I am horribly behind (1/2 of the last Idyll, and a good deal of this one) and have a renewed appreciation for those who are freaked out by posting here. But it'll be fine.

My computer had some sort of problem with the power producing box behind the "on" button. At least that's how my pea brain has processed the difficulty. The power producing box was replaced and it appears I'm back in business, just way behind. I can deal with that.

Deanne, the helpmeet and I have no patience for most veterinarians. Too much "care and compassion" and not enough attention to delivering the goods in a timely and economical manner. I never let them trim the cats' nails either. Our's are outdoor cats and they work hard to get their claws in tip-top shape, no vet. is going to ruin their hard work, thank you! Have the syringes loaded, shoot 'em up, give us the pills for worming, and get us the hell out of the office, thanky you! To be honest, I go to the rabies clinics at the elementary school... no "blood work", no recommended diagostic testing, slam-bam, thank you Ma'am. That's what we like. IF there is a problem we'll make an appointment for the problem. Usually there isn't. Any chance you could trap the feral kitty and "isolate the variable"? Boy kitties are so territorial. Dump the vet. if she rubs you the wrong way. Shop with your feet, we do.

Michelle, Kenzie looks terrific! it's just hair, for Pete's sake, it'll grow back. I can't believe how grown up she looks... esp. interesting for a confirmed child-hater who would be unable to estimate a kid's age by looking at one.

Eden, meant to tell you that when I was at the library last week requesting a book I asked about Lenore What'shername's book. And was told the wait list is several weeks long. The librarian said it was great. Guess the self-promotion has paid off, huh? ;) Are the vacant homes next to you due to foreclosure or just the usual circumstances? Some of what you described and I need to reread reminded me of what happened in New England in the early '70s when the remnants of the textile industry began circling the bowl and the shoe industry began its decline. Many, many formerly prosperous "mill towns" were decimated. It's hard to watch and the long-term effects can be crippling. But many of those communities have recovered and have lived to fight another day. Hang tough!

Oh my, 'bug! I had no idea this was one of those dreadful "firsts" that inevitably follow a death. Weep away, my dear, it will not change the horrible reality, but it will relieve stress and that's a good thing.

Not crazy about Stravinski, but sometimes those rule-breakin', avant garde sorts grow on you.

Lately listening to, "Concert By The Sea", Errol Garner. It was one of Dad's favorites and was part of the soundtrack of my childhood. I was shocked to learn that it was recored at Carmel, in NeverneverLand, in 1955! It's terrific.

(((('Bug)))) You are so in my thoughts today. Let the tears come, and I hope they can offer some solace on this day. My heart goes out to DD and DSIL. Reed was precious.

A muggy day, but no rain. It will reach 90 on Friday, the warmest day so far. The garden looks lush and full right now with all the rain, but the weeds have reared their ugly heads once again. (groan)

michelle...Kenzi is as adorable as always. You cracked me up about the deer...I would have absolutely done the same thing.

deanne...Fabulicious!!! How does your garden stay so neat? Amazing.

Hi cindy...hope your agaves survive all the rain.

chelone...hope your computer behaves. It's not the same without your morning news.

Dinner's waiting. It's Salmon night. Gotta get those omega-3's.

Anita

Glad to see Chelone is back safe and sound from the abyss of computer woes. A power problem seems much easier to deal with than a fatal software error , or viral induced issues. You know Chelone, if you were not you, you would tell yourself not to worry about catching up and just jump back in ! (but you will want to look at all the cool pics everyone has been posting.) I love Errol Garner. Thank you for reminding me that I need to seriously beef up my collection. LOL, Carmel is way more Neverland than even Napa.

(((Bug))) . I hope the day was not too rough for the family out west. Hold on to the good memories.

Michelle, Im voting yes on Kenzies short hair-do, but thumbs down on deer munching in your garden ! I didnt realize you had that malady to contend with kind of makes up for the lack of mollusks doesnt it ?

Deanne, wouldnt you think that modern technology could come up with a format for antibiotics that cats would like ? Perhaps embedded in some sort of catnip-tuna kitty treat ? You can always manage to squirt the first dose in their mouth but after that theyre on to you and you need an Olympic wrestling team to subdue them. LOL the Lawn Guy- I so get that this may sound rather odd, but I did 90% of my lawn removal after my husband passed away- he had the same attachment to it.I am not however suggesting that you bump Doug off to get more garden space I know he has many other fine qualities, as did mine ;-). Your shade area looks great ! Those look like the jumbo sized hayracks..Is that a Beacon Rosa just below them ? It looks fabu..

Ok, Im going to do a bit more WALAting before the baseball game comes on I havent checked out the Basil Orchard yet today..

Later friends ..

Kathy in Napa

Now I know why I've been grumpy in the morning - I've been missing my morning Chelone.

I'm back to work and finding it uninspiring at the moment. The preparations last week were much more fun! But a wedding every week would kill me.

Sunday afternoon, my DD asked my what my favorite cut flower was. I didn't have a ready answer; I really like whatever is looking wonderful. She laughed and said that when she was asked for advice on what the bride should hand to me, she suggested an agave in a pot! They weren't that adventurous and settled for a lovely pale pink rose.

Kathy, I had to chuckle at your lawn removal comment.

Well, I decided to take a little break from this and let the dogs out. Sunrise ended up pooping all over the front porch. UGH! She's never done this before and it was a race to clean it up between the light fading and the mozzies massing. So what's that all about?

V.

What a sad milestone today is then. Hope the camping trip brings some small comfort.

Possible captions for that first photo of Kenzie just might include "It's hard work being a princess." Great to hear you're keeping up with your swimming, Michelle. My mom refuses to miss her twice weekly water exercise classes no matter how much heck is breaking loose.

Deanne, I totally get your excitement over your gardens. I couldn't sleep last night, and I swear I was counting your talents like counting sheep: Let's see. She was a professional singer, paints, teaches, does bird photography, keeps a magazine-worthy garden...zzzz

Today, for the first time, I literally exploded at the attorneys, admonished them to conduct a proceeding that was reportable, told them we were off the record until they cooled off, that I was taking a 5-minute break, and I left the room. For a profession where I'm supposed to be the passive "fly on the wall," this was a big deal, to me at least. I heard them scream at each other a few minutes longer while I waited outside the door sipping coffee, and when they seemed to have tired themselves out, I re-entered the room, we got back on the record, and all was smooth as silk. I kept mulling over if I should apologize but decided not to, and the troublesome attorney apologized to me at the end and told me what I did was "great." Old and cranky, here I come!

Eden, we had a rental property go into foreclosure recently down the street, and drug dealers moved in almost overnight. I got this second-hand from a neighbor across from the property. Driving by a couple weeks ago, I saw a bunch of fairly rough-looking customers on the porch of the house and thought, Not again! (This had happened when the market collapsed and there were foreclosures in the early '90s.) My friend called the city and demanded they handle it, which they did, and boarded up the place, problem solved. Lots of drug paraphenalia was found inside. The rest of the street is stable, a watchful eye kept by the proactive neighborhood watch, of which I am a lapsed member. I got very involved when the boys were small but have tapered off.

