What weird weather we're having #10

We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/938933/

Thanks for the new room Laura. I was thinking about it myself. :-p

Tricia, what a day you've had. That's not any fun at all. But, i'm sure that your mom appreciates it. If she has torn ligament(s) in her knee, a MRI is the one that will pick it up, not an xray. I'm sort of surprised when she told them that here knee had been "giving out" that they didn't do an MRI first. "giving out" is a classic sign of ligament issues. Ahyhow, hopefully it all gets resolved soon.

Katie, my sisters (supposed to be the kids's dogs) dogs' are Maremma's. They keep a herd of around 150 sheep near the house and they weren't having any luck of the other, more typical, sheepdogs staying at home and with the herd. I friend of theirs, who had a small litter of them, mentioned that the were great for sheep. They couldn't decide which of the two pups to get..... so they took both!!

I'm still tagging along LOL
Just listening to you all, your to fun to stay away from.
Love the Pics

glad that you're here Tilly!

Tricia...I used to have the same issues with my mom, I have to watch her like a hawk because she doesn't want to bother me. Luckily she won't lie to me, so if she's not looking good I ask. I have a power of attorney (carry a copy) and my name is on her checks (and debit card) so I can take care of things if need be.

Cats are better tonight, at least they're sleeping beside me on the couch. Cabinet guy has some work to do in his shop, so he won't be back til Monday. So they get to relax for a couple of days. I need to catch up on house work, yuk! And my orchids are screaming.......water me!! But not tonight, we had a potluck and I ate too much, then helped clean up...so it's sit and do nothing time.

Hi Tilly, nice to have you around.

You had a busy day Sally. However, it still sounds as if it was interesting day. Glad that the cats are getting along better now. Silly things! Now is a great time to take a break!

I just a flower on the wall, but have to keep tabs on you all ^_^

I'm back to early shifts, now more lates for now.
Have to go nite nite
Hugs to all

The owners of the bedroom.
The fat one in front is Rat, and his momma Corky.
Who is squishing who? LOL

lol! too cute!

The cat pic is so cute - it looks like they love each other! I have 2 fat cats that are getting pretty old and that is scary. Their names are Flea and Myrtle. I did not name them - my kids did. When I take them to the vet I call them Cat1 and Cat2 because I am so embarrassed by their names. They are not happy with me for bringing Koka home! When Koka is asleep they creep up as close as they can to sniff her.

Tricia, hope your Mom's knee is better soon. It must be scary for her to think that it can go out at any time.

You're up late Portland. I forgot to mention something, but I think that it was over in Lauries garden tour thread. Oh well, you're here. You had mentioned about what we did before the internet to find out about our plants. Anyhow, two of the better referrence books, that can be quicker still and more informative than looking at just one or two internet sites are: 'Sunset Western Garden' book and 'The American Horticultural Societie A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants' (generally just called "A to Z"). I have seen many others and for me, those two are tops.

I use A to Z probably weekly to figure out if whatever plants i'm dealing with have special needs or soil requirements, get diseases, etc...I use Sunset for it's useful lists. I.e. it has a 'deer resistant plants' list, 'drought tolerant', shade tolerant, etc...

Haven't seen A to Z. But used and still do use Sunset. Take it with me when I go to nurseries, sometimes the staff don't really know a plant can get 10ft high. LOL

Tilly...those cats are so cute together. Mine would never be that close to each other, side by side yes, but never on top of one another.

Portland...what does Koka do to the cats when she's awake?

Good to know about A to Z, I'll look for it. Thanks rc.

sure thing. Pic to come in a minute or two. It's somewhat expensive. I bought mine off of amazon.com in 'like new condition' for $25.00.

front

just one out of several pages for hostas.

If you wanted to, you should be able to save the picture and then enlarge it and actually read what it's saying.

This message was edited Jan 17, 2009 12:12 AM

a page on heleniums

I take that one with me as well Sally!! It's a little lighter than A-Z is.

Amazon was where I was going to check. There's a tatting book I want too.

Ordered it on Amazon. Not $25 anymore. The cheapest one was $47 with free shipping. But the new ones were $80.

Wow, you got one already? That's great if you did. I think you'll be really happy with it.

