What's happening in your neck of the woods..with friends!

My day just got better....leaving work at 1:00pm..

Betty I need a suggestion about storing fabric.

I have a lot of lengths of fleece and denim bought to make dog beds.

They are 60 inch fabrics so the widths are approx. 30 inches, (31/32 even!)
And usually 3-4 yards so large pieces.

How would you store them- closed cupboard ( if I can find a good size)?, open shelves? drawers ( size issue again)? Currently they are piled up on a couple of tables in the basement . I do get mice in the winter so would worry about a closed cupboard.(I had mice inside a built in unit last winter) Maybe just cover them with plastic? Maybe roll them up like the bolts in the store and store them end wise in garbage cans? ( prob not a good idea, they might not be solid enough to stand!)
Maybe I should go to the fabric store and get some empty cardboad rolls/bolts from them!

No plans to for the weekend. Raining again today and windy. Walking Cooper we saw people with ear muffs, gloves, winter coats, and lots of conversations about the weather. You guys are all so busy!

went to home depot, walmart and canadian tire today.. Got a passiflora vine at HD for $19 its a bit steep but I have wanted one for years so now i do.. got a few grasses and some ground covers.. Hubby got all the mulch laid today. Him and my step daugher are leaving tomorrow for a whole week.. I'll be alone to just garden and relax, what more could i ask for... Last week canadian tire had a sale on clematis $4.99 a plant so hunny bought me 5 (4 different ones and 2 nelly's) I'm excited to see them bloom..

joannabanana I'm so jealous of that green house, i have wanted one for a few years now but i dont think it will happen anytime soon..

Betty you so lucky thats what time i had to start, i missed the whole afternoon :(

jen

Dropping in for a sec...

Hope weather improves out west so you can get your gardening done and sit in the sunshine...

Just waiting for Darlene, she's picking me up and off we go to buy more plants, NOT that we need more, but of course we have to support the local Church! that's what I keep telling myself as I pick plant after plan...

Be back shortly

We have rain ALL around us .. not that it won't be beneficial to those who receive it, it will be MOST greatly appreciated .. BUT .. Thunder Bay ( our lawns and plants ) are in dire need of a day or TWO worth of steady rain ..

My 'To Do List' is a tad jammed up and incohesive today, time to sit down and make it a bit more manageable.
Have a dump run planned, have 5 gas containers that need filling so it'll be off to the Reserve for gas, want to go to a gardening centre (or 2) to have a LOOK at some shrubs. The Honeysuckle, Forsythia and Rigella I bought last summer are growing so well, and a delight to look at.
Lorna JUST rec'd a pacakge of bulbs and rose bushes she ordered through the mail .. so they will have to be picked up at the post office, checked and planted ..
HMmmmmmmmmmmmmm .. I best get offa here and on the move LoL

Enjoy your day .. supposed to be 27-28C here today ~~

~M~

It is snowing here! Wet and heavy so may do a significant amount of damage to shrubs and trees which are leafed out and holding the weight!

Plant share this morning should be interesting!

From my front steps.......

oh wow i would cry.. I just couldn't handle snow right now..

M same weather here for me today.. Got to get on this gardening before it goes back to 90's..

have a great day everyone
jen

It's sunshine here today, it's 76, nice breeze..filled my morning at the plant sale..yikes brought 60 home and 1 flowering almond shrub..then Greg dropped in, took me to town and picked up 15 bags of soil, more manageable for me to handle, we did the seat for his chop bike, last piece he needed to finish..said he'd come back tomorrow and fix the front door screen that the dog clawed during the storm, fix my water hose..nice to have a helpful son..

We need rain as well...grass is dying..am hoping once I add the earth to the upper sandy part of the lawn I'll be able to grow some grass..I've been watering an awful lot not sure it's helping the grass but my plants are starting to come alive..