When the grey cat's teeth started acting up, we tried a new vet, a vet associated with Ein's groomer who's a real peach. So new vet begins to tell me what an awful problem grey has, a complicated, untreatable autoimmune problem that pulling out all teeth probably won't solve. We go over the blood work and I ask if he's sure it's not just a rotten tooth that's causing the reaction, if he's sure all teeth need to come out, and he assures me that's the case. Apparently I surprised him when I said, Well, then it sounds like a miserable life, let's put her to sleep. New vet immediately back pedals on severity of problem and it becomes doable, treatable, he pulls one tooth, and she's been fine. That's not to say she won't have problems again, but the whole affair surprised me. I think we'll go back to the old vet.

Anita, another omega-3 fan here, yum! Time to get the spuds roasted. We've got a docu on the Irish "troubles" in the queue for tonight.

It's a short week at work which means a leaner than normal paycheck, but also an extra day away from Chaos. I have a new alteration customer coming this afternoon and another next week. I'm looking forward to itl I actually enjoy the great American public and alteration work can be very rewarding and requires more than the usual "from the neck down" response.

Spencer had a range war going with the next door cat for some time. Next door kitty was about the same size and didn't get outside very much, naturally the "woods" between our homes was the place to go... . Both managed to inflict some nasty wounds on each other requiring some "doctorin'" but NDK was not nearly as important in his home as is Spencer and wandered off one night never to return. Our's are required to be IN at night. Denise, you have the same approach to your cats that we have with our's. We don't see much point in prolonging life for the sake of "life" alone. We're happy to repair things that can be fully repaired but making the sad choice to euthanize is really a "no brainer" for us. We usually hit the shelter and take one more off the welfare rolls to fill the void. ;)

"Neighborhood Watch" is part and parcel of living in a small, rural community, too. Everyone knows everyone else's business which can be a pain, but also has decided benefits with respect to security, pets, kids, as well as mentally failing and frail elderly. We humans are social animals and it's important to maintain those bonds. It's nice to know you can run next door for an egg, cup of sugar, or gasoline for the mower. Wherever I've lived I've gone out of my way to get to know my neighbors. Just makes sense, at least to me.

I confess I love the lawns here. I don't mind the mowing because we have a nice mower. I don't obsess about weeds (what's the point) and we don't usually have to do any supplementary watering as the lot is low. I have had to get after the helpmeet to throw some amendments to the newest areas as they were looking a tad washed out and getting him to weed wack requires some prodding, but he's pretty much on board with it, too. I love walking around on it with bare feet or sitting around on it. I'm all for white clover, too... this ain't Augusta, after all!

Weeds are indeed making their move here, too, Anita. I'm developing a respectful coexistance with them. But know that it will be easier to enforce the rules with some judicious mulching.

That's it from me. Time to wrap this "Friday" up and get back to the security of the Compound as quickly as I'm able.

Yeah, where IS Marian? I know I've haven't been really reading but she's usually good for a post a day or every other. Time to start worrying?

Ta ta!

Good morning....

Happily I find myself with a small window of improvement and lighter by five pounds this morning and just in time, as I am having Idyll withdrawal. :-) And no wonder, after reading some seriously entertaining posts this morning. I don't know which was funnier, Kathy trying to kill off Doug or Denise's caption for Kenzie's photo...lol.

Marie, were you able to talk to Sarah and Wayne yesterday? I must have missed that they were camping. I hope you have an easier day today. Sorry your friend's trip was canceled, that would have been a nice distraction. Did you and DH try to do the collage? Did you mean you were trying to do one on the computer?

Deanne, those are two humongous Hay Racks! Mine is about the same size, but it's not packed with so many lovelies as yours. :-) The lawn looks great and is a wonderful frame for your borders. Tell Doug I said keep up the good work. Your garden is outdoing itself this year and it is no wonder you are feeling so happy with it. You've worked hard, enjoy it!

Michelle, I love Kenzie's new look. I cut my own hair when I was small too, and looks like I was not alone. I begged my mother for a 3ft tall Doll with moveable arms and legs one Christmas and within weeks, I had given her a haircut that was awful too. [g]

Woody, how is Randy feeling about his retirement these days? We have pods on our pea vines and wish I could post a photo. The basil, tomatoes and squash are doing nothing though with cool nights and overcast days. How are your veggies doing?

Speaking of veggies, what happened to the lady with the tomatoes on her car roof? [g]

Anita, glad you have the colonoscopy behind you. Nothing like good news on that front. I have a GI appt in a couple of weeks and I'm sure I have that waiting for me too. My digestive system is on the fritz and that is keeping me out of the garden. Like you,weed heaven here. About a quarter of my garden beds are full of weeds that we were not able to mulch in time. I can't even go out there and look at them. Ugh.

Marie, I didn't realize your two kids were so close in age. What a sweet photo. And I love that photo of you with that haircut and that pretty dress! Did your Mom love gardens too? ....Thanks again for the tips for my digestive woes. Very much appreciated.

I'm finding all the stories of cats taking their medicine very humorous.

Funny, I started a veggie garden in the back first, but then started flower gardening in the front, the only place I had full sun.

Denise, hooray for Dad home from the hospital. I am sure your Mom is relieved not to have to worry about him escaping any more. No wonder she sticks to her swimming routine like glue. [g] You have an interesting job and in such a stressful environment, it doesn't sound like it gets to you.

Sorry you are not sleeping well Norma, what's that all about? We were also up at 3:30am this morning again. That seems to be our new wake up time. We were actually having a conversation at that hour which is almost funny. Photos of your new hostas would be nice.

Cindy, how is Chloe these days?

Chelone, you must be in high gear these days, getting ready for IU6. Have you moved more of your machinery into the Salon yet?

Well, not much to report here. No camera, lots of weeds. The sun was out yesterday after days of overcast but it's a no show again this morning. I missed watering some of my pot ghetto yesterday and some of the plants are toast. On the positive side, the front garden is making me very happy every time I look at it. I finally feel I have the right plant combos out there. It is bursting with color right now, from Dianthus, Roses, Nepeta and Penstemon. I also have second year Callirhoe plants started from seed, one of which just started blooming and I am hoping that will continue where the Dianthus leave off. After all the rain we had, all of a sudden my Hay Rack has started filling out a little. I like it much better this year than last, but darn, no photo. So, since I am not working in the garden, I decided to try and enjoy it a little more and brought in some roses and stems from the Honeysuckle vine for a vase yesterday. Really enjoying the fragrance!

Well, that is more than long enough, time to go check out more photos. Take some time to smell the Roses. :-)

Morning all,

Well the reprieve with a day of sunshine is over and we are socked in with clouds again. The rain is supposed to begin within the hour. So, at least I dont have to water today. Always a silver lining somewhere right? ~~ Were hoping that our extended family has its newest member today. My dear friend Deb U.s daughter is expecting her first baby. They are planning on inducing her today as shes totally ready to go and well past her due date. Deb will be with her and her husband Matt, who is studying to be a doctor, is on his ObGyn rotation at that hospital and is hoping to deliver his son. Ill be thinking of them today.

Anita, I never take photographs of the messy areas. LOL I also plant things way too close, just ask Sue, so the weeds dont stand a chance. Most of the beds get a fresh mulch of compost every spring and that keeps the weeds down as well. Another trick to having a neat looking garden is I normally set a fresh edge with my half moon edger early in the season and its easy to maintain and gives everything a clean finished look.

