the pots...what stinkers.

Mary - hooray for the nurse that took out her attacker. Don't you wonder yourself what you would do in a situation like that?

Kooger - it sounds like a dreaful place to work. I'm sure you'll find something that will be more satisfying in the long term. Remember that for every door that closes, another one opens.

Cyber goodies - I have some left-over Rhubard-Strawberry crisp if anyone wants to help finish it off.

Guests have left to have coffee with one set of friends and lunch with another. The luthier who made my viola is having a mid-day open house to celebrate his new collaborration with a Toronto area shop. Will go to that, but may work in the garden for awhile first.

Molly - did you say what kind of work you are doing? If so, I missed. Phooey on that boss of yours.

~~~~~ to everyone else. BBL

Ann

Ann,

House painting. Going to the farmers market now. I need some fresh veggies to eat. bbl

Molly
:^)))

Lauri, I do have some hostas but really not into it, I think ViolaAnn has tons of knowledge about them, wish I did

Thanks Maria, I have too many, I think, but one never knows...Lauri

Sarv you mentioned nipping sediums. Do you snip them back like mums? Mine are always ugly when they bloom they seperate in the center. dixie

Lauri - your zone is a lot different from mine; so a lot about growing hostas will be different, but in general, you can move them just about any time if you keep them well atered and looked after. A practical consideration is that they may be easier to handle if you wait until the foliage begins to die down or move them in the spring before they leaf out. If they are large, established clumps, you can probably just take a spade and cut out pie-shaped wedges to divide them.

Ann

Ann, Thanks They are new clumps put in last year, I got 13 unnamed ones and stuck them all together and they really need some room...Again Thanks...Lauri

Well, I should have stayed home today....maybe. The farmers market wasn't there today so I drove around thinking I could find a veggie stand.

Well I found a nursery that some of us visited a couple months back. Got some veriagated Leylandii Cypress trees. We needed some more to finish Jeremy's enchanted garden area for the privacy wall. I bought 2 more blueberry plants and a tibouchina that's getting ready to bloom. It goes in my orchid house.

Saw a yard sale on the way home and bought 4 blonde wooden bar stools for cheap, like new. When I drove away, with these stools in the backseat (and part of the front) of my mustang, I ask myself, "What did you do? Molly, you don't have a bar, you don't have a table. What's with the stools?" Okay, maybe I can build one.

And believe it or not, I did fit 7 Leylendii Cypress trees, 2 blueberry trees and the tibouchina in my mustang along with 4 bar stools and I didn't get a bit of dirt in there or rip out a headliner.

Lauri, I just sent a box load of hostas and other things to Darius. I did divide the hostas and left some in the ground because they were so big, I wanted to fit as many different plants as possible in the box. Yep, I had to use the shovel to split some of them apart. My first time doing this, but I remember threads on this very subject.

I'm going to go kick myself a few times now just because.
:^))))

Wow, I thought I had clicked to watch this thread this morning, but obviously not.

The Farmer's Market trip netted me a quart of organic chicken stock and a dozen farm eggs. I wanted whole organic chickens since my DB will be here but the vendor won't have more until mid October. Pooh. Oh, and I got a big Curshaw (Cushaw?) squash for $3. Have to research how to cook and can it. It's what you get when you buy canned pumpkin.

Then on to HD where I got a bale of straw to cushion and cover my butternut squash when they are ready to store in the root cellar.

I hope when my brother is here, we can go to the big wholesale Farmer's Market in Asheville after my colonoscopy next week since we'll be 2/3 of the way there. I want a bushel or two of sweet potatoes to store, and if I can also get King Luscious apples, I'll can apple pie filling. I don't know if that apple will store well, so maybe get just half a bushel. It will give me something to do while my brother is out exploring the countryside.

BTW, he's planning to bring shrimp AND snow crab. Yum, we'll have a feast!

Kooger, I didn't comment because you and I have talked about it on the phone.

Molly, It's remarkable that you got no dirt in the mustang!

Yall, have no idea how big that squash is!!!!! That box had 30 pounds of plants in it yesterday. It is quite large, and so is the squash!

Molly
:^)))

Like Ann said, easy as pie! We've done it spring, fall and even the middle of summer. Hosta are amazingly hardy and don't seem to mind as long as they get watered and the bunnies don't eat them down to the ground.

I cut back my sedum back by half about the middle of July, when they were starting to get very tall. This forces side growth, which helps to support the plant and stop it from that collapse in the middle later in the season. I'll go take a pic in a minute. I was really afraid to do it, but I could see the logic in it and they looked awful for about two weeks with that flat top, but as you can see, they must have appreciated the hair cut, they are dense and starting to bloom.

Gotta run....duty calls. Later, all! ~~~~~
Sheila

Sheila,

I am sick, those sedum are wonderful. Mine are so puny I wouldn't dare cut them back........maybe next year or the year after when they have realized I'm not gonna move them across the state again.

:^))))

Meez, what a wonderful patch of sedums!

beautyful Sheila, though mine do not split remind me to do that next year!!!Plwase!

Some squash Darius
Have done things like that before when I spot a deal Molly, :-)