Carol, it must be so frustrating for you with the snow..is this the latest you've ever had snow? please/please don't send it my way..understand from the weatherman this morning that you'll be in the 20's next week ..sure must be playing havoc with the gardens and hanging plants..

betty 60 plants wow, i thought i had a good day yesterday with 10 but you blew that away.. wish i could of found more that i wanted.. Hubby picked out 6, only 4 were mine and 3 were the same ground cover lol All is planted now but his "bugleweed" and "chicks and hens" ground cover cant figure out where I want it to go... It was a very HOT morning, ran to the store for ice and popsicles, those saved me for a bit.. guess i'll have to finish up tomorrow..
jen

I dont think there are any months when Calgary has not had snow. I think the discouraging thing this year is it is happening so often and so close together - a few warm days then a storm, a few more warm days and another storm etc. etc.

Plant share went off perhaps not quite as scheduled! The whole organisational system is pretty much ignored, honor system rules, plants on the ground in the lane instead of laid out on tables, just take your plants in and remember how many you had and if you didnt have any please pay the lady under the umbrella! Some plants never made it any further than the lane entrance with members hovering to see what was coming in and grabbing them right away! Light wet snow falling and certainly cold but nobody complained and almost all the plants were gone by 1030 when I left.

I did not take any plants, nor anticipate picking any ( volunteers get 2 free ones) But I did take a clump of a white Siberian Iris and then came across two little yellow flax. I do have one but they are deep tap root and hard to transplant and hard to find too. So I picked them both up, a lady beside me Oh is that Yellow Flax? - very excited ( I think she thought I was bringing them in!) so I gave her one! We also had somebody selling lily bulbs so I bought some of those .

In case you are wondering yellow flax does not look the much more common blue flax. or red flax for that matter which is an annual here. Here's a pic - it is theplant on the far left in front of the rose.

Carol, plants were not to share at my plant shindig..but you can't go wrong for $1.00 for perrenials and big containers to boot...I was happy to find 2 containers white siberian iris as well..

Now I have blue and pink flax but they are long miniature type stems, my favorites because they are a filler in the gardens and just blow in the breeze..will have to check for yellow flax...I'm surprised that they still had the event considering there was snow!

Your front is incredibly beautiful..love it...

Jen..I bought about 10 perrenials this week from nursery, always try to find the unusual..

Cleaning up an area I was digging, I thought lordy must be hitting a rock so with my fut and shovel in hand gave a strong push..I'm now without underground hydro for my pond pump..called my brother, thank the Lord for brothers..said he'd either drop by tomorrow or Monday and make the repair...

I did sit with Kyle for about an hour...was surprised I could sit that long without getting antsy..lol..Kyle counted how many people could come and sit in my yard, decks / patio/lawn and have a seat..well 38 could, then he counted the chairs I have in the back shed ...12 so could have a party of 50 without any trouble ...Kyle thinks that's quite something...his friend came to meet him here to go biking and Kyle just had to tell him that...too cute.. well wasn't so cute when he sprayed me with the hose..

Going to have lunch, realized I've had no breakfast and no lunch, no wonder my tummy is saying 'feed me' so off I go..all but about 20 plants now have a home so will plant the rest and call it a day...

wow betty already 40 done?? i cant even get through my 10 today.. I wish it wasn't so hot out so i could do it all now.. its 81 but theres not a breath of wind it is so hot..

Overcast windy and threatening more rain. I'd send the rain to you that need it if I could.
Went out to a few nurseries, came home with a couple of calla lilies, the big white ones, and a couple of unknown colour brugmansias. I got them at quite a steal. So I"ll be out planting, transplanting and de-bugging.

I bought calla lillies as well, omg some big roots am sure you could made 4 plants out of them..can you help me out, do you plant deep? do they like sun or shade? they were 3 for $1.00, girl gave me a bag full for $2.00 they are the only things left to plant...not sure what the color of them are but it doesn't matter...everything is so dry here..need a few days of good rain, you send rain and I'll send you sunshine..

Brugmansias, didn't know if they grow here..always hear the southern girls talk about them..

Jen, you should be resting in this heat, NOT planting and exhausting yourself..DH better take you by the hand and sit you in a chair with a cool one...juice that is...

well, tired and dirty so best I go have a warm bath and relax..I've done all the damage I can do today!

