Whats happening in your neck of the woods? Ring out the old

Holly, glad that you have good news. It tickled me to read Gita's take on seeing herself better than before after her surgery, you have been warned now. hahaha

Hmmm.....I have heard bird watching thread mentioned twice here today. May have to mosey over at some point. After a few years of feeding birds on our front deck where the feeder is directly in front of the bay window in the living room, John decided not to feed them last year. I am going to encourage him to start again this year because I miss them and I believe the children will get a kick out of seeing them when they are here.

Cole, we had to put down one of our goats some months ago because he had injured himself and was basically paralyzed in his rear parts. That was so hard on John because they are truly pets that stay outside. A neighbor knew of someone who needed a new home for their goat, so we then became owners of Davy who is a mixed Nubian and some breed of Pygmie. He has a full set of curled horns which sort of makes him look mean to me. I haven't gotten to know him as well as I did Homer and Jethro who are La Mancha goats. John said to tell whoever was asking about the goats that La Manchas have no ears, just little nubs. I call Homer a space alien because of the no ear aspect. Nothing scary looking about him at all and he has the sweetest looking face a person will ever see.

I am almost done with my computer time for the day. I got a really late start as I am usually on here in the mornings and not afternoons. Good to hear from everyone.

Ruby

Ric and I are heading to Pittsburgh today with JR to visit the Phipps Conservatory. I will have pictures to post tomorrow.

Yes, Sally----

My Wintersweet is in full bloom!

The shrub itself is not much to look at, as I cut it back pretty severely last fall.
This is the earliest it has ever bloomed....usually happens end of February or very early March.

Look!

This is what my trip home from NJ was like---starting at exit #11 (where the Garden State Parkway connects to the NJ Turnpike)
all the way --just like this...then the worst was the tolls at the Delaware Bridge--then on I-95 till my exit to go home.

Oh--there were short distances when all seemed normal--and then, for no apparent reason, we all were in a crawling
traffic jam again--25mph on I-95!!!! crazy!!! What should have been a 3hr, trip--turned out to be a 4 1/2hr. trip.

I loved the clouds! Took several pictures (while driving....yikes!)!
Listened to about 4CD's--singing along like a fool....Made the time pass more pleasantly....

Another shot.......AAAGGGHHHH!

This is my older (by 2 years) sister, Liga.
The one with all her 4 daughters, their husbands and 11 grand kids....
I stay with her in her Condo. She lives in Bloomfield.

Decent picture--I asked her to smile. She seldom does on pictures.....

Here are the grand kids from 3 of the families. Three each.

The older daughter was not there. But--we went to her house for dinner the next day.
She has 2 children....

Oh, I know that sight well. We went across the Delaware Memorial bridge yesterday about 11 am and 2 lanes were shut down cuz of a disabled truck at the very top. There was a tow truck hooking up to it, but traffic was backed up already, so I know it just made everything coming down the pike worse.

For those of you who do not frequent the Holiday cactus Thread--
here are all my crazy-growing brugmansia cuttings, Some are approaching 2' tall.

The bigger ones are the NOID deep pink ones. The others are Dr. Seuss.....yellow and oh, so fragrant!

Mamma Mia! What will I do with all these????????

Beautiful family!

Jan--I thought of you crossing the Bridge...you said I should wave to you.....:o)

To those not familiar--Here I am approaching The Delaware Bridge....
A pretty serious suspension Bridge.

I did at that. :). When I worked there in the toll booths part-time my goal was to brighten people's days, whether they wanted it or not. I smiled and spoke to everyone that came through. I also wanted to be the fastest and most accurate. Sometimes if it was backed up, people would thank me, cuz they could tell my lane was moving faster. Sometimes, no matter what we did, those cars weren't going anywhere, cuz it was backed up to us. The next toll down was about 12 miles away and sometimes it was a gridlock. Those were the days you wished you stayed home. LOL

Jan--
The gridlock at the Bridge toll is because people do not know that IF they want to
continue on to I-95, they have to be in the left 2 lanes.
Knowing that ahead if time helps to pass through the left lanes....
I am nice too--I actually, let several cars in front of me to help out....

The gridlock starts AFTER the toll booths as everyone tries to squeeze over 2-3 lanes
so they can be in the ones that lead on to 95. Otherwise--you are headed for Wilmington...
There is a lot of exits--both left and right. On and on--until one actually IS on 95.
Then is is like---"Whew!!!" made it!

OK! Gotta go to my daughters. We have not yet gotten together for Christmas....

Gita

Gita those Brugs look great. I have no idea what you will do with them but if you can keep them going till spring they will be huge and much desired at the swaps. What a nice looking family you have.
How about a pic from our trip to Phipps Conservatory?

Gita- in Liga's picture- are those handmade cross stictched pillows? Beautiful work.

Holluy- wow, what a pretty place!

