Accessible Gardening: #5 - still laughing with joy

"The Stepfather" was a really scary movie. Probably twenty-five years old, or so. Doesn't seem so "old time" to me now.

Stay up and involved, Vickie.

hugs, katie

Kb, I’ve only seen the 2009 re-make, but that one creeped me out. Too believable. I’ll stick with ghost, vampires and werewolves.

This week we celebrate the anniversary of one of civilizations greatest advances. The patent for the first flush toilet was awarded this week in 1861 to Mr. Thomas Crapper. I think we should observe a moment of silence for the practical genius of Mr. Crapper who did so much to improve everyone’s quality of life. He is my Unsung Hero of the Week.

The genesis of this week’s drawing was seeing some small animals (too foggy to say exactly what kind of animals) poking thru the damp ashes of the embankment we burned off. I began to imagine what they’’ might have been hoping to find since most animals avoid char, I have a wild imagination. .

Dogbane: Nutt-ade

Here's to Mr. Crapper!!!
I heard today on CNN that Alabama is the main state for catfish production. Definately hats off to Alabama. But alas China has started incroaching on your catfish sales. So buy Alabama. I have to add the FDA does not inspect the Chinese catfish like they do American catfish.
Have you hugged a catfish today?
I KNOW!! I've lost it!! LOL

Welcome to the club, Vickie, I've lost it too. I hope I don't find it again, this is kind of fun.


I noticed earlier that I couldn't read the cartoon I posted. So adjusted it so it should be readable now.

oh, I get it.... I spend so much time inside that I really don't notice things like that. I guess I'm not that observant - I'm learning to be more observant of people. If I saw them more often I would be more observant of animals, I think. There aren't too many in my bedroom.

My #1 A+ PCA got a $50 ticket for 'obstructing snow removal' while she was parked across the street from my house.

Carrie, Are you still having a parking war with the city? LOL
I googled the lighter side of global warming and could'nt find a thing. Can you come up with one. There has to be something funny about Global change and our reactions to it.
It just started snowing heavily, So my mountain is in an ice age. 3to5 inches predicted. I have plenty of pizza,soup fixens, candles and heat. Now i want to go for a walk in the snow tomorrow....Dumb idea!
I spent the night traveling the web last night.Pain in my shoulder and could'nt sleep.
Found some neat sites showing the codes for all kinds of html colors. A hillbilly kitchen website and a native American website made by them for them. Am going back to both those sites tomorrow.Saw a couple of receipes for fried catails, which might be handy to know. Did'nt see any Kudzu receipes and know i've seen some somewhere.That stuff is so plentiful just have to try it.
GOOD MORNING ALL. goodnight for me.
Vickie

A ticket for obstructing snow removal? That just sounds like a way for a city to get more revenues.
After you lock your cats out of the room, Vickie, Google "cats in weightless conditions", "cats in zero gravity" or "space cats." There are some videos of cats in space experiments. It will become hilariously obvious why dogs were chosen for space exploration. Those poor, confused kitties!. Although, if you look carefully, you'll see one that was getting the hang of it. I'm off to check out Hillbilly cooking. ~N~

Good afternoon/morning, Vickie!

I think the lighter side is that we dumb humans are stuck on the dumb name when it's really Global Climate Change, and nobody knows if it's happening by the eon or by the year or by the decade.

The debates in Kay's Analog magazine sound like they are mostly about whether climate changes are part of a natural cycle or a human created problem. (Jim)

LOL Jim, I'd have to ride the fence and say both.It's natural but we're just speeding things up a little.Who knows we may have prevented another sudden ice
age with our CO2. LOL

For everyone needing a dose of "Spring is coming, it really, truly is!"

Got out around Noon before the winds shifted. Took these photos of whats blooming and greening away.

Scabiosa Butterfly Blue

Graham Thomas in bud (one little bitty one, you can just see it.)

"Green Spice" Coral Bells

Like the burgundy edges it gets in cold weather. In Spring, it is clean green and white.

Pistache Coral Bells

Dutch Iris just keep on trucking

My coral bells die down for the winter. It was nice to see yours.
Not a sign of roses either.
I need to go look everyday for signs of my spring flowers to show themselves.I always forget just what i have untill they come up. I have the wild dwarf iris. Dutch iris wont be up for awhile.