Kyle came over with the bike Greg made, wanted me to go for a ride, lordy, I'm 5' nothing, short legs, absolutely no way I could lift my leg over to ride... lol

MG99 I have both calla lilies and brugs you will happy you got them... the brugs are just stunning

Betty not to sure but i plant mine about 2" down in full sun, they seem to do well last year... Hubby is gone with his daughter for the week I'm alone... Yes i did alot of sitting, I would plant one thing and sit and have a drink, then once cooled off i would do another... lol i paid $14 last year for one calla lily and this year $10 for 3 bulbs and $2.50 each for another 2 bulb lol

Brugmansias are not hardy to for me so i bring them in for the winter, they flower and at about 7pm my whole house smells of peaches and baby powder.. They will then loose all the leaves and i just water my green sticks to keep them moist till spring... once out side they take off new leaves start and everything is all good again... Only thing i can keep alive over winter, so far..

Busy day for everyone .. so disheartening re the SNOW out west !!

Did all (PLUS,PLUS,PLUS) on my to do list .. planted 2 rose bushes and over 25 Canna bulbs ... fingers crossed re their viabilty.

Weather has been cooler than expected (22C) .. actually quite nice ^_^

Betty, I looked at bike and just smiled !!! Lorna asked ME to pull her 'zero clearance riding mower' out of the garage .. WELL .. am glad NOBODY had a camera !! I had on a long skirted summer dress .. I perched on this 'thing' and it took a bit to talk me through how to turn it on and drive it out .. pretty funny .. and .. I LOVE the thing !!!!

MAYBE rain tomorrow .. won't count on it .....

~M~

Morning girls, sunshine out there..just going to clean the mess Greg and I did yesterday, tools all over the place..the biggest chore I hope to get done is washing the basement floors after that I'll get a book out and enjoy..

Sounds as though Lorna is ready to get at it, how wonderful..

My girlfriend Ann dropped in yesterday, they moved up on Thursday..cottage has been renovated to full time home, she's thrilled about now living here but the news about Mike is NOT good.. since early April to now, the growths on his lungs have doubled...praying for a cure for the big 'c'
Don't know many families who have not been affected in some way or another...

Well, it's breakfast time, need to get moving before the day escapes me...

Enjoy the sunshine..

Betty I think were all hoping for a cure, it seems now a days more and more people are getting sick, its really scary.. Hubby went for a biopsy a few weeks ago, he had this weird red pimple thing on his chest.. He finds out on the 11, but the doctor said not to worry it doesn't look like melanoma..

~M~ I can picture how funny that must of looked, never seen anyone on a riding mower in a dress before..

well today i have half of a small garden left to mulch and plant seeds in... The do my garden walk to see where else i can add to.. hopefully done by 11am so i beat the heat.. if not I'll do them one at a time slowly through the day..

My brother got the keys to his house yesterday, theres so excited.. I'm so proud of him, a few years back he was getting in trouble with the law, then found out his girlfriend was pregnant.. They both moved out together (he was only 19 she was 18) and got a little apartment.. All i have to say is that my niece (his baby) changed his life.. Now at 20 hes a home owner, goes to work everyday, pays his bills, and is never in trouble anymore.. I guess thats what they call growing up..

well off to my mud pit to get somethings done today..
have a great morning ladies..
jen

Isn't that a story Jen made in heaven...congratulations to both of them...now you go slowly in the garden..it will be a scorcher of a day..

I've decided to take a quick run into town..Home Depot of course..need a few supplies then back here just puddling..floors upstair/downstairs all done, wash done, I'll do a bit of dusting when I need a break and everything is tickityboo..lol

Oh yes it is very hot here, 86 today plus I have a 7 foot privacy fence around my whole back yard, so i dont even get a breath of wind... I got the rest of the patio garden mulched and seeded, even through in a few red striped cannas, and rose mallows.. Watered the whole yard too.. Now i have showered and will be inside most of the day sipping on raspberry juice.. Later on tonight i when it cools down i will get the last and final corner done.. Its all going castor beans, but i have to put up a plastic fence to keep the dogs out for a week or two while the seeds and plants grow a bit..
jen

The sun came out for a few minutes this morning! It is spitting a bit intermittantly so probably this system is starting to move over to Sask.
I guess some areas of the city had frost but I was OK. Hope I can get back in the garden tomorrow. Still have not got my veggies planted except the potatoes which are starting to come up.
Just took the dogs over to the groomers ( sheusually comes here) there are pretty dirty- last groom was in mid Feb. After they come back we are all going to do a home visit for a potential foster home for Sheltie Rescue. This lady had a dog, now deceased who was my Bailey's dams litter mate. Names of the litter were Apricot Strudel, Strawberry Shortcake and Cherry Cheesecake!

