Hackberry Trees, etc, #2

G'nite, my friend, hope you have a good tomorrow.

Christi, we missed you today.

ABOUT pix on Daves
They need to be sent as you want them to appear and in thumnail form 6x6 but not much bigger and a res of 71 maybe 100,
OR Daves will crop it.

Went to nursing home with Mike to visit his mother. He says "She has a new roommate, an elderly lady." Since MIL will be 92 next January I think there are few in the home more elderly than she. She is planning to go back to her home some 75 miles away as soon as they get this second cast removed. Oh Lordy Mercy. Pretty much on the stubborn side.

We had a steak dinner with all the trimmings with our very best friends. She even made a chocolate cream pie. I'm still full this morning. Slept too late to go to church and I really hate that.

Sharon, I tried making an album with Picassa with garden pictures and sent it to you. Somehow I don't think it worked. I'm not all that good when it comes to the technicalities of this machine.

Lots to do in the garden today. I think I have created a monster.

Thanks JoAnn.
Just back from gardening.
Nice breeze, but still a bit warm.
Hi All.
Back when I recover!

Christi, my dear, your Picasa album is beautiful, and you did an excellent job...beautiful wonderful flowers. I love it!! Thank you.

I have Ethan again, possibly for the night, and if so, then it'll be awhile before I have much time to chat.

So later.

Think I got too much sun today - being paced by a hardworking 19-year old, who's working for you - is getting a bit much. Going to get an early night.
Sharon - have fun with Ethan. First things first.
Charlie/Chuck - just not Chuckiepoo (a very upbeat fraternity brother's term) or 'Chasie' ('ch', but rest as in chassis - as in part of a car: friend's mother's term). Always told the kids to call me what they wanted, but it was still Mr. ----
to them. Good way (I think) to get the cooperation of the 'charming rascal', category of Grade 10 student (but only once you've sized the class up). Did not learn this technique at the Faculty of Education.

Very Cool, Charlie.

However, Charlie is and always has been one of my favorite names. So Charlie you will be. It fits you.

chuckiepoo sounds too much like the name of a bird, or a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle.

Good grief.

groooooan

Or a woodchuck and a poodle.

Very clever, Zuzu.

Creative etymology shines at Dave's. (Had to look the word etymology up and still not sure know what I'm talking about).

Ummmmmm, I rather doubt that, Charlie......

It doesn't take much to entertain us.

Me too, Sharon.
Next: getting down to business.

Blue jays' nest being built in the hackberry tree I thinned out.
They're including Georgian speedwell as a nest building material.
In the light the complaints about hackberry trees, it may seem appropriate.
I don't think bluejays are very popular birds. May raid other birds nests (wrenlike!), do well in disturbed areas around humans, etc.. So maybe hackberry trees and bluejays belong together.

Beautiful, Charlie.
Tell Carol she is doing a great job!

I might agree with you about blue jays, but they surely are pretty. And those I saw while in Alaska are stunning, but totally mean. Territorial, and a menace to other birds.

Buddy on the usual mission - get their attention to get fed.
Lies in the best place to trip people up. Never feels that breaking their arms, legs or necks, will slow the process down.

And it works, doesn't it?

Nice carpet, too.

A couple of years ago I very innocently walked onto my deck and was attached by a bluejay. There was a nest in the tree over the deck. The eggs had hatched and they weren't letting anyone get close. Got tote bag out of the tool shed.....inside was a wren's faux nest. They get anywhere.

Hi Christi,
You posted just as my rain started .....and the jungle grows on and on and on....

Sharon - Nop - it doesn't make noon (crunchie time) come any faster.
(Don't really want Carol to see picture, because the carpet is not clean, coming in from gardening, and Tim's left shoes there!)
Christi - I appreciate the warning. I won't overreact to a bluejay attack and also better advise the neighbours.

