FEBRUARY 2014 The Love Month!

We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1345991/#new

Please join us with your chat and gardening news and photos.

I know we are all ready for Spring!!! but, except in the deep South, most of us will have to wait at least a couple more months until we can officially say Spring has arrived. Even those in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida have experienced some ice/sleet/snow recently. :(


Here is a graphic which is appropriate for the month, courtesy of google images:

In case you missed it, today (January 31st) is Sandra's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANDRA!! I know it has been a good one because she got a surprise visit from Cayla and Eli!! :D


This message was edited Jan 31, 2014 8:25 PM

Well your johnny on the spot!
Sure glad Sandra got the surprise visit from Kayla and Eli. I know it made her day!!

Yes, it has, they have to leave in the morning, Bryan's Dad has Cayla updating some of the computers at his office and she needs to get there by 2 so she can get started as quick as they all go home. They take Wednesday off and work half day Sat.

Happy Birthday, Sandra that was a perfect surprise from Eli, Cayla & Bryan, better than a plant!!! Are we celebrating just one day this year?

Marilyn thanks for the new thread and posting your visit with Becky on FB. Yall all looked great!!! Sounds like Yall need a motor home with all the traveling you & Al do. I think you'd enjoy it.

I think we missed the bullet for it getting cold again next week here. We're gonna be 73 tomorrow and Sun. and then again Tue. I pray they aren't wrong.

The parades are starting down here and the king cake is flowing. Ashley is dancing in the Jupiter parade. Brooklyn & Peyton are dancing at Disney in March and Jim said we'd all go since they are the last of the grandkids and they have never been. I get to attend the 1st day of HGTV International Flower & Garden show while there and do a 3 hr. tour of the gardens with a horticulturist. I'm as excited as the kids.

Went today and had 2 more spots of skin cancer froze off. Use your sunblock. I even bought me a hat for in the garden. I wonder just how long that will last.

Jeri: we do have a fifth wheel and have pulled it with Al's truck for a couple of trips in the last year. Al just didn't want to deal with the truck, etc., when we went to his brother's memorial. We are planning a long trip with the fifth wheel next September over to the east coast and down to Florida.

It sounds like your trip to Disney World is going to be fun, especially with the garden tour as a bonus!!

I have to wear a hat when gardening, too. I take Lisinopril (blood pressure pill) which makes me more sensitive to sunlight. I can burn before I know it so I have to be careful nowadays.

I wished Sandra a happy birthday on FB but will do it again here, a day late. Sandra, so glad you had a visit from Cayla and Eli.

Jeri, that tour with the horticulturist sounds great. It will be a fun trip for all.

Jeri, I actually started on New Years Day, Cindy called me and said Happy Birthday on Jan 1st--I laughed and told her it wasn't my birthday ! It was New Years Day, so I started celebrating then--LOL--every day is a good day !!
Cindy took that tour and she said it was the biggest disappointment she ever had. They were hot and tired and couldn't even stop for a drink of water. Call her and let her tell you all about it, it doesn't go "behind the scenes" as advertised ! You might want your money back if you talk to her, she said it was the most expensive thing she did and the worst ! She went with Becca and Becca's Mom-just the three of them and they all were upset about the tour.

Bryan didn't get to come as he had to work Friday and today, her phone was going off every few minutes with texts or calls from him.

I started with the eye drops today in the left eye, 4 times a day, 3 different drops !

I've been to Disneyland and Disneyworld several times each but have never been on the garden tour. I have always really enjoyed looking at all the plants throughout the park. They do have beautiful landscaping. But from Cindy's experience seems like you don't necessarily need to take a special tour. Now I want be disappointed that I've never taken the tour.

Is it next week you have your surgery Sandra?

Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and I think Tues. I had to go to the grocery store this afternoon for necessities and it was a zoo! I think it was a combination of stocking up for potential bad weather and super bowl party stuff. They had carts all over the store where they were trying to restock in addition to customers everywhere!