Carol .. those are such awesome names for the dogs ..but .. one of my 'prerequisites' on the naming of my dogs .. has always been the 'call factor' ... I tried to have a name that was OK to shout out in public, say in a park, if the dog needed to be called back ...

Well .. a cool day .. got some garden (Veg) done .. have read planting tomato plants using Epsom Salts is quite the 'new thang to do' .. so .. do it we did .. a tablespoon in the hole (mix it with the dirt) place the plant, cover with soil, and, for every foot of height of your plant .. you place a tablespoon of epsom salts around it and mix in the dirt .. so if your plant is 2' tall .. add 2 tbsp of Epsom and so on. I did it to 3 of the plants .. better safe than sorry !!!

I SO should have had Lorna or Gord take a pic of me on the riding mower in my long summer dress .. pink plaid seersucker no less !!! Got on it again today to put it away for Lorna who spent SIX HOURS today cutting the lawns and trimming nextdoor !!! She sure is resilient as well as resourceful !!

DAWG .. we just had a whole 22 minutes of rain .. gone now .. left us overcast .. mosquitoes are havin a party on the patio !!!

Off to fold laundry ..

~M~

OH OH OH .. listened to Ren Molnar today .. a Jack of all trades guy on the radio ..
He gave this 'recipe' for dandilion/weed killer ...

1 gallon of vinegar .. heated
1 cup of salt
8 drops of dishsoap

Mix it up (dissolve salt in vinegar), and get out there and kill some weeds.

I think I;ll half the recipe as I used pure vinegar on a patch of about 6 Dandis and I killed the grass as well .. maybe the addition of the salt prevents that ?

~M~

M yes I agree with you about call names-prefer two syllables to 1 and easy to call, (read once to avoid names that start with the same sound as a command)
I personally prefer to use non-human names.

Those were registered names of course and since breeders often dont have their dogs running around at off leash parks not particularly important. The family I just visited adopted Cherry Cheesecake when she was 6 year old and caller her Cherry which works. NIce family, they will make a great foster home. Current 7 yr old female is called Shadow.

Came home about 4:45, had a snack, gave the dogs their afternoon carrot even thought it was close to supper time, sat down and thought I felt sleepy, closed my eyes and slept for 1 1/2 hours! Even the dogs did not bug me although well past supper time!

Raining again but notheavy, hope that is the last of it for awhile.

Just a quick hello to say I'm lurking!
Enjoy reading all the daily things.
We too are fighting the snow and my G house is full and I even put stuff in my car(it's an Aztek) in the back hatch.
I'm looking forward to photos of puppies, baby and yards!
I loved the color of the drag bike!
Bye for now.
Ann

Hey Ann might be making another trek north in August for a sheltie party - St Albert location this time. Hope you will be around - probably will be looking for a bed for the night! In addition to a nice visit of course!

Took Fancy to the vet this morning, she has been having an odd soft little cough - his first choice is Kennel Cough so she is on antibiotics and we will skip class tonight. Hope he is wrong because she was at the groomers yesterday ( her home) and I did mention it and she said nothing but when I called and told her this morning she told me she has 2 pregnant poms! Plus her rotties of course.Sure hope it does not spread!And we did a home visit yesterday afternoon so I had to warn that family too.

If she is not getting better in 3-4 days it is something else he says, next choice is collapsed trachea and he will have to X-ray to check that. Other than the cough she seems fine although her weight has gone down 2 lbs since 6 mos ago with no change in diet.