Kathy, toooo. true re: cats antibiotics. A very good question as to why they cant make it palatable for the kitties. Then the kitties would get their full dose of medicine and not spit half out when shaking their heads in violent protest and the owners wouldnt be risking life and limb to dose the cat. Its not like a bite wound abscess is an uncommon occurrence. I LOL over Olympic wrestling team too true! ~~~ ROTFL over Lawn Guy. Yes Doug does have lists of good qualities especially that he makes me laugh every day. ~~~ Yes those hayracks are the largest size offered by Kinsman Co and are 30" wide. Lots of room for stuff That fuchsia below the hay racks is a new one to me this year and it came without a tag. Ive still not IDd it but it is one spectacular performer. Im planning on making cuttings of it.

V. Cant imagine why the bride didnt want to hand you an agave! ~~~ So whats with Sunrise? Is she OK?

Denise, you make me blush. Im just a tad on the OCD side. Perhaps Dougs greatest quality is that he tolerates me. LOL ~~ Thats awful about the property down the street. We once had some people renting the house across the street and they were dealing. The guy got raging drunk and high one night and drove himself into a tree and then there were new renters. ~~ I love your story about the kitty and vet. I do think many vets recommend procedures and treatments that are horribly expensive and unnecessary. I know they have to pay the bills too but there is no treatment that will lengthen a cats life to the length of ours.

Chelone, We also have the Kitties are in the house at night policy. They complain about it a lot this time of the year but eventually settle down to sleep. ~~ Cant wait to see your workshop.

(((Bug)))

PM sorry youve been under the weather. Not a good way to lose five pounds. What a bummer about your camera, Id love to see your hayrack. ~~ Ive been cutting a rose or two for the house this year as well. I wish I had room for a honeysuckle but no place for one.

OK time to get on the LifeCycle and get my day started. Have a good one everybody.

Deanne

It is a grey morning here too. I woke up mighty early, probably around 4, and puttered around, finally soaking in the bath for an hour to relax. Last night I managed to create the collage on the computer using photoshop. I could only make one with 9 photos...which was enough, but I had intended to use more. I'm pleased with the outcome and hope DSIL will be too.

Yes, Sarah and Wayne are off on their annual jaunt to the north Country Fair. This is where they decided to marry, where they took Reed and Skyler for fun and concerts, where camping with friends nearby is a pleasure. This year it involves lots of physical work, preparing the playground area and the family stage. Lots of roofing materials were donated to DSIL for the cause, some windows too, so I imagine some volunteers will be assigned to those tasks too. They hope that the stage and playground will be usable this weekend, but work will be ongoing. Wayne has been in charge of security there for 16 years or so, so all his attention cannot be devoted to the Reed area alone. There is no phone, no electricity, no drinking water...so I wasn't able to contact them since last weekend. I'm excited to hear their update and hope for photos too!

PM, my son and daughter are five years apart. Although far apart geographically, they do make an effort to see each other every year or so and keep abreast of each others' activities. They were good friends growing up and share a love of the outdoors and canoeing.

So Marian, I'm going to hope it is computer woes and nothing more serious than that keeping you from joining us here. I wonder if there's a computer to use at your nearest library? That's what I ended up doing a while back, although there was a 30 minute time limit. :(

Breakfast time,
'bug

PS:
I just saw V's photo again, standing with her nephew at THE wedding. This time I noticed her nail polish!!! I wonder what color she'll choose at IUVI? :)

Another soggy day -- my DD reported last nite to me that even on her little urban balcony 10 stories up her pots of herbs are growing "fungusamongus, and lots of "white bugs bigger than gnats" -- she wanted me to make a diagnosis and offer the "cure," LOL...

Denise - glad to hear your Dad is home at last -- I hope he is recovering and on an uphill mend. You're a saint to put up w/ the drama of neurotic attorneys and it sounds like you gave them a wonderful, pull'em up by the bootstraps -- how outrageous behavior! I agree that it's a hard line to walk w/ pets re viable new treatments and those that dont extend or assist in their quality of life -- and certainly some of the new speciality vets seem to lose sight of that fact -- I encountered it w/ the last vet adventure myself, but felt I was better prepared to make an informed decision knowing all the options -- just like for humans -- knowledge is power and gives us the ability to make the best, most informed decisions.

Michelle -- didnt mean to make light of Kenzie's hair venture -- "mullet" -- o my -- I didnt catch that that was the "after hair salon fix" 'do we were looking at -- my Mom used to recall how my first haircut was the one my Dad got for me at the Army barber shop -- apparently I had quite the "bowl cut" look when I came home without about 8 inches of hair -- she broke into tears before she gave Dad the tongue lashing -- luckily the stuff grows eventually.

Hope you get a handle on the gastro woes, PM -- it does put one out of commission for doing anything strenous, Im sorry.

'bug - sounds like you got thru one of those "first" pretty well -- love your WALATS threads - you took comfort in the beauty of nature -- and beauty you have in abundance on the farm. All the rain seems to be givng your plants lots and lots of glory.

Funny about the lawn keepers -- one has to be curious why it's such a Y "thing" to love their lawns? I think that must be where the phrase "turf wars" originated, LOL....

Glad Chelone is on her Friday and gets to do some more time off from Chaos and get to enjoy some "private client" time -- I imaginge the biz helps to fill in the hole for the lean paycheck, hopefully.

Well, gotta get cracking here.

-cindy

Tearful today as I look at the devastation in my yard where three days ago a lush and beautiful perennial garden bloomed....

Tomorrow the garden shed will be moved into the space that was my pride and joy garden. A load of topsoil will be dumped where the shed was, and the huge plants now waiting patiently in plastic garbage bags will soon be replanted. The shed moves Friday, the fence goes in Monday, then I can start rebuilding my garden. It will definitely be an improvement view wise, but that garden was there five years and had just come in to its own this spring. I can't even look outside just now. But I will, through the lens of my camera, just for you.

Sorry for your sad day, Bug, I didn't realize that the 17th was Reed's day. A day that will always have some bittersweet memories for you. Of course you miss him...

Haircuts: one day DD came home from school with her braid in her backpack.....And once DS and friends cut their hair the day before school pics so they would look "cool". The barber I took him to for repair said "I'm a barber, not a magician". I think Kenzie looks very cute, and you too Bug!

Deanne, I cannot for the life of me believe that your pot gardens are for real!! Absolutely stuhnning! 'Nuff said,....

Can't stay to chat today - got to try one more time to make travel arrangements for IU VI. The doggies need a spa day so my house doesn't smell so doggie. Heck, I need a spa day so I don't smell so doggie...

Later

Sorry to all whom I have missed....sometimes things just get away from me....

Cheers,

Julie

Yesterday was muggy and 93 - good grief! Rain again this a.m. First we were with out and now its every day. Along with storm warnings. The corn and garden annuals will love the heat.

I'm getting further along with getting the weeds under control these days. With all the planting of seeds, containers etc in the spring it seems like they get ahead of me.

PM, sorry to hear you are under the weather and that the weeds are taking advantage of that.

Cindy, actually I think DD was more upset about the dog's hair cut than she was Kenzie's. I asked about Lucky's hair cut and Kenzie said that now he is a beautiful dog. At least their hair will grow back, unlike my niece's Barbies. Her brother gave them each a butch.