Hi All,
Possible rabbit problems at one place. There is one resident rabbit which seems to have eaten some of the tulips and now time to put annuals in that location. Have used small dahlias and tuberous begonias over last few years. Have just read rabbits don't like dahlias - going to find out!
Know the rabbit nibbled on the rose of sharon bushes - the snow must have been piled up so the rabbit could reach the top of some stems, but not much damage.
Saw a healthy looking coyote several days ago - don't like to say it, but maybe he could stop by.

Pink clematis blooming. Finally worked out what it is: C. 'Markham's Pink'.
Flower a deeper rosier pink on outside and lighter inside.
Pink never seems to come out well with my camera.

I love clematis, and have not a one. Somehow I can't find a place for it, unless I let it vine up a tree. I have always wanted a trellis gateway, going into what I don't know, but still something I wanted. Yours is beautiful, so maybe I will do something about getting one. I have such a jungle out there now, I can't even find my way without tripping over vines. So back outside I go with a machete....it is so bad from the rain and my neglect of the past week+.

Keep sending pictures, though, they inspire me!

(oh, I don't really have a machete, but am thinking I need one!)

We have rabbits, raccoons, armadillos and opossum as regular visitors. And of course, how could I possibly forget the squirrels? and their first cousin, the rat? After some little bit of research discovered the possum is a good friend. Mattie, our schi-tzu has other opinions. One evening she found the nest and killed 4 babies and proudly brought them to us.

Eeeeuuuuuu.
I am not fond of possums, but know of their value in the world of nature, so I try to not look at them. Squirrels are my only problem, aside from the wrens, so my tomatoes might be history before they even make it to my table.

Sharon love clematis too - but think mine have a high mortality rate - seem to have less than half of what I've planted over last few years. Are slow to get going.
Trellis/arch is iron. Artisan made, but price was very reasonable. Like it also for not cutting out light. When was young, in England, there was lots of well made, modestly priced, old garden hardscape objects around (statuary, bird baths, etc.). Probably in U.S. too. Some of modern stuff is a bit tacky and some is very expensive.
Christi - armadillos sound very exotic to us! For that matter so does Texas
(and Kentucky)!
Had 'a' squirrel problem - the others are fine. That one squirrel is still digging the occasional hole in our garden. All the rest have long given up.

I have that silly article running today on English ivy. All positive things.

So I go out to weed, and I find my ivy that grows in a little mound that looks like a turtle, is growing in my driveway, along the front sidewalk, up the brick arches, up the butterfly bush, covering my iris, and eating my fennel, to say nothing of the coral bells that are somewhere beneath it. So now maybe 3 hours later, I have filled three big trash bags with ivy cuttings. I was thinking about sending it to my worst enemies, but haven't found any yet...still looking, though.

I have never worked so hard in such a short time on one little pot of ivy.
I wish I could erase the silly article. And I have rambling roses...they have rambled all over the back yard. I need a keeper.

groan, mumble...

You just need a friend right beside you willing to help at a moments notice. Now.....if you would just move to Texas.....

Don't you all go away, because I'll be back in a minute, but I am worn out and in desperate need of a bath. This is not pretty, and sweat is still dripping.

Ugh. Dang it Lou, it is just as close for you to move to KY.

Sharon, as Carol says, don't overdo the gardening.
Bet the article is excellent.
Like Christi, wish I could give a hand too.

Y'all don't understand. My young guy who promised faithfully to mow my yard at the least every 10 days, has not mowed since the end of April. My good friend finally mowed the front, but the back has been untouched and that was 2 weeks ago. It rained so much the week before I left, then didn't when I was gone, the yard has over taken my life.

OK..the other thing is I am about 5 feet tall, and soaking wet I might hit maybe a few pounds over 100. So when I go out in that yard, I have to part the grass to see what's in front of me. It really is that bad. My neighbors tell me they'll cut it tomorrow...my other friend said he would cut it today, but hit something and bent his mower blade before he got 2 feet into the front.

