#21 Practical Matters for Phsically Challenged Gardeners

That 'Chocolate Chip' is really common up here, and I think 'Plum Brocade' or 'Purple Brocade' is the one I liked. We already had 'Chocolate Chip' in the cart, so now we have both. I was going to guess that it was too hot for them down there, but if you have 'Bronze Beauty' then you know ajugas. I remember ajuga in as a weed with the grass in Maine, so I thought it might be a climate thing.

I also have another hypothesis, well really, it's an observation which I am sure others have noticed. When you have your average, run-of-the-mill ajuga (or daylily or coneflower or fill-in-the-blank) it is hardy to whatever zone. But then if you start messing with the attributes (making the foliage variegated, or purple, or crinkled, or making it flower sooner or later or on old wood AND new wood, or instead of purple it comes in white yellow purple orange green and short and tall and whatever feature you want to vary), I think the resulting plant is often less hardy than the original plain whatever. I guess that's not always true, but the hardiness can be affected, like fancy colored coneflowers don't return as readily and roses revert to the root stock. Sometimes whatever the fancy new thing they persuaded it to do makes it too delicate to live, I guess.

Happy Fourth, folks! People are setting off firecrackers that sound like they're right outside the window although I'm fairly sure they're not. Still, I hate the sound.

I was surprised ajuga grew here also. It was given to us at the Florida/Alabama DG Plant Swap though and most of the people who participate in that live south of me.
I think you are right. The general rule appears to be the fancier or more unusual a plant, the more delicate. . Geneticist have created a blue rose by adding delphinium genes, but, last I heard, it could not survive outside of laboratory growing conditions
Since Amargia will have to survive despite benign neglect, we are focused mainly on straight species and hybrids that were bred specifically for hardiness in the deep south. Jim says he will take a few of each of his named daylily types with us to the new house, but I believe a few of those such as 'Brown Witch' and 'Chinese Chariot' will thrive without us. The wild orange species and the old pink cultivar I got from my mother certainly will. Be extra nice to your DH. The iris will go out in the mail tomorrow.
There were lots of fireworks last night here also. I don't know what the neighbors to the south were setting off, but the big booms sounded like mortar fire. We had a little camp fire and nature's fireworks, fireflies and the stars. Nadi says we have more fireflies this summer than she has ever seen in past years.
Jim is in a foul mood because Hillary got away with her "carelessness". He says if he had ever been that careless with information he had been entrusted with, he would be serving time in Leavenworth. This election is ridiculous. I would not feel confident letting the candidates look after my dog, nevertheless the country. Perhaps, the neighbors were testing out their weapons for a revolt under the guise of Independence Day. lol. My opinion is a fairly common one.
Are you doing okay, Bets?
It's back to weeding and more concrete work for me. I hope to have the entrance side photo worthy by next month. Re-orientating the property because of the entrance moving from west to east has been a big job.

We are not traveling to NY in October to see our new GS. My daughter is coming down instead. That will free up the funds earmarked for the trip to be used to finish the bathroom remodel. Yay! I am so looking forward to that.
k*
Pix 1 Brown Witch.
Pix 2&3 Chinese Chariot.
Pix4 Tropical Pitcher plant.

Wow, Kay, I don't think I've heard of Charles Bonnet Syndrome before. (Notice me saying "I don't think I have" instead "I've never" - that's the unreliable memory.) Anyway, from what Wikipedia says, it sounds really interesting. I am always amazed at doctors in 17th-18th-19th century being even half right. Bonnet described it in 1760! Haydn and even Mozart were alive then! That makes me realize how long ago it was.

You're sending us iris? Thanks. Ray was supposed be digging and dividing the iris this month anyway; I will sweetly suggest that he wait.

I can talk a good game but I have never (personally) divided a daylily or an iris. Actually, I am mostly all talk and hot air.

The Charles Bonnet Syndrome was terrifying at first. I thought I was experiencing senile dementia and checked myself into the Behavioral Medicine ward of the hospital. I was seeing snakes everywhere. I was apparently deluding myself when I told people I was not that scared of snakes. :-) When I started seeing Boeing 747 sized rattlesnakes flying through the air, it became funny instead of scary. The part of the brain responsible for the illusions does not do prospective the way the eye can. There is a Grandma Moses point of view to them. That enables me to tell what is physical truth from what is illusion by simply turning my head. If the prospective does not change, it is an illusion. That test is, of course, unnecessary with flying rattlesnakes. lol. It is amazing what we can adapt to, isn't it?
It has rained all day today. No rain dances were needed. I said the magic words yesterday. "Nadi, will you please do the mowing tomorrow?" We suspect Nadi is a very good rain dancer.
I tried to avoid yellow iris putting together your package. I can't say what colors they will be. My mother had them in every shade imaginable. There are about a baker's dozen. We finally have a manageable number of iris thanks to the Bread of Life Mission store and five individuals. Thanks for taking some off our hands. I hope they turn out to be colors you like. There must be an iris conspiracy going on. My niece gave me some fragrant plants. She says the flowers smell like root beer. Surprise. Surprise. They are iris. They must be the cultivar 'Gingerbread' or its parent species. :-)
The canna are beginning to bloom, but it is the dependable marigolds and Indian blankets that are providing garden color at the moment.
http://gardenofpraise.com/art43.htm

Pix 1 Indian Blankets
Pix 2 Marigolds

Hi guys. :d
Not ignoring you. Busy, hot, sunburnt and tired.
Will get with you all tomorrow at some time.
Hugs,
AG

Wow...
Sounds like everyone has been busy in the garden. I have too thus the reason why I was hot, sweaty and sunburnt. First off weatherman lied. Said it was to be 109 and it was 115. Grrrrrr! Also our humidity was off the charts. 23% for us. Dripping sweat.

I got stuck on a loop yesterday when I went outside and looked at my plants and saw two were fried, some were frying despite shade tent and 2 had rotted from the over abundance of rain they received. Sigh...mother nature this time, not me.

Thankfully they were all small plants and ones I 'rescued' or got out of the bargain bin for $2-$5. so it wasn't a big financial loss. Still a loss as I liked the little guys and they had grown quite well.

So I went outside at 9:30 yesterday a.m. thinking I'd be fine and started doing a little work. A little work turned into, "Well, if I pull out the dead plant then I need something there that can take the sun...so I'll just pop that in here. Now that leaves me a pot empty. The pot is portable so I'll stick it in the shade with this in it. Now I have a shady spot in the bed for this plant...oh, wait...that's too big for the spot but if I move this one over then the one I thought could go there could go next to it...and then this plant needs moved to more shade so I can swap it out with...and, and, and, ...."

Ever get caught in this trap???? Yeah. By the time I got off the loop it was 1:30 in the afternoon and I was a hot, dirty, sweaty, drippy, sticky mess. Threw shade tent over everything and said #$@$ the rest.

The rest got taken care of this a.m. but at 6:30! By 8:45 when I finished it was a hot, dirty, sweaty, drippy, stick mess. Humidity is at 43% today!!! That's eye popping and unbearable for us. Plants are sucking it up but as for the people...well lots of wet t-shirts and not in a fun way and plenty of shiny faces. I did notice people respecting that 3 foot personal space rule a little more though. (*grin*)

So that's what I've been doing and where I'm at.