Srtill pretty cool out today and some rain this morning. The annuals I have out are fine except for some coleus that is toast. not a big loss.

We sure do need the rain! We've had more heat advisories this year so far as we had the entire 2009 seasons..opening doors for those without a/c in the city government offices.

Delayed coming home, accident right at Barrie but then a major accident just before I got on the side road..am sure prayers will be needed for the occupants..never saw so many emergency crew vehicles on-hand...highway closed.

Love the doggie names as well..Sherbert would go well wouldn't it...better I not start picking names for puppies, did say after Sailor goes NO MORE doggies...

Ann, are you likely to have a lot of plants die? sure hope not...tomorrow is the 1st of June, surely that's the end of your snow and cold weather..
"M" recipe sounds interesting, I was just asking the girls at work at how does the newly advertised product killing weeks only and leaving grass alone, how can it decide it's a weed..find that so odd...hate to kill of weeds because if I did so there be no grass...was like that when I moved it, too much $$$ to have it all dug up, top soil and sod...guess I'm on the right track, keep digging flower gardens and soon there will only be pathways...

Carol you sure do keep yourself busy with dogs..when you take them in temporarily, is there an agency that helps with all their vet needs?
Waving to all I've missed, want to sit and gab but there is a storm alart, thundering and lightning and winds starting up so best I shut down and gab tomorrow...

Just incase hydro goes out should go have my bath, put my jammies on and be prepared for a relaxing night ..maybe even candlelight...

Betty expenses for all dogs surrendered to ASR are covered by ASR except the foster families supply food.
When we take a dog from the SPCA they have usually done anything we would do.( and much cheaper than we can do ourselves)

Betty would you go back a few posts and see my message requesting advice on fabric storage? Thanks!

Carumba Ann (Edmonton) sounds as though I'll be hanging off on my annuals as our weather comes from the WESt ..
D BinL in Fort McMurray called today, says it's cool and wet there, he's looking forward to heading home to Summerland BC for his 10 days out.

Carol .. this kennel cough deal is such a flippin puzzle. If you remember a year or so back, we had Lilly in 'obedience classes' .. the class held approx 12 dogs .. and .. the instructors put down ONE water bowl. After the 2nd class .. Lilly started with the cough .. ended up on antibiotics .. and .. we never went back .. called the instructor to tell her, she vehemently denied it was the water bowl .. NO ONE else (said she) had called her .. a rotten way to lose $100. !!

Lovely day here (no rain) but beautiful temps. Physio went well as did a docs appt .. but .. we missed a swim.
Tomorrow will be a day .. Lorna is being 'interviewed' to become a patient of a doc taking new patients .. if that don't beat all hey ?
Sure hope she 'cuts the mustard' cuz she SO needs a family physician ..

Off to walk Lilly

~M~

M: Kennel Cough is airborne so if one dog in the class had it they could all easily get it. Or they might have some immunity also- I commented that Bailey was fine and that was what he suggested. In any case I think we will all stay home from class as the instructor has not got back to me yet about Bailey coming. I dont want to take any chances on infecting other dogs.If that is what she has - which of course we dont absolutely know yet!

Storing Fabric

DO NOT PUT in plastic bins..material needs to breathe...

Metal or plastic Grid Cubes... can be purchased at Costco & some at the thrift store. These Grid-Cubes can be configured to any shape & size you need... You can even put them together to go up & over a desk (against the wall), but I just stack them on top of a long table or set them on the ground (like shelves) or hang them on the wall... i fusing a a "drawer" use square plastic dish-pans bought at the dollar store... these Dish Pans just slide in & out of the 13x13" grids like a drawer would so you can store your sewing, crafting supplies & patterns in the dish-pan "drawers"...
...
2) OR, you can hang coated wire or wood shelves covered with contact paper onto your walls & stack folded fabric on these shelves. This works great of you have No floor space... but have a bit of wall space... Use a piece of fabric (as a curtain) that's the same color as your wall to hang in front of this shelf & it'll just blend in to your wall & you'll hardly see it!

