AUGUST! Autumn is surely not far behind! (We hope)

Well, nobody else has started an August thread, so I will do it.
We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1269428/#new


Things seem to be quiet right now on the Mid-South forum so this is a good time for a new thread.

Please join us here with your comments and photos.

It is a delightfully cooler day with currently 68F here in the Ozark mountains heading for a high in the mid-80's. I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

I'll start off with this photo I took with my Iphone this morning: Mist over the mountains: (this is the view I wake up to each day--although some days without the mist)

Looks like beautiful scenery all around you there, does Al like to get up early too?

Hi everybody and glad we have a new thread. About time and thanks Marilyn!

Will post more later when I have time.
Elaine

Busy today too! Just marking the thread so I don't lose it.

Charlotte, sounds like you had an amazing trip! I know that ya'll made some wonderful memories! I have only been to Yellow Stone one time - and only for part of a day.....so I am sure there is LOTS we didn't see. I would love to take the kids back to yellowstone and also around to the Redwoods and back thru the Grand Canyon. Not a short trip to say the least! But, although I have seen all those things the kids were either so small they don't remember or they haven't seen them....... don't see that happening anytime soon though.

I ended up having to have the tooth pulled on Friday by an oral surgeon. It was NOT a good experience and it was so infected that it has really taken a toll on me! I am still dragging!! I went to work yesterday because i HAD to do payroll and I worked til 12:30 when Kyle had to come get me. Today, I feel a little better but not great so I am staying home. I have a million things I need to help the kids get done before they leave .....so I work a while on something then crash for a while and maybe we will make some progress.

About to make them pancakes and wake them up....... that is their favorite breakfast and the last time they will have it together anyway before they head off to fall semester. Kyle has to move in Thurs night because he is helping with WOW (Welcome to Ouachita's World) - Jessi moves in Saturday morning although we plan to go over on Friday evening and clean good and put down the carpet that her room mate got for the room. The roommate is in Africa on a mission trip and won't be there for move in day - so we got the carpet last spring from the girls she got it from and have it in our garage. Hope to get the carpet down, room clean, and the loft up on Friday evening. THen Saturday morning we will go back with all her "stuff" and get her room organized. We are not supposed to move in anything friday night except the loft and carpet...... I can't believe that by the end of the week the house will be empty!!!!

Marilyn, sounds like you have been busy! And I am guilty of keeping cardboard too..... been hoarding it to go under the mulch in my foundation planting that I am working on! I knew it would take a lot of it for that large an area......... if I ever get a chance to finish it!!! I used to keep a lot of water jugs or milk cartons too for starting seeds but I have finally thrown most of them away. :(

I hope everyone has a great day! Leigh said it was 66 here this morning, but it is heating up fast outside.......

Genna

Yes, I use cardboard too, I save all boxes, cereal, Mac and cheese, any boxes that don't have wax on them, like from the frozen food case. I use them under mulch also, but wanted to say, be sure you have watered the area VERY WELL, before putting any cardboard down for mulch, or papers. If you don't the paper or cardboard will absorb what water is in the ground, after you get it down water it well again.

Used some of my cardboard stash yesterday. I was painting several pieces of furniture and opened up several of the priority mail boxes like you would mail a book in to set the furniture on. (I keep a supply of all sizes priority mail boxes also)! Newspaper tends to stick to the furniture at the feet and it also flies around when there is a breeze.

I have containers outside to catch rain water. I then transfer it into gallon milk jugs. I also cut the tops off just above the handle to make a type of pitcher. I also use them to mix my plant food and Bayer Systematic up in. Then for winter sowing I cut them part ways through. Can't have too many milk jugs as they eventually develop a leak. I have about 6 at my vegetable garden.

When I was painting yesterday I used some glaze I bought over 15 years ago. Save all my paint too! When you do the kind of stuff I do you never know when you might need some kind of paint. Would get very expensive to run out and buy new stuff every time I needed to paint something or to touch up something.

Here are some pictures of the two new babies and Hardin
Hardin was 2 in Feb, Justin was born April 3rd and Eli June 7
Hardin was playing with IZZY, the lizard, it is a real lizard

Genna I hope you are feeling better from that tooth. You aren't gonna know what to do with yourself with all the kids gone!!!