I didn't do the tour but we have been there during the EPCOT flower and garden show if that is the same one. It is wonderful just looking at everything. Loved the butterfly house and just how beautifully everything was sculpted. There are lots of special topiaries and other flower exhibits that are not normally there.

I'm glad you said that Sandra, I guess I'll call and cancel that tour tomorrow. It's $60.00 a person and if they won't let you stop for water, I don't think Jim or I either one would last for that. The HGTV tour will have to be enough. I said the last time we took Chris & Ashley it was my last. I haven't forgotten either why I said that, we just had 2 more grands and Jim said they can't be left out. The garden tour was my incentive to go. LOL!!!

Marilyn we will have to meet up camping.

I hope you miss that snow tomorrow Charlotte. Jim is out of town and I haven't even given the game a thought this year.

It could be different, give Cindy a call to be sure.
yes, Tues is the day for me and also Terrye's daughter, Kellye
Emily called me today, Jeri, she said she sure wanted to go to Forest Hills this time

I'll give both Cindy and Emily a call. I was sorely disappointed the last time I went to Forrest Hill. Since they shut that nursery down that sold all the tropicals I haven't hardly been able to get a good car load. We are smart going early before it gets too hot. Mary & I met Cindy late in 2012 and almost baked looking at plants. I just looked up the date and it is March 13-16, 2014. They are on to us going on Thur. LOL!!! Maybe we'll have to go on the 12th and it will be like your BD!!!! Just keep on going!!!

I have to get to bed so I can make it to the early service tomorrow!!!

It started snowing here today about 10 a.m. while we were in church. It snowed for several hours and now we have 4 inches of snow on the ground' :( I wish I was back in Arizona where the temps were 75F. Have any of you Arkansas girls gotten any of this snow?

You all have really had a lot of snow this year. No snow here yet. It has been raining here all day and is really yukky!! I checked the temperature a few minutes ago and it's 34 now. But it's supposed to get in the mid twenties tonight. If we get any snow I don't think it will last long or be very bad. But like you I'm tired of this winter! However we did need the rain. I don't want to get out in this mess to go eat so I think I'm going to just fix us each a loaded baked potato. Then later we can snack on summer sausage and cheese.

Sounds like a good supper to me. What kind of summer sausage do you get? The last I bought was so greasy we couldn't eat it.

Cayla is getting ice in Ripley TN. She sent a picture of a bush iced over.

Well Richard didn't like my potato idea for supper so I ended up going to McDonald's and getting him a burger and bringing it home. When I turned on my windshield wipers I discovered we had been getting some sleet. It didn't last long and didn't stick. The rain has stopped now and no snow so far.

I usually buy Petit Jean summer sausage. When I send Jake a care package I usually put some summer sausage in it along with some fancy crackers he wouldn't ordinarily buy. He likes it too. I need to put a package together for him in a few weeks. He is totally on his own as far as food. He doesn't get any of his meals from the cafeteria. He either has to buy something out or cook it. He is a good cook and is very good at managing his food budget. He has been grocery shopping for several years so he knows his way around a grocery store. His dad gives him so much a week for food and if he goes over that amount he has to pay for it out of his own money. So far he's actually been saving money out of what his dad gives him for food.

Petit Jean products are the best!! Too bad they only sell them in Arkansas!! I have never seen any of their meats in the stores up here. :( I even like Petit Jean bologna! LOL
Jake is a very self-sufficient young man. He will make some girl a good husband one of these days (or years).

Sandra, isn't it neat that Cayla lives in Ripley, TN and your address is Ripley, MS (even though you live in the 'boonies') I live in the boonies, too, and Isabella isn't really a town. It's just a wide spot in the road with a post office, a laundromat and a very small cafe. :D

The sun is shining brightly but don't let that fool you. We have 4 inches of snow on the ground and our temps won't get above freezing today. :( More wintry precipitation coming our way tomorrow. "Bleah"

Yes, pretty neat, just wish it wasn't so far apart !!
Charlotte, you are so good to Richard ! Going out in that cold just to get him what he wanted!

