Apropos of Nothing v.19

Flower World - sale ends October 17th! Be sure to sign up for their online club before you go there to get your discount.

all 1 gallon Grasses* are $5.00 each
(*excluding Black Mondo Grass, Phormium and Dracaena)
all Bamboos are 50% off
all Deciduous Trees incl Japanese Maples are 20% off

It sounded good, but they don't have Fargesia Robusta bamboo. Otherwise, if it rained, I might have met some of you in person.

I fear my little F. rufo may never get big enough to supply sturdy stakes and poles.

Corey

And then one day, it will come up through the back deck . . .

>> And then one day, it will come up through the back deck . . .

Right, like the year nothing seemed to be growing much. Then the Star of Yelta Morning Glory erupted like Mt. Saint Helen!

Corey

Rick you and Kathy need to go out on a date. I have no idea what you are talking about!

Safe in your snug marina! That's good news, Steve. What is the name of that sweet little boat you have? Hope the finger starts moving soon. That's what happens when manly men ignore the fact that the hand is now in the shape of the handle on the ginder. If you have to pry your hand off the grinder, you've been at it for too long. How well we all know.

So Rick and Kathy are talking about stealth growth - you know- when the plants are apparently doing nothing, but, in fact, are sending out roots as big as Australia, only to take over the world the following year.

Hi my dear ones ^_^ I'm popping in to tell you that my dear friend Kyla is moving to Seattle. She is a wonderously warm, funny member from the Rocky Mountain Forum. Kyla meet all the fabby peoples from the PNW; everyone meet fabby Kyla. (I shall send her the link now)

*waving* Hi Kyla! :)

Hi and welcome Kyla

Welcome, Kyla.

Looking forward to meeting you soon, Kyla. Seattle is a great place for gardening.

Hey, thank you all so much! Looking forward to new gardening territory.... moving is real hectic so not sure how much visiting here I can do while in the throes of it all..... but glad to meet you and I'll be checking in when i can......

Welcome, Kyla. We hope you'll hang around!

Hi, Kyla! Nice to see you on this forum! They're nice enough to allow me to post here, too. Is the move definite now?

And like GG, I'm a bit outside the PNW but tolerated. Welcome Kyla. Look forward to hearing about your gardening.

And incase anyone hasn't seen it - loved this story of the woman beating off a bear with a courgette!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/sep/26/tips-survive-an-animal-attack

Welcome Kyla! You will freak out all the plants that become available from living on the Rocky mt front.
I just got a tee shirt. "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.". I laughed.
Just returned from Yakutat and the storm was fantastic! The ROAR of the ocean was fun and the wind buckling the panes as I did surgery yesterday looking out. The surf also was huge.

Welcome, Kyla, to the area and to this forum! I hope you like all the rain we get, though the sunny summers here may remind you of home ... just 20-30 degrees cooler and much shorter!

When I drove past yuor old home town, I loved its name, and got a lot of pctures of road signs. Fortunately, I was the passenger. Having heard stories about some parts of california, I have to ask: was the town named after common garden-varieties weeds, or ... you know ... Weed?

Corey

Welcome Kyla.

Yes, welcome to PNW Kyla. Weed isn't so far from here. I have stayed there a few nights on the way to and from CA. First time in 1956. Love the look of that area.

Thanks all! Yes G gal, the move is definite! In about three weeks actually. Soferdig, you are so right; the plants quiver with fear and dismay when they get news of my approach. *No more slacking!* they whisper and mutter and moan to each other, *here she comes, and she is gonna make us grow and stuff. darn it........* hahaha

Weed is named very unromantically for Abner Weed who established the town to have a place for his lumber mill. All gone now. Rick, did you get pictures of the faux and terrible "totem pole" in the parking lot of the Rays grocery in Weed??? (maybe I will go take one and post it, if you didn't.)

Laurie1, yes I'd say you are rather far from the official PNW, probably in the outlying territories, no? :)

So here's a video of a woman making really good friends with an elephant seal..... friend sent this to me a couple days ago:

http://sanssouciblogs.multiply.com/video/item/93/This_will_make_your_week

Awwww! That is such a sweet video!

>> the faux and terrible "totem pole" in the parking lot of the Rays grocery

I recall something like that from the trip, but I doubt I got a shot. I was probably still shuddering until after we drove past.

Corey

yes it is highly shudderable, that "totem" thing.


the video is rather amazing....... have not spent time on that blog, just kind of zoomed past most of the text...... my pal who emailed it to me said she keeps going to look at it every day or so, like for a "kindness break" or an "uplift tonic" kind of thing. I can see why!

What a great video! However, did she keep her hands down? It must have been so hard.

I just heard an interview on NPR this morning with a guy who takes trips to Antarctica. He was talking about just this thing and saying that they ask you not to touch the seals, but that there's nothing to prevent them from touching you.


This message was edited Sep 27, 2010 9:20 PM

I keep forgetting to tell you guys about when I woke up in recovery after my surgery- they wake you up by talking non-stop and trying to get you to answer questions and stuff, and asking over and over if you're doing okay. The nurse that was assigned to me saw my dahlia tattoo and said he liked it, and asked me if I like gardening. I was still pretty out of it, but I mumbled yes, I garden. He asked if I had heard of money plant, and I mumbled "Lunaria Annua." He cracked up and said "Yeah, you're okay." ;D

Good one Pony. I could only tell him yeah. You girls have the brains that we guys don't. Good thing "if they don't find you good looking you better be handy".
Oh just a warning about Kyla she is going to be a great addition here. Kyla I thought you bought a house in Weed? Did you sell it? I loved your setting there. I just ran into a person from there in Petersburg and told her I knew all about Weed she was quite surprised.