Lauri - I should have read carefully. if all you are doing is moving your hostas, no problem. Just ensure they are well watered until they get established. Dividing will stress them more, but just moving is really easy. Oh, and you can never have too many hostas.

What a squash, Darius. Hope it's good all the way through.

Gotta run. BBL.

Ann

Thanks! The ones in the back corner that I didn't cut back are already starting to lean out from the center, notice how many of these stems are coming out near the bottom and blooming? Didn't have any of those in prior years, when I didn't prune them. Be brave, go forth and hack!

I did the garden photo walk, and started a thread in Upper Midwest Gardening if you want to see the pictures go to: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/649222/#new.

Molly, that is one gorgeous squash! Amazing what you can squeeze into a Mustang if you are determined. Best I ever did was take down the top and haul a sofa home. Wouldn't you know, it started raining on the way so I had to driveveryfast LOL. You'll just need to build a long shelf along one side of the orchid house, and voila!, a bar!!

Cece hasn't checked in for a bit, hope she's ok. Kid next door had his ninth birthday yesterday so all evening their yard was teeming with little boys, having a great time, they played flashlight tag after dark, and probably scared themselves silly in the process.

Kooger, lasting a year and a half in that environment was an act of will!! They must lose a lot of good people that way, but the rep. from the Dept. of Labor was right, they do not want anything but simpleminded lockstep clones because they do not question authority. Thinking is not a requirement of those kinds of jobs, because it would jeopardize they way they do business. Why would you stay on a ringing phone line for 100 minutes if not to bill the minutes? I am sure you will be a happier person out of that robot factory. I would have been hard pressed not to give the TL a good poke in the nose.

I always felt the better I treated my employees, the more I got back from them. Even if I wasn't following "company guidelines".
Dock someone a half day's pay because they had to leave early? Puhleeeze! Multimillion dollar company and they need to squeeze some employee who is already giving up 35% of her income for taxes, FICA, and probably footing a child care bill besides? I'd just tell them to leave their time card with me and I'd punch them out at the appropriate time. Anytime I feel down in the dumps and think nobody loves me, I can go back down there, and get as many hugs and warm fuzzies as I need!! And they are not from Upper Management!!

Are we out of rhubarb crisp? Have a peach!!

Got brain freeze, bye everybody ~~~~~~~

cece is spending 9 days with her DH. She'll be back soon.

Meez... That's MY squash, not Molly's! It's just sitting on the box Molly sent me.

Darius, hahahahahaha, can you guess the thought that went through my head????????

Anyone? you are welcome to verbalize.

:^))))))
Molly

Well, I googled and found out I cannot just roast that squash and can it. It MUST be canned in uncooked but blanched cubes for safety. Rats. Good thing it's a long keeper because I don't want to tie up all the time my brother is here with peeling and cubing that sucker!

Meant to add... some of the wine chemicals and yeast got here today and my sis says I should have the fermenting containers probably Monday. I WILL get my brother to help pick and mash grapes!

Molly, nope ain't gonna touch that one......:-)...Lauri

Oh drat, I've had a miserable day. Not only is the weather the absolute pits here- cold, rainy, dreary, but I went into town to find something to wear to a ritzie shower tomorrow. I tried on armfuls of clothes and everything looked awful. How can someone my age wear a top with the front practically cut down to my navel...It was either slutty looking or major old lady looking. I did get a black skirt and a top that wasn't too low (for a wedding in Oct.) I came home and tried on what I thought would pass for decent and then discovered that I have NO brown shoes that are decent. I don't know what I am going to do. I should go back into town, but instead put on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt and came here!!

I have clothes strewn all over two bedrooms -one up and one down. Lordy it is a mess...

Oriole- Like M5 said, just chop them down the first of July - and poke the pieces in the ground (after you strip the leaves off them) and believe it or not - they will take off too. Easiest plant to get more of!

Darius- good looking squash. I love any kind of them. Our garden isn't big enough to plant them as we do pumpkins and things always end up crossing. Probably should just give up on the pumpkins tho - I need more dahlia space LOL Is your brother driving you for your colonoscopy?? You do need someone to give you a lift afterwards. You'll think you will be ok,but really you're still kinda loopy..

Molly - laughed at the haul you stuck in your car. Where there's a will there's a way!! How will your DB carry all that seafood on his bike?? Since you have the bar stools, now you do need a bar!! Another project!!

Well, nothing is on the table for dinner and I didn't have lunch, so I need to rummage in the frig and see what I can whip up. My mom called and they went to the market and got some koosa (small squash - Syrians eat them and my dad was Syrian) You hollow them out and stuff them with lamb, rice and tomato sauce. She's bringing out dinner on Monday - I'm doing dessert...

Is someone making peach pie??

Sarv, I hate having to dress up although I have boxes full of dressy clothes, and shoes to match. I used to love "putting on the dog" LOL.

The koosa sounds lovely!

And Yes, my brother will drive me for my colonoscopy.