**SWEET INTERRUPTION** 5

me 2!!! They look like butterflies

Kathy... I scatter mine in Feb or March too... the question is when to harvest the seed??...
that website Jaye provided answered my question. Thanks Jaye.

Mucho welcome BJ. Anyone got those giant zinnia seeds?
Think I'll ask my sister to send me some French zinnia seeds. That might give my garden a continental flair, next year..ya think?

Oh for sure Jaye, why not?

hi--i like zinnias too! and they bloom all summer, are not fussy and reseed--and i like marigolds--i think they get a bad rap -because they are thought to be so common i guess-but they just grow so strong and bright--i think i might start collecting marigold seeds because i only have 2 kinds and i just keep using those seeds --but if anyone ever wants marigold seeds i've got em!!

BJ, Any flower you let the bloom dry completely up before harvesting the seed! If you're afraid the seed will fly away, tie an old nylon stocking toe around it till it dries! They have to be dry, dry, dry!

Audrey, that's the trick I used on my datura seed pods last year. Missed one, and it burst all over the gh floor.
Linda, this year, the marigolds became huge! Do are so easy to care for.

Wish I could, achoo, have marigold, achoo!!!

Poor you! Poor you!

Yeap, achoo, that's why I can't plant, achoo, them....then I get headaches. It's a bummer as it is one of the flowers I really like.

What else...achoo...are you ....achoo...allergic to??

Jaye, I'll send you some giant zinnia seeds... that's what my sister gave me and she gave me way too many... I'd be more than happy to share... they're a mix of all colors and types...
But, if you want named zinnias, I'll understand..

Linda's right... zinnias are soooo easy... sturdy... and you get a lot of bang for your buck... all summer long and into the fall... I have never had much luck with marigolds though.. don't know why... they just don't do well for me.

Wooooweeeeeeeee...send some over BJ!!
I got a bunch of plants that I had never paid attention to their names (Pre DG) but that doesn't deter me from enjoying them.
Like the dahlia that Kel grew.

And this faithful canna.

marigold, achoo, is all I know about. BTW, name of the gingers please.

You mean the ginger I sent you? It's white butterfly ginger or its botanical name: Hedychium Coronarium ^_^

I'll get those seeds to you as soon as I get back... ok?
Duh... guess it's ok... you won't plant them till spring anyway...

Oh thanks Jaye, I thought I remembered it was White Butterfly but the "technical" name wasn't there for me. Gee, how did you learn all this? I am doing good to know the common name of my plants.

BJ, I am so envious of you going to Denver, Hubby used to go (home office is there) but I never was lucky enough to get to go with him. He loved it out there and if they had ever offered him a job there--we would have gone for sure. Instead we got offers like Iran!!!! Nope not us.

No hurry my friend.
Just scatter them on the ground right? Like the marigolds. Anything that don't require germinating indoors, will be much better for me. Think I'll give up on trying to germinate brug seeds this fall. Only one out 30 made it. And I use Parks Biodome, heat mats...
As for cuttings, that I have good luck with.

Right... scatter them where you want zinnias... just kinda rub the top of the ground a bit, I use the back of a garden rake... my sister uses a broom... then water them in good...
In about a week (yep that quick) you'll see little sprouts.

MORNIN SISTAS

Gonna be a scorcher here today... BUT YAYYYY... I have all my outside stuffs done... so, I'm gonna clean house before I leave...

Oh, Marion... what fun we'd have if you were going to Denver with us...
While Don is in meetings, we could get in all kinds of trouble.

morning bj. i told hubby that you and the others were coming for the holiday

AND HE SAID????

he said, can i buy a smokr now? i can smoke turkey and ribs for them!

Ooooo cool.
I haven't hit Don up yet for a ticket to Birmingham... maybe after we get back next week.

he likes the idea of y'all coming. it gets him out of going to WVa.

Good morning ladies!
Help me oh Lord to make through this weekend!!
Lots planned...replace doors...finish the Blue Sky Vine arbor...pack swaps.
I counted what I owed, and it's a total of 5! Happy to say, all except that craft thingy, are ready to go into their respective retainers.
Sis, you will be the talk of the swap group! So sorry..but the calendar's crammed with drs. appointments..and an officious trip to Raleigh around that time, so it would be just too much.
Smoked turkey sounds good....over mesquite or pecan chips, Sis?
Gonna get my behind going......catch you all later this evening!