If I go out there tomorrow, I might never find my way back home. I'm telling you, it is that bad. I would take a picture but you would only see green, like being in a cornfield in July just when the corn comes in.

Ahhhhh goodness. What a mess.

Off to the bath myself. See you in a few.

Christi

One who is also 5 foot nothing....sure not revealing my weight.

Neither height nor weight is of importance, unless you are caught in a jungle of your own making.

And then you need stilts.

Or a pogo stick.

Ahhhhh, I am so clean, and no dirt beneath my nails. I feel much better.

I have never been to Canada, but I can hear us now, Charlie, me with my southern mountain twang and you with your British accent. But it would be entertaining to all who were listening. Christi and I sound pretty much alike, I think, maybe she doesn't think so, but I'll bet Jo Ann would laugh if she heard either of us. At least I don't write with an accent.

Don't know why that thought came to mind, I was thinking about my past trips to Texas, then thought about how much fun it would be if we could all get together...and clean up my yard. Maybe tomorrow I can do something with my roses.

And do you remember that topsy turvy tomato planter my son gave me...well, let me tell you, that was a bunch of work for one little tomato plant, and then the other for the bell pepper. Took me forever to get the thing together. It had better work miracles though, or I am going to be really upset.

Sharon - I tend to believe: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'.
But you can't just change your accent.
What you hear over time does change:
When I came here, I soon got to not hear my own accent. When we used to visit my parents, it immediately struck me that they sounded rather odd (My own Mum!).
I have a (south?) London accent - most noticeable thing might be it is 'r'-less
(=don't pronounce terminal 'r's') e.g. water sounds like wata. I try to correct that one, because it can cause difficulties in a restaurant.
Just guessing, but JoAnn (from upstate New York?) probably sounds like Carol.
Think for your accent and Christi's, in the long past, I would have thought I was at the movies!

This message was edited May 27, 2009 12:18 AM

Somebody somewhere would really enjoy listening to all of us, I think.
Even Kentuckians have accents across the state. I grew up with a mother who was an English teacher, so my grammar is fairly accurate. In the mountains, I did not pronounce final letters to words, letter became letta, and where is wheah, so some of that might be the missing 'r's' like yours.
Here in western KY, the sounds are very country, not southern as they were in the mountains of east KY, but plain country. And grammar is very lacking. I lived and taught in Louisville for about 10 or so years, and there is such a mix of people there you heard more of a northern sound, harsher somewhat, not soft, it was a strange mix. I grew up very near Virginia, and in fact could walk just a little bit up the road and be in Virginia, so maybe I sound more like that part of the country. I have a friend who is from NY, and she and I do fine, I love to hear her talk. Another in Wisconsin stops me often though, and has me repeat what I said.

I have done some public speaking, and usually can adapt pretty well, so most of the time I am able to make myself understood. I don't have a twang, I have a drawl.

Please pass the watah, honey...and slow the cah down. Might be dowun, instead of down.

I can almost here you speak, Sharon!

Hey Charlie, what did you plant today? Anything interesting or unusual?

I found a bag of potatoes in the bottom cabinet. Can't remember when I bought them, but they were growing down there. So I chopped them up and planted some of the pieces.

I don't know why I buy things like that. I never can eat an entire bag or package of anything before it either grows or molds. You'd think I would learn. We'll see if I can grow potatoes.

Not sure about potatoes Sharon, but I think they irradiate them here to stop them sprouting. Apparently, before they used radiation, they used a chemical, which was probably worse.
Bought some of annuals for two main gardens today. Planted some tuberous begonias and a few medium sized dahlias at the Pike's. Not many weeds in bed, as had already weeded it, but the sprinkler system is not on yet, and plants like begonias need the sprinkler in that location. So spent time watering. The small pond is a terrible mess, but it's being cleaned next week.
Using lavender (colored) cleome and orange marigolds in a less important area of Lobraicos'. Also got a few Lavateria (already beginning to flower) - hope will be useful fillers for any gaps. Need more annuals.