Carrie...did want to let you know that A. funkiana v. 'Fatal Attraction' that you liked is on the mend. That was the one I 'de-pupped'. Buckets of water and basking in this ridiculous sun and humidity has seemed to give it a major jump start. I will keep an eye on it. If it pups again I promise to let it be and then in Spring send some to you. By then they will be big and hearty enough. Be warned though. This is a vicious plant. Super sharp lateral spines and marginal ones that curve in like fish hooks. Will draw blood and scratch back like an alley cat. Voice of personal experience speaking.

Which brings me onto succulents for the blind. Aloes are cool and I think the blind would be able to enjoy them. Not just A. vera but A. Ferox, and a few others related. The leaves are plump and juicy like succulents or harder and waxy. If they have any side (marginal) teeth they are like bumps and ridges on the leaves and do not contain spines/thorns. That wicked needle sharp lateral spine at the top is non existent. This would be fun and safe to explore with the hands.

There's a lot of Agaves that have cool textures to them but they are dyer, harder and more fibrous in feel and unfortunately they come armed. Some more so than others but not a plant to pet and fondle.

Jim...let me know for sure if you would like that Eve's Needle trimming. I'll send it to you.

Also...Hilary didn't do anything none of the other politicians haven't done before. The only difference is Hilary got caught. I worked in MI for 3 years at Ft. Huachuca and I can not tell you the mountains of classified, Secret and Top Secret documents we walked around with, read in our barracks, wrote reports and briefs about using any computer sitting there and didn't bother returning the original documents until the next day. Just left them sitting out on our desk.

If you're going to throw the book at Hilary then throw it at me and the entire armed services MI branch and the Pentagon and the F.B.I. and the CIA.

The real, true, honest safe guarders of our nations security and secrets are the janitors. They could care less and are completely disinterested while they pick the papers up off the floor and shove them back onto our desks or they are kind enough to wad them up into a ball first BEFORE throwing them in the garbage. That was more secure than how we treated the stuff. I don't recall ever seeing a shredder in any office on base!!! Can tell you how many times I saw our waste baskets emptied though and put in the RECYCLE bin!!!!

Yep...so now you know the real honest truth about the military and your national security!!!

Just a hint...if you ever need to find out info on someone go dumpster diving at their place. Don't bother hacking their computer. You'll find less there than in the garbage can. :D

Have a good day all,
J.

Hi, all. Thanks for asking about me Amargia, and thinking of me when you saw celosia, Jim.

There IS no good new, bad news today: only so-so news and not that bad news! So let me begin with the so-so news:

Jim, I had already sowed the celosia and was waiting for some to sprought when I fell and was hos[pitalized. My Granny turned off the heating pad (per my instructions) and (of course) they weren't under lights yet. Forty-eight of 100 seeds survived 4 days of neglect (no watering, etc.). So half my front sun garden is filled with these slow-growing plants (some of which are just now beginning to form tiny blooms). Selecting celosia for my front garden was a disastrous decision never to be repeated again! (This reminds me to take pictures.)

Please forgive me for what comes next: I am feeling sorry for myself and need to whine awhile. Y'all know my knee buckled and I fell on concrete, fracturing a bone in my spine; the pain was largely gone a month later. So when my neighbor asked me last week if I would water her tomato plant (which I gave her and was advising her etc about growing) while she went on a NINE DAY vacation, I said SURE. After all, this just meant walking a very short distance across our side yard twice a day. I did not think about how bad my knees were.

By the second day, my knees stayed swollen; walking was. . . . not to be done without an over abiding reason; housework was neglected, meals were whatever I could fix quickly ( I lived on coffee, diet bresakfast bars, d3elivery - the only choice in this small town is either chinese or pizza - and frozen pizza). My new routine: get up and water mine and her tomato plants; take a pain pill and collapse on my bed for the rest of the day; groan and get up when the clock said it was time for the evening watering; take another pain pill and collapse on my bed until bedtime. By the third day, I was checking the calendar as I went out for the morning watering, counting how many days of torture left. The fifth day, my orthopedic surgeon (who I was regularly seeing as various joints deteriorated to be needing his intervention) had a last-minute cancellation, so I dragged myself over to his office; he gave me a PAINFUL shot into each knee and we scheduled knee replacement surg3ery for this fall (AFTER Granny's 100th birthday party, which I'm gonna thro whether she SAYs she wants one or not!!!). Thankfully, it began to thunderstorm and rain buckets, so I didn't have to make my throbbing kn ees do the evening watering.

Today, the day after the shots, my knees still hurt, mostly where the in jections were but no more swelling. I'm still not active, but am using one less pain pill. Walking is . . . a curiosity, as I imagine this is what it'd be like if one were walking on stilts. . with a pivoting, swivel joint in the middle! Me is going straight, but my knees/legs are going any-which-way they want: to the left, right.

Beginning today, we're having a mini heat spell, which means watering THREE times a day! I'm not looking forward to seeing how my knees react to this new punishment; I HOPE they won't swell up again!

Thankfully, she'll be coming home Saturday. I'll never do this again; I just want to cry.

Oh my goodness, Bets, that sounds terrible! And being responsible for watering plants is a very serious responsibility!!! She should be paying a sprightly young person to do that. The 100th birthday party sounds important. Ray always says he doesn't want presents or he doesn't want a party and then is secretly hurt if he has no presents and no party, So I say, have a party, But don't do too much work.

Ray's son and grandson are in town, so we're seeing people more than we usually do. Today my mother and sister-here-from-Italy came for lunch, and tomorrow night everyone's coming here for supper. Luckily Ray is less fussy than I am. I had homemade ice tea, hand whipped cream cheese-sour cream dip and cookies and crackers arranged just so. But tomorrow is packaged stuff from the deli and pre-formed hamburger patties. Much easier.

Jacqueline, I can barely understand humans living in such temperatures and humidity, too. Please be careful and try to pace yourself. We're all familiar with the rearrangement you describe!

Good Morning all, :D

Bets...OMG, yikes! NO I won't make any jokes about revenge of the 'maters. Sounds miserable and painful and I definitely know when something aches. Got a bulged disk in my back from the repeated heavy lifting of 50 pound bags of loose coin and tons of boxes of rolled coin from banks while I worked at Brinks. I am the most liberated of women but that IS a man's job. Let them have it. Even those guys there with no necks and shoulders like Viking oarsmen had bad backs, knees and hands.

Thankfully I never needed surgery but it plagues me and never ceases to let me know it is there. The arthritis in my lower back does not add to the joy either. (Did you guys know arthritis is hereditary? Yep, and usually in the same spots as your parent's. Even teen agers have it.)