'bug, I hope the work at the North County fair will be soothing to all.

That's all the time I have for now.

later

Michelle

Evening all,

Just finished wrestling with my cat.... Got most of the medicine down his throat. Doug holds him up on the kitchen island counter, front feet off the counter (the cat not Doug V.) Doug has his fist in Luke's scruff, as soon as the kitty opens his mouth to protest I leap in with the loaded syringe, get it down the throat and push the plunger. This has been the best technique for getting the antibiotic down the cat's throat. At least another four days of this - twice a day. Good grief! I also had to peel off the nasty scab and get the abscess thing to drain again which involved putting another syringe of pain meds down Luke's throat first. Good news is it looks like this will be the last time I have to drain the abscess as it was really clean tonight. At this point if that stray cat wanders over here I might shoot it. (Not really but I'll certainly cuss at it)

Michelle, 93? I'll bet that is on its way here for next week. My plants will go into shock. It never got over 65 degrees here again today.

Julie, Im so bummed for you with the garden moving. Id be traumatized. Just keep telling yourself that next year you wont be able to tell youd moved things. The plants wont be out of the ground too long and they are healthy and mature perennials that should weather the move beautifully.

Cindy, cant believe your DD is having problems with plants being too wet on an apartment balcony. You must be growing mushrooms. Soggy here today as well with more rain in the forecast for tomorrow and through the weekend.

OK I'm off to have a well deserved beverage. I'd have never made a veterinarian. I'm as traumatized as the cat with all this fussing around.

Nite all!
Deanne

I think Michelles weather bucked the trend and came west. After weeks of lovely low 70 temps we have a 90s spike today-very low 90s thank goodness, but as Deanne notes it rather shocking to the green kids. Looks like its a 2 day deal and then back to the 70s. low 80s. Needless to say my WALAT this evening was performed with a hose and a watering can. No loses, but maybe some damage. My new Monardas upper leaves look like I put them in the oven-brown and crispy, yet the plant was not wilted.

Ah Julie , what trauma ! But think of the pleasant new view that awaits you. Dont worry, be happy, play the Glad Game etc etc.. the garden always seems to be a moving target in one way or another- at least mine does. I know youll create something lovely out of the old shed locale. Soldier on !

Deanne, I enjoyed (at your expense) the description of the kitty-med procedure. Sounds like you have it down pat ! Hopefully your stray visitor has moved on to another block .

Cindy, my DC weather forecast sure looks like more moisture on the way ! In fact it look like Denise, Marian and I are the only folks who will be dry this weekend. I realized this afternoon that I dont have the Julie-Woody-bug area on my weather page. Ill have to take care of that this evening.

Well PM, nice to see a post from you today, and I surely hope you get to feeling better soon to bad we werent all in your neighborhood , we could put together a weeding party but would expect some nice food and beverages in return !

All for me tonight, baseball calls.

Waving to all, looking for Mary and Martie ???

Kathy in Napa

Well this is different. Fell asleep about 9:30p and I'm up already. After reading how many here are up wandering around in the night, I thought I might as well post. :-) It's been raining since suppertime last night after another day of overcast. I'm not complaining in the least, as we really could not keep up with the watering right now. DD will be coming over Saturday and staying over. DH is going to be at the office from sunup to sundown this weekend and she has volunteered to food shop and mow the lawn, if it ever stops raining. We are both looking forward to watching SYTYCD episodes together and catching up. She was away last weekend to a wedding on Martha's Vineyard and the weekend before she was in Maine, so we will be glad to see her. Looks like Father's Day will be a non event this year. We hope to do something next weekend.

V....I didn't mean to skip over your post. I thought I got everyone last time around. It's nice to see more posts from your neck of the woods. I found myself dreaming up a small little agave pup in a posie arrangement maybe with some flowers around it yesterday morning. [g]

Marian posted to Woody's Walating thread. She is having a very bad flare of pain in her arms and shoulders.

Deanne, I smiled at your cutting 'a rose or two' for the house....I am often torn whether to bring some in or enjoy all the blossoms in the garden. I have a feeling you have a harder time. [g] Doug must be happy with this rain for the lawn. The image of the cat shaking it's head vigorously to get rid of the meds gave me a good laugh. Never had that experience. lol It's been 40 years since the last time I had a cat. Dogs are much easier in that regard.

Marie, I would have guessed DS was no more than 2 or 3 years older. How did they develop their love of canoeing, do you canoe? I hope Sarah & Wayne will send more photos of progress on the new playground.

Cindy, you don't usually get this much rain, do you? I could have sworn I saw whiteflies around a rose bush a few weeks ago. I can't imagine that could be the case, outdoors. Yesterday, from the window, I saw a few sparrows, on the stems of the lupine flowers picking something off. I think they must be eating the aphids. I thought that was interesting.

Julie....you have a lot of work ahead moving that garden. I bet by the end of the summer you will be happy as a lark about the way it all looks.

When is Kenzie coming for a visit Michelle?

Kathy...I would be happy to share rain with you, as I'm sure Cindy would. :-) I often think it is too bad we are not all in the same neighborhood. What fun that would be. With so many cooks in our family, we love providing food and beverages too. If it stops raining, I might ask DD to help with the weeding a little on Saturday. I am comforted that we did finish the rock wall, have the veggie area completely mulched, the alley between the house and garage, half of the shade beds and the front are in fine shape needing very little attention. Plus when winter gets here, they will all be dead and we'll start fresh next year I guess. ..... Seems like you are having a great summer so far. What's news with DD, Aiden and Kyle? Is Psycho-Kitty still coming around?

Gee, where's Saucy these days?

Time for some NG photos to fill the gap till I find a camera... Goodnight...

{{gwi:162398}}

Sorry to hear you are hurting Marian! Hope things improve soon. PM, I hope your new doctor can shed some light on your ailments too! This aging process is not all fun and games.

Seems like a lot of people are busy and absent. Miss you Eden, Saucy, Sue and many others.

Looks like a weeding day out there to me! So off I go to torture my arthritic hands.

'bug

We only got about 16mm of rain in the last day or so (less than an inch...) and it looks like we're heading into the first heat wave of summer. There's a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon so I will hope for more rain - if it gets hot, we certainly will need more rain than we've had or things will be very water stressed. The backyard garden is looking lush and green and rain-washed this morning though in the view from the office window:
{{gwi:162400}}

Julie - it sounds like a very traumatic rearranging of your garden. But what an opportunity to make a new one! I've always found that each new garden is better than the last because you've learned more in the time in between.

Deanne - it sound's like you're having fun with the kitty :-) Your pot area always amazes me - I can barely stand watering etc. the few I have and can't imagine the effort that it takes to keep all yours looking so fine. You really are nuts :- )

Marian - I hope you're starting to feel better... Ditto PM...

GB - You must be getting very anxious to hear how everyone did at the fair. When do they get back?

It looks like the Panamanian rainforest that feeds the Canal out there today. Vegetable World has a flooded area in it (this is not uncommon in heavy rains), and it's still coming down in buckets. The remaining poppies and iris are being beaten into submission and the lovely peonies are toast, too. Some years you just can't beat the weather, can you?

