Best/Worse and What did I learn today? Friends pt.39

Trying to see if we start fresh this Monday morning if access to the thread is easier for some..

Know I'm having mega difficulties..

Hi...
Geesh, having a seriously s l o w time getting into all the forums. LOL tried everything even logged off a couple of times.

Liz said she had a hard time at 6:30 so must be the whole site!

Betty, this one did pop up immediatley.

So how was your weekend? Glad you were able to sit on your pretty porch.

Going to upload some pics I took...but reluctant to show you right now, don't want to slow the system any more than it is!

Probably is the new servers DG is moving to, not just our computers. Some threads work, some don't. Patience is not my virtue!!
Morning, Ladies! Another 70 degree day here...so I will talk with you when the sun goes down. Have a great day!!!

woohoo Shar 70!! Hope you get lots done.

Well, I worked on yard again yesterday. Then DH and I went to HD and got some materials. Tadahhh, I now have a beautiful Compost bin. And a shiney new Metal post for living birdfeeder!! it's 8 feet tall. I am tired of hoggy critters of the night stealing all the food. Plus, with the feeder right off the deck the birds are getting mad at our close proximity. LOL, you should have heard them yelling at us to go away, hahah, I yelled right back and said well go and eat then! Sparrows were the only brave ones.

Will be working diligently to get my gardens in shape, Got a graduation party to throw, so I would like everything done by then, whew will be tough, couple of weeks anyway.

and guess who got a sunburned face,LOL.

Aaarrrggghhh!!! Everything is dragging for me too. Mostly, when I click on "skip to new", it takes over 5 minutes to do so. Same for when I click on a thumbnail to enlarge the picture. Restarted my computer and all--no difference.....

*****Judy and others!!!! Be careful and aware of using "Melorganite" as a fertilizer!!!!!!

"Melorganite" is made from the "sludge" that's left in our sanitary treatment plants. That's right! Besides other "drainages"--that is also where all the flushed toilets go!
It is OK to use it on your lawn or trees, but NEVER use it on any vegetable beds as it contains a lot of toxic metals and all kinds of harmful things if ingested.

I have heard that it can be sprinkled around borders and boundaries to keep wildlife at bay, but DO NOT use it near anything you are growing to eat.

OK! Feel back to normal today--at least so far. Must have had a 2 day runny nose/cold. Glad that is all it was.....Gotta work on 5 different days this week. They have hired a new girl for the Phone center, but she is still in training.

I will also be working now on Sundays--10-2 in the garden area helping out customers with questions. My new store manager said that someone with my people personality needs to be out there......I think I already told you all about this, so don't mind....

Gita

Ladies, Dave is changing over to new servers, and today is the day, so DG will be a bit jumbled until the change is complete.
Don't panic....he has been working on it all weekend, but we should be good to go by the end of the day.

It isn't your computers at all. Just the servers.

Thank you for the information on the servers...Have notice some of them are pretty quick...

Gita, glad to see your feeling better! Thank you for the warning on the fertilizer, yow.

Ves, Hope you had a change in moods. Maybe as the days get warmer and you see more and more garden you will perk up. LOL, people normally think I am nuts when i tell them how I talk to nature, so glad you do too.

Liz, Awsom job on the pretty dragonflys. I am so jealous of you making those, Seriously contemplaiting buying stained glass kit.

Trying to remember what i read yesterday...still can't access #38 so ........will be back as things come to mind.

Mental stretching-for me it's using a subject that I haven't examined in a long time. Going back doing some research, doing some comparison, since the memory isn't quite what it once was. And then combining the information with personal experience and writing an article on it. It's good for your mind, and keeps you sharp, well more pointy maybe?? LOL

Been outside, and want to show you some neat things almost ready to bloom, some blooming......
First is a chocolate vine, just beginning to bloom...

Creeping phlox....

Japanese Maple

Redbud....

Wrote a nice long post and it went in cybre space..shucks...

Let's see if I can remember some of it..system seems quicker..

Doccat5 - sounds very interesting..some memories are so vivid, you'll never forget the details no matter how many times you re-live them...quite the concept..

