Stop and visit, talk all you want. Pt 22

It makes sense to me. Saying something outloud has always made me feel better, too.

Your home IS lovely. Such a lot of work you've done. I have Qs, as well. What's the plant next to the mailbox? And the one behind the birdfeeders?

Jondice, ug. At least that's common Terry. I love your pictures, I'm trying to load photobucket right now but it's taking forever. I think I'm going to go to lunch, maybe it'll be done when I get back. At some point I need to work, I have stuff on my desk that I just don't want to do LOL
Sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. People are so into themselves these days nobody pays attention to anything. If it's not spelled out, it doesn't exist. They are right, Phyllis will always be with you but it isn't easy loosing a loved one. She'll take care of you, just like you are taking care of her.
A Pedistal! That's what I was trying to think! LOL I do it all the time too! I talk to myself, it's nuts!
Your home and yard is so pretty, the white siding is gorgeous! I would love to ponder in your yard, how relaxing! The ivy will take off, that stuff tends to grow real fast.

The plant right next to the mailbox, actually in front, which is the one I think you're talking about, is Vernonia altissima (ironweed).

http://www.prairienursery.com/store/index.php?main_page=mag_product_plant_info&products_id=279

Which birdfeeder? There's a platform feeder, and 2 shepherds hooks with feeders. I think it gives you a link, doesn't it? Or tell you the number of the picture? For instance, in picture 006, it's the platform feeder, then behind that (if I'm looking east and it's 006) is Ilex verticillata (winterberry). The straight species. Or, you can save it to your computer and then put it in your message. That's fine with me!

I don't have any ivy. I'm not sure what you're looking at Crissy, thinking it's ivy. Ivy isn't native (unless it's poison ivy and of course unless there's an ivy that is native that I'm not aware of which is always a possibility!) and most everything is native. A few viburnums, a couple bearded iris and a peony aren't. Everything else is. Where is it, and I can tell you what it is! I like sharing..LOL

Thank you all for the compliments! We lived in a home for over 21 yrs (right next door to Phyllis) and although I was never done with gardening, it sure was full. Then we moved to TN, only stayed for 17 months, but I think I did 21 yrs. worth of landscaping in that short time. Then we came home. Once I removed everything (nothing compared to what I have!) but a peony, the huge American arborvitae (removed another 1) and the ash tree, I had a blank slate. Inside the house is another story of course! I don't like the white vinyl siding. It doesn't look right on a house that's 112 yrs. old! Not to me anyway☺ If I knew the condition of the original siding underneath, I'd remove it. I did remove baby blue vinyl from the gables and exposed the original half cove siding, which I had painted last fall. 100% improvement! Painting the porch, foundation, taking those balls off the top of the stair railing posts and adding the copper, and putting on a navy blue storm door (my kind of color!), has changed the house dramatically (putting in my copper mailbox on a cast iron post that I bought yrs. ago helped too). I also painted the aluminum around the basement windows, on the porch, around doors and in the gables. Using 2 colors. The underside of the porch roof is also painted in navy, and I painted the old aluminum storm door on the balcony navy. I like to paint and with old houses, you paint. Not with white vinyl though. I'm stuck with white. I'd give it to you in a heartbeat if I could Crissy!! LOL You all know we've only been in this house since May of '05, right?! Makes me tired thinking of what I did in the last 3 yrs...LOL I still have 3, 5 gallon shrubs and 1, 5 gallon tree to plant and 4 more perennials. I'm a maniac. That's my excuse and I'm sure sticking with it ☺ Here's hoping to get to playing in the dirt tomorrow!

Everybody is gone now. Just Phyllis and me now. NOW I can talk to her and express everything to her that she needs to do. And I mean for herself. She's waiting for people (doctor, nurses) to tell her her own information and she can't do that. She needs to ask. Like I stated before, the diagnosis is still the same. Death is coming, just not right now. Not this minute. I don't know why, but for now it's not. Her jaundice is due to her organs failing. They can't do anything to make them work again. They're shutting down. And yet, she hangs on. One more day at a time to tell her how much I love her. How much she means to me. Forever grateful for this time, just her, and just me together. She loved looking out her family room window over to my backyard and then calling me to tell me what was blooming..lol. I need to burn a CD of those pictures on photobucket for her to see and enjoy. She's going to LOVE it! Her daughter Jean brought me home today, before she left for home, which is in IN. She didn't want to leave. She found it, just as Crissy said, very relaxing. She also told me I missed my calling...lol.

Well, I'm tired, so I'm going to go find my bed! Night all ♥♥♥

Hmm...mom did the exact same thing. Hung on until there was nothing left. It's a very good thing you can tell her you love her every day. She knows but it's not the same as hearing it. And I think you missed your calling. too.