3) can use clear rectangular plastic bins stacked on end (preferably without the lids on).. fold the fabric into thin pieces so I can see each piece & pattern then stack them into the bins as they are up on their side... (the long way, kind of like a chest of drawers) When finished, you can drill a few holes in the lid so you can put the lids on & stack them... air them out once in a while & NEVER put pricey fabric in plastic!)

To help find fabrics, arrange fabrics like this: In one bin: Black & Navy fabrics... in the Second: White & Light Color Summer Cottons... 3rd: Kids fabrics & colorful Cotton Prints, & lastly all Stretch Knits & Ribbing...

Thanks Betty

It is all fleece and denim for the dog beds mostly 3 and 4 metre lengths although one is 10 yards of denim! I dont want to cut them since I never know quite what size beds I want to make! Lots of floor space, ( lots of wall space too) fabric is currently just stacked on tables!
I thnk I might buy a metal shelving unit and stack on the shelves ( shelves open too), that way it is all exposed . Dont need to hide it - in my basement and nobody goes down there but me and then only if sewing or painting

Carol, what do you paint?

Drats had hoped for more rain last night, barely a few drops even though it was blowing, lightning and making all kinds of wonderful sounds...today it's sunshine once again...

We were to have 2 or 3 days of rain this week, just checked the weather channel and nope, it's passing us by..still showing Saturday as a rain day though..

Betty not much! I used to do a lot of stencilling so I did practice stencils on pieces of dry wall on my work table. I also used to make Memory Boxes for people who lost a pet ( held ashes, coller, leash etc.) and that was painted and stencilled. And the table gets used for cutting.

Cloudy with some sun today, a bit chilly but OK to work outside with a sweater on.

Took the car in this morning for a spring checkup- it is about a 20 min walk from home so I took the dogs and we walked home, then will walk back again when it is ready. Underground water system people coming this afternoon to fix a couple of things for me.

I have some lily bulbs I bought at plant share on Sat, still wandering around trying to decide where to put them! Also got a chunk of a white Siberian Iris but I have a home for that.

10 minutes of rain was ALL TBay got when the day ended yesterday .. an actual 'DROP IN THE BUCKET' .. planting plants you can tell by the soil that rain is LONG overdo.

Lorna (and everyone else) is doing the 'Happy Dance' .. she was INTERVIEWED by a physicisn yesterday, a very nice young woman, and she was ACCEPTED as a patient !!!! So, now she can say she HAS a doctor. Mind you, she's going to have to go through a bunch of 'baseline' tests.

Tragedy has struck our fair city at one of Canada's most visitied tourist attractions, Historial Old Fort William, a 4 year old girl was on an outting with her kindergarten class to the Fort, stopped to pet one of the draught horses, these horses are quite docile .. anyway, they were hitched to a buggy, the horse bolted and the buggy collided with the wee one. Even though I don't know the family .. I feel so bad for them .. as well as the workers at the Fort. It has been open for 32 years without incident.

Off to physio today .. just a month of it left, then a month off .. Lorna is getting much more comfortable with the prosthesis, still will have to be more tweaking done though.

Take care all ..

~M~

OMG how tragic "M", prayers for the family..you just don't know do you, here they are out enjoying themselves and tragedy befalls them...

We haven't had much more rain than you, yesterday morning the ground was 'wet' but dried quickly, not enough to really do justice..weatherman says that mid afternoon today a storm front will move in and we'll be having rain for 3 or 4 days...that's good and that's bad...

Saturday, my friend Ann who just moved up to the cottage wanted to bring her things to the street garage sale my street is having, so rain will cancel that, then, Kyle's Ride for Cancer is Sunday..last year we drove our bikes in heavy rain, sounds as though we may do same this Sunday...

Can't have it both ways can we?

Big sigh here, although the neighbors built a beautiful home next door to me a couple of years ago and the hubby is working hard on the front, all the garbage and wood/timber etc is just thrown at the property line so I'm thinking this wekend of working a 2 to 3' strip from my house to the existing fencing and go looking for shrubs/trees..pretty bad when you have to hide the neighbors...my kids joke with me, they say perhaps the neighors aren't interested in looking at all my garden art either..aren't they nasty kids..