Oh my, Sandra you are working on a football team there. They are all so handsome, that is except Izzy!!! I bet it's hard to keep your hands off them!!!

Sandra you do have quite a group of handsome young guys!! You know I'm partial to boys!

Beautiful grandsons, Sandra!

Charlotte, I think, generally speaking, that mothers get along better with their boys and dads get along better with their daughters. At least, that is what I have observed over the years with parents and their children.

OK, ya'll win. Go ahead and save your cardboard! LOL I'll send mine to the recycling center. :D Speaking of which, we have made TWO trips to the local recycling center (15 miles away but still "local") but most of it was metal and plastic. Our carport is now ALMOST clear enough so that we can get both our vehicles in under the roof. (It is a double carport.) We are making progress and this is a HUGE step for Al, who can't seem to let go of anything, even scrap metal. LOL He even admitted that not only does it look a lot better on the carport but it felt good to get it cleaned up! :o)

Yesterday was delightfully cool--it was in the 70's for a high! Wonderful! We rewarded ourselves after cleaning the carport with a ride in the boat around the lake after an early supper. Refreshing! Laddy went along, too. He is becoming quite the "seafaring" doggie or should I say "Lake-faring". LOL

Genna, I graduated from Ouachita! It's a great school.

I love the cardboard trick. I used it in my side yard. Working at a hospital, I can get LOTS of boxes anytime I want them. If anybody needs some, let me know! I like newspaper for more delicate plants. My coworker drinks diet green tea all day, so she has several gallon jugs each week to give away. They are thicker than milk jugs and I think a little easier to carry water in. Monday LR got almost 2 in. of rain! Couldn't believe it.

Can't wait to see everybody next month.

Here are a few pictures from my Utah trip. Horse/mule back riding down into Bryce Canyon, repelling at Water Canyon and hiking down the Narrows in Zion.

Charlotte, I know you enjoyed the trip, but it sure looks nothing like a vacation to me, where is the 5 star hotel and the swimming pool????? LOL. really beautiful country there, looks like you can see for miles on that horse.

I got a work out that for sure Sandra! We rode all the way to the bottom of the canyon and then back up. It was absolutely spectacular!!

I bet you lost 20 or more pounds on that trip, Charlotte! Looks like fun!!

Things have been topsy-turvy the last few weeks. I am going to have to start working another day...I am just too busy! The doctors are going to give me my own assistant, so I don't have to stand for 10 hours straight...we shall see how this goes. Now I will be working Mon-Wed. Anyway, sorry I have not been around to read all of the thread. I love you all and think of you often!

charlotte, your vacation, sounds right up my alley!! I think I would love to do all those things . I haven't been horseback riding since we sold all our horses 7 or 8 years ago.

I did enjoy all the things we did. I hadn't been on a horse in 15 or 16 years. We were at Big Cedar Lodge with another couple and we all decided to go horse back riding. We rode straight down onto the canyon floor and then back up again. We were on some very narrow trails but it didn't take me long to get over being nervous about that. We had horses when I was small. One of my best friends in grade school lived out from town and had a horse. I would ride behind her and we would ride all over with her Collie dog following us. Fond memories of those days.

Jeff really enjoyed the ATV riding. He had a dirt bike when he was around 12. We lived on a street that came to a dead end at a big open field. It was just a big field with tall weeds. The kids called it "the weeds". That's where he rode his dirt bike. He wouldn't think of letting his kids have a bike!! LOL But he got to relive his dirt bike days with the ATV! We went through a course that had you jumping over some logs, doing a 6 foot straight drop offs, curves that put you on your side, going up steep hills and then finally driving all over huge sand dunes. He was impressed with my ATV driving skills! LOL

It was definitely an outdoor vacation with lots of strenuous activity. I was pleased that I was able to keep up with everyone and do all the things they had planned. I may be old but I'm still healthy and fit and don't feel old! I'm going to keep up my walking this time!!

