Stir crazy, but there's nothing much in the nurseries yet

Leaves, yes. But where we sit was just open field, so not much there to compost, but we do go back in the woods and rake leaves. if we go really far out we can get pine needles.

Here's an idea of what my property looks like. The line of brush is where a farmer had left a dividing line between the fields, but if you look in the background you can see how flat the field is. That's what most of my property around the house was like. That's my granddaughter Jenna on the rock. We're working on clearing the brush, but it extends over 1000 feet, and it's mostly brambles.

Just to brag a little, here's our Jenna today. She just got her brown belt in karate. She should have her black belt by the time she's 7. She came in second in the most recent regional competition.

And she loves to garden. Especially loves irises.

And last but not least, Grammies boy, Jamie, with his fake smile. he is currently a high red belt, almost a black belt, but had trouble making his run time, needs to shave a half minute off.

Great photos, Polly. The kids are so cute and so dedicated to their Karate, just like their parents.

After all these years of composting this is the first winter when we have all six bins working and they'll be ready by spring.

Cute kids ! Don't mess with Jenna !

Jenna is definitely the tough one. I think she could take her brother.

Wow, 6 bins of compost. No wonder your plants are so lush! I use compost and composted manure. I found Walmart carries the composted manure for 1.00 a bag, and so far it seems excellent. Not nearly as good as your own compost, but I need more. I started a compost bin with leaves and just sprinkled manure on it last year. Let's see how it does. We just don't make enough compost for our garden here.

Cute grandbabies, Polly. I love the fake smile.

Very cute kids Polly, and Jenna does look like the one to be feared. Or maybe Jamie's smile is deceiving ;)

I just heard from Iris (in Kentucky). She's staying in a hotel because there's been no power at home for a week now. She says she's fine, "just insanely stir crazy."

The weather and the news is all about the loss of power in Kentucky. Not much worse than being stuck with boredom in a hotel.

Quite a few deaths reported also. At least she is OK, even if bored.

Oh, it's not as bad as I originally reported. I misread her message. She and the rest of her family, her fish, and her bird are staying at her mom's house. She just happened to be at the hotel, renewing her cosmetology license. Has to keep that gardening addiction funded.

hey everyone , taking a break from preparing for my test . there were 20 people in ky that died and 50 total . the national guard was going around knocking on doors to see if people needed to be driven to a shelter . we are ok. im just really mad at the way things are being handled . fema isnt helping people just the utility companies and shelters . we are still w/o power and my mom just told me its because they ran out of poles . they arnt fixinig the individual down lines until everything else is done so we wait .there isnt a budget for winter storms because this is rare .mom is lucky ,her dh is a quadriplegic and she would have had to take him to a hospital to ride this out . we cant complain at least we have family to stay with . spring cant come soon enough !! and yes my eyes are bigger than i can afford so im going back to work , i wont have to sneak plants lol. there are also renos i want to do on the house . we dont use credit (if we can help it . and except the house and car). so back to work i go . part time though gardening is my full time not-job thanks for thinking about me

Glad to hear you're OK, Iris.

same here.

It's good to hear you can go back to work and that your gardens will benefit.

Iris, glad to hear that you're okay and no major damage done. Work is good, I took some time off from work in 08 and it was great. Then winter happened and I hated not having work. Of course the last statement would be much different if I had kids. In any case, I went back to work!

Waiting impatiently for you to come back on a regular basis. You can show us threads of your repair and recovery projects on your property. That will be interesting.

WOOHOO i passed my exam , and the power was back on when i returned ! ill post pics soon of the storm damage i got to unpack and pack dh up to go back on the boat .he steers tugs pushing barges. im looking forward to my morning cup(s) of coffee with you all!

Great news! Congratulations!

Woohoo is right! Glad you passed and glad you're back.

Hurray !

Congrats on passing the exam, and glad you got power back.

My condition is getting serious. Today it rained, so I actually dusted some knickknacks in the house. When will this madness end? I need spring and flowers and the smell of alfalfa tea brewing.

cause for concern, indeed. Dusting? Are you crazy ?

Judging by my personal history, I'd say dusting is indeed a sign of insanity. I'm happiest when I don't.

Uh oh! This is a call for intervention if there ever was one!

You can all sit me down, tell me how much my dusting bothers you, and talk me into abusing alcohol or drugs instead.

well i have a half full bottle of tequila left over from margarita night we can share. i need a drink after the week i had. and you need one to stop cleaning . except if you are like my mil . she cleans when she drinks .

I used to clean as I drank - especially polishing windows at night but then the neighbors started talking so I quit cleaning, not drinking!

Dust is bad for your lungs, Zuzu!

Mmmmm.... Margaritas.... I wish I could spell that noise Homer Simpson makes when he thinks of pork chops.

What a persuasive argument, Pirl. I'm sure my doctor would agree with you. Dust is much less harmful if it stays on the knickknack.

I love the way we manage to justify not doing things !

hey everyone,

Its been a while.
wow now this is thread that will make me go crazy in the garden. So much plant talk im drooling. Today the rains have been awesome I have 3 garbage cans filled with rain water so far. I hope the folks in the cold parts of the country are keeping warm and thawing out soon.
Im sitting debating on ordering the white maderence geranium from annies. Its been on my wish list, and I sure do love my purple ones. They are just so pretty. Should I?

Yes. Yes. Yes. !

I second JD's vote!

A third vote of support here.

Hi, Steph. Great to find you in this forum. It's such a super place that I'm going to make it my "homeroom" from now on. Garden Talk rules!

As our friend, Sarah, would say: You betcha!

Yeah this is pretty awesome I was just reading the thread zuzu that mentioned when you moved to the united states. Pretty cool.
I wonder at what point in our lives did we each decide we couldnt live with gardens. Oh and pets. I know I always liked to grow things but nothing hit me like the first time I went to a rose garden.

White maderence??? oh my, I had no idea! Now where could I fit one? They get so huge, I grew the pink a couple of years ago. I don't do much pink here anymore but the white would be awesome. I have a small list of things I wanted to get from Annie's and had planned to stop in next week, if the weather cooperates. Isn't the rain today fabulous?! We sure need it.