Get also what being a 'good neighbor' can be like. Being a kind soul can do you in. My neighbor and very good friend next door is 86! I pull weeds for her, plant on occasion, put on and take off the shade tent and basically tend her yard like my own. Sigh. How do you say "no" when you can see someone needs the help, they are willing to return the favors? Shirley, (neighbor) has been around a few times when I had seizures and saved me from harm, has taken care of feeding Zoe for us on occasion and drives my butt around when needed. Feel like a horse's butt saying 'NO." when someone is willing to reciprocate the kindness at times and in equal measure.

I can't imagine knees and mobility though. UGH! Well if it is any consolation if I was there I'd go water the 'maters for you and not even complain or snark about it.

When it comes to those 'maters though, I'd treat them like the tree in my front yard. Lay the hose down in front of it. Turn on the water in a moderate stream and let it run, run, run, until you see the water overflowing and onto the things around it and you know the plant isn't going to hold anymore. If it keeps my tree for a week (green, not crisp and a red Live Oak) then maybe that technique will keep them 'maters for 3 days in a row, especially when you add humidity to it.

As for treatment...well I know you hate needles and so do I but have you ever thought of acupuncture? I know people think it is quackery but I swear to you it isn't. When I lived in Korea Town (largest population of Korean people outside of Seoul in the world) in L.A. I had a doctor that that practiced both Eastern and Western medicine. He always asked me what 'flavor' I preferred that day when I came to see him. LOL. He was a D.O. so he knew how to do 'adjustments' (one of my many seizure induced falls that put something out of whack in my back) so being brave I decided to try acupuncture.

Looked scary but my reasoning was this stuff has been around centuries before our medicine so there must be something to it. It did not hurt! You do not feel it at all. And yes...it does work. It is hard to find an acupuncturist here unless you are willing to drive to Tucson or Phoenix but if given the choice and accessibility I would always choose this method over a Chiropractor, pain management specialist or 'Western Treatment'. (BTW ever notice there are no A.A.s, drug rehabs, diet centers, shrinks offices or pain management centers in China and Korea towns? Hmmm...pause for thought there.)

The possibility that your fall may have put your spinal or neck to spinal and hip alignment out of place/alignment may be what is causing the unbearable pain and pressure on your knees and thus the unsteady and affected gate also. This may also be what is steadily eroding the cartilage in your knees as they are compensating for the back/hip/neck and forcing your posture to put more weight on the knees and thus erode them faster than normal. Won't cure the problem but may alleviate the pain and definitely stop it from getting worse or beyond the norm of aging.

Guy treated me for flu once also. Gave me a tea that tasted like wet muddy tree bark the dog peed on and smelled as bad too but it cured me 100% in 5 days...not 2 weeks and DID NOT give me the uhm...coinciding dreaded woman problem that goes along with taking antibiotics. Will confess getting that wretched tasting tea down was painful! Bleck and ewwwwh!!!

Congrats on Granny's upcoming 100th b-day. Quite an accomplishment. She should be receiving a b-day card from the President soon. And yes, give her the party. She'll gripe but secretly love it. May not be cranky for a day either while stuffing all that sugar loaded cake in her face. (*grin*).

Long e.mail so I'll send another one for the rest.
J.

Oh...edited because I talked to Wise Cactus. He said, "Sometimes the cures we seek to our common problems may just be found in the most uncommon places if we look there." Wise Cactus is very wise. He also said give the neighbor kids a few bucks to go water the 'maters for you. :D




This message was edited Jul 8, 2016 8:21 AM

My goodness, Jim and Kay, a huge box of irises just arrived. At least I imagine it's irises. The yellow of irises is not an obnoxious, orangey, brown and yellow yellow. And it's not a sea of yellow with no breaks, it's a soft, pale, polite yellow. Thank you thank you thank you!

Hi guys...
Back from the consultation with Wise Cactus.

Carrie...
Company sounds like fun!!!

Wise Cactus also had some words for you.
He said, "It is the host's duty to make their guests feel at home. It is the guests' duty to remember they are not. You sound like a most excellent hostess and fulfilled your duty."

I agree with him. I do hope all appreciated your hospitality and graciousness and the trouble you went through to welcome and to feed them upon their arrival. So no, I do not see your deli feast for the next day as neither inappropriate nor inconsiderate.

Did you take advantage of those Italian relatives' know how and snag some recipes for home made sauces, meatballs and pasta!!! (Shame on you if you didn't. :D )

In return, I am also hoping they will be able to perform their duty as guests and remember they are not at home cooking or paying to eat at restaurants. That means they should remember to tell you 'Thank you' for whatever you choose to put on the table in front of them that they get to eat for free. (If not then shame on them!)

As for the heat...yes it can be surreal and beyond most people's imagination. It is becoming that way to me also. Never used to be like this. When we got here 9 years ago it was 115 on the day we arrived but that was a rare day in June. Average June temps back then were 100-110 max. Late July and August it was a steady stream of 105-110. There were more 110-115 days but not a relentless pounding. I remember a freak day was 117 or a 118 but that was maybe 4 times all Summer!

Fall it cooled down and was nice all the way through mid-late May. I think you remember photos of me that I posted where I'm either wearing a sweater or a jacket! There was always some humidity during monsoon season due to rain but that was rare and never topped 15-20%.

After the first year of living here because it is a dry heat (yes standard joke but true) with less than 10% humidity a 110 degree day felt like 95 in Ohio or elsewhere with no sticky, wet thing going on. And your blood thins out and you adjust.

Funny but true we were freezing the next year when it got below 85. Easiest way to tell the snowbirds from the natives was by clothing. They were walking around in shorts and sandals. We had on jeans, boots/closed toed shoes and were wearing sweaters or jackets!!! Heat goes on in this house when it hits 72 degrees outside.

Now it is just so weird and becoming worse. You saw the picture of the thermometer where it was 122 and 118 two days in a row! We 'pray' for 110 in the summer as that is 'bearable'. Our humidity was in the 40% range yesterday. I'm covering desert plants for Pete's sake so they don't burn and die. Our January is the new May. Mexico is cooler than us and California has become the 'new' Mexico as far as climate and temps are concerned!

Yes, hard to imagine living in this but the march towards it has been slow and steady so it wasn't like WHAM all of a sudden until this year. Heat advisory warnings are now the prevalent warnings over rain and dust ones and so far there have been 12 heat related deaths and summer is just gearing up where there used to be only 2 or 3 all summer long previously.

I make the joke about living like troglodytes but in essence we are. Siestas so to speak are becoming a popular thing more and more. Good for the economy though when you think about it. Everything is jammed packed in the a.m., workers are not denied afternoon lunch breaks anymore, and stores are staying open later and later into the evening hours to accommodate the 'rhythm' of how people are living now.

In retrospect though I grew up in N.E. Ohio and went to college in Pittsburgh. I now reflect on that and do not know how anyone can survive it. Snow piled up higher than your car, freezing rain, sleet, lakes frozen so deeply you can literally walk across them for miles with no problem. Having to drive yourself or your kids to school in this stuff. YIKES.

Months where the sun barely shines and it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon. (Nobody farms anymore. Still don't understand why they don't do away with daylight savings time.). Wind chill factor that makes a 0 degree day feel like -30 below 0.