Great pictures, Charlotte. Brings back good memories of the last time we were there. I do hope you go back, although I understand doing something 'once and done'. We spend a lot of time in one spot and then if we like it we go back. But we hike different trails and do a lot of day hikes so it takes us a while to do that. We probably spent 5 days in Zion and about 3-4 days in Bryce and we've been to each twice. The first time we were in Bryce it was cooler and it snowed so it was too wet to ride horses so we did that the second time. The second time we visited Zion we also went to the Northern entrance for a day. We spent a week at Moab. I could have hiked for a week in Arches alone, and Canyonlands is huge. Some of the trails like the Fiery Furnace you aren't allowed to hike unless they are led by a ranger or you are very experienced and are registered because you can get lost. The trails are not well marked, so I can well understand why that is so. Yellowstone and the Tetons are a whole different story. We could spent a month there and never get tired of it or run out of things to do.

Elaine, teenage boys get bored easily!! They need a lot of different activity. That's why Kristi planed so many different and varied things to do. Just hiking would not be exciting enough for them! We would have never found our way up Water Canyon without a guide. It was like the Fiery Furnace you mentioned. Just a path and sometimes you couldn't even see the path.

When we hiked up the Narrows, coming back the boys discovered they could lay down and use their water proof back packs as a floating device. So they floated back making occasional stops to climb up some hill or climb through some crevice they saw!! More energy than you can imagine!!

The day we rode horses at Bryce it rained really hard about an hour before we left on the ride and rained very lightly for about the first hour of the ride. So the path was wet and muddy in spots. It was thundering occasionally so they kept telling us to keep our horses tight to the one in front. So it was an adventurous ride!

After they dropped me off they went on up to the Tetons and Yellowstone. They travel somewhere every summer but seldom go to the same place twice. Kristi found two really great houses. The one in Zion was about 8 miles from Springdale. It had been very recently built and had 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths (3,000 sq ft house). The one in Bryce was about 30 miles from Bryce but can't remember the name of the community. It was a 3 level "cabin". Also had 4 bedrooms and 3 and 1/2 baths. Big front porch that overlooked a beautiful view, covered deck and a fire pit. Enough kitchen equipment to cook anything you wanted and all the latest equipment (even a warming oven). We just used the fridge! The deer would come right up to the cabin in the morning.

I wished you Happy Birthday on facebook but want to say Happy Birthday again!

I have to show off the ducklings, Jack and Jill...and hubby ;o) The second one is Jack checking out the camera, so I just snapped a photo while he was seeing if it was edible.

Kim they are SO cute!!!!! What a good duck mother you are! And Jeff's looks like he a good dad!

Kim they are so cute!!! I can only imagine what the two of them can get into. What have they been up to?

Kim, those are good pics, it's good that you and Jeff love doing this together.

I agree with Kathy Ann and the others. Cute photos!

Our moonflower bush has over 50 buds on it! This is the third time it has bloomed since the first part of July--by "Bloom" I don't mean just 3 blooms but 3 series of a LOT of blooms. Five of the buds bloomed out last night and will last through mid-morning before fading. The bees love them! We should have even more blooms tonight. I have cut off all of the seed pods because I don't want a kajillion of these plants coming up everywhere LOL but I am enjoying the two plants I do have. The smaller plant has one flower blooming this morning.

Our grape tomato plants have over 70 little tomatoes on them. They have a very sweet taste. We usually eat them as we pick them LOL So far I have made it to the house with only 3 or four of the little tomatoes. :D

Kim, Jack and Jill are adorable!! And such great pictures too!

Charlotte, thanks so much for the birthday wishes. Had a busy day Saturday. Watched my daughter compete in her first triathlon! She did great - finished 144th out of about 500 which I thought was awesome. She thought she could have done better in the swim and she is not a runner, but they do that last and of course she was pretty tired after swimming and biking but her coach ran with her part of the way to encourage her, which I thought was wonderful. She had the shoulder surgery back in the early summer which kept her out of training for 3 weeks, so I thought that was pretty good. Then I worked in the garden a little bit since I had been out of town all week and DH took us all out to dinner in one of my favorite restaurants.

