Coffee time once again

Another visitor today....must be my lucky day.

The cardinals really stand out when there is a snowy background.

Pixie, your ducks look like they are swimming in the snow. 'Missed their exit" LOL really should have a word with the tour company. Some of these cruises are disasters. tee hee
And do wish we would get the occasional cardinal here. Every now and then would see one in the Adirondack/Catskill mountains of NY when I lived there.

Anita, Glad to hear it's going well & glad your back. I agree. Weekends go to fast! Whatever happened to the 4 day work week I was promised as a kid? You know, because machines would be doing all the work. I work a lot more hours than my father did. (Fortunately, it's not as backbreaking.)

Dave, all I know is, the more we expect the computers to take over, the bigger our IT department gets, and the more people complain how time-consuming it is (this is a hospital environment and we are implementing an electronic medical record). Not as backbreaking, but more aggravating LOL

pixie, every time I see a cardinal I miss them more. they are in the area...just not in my yard. I think we need more established trees and shrubs before I can entice them. the color and their pretty song definitely makes them my favorites.

hey, al, what did ya get done on the house so far??

speaking of birds - I love the chickadees and how they say good morning to me. They are not afraid of me and when the weather is good for yard work, they hang out with me and watch.

This weekend we had a great bunch of bird visitors--a male and a female cardinal, a blue jay, titmice (like the chickadees, they're pretty comfortable around people), a beautiful red-bellied wood pecker (it just has a red spot on its belly, but a bright red head), and lots of other small birds. We have a feeder on our front porch and a big rhododendron right in front of the porch. The birds use the rhodo as a staging area/hiding place. They were all so quiet though--not a chirp. I guess they were too cold and hungry to chat.

Anita, I'm glad that your new job is working out well.

Loretta

My trees let me hear birds and watch their activiies year round. For the past three years I've had a returning male robin who watches me while I'm out. When I go to the back garden which I still overhead water, he flys up to 'his' branch and sings something that I swear sounds like: "yoo gonna water?'' repeated over and over. And when I do turn on the sprinklers he dodges in and out of the water and harvests any worms that surface.

I came across this website while browsing and i wanted to share this very sad story with you all........... It brought a tear to my eye!!

http://www.simplesite.com/PKDeficiency

Mark

Poor dog,we just watched our neighbor's beagle last weekend, he has diabetes and a thyroid condition and is about 30 pounds overweight and his name is still Lucky.




Dave - big game on tonight UW-GB vs You con.

Al, I stopped in here at halftime with UW-GB ahead! This would be a major upset if your women pull it off. Usually UConn is up by 30 at this time.

Went to a class on dry, shade gardening. Interesting.

Al, The UConn women ended up winning by 24. Buy UW-GB was impressive.

They were too much for them Dave. I think WI is out of all BB tournaments now.

Well, I think they are a team on the rise (especially if they can keep the coach from going to Michigan.)

That's one game I never got into. I love football, baseball, hockey, soccer...

I never really get into the NCAA thing too much. Except on the rare occasion my school, Manhattan College, makes it.

I mainly watch pro sports in golf and football, and like college football and basketball.

ahhh...I forgot about golf. I like watching that too. My grandmother never understood that sport. She couldn't understand why you hit a little white ball, go an find it only to hit it again!

Well I am the least athletic person I know. I can't catch, hit, throw, or run - and I still can't get a handicapped parking spot! Needless to say, I never watch sports - which my students find absolutely amazing - and rather funny :-)

My grandmother lived for golf! she was women's champion at her club when she was 75. she played 18 holes every day in good weather. and the rest of the year we watched on tv.

I like baseball and college basketball. I still have a hard time understanding how someone could watch golf. Probably watching cars drive in a circle is the silliest to me. Do we count wrestling?

My father lives for golf. As a matter of fact, he's busier in retirement than he ever was [a very good thing].

Racing...I don't see the need for it. I had a friend, when I used to bowl [should we consider that???] who raced. Convinced me that I should go down a watch him one evening. He told me to stand track side for the best seats...yeah right...When I got home, I was covered in black stuff....turned out it was pieces of the tires!!!!!!!!!

Dave-What were the most interesting things you picked up in the class on dry shade? Any plants that would make a big impact yet carefree? I've got a bunch of maples, they really hoard the moisture.

Can't watch golf, racing or soccer. BORING. My tops are baseball, football and basketball, in that order. Hopefully my Mets will continue to improve this year.

Yes Dave - give us a synopsis please. Hopefully the bottom line was not - water more!

Yes - I have a spot along the west side of the house - currently used as the neighbourhood cat box because it is so dry there - mostly shady. Any ideas Dave???

Along the same lines - I am considering a pvc arbor between my driveway and back garden. I want some climber to grow up the arbor. It only gets some morning sun. Any recommendations? Climbing Hydrangea is a possibility but it grows painfully slow and one has to wait years for blooms. Thanks.

I'll pull out my notes,but the general thing was that we get plants that were raised in optimal nursery conditions. Even plants that do well in dry shade will die because of the shock from being pampered (and no nursery would/could afford to raise plants in dry shade.) So, the trick is to put down 1-3 inches of compost or compost & top soil to give them a head start. By the end of the first year, the tree roots will have invaded the new soil so top dress again. After that they should be well established enough and they will do well. A couple of other points: keep your compost around 12 inches away from tree trunks to avoid killing the tree and, sorry Victor, you do need to water more when they are babies (but at least there will be an inch or three that will retain a little water). I'll look up some plants and get back to you. But I do remember that she was successful with some plants I was surprised by. Some I thought would need more sun.
You can't plant moisture lovers here though. (reminder to self, move ligularia)

ok everyone...spring has arrived in my yard!!!! I had to force myself to come in as I have so many other chores to do today!!!!

Anita, it's a beautiful thing :0)

I started some indoor flats today. Tomato, cherry tomato, sweet peppers, morning glories, Al's zebrina malva, Anita's daylilies, Yankee's c.Nora Barlow and a really pretty tree I saw in Disney world.
Also discovered that a couple of my wintersown seeds have sprouted.

I saw a few sprouts, but I left the details for tomorrow when I plan on sowing a few more containers.

Looks nice Neter. I have all kinds of things up, but no early flowers this year until daffs.

Dave - I think that Goofy tree should fit in well at the 47 residence.

Anita, beautiful photo! And I must say thank you as it was just what I needed....we are expecting snow tonight!

Pixie, They were calling for a snow/rain mix down here. Weird, I was just playing baketball in my shirtsleeves.
Tonight we go see the Guilford High production of South Pacific. My daughter is part of the crew (costumes). Actually, I'm pretty excited to see it.

Sounds like fun Dave - enjoy! Bringing a camera?

Have a good time Dave! I enjoy going to DGD school plays and such, always brings a smile to my face.

No camera, just roses. Amazing talent for a high school production.

I'm always impressed with young talent. I always find it interesting to see if they take their talent anywhere. I new alot of people in school that really stood out with their talents. A few actually followed it and made careers of it or at least enjoyed it for awhile.

It is fun. Some of these kids are so good.

I was in a Greek tragedy in my senior year. just for the school, not for the public. I'm a natural introvert, so this was a big step for me. I had the role of the choraggos (the leader of the chorus that does parts of the narration). We built all of the sets in black & white. ditto the costumes. we had an honors English teacher fresh out of college who had a lot of enthusiasm. it was a good experience. I'm sure the rest of the school was entirely bored, but it got them out of class ;0)

I'm in an Italian-American tragedy that has been running for 52 years.