Aw..... Soferdig you are being sweet. Thank you. And no I am only renting this house! I am moving sort of on a wing and a prayer, which is my life long M. O. anyway....... but support and kindness and new friends are showing up each day for which I am most grateful.

Pony, that is too funny. I one time worked so hard to learn the Latin binomial for a plant I loved that I dreamed about it. I was in this dream walking along with a friend and she said "Look at that! what is it?" and I said, "Thalictrum dipterocarpum" !!!!

I was so shocked I woke myself up. Stuff like that does not belong in dreams! LOL! And it is an exception, I don't usually have that good a memory for nomenclature type stuff.

When my Dad (around 90 at the time) woke up from heart surgery, the nurses were very concerned that his answer to every question was a small smile and mumbled "Unnh-hunnh". They came to my Mom and started to explain why they thought he might have had some brain damage, and asked what he had been like before surgery.

Fortunately Mom picked up on the "Unnh-hunnh" more than she paid attention to "brain damage".

"That's what he always says. He's very hard of hearing. You have to speak up.
BILL!!! TALK TO THE NURSES!!!"

Then all was well.

Corey

Apropos of nothing- here's a yellow Tigridia; droopy from the rain, but still pretty. Since they're hard to catch photos of, I didn't want to miss the opportunity. ;)

Love that viedo. Ain't love grand!

Love the Virginia Creeper also.

Cute hospital stories.

Second PT appointment today- PT dude says I am ROCKING it. I'm ahead of the curve, baby! See, being stubborn and refusing to take it easy and accept help with stuff pays off! (I've been doing regular household chores this whole time- driving poor Tracy crazy refusing his help on most stuff. hehe) Still weeks to go before I can work in the garden, but I'm on my way. :)

Pony, is Fri, Oct 8 ok with you for me to come over and help? Maybe we will have our lily bulbs by then, and I can share some with you and Pixy.
Glad you are doing great!

That day would work fine for me, Lynn. Thank you! I don't know if we'll have our bulbs by then, though- aren't they shipping on the 6th? I think he's using ground service, so they could take a while. Not that I need any extras- I'm going to have a heck of a time fitting in the ones I ordered. ;)

Kylaluaz Welcome to the PNW and the cold and dark, love the video!

I'M IN!! JUST GOT MY PLACE FOR THE 2011 MOONWALK!! I LOVE THIS EVENT - MY THIRD WITH MOONWALK!! I'M DOING THE BEE DANCE!!

Love the unhhn-hunnhh story. Sounds like me weeding -

Dad was a really tough old guy and took losing Mom and his own declining health and death like one of "the Greatest Generation", which he was.

He put off recommended heart surgery for decades - until three arteries were 100% blocked and one was 90%, I think because he didn't want to "pamper" himself. That, plus almost dieing on a trip reduced his resistence to the point where Mom could talk him into it.

The doctors in Florida wouldn't operate, beuase they thought he was too old and it would bring their success rate down. "Maybe those fancy docs in Boston would try, but we won't!" Once he could hear the nurses, he was up and walking three days after open-heart surgery. Tough guy!

But he was not real big on listening. I think he had to do too much of it for the 60 years he had with Mom.

She insisted and insisted that he buy a hearing aid.
Then insisted and insisted that he wear it.
And insisted that he turn it on.

But she couldn't get him to put in new batteries.

Unnh-hunnh.

And yet, after she left, Mr. Tough Guy showed his other side. Went downhill and died in just over a year. (We think he was too stubburn to go any sooner, since friends told him they didn't expect him to out last Betty by much.)

Once in a nursing home, he kept resisting surgery that would only postpone the end (his words). They tried to bully him into the surgery (HA! After 60 years with Mom, did they really think that they could bully him?)

They scheudled the surgery agqainst his wishes, and had a crowd of orderlies, doctors and even a police officer telling him he "had to" have the surgery. Again HA. One of the nurses told me that he said

"No! I want to be with Betty now."

Once he decided it was time to go, that was the end of the story.

And believe me, that wasn't any dementia. Just Tough Guy.

I'll never know how my sister ever convinced him to go to the nursing home, "just because" he couldn't drive, was starting to fall down a lot at home, cut his head, and had trouble getting back up. He grumbled about it, but accepted it for once.

I would be very proud if I'm even 1/10th as brave and strong as him when it's my time.

Sorry for going off-topic.

Corey

No off topic on this thread. And we've all struggled/struggling with aging parents - a theme that comes up.

Thanks.

I was surprised at how many in DG have disabilities or infirmities.

I have a theory that health declines with age in order to reconcile us to dieing. If we were perky, energetic, pain-free and fully able right up to the end, who would be willing to go?

Corey

Good thought Corey. Who would want to go out feeling good? Not me. I'm going to sign-up at the local gym and try to lose 20 lbs. this winter though so I don't have to go out to soon. ^_^

Chantrelles on my own property, Heaven!

Azorina, thanks! Cold and dark it may be but this photo of WillowWind's with the ferns and mosses and moistness looks just so very lovely to me....... It will indeed be a huge change though, from arid to...... wet.

Corey, wow, what a thought! If death could be averted by feeling good strong and healthy..... I dunno, I kind of think someone would have stumbled on that trick by now! But I also think sometimes people do let go due to it just getting too painful and hard to carry the body around. My mom..... may have been one of those. She tried so hard to get well and it just kept getting worse..... oof.