Shar thanks for the update..wondered what had happened..guess if I'd gotten on Daves thread it might have explained it..wow 70, no wonder you are out enjoying the day..same back from lunch at 2:30 and lordy I could have just kept driving..all the way to Kentucky..lol you just never know where I'll end up..

Judy, sounds as though you've accomplished much over the weekend...a garden party..how wonderful...what are in the plans?
don't know if you received the photo of my butterfly lady, think so..now to pick the right glass..

Gita, glad to hear you are feeling better..I'll have to take photo of some of the seedlings I planted over the weekend that you had sent me..let's hope they survive..not sure how often I should water...don't want to drown the little suckers..I'm just like a baby, you have to guide me through step by step..

OMG Shar, you've that much beauty already! How lucky you are..I can just picture you walking the garden, admiring each bit of color, sitting at times for a rest..lady of leisure..lol..how are those rose plants coming along.. I have a couple of wild ones and I see they are very hairy, not sure if I should be cutting them down?

Betty that is a wonderful stained glass....love it!
Here are some more photos....
This is a little raintree that I started last year...was afraid it would n't come back but here it is...

Raintree Shar? will it have flowers...amazing how some of these very delicate plants survive mounds of snow/ice and freezing temps.. your garden is really coming to life..

Daylilies are below the raintree.

Here is my great grandmother's Three Sisters climbing rose bush....will be blooming pretty soon.

Amazing, do you prune them early spring or late fall or leave them as they are....it was truly worth the wait last night and today, DG is quick/quick..oh happy days!

One more...
Flowering crabapple for the birds..

The grandmother rose above, I usually just prune in the fall, then in spring I cut back any dead branches.

There are more photos, but don't think I should fill up the thread with too many.

The raintree doesn't really bloom, but it has the neatest seedlings, much like the old fashioned money plant. They are a very light mint green. It is a lovely tree, and was in the old Elizabeth Taylor film, Raintree County. I was lucky to find a seedling and even luckier that I got it to grow. I have one more, but it is smaller and I am really watching it. I think it just had a rough start.

I also wanted to tell you that I have an enameling kiln and also a jewelry kiln for working with silver...I don't use them much, but the next time I am digging in the garage I might get them out.

Anyway, just wanted you to see a bit of KY this afternoon.

Feel free to show us photos...loved those Rudy showed as well..if nothing budding in our yard perhaps we can enjoy yours..lol

OK, one more. A few years ago we had a huge Magnolia, 30 years old it was, and it was too close to the house. With spring rains it began to tilt until it was leaning at an alarming degree. I knew it had to go, but before it was cut down in the fall, I started saving the seed pods, planted some, and now 4 years later...this is what I have. By the way, it is taller than I am now...so probably about 5 and a half or 6 feet......

Thank you for a lovely stroll through your gardens. Everything is so beautiful in early bloom. Makes a person want to stop and just wander. Yes, i love to see everyones photos...Just brightens my day can't help but smile at all the beauty.

Oh yes, now I remember, Ruby...Your spring blooms are very beautiful too. I just love that you have the mountains right in your back yard, wow what a sight. Thanks for sharing your compost bins with me. Nice to see different ideas. I get to show you mine.
A silly thing to be excited about but I have been waiting for 9 years to get one built to my specifications. Will add another one I hope before fall.
This is the front, the slide up for removal.

Here it is withought the panels.
Now you can't tell in the picture but past the shelf is a bar the goes across so I can stick a shovel and rake in, and the shelf is for my drink, gloves whatever!

I've no composter, think one has to cook and have leftovers for composting don't they..Judy, the mesh shelf is about 1/2 way, does some of the materials filter through to the bottom for easy access...dah, know if I keep asking these silly gardening questions someone is bound to say, find another site..lol 5 minutes more..

And introducing my Fairy. Her name is butterfly. I bought her for $10 dollars about 3 years ago. She was the last on the shelf. When I saw her she reminded me of sister Juliana, so I actually borrowed the money from a co-worker so She came home with me. Now I have always wanted to paint her, LOL but being the artist I am decided to leave her be...Hmmmm, Maybe you all can help with suggestions on what colors I should use. Maybe I'll get brave. Anyway I scrubbed her up she is the focal of my fountain.