I picked up my reserved library book today and now it's going to be hard to convince myself to shove the vacuum cleaner around. Darn it. I have milk and eggs at room temperature but forgot to leave the butter out, too. Darn it. But there will be cake in the offing later today.

Still terribly behind and not likely to "catch up" today, either. Hang in there, Marian!

Right now I have to get it together and come up with a list of piddly things I can get out of the way that will make life easier when the sun returns (if it ever does).

drip, drip, drip.

The roses are just beginning, peonies, iris and lupines are in full swing. I wonder if Babs ever got lupines started in her garden? Are you out there Babs?
The garden is looking quite happy with all the recent moisture. I tackled the Secret Garden last night and got most of the weeds under control. Some cardboard and mulch is needed. My reward was a handful of fresh strawberries - yum!

PM, the night scene is very striking. My guess is its from Arches National Park. We visited there a couple of years ago. As for the Kenzie visit, they have no set date yet, it depends on DSIL's schooling. Have a fun weekend with your DD.

Deanne, it sounds like administering the medication is traumatic for all involved.

'bug, you should try the weeding tool from Fiskars. I use that for weeding and it really helps me. You can use it in one hand to loosen the weed while pulling with the other. I added a link below.

The weekend includes lots of Father's Day celebrating. I'm planning make your own nachos for Sunday afternoon. We will probably go to the lakes on Saturday night to bbq with my parents.

Later
Michelle

Just what I did NOT need. There's an unsolved murder of a little girl who was abducted in the area. There are all sorts of clues and investigation going on. In the past couple of months I have had airplanes flying close above me as I garden. As I go to town the police units are out there combing the ditches. It is terribly awful and sad. So today as I was working a man stops me as I'm mowing. Of course I'm in the middle of nowhere and people do not just appear like that. It was a door to door police man investigating and asking for clues. He was handsome, smart, gentle too and obviously working on overtime to try to find closure for the family. But again, I've been tearful since he departed. That poor poor family! Well, I weeded fast and furiously afterwards, and now I'm boiling water for our first corn on the cob of the season tonight. It must come from far away because ours seems to be about 8" high...not as high as an elephants eye at all! Also, our first local strawberries for dessert.

Yes Woody, I am eager to hear from The Gang. Today is DD's 33rd birthday. Three years ago today she said YES, she was ready to marry DSIL. In spite of the woes, it was a very good decision!

Michelle, I do not see your link. ??

Happy Friday to all, both east and west! Oh, and in between too of course. :)
'bug

Strawberry all fruit spread between yellow cake and no frosting; will be whipped cream or confectionary sugar as taste dictates. Local strawberries are right around the corner here, too. Mmmm.

The second load of laundry is in the washing machine right now.

My brother is going to come up for a visit tomorrow morning and that will be good fun. There is lots for him to see upon his arrival.

The flooded area in Vegetable World soaked in and drained away with two hours of the rain's departure. There were some glimmers of blue sky late this afternoon but those have since disappeared. More of same for tomorrow, I fear.

My library book rendered the vacuum cleaner vanquished. The dog and cat hair isn't going anywhere and there are still 3 more days to devote to its eradication. How's that for optimism?

Very sad turn of events, 'bug. I have little doubt it has left you pensive and prone to tears. Such nearness to tragedy leaves one raw for a very long. Savor the coHn and the relief the dental floss will supply afterwards. :)

gb - I wondered if they were searching in your area.... When I read the description in the paper, I thought it sounded like it might be somewhere near you. While I hope they find her for the family's sake, I hope she's not on your property! That would be a very traumatic find indeed.

We are in the midst of our third major thunderstorm today. On my drive home, the road that runs through the seed corn farm across the highway from our house was almost completely flooded. Water was flowing from one field to the next like a river. Our pond is completely overflowed and the driveway has become a lake. Good thing the wedding was last week! The field where the brunch guests parked on Sunday has standing water in it right now.

It was a busy day at work and I could go to sleep right now, but I need to get some laundry done before we dismantle the laundry room tomorrow. Speaking of sleep, I forgot we had a thunderstorm overnight as well.

Well, I had better rustle up that laundry. I'll post tomorrow if we have wireless access on the ark.

V.

Evening all,

Bug how awful for that family. I hope it is resolved soon. Must be painful for you too..... so sorry.

On a happy note, my dear friend, Deb U's daughter delivered a healthy baby boy this morning. This is her first grandchild and she's over the moon....I'm so happy for them all. Mason James arrived at 8:36AM.

V. Thank goodness you didnt' get this weather last weekend. Incredible! I can't believe you've had that many thunder storms go through in that amount of time.

Chelone, should I put off my visit for another time since your brother will be visiting tomorrow?

Michelle, sounds like your gardens are about a week or so behind here. I'm looking forward to photos?

Woody, yes I am indeed a nutball but sometimes its fun to be friends with a nut. LOL

OK time to get ready for some shut-eye.

Nite all
Deanne

Happy Friday everyone- I made it through my return to work week unscathed (mostly) and here it is the weekend ! Very excited to see that my Tithonia (the one that is still among us) has buds- Id swear they werent there yesterday . Now that the heat is going away, the wind is back, either way its a daily watering for many of the containers . Im on my summer walking schedule I get up and walk to work , setting out 10 minutes or so before 6 takes me about 20 minutes.Boot up the computer. Have coffee.Work. Have more coffee. Walk home again a little before 11. Water the containers. Drive my car back to the awfice and eat lunch at my desk (On Monday I bring complete salad makings that will last the whole week , stashed in the awfice fridge,also a large salad plate and fork laid by. ) This gives me 2 miles a day walking. I try to walk very fast, and after a few days I get faster. On the weekend I do the river trail (2.4 miles) or a mile or two around the general vicinity. By the time IU comes I should be able to walk through gardens for hours with no aching feet !

Chelone, hell, you could really put off vacuuming till July 22nd if you wanted to. I vote for whipped cream on my piece of cake please.

PM, thank you for asking after my young-uns. Kyle is doing well, enjoying his music and still employed . DD, Aiden and family, not so goodthe economy in Oregon is bad when the economy is good everywhere else and horrible when the economy is bad. Our family continues to seek good solutions to get them through tough times, and everyone is helping out, fortunately we are all in a position to do so.
I often agonize over what to cut and what to bring in for my vases I would love to have a dedicated cutting garden, but no space for that at the moment ! Psycho-kitty is still coming around. Last evening I was WALATing with a glass of cheap wine and she was sleeping curled up on one of my stepping stones in the shade area. Ted and Doobie still despise her and I can sit down or walk around a couple of feet away from her , but if I try to interact at all shes gone in a flash. Saucy had to go out of town for a few days, I expect we will see her back here soon.

Marian, hope you get to feeling better soon !

Woody, what a nice view from your window. Those sorts of succulent spring greens are gone here, one the dry season arrives it doesnt take long for plants to wear a very different sheen I will do lots of cutting back this weekend to stimulate some fresh growth.

Ok friends, time to try to come up with some dinner . Saturday is grocery day and Friday nights are often a challenge see you Saturday !

Martie ? Eden ?

Kathy in Napa

What a rainy stormy very wet day! I got the same system that V experienced, but no flooding on my lot. Thank goodness. I always worry about the basement flooding, but we're clear, and still have power while many nearby do not.