Yep, unfortunately that's what I was expecting. However, it's well worth every penny ever paid for it. When I decided that I just had to have that book, I "favorited" the amazon paige and checked it out every day for well over a month waiting for a really good price and luckily one did show up. It didn't have any signs of wear on it at all!! I did have to pay something like $10. for shipping. But, that was good.

Redchic, Right in McKenzie Bridge on North Bank Road. My husband's family has had a little fishing cabin there for over 35 years. I just love it there.

When Koka is awake she mostly ignores the cats and one of them (Flea) seems to like Koka and follows her around. The other cat (Myrtle) has always been a crotchety old lady and is affectionate only with me. Koka treats them with respectful curiosity.

I have the sunset book but I really must get the A - Z book! Thanks you guys for feeding my addiction!

I couldn't get to sleep last night because I went to see a movie - Slum Dog Millionaire - and kept going over and over it in my mind. What a good film.

I know we are not supposed to discuss politics here so I will call it a TV show - I'm watching the pres elect on his train to Washington and I am moved to tears. what a time for our nation, no matter who you are.

I'm with you Portland - love that show and am looking forward to seeing more.

RC - I thought maybe they were Maremmas. How are they with strangers?

My folks don't want to bother anyone, either (but who among us isn't like that a little bit?). Before my dad was diagnosed with COPD, he laid awake in bed all night trying to breathe because he didn't want to call anyone before morning. I reminded him that the EMTs were at work anyway and that they only do that job because they LIKE to help, so he's really doing them a favor by keeping them busy and in the thick of things. I don't know if that changed anything or not.

My mom is in the same category. When she is in pain she doesn't say anything, but I can see it in her face.
Current temp 19. It has been that for awhile.

Blue skies today...Yeah!

Sure was nice seeing the sun and blue skies today! We have not seen the sun for I think 6 weeks now. First the snow...then the rain..then thick damp dreary fog. Even though the high was on 47 today.. wearing double layers I was able to do some yard clean up.
Amazing what a little vitamin D from the sun can do!!
Found these beautiful aneomes de caens in bloom. Nice surprise this time of year!

I LOVE that bright purple color. So cheery. Come on spring!!!

Love that blue sky and we had a day of sunshine also. I went out and cut off all the broken branches, raked up all the fallen fir twigs and finished some stuff that I didn't do in the fall. Three garbage cans stuffed full and a big pile of branches. Hope tomorrow is the same. Maybe I can finish everything. ^_^ My neighbor and I cleaned up our side yards at the same time so we got caught up on all the local gossip. What fun!

Willow..I too hope it lasts...it was so nice seeing people walking today..met a few new babies that were born during all the yucky weather.... saw neighborhood kids out playing and even saw a few ladybugs while working in the yard.
Bulbs are coming up...poppy seedlings are in place...roses are developing new growth... weeds are sprouting ( darn things!) but nice to know that spring will come soon.

Beahive....send a little of that blue over here, will you. We did get a few minutes of sun today....we drove into town and the sun was out while we were driving. I wanted to stop and just sit in it for a little, but DH wanted to get home. It is downright cold again tonight......31 deg already. Come on Spring!!

Cats were back to normal today, 1 more day and they'll be mad at me again. At least they get a little bit of a break. Pookie is running around here like a kitten, she's been hiding so now she wants to play. She roles all over the floor trying to get Gretchen to play, she won't, so I have to play with her some.

rc...are your daffodils slow coming up? I think mine are as slow as the hellebores. Need some warmer days so I can get outside. That wind has been too cold.

Almost forgot, we got invaded by starlings today.

Another

They'll be there for a few minutes, then all of a sudden this happens. Can't see any reason for the flight and they come right back. A bit blurry, they move really fast. It was a huge flock, they were all over the field.

Gwen... that's a beautiful area there. I can see why your family always returns there!

Katie.... so far they are fine with strangers. A little on the skiddish side, but they warm up very quickly. Right now, they're a little over 6 mo. and my sister is definitely aware that she needs to work on socializing them. However fortunately or unfortunately, there are no neighbors for several miles, they don't get mail delivered to the house, and packages are delivered at work. So, odds are good that if there is a stranger at the house, they really shouldn't be there. Any thoughts or advice?