Oh my Gosh, Betty Giggling out loud here.
No leftovers go in composting. The easiest way I can tell you, If it comes from the ground, all vegtables, peelings things like that, Also Egg shells, coffee grounds, and leaves. they will heat up in the bin and break down into soil! Whalla compost. So the mesh shelf is what hold all the leaves, I will continuously turn/till and all the fine compost will fall to the bottom. Excellent for gardens.

Judy, you know...I wouldn't paint her, Butterfly...I would leave her as she is or just get some concrete paint and paint her one color. I think the solid color ones are so pretty...just a pale shade of something.....a natural color, like moss green or a pretty shade light brown.....if you paint her at all.

she is lovely.

What material is she made out of. I was thinking you could "wash" her in a solid color. A wash would go into all the crevasses and leave just enough color to make all those details pop! You could you a thinned out acrylic for it, but would have to use sealer on it as the acrylics are water soluble paints. You think the acrylic, paint it on, take a soft damp cloth and wipe it off, smooth strokes going one way. Take too much, just re paint till you get exactly the color intensity you want.

Acrylics are water soluble but not after they are dry. It becomes a hardened acrylic/like plastic. So an acrylic wash would work I have a rock I painted on in acrylics....it as been ourside for about 12 years. It hasn't faded. I agree with Cath....wash in a solid color. Could even air brush it to get a neat effect.

I was thinking earlier, I would like to have a "black" garden this year, just a small one. I have black iris and black daylilies, and I think there are black columbine. Do any of you have any other black blooms? There is a black elephant's ear....not really an elephant's ear, but looks like, and there are some more very dark red things that I am looking for. If any of you have seeds that are black blooms, will you tell me so that I can look for them here? Actually those that bloom "black" like that fade out in afternoon sunshine, so it really is a dark, dark, heavily pigmented red or purple...but since I already have a start, I just thought it would be neat to add to it.
Thanks.

Shar, black tulips, mom had the most beautiful black tulips last year, amazing..wouldn't a black garden be spectacular..

Judy, I'm with the other two girls, no painting her, she'll get her own color from the elements ...much to nice to paint..she's classic...

Looking forward to seeing your water feature...

I'm excited, cannot believe what the day has brought, only 2 little banks of snow and it's ALLLLLL GONE....better not get too excited right..high temps today did it, tomorrow much the same so by the weekend I'll have a lot of work to do..sure wish I hadn't said I'd do a lighthouse on Sat. but then they are calling for rain..don't ask, have no idea what or where I'll put a lighthouse..doesn't go into country theme..oh well am sure there will be a corner of my world that will cry out-pick me/pick me as a location...

Hi everyone. I am so far benind I'll never catch up, but just wanted to wish everyone a good evening. It's been a nice few days, but storms are coming in tonight. I hope this is winters last big hurrah!

Evening Cat, don't worry about catching up, we just love hearing from you when you are able..let's hope weather improves in your area..

Well it's that time of night, trying to stay up to watch Dancing with the Stars but am loosing ground..

Best...few changes at work that might give me more work..
Worse..no worse today
What did I learn...applesauce is another food that I shouldn't be eating...

So thanks for keeping me company today..enjoy your evening...night/night

morning all,

off today!! and this will be the final appt for dh it is the long waited release from the liver doctor! they made him take a second viral load load test, they said they wanted to make sure it was his work in frount of them,
aparently they got some paper shuffled.
boy dosnt that make you feel confidant! so were a little scared about that.
then were off to san jose to meet a former manager from my company just the nicest person warren is, dh likes him, when warren calls its hours of gabbing he covers grounds i've never crossed just a walking dictionary lol.
" then came the catch" lol.
dh says well gee i can kill two birds with one stone, after we visit, theres a wrecking yard just down the street.. OH NO!!! no the dreaded wrecking yard!!!
oh i just hate going isle to isle ahhhh compromise lol.

then my boss called me last night, she had to run down to a store in milpitas one of the stores that we helped clean up a while ago, they let the store go straight to h---! so it had been cleaned up again so she was instructed to go yesterday morning to go see if it was in order.
vice president was going there for a visit, so she stayed for a hour put up a few signs and headed back to our store, day went as usual, till last night! her mom asked if she had gotten her the new five dollar bills and guess what 130.00 gone!!! only the cash.
so i told her to call the district mgr last night, there putting loss prevention on it this morning,i hope they have camera's in the store!!! what a horrible thing to go help out someone and they rob you blind.