This one, Terry, right behind the bell thingy. (squirrel defeater?)

Thank you Celia! For everything♥

The very first shrub that I see when looking at the photo behind the squirrel baffle is a bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2606/

Is that the plant you're referring to? Behind that is a flattened out Sambucus, with one stem coming up, reaching high. I don't know what flattened it. It wasn't, then later in the day after we'd been gone and came home, it was flattened.

I think I'm losing it. I was looking at pictures and I think I remembered that specific one for some reason and thought it was yours. I wonder who's picture it is??? LOL

The Sambucus is waving at you Terry! That's weird.

Last night right after dark I heard what sounded like an owl and dog fighting right outside my window. I turned on the flood lights but couldn't see anything. Do ya'll know what that could have been? It's hard to describe without hearing the noise. It had my cat in full alert LOL

One of my smaller sunflowers is blooming, but I can't get a picture because it's confused and facing the wall! It has yellow and purple pedals. I can't wait until the rest of them bloom!

Been busy around here. lol. Last night I went to a concert in the city and since it was 3 acts performing I didn't get home til Midnight. Then up again at 5:30am to go to work. My voice is halfway gone today due to all the screaming and singing I did. LOL. Last night it was even worse. I finally had to quit it and just clap really, really hard.

Love your house and landscaping Terry. I will make it there one of these days. lol

Been busy in the garden also. I keep getting really great free plants from work so I am busy planting all those. I am hoping to get a new bed for succelents going again. I am expanding it and gotta get rid of some nasty ole weeds.

Have a family reuion coming up this weekend too so will be busy getting all the food for that along with 20 million other things. And my computer should be running better this weekend too once my expert cousin arrives. Yeah!!!

Hi, Amanda!!! Yea from me...I can't LIVE without my computer. LOL

Yes, Terry, that's the one. Thanks.

Crissy? Your flower is shy. I had my first red rose do that. I think they're going for the most UV rays available.

Look what I found when I got home!!! My Dragon Lily opened!

This message was edited Jun 18, 2008 6:35 PM

The other side.

Are those lilies hardy?

I've had this three years. It bloomed last year but I was in Oregon then. It dies back in the heat but I have it in full sun as you can see. Stinks to high heaven, though. LOL

It looks interesting. And my cat Curly would love it since it has a smell. LOL

Oh geez, pep, do I dare guess what type of music you heard last night? Dare I say County? ugh or ick, take your pick☺
I have a family reunion this week-end too. Haven't heard boo from anybody. Since I can't drive and my husband works..??? Guess I'm not going! And no, I'm not asking. Geez. If they haven't figured it out by now. I mean really.

Celia, interesing "lily"!! Is that you? Where did you get those shorts? I love those! I want a pair! Seriously and really, I want a pair! And yes, I notice everything...lol☺

Crissy, not a clue who's picture you saw with the ivy. I do have a native clematis that's going all over in that front area. It would be in this picture
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f345/terryr76/yard%20photos/014.jpg
The far right side. I sent somebody in NY a bunch of "seedlings". Which weren't seedlings, they were huge plants! Better than any mail order company or a nursery for that matter would send you. In the same picture that Celia showed above from that album, over an obelisk, is another different kind of native clematis. The first one, in the link, is Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower) and in the photo above that Celia is showing of my yard, is Clematis glaucophylla (leather flower clematis). Either of those? That first one is on an identical obelisk! You can't see it for anything. I also don't know what would be making those kinds of noises. I don't think an owl would try to take on a dog, but I don't know. You never do know! LOL

Phyllis is the same. She wanted me to comb her hair today. She said she knew she looked awful! Her hair is always messy ☺

We moved a Calycanthus floridus (not a clue on common name) back about 6' and planted my Quercus prinoides (dwarf chinquapin oak). In one of the front beds. I also got the 2 Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly WEED, not bush), and the Verbena hastata (don't know a common name for it either) and the "yellow native coneflower" my aunt gave me. She doesn't mess with Latin names, she says, so I haven't a clue. I know 2 very different plants that go by that common name and it isn't either of those. So I don't know. Other than Echinacea paradoxa or Ratibida pinnata, anyone have a clue on anything else that goes by yellow coneflower? Still have 3 shrubs to plant. I really need to clean the house tomorrow before I go visit Phyllis, so it sure won't be tomorrow. Should be able to get to it on Fri., if it's not raining that is!

That dragon lily is gorgeous! I've never had one but I heard they smell really bad.