I know what you mean about keeping the boys (any teens really) busy and occupied with different activities. Good plan there. The houses sound wonderful too, especially for a family. We've always just gone on our own so far but would love to take our grands one day when they can do some of this stuff with us. We have rented houses in the north Georgia and Carolina mountains when we go white water rafting and it is a great way to go and spend time together. So peaceful.

Elaine your daughter did great!!!! Know you are proud of her!!

Houses are the way to go. They are about the same as what they would have to pay for motel rooms as with 5 of them (and 6 with me) and the kids now teenagers they have to get at least two rooms. With a house they have space to go to but a central place where all the family can gather together.

Marilyn I have a Sun Hybrid cherry type tomato. I sure hope I can find another one next year. Probably should try to save some seed. But it is the best cherry tomato I've ever had. It doesn't turn red but a yellow orange color. Very tasty - very good flavor. That one plant has produced I couldn't begin to tell you how many tomatoes (far more than my other cherry tomatoes). I have roasted them and they stay firm rather than quickly falling apart like the other varieties do.

I have been pretty quiet lately, been busy around here, Cayla and Eli moved here with us, her boyfriend has been showing his true colors for several months now, she was trying to make it work since they have Eli, but he is just a self centered jerk, and it has gotten 10 times worse since Eli arrived.

I love you Sandra and so does God!!! He is watching out for Cayla & Eli and that may very well be without her boyfriend!!! Then again, this time a part may make him wake-up and realize what he is loosing!!!

I echo what Jeri said!! Things happen for a reason, although we don't always understand why. Babies are a wonderful gift but things are not always just about you after you become a parent. Seems he may not understand that just yet. Hugs to you and Cayla!!!

Sandra, Hugs to you, Jerry, Cayla and Eli! I echo what the others have said.

Charlotte, our grape tomato plants were given to us by our neighbor who started them from seed. We have four of the plants and they are really producing right now after just doing so-so earlier. I don't know what variety they are but we are calling them grape tomatoes because they are smaller than cherry tomatoes. They have a sweet taste. :)

I have four of the ones similar to your grape tomato that were also started from seed. They produce good but nothing like my Sun Hybrid one. My one Sun hybrid plant out produces all 4 of the other ones. I also like the taste of the Sun one better. It is just one plant that I bought. I have it staked but it has sprawled all over everywhere and has produced hundred's of tomatoes. It has slowed down right now but is blooming and getting ready to set another round of tomatoes. I've had a couple of trays of them on my counter all summer long. More than I could possibly eat - even more than Justin the tomato eating champion could eat. Have made soup out of them and used in salsa, frozen, etc.

Thanks girls, I hope this is the end of their relationship, Cayla seems so much happier now that she is not having to deal with his bad behavior. She told me yesterday ahe was waiting for the sad to come and so far, it just is not there !

Sandra, I feel for you all. It's usually sad when a relationship ends, but in this case if Cayla isn't sad and you and Jerry aren't sad, then it's probably going to work out for the best. If she's happier, then 'nuff said. I know you'll all make it work and little Eli will thrive! The jerk will have his regrets down the line most likely. Who knows. But it's always best to look ahead, not behind.

Onward and upward ! I agree!

Hello all! Trying to catch up on the thread and see what everyone has been up to!! Got Kyle moved into college last THursday and they still do not know what was wrong with him. He is still on his antibiotic and has had some pain but not nearly as bad..... but he says he still feels "burpy" after a meal so I am thinking it is probably gall bladder and the antibiotic has helped to calm it down some for the moment. He goes back to the dr on Friday for a follow up. Moved Jessica in on Saturday. Actually I made a trip to OBU on Thursday night (for Kyle), Friday night to put the carpet and lofts in Jessica's room, Saturday morning to move in her stuff and for the parent meeting etc, Sunday morning to make a run to walmart to exchange her fridge that wasn't working and get some more stuff of the list and to meet her roommate's family. Her roommate didn't arrive until Sunday afternoon. She brought both parents, three siblings and an aunt with her for move in - so when we got there you might say the tiny room was a little crowded!! Not sure how we would have managed if we had all tried to do move in at once!! I even came back thru Arkadelphia on Monday after Leigh's surgery to drop off a shoe rack I picked up for her at Target.