Thing I don't miss is the clothing. Love sweaters and boots but the 2 pair of socks, panty hose under jeans, a t-shirt and long sleeve shirt under your sweater seems way too much now. Coats that go from your neck to your shins with scarves and hats and earmuffs and gloves. Frost bite causing people to lose fingers and toes and hypothermia deaths.

Guess it is all relative and what you are accustomed to seeing and having to survive in. Amazes me what the human mind and body can endure when necessary when it comes to our habitats. People who can't afford to run their air conditioning the same way people can't afford to run their heat.

Sigh.

Feel especially bad for those stuck in the middle of the U.S. They're getting pounded with everything. More snow in winter, hotter summer temps, drought, floods and tornadoes and a partridge in a pear tree.

So all in all I think you and I still have it pretty good for now as we only have 1 season of misery as opposed to 4.

Don't think either one of our 'season from Hell' is preferable to the other. Just hard to imagine enduring if you've never had the pleasure (*sarcasm*) of having to endure either one.

Don't know about you but still looking for dinosaurs and waiting for those aliens from the planet Zerklorg.

have a good day all.
J.

These pictures are not because you just complained about winter. I just figured out how to email myself pictures; I have to save them to the gallery of the phone.

The first picture is not the worst day of winter 2014, it is just a typical day that winter. (This last winter we had practically no snow!) The second picture is the front of the house after Ray cut down the monster bushes. It's still waiting for us to add some plants back into it.

Good morning. :D

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Don't miss it a bit. Kind of remember that as being 'typical' in Ohio and in Pittsburgh. Like what I was saying when 109 is 'typical' here. 118 and 122 ARE NOT typical and kind of makes me wish I could take a 5 second jump in that snow bank of yours! :D We're about 8-13 degrees hotter than norm. Sounds like you are too if you're getting no snow where you're at. *shrug* Got no answer for the crazy weather.

Glad Ray got the bushes out the area for you. Does he have plans to remove the stump? If he doesn't want to pull it out by the roots he can cut it flush to the ground and there are stump killers that retard the growth permanently. That's why the neighbor (owns a landscape business) did for us. Had some Oleanders removed. Hated them not to mention they're poisons to dogs and cats.

Now we have lots and lots of cacti and agaves and aloes. YIPPEE.

What are your plans for the area?

BTW how goes the inside house renovations?

Have a good day.
Peace. Out.
TTC

It's Saturday, Bets! Sweet relief. I'm glad the steroid shots helped some, but you're limited as to how often you can get those. "Don't over-extend yourself in the future." the self-righteous sinner Jim preached. ;-)
Carrie, glad the iris made the trip okay. I never know whether to cut the fans off or not. I sent them out both ways. I wasn't sure they would settle in and start growing before cold weather hit in your case so I mailed most with their fans intact to give them a jump start.
Should I have written "irises" or are "iris" like "sheep"? You know what I mean. Is irises like sheeps? lol.
Yes, I will take the Eve's Needle, Agave. Kay thought it reached 5 or 6 feet. It is evidently not the plant she had in mind.
Since you're not an Englishman, we will add Mad Dog to your list of names. Jacqueline (a.k.a.: AgaveGirl, TTC, AG, Mad Dog. I'm sure you've heard the one about how only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun. Seriously, you need to be wearing a camel pack in that kind of heat. Were you ever anywhere during your military service where you had to wear one of those? It was a set up where you carried your water on your back and the straw stayed only inches from your lips. You just turned your head and took the straw in your mouth to drink. They made us wear them in Saudi and Kuwait whenever we worked outside. Do you know the temps you are experiencing are almost those in the Saudi desert?
Fenny breathed her last yesterday. We are all struggling with that. She had developed something that looked like doggie Alzheimer's. I'm not sure she even knew who we were the last few days. I know death was a merciful end to pain and confusion, but it will take a while to adjust to her absence.
Kay got the organic corn-on-the-cob she wanted for her b'day dinner. More corn has been planted in large containers since it worked, but she has decided it isn't that much better tasting than what is available from the farmer's market. Still, it was grown organically without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and we've never succeeded before growing corn that way.
There is nothing new blooming today. We've hit a heat stasis. Sunflowers should start blooming soon. We are still harvesting herbs every day. There are bunches hanging to dry in all the cool, dark, dry spaces we can find. We are mainly processing mints. That's a good job on a hot day. It smells like spring by a creek inside. it is 100° outside. That doesn't sound as hot as it once did. lol. If this keeps up in the SW, I bet residence overcome their aversion to subterranean housing. Is your immediate area seismically active, AG? Do underground spaces creep any of you out?
(Jim)

Oh, poor Fenny and I am holding in my heart all the people who loved her. I don't really understand dogs much, or the phenomenon of people possessing them. But I know how important she was to Armagia.

I don't know about the plural of non-Latin words that end in -us! (I don't even know with Latin words, but alumnus-alumni is pretty well understood in English.) Crocus, iris, cactus, they can all be said normally (one crocus, two crocuses) or not (one crocus, two crocus) and I think both are accepted. I tend to try for sentences where it's not awkward either way. ("Thank you for the iris" could be one, two, twenty-five.) And thinking about it right now, irises and crocuses sounds fine. But I know there will come a day when "crocus" will be singular. "Cacti" sounds wrong to me, and "look at those cactus on the hill'' avoids talking about it.

YAYY!!!! IT"S SATURDAY!!!!!!

Time for rest & relaxation. My knees thank me!

Sad news bout Fenny: I'll miss hearing about her antics.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Just typed a post and it got deleted. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Gotta go right this minute too. Will get with you all very soon.
J.

Hi gang, :D

Jim and Kay,
Dave, Zoe, Wise Cactus and I are so sorry about the departure of your dear friend and family member. I feel your loss. I hope it passes soon. Gone but not forgotten. Something I have always done was saved the collar and tags that had the name on them of my beloved pet and every holiday put them on the tree as an X-Mas ornament. Nice tribute.

Carrie..........and all,

Hard to explain why people love dogs the way they do. Best explanation I can give is that they embody the best of human beings with none of the worse traits known. They are the true meaning of what it is to be a 'Good Christian or enlightened Buddhist' in every sense of the word with true humility and grace and complete lack of hypocrisy.

They are patient when you are not. They indulge you in your whims and swings of mood and temper when others would never tolerate it. They ask nothing of you but would defend your life with no expectation of you ever doing the same for them.

Dogs do not judge. They do not care what you look like or who you are, where you came from or where you are going. They are not impressed by your socio-economic status. It does not matter to them what you have or have not. They are as happy to live with you in your mansion as they are to reside next to you in a cardboard box.

They do no find fault, harp, carp, complain, criticize, nit-pick, demand or drive you to distraction in attempts to change you unlike your spouse, children, relatives, bosses, coworkers, friends and your self. They have no expectations. You never fall short of in their eyes. There are no goals you fail to reach or standards you fail to exceeded when they look at you.

They possess a loyalty, give an unconditional love, are totally selfless and completely accepting in a way no human will or could ever be. No amount of money can buy, bribe, bargain, trade, or coerce willingly from a human what a dog gives freely in this regards.