I gotta tell ya'll, today after work I got the rider lawnmower with trailer attached out and was moving dirt and harvesting rocks at the storm shelter. We call it harvesting rocks because there are soooo many we just go out and harvest whatever size, shape, texture, etc we need for whatever project we need them for. Anyway, my cat was out by the storm shelter with me and Dave was watering the flower bed. I started the mower and Tiga (Teega) took off like she had been shot at and ran right through Dave's water he had puddled up, it was hilarious, she splashed water up on Dave as she plowed through it and her feet were soaked. She's been mad at me ever since. She's in trouble now because she walked up to me and bit the ever loving crap outta my wrist, punctured a hole in me with her k-9, then took off prancing across my keyboard! The nerve of it all, so she got a "spanking." Dave told me she was in a mood today, he wasn't wrong!

Terry, I have no idea where I saw the ivy. I've been on here about an hour now going through all these threads trying to find it. I think it was on the midsouth forum, but I can't tell you which thread LOL. I responded to Genna joking about her picking me up in Malvern, I can't find that thread either! LOL

Well, I should call it a night, I hear "Miss America" screwing with something in the living room and I've been going to bed way to late lately, and yes, Tiga's 12 going on 2!

Yes terry, it was country. Tim McGraw. There were 2 opening acts and all 3 acts rocked the arena. Not exgaerating either. Heard some Aerosmith covers and they did some other rock bands too. I knew the words to all of them. :~)

Oh pepper I'm jealous, I love concerts. Tim McGraw is gooooooood! I bet it was awseome!

Rather see Aerosmith☺

Crissy, there should be a place where you can view the threads you've posted in. If that feature isn't here anymore, seems like it isn't, you can do a search on your name. Then you can see everything you've posted in. Just type crissyr into the search box here at DG.

The one part of living in this part of IL, is no rocks. None. I could dig and dig and not come up with a single rock.

LOL Aerosmith was the first concert I went to. My friend Tammy and I went in matching outfits. Mom said I smelled like pot when we got home. Huh...imagine that. Pot, at a rock concert. In the 70s. (This was back in the day when you could smoke indoors and NO it wasn't us. ☺)

Curly and Tiga would both love it. It smells like rotting meat. My kits pretty much leave it alone as they know I don't like them messing with the plants. They eat the grass and leave everything else alone.

Isis does the same thing, Crissy. Stands where the sprinkler is going next, runs through grass chasing birds/butterflies. She's only 8 where Monty is at a quiet 10. He's getting arthitis in his front right leg and doesn't run much. He will chase us on occasion. It's a game we used to play. The Chase and Stalk Game. He'd hide and we'd find him then run away. He's chase us then we'd hide. He'd find us then back the other way. He'd do that for an hour. LOL So much fun! Now we can't get 5 minutes out of him. That's okay, though. I call him my "other Old Man". Isis is one of those kitties that will catch stuff you throw to her. Her favorite game is is sitting across the room while you throw paper balls at her. She "catches" almost every one. Jump and catch like a baseballer. She'll do it with crunchy treats, too.

Terry, the common name for Calycanthus is Spicebush or Sweetshrub. I think I'm going to look for both those plants. I think I NEED them. OL

My white Iceberg rose is opening today.

And it's a crappy pic. Sorry. Let's try this one?

Tiga is a very hyper 12! She drinks water with her paws, it's the strangest thing! I'll turn the bathroom sink faucet on a trickle and she will open her paw and catch the water in it, then bring it up to her mouth! I can't really get her to drink out of her bowl anymore, she gets fur in it by trying to scoop the water into her paw LOL
She has to take her steroids once a day, and she doesn't act any different than she did before she came down sick about a year ago. Her intestines don't process anymore for some reason, when she started getting sick she would puke all over the house, as much as a human in one shot. I took her to a not so good vet, but being new to the city I didn't know any vets so I picked the one that was open on Saturday's. We tried everything, changing her food, x-rays of her digestive system (which showed she has a very enlarged colon,) different antibiotics, and Prednizone was the only thing that stopped her from getting sick. I have since changed vets, I now have an awseome vet, and he has all of her medical records. She is a 10 pound cat, always has been. She lost 5 pounds in one month. I seriously thought I was going to lose her, but the steriods have worked and she is back up to her 10 pounds!
The only thing she will play with are paper balls, and she loves peeling out on the tile kitchen. She used to catch but not anymore, she's found more excitement in batting the balls around and trying to get away with hanging sideways on the couch LOL She's never clawed up my furniture though, just tries to sneak one in once in a while.