Portland... I'm so glad to hear that at least one of the cats is getting along with koka.

Bea!!!! I can't believe that your anemones are up!!! that's amazing. Mine I'm sure will sleep for at least 2 more months.

Willow, I sure hope that your day tomorrow is as good and productive as today was for you!

Sally, wow... you did get invaded by starlings. Hopefully that's not an area where you ever walk without muck boots :-p Pookie sounds like a charmer. As for daffodils.... I sort of lost hope and don't pay much attention to them anymore. Knowing that i had the critters I used every detering technique that I had learned of and I planted about 250 the first year that I lived here only to realized that the moles and gophers thought that I had planted them in their honor. I tried about 50 more the next year in some of the areas that the varmits are less active. That didn't work either. Anyhow, as of last spring I had maybe 6 or 7 daffs come up. However, i do have some miniatures, that are later than the others and for some reason the varmits leave them alone. They are troopers! they get no care, i'm not even sure if I planted them or if they remained from the houses torn down in the late 40's, and they still come back! Occasionally I have taken special precautions with a few hiacinths, but I'm not going to do that all over the yard. I'm sure that some day I will get the bug again or find a good price on a variety that I like, then back to keeping the varmits in good shape for the year:-p

So I have some "frosty" pictures from yesterday and today. What thread to put them on??

Sure 'nuf. Lots of starlings. For some reason, that's one bird we don't see much of - maybe too much forested space up here?

RC: No real advice on the dogs. I just know that some of those breeds that are okay being out by themselves with the sheep can be tough when they have to deal with people. They're really bred not to trust anybody, so it makes sense. Yes, it's good that they guard, just not so good if they really hurt somebody. Having a dog without good human bite inhibition is a real liability.

I'd just tell your sister that she needs to do whatever she needs to do soon. If they're going to have any problems, it'll be much harder to reverse them later. I'd think that maybe she just needs to do an evaluation and see if they're "reactive." If they growl and chase people and cats and small dogs away, that's great. If they want to attack and bite, then not so good. I definitely think that dogs are capable of discretion, they just need guidance about what we actually want them to do.

Anyhoo - they sure are beautiful. And it's awesome to have them protecting the sheep. The neighbor saw a bobcat in her driveway last week. Coyotes are bad enough - but bobcats . . . I'd really rather have the bears. ^_^

Bea - I love the idea that there was lots going on in everybody's houses while the snow kept us all in. New babies and spring - that's pretty fun - they surely seem like they go together.

This message was edited Jan 17, 2009 11:52 PM

Thanks for the thoughts Katie, I'll pass them along. So far so good with them. They didn't growl at me when I first got there. They ducked a little. So I talked to them a little and they came over with their tails a waggin! So far they love the cats. So, I guess they are doing good pretty good then. But, I think that I read somewhere that the magical age for them seems to be about two. I thought that I read that about then is when they started to become overly 'possessive'. So, it might be that they were so quick to loose the shyness becuase they're still young.

Post your frosty pictures anywhere rc...everyone likes to see them. Sorry about your daffodils, you sure have more critter problems than I do. Luckily the nutria have moved down the road and so far the moles/voles/gophers haven't found us yet. Someone said it's because of a plant (weed?) I have growing at the base of our bank. Don't know what it is though, I'll have to find out. Maybe you can use it. The birds didn't stay on our lawn very long, maybe I've finally got the crane fly bit under control.

Never having had working dogs, I'm going by what I see on TV. Does it help to have the young ones learn from an older dog with the traits you want?

I think that it does help. Unfortunately, they don't have an older mentor. The prior dog passed away before they got these two. But, hopefully it helps that there are the two of them on not just one.

The crazy part with the critters, this year, is that they usually calm wayyyyyy down in the winter. I thought that they headed more into the trees where it was a little warmer and not as exposed. However, this winter they've gone bananas. They were digging up holes under a foot of snow. aggravates me to know end that they're like that this winter!

Sally, I would love to know whatever plant that it is that you have growing that might be keeping the varmits away!!

Ok, so this is my group of "frosty" pics from yesterday and today.



This message was edited Jan 18, 2009 12:42 AM

my newest addition to the yard.