V...I read that a tornado was spotted nearby, glad it didn't visit you. :)

kathy...Sounds like you have the walking regime down pat.
DD is lucky to have a supportive family. Any updated photos of the baby?
deanne...You had me chuckling over the cat's medicine escapades. I'm not sure who has it harder...you or the cat? Hope the feral one has moved on. Are the fish okay, or do you have herons and raccoon's bothering them?

PM2...Have a great weekend with DD. Too bad DH is working overtime, but it'll leave you with precious time for DD, so all's good. Hope she can get the lawn mowed.

Get well marian.

'bug...Very scary about the missing girl. You have every right to be weepy. I'm looking forward to hearing how S & W's camping trip was.

chelone...A good book would beat the vacuum for me too. I'll have whipped cream, thanks. Enjoy your brother's visit. Maybe he'll do some weeding while he's there? :)

Looking forward to sunshine tomorrow and Sunday. One great thing about this rain is that I've never seen my astilbe blooms looking so fantastic. They've never received this much water by my hand.

Hi all.

Sleep sound,
Anita

There is plenty of weeding here, but my brother would likely have no part of it. I fear he might harbor black plastic with a mulch layer atop it tendancies... . He really needs to learn to relax more about the vegetative population, I wasn't terribly impressed with his "slash and burn" approach to THTTF and will have to work on that. ;)

He's going to come up and survey the bathroom project which has stalled out for lack of spousal support and enthusiasm (which grinds me down) but it will be done. This is where my brother's "slash and burn"/"surgical strike" will comein handy! I actually expect him any time, he's imbued with the early-bird gene, too. I went to the plumbing supply house yesterday morning and selected the shower valve, the shower head, and the new faucet for the sink. The plumber has gone fishing for the weekend (no kidding), so there will be no contact until Tuesday. In the past something like this might have stressed me out, but strangely it doesn't really faze me at all. I want the bathroom done, but if it isn't, so what? no one will die or starve and the balance of nuclear power will remain unchanged.

The cake was well received. (like it would be rejected?). I think my favorite so far was the one with the blueberry all fruit between the layers. I think I need to get some of those "stencils" you lay atop the cake before sifting confectionary sugar over the top.

Time to get the watering can out and deal with the windowboxes, hang the load of laundry that I was too lazy to hang last night, and consider the next phase in animal fur control. Or read... ;)

Sleep really eluded me last night. Well, four hours is better than zero! I was busy rehashing garden chores for what seemed like HOURS. It is drizzling out there, but I may try to accomplish a few of the jobs anyway. After the trek to the dump, perhaps we'll work on resuscitating our ping-pong table in the baHn, in anticipation of Skyler's August visit. Did you know that raccoons destroy ping-pong balls?

Chelone, don't you use those white paper doily things for your stencils? I used to love coloring them when I was a kid...with my box of 48 Crayolas. Personally, I'm of the whipped cream persuasion, no sugar added, but vanilla is OK. :) As to the vacuum, I love the fact that DH has avoided repairs on it...and that I get to work on knitting for Ivy instead.

Yes Anita, the garden here loves the rain. It works so much better than the hose and is so much simpler! ;) It makes for easy weeding too, if things ever get sunny again. Last night DH helped me with the 3rd side of the veg garden. It is all mulched now. YEAH! I think the back will remain unfinished until I can catch up with other things a bit. I really should make something with rhubarb this weekend...

Wonder what breakfast will be? LOL...
'bug

OMG the sun is out!!!!! The weather guys predicted clouds and rain and I got up to lovely humid sunshine, 66 degrees. The garden has never looked quite this lush. One of the good things about raised beds is that too much rain can't hurt them. All that water just drains off the hill where the terrace gardens are.

Bug sorry about the restless night.

Chelone, Doug is still in bed but we'll be seeing you sometime today. My guess is noonish. BTW I'm a whipped cream person too.

Anita, did you get any photos of your astilbes?

PM yes I do have difficulties cutting roses for the house for some reason. I've no problems with the other flowers, just roses. I even cut stems from the fuchsias for boquets.

Kathy, congratulations on your walking program. That's really brilliant. You and Sue will be walking circles around all of us.

Here are a couple pics from yesterday after the rain,

Bug my Persicaria polymorpha is gigantic this year
{{gwi:162401}}

The Banana and Brugmansia are really getting some size. Thanks Sue! Both of these plants were gifts from Sue several years ago.
{{gwi:162402}}

The 'Manhattan' lilies are just opening
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And 'Sarastro' is looking great this year
{{gwi:162404}}

OK time to get motivated and get off this computer. Have a great day all,

Deanne

Hey Deanne, fun to see your PP taller even than that monster Betty Corning! :)

That's Arabella blooming too isn't it? Mine just started yesterday.

I'm glad for you that your weatherman was wrong. I just don't get that job at all, they even get paid for it! If anyone should be unemployed, I vote for them being it. Why they can't even look out their window and describe the current weather! Yesterday we had an amazing sunny hot day but rain was predicted. Today was supposed to be cloudy but it has been raining for hours. Just can't plan a thing. OK, I'm done whining...until the next time. ;)

I forgot about Julie and her shed and garden! It must be more than just a mess in this soggy weather. Poor girl. At least the disturbed plants must be happy. But the heavy equipment must be making huge tracks everywhere...

'bug, here's the link. I think its a handy tool.

No time for chatting right now. Its a fabulous sunny 75 degrees and I have much to do today. Company tomorrow and this house hasn't been cleaned in weeks and there's food prep as well. I already spent time on the phone with Kenzie trying to convince her that cleaning her room is a good thing. I did get a walat in this a.m. and things are looking good. We had another small shot of rain yesterday. The grass I planted this spring is loving the rain every other day.

Deanne, the size of that brug is amazing! I have some lilies that I don't know the name of that look nearly like your 'Manhattans"

Later
Michelle

Today we have a sunny, pleasantly breezy morning. How nice for a change! The only clouds are on the western horizon, and they are not rain clouds but smoke clouds from the train derailment in Rockford - several tank cars of ethanol are burning from a horrible accident last night.

We went into town for the farmers market and were amazed to see the damage in town. Large pieces of a rubber roof are pushed to the side of the square, a large evergreen at the train station uprooted, branches down everywhere, and still lots of power outages. We drove past the house that DS and his wife are buying and all looked calm in their neighborhood. But I'm so glad we are not trying to do a wedding this weekend! And today was the original date that they had picked.

Time to start the laundry room project, so I am off. Lavender Mist is the Bennie Moore color of choice today.

V.

Doug and Deanne have just departed and I hope she'll have some pictures for you since she has the knack for blocking out the all the crap you don't want to see (of which there is plenty). I hope there is shot of the world's worst climbing rose, a very tortured New Dawn. Kathy will laugh right out loud... rightly so.

My brother has come and gone and shocked me by beginning to demolish the bathroom! The icky vinyl surround that was supposed to be "temporary" and get us an occupancy permit 18 yrs. ago is now gone. The old wallboard has been cut back and removed and the vapor barrier and the insulation are now clearly visible. The porcelain enamelled cast iron tub remains in place until the plumber arrives to cut and cap the water pipe that filled the tub and cut the pipe for the heat and shorten the baseboard. Trimwork and sheetrock has been removed from an alcove in the bedroom that will become part of the bathroom and the site for the new sink in the bathroom. I will actually gain wallspace in the bedroom which will be a very good thing. I wasn't expecting him to to do any of that today, but hey! I'm game and it's about time to get rolling on it. The helpmeet sure will be surprised. :) Time to put in the order for the shower pan and start thinking about the tile. Have any of you ever tiled a shower surround?