I can already see coral bells are going to become a new favorite. Interesting foliage that is evergreen (here, anyway) Can't beat that! Variegated euonymus, dwarf red barberry and variegated privet are the only interesting things in my little ornamental foliage garden after all this cold.
When Kay orders her 'Firefly' from Bluestone, I think I'll find an interesting foliage type for myself. (Jim)

I own Firefly - do you want me to send you some?

Darn, just tried to post and it went somewhere in the ether. Anyway, on Sat. night DH decided we should go to Atlanta to see his newest grandson (which you can do if you work for an airline). The 4 DGC in Utah call me Carrie (it would be "too confusing" to call me anything else?) although I've known them since before their parents were married and way before they were a twinkle in anyone's eye. So with this newest one, I get to be Grammy!!!

“Grammy”, I guess you get that grandparent name when you give an award winning grandma performance. I finally got Kay’s GC’s to stop calling me “Pipi” (the masculine of Kay’s “Mimi”.) Now, they call me “Grumpa”. I consider that an improvement. :-)
What intense eyes that little guy has.
The “Firefly” would be great, if you can manage it, Carrie. It won’t save me money, of course. Knowing Kay, she will just find something else to buy. Have you ever detected a noticeable scent? (Jim)

No on the scent, but it's too far down (on the ground) and I'm up here (in the chair). And it would be many months before I could even FIND it, it's buried under 5 ft of snow at the moment. You'd get it much more quickly from Bluestone, where they have it in a greenhouse. But I'm happy to do it, in exchange for that huge purple thing with no flowers you sent me last year!! I will say this, it's way more slow-growing than the other Heucheras I have, which are very vigorous. Naturally I can't remember their names.

I figure he will be used to calling me Grammy first and then wonder why there is an award named after me. No, he won't wonder, it will be clear once he thinks about me!

Carrie, You are a very good looking YOUNG woman. And a handsome baby. I like Grammy. I was Mamaw.
The person that gives computer classes canceled the classes last month cause of weather. They are resceduled for next week. Of course snow predicted for then too. LOL
I want a pink hydrangia from Bluestone. I'd better get busy and order it before they sell out.

Sounds lovely, Vickie! Will it be the kind where the pH has to be just so, and doesn't the sale end tomorrow (1/31)?

Vickie, when I had horrible disgusting acne in high school, my mother said "someday you'll be glad you'll have oily skin." And of course that's not my natural hair color. But thank you. ^_^

Spring is sprunging. Thought we dug up everything in this section preparing for the new tier planters. We missed a few. :-)

Pansies behind the kitchen sink (box store clearance). Waiting until next weekend to plant. Supposed to be in the mid-teens for overnight lows by Wednesday/Thursday. Since it was 75 again today, the poor things would be all cattywhampus if tried to plant now.

Now Debra, That is whapejawed not catywampus. ROFLOL
I don't think it needs a special ph. It's a hybrid oakleaf.Not sure about salesprice. Actually did'nt know it was on sale. I have to wait till there is money in the bank.
It was 70* today. So 2 dogs and a black cat went with me for a walk in the woods.The dogs get bored at my walking pace and disappear but Miss Kitty stayed right with me. Think she,s ready to rest whenever i am. It was beautiful out and i wanted to go again tomorrow but rain and cold is due in tonight.Will probably have to recoup tomorrow anyway.
Is gas still rising your way? It's $3.00 here now. That means i pay $45 to fill my tank.I get 20 MPG If this is too depessing to talk about,tell me.
I may have to break down and get some pansys next fall. No crocus leaves yet. There is no green anywhere except pine and cedar.

Where did katie talk about the birds gathering to fly north?

you would have to dig through several feet if snow to find the ground to see if there are any sprouts yet!

I think the birds gather around my house because I have lots of trees and shade cloth so there is more protection from the hawks than in most places here. Also, they get to eat the rice out of the food that the dogs didn't finish.

kb

May I quote you, Katie dear?