Oh I hope you said "YES" Kathy. He definitely needs a smoker!!!! Oh my mouth is watering now.

Oh BJ I don't know if Denver would be the same if we went together!!! Or Don for that matter!! LOL Do enjoy and think of me, who always wanted to go but had to stay home!!

Kel's honeydo list is one less now. Been wanting a French door in the wash-house, more like a mud room, that opens to the back porch. Finally he replaced the old door, and got some natural light streaming in.
So, BJ, when will you be leaving? First thing Monday or tomorrow?
Wishing you and Don a wonderful trip and hope you bring lotsa money back from the casino. Call on us ladies when you're rolling the dice.

Pictures of critters.
My first caterpillar, at close look.

Bug on hibiscus

Dahlia's visitors

Oh Jaye, I am so glad you have the door in. Isn't it amazing how much difference a new door can make!! I don't think I have any critters here now--they have drown in this rain!!!

Marion, Kel was just saying we can enjoy the rain now..looking out the door, i.e.
Hope you don't have bad storms with the rain.

Just enjoy!! Some bad thunder but didn't notice any lightning. Thank goodness for that.
When we bought this house it has double front doors, solid and dark chocolate brown. We replaced them with a door with glass insert and side glass panels. Oh my the difference it makes!!!

Jaye, we leave early Mon morn...
So, how long did you have to wait in front of each flower for the bugs to pose?
That's really something to find that many bugs on flowers while you have camera in hand... or do you just keep hanging around your neck everytime you go out side?
I really do love photos of bugs on blooms... one of my favorite nature art.

Marion, we found 6 French doors at a salvage yard and paid 90 for all of them!
We intend to close up the side deck and turn it into a sun room, using the rest of the doors. You are so right, what light can do to make the house more cheery.

I hate a dark home. Kel got this darkertitis disease from his mum....making sure everything's closed..no lights coming in...until I turned this place into Jayeville!!

Okay now BJ...I do have things to do you know! Can't be standing around with camera hanging from neck waiting to catch a bug!!
I just got lucky today. Serious! The hibiscus tree is just across the dahlia. After I snapped that, I did a 180, and lo and behold, one critter on the dahlia. As I was about to snap, macro ready, another joined in. How lucky can that be? This camera has an Internal Stabilizer setting, so the shakes didn't bother it that much.

Well, you did a great job taking the pictures. I like it dark, dark when I sleep but not other times. I start getting depressed!!!!

Me, I can sleep with lights on, but make sure I have a sheet to pull over my head!
Thanks Marion. It's the camera...not me. Anyone can take great pictures with a good digital nowadays.
Imagine that I started with a Kodak Brownie...(Grandad's)..moved to a Rollei (Grandad's, and he wasn't amused) with complicated settings...then to an autofocus Minolta...now this is my 3rd digital.
Honestly, I don't like this Canon. Think I'm going back to Sony.

So, Jaye, what you're saying is, YOU'RE HAVING ONE HECK OF A BUGGY DAY... right?

I'm really sad to say that we do have a really dark house... remember those high, side sliding windows from the 70's? well ours are about 6' long, and about 2' tall... I have one of them in the living room, one in each bedroom, and one in the office... then just regualar little bathroom windows and a little bitty kitchen window. Of course, the sun porch has 23 big ceiling to floor windows in it... but it's not finished yet and we're not living in there...
In the mean time... our living room is dark, dark, dark... unless I turn on all the gazillion lights that Don installed to keep from having to replace the living room window with a BIG one.

I understand that BJ. It is dark inside our house also. The previous owners used a lot of very dark stained wood and I am slowly trying to remove it and replace with white trim. They also were very fond of paneling and it is not one of my favorite wallcoverings!! I'm still a paint and wallpaper person.

As a matter of fact, the latest design change DS came up with and I was against was to replace some more of the paneling with drywall and then paint it. He finally convinced me it would be so much brighter sooooooo. Yeap, you guessed that one right. I relented He also came up with a nice arch design to make the bedroom area a little more separated from the living area. Geez, what can I say?