They possess no malice---unless human mistreatment has deliberately made them that way. They have no avarice or greed. They do no hold grudges. They never fail to turn the other cheek or forgive in an instant. They ask for nothing but are happy with anything you choose to give them.

They never forsake or abandon us despite our age, health or ability unlike our friends, family or health insurance. They are the only ones who will lie with us until we take our dying breath and refuse to leave our sides even for an instant. They will not leave our side long after we've taken our last breath.

Whenever we feel God has left us alone in this world they are proof he hasn't. They are there waiting when no one else cares if we drop dead.

It is my fondest wish as a Buddhist that I reach the dog state of divine enlightenment and ability to be the example they set forth to the world. They truly walk the walk (Or should I say bark the bark) of what religious teaching embody.

I do not know one human being that embodies these principles or ability to serve as the living example as to what all humanity should be except for a dog.

Should you meet a human outside of Christ or Buddha that does this day in and day out ,naturally and willingly, and for your benefit over theirs, please let me know. I would like to meet them.

The Buddhists have a concept of an Arhart. I see dogs as Arharts.

Arharts are fully enlightened 'beings' (regardless of form) that no longer face the rigors of Samsara. Samsara being the endless cycle of life, suffering, death, rebirth, etc. etc. because one can't get their personal shit together enough as a human being and thus avoid being recycled and from receiving those redundant cosmic Karmic kicks in the ass until they manage to do so. (That being usually never).

Arharts have reached the end of Samsara. They achieved the ultimate enlightenment. They are entitled to all the rewards, pleasures and rests of Nirvana (Heaven) BUT instead they choose to remain behind to help those sub par, sub standard, grossly lacking, inept, unenlightened souls called humanity find their way. They make the ultimate personal sacrifice for the human race.

I see dogs as Arharts. I also believe that is why they are blessed with such short life spans. Being an Arhart is hard work. One does need their rest and just rewards after all they've done for others tirelessly and selflessly with no reward.

Buddha said the end to suffering is understanding impermanence. That is the letting go and refusal to cling to what is impermanent in this life. While I'm not sure that was specifically directed towards dog owners since dogs are sentient beings with feelings I am sure that Buddha meant let go of what has passed. To alleviate your suffering now and forever it is necessary to alleviate the suffering of others. I like to think that included dogs and all animals.

So perhaps when the time is right---another adopted dog may help do this. It will mutually alleviate both animal and human parties suffering, enrich their lives, and balance karma in a positive way.

I find this to be true of Zoe and I. I also have to admit that I have learned infinitely more from her than she from I.

I forget if it is in Psalms or Proverbs but Jesus said, "The good steward regards the lives of his beasts..."

Goes to show you when it comes to Buddha and Jesus great minds DO think alike. :D

So that is my rather lengthy explanation on why dogs are necessary and should be required in one's life.

Second e.mail will deal with the rest.

TTC













This message was edited Jul 10, 2016 5:24 PM

O.K.

Carrie this one is for you.
Plurals....
1.) The plurals of most nouns is made by adding 's' to the singular.
2.) Nouns ending in 'sh', 'ch', 'x' , 's' and 'z' are made plural by adding 'es'.
3.) The plurals of nouns which end in 'y' preceded by a consonant are formed by changing the 'y' to 'i' and adding 'es'.
4.) The plurals of nouns preceded by a vowel are formed by adding only 's'.
5.) The plural of words ending in 'o' preceded by a vowel are formed by adding 's'.
6.) Nouns ending in 'o' preceded by a consonant form plurals by adding 's' or 'es'.
7.) The plurals of nouns that end if 'fe' or 'fe' are formed in one of 2 ways:
---if final sound heard in the word is 'f' then simply add 's'
---if the final sound heard in the word is 've' change the 'f' to 've' and add 's'.
8.) Foreign words as well as some of those of English origin form a plural by taking an irregular spelling; others are now acceptable with the commonly used 'se' or 'es' ending.
---crisis = crises; ---child = children; ---criterion =criteria;
---goose = geese ; ---appendix = appendices/appendixes; ---ox = oxen

So most likely because words like "Iris" and "cactus" are Latin names they follow an irregular spelling such as 'cacti' due to the 'us' or can use 'es' in the case of "Irises".

I dunno....That's what I get out of it.

Jim...will get with you on the rest later.

Good Morning,

Very tired. Two small seizures last night. One a few seconds during lunch while Dave was home. One on the couch he said. No damage. Just makes me tired. So no yard or house work today. Just easy and relaxing things and lots of naps and early bed time.

Yes Jim...
Was familiar with the camel pack back packs. On our own time we were permitted to use them. On base not. Limited to their canteens. They wanted us to pretty much adhere to 'military issued/uniform' things although we were allowed the freedom to buy our own boots outside of what was issued as long as they were combat boots and met the guidelines.

I served 200-2003 so the weather was not quite as insane but weird. We were high in the mountains so it was extremely cold in the a.m or in winter. Not uncommon to see snow flurries but they last only a few minutes and melted before ever hitting the ground. In summer was just cold in the morning and hot during the day and cold again at night. Had, I guess 'normal' summer temps of 105-110. Had a freak day of 121 once! Pavement shimmered like a mirage and you could see waves of hot air ripple like water. They forbade us for the next week, although the temps had subsided, to leave the barracks even if we were on our own time. No p.t. either. :D Only place we were allowed to go was to the mess hall to eat and to walk to and fro our barracks to the building where we were 'working' and back.

As far as lugging anything on my back while being physically active...not a fan of the camel pack. Reminds me too much of a parachute. Just prior to my leaving was training to do Airborne and learning how to run, jump and climb with a 50 pound parachute on my back, Kevlar helmet on head and all that crap around my waist. I did better and hung in there better than most women but don't think I would have made the final cut. Women were allowed to go Airborne then but not allowed to be Rangers. Military wasn't quite as 'liberated' as it is now.

Funny aside story about those helmets. The guys taught us women a trick. We could never figure out why they weren't complaining about the helmet rubbing back and forth across their heads or why the sweat wasn't pouring down their forehead and into their eyes until they took off their helmets and showed us.

Uh...little embarrassing but we're all adults.
What they had been doing was buying boxes of the largest and thickest sanitary napkins made and lining their helmets with several at a time. They were putting the sticky adhesive side against the helmet and the cotton side against their head to absorb sweat! They also worked real well inside your boots for the same reasons and helped do away with the blisters!
ROFL!!!

Must have been interesting when the trash in the guys' barracks got emptied! We women took up the practice also. Weird but highly effective! Needless to say the commissary supply could barely keep up with the demand!!! LOL.

Did you guys do anything crazy like that or take up some unorthodox and bizarre practices to make things more bearable when you served in the desert?

As for my work outside I rotate a full pitcher of ice that melts while I'm drinking the other one full of ice water. Frequent rests in either shade or indoors and eating something citrus. Sugar from the fruit and juice helps keep you stable. And I also quit when I'm ahead. Don't like that awful dehydration headache that feels like you have a concussion. The garden, the work and the sun will all be there tomorrow.