We went to Hardins party yesterday, I can't believe that baby is already 4. He is a big boy now, he got to spend the night with us at Christmas this time. He cried when I picked up Ashe the time before so he got to come too. I was afraid he would cry, but he didn't, loved staying with us

My cousins in Louisiana talk about using Peti Jean meat. Don't know if they sell it in LA or if they are buying it in AR.

I looked out my back door this morning and discovered daffodils that have popped up and even have lots of buds!!

I'm going to let the professional pond people repair my koi pond even though it's going to cost a small fortune. I have so many things that need attention in the back I don't think I can possibly get around to all of it must less tear the koi pond totally apart and put it all back together again.

The sun is shinning and it doesn't feel that cold. I think it's going to be in the forties today. We are supposed to have another round of cold tomorrow and possibly some more ice. Don't think it will last either.

Kristi makes all the boys be self sufficient. I washed Jake's clothes before he went back home and he thanked me for doing it and said that was the first time someone had washed clothes for him in a number of years. Kristi has made the boys wash their own clothes since they were probably about 12.

I saw green poking up yesterday too, Charlotte. About 2 inches of leaves, but no buds, thankfully. I was actually looking to see if the hellebores were blooming (they weren't) and found the early daffs poking up instead!

Marilyn, I can't believe y'all have 4" of snow! It rained here most of the day yesterday and last night, then it got cold, but fortunately no ice. Was supposed to warm up a little today and then get cold and wet again. I think everyone has had snow but us. I'm not complaining, mind you. Just wish it would make up it's mind. Darn groundhog!

This is one small patch. I walked around the back and they are coming up all over and several patches have buds. Haven 't checked the front. My hellebores are not blooming either.

How nice to see something green ! It is not unusual to see daffy in Jan blooming around here after a mild winter, but sure haven't seen any blooming around here this year!

We certainly haven't had a mild winter! But here they come anyway! If they keep poking their little heads up they are going to get frozen!

We had 2 nice warm days, Sat. & Sun. but got up to cold again today. Tomorrow is suppose to be back up in the 70's. The plants down here don't know what to do.

It's a really yukky day here!!! We have freezing rain. It's sticking to the trees and the roads are a mess especially the bridges. There are wrecks all over the place this morning. So glad I can just sit in my chair and look at it and not have to get out! I feel sorry for the people that do have to get out in this mess!!! I'll be so glad to see spring! I have lots of stuff in my garage I need to paint but can't do that either because I need to be able to open the garage door and rearrange stuff so I can get to what I need to paint. It's certainly too cold to think about cleaning out the garage.

I'm glad you don't have to get out either. It's always better in that kind of weather not to even get out if you don't have too!!!

We're cool but not freezing. It is supposed to start raining this afternoon. Don't know if we'll see any snow or not. Maybe flurries tomorrow. Glad y'all don't have to get out in it. That's my philosophy too. If you don't have to get out, DON'T! Hope Marilyn and Al are hunkered down as well. Looks like they will be getting snow for sure.

I cleaned out my potting bench a couple of weekends ago. It really needed it. It was pretty cold outside that day, but it's nice and toasty under the house so I just worked under the house that day. Had to take some water, spray cleaner and paper towels with me to clean some stuff but I got it done. Also threw away a bunch of junk. I had received my new seeds, so was sorting thru my old seeds and threw a bunch of stuff away. I should take a bunch of pots to the botanical garden, but then again, I'm always looking for a pot for something or other I've dug up, so I keep them. I did give away a lot to someone a couple of years ago, so that helped.

We had freezing rain here for most of the day . The roads are ok this afternoon but I'm sure will redressed tonght. The ice never melted on the trees. When it got warmer this afternoon it it started melting some it just caused the trees to get lots of icicles . Really pretty but I just hope lots of branches don't breaking. Sure don. 'T want to loose power.

We just had a monsoon hit us. Thunder & lightening!! The scary stuff!!

Hope all is well with you, Jeri!