When does warm weather arrive in earnest in your part of the world, Carrie? Is May a safe bet?
I've always thought of Fat Tuesday as the official beginning of Spring around here. That falls on March 8th in 2011. I'm not confident about that this year though.
I've lost many marginal plants to the temperature yo-yo. I don't think I will be replacing any of them, except for lemon grass and rosella. I use enough of those in the kitchen to make it worthwhile. Hopefully, I can find plants that can stand up to more erratic weather.
Jim and Nadi are both slogging through a dark period. Hopefully, Spring and their enthusiasm for the new plans will pull them out of their funk soon. Kay*

I'd say June - I've put coleus out in May and lost them. Of course sweet peas and nasturtiums are sometimes blooming by then, and impatiens are fine in May, and you HAVE to buy lobelia (the little blue ones) by May or they're all sold out. But I'm still wearing a sweater in May. But I'm weird. As you'all know!

Carrie, You're not weird. You just march to the beat of a different drummer like me.LOL Carrie, The way things are looking you may not see ground till July.
I'm dreading to see ice on tree branches.Tho weathermen are saying the last icestorm took down all weak branches. We'll see.
Warm hugs to Jim and Nadine.You too.
Vickie

Ice, snow, 40-mile-an-hour blowing wind. DFW Airport cant clear runways or even de-ice planes, mass transit rail cant run on the tracks, multi-car accidents, schools and businesses closed. I'm all snug and warm, drinking coffee, listening to the news, texting my staff to stay home...and watching these nutty dogs intentionally slip and slide on the back yard ice. :-) Willie (black Schnauzer mix) made laps around the perimeter like he was competing at the US Nationals. Russell (Lhasa mix) made crazy eights and bounced up and down a couple of times. At nine years old, too! He NEVER does that unless he reallyreallyreally wants a treat. LOL Guess they like it.

DFW closed? Hunh. That's not good. JetBlue Boston closed around noon today.

Well, Carrie, at least you’ll get to spend more time with your DH. When he isn’t shoveling snow, that is.
The cool weather brings out the playful puppy in old Tater-dog too. (Of course, I have to dose her up with her joint medication or take her to the vet for a cortisone shot afterwards.) She has the double-coat typical of Labradors so cold doesn’t faze her much.
Fenny, on the other hand is turned into a canine version of Linus by cold weather. She drags her little blue blanket everywhere she goes. She’s such a big baby. She tries to crawl into someone’s lap when there is thunder or lightning. People who don’t know her are terrified of her. She looks and sounds ferocious. It is funny. People think old Tater-dog is adorable and harmless. It is Tate who is truly fierce and far more likely to bite. It isn’t so much that Tate is aggressive, just extremely protective.
Severe thunder storms on the way which means we are likely to lose power for a while. Need to get the generator set up just in case. Stay warm, everyone. (Jim)

Raining and snowing here.

I’ve already got a case of cabin fever and there will be two more days of rain at the very least. I can’t set up my bee hive so I’m reading a Sherlock Holmes mystery called “The Language of Bees.”
Papa Jim introduced me to “Little Shop of Horrors” today. Now I understand why he insists on calling my VFT “Audrey” when I’ve told him a hundred times the plant’s name is “Chomper” after the dinosaur in “The Land Before Time.”) Carnivous plants just seem to NEED names. Chomper is a bit demanding, but not about food.

This is a sketch I did. I was really bored.

All right! A picture of the Loch Ness Monster.
There's alot of boredom going around.
Fenny is a sweety.
I've got to go finish making out bill payments.

Carrie, I enjoyed your article posted today. It reminded me of a funny story my sister tells.
When she switched out a stressful job as administrator of several health care facilities in south Florida and took the reins of a single, small hospital in Vermont, she thought it would be a walk in the park. She decided to illustrate her warm, hands-on, people-oriented administrative style to her new staff at an early morning business meeting by having a traditional southern pancake breakfast. She made sure there were plenty of topping choices. There were jams, jellies, honey, cane juice, even a bottle of low-cal Aunt Jemima. But, she forgot about maple syrup. She laughs that she is lucky not to have been run out of Vermont. She says her Boston-native husband saved her job when he realized her mistake and rushed to the hospital with a flask of “Northern Comfort” in the nick of time. lol.
Everyone here thinks it is an odd weather day. 41 degrees is both the high and the low. Well, we WERE wishing the temperature would stabilize. Just no pleasin’ some folks. :-)
I had better go do something to improve Jim's mood. He's been paying bills, doing our taxes and growling like a bear with a thorn in its paw. Kay*