Happy Kay got her organic birthday corn! Yuuuummy! I wish I had known it was her birthday as I would have sent a card. Sorry Kay. Happy belated happy birthday.

Also sorry once again for the loss of your beloved friend and companion.

I will send you the Eve's Needle as soon as I get a chance.

Hugs to you all.
Mad Dog TTC




i>This message was edited Jul 11, 2016 9:53 AM

This message was edited Jul 11, 2016 10:00 AM

Eve's Needle? I was just looking at a plant today called 'Adam's Needle'....must be the same thing, or almost.

We just got back from a field trip! The last many (maybe two weeks?) days have been unseasonably cool, at least to my screwed up MS idea of comfortable. We have ceiling fans in every room now, but we had turned them all off. We're looking at our garden and trying to figure out what scale things should be, what density, what should be in front and what in back. So I decided what we really needed to do was to look at someone else's perennial border. We went to a place called Tower Hill Botanical Garden, est. 1986. (No wonder I hadn't heard of it.)

It was great but it got to be 90* today! Too hot for long underwear! I had to take them off in the ladies room. I got really woozy from the heat. The worst symptom of MS that I have is I cannot control my own body heat. I am cold all winter and hot all summer. Actually, I am cold spring and fall, too! I am constantly taking off sweaters, buttoning up cuffs, rolling things up, putting them back on, it's ridiculous. Once I took off my long underwear, I couldn't really take anything else off. (I had long ago rolled up my sleeves.) In the car I unbuttoned my blouse to an indecent degree, but I buttoned it back up before we saw people!

Anyway, I sound like I'm drunk to hear me talk during these overheated episodes, and I am unable to decide anything. (Chair or sofa? how much ice do I want in my drink? why do I feel so awful?) You have to be the person with me and say "it's time to go inside/get a cold drink/get in the shade" because I will stop thinking. For the most part I know myself and can predict when it's going to happen, but today it caught me unprepared. I had a sweater with me but I never touched it. (Usually I adjust my temp. with sleeves, sweater on/off, scarf around neck/around collar, and I can do a lot with the tops of my socks, believe it or not.)

Anyway, that is my little whine for today, It was a beautiful place!
http://www.towerhillbg.org/

Agave, it sounds like Orange Is The New Black, with the sanitary napkins. I have never been ever been able to get into the habit of drinking warm water either; your two pitcher system sounds like what I would do too.

This message was edited Jul 12, 2016 4:11 PM

Hey Carrie :D

Whine away. It's cool as I think you are probably the least of us who do it.

OMG it sounds like you are having such a tough time. I get you on not being able to regulate body temp or be comfortable whether it be from the general environment or our own biological conditions. GRRRRRRR!!!! Right?

Outside of the insane weather in and of its self the only other suggestion I have would be to get the extended patient labeling (little onion skin packet folded like Origami) from your pharmacist and pore over it. Gives 1,000 times more info on drug/s you're taking. Lists tons more side effects not listed on the abbreviated thing they stick in your bag when you pick up your meds. Gives the absolute max and min dosage effects, and what can happen with prolonged/extended use and blah...blah...blah.

This is how I found out I was over medicated x's 3 and B12 deficient and being derailed physically and why my seizures were in triple time march!

Just a thought as this may be a possibility as to what is causing your discomfort.

Also not sure of your age but at mine ( age 48), my own body is now playing hormonal tricks and throwing my temps out of whack. We all know how lucky women are in regards to this. (*sarcasm*). So sometimes I have to think is it this or the outside temp or do I need to read up on my meds again or just stand in front of the freezer with the door open for half an hour?

All of these things have caused tiredness, mental brain drain and fog, confusion, inability to make decisions, irritability and resulted in my either being too manic and revved up or feeling comatose and catatonic by turns.

They have also prompted a large degree of frustration, unhappiness, and sense of impotence over the lack of control I have to do anything about it. All I can do is research, think, ask and fix on my own because most doctors are high functioning retards. My self diagnosis usually yields far more beneficial results.

Food allergy?

Other than these things I am at a loss as to what to offer up other than sympathy and empathy.

The weather has been brutal and beastly. My own air and ceiling fans go from barely running running in the morning due to the fact I'm freezing and then going full blast 3 hours later.

I go from wanting a sweater to walking around in my underwear all day. We wont discuss dressing for or even how to approach dressing for the outside now days and body temperature regulation.

Kind of odd as my husband has been doing the same thing but in reverse. He's hot and waking up sweating in the early a.m. when I'm freezing and cold. In the evenings when I'm walking around all but nude or sleeping in the nude he's got covers on! I'm not complaining at 115 (Hot) but he's crying at 109 (normal).

Don't know what to tell you girlfriend except check out the first two obvious: meds and your own body thermostat/hormones. If that fails put it down to weather and try to find a way of heating-cooling best you can like the rest of us. *Sigh* if you do figure it out do let me know.

Here's a pic of the Eve's needles. Let me know if this was the plant you were looking at. Mine is presently about 2.8 feet tall and getting taller. Branches are growing off the tallest part as well as the base which leads me to believe it would not be hard for this plant to achieve 5-6 feet in height max.





This message was edited Jul 12, 2016 3:38 PM

Hi Gang. I lost post to power outages and gave up until the storm cleared some. Not much going on in the garden. Rain, rain and more rain. It's beginning to look like there will be no dry, roast summer. Five months of sauna summer instead. We will need to change our late summer plant palette if this is going to be our new norm. The Mediterranean and prairie plants that usually take over now are looking confused. Not sad and distressed looking yet, but not happy campers either.
That was well-said about dogs, TTC. I had Fenny cremated and we will bury her ashes in her favorite place. The "talking", crazy-eyed dog was so much a part of Amargia, she should be laid to rest here. Fenny was a stray we found as a puppy. We have only the vaguest idea when she was actually born, but we celebrated Black Dog Day (((October 1st) as her birthday and that will remain an Amargia holiday.
They let us use the wet towel draped around the neck trick in Saudi. There were "red flag" times there where we weren't supposed to leave the tents unless we absolutely had to. Our work schedule was two hours out and one to rest. We had our minders who checked to see that we were okay when we were out working. I was a relatively pampered tech. The guys in the Army who guarded the camp had it much harder than we did. But this is what I really hated to find in the shelters when I was inspecting them. (Camel Spiders) really creeped me out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae

Thanks for the grammar lesson. I'll save that post for future reference. I will continue to call many gladiolas "glads" though. I know what you mean about some words just sounding wrong. Carrie. I've never liked "gladioli".
Enjoy your rest, Bets.


This message was edited Jul 13, 2016 8:51 AM

Good Morning :D

Not sure if rain, rain, rain is as bad as heat, heat and more heat. Both get monotonous, frustrating and problematic when gardening. Lost a few of my small little plants to the sun already (bargain bin cuties---but still) and have lost 2 due to the torrential rain we received. Honestly a fried cactus if it has the least bit of green will recover in 100% shade. One with mushy-yellow-brown whatever is a goner!

Seems like no happy medium where you are in the country or in what to plant. No matter if I'm here with you guys or on ATP (still call it that) everyone has the same problem. Plant selection and placement in the yard is becoming ever increasingly difficult and confusing. Yard limitations such as too much sun or too much shade that can't be worked around are all the more frustrating.