OK, enough of this. I have to return to the bedroom and figure out how to replace the belt in the Kirby's rug attachment. I forgot to disengage it before removing the attachment and now the beater bar won't turn anymore. This is not a good thing in a house as populated with animals as this one is...

I definitely need to go back and read up on Julie's shed... sounds major. And discouragingly messy.

The photographer has posted a wonderful photo of the bride & groom on her website. Unfortunately, it's one of those websites where I can't like to the specific photo, but those who have patience can click on the link below, go to portfolios, then black and white photography 2, and the photo is the first one on the upper left. This is as they were exiting the church in a cloud of bubbles.

V.

Well hi! all!

What wierd weather we are having: it is humid and cool, very dark and cloudy, but no rain. Dry as a board. No tornados or hurricanes or floods or heatwaves though...

The shed has been moved, it now sits where my perennial garden was. The plants, many of them huge, are boxed or bagged with lots of root ball dirt, and getting watered by the hose every day.

To move the shed, the workers had to jack it up, put it on two by fours, and then push with the dozer. Slowly, slowly it inched across the yard. Was actually a pretty funny sight from the house - all I could see was the roof slowly gliding by the window! Then the dump truck came and tossed a huge load of topsoil where the shed had been - the site of my new garden. Then another truck arrived with four rolls of fencing and two gates. Then everybody left. A scene of total destruction let me tell you! They left the dozer in the park - I am uneasy with a piece of heavy equipment on public property and unattended, but they will use the power auger to dig my post holes on Monday, and they expect to be out of here - job complete - by Wednesday. Then I can get to work on my new garden - I need to wait to see exactly where the corners and gates are before I can start.

Today I tidied, weeded, cut grass and watered all in the front. At least that looks pretty good, except for the tractor tracks across the lawn...

Well, Chelone, your bathroom project also sounds major and discouraginly messy *LOL*

Great to hear that you are getting so much walking in, Kathy! I too get about forty minutes twice a day as I walk each dog separately. We'll be able to WALAT to our heart's content! Nice that you can help out your DD too. We are sending DS to the dentist once a month as he has no money and no insurance. Was it this tough for us when we were younger?

I know the story about the missing child Marie, totally terrible. When I look at TCS....

Deanne your plants look amazing! I am totally envious of your results, but not of the time you spend (although it is obviously work born of love).

I simply cannot catch up with all the reading on this thread...I shouldn't let so many days slide by without stopping in! My apologies to all of you whom I have missed. Even after I stop to read, all my time is gone and I have no time to post!

Anyway, travel arrangements are made and I will be happily ensconced on the plane - well, not happily, I am not a good flier - on the 23rd.

My goals are to have the back yard back in reasonable shape and have my VISA paid off before I go - peace of mind in the first case, freedom to enjoy myself at any cost in the latter!

Cheers,

Julie

Evening all,

Thanks to Chelone for a lovely visit to the compound. (my cake had whipped cream on it) I've finally met and made peace with Wrecks and he's a lovely creature. Such uninhibited exuberance! Love him and all the kitties. Doug now has plans to make kittie entrances to the upper floors of the house. Chelone, I've not uploaded the pics yet but will do so tomorrow....

Yea, Julie has her travel arrangements. Would you please send me your itinerary? Deanneart at aol? And you WILL, without a doubt, enjoy yourself.

Yes indeed, it is a labor of love, and a bit of the OCD thing....

the gardens are pretty right now and I really need a transporter beam for everyone.

V, that wedding photograph says it all!!! such youth, joy, and prospects for the future. Wonderful!

OK time to refill the wine glass and then get some shut-eye.

Nite all
Deanne

Its the second-guessing myself time of year- nope, shouldnt have planted that there, shouldnt have planted that at all , need to move that 2 feet over, need something taller there, need something shorter there, etc etc oh yeah, and the ever-popular That Container Looks Crappy. I dug up one Nepeta and my Bronze Fennel today Nepeta looked weedy in its location and the BF has served me well for 2 years and had gotten way too large for my garden. I went to the garden center this morning to get 1 orange Calibrachoa(yeah, right)to replace a DOA in one of my containers and came home with said Calibrachoa and 1 Melon SorbetAbutilon, 1 E. cotinifolia , 1 lavender ivy geranium to plug in a vacant space in a container, and showed strength of character by averting my eyes from several other selections that I wanted.

V., the B&W photo is fabu ! Also the enjoyed the pics over on FB- congrats to you and new in-law folk at producing such a very attractive couple. How come people getting married look so young ???

Deanne, I surely enjoyed seeing your pics of Sarastro. Im thrilled with how well mine are settling in, I think I may get a slight bloom later this summer . Also love that "Manhattan lily, what a great color.

Chelone, who needs stencils when you have leaves ? Though they must have a nice silhouette- very impressed with DBs embrace of the loo-project !

Michelle, I have a similar tool , and I love mine. I dont use it for weeding so much as digging and especially root-pruning. I have 2 of the basic dandelion digger tools that I use to get out the weeds.

Julie, my late DH was an accountant and I think he had all his financial ducks-in-a-row from about the time he was 10! I was sometimes frustrated by his thrifty ways during our marriage but I am now in a position to help when I need to . I assure you that you will enjoy yourself whether the Visa is paid off or not ! There is nothing like IU !

All for me, time for dinner and baseball

The view before Bronze Fennel was spd {{gwi:162405}}From Garden 2009

Good morning.... :-)

Beautiful here this morning! Thanks to the house fan, luscious summer air is streaming through the windows. It is on the cool side, but no matter, I am enjoying it. The honeysuckle hasn't got as much punch but still enough to identify June, which is speeding by. Yesterday we all had a good day. We had enough sunshine for DD to mow the lawn. DH is moving from one firm to another and it has been stressful, but things started to fall into place on Friday and yesterday was the first day he has started to shed some of the stress, despite the long day and DD and I spent the whole day together. We probably haven't done that in almost a year. What could be better. :-)

I find myself thinking of all of you lately. Worrying about you Marian and hope you start to see improvement soon. Wondering where all the missing are and if they are having fun. Looking at the calendar, IU6 will be here soon. DD told me all about the wedding she attended last weekend. So V's wedding came up and I showed her the wedding pics. We hit the link to the wedding photo and we both were raving over how spectacular that photo of the bride and groom is!! Honestly thought that was one of the best wedding photographs we have ever seen. Handsome couple! Loved the bubbles. The photographer is very talented. While we were on the thread, she had a good laugh at baby Ivy's grouchy face and the 'bad haircut' photos. She has been disappointed with her windowbox. I was sick the weekend she and roommate planted it with plants I sent over. It is looking pretty pathetic. [g] The weather doesn't help. So we will have to fix it up a little. Deanne's containers amazed her. :-)

Kathy, that is an apt description of what happens to me every year....lol. I always have a TCLC moment. This year it is WAWPMA....weeds are way past my ankles.