I've seen Aerosmith 3 times, they were my first concert too, but not until 1991 LOL! The Pot was very, very thick, and that was an ampitheater! Who else have you seen? I grew up country and 3 vacations in Nashville, so I've seen a slew of country singers too, those that were popular in the mid 1980's and still alive doing the Grand Ole Opry. I started going to rock concerts in the early 1990's.

LOL I can just see Tiga rubbing up against that lily then wanting in the house! Yuk!

Terry? I forgot! LOL Levi 515 shorts. I love them. They're my only gardening shorts that don't stay stained.

Crissy, I've been to Styx, Black Sabbath (with and without Ozzy), Rush (loved them the most after Ozzy), Gordon Lightfoot, Oingo Boingo 3 times. When I was a kid in SoCal, my bros and I would go down to Long Beach or Laguna and watch the Beach Boys before they were big. Mom had a cow we went to see a "rock" group! LOL

Sorry that you went through that with the vet. We recently found one not too far from our house that we just love. She's awesome. Small town Doc type.

Monty takes almost anything.

I've seen Rush, Aerosmith 3 times, Scorpions twice, Great White, Def Leppard, Metallica (the best concert I have ever been to,) Mr. Big, Skid Row, I know there's more but I can't think of them LOL!

The vet I used to go to did all the right tests and what-not but wanted to play games with the medicine. She got these fish chews that Tiga loves, so I told her that I wanted them. When I went to pick them up she said the pharmacy quit making the ones she gave me so she got these other ones. I got them home and they smelled like chemicals. I called and told her and she said, "Really? That's horrible!" and so on, almost fake like.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Then she told me that she couldn't find liquid Prednisone, and 2 days later she called and said she was finally able to find some, but I would have to drive 2 hours to Texarkana to the pharmacy to pick them up, that's the only pharmacy in the whole state of Arkansas that carried it.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
I didn't believe that as far as I could've thrown it so I switched vets that day. I took one of the little sealed packets of the good fish chew to him, he called the pharmacy listed on the back and of course they keep it in stock so he set it up that everytime I need some I call the pharmacy directly, pay them over the phone, and they ship them to me with no additional shipping charges.
As for the Predisone, he laughed and said all the vets he knows keeps an abundance in stock at all times and she's basically full of s****. And she was overcharging me for it. Why would a vet play games like that? How lame. He thinks that she didn't want to deal with Tiga's illness since she couldn't figure out what it is, which infiltrated on her ego, so she was trying to get rid of me. It worked!

What a handsome man Monty is with that flower on his head!

Stupid vet. Any way to make a buck, huh?

Monty IS cute!

And I don't do concerts anymore. It hurts my ears. Seriously hurts them. With a headache and everything.

I haven't been to a concert in years, in fact, the last time I went, the normal cost was $18.00! I'd go to George Strait or Reba or something like that LOL I do think I would go see Metallica again, they put on such a good show.

I'll look for that thread Terry, I've been through every thread on my home page! I've probably looked right at it and didn't see it LOL

I would go to Tool if I could stand it. They were here a couple of weeks ago. I'm sad.

Or Billy Idol.

Tool is awseome! I love their CD. Yea, Billy Idol would be cool. Get dressed up for a White Wedding! LOL

I like Billy Idol's music as long as I don't have to look at him. LOL. AC/DC, .38 Special, Journey, Aerosmith, Heart, Guns N'Roses, Def Leppard, Deep Purple, I think Great White, and a bunch others. I either know names or songs. I tend to not remember both on the rock bands.

I am gonna see .38 Special later in the year and if I can get a group of friends together, Journey. Journey's a bit expensive so that's a maybe but will see what my friends say.

And no one has seen the Rolling Stones?? Why I never!! THE most expensive concert I've ever been to. LOL My first ever concert was REO Speedwagon. 'You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna a fish', tour. Doobie Brothers, anyone? (The late) Keith Knudson (their drummer) was from here, so that was a given. Been to too many to count or list. The most lame concert I've ever been to was Donny Osmond. Been in love with him since 'Puppy Love'. I got my sister to take me on Valentine's Day '05. I was working on this house, John was in TN and so I wanted to see my man Donny. Rochelle was so embarrassed. But hey, isn't that what sisters are for?? We had tickets to see John Mellancamp, but the concert was canceled ;) boohoo. I would love to see Bob Seger. Pot? At concerts? Really?? Imagine that. '70's were really bad for that! I don't care if it was indoors or out, it was thick!! Celia, I don't know about where you were, but around here and up in WI (can't remember the name of the outdoor theater we went to) where we went a lot, coolers were allowed. You can't take a cooler anywhere anymore. Heck, most times cameras aren't even allowed! Remember holding up your lighter to get them to sing an encore? Not allowed anymore. Oh hey Celia! They have ear plugs you can get to stick in your ears to it's not so loud. I love it LOUD. Always have. Don't get in the car with me, I'll blast you with my stereo! And no, not shaking all over like some of these people and their sub-woofers and whatever else it is they have in the trunk. We saw some guy, and his rear view mirror was shaking so bad from the vibration. Why oh why do they always have the bass turned up so darned high? And if we can hear the music plain as day in a car with the windows rolled up? Uh, that's just a tad too loud, you think?