I spent a couple hours in the garden today- weeding around my asparagus and putting down a layer of manure- YUM. Only about three - 4 months to go before asparagus season!! Beware- the henbit is already trying to bloom in spots, and the chickweed.

We're staying home for New years' again.

Uh oh, the henbit! Is this henbit blooming season??? I'm going to have to go out there tomorrow and yank out the ones left behind. I had no idea there would be so many weeds that love my clay soil.

Happy weeding in the New Year, everybody! Gita, those brugs look amazing!

Sally--

Yes--All those Latvian design pillows are hand cross-stiched. Either by our Mom--or our older cousin (now long gone)
who lived in Portland, OR. She was a master needlepointer......She had done several wall-hangings. All cross-stiched by hand.
I have one of them--but--because of the 70's colors (gold, greens, orange, brown...etc) I have no where to hang it.
It is kept nicely folded up in a dresser drawer.....shame on me!!!!

My sister's couch is all covered in these pillows. They match her off white sofa very well.
I also used to have a bunch of these--but they never matched anything. Now they are in a big
plastic bag up in my attic. I don't dare get rid of them--but cannot really use them either.

I am blurry on this picture--but you can see more of the pillows.......

So many pretty patterns. Its a shame that fashions change so fast that things go out of style, like you say with the 70s colors.
I have a very nice cross stitch tulip picture I did myself- took it down to paint several years ago and haven't hung it back up!

Happy New Year all!

May we all shine brightly in the days ahead.

I see a lot of weeds popping up with this warmer weather. I would be weeding more if the ground just wasn't so wet, our yard is like a marsh.
Wishes for a Happy New Year. Hope much good comes to all of you in the new season.

I know we all "watch" different Threads.....

Under the "Still hanging In" by Ladygardener----this was posted......

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/erietimesnews/obituary.aspx...

Gita

Here are my 4 "dormant" Brugs in the dark, cool shop.

They don't look all that dormant to me!

And here are all my Clivias--they are growing bigger and bigger--almost
touching the light now....

Ignore all the junk, please........this level of my house is "No man's Land".......:o)

Look at the size of those!!!

This nice weather is responsible for my Camelias blooming and my Lenten roses are starting to bloom also. I hope that the past two days that were so cold will not damaged them too badly.
On another note I figure I share my day which was without trying a true animal day.Starting by trying to catch the cat and get it into the cat carrier,finally after 15 minutes of chasing it all over the house with my husband help Cream was on her way to the vet to be spayed A friend of mine was dropping her off for me . Went on my errant, next project take the dog to get groomed, but before taking him I decided to put another load in the washer , got into the basement and some of my jars of preserves were on the floor hummm, started to load the laundry and heard a noise, looked up and saw what for a minute looked like a rat( I have not seen one of those for years) then I saw the tail , a squirrel that must have fallen in the furnace chimney , opened the basement window. Dropped dog off, then I get this call,. "There are two cats in the carrier we already sedated the black cat, there is another cat in the carrier which one is getting fixed? The one in the carrier had to be fixed Lucie was taken care off 5 years ago. While we were busy trying to catch Cream Lucie had decided to go into the carrier, she like's dark places and boxes, that was a trip for her to remember and for me to laugh about .

LOL on Lucie, Never know what those sneaky kitties will do.
Sounds like a pretty busy day. I had my after eye surgery check up and the Dr says all is good. I am really pleased with the results.

Crazy day orchid!

Good goin Holly!

What an adventure!!

How many fingers am I holding up, Holly? ;). Glad to hear the great news!

Since this is "anything goes" Thread (and we always need one), I would like to show you a side of my frugality.

We, here in Baltimore, have a grocery store called "Mars".....It seems to not be too widely spread....
For one---Seniors seem to frequent this store a lot. For another--Mars does not double coupons.
Here in my general area--ALL Grocery stores double coupons. Either up to 50 cents--and some up to 99 cents.

There is a "Mars" store not too far from me that has the greatest produce mark-down rack.
EVERY day--it is loaded with slightly waning, or slightly marred, or OOOS! New shipment coming in--
better get rid of the older stock first veggies and fruits and all kinds of other produce.

This particular store is about a 15-20 min. drive from my house....BUT--if I ever go that way,
I will always stop in and get my fill of el-cheapo produce.....ALL still good for consuming or cooking.....

And--so I did a couple of days ago....as I had Dr.'s apts. thataway....

My "loot" that day included:

--8 assorted apples in 2 trays.
--4 bananas
--One Eggplant
--4 lg. Portabella mushroom caps
--2-- 4 piece trays of Kraft Pudding cups
--And--4-one lb. trays of fresh cranberries....
--One zucchini.
--A tray of 2 packages of fresh Blackberries...

Total cost for all this---$8.27.