Chelone, your brother is amazing!

Julie, so glad that you weren't mired in mud yesterday trying to move that shed. Exciting that by next week, you can get started on the new garden. Hope you are taking lots of photos.

Michelle, I forgot to include the description of that photo....here it is....

A starry night gleams above Owachomo Bridge in Utah's Natural Bridges National Monumentnamed the first Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). "Here you see something forgotten," says ranger Scott Ryan, "and reconnect with the sky."

Anita, hope your weekend is a sunny one. I'll have to go check my astilbes today.

We're starting the day early today, so time to put a move on.....have a great Sunday!

pm2

Lost my first post of the day...due to my own stupidity.

To recap:
I of course love the black & white photo of the newlyweds and hope to see others.

Phoebe enjoyed wild exercise last night when an unexpected friend came to play with her.

I'm working on removing an ant hill and many many MANY other tasks today. Hope DH can help!

I enjoyed this clip below. Hope you do too! Is it art or gardening?

Oh V! The young couple are GORGEOUS!!!

Cheers,
Julie

Morning all, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

Doug and I are having a laid back Sunday morning then we are going to a brunch to celebrate our Nephew's HS graduation. Don't know how he grew up so fast!

Kathy, Just love that combination! Your gardens are so lovely!

Here are a few pics from the 'Compound' from our visit yesterday. All is lush there and the peonies were incredible and huge. I even got a tour of 'Vegetable World'.
{{gwi:162406}}

Pretty little island bed with a mature Witchazel...
{{gwi:162409}}

Chelone's Hydrangea petiolaris is smothered in blooms
{{gwi:162410}}

{{gwi:162411}}

We also stopped at the Stonewall Kitchens place a few miles from Chelone's and they had a gorgeous ornamental veggie garden. I'll post pics of that on another thread.

Have a great day everyone!
Deanne

Good morning and Happy Father's Day! and summer solstice!

I'm just going to jump in with both feet. I read this Idyll, and really couldn't believe that you weren't 3 more Idylls ahead of me - I left earlier in the week to go to TN and attend a friend's funeral. I know where all the summer weather is hanging out :)

V., that's a beautiful picture of the happy couple....worthy of some prime real estate on a wall :)

GB, what a milestone to have to pass. I think about you often. I am enjoying this rain, as I can't seem to replicate what mother earth does with my hose! Everything I have going would've suffered if it hadn't rained while I was away.

Fear not, if anyone forgets their toenail polish, I will have a spare :)

Julie, your project actually sounds kind of exciting (though messy) and I bet things will rebound quickly. Have you been working on the layout in your head?

Chelone, I have not tiled, but I know you will walk us through your process....I often think I'd like a glass tile backsplash in the kitchen! Sounds easy enough :)

Nick and the kids held down the fort nicely, and dare I say, they finished the roof job and pressure washed the deck for me! I almost feel as if they didn't need me here....but they say they missed my special touches....like which windows to open to get the best breeze :) It's a bit muggy here, isn't it?

Well, better go and check the weather for the week and see what's on tap!

Saucy

ooh! I love the pictures of the copound! More please... That pergola is fabulous as is the climbing hydrangea/white peony combination! The pink peonies with their heads on the ground look exactly like mine this morning :-)

V - great wedding photos - the bubbles were a nice touch:-)

Deanne - re brugs - I gather from the bushy top, you're supposed to let all those sucker tybe things along the stems grow? But keep the bottom part clear to form a trunk..? Mine are stick with leaves at the top but I've got lots of stuff sprouting along the stems now so, looking at the one in one of your pictures, I think I'd better let a lot of that stuff grow! And throw in more fertilizer I guess....

Part two of the garden tour is this afternoon so 5 more gardens to visit after lunch.

Didn't Mary tile her new bathroom? I think so!

It is an amnazing morning here. DH managed to stack more wood piles in the barn which really tidies up the place. Phoebe helped. ;)

I was out there working on the ant problem. I fear they will simply move elsewhere. They began under my renardii geranium and moved to my sweet little gentian. I dug that out last night and poured gallons of boiling water there. We'll see how it goes.

Next I staked a clematis (Negritianka) and then began weeding the island bed near the bridge. I'm great at doing the edges but lack the will to be finicky about the interior sections. So I got one side improved upon and even managed to plant some Agastache rupestris and some Zauschneria "Orange Carpet" there. Many more things are waiting in the plant ghetto though.

Saucy, I'm glad you are back and were able to get away. I'm not sure I'll have any nails to paint by the time IU rolls around! They are presently a happy shade of grime.

Chelone, I'm delighted that someone else shares my love of things white. Your hydrangea on the arbor and white peonies are a super duper gorgeous sight! The witchhazel bed is lovely too. [Witchhazels die here. :( ]

DH has been cleaning up his study. He found 3 (THREE) old briefcases that are being disposed of. That must be some indicator of age, just like counting the number of bottles of Tabasco sauce purchased since your wedding indicates how many years you've been married. I really shouldn't comment since my study is not for viewing these days either.

Off to contemplate lunch and plan my afternoon activities.
'bug

Just finished my lunch and am about to tackle the painting of the laundry room. Yesterday we moved the old washer and dryer into the garage (until they are moved to DS's new house in about a week), then I cleaned the room and varnished the woodwork.

On our way home from church this morning, we drove past some of Friday night's storm damage. I looked at one tree that hid its trunk twisted off twenty feet above the ground and thought that it looked like tornado damage. Lo and behold, the NWS has confirmed that a tornado did come through, and that twisted tree was the first point of touchdown. The scary part is that we weren't even under a tornado watch when this struck.

Deanne, great photos of the compound.

'bug, I enjoyed your link. I especially liked her map of the world that could be shifted to different perspectives - food for thought!

Time for Mary to check in!

V.

I recall Mary tiling the vanity top in her suped up powder room, but was there shower surround tiling involved, too? I can't remember. I have never tried tiling on a vertical surface and I think the products I will have to use are different from those I used on the hearth project because there is water involved. I will also have to used stock tiles and I'm not sure how to give it a little zip without breaking the bank. I suppose the same way I plan a floor or floorcloth... sit down and draw it out. More time than money can either be a curse or a gateway to something creative. But you do have to be "in the mood" to sit down and plan.

V., I love the shot of your son and his bride. Her dress is very pretty, but her smile is what really sets it off. Today is my 17th. anniversary and I hope their future promises as much contentment. Compatibility and compromise can conquer just about any obstacle. What color number is "Lavender mist"? I used "Violet Mist" for the area above the dado in the living area of our home. I'm very partial to that area of the color wheel. ;)

I am ready to rethink things in the gardens this year. I am looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, though the insight I share with both Marian and Sue with respect to moving toward woody plants is going to feature prominently in the future direction of things around here. It's for that reason that I'm pointedly simply rearranging the perennials I presently have; there is much "good stuff" but it's not so wisely employed. There is also much in the way of hardscaping that I'd like to begin.

Time to get back to my book. I'm actually "slacking" today, not in the mood to go out and deal with stock tiles or sitting and mapping anything out. Nor do I feel like picking out stitching on the alterations downstairs. Wrecks and I circumnavigated the Compound in between showers and he's in lazy mode, too.

Everyone else must be a real ball of fire today, too, by the number of posts!