Leigh had his shoulder surgery Monday and the doctor said he thought it went very well. Had two torn rotator cuff muscles, and a tear in the bicep tendon.....also removed a couple of small bone spurs so once he heals some, he should feel a lot better than he has in a long time. He talked to his co-worker and boss this morning and he is getting a new supervisor....................we will have to wait and see how that goes! We had thought his boss who is in HS, was going to pick up the Camden territory and we thought there was a SMALL chance they might station him out of Camden which would save us a LOT of money each year. Instead, his boss picked up Conway and some other areas and they gave a supervisor out of PB the Magnolia office that Leigh works out of. Not sure how this will affect us, but I guess there is very little we can do about it. He had a great boss, and I really hate that he has to work with a new one! But the guy is 69 and may be about to retire..... if so, there is a chance they could give the entire area to guy who has been Leigh's boss, or a chance that IF they fill the position that Leigh might could get it........

Loved the pictures from your trip Charlotte. It does look like ya'll had a lot of fun! Kim, your new babies are adorable. I know you are enjoying them for sure! Such cute photos!

Sandra, I would say I am sorry about Cayla and her boyfriend but it sounds like you all might be better off without him. MAYBE he will mature a little once she moves out and realize what he is missing out on! Either way, I know they will be in good hands living with you and that you will enjoy spoiling that baby even more! :) He is such a cutie!!

Elaine, wow - sounds like your daughter did great! Kyle is considering trying to do a triathlon. He doesn't have a lot of swimming experience ....he worked as a lifeguard and can swim but not swim team experience. He is a sprinter by nature, but is considering trying to practice up on his swimming and attempting a triathlon. He has recently gotten into biking and he REALLY loves it! He says he wants to ride in the olympics! :) Not sure he will get that far, but if he enjoys it - it is ok with me!

Jeri, how is Ashley doing? Did they ever figure out what was going on with her?? I guess she has started or is getting ready to start school again......is she going to be a junior this year??

Marilyn, they have HUGE moonflower plants near the one of the dorms at OBU...... they are probably 6' across. I didn't realize they got so big! I bet they are spectacular when they are blooming. I have never seen them in the evenings.........

Hope everyone is doing well. NIce to have a chance to get on here and catch up on all my friends!

Genna

Genna, have you had a chance to stop long enough to be lonesome for the kids? Give your hubs best wishes on his shoulder recovery.

I ditto what Sandra said, Genna. You have really been busy lately but then it seems you are always busy doing something with or for your kids. :o) The moonflowers are lovely. They usually open in the evening just before dark and continue blooming until around noon the following day. They close up sooner if the temps are really hot.

Sandra, I'm glad Cayla is feeling okay about leaving Brandon. It does sound as if she will be better off without him.

Yes, it does seem that way. This is the third time she has left, but has never moved everything out like she did this time. She said he texted her today being sweet, I told her not to let it get to her that she knew it would only last a day or two and then he would be back to screaming at her.

Amanda got Eli a big stroller at a yard sale Sat, it is very nice. I pushed him in the yard in it today, the trees seem to fascinate him !

Jake moved back to college this week also. Kristi is going to miss him. He has gotten to be quite the cook and has been cooking dinner 2 or 3 times a week. Don't know if he had time this summer but when he was in high school he did all the family grocery shopping. Kristi would just give him a list. All the kids have jobs they have to do at home and that became his job after he got his driver's license.

Genna enjoy your time! Our job as parents is to raise our kids and provide a good background for them to enter the world on their own. You've done that! Now sit back and watch them become their own person. Time for you to pursue some of those interest you have but haven't had time for.

As we know Sandra people don't change (knowledge that comes with experience)! Seems that's probably just his personality and like you said can act sweet long enough to try and win her back but then when he thinks he doesn't have to be sweet any longer - back to his old self!! Think it takes a while to figure out someones true personality.

All babies and kids seem to love the outside! It will be good for both of you when it gets a little cooler and can take him out side more.