Weather Watching Summer 2013

There are veteran groups that you can donate those to

Sorry about the off topic also....but,
I do know that the veterans get even better ones than I have and I have a pair I paid $5000 for. I am still paying because I was afraid to use any savings the way the world is going. My neighbor and I got the same ones, his he got free (from the VA) and in the two years I have had mine, he has had two upgrades so far and all sorts of attachments to use on the TV and Computer. All free.........of course he gave plenty in the Marines in combat.

There may be outside veterans groups that take them, you can check on that of course. Some veterans do not qualify for the VA assistance and they would be the ones to benefit. Very Great Idea.

It is so hot today I am not even going out to clean pots. I can hear you now. LOL

JB--Your Epi is gorgeous!!!!

How old is it?
How long have you had it?
It is so thick and lush! is it because you have a greenhouse?

Mine hang around dry and ignored all winter--in my LR.
I put them outside--and they will bloom--but the big one (#2) looks pathetic--
but this seems normal..
The tops of the "leaves" are gray and cracked and blotchy. NO! There is no disease or bugs.
The bottoms are perfectly green ????????
Starting to think I will cut the whole thing back and let it re-grow.
I already have a "replacement" growing in a HB.

--LOOK! here is the top of the pot. Disgusting!

--One of the small stems looks like it will break in half any minute--BUT--it has a bloom bud at the tip.

--The other one blooms first--her it is....I think it may be the same as yours...
Look at the leaf-bottoms on the one to the left--ALL green and healthy looking...the tops suck!

Go figure!

Hey! Blooming is weather related--right? Se we are NOT digressing! Still pon topic.....Gita

happy_macomb, I'm on a list to get used hearing aids when the right ones get donated. If the electronics are good, the fittings can be replaced. Medicare will not pay squat, and my savings were exhausted after about 3 years on social security. I do have a CapTel (captioned telephone, much like captioned TV) provided free by the Virginia Dept. for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.

Of course, that means NO conversations are really private since there's an operator who hears and types the other person's part of the conversation so I can read it. But, I suppose the feds tap all our calls. Especially mine, since I'm outspoken.

Gita- have you looked at the Epi's they sell in hanging baskets? Many short pieces of leaf cut and stuck in the pot to root- then those sporut out a couple leaves each and are full looking.

Yesterday's rainbow

Sally--
I have a reserve of all three already growing . The "yukky" replacement one, with the most beautiful blooms,
Is already in an 8" HB and looking good.

The monster-old one has some negative aspects about it. I am getting tired of it...
The positive? The blooms are breath-taking--and have now bloomed every year since 2010.

1--it hangs VERY askew--all the weight of the fronds is mostly on one side. It is lopsided!
I worry that one winter, it will pull out the small ceiling hook out and crash down on its own
taking out some other plants below.
2--This dry, cracked, ugly look of the fronds is horrible looking.. Does not seem to affect the plant, though.
3--It is SO huge, that there is no hope of ever transplanting it again.
4--This one, as well as the other Epi, has hair-like, little thorns that go right into your skin to fester..

On the other two:

The Ric-Rac Cactus. It is SOOO heavy!!! I bet it weight about 30+ lbs.
I don't dare to hang this one any longer from the small, single ceiling hook.
Aina got me a high, metal plant stand and i will use that from now on.
If this one crashes down--There will be a zillion pieces to root...
Can't believe the hook has held out this long...The Ric Rac has bloomed only once for me--back in 2008.

The "Ackermanii" one that--is bloom right now--is the best behaved. it hangs evenly and has NO monstrous fronds.
It now has bloomed, reliably, since 2009.

I don't have time right now to take pictures--as I have to get ready for work.
Will do so later.....

stay tuned. Gita

This is from June of last year......see what I mean?

G, I had epi's for years, and in many colors. Took me a long time to figure out they love to be pot-bound. I gave them all away when I moved here. Not enough light inside during the winters, and no way to keep my cats away from them.

I still think my favorite was Queen of the Night, and I've actually had parties to watch them bloom!

Heavy storms last night, we got a little rain while it poured around up. I think the lack of local rain is a part of some a great conspiracy by the hose and well pump manufactures to cause us to replace ours, or a secret government weather control experiment to see if they can cause micro deserts in lush countrysides and flush out the garden elves and knomes to use for nefarious purposes and mummify toads.

You live in a really spooky place! We're getting rain every day with some sunshine. The forecasts are eliminating the sunshine which means the plants will not be happy.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN AFFECT UNTIL 10:00 p.m. in Burlington County, NJ as well as several other counties I did not catch the first time and they did not repeat it.