As usual, bargains like this put me in a tizzy of cooking up what I bought....There goes my day!
The biggest cooking tizzy was making a rather large batch of my amazing Cranberry Sauce. It really is!!!!
I now have a great supply--as I also made it before Thanksgiving....Plenty to share!

There went the 3 trays of Cranberries and the 2 trays of apples....all put to good use....some fresh Ginger,
one nice navel Orange, some whole Cloves, sugar. and a shot of Brandy at the end.....YUMMMM!

My plan for the Portabella mushrooms? Clean them up--fry them in OO and butter along with thick slices of Sweet Onion.
Also bought 4 hamburger patties (at 50% off) and a pack of Pita Bread. Also some fresh Spinach.
My plan? Four lunches of Pita bread with a Hamburger patty, one lg. cap of fried Portabella mushroom,
some yummy fried up Sweet onion, maybe some fried Zucchini, and some greens as a filler.
Hope they taste as good as I am expecting....

And--so my life goes....Buying bargain foods and then spending hours making something out of them.
I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!!! Do not lecture me!!!!! It is my dysfunction in life.....All I need is a family here to feed--
and i would be happy as a Lark....BUT! It is ONLY me! This is what makes all this dysfunctional.....
I also have to eat all this stuff I make--and that may take more than a week....then I get tired of it.....

With no further ado--here is my loot of produce for $8.27. Would I buy all these things at regular prices?
Probably not! But--I will stop by this store any time I am passing by to see what I can get for next to nothing....

Gita

I would say you made a GREAT haul, Gita. And on top of that you had fun cooking it up. That cranberry sauce sounds killer!! :).

I enjoy making stir frys. I suppose a food processor would make chopping faster, but I kinda like chopping up all the different veggies that go into it. Actually, it's whatever I have on hand.

Coming down to Annapolis today for our Christmas celebration and a birthday party with the grandies. Will be a quick trip.

Jan--

Coleup (Judy) lives just outside Annapolis....Send her a D-mail and maybe you two can meet up
for a quick "Hi!"....

I will be glad to D-mail you my Cranberry sauce recipe. It truly IS good....Let me know....

Gita

Just dropping in to say hello. Good to see those of you posting. Thanks to those sharing pictures. All great. I want to wish everyone reading a great new year. I hope it serves to be one of everyone's very best ever.

Ruby

WOW, Look at those mushroom caps! Nice haul Gita. Ric loves to bargain shop.

Thanks, Gita, but today was a quick trip and p o o r me, I HAD to hold the baby while the party with about 20 little girls went on. Don't you feel sorry for me? Hahahaha. I LOVED the baby duty.

It was the most organized party I've seen. My DIL had 4 stations for crafts and broke the kids into groups and the rotated after so many minutes. Then they went outside because it was a GLORIOUS day for the piñata, then cake outside also as well as presents and time for a little free play til they were picked up.

Then WE had pizza and then home we went. Didn't have a free moment. Smetime when I come down for an overnight, I could meet up. Once I stopped at Sally's cuz she lives near where my granddaughter goes to school.

One of my favorite things about Dave's Garden is the opportunity to meet like minded and wonderful people, which I have done on several occasions. I feel very privileged to be a member of the Mid Atlantic Gardeners group here. Each and every one of you have been so gracious and giving. Heck, my gardens wouldn't be nearly as beautiful as they are without all you folks.

I say, if in the area of another Dave's Gardener, do your best to meet up. You won't be sorry.

Ruby

"I say, if in the area of another Dave's Gardener, do your best to meet up. You won't be sorry.

Ruby"

It's worked well for me! Who knew all these great people were out there?

Gita, its wonderful to get great prices on fruits and veg, and then incentive for really healthy meals. For the price of all that, most people only get one healthy meal.

Yes, Sally---BUT.......
I spent all day next day cooking up all those cheap fruits and veggies...
There went a WHOLE day!!! All because of $8.47.....

As I type this--I am having the last fried mushroom cap with egg and onions and some bacon--
all fried up together--on a thin sandwich-type roll for breakfast...

I also now have enough Cranberry sauce to supply me and all the others that cannot have
Th-Giving dinner without my Cranberry sauce plus!

Remind me when we meet up for this year's Seed Swap--and i will bring you a jar.
it IS exceptional! Even if i have to say that myself....
I am also growing you a baby Easter Cactus....These sure grow slow!!!
It is, finally, starting to put out new growth.

Another beautiful day in stock for us all. I am working today 1-6PM.
There goes the day...it will be dark when I come home...

Gita

Just took this for you to see.....coming along nicely...it is about 2 years old already from a leaf-cutting.

And----

Look at my Brugs going bonkers!!!!

HEEEEEEELLLLPPPPP!!!!!

OOPs--Forgot the picture...gotta run!

Yum yum what a hobby. Call it a hobby! Making whole meals from pieces of produce, like someone else will spend hours quilting from scraps. If you spend hours spoiling yourself with healthy fresh food- you deserve it!