betty, what a lovely butterfly lady, are you making one? oh snow is melting for you how exciting! i hope all your seedlings will be ok, how is bernice getting along? uh oh got another upset stomach, take care of yourself! oh you finished the light house good news..

gilli, how are the kids doing any better? hope they feel better soon, that dosnt sound good when the snow melts, have you a portable generator? that would keep your power on? i have been thinking for quite sometime on getting a little one, since we live in earthquake contry... did all that snow on your deck melt down yet?

shar, oh what a lovely walk in the garden now what is a chocolate vine? i have never seen or heard of that looks very interesting.. and my favorite is the crabapple oh its gorgeous !!!!! hmmmm oh black i grew viola's that were black and black hollyhocks there is a slow growing black mondo grass.
now with 70 degrees you'll be out in the garden wonderful!!! i have this wind issue after 3.00 so everytime i want to plant i have to deal with that no fun right now lol

gita, thank you for telling us about that! i had no clue about that" yuck"

jeannine how is your stones comming along are you finished with it yet?

vicki, what are you up to?

hi carol, hope things are good with you

hi, laura did you find your camera yet? lol

dawn how is your garden comming along? you must be busy with school are you getting the lousy wind there to?

hi doc,tropicanna, cat

judy, oh he out did himself! great job, nice design you did on it bet your tickled to death!! now that i see the statue i like it white, if anything i might take some acrilc paint and dilute it in soft shade colors and paint the floral designs but i would leave it alone otherwise. well better go start getting ready dh will be up soon.
everyone have a wonderful day

Morning, it's the most wonderful morning, little overcast but they are promising to give us above normal temps..think it might be in mid 60's..imagine..by the time I get home - NO SNOW!!! Yippee..took a walk around the property, lordy it looks terrible, can see some green peeping from under the leaves..thought I'd work a few hours here and there everynight because starting Friday they are calling for 3 days of rain..once the rain and high temps arrive I'll be seeing green..

Jeannine watched dancing with the stars and made it to last 2 before falling asleep..all did pretty well..don't know his name but the gentleman with the uni-cycle, sure hope he bites the dust..lol

Liz, sounds as though you have a full day ahead of you..will be saying prayers for DH, hopefully he'll be give the ok to get off meds and resume a full life..won't that be exciting for you both..sending prayers..your trip to the wrecking yard should prove interesting..knowing you you'll find something you can turn into art..lol

Can't believe how quick this new DG system is..

Good morning, I'm glad that it wasn't just my computer running slowly yesterday. Things are sure a lot faster today. Judy, I agree with doc and shar, I think a wash would look great on your angel. It would help give definition without being a overpowering colour. Shar, your black garden sounds so cool. It's incredible what colours flowers come in. Liz, I hope all goes well with your appt for DH.

DH's trip went well, it's so nice to have him home. It was also nice to have the things I asked him to pick up when he went out - just a few things that we can't get here. DH's conference was finished by noon on Saturday but there wasn't a train to come home until Monday so he spent Saturday night at his sister's house. She's been going through a lot lately so I think they both really appreciated the time together.

I just thought I'd share a couple pictures that I took this morning. The first is of our barbaque on our back deck.

This is of the road in front of our house. Needless to say, it will still be a little while before I can do any outdoor gardening. I think that next year I may try winter sowing.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. DH said that the ice road was in terrible condition when he came home yesterday so I'm sure they won't be using it for much longer. Breakup is one of the more exciting times here. Nobody is ever quite sure what will happen. A lot depends on the weather and the tides. Last year it seemed like one day the river was covered in ice and the next day it was mostly open water with chunks of ice floating by. The year before though, there was a ice jam going out to the bay so things piled up a lot more - very exciting.

This is a picture of the river at break up two years ago. The kids are standing on a dike that was built on one section of the island.

This is break up last year, also from the dike. The river went from this to being mostly water with just a bit of ice over the course of about a day.