PLEASE FORGIVE THE OFF TOPIC BUT I WANT TO ANSWER GITA'S QUESTIONS:
Gita, my Diso It is very old, I have no idea, it was given to me as a noid and I had the cactiguide.com ID it for me which they did and it has never been in the greenhouse. It loves the Eastern exposure and is on my back deck in all this rain, heat, hail and when I put it out it was early and it even had frost bite but survived. I put it out because I saw mealy bug on it and no way could I get to it to clean it because of those little pricks it has. They are terrible to remove from your hands.
I noticed you said you have an ackermanii and actually the parents of this plant are these two links, one is common in cultivation, the other is almost nonexistent. They also said the true D.ackermanii is even more rare. It would be wonderful if you had a true D. ackermanii. Wow, how exciting is that?

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Disocactus&species=speciosus
http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Disocactus&species=phyllanthoides

Many of the plants we all love so dearly need to have a cool down period and this old girl is one that does for sure. It is amazing how they adjust to the changes in the weather and
seem to thrive in this horrible heat and humidity.

Enjoy the day and stay safe in the storms that are coming. Hugs JB

JB--

I may not have the "Real" Ackermanii--it is just that, when i have posted the pictures
on the "Orchid cactus Forum" and asked if anyone knows the name of this--it has been so ID'd.
The "Know-It-All" on this Forum seems to be "Orchidman"....

So--I have, always, believed it to be an "Ackermanii" It may not be.....and--that's Ok too.
Gita

Hooray, We finally got a serious rain, a good solid pour, the sound of all the plants and parched soil sucking it up was terrifying.

ssssslllllluuuuuurrrrrrrpppppp!!!!!!!!
Happy for you and your garden guys!

Holy cow, many of us are now under a Tornado watch until 10 p.m. Delaware, MD, PA and NJ.
I am going to go hide my head until this summer is over. I am not happy with how it has started.

Sunny and bright here!
There "may" be some T-showers later today.

Better get back outside and do some more gardening......G.

We're under the tornado watch also. DH says it's windy out there.

Well--Maybe I spoke too soon above!

Not too long after my Post--it started getting a bit cloudy. Thei it blew over...
I was scanning the sky--and there were scattered darkish clouds,,,

I, kind of, wrapped up what i was doing but continued to work at this and that.
Then the doomsday clouds came---for about 1/2hr. there was mild, distant rumbling,,,

I came inside--as it was getting dark....Whoopie! We had about 20 minutes of so-so rain.
Since I came in and sat down here--it has cleared up again and the sun is, sort of, out...

Sorry for those of you who got the brunt of this. All we had was a nice. little rain.

Now I can go outside and grill my steak for dinner.....G.

BTW---There has been NO sight on Mr. Toad today. Wonder where he took off too?
Are they prone to wandering? I thought he liked my little pot-house I made for him.....

Have any of you seen the changes in DG and how is it affecting your page? I must scroll to the right to read everything. I tried to clean my cache for firefox and cannot find the place to do it. Also they say if that does not help you can adjust your zoom. I have no talent or time to do this and if it keeps up I am out of here for good this time. I can go to ATP and not have the annoying changes to deal with.

I get so upset when they do things I have to pay a tech to change for me. I already pay $100 for plant scout plus my membership and I can not afford to have to pay more. If they still had the Market Place I could understand it but I do not know what they are trying to do. I love this place but my anxiety is just killing me today thanks to this. I wasted most of the afternoon trying to fix it and I can not. Sorry for being off thread but I can not get to another thread without a nervous breakdown. LOL

JB: On Firefox, go to Tools (on the top of your Firefox screen, towards the left), then Options, then take the Advanced tab, then on the right, about 3 buttons down, is a button that says "Clear Now." Take that.

Then I'd close and re-open Firefox just to be sure.

Please let me know if that doesn't take care of it.

The only thing I did on my iPad is I went to DG preferences and changed my font size and I don't have to scroll anywhere.

thanks Jan- I'm on a mac book- so I went to DG Preferences and went to 16 on font. Now the right side empty column is takne up with blocks for todays article etc, the things I had previously assigned to the blocks on that size. I am happy to use the 'blank' column on the right.

Glad to see another Mac user!

None of the fixes I tried last evening worked... clearing the cache, restarting, etc. but today it's fine. I did reboot my wireless router this morning, not that I think that had anything to do with it.

1st storm went to the north of us, getting cloudy again

Darius thank my hubby, who's quickly catching the Apple fever! Well, to the extent of one macbook air and an iPhone.
I haven't cleared cache so it's been an adventure seeing just how each page opens lol.

Had a rain shower thru here 3 30 pm, breezy now. daily rain just the ticket for the beans and okra planted on sunday.

Sally, I've owned probably 8-9 Macs since 1987. I've used my sister's PC, hate it. This laptop (MacBookPro) I took to the 'Genius Bar' at the closest Apple store on Tuesday and they spent 3 hours fixing/cleaning it up, at no charge to me. Of course, it was 3 hours to drive down there, and 3 hours home.