I haven't even been out to look and see if my hellebores are blooming. They were not blooming when I looked a couple of weeks ago.

We had more snow this morning. It came down hard and fast for about 2 hours and then stopped but then about an hour or so later it started sleeting!! Fortunately, that didn't last long. We didn't get much of either the snow or the sleet. Yesterday, the sun was shining all day and even though it wasn't warm--in low 30's--the sun did help to melt off some of the snow we got on Sunday. Our high tomorrow won't make it out of the 20's! I am SOOOOO ready for spring. We have had a bad winter this season. Last year, we hardly had any snow at all, which makes this year seem so much worse. It could be worse, though. We could live up north!! .

Hi everyone ! No comments on misspelled words please, I can see for a little while, then it gets all wonky----
The doc yesterday said it looked good, a little swelling, but that was normal. I am alone today as Jerry went back to work, just hope I don't run into a wall--LOL !

Are you putting the drops in now? That could be why you are seeing wonky. It's only been a couple days. Be patient!!! You aren't seeing well with the other eye? Again I wish you were closer!!!

Jeri she had both of them done at the same time!! She's a brave soul. Sandra glad you've got it over and just think how much better it's going to be. You will have several days of blurry vision.

Yep, you'll be wonky for a while Sandra, but glad you thought to send us a note and let us know you are ok! The drops have a lot of oil in them from what I understand. At least when I had my lasik surgery, they want to keep everything lubricated. No dry eye!

We have some very fine snow coming down! You can barely see it but as cold as it is any precipitation is going to stick on the streets. It's 23 here now. I am really getting sick of this winter!!
I have plenty to do in the house. Guess I just need to get with it!

Sandra, only had one eye done. The other one will be done on Feb.27th.

We aren't having any snow right now and what was on the ground is starting to melt but the temperature remains cold. We are supposed to dip down close to zero tonight! :(
I haven't been outside since Monday afternoon except to fill up the bird feeders. We have literally dozens of birds--all kinds--that are coming to our feeders. They empty them every day. I even throw seed out on the ground for the ground feeders like the doves. I counted at least a dozen doves on the ground this morning and 2 dozen cardinals. That doesn't count the smaller birds like the chickadees, titmice (titmouses?), dark-eyed juncos and the goldfinches and other birds. We have gone through almost 150 lbs. of sunflower seed since the first of November. In addition to that, Al has a feeder down in the lower part of our property for the squirrels, crows, etc. It is on a battery-operated timer that throws out the corn twice a day. It helps to keep the squirrels and crows off our bird feeders and out of the back yard close to the house. .

Thanks Charlotte & Marilyn, I talked to her yesterday but she didn't mention anything about the wonky feeling. That was what scared me.

I'm trying to put together a trip to Forest Hill next month. I have it under my status on FB but thought I'd mention it here also.

Don't know what made me think Sandra had both done at one time. I should know they just don't do that!

I've been a bad bird mother this year! I have food but just haven't gotten around to putting it out. Marilyn you made me feel bad for them and I went out and filled up the feeder and put suet in several feeders! There are so many berries in the yard I think they have found enough to eat but thought I'd make it easier for them.

I wish I could go to Forest Hill Jeri but it's just too far with all I have going on.

Jeri, my glasses are useless now. In fact, I think I am better off without them. The eye drops start 3 days before surgery and continue for a month. There are 3 medicated drops, one of those stops the 11 and the other 2 go until March 1st. By then I will have started the other eye, these drops are 4 times a day, I will have to make a chart when they do the other one !
They also gave me drops that are in a single use vial, preservative free to use anytime. It had 5 vials in it so we bought more of those at the drug store. I can see my IPad now, so that is a blessing. I listened to one audio book before I could see my IPad. I still can't see TV, but I mostly listen to it anyway, as I am usually on my IPad. I just have to remember to lay back in my recliner as I am not supposed to hold my head over! They said it wasn't as bad as it used to be, if I dropped something I could pick it up, but not bend over for an extended time, puts too much pressure on the new lens.