"M" glad that Lorna will have a break but am applauding her courage to try so hard..and you my friend for being the friend you are to her..how lucky she is...

Quiet here today...need something to keep these idle hands going..

Waving to all..

Any photo's of your gardens...would love to see them

~M~ thats so sad, poor little one!!

Betty its always terrible when neighbors cant keep there yards clean, we had a neighbor across from us never cut the grass, had old broken up cabinets in the front yard laying at the road for weeks.. I guess the back yard was worse as other neighbor have told us, loaded with furniture and cats even the odd rat was spotted.. A few of us got together and called the city, it was cleaned up, well the front anyways within days.. The cabinets only made it to the other side of the hedges but we couldn't see them anymore.. I know its not the nicest thing to do but sometimes you just dont have choice..

Hubbies home early long story.. But mostly its because of the bugs, bears, fire bands, and low water levels.. He says he will never go on a canoe trip again.. The second he rented the canoe he new he didn't want to even get in it.. All that planing, and excitement and they home after the weekend... I'm however happy to see them.. On the upside he brought my camera home YEAH!!! so now i can take some pics of the new garden we put in.. Sadly its going to rain today so that will be in a day or two.. But i'll post them when i do..

Jen, the poor man works 10-12 hrs. a day then comes home and does the best he can, however, I'd be grabbing those 18-20 yr. olds that live with him (kids) by the ear and get them doing something...oooh I get so mad watching them sun themselves in 1' of grass while he puts food on the table..won't go there as I'll be all ryled up again..I said to him on the weekend when he was near exhaustion, why don't those boys help you, he said that his wife doesn't think it's right to push kids to do things, hmmm that leads me to think they are not his kids...

Looking forward to seeing your gardens...trying to remember last year gardens all in bloom, seems this year there are patches here and there of color, not a lot, so maybe I'm expecting too much and later everything will bloom together in one spectacular show...

It's starting to cloud over..

Before I left this morning I moved a couple of chairs near a side cabinet so that if it starts to thunder Sailor won't try to hide under the cabinet and it fall over..can just see my stained glass lamp in a zillion pieces..the things we furry owners have to think about..

Sorry your hubby's canoe trip didn't pan out..Jeff my youngest is going kayaking again for total of 4 weeks, doing the shoreline of Georgian Bay and again all on his own, so this mom will be worried once again till he parks the kayak...2 grandsons go June 31st. for 6 weeks on a kayak trip, lots of portages, with a youth camp in Algonquin Park, now I'll be worrying about bears and their safety..lordy, going to need high blood pressure meds for sure...

Betty i understand, our neighbor was unemployed and renting the place, she had no excuse why it looked that way.. I only work about 20 hours a week, hubby works 44 hours and ours is the nicest lawn on the block.. A few neighbors have yelled at him (all in fun) as their retired, their wifes are getting on there case about them not having grass like ours.. lol Their all good neighbors and lucky that lady has moved out.. the house is empty but at least now the grass gets cut weekly.. Yes i agree theres no reason the kids arn't helping out.. Sounds like the mom is just allowing them to become more and more lazy.. My 14 year old step daughter wanted money a few weeks back, so hubby made her cut the grass, she butchered it, needless to say she will be cleaning next time she needs money, but at least he didn't just hand her the money.. Parents need to teach kids even at the age of 18, that nothing is to be handed to you, and to respect the things you were given or have, and take care of your stuff...

My garden is mostly canna, callas, and castor beans, which need to be planted every year.. I like to change it every year other then the corners are always a castor bean jungle.. This year we have added a few hardy hibiscus, they will be smaller this year.. I've also talked hubby in to a few clematis vines as well as a passiflora vine (BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS!!!) if you dont have one of these look in to getting one all i can say is wow.... Nothing like i've ever seen before.. There not hardy for me but they do go dormant in the winter so i'm hoping just storing it in the garage or basement will allow it to come back in spring.. We'll see, gotta at least try...

Betty hopefully they will all have safe trips, I know how you must feel when they go.. Hubby was only gone for a long weekend but without contact to him as cells dont work up there, a girl has to wonder if there ok...