Glad you have Fenny's ashes. It is always good to give closure to both parties and nothing more desirable to go to rest in one's favorite spot.

Rudy's ashes are residing in our cacti park near Wise Cactus. Wise Cactus's kin are watching over Rudy's sun loving spirit and in return he will always be an integral part of them. Rudy loved the sun in L.A. Was miserable when he was in Ohio. Long before I met Dave promised Rudy I would not let him die someplace where it was cold. Kept my promise as Rudy died a few months after our arrival in AZ. Good Karma. I fulfilled my promise and Rudy got what made him happy.

October 1st sounds as lovely a day as any to celebrate Black Dog Day! Good for you in doing so. :D

In our house every day is the HRM Princess Zoe Marie Greyhound day!

Gotta go for the day but catch all of you on the upswing.

TTC

Unfortunately, Jacqueline, I am pretty sure it is just MS. I went through the menopausal/hormonal changes in 1997 after chemotherapy. (It's used in "extreme" MS cases to kill the white blood cells that are killing your nerve cells.)

They wanted to give it to me in 1986 when I was first diagnosed. They gave me an enormous Informed Consent thing to sign but pesky me, I insisted on reading it before I signed. It gave a 25% chance of menopause if you used the chemo at age 20-25, 50% chance at 25-30 and 75% chance at 30-35 or older. (The chemo kills rapidly growing cells, and wouldn't you know it, the unfertilized human egg cells are rapidly growing.) So I said "I am planning to have kids" and they said "it's time to have those kids. Go get pregnant." And I said "gosh, I always thought I would be married first" and they said "start planning the wedding, and better find a groom, too."

I married this jerk I was dating, 5 years later I had two kid and a divorce. THEN I went back to the neurologist and said "OK, I'm ready for to do whatever you think is best, up to and including sacrificing my reproductive system." (I wan't as passive as that makes me sound, don't worry.) Then I had the chemo, which made me feel like I was dying, and then I was on birth control pills (which worked as hormone replacement therapy) although I didn't realize it. When I was in the hospital in 2002, I was taking pills/meds via IV, and I hadn't mentioned The Pill (on account of being unconscious). My mother said "I think you have gone through "the change" (I was only 40 then) and so I went to my PCP and tried to convince her that the chemo had sent me into menopause but she didn't believe me either. She sent me to an endocrinologist who said "yup, post-menopausal hormonal changes," but I had pretty much missed the hot flashes and so on. But it's ok, I have MS hot flashes.

I think nowadays they could just have had me frozen some eggs, but this was in the 80s, and that wasn't really available. I also could have used a sperm donor and it would have been MUCH cheaper and simpler. But oh well.

When I sat down 45 min. ago to read and post this, I was so hot I couldn't think. (Jacqueline, I am wearing a bra and silk long underwear and wool pants! I asked Ray to put some damp washcloths in the freezer.) Now I am feeling a little better.

A few of our hanging plants are looking really heat-stressed, so I tried to buy some water-retaining moisture crystals at Home Depot. (They have it online.) Nobody at the store knew what I was talking about or whether they had them. Grrrr. So I came home and found them online at Home Depot or Amazon. I hate that! I was there in the store! It's stupid to send me away because your stock people don't know what merchandise you have! We abandoned our cart (some wood screws and 2 geraniums) because we were so mad/frustrated/hot.

I m glad you don't think I whine a lot, Agave, because that is one thing I try very hard to avoid. All my other online friends are flipping out because Bernie endorsed Hillary. Take a chill pill, guys! Always, before I post, both here and on Facebook, I read over what I said and half the time I don't post it. If you don't think I whine a lot, it's because I censor myself! Don't ask Ray what he thinks! Actually, when I wake him up at 2 am to change my covers or angle the fan away from/toward me, I am always so apologetic, and he ALWAYS says, "I don't think it's anything you can control. You are not choosing to wake up cold/hot in the middle of the night! Don't worry about it."

I hope I'll feel better soon, or the weather will change. Actually, we are going to Chicago to Ray's niece's engagement shower this weekend. Maybe that will be different.

And the Adam's Needle I saw were yucca, I found out.

Hi Carrie,
Nope...definitely not a whiner considering all you endure. Not laughing at you but laughing with you at your wardrobe choice of brassier, long silk underwear (Cuddle duds?) and wool pants.

My 8:00 a.m.-noon fashion choice consisted of husband's old green t-shirt I pirated for sleeping in, panties, slippers and my huuuuge fuzzy full length black robe with fuchsia polka dots on it! LOL. If my former Neiman-Marcus cohorts could see me in that!

I am now wearing a t-shirt of my own, a pair of shorts, no socks or slippers and grumbling because it is too warm. Husband is comfortable. By bed time I suspect I will either be freezing or kicking off the covers. *shrug* You are not alone.

Cranked the ceiling fans and air (just a modest tad per budget restraints). I always make a joke say the electric budget is the only conservative in our house! Honestly, I would be perfectly happy walking around in my underwear if the neighbor wasn't coming over to grab a bite to eat with us or there weren't public decency laws should I need to venture outside in public.

Ugh...chemo. God bless you for your courage and ability to go through it. True the guy was a jerk but you did get to have kids and you were married first.

(Yes as liberated as I am this 'kids without marriage' thing is not something I find acceptable or 'o.k.' even by today's standards and am not afraid to say it.).

BCP worked for you luckily when it came to the menopause thing. I know it would work for me I just don't want it as my hot flashes are occasional right now and they are not a good idea for smokers (yes...I know). Also when I was on them I did not like the swelling, weight gain or pains in my calves they gave me. I just don't think I was a good candidate for BCP as contraception on any level. Got off them and felt better.

As for my hormonal thing I'm tempted to tell the doctor to just rip everything out. Dr. said if I had a hysterectomy it would pretty much keep me out of menopause.
I have never 'used' my uterus, have a need or a want of it and would happily be rid of it and all the problems it is causing me at age 48.

Hey...maybe I can put it up on EBay as 'gently used' ROFL.

Only reason I haven't had a hysterectomy is the cost of it and insurance is weird and fights with you on 'non medically necessary' things harder than the fight with you on medically necessary things. *sigh* Grrrrrr! We most certainly don't have the money to pay for 'elective' surgeries.

Also AZ is a red state and those Catholic owned and run hospitals, which is the majority, wouldn't do it if I were dying let alone for the reason I want.

But we won't go to that place or those discussions. If interested I'll send you PRIVATELY the 650 word op-ed I did about such topics that was in the Tucson-Star. Used my pen name of course. AZ is AZ after all and I and my husband have to live in AZ.

Chicago might be a nice retreat from the heat. If you can near the water and catch that breeze it would be all good. Hopefully it won't be sticky. Best you can do is check the weather forecast and pack accordingly. I'm a personal fan of leggings and capri length leggings. Works if you want to wear panty hose under them and sweaters and boots or with sandals and long t's.