I have to tell you about my time spent in the Apple store. It was like going to the zoo, only no cages. I counted about 30 Apple employees in their blue w/white Apple logo tee shirts, and easily twice or 3X that many customers. I think the Apple employees must have a contest going for the weirdest footwear, hats, hairstyles, and other clothing in general. Customers weren't far behind!

Up near the 'Genius Bar' they have 3 short-legged 4'x4' tables set up for small kids, with round fuzzy balls for seating and several iPads (or something) set up on each table for the kids to use. Kids 3 and 4 years old already adept at "computing"! Is that great marketing, or what?

Probably 1/4 of the people at the techie repair area were under 12, with their iPhone problems. The man sitting next to me had 2 iPhones, 3 iPads, and 2 laptops, said he has more at home (and only 1 kid age 8).

Sorry to be OT...

JB--

If you have time--go to the DG Forum and read all the complaining
and threatening to leave Dg forever...SOO many people bitching...

I "read" all through this Thread...scanned a bit....Some members have valid complaints--
Like--where is a link to get to one's Trade List or Journal? There is no "Extras" tab either...
Terry said they will work on it.....

I sent a couple D-mails--and the writing area has shrunk to about half the width of the page.
Lots of blank space on the left. I did not like that.
I DO miss all the links that used to sit at the top, just under the banner.
There is no longer a notice that you have a D-mail either.
Now--all the way to the top--it just says "You have one message"....easy to miss...

Have any of you seen that? or--has it been the same for you?

The routine stuff--like writing a post or getting to your "watched" threads--is OK with me.

Well, I am back and it did not work. My screen shows everything perfect except nothing is centered on the screen. I need to scroll to the left to be able to see the complete post and the right of the screen as I face it. I give up. LOL Where is the zoom thing they talk about changing?

Gita, there is a little banner of a funny color above the DG logo and top that has the Dmail thing and that is where you click to get to the dmail but no place to tell you that you have it except on your home page when you sign in it shows I assume. I have not had any dmail since the change.

I read many of the complaints and am not sure what some are talking about. I feel sorry for Terry and Melody but maybe they should have told us ahead of time this was going to happen so we could have been ready. I hate surprises.

The weather alert just came up a few minutes ago. Severe Storm Watch again now in affect. This is really becoming a PITA.

JB---

You said you "closed Firefox". What does that mean?

You needed to RESTART your computer--and then see if it got fixed.
This will get rid of all kinds of "old things" and start new...
Hope you did that.....
Gita

I did restart the computer. I meant I shut down Firefox and then restarted the computer. Still did not fix the problem. It is truly frustrating but I am sure it will get worked out. Patience is not one of my virtues.

JB--Contact "Melody"--she is in charge of fixing all kinds of site glitches....

Gita, I have done that several times and it is not only me, it must be hundreds of others with the same problem. they will fix it when they figure it out. I am not going to waste anymore time on it. I am just sorry so many DGers are so unhappy and nothing seems to be helping. It seems some of the problems are because we all have so many different browsers and set ups on our computers. They have already two threads going on how to fix problems. I am sure eventually they will find it was something they did, not all of us can be wrong. It is almost like the parade is out of step. The girls are doing their very best to help but the technicians are going to have to fix the problems.

Severe storm warning and I must shut this down before the lightening gets us. JB

rain moving through here now. Heavy rain in Catonsville/ Arbutus (S. Baltimore) couple hrs ago
I just keep thinking its great that none of my recent plantings have died from drought. And the compost is cooking great with the heat and humidity.

Thought we were going to get a hard rain---the sskies got dark with clouds....

All gone! Sun is back out,,,,For some reason--we here seem to get passed by lately.

It's OK! The ground is wet from even the short spurts of rain we have gotten.
G.

Raining again tonight. Saves me so much time when it rains every night. The sun all day keeps everything from becoming too soggy. The gusty winds knock down tall and weak stems, however. The clay soil is easy to weed when the ground is not overly dry.

Good Day People, all is well in Wrightstown today. Weather is cloudy about 85 deg. and humidity is out there for sure. Sun was out earlier but now it is not.
This could be the one day we have no rain but they say out of the Phila. station that we could have warm days with possible thunderstorms all next week until the weekend. Very unsettled week coming up. So, what else is new?
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your sunshine while it is here.

Been overcast since we got up. Its threatening rain aka " catch up on housework"..must vacuum dog hair is horrible.
Aren't we funny. we come up with all these electronic work saving devices and then make our houses bigger and buy more clothes and end up with same amount of effort hahaha .

Raining here now, pretty heavy.

Vermont has flash flooding (Im not there yet) Here is a link to a video, Kid in garbage bag rain coat is DGS! He couldn't wait to tell me all about the flood and his media debut! That's one of our favorite Parks when I visit
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130629/NEWS02/130629007/Video-Oakledge-Park-flooding