Anyone who wants to see a Country singer can up here to our County fair. Every gosh darn year they have a Country singer. And yes, I've seen them too. And I don't like Country music!! Give me free tickets though and I'm going. Sad that I knew the words to some of their songs ;(

I've always found the prices that others pay for vet services to be..funny? Odd? Like they're getting ripped off? Either that, or I'm basically getting it for squat. Office visit is only $7. Went up just recently from $5. Our vets office is really a home town vet. They have a vet for horses, cows, pigs, sheep, whatever large. Then another 2 for cats, dogs, birds, anything "small". It's not one of those fancy 24 hour places, but if it's an emergency in the night or on Sundays, you call and get their answering service, then a vet calls you with-in 5-10 minutes. They make house visits for the all the large animals and they'll come to your house if you've got an indoor skittish cat too. I'm thinking all your cats have to weigh more than my little long haired Chihuahua. Zoey only weighs in at 5.5 lbs. She probably sheds more though. Jeepers, does she shed. I just realized that she'll be 9 on July 7th. My my, how time flies! We've had her since she was 3 months. The breeder didn't let her Chihuahuas go until that age. She weighed all of 2.2 lbs then! AND she didn't bark. Now, I swear, she barks at the moon. Telling her to "zip it" is working. She drives me crazy sometimes. Great dane, she would like to think. Ha! She went chasing after a squirrel this spring and the darn squirrel turned around and chased her! Funniest thing I think I ever saw..LOL

I get to play in the dirt tomorrow again! I've got 3 more shrubs to plant and a bed to widen and we still have the mushroom heap on the side of the house. It looks like a berm in the pictures, but it's not. It's mushroom compost! The darn mushroom plant hasn't had their "sale" the last 2 times! Not last fall and not this spring. And they say it doesn't look for this fall either. Bummer. Tony, my carpenter, has a dump trunk. He gets a load for--what is it? I think it's 10 bucks. As many loads as we can get, we get. His dump trunk holds approximately 8-10 yards. Pretty good price! I give him an extra 20 bucks for gas. Now that the gas is over 4 bucks, I don't know what he's going to want. That's if the plant ever goes back to having the sale anyway.

Darn it! The Cubs haven't lost more than 2 games this whole season. Till tonight it looks. So many, not on the DL, but taking 2-3 days off for some injury or another. And now Zambrano with a shoulder injury? That five-year, $91.5 million contract seems like a waste if he's going to be out. sigh. Best darn pitcher we have! It's official. They were just swept. waaaaaaaaa....

Well, probably everybody's been posting away over me as I'm watching the game and trying to type..LOL

That's sounds like fun. Where do we meet? LOL

I've mentioned somewhere before that Isis likes to be vacuumed. Here's a pic from a few minutes ago.

Well, what d'ya know? Nobody did LOL

I forgot to say THANK YOU CELIA!! I'm off to find those shorts!! I am so glad you didn't say Lee. They always shrink to nothing. Either in or up. Their either too tight or they become flood water pants!

And then Celia does while I'm typing that up!! Too funny!

Meet for..?? The fair concert? My house of course!! If that's what you're talking about anyway LOL ☺

Both! 38 Special AND the fair! LOL

I have been to REO. That was lots of fun, too.

Well that's easy! You drive to peppers house and get go see that concert, then you 2 drive on up here and we go the fair! Do you know who Rodney Atkins is? I haven't a clue.
http://bureaucountyfair.com/entertainment/fri.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqYUns2YQik

Hmm..sounds pretty good and that's coming me! The rocker chick!

This is good too!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UrmP-y8BnM&feature=related

I like Rodney. Some of it.

And just so you know, I play it loud in my truck, too! LOL I just can't handle the concerts anymore. Something to do with my inner ear. Earplugs are no fun.

Well, it sure is gettin' hot in here! I'm watching video after video. You know Sawyer from Lost? I'm watching, rather listening right now, and it's Rodney's music to clips of different shows and lo and behold, there's that hotty! LOL Going back now...got me an ice pack...

Wow! I'm gonna watch, too! LOL