Cardigan sweater of medium weight has also been a best friend when I travel and believe or not some little mid knee-shin knit tank style pull on dress. Again can toss a big sweater or cardigan over it and put on hose and boots/shoes or can do sandals and layer an open button down shirt over it. Works either way. :D

And they have the nerve to charge for more than one bag now days right??? They just don't understand do they?

Not sure when you're going but hopefully I'll still be here when you come back.
My subscription is up July 20th and I plan on just staying on ATP.
They offered me another 2 months at $5.00. Very nice. Price isn't it. It is just that my S.W. Agave/Aloe/Succulent forum is literally dead, there is nothing else I do on Dg and you guys are the only ones I talk to. In all honesty I've stuck around for you guys.

Sooo.....shall we all discuss plans about what to call the forum over on ATP so we can be our 'gang of 4' again? (Carrie, Bets, Armagia family and TTC).


And yes...while I'm still feeling the Bern I believe it is time to run for the Hill. LOL. If that woman has the brains I think she has and HONESTLY wants to be President she will admit she needs the Bern to do it and had better make him her VP. As it is she is only 3-4 points ahead of Trump. That's a drop of 2+ points. For some reason I don't think she's as stupid as her pant suits look. (Nothing wrong with pant suits it is just her taste in them is abominable). For some reason I think she'll come round.

O.K.
gotta help out with dinner.
Peace. Hugs. Out.
AG.

This message was edited Jul 13, 2016 4:05 PM

Truly, "stupid" is the last word I would use to describe Hillary. Fashion-free, intellectual, giving-the-impression-of-cold-in-a-crowd, maybe, but not "stupid." How many people do you think are so mad that they will go for someone un-electable like Jill Stein? If you actually are interested in the future of the US, you can't vote Green Party because they truly are un-electable.

As for ATP, this forum is FREE now! So forget the succulents and just come here to talk to me! My laptop knows the way here without looking, whereas ATP is still weird and strange and unfamiliar.

Did I say I was having therapy on my tendinitis? Twice a week, stretches, weight-lifting, ice. We need some of that "frozen beads of coldness without frost" type ice pack at home. So now I fantasize about ice packs.

OMG, menopause! PMS is bad enough. I would love to get rid of those troublesome organs that are of no use to me.
I mean, I love kids, as long as they are other people's kids. But, I don't want children myself. My sister has taken care of continuing the family line.
As far as I know, there is no such thing as an elective hysterectomy anymore. Doctors refuse to do it because of side effects like bone thinning, or something. I just turned 30. So maybe that'll make a difference. The doctor could think I would change my mind.
Yeah, fat chance! It's a Catch 22.
If the NGA format gives you grief, I'll chat with you here, Carrie. The transition at DG was a nightmare, but it looks like it's over. One format is as good as another to me as long as it works the way it is supposed to.
A deer came and dined on the foundation beds. She ate most of the foliage off a lily and broke the stem of a resurrection lily. (Lycoris squamigera) I need to make a deer ghost to keep them out of the flower beds. That is really only a fishing line strung up around the beds. It spooks the deer because they can't see the filament. Sarge moved his Naked Ladies, the common name he prefers for resurrection lilies. He likes the shock value of telling people about the naked ladies in his garden. lol
The first photo is a moss rose (Portulaka) and the second is an Elephant Ear growing in the asparagus bed. The contrast between the huge leaves of the Elephant ear and the fern-like asparagus really caught my eye.
Sarge and Kay took the day off. Smart move. 97 after all the rain we had really did make it a sauna outside, Ugh. It was one of those days when I think gills would be more useful than lungs.

Hey, Nadine! Can you get elective surgery to have gills implanted? I was finished with my uterus by the time it stopped working, but it sounds like you and Jacqueline are on the same page in that regard. You do need to keep working on your bones as long as you can, though.

When I was first diagnosed with MS, the only treatment besides the chemo was to get huge doses of prednisone (methylprednisilone) intravenously. I got that once a month for years and years. Now there is a big sign in the infusion room where MS people get chemo and steroids that says "TAKE SUPPLEMENTAL CALCIUM. STEROIDS MAKE YOUR BONES BRITTLE." Then, of course, there was no such sign. So duh, I have brittle bones now. I already broke my ankle once. Now, I never do anything myself that could result in a fall.

So yes, Nadine and Jacqueline, you need your hormones while you can to protect your bones! Wish I knew everything then that I know now.

Your husband may get angry at me for telling you this, Jacqueline, but you might want to check into Chaste Tree berries (Vitex agnus castus). It eases menopausal symptoms. The reason Dave might not be happy is that Chaste Tree reduces sex drive along with the night sweats and hot flashes. If you do try herbs to get relief, stay away from the mixes found in drug stores. Most of those are a joke.
Poor Jim, living in a household of women who either suffered bad PMS symptoms or were going through menopause, once brought home one of those mixes. He must have complained to a co-worker about living in a household of women with hormone issues because one of his co-workers told him about this amazing stuff at the drug store that turned his wife from absolute bitch to angel. I am not a licensed herbalist, but I do know a little about medicinal herbs. I read the label on this miracle cure. The main ingredient was kava-kava, a strong sedative. The effects of kava-kava are powerful enough that police in CA were arresting people driving under its influence. It was the fashionable abused herb for a time in L.A.
The herbs that actually affected female hormones in the formula were a hodge-podge. Several were even antagonistic, used to treat problems that were polar opposites. It was like the manufacturers had a list of herbs traditionally used to treat problems of the female reproductive system and put them into a single capsule. The product is still on the shelves, but real herbalist did make enough of a fuss that the manufacturer removed the kava-kava. No one considers it a miracle cure for "female troubles" any longer. Surprise. Surprise.
The deer are not responsible for the Resurrection lilies pictured below being broken off. I was the guilty party. I accidently snapped them off while weeding. They have a nice fragrance better appreciated in a vase anyway. These bulbs will also go into the place Jim thinks will be safe for them. A bed of Spring and Summer bulbs had to be hurriedly moved when our entrance was switched from the NW corner of the property to the SE corner. There was no time to create another bulb bed. The bulbs were put into existing beds wherever they could find an empty spot. (I was too sick at the time to help.) We are rearranging things as the bulbs bloom and I can identify them. I do not know if there is a place safe from deer, if they are hungry enough to risk dining from the flower borders around occupied buildings, but I appreciate Jim's gathering his little darlings in one area. Flowering bulbs put on a better show when they are massed together.
Carrie, would you like me to refresh the thread. I will if the misspelling bugs you as a writer or if you think the thread is getting too long. I have plenty of time. It's raining again. sigh.
Are you getting all the rain too, Bets?

I needed something positive and upbeat. Today's book is Listening With My Heart by Heather Whitestone. She's a local girl and one of the most determinedly positive people I know of.
Lycoris squamigera (Resurrection Lily, Naked Ladies)

Hi guys, :D

Just been busy but not ignoring you all. I'm with sansei87 up there. Like other people's kids never had a desire for my own. The more time I spent around them and the older I got the more I felt that way. Whatever right? Some things just aren't for everyone.

As for the removal of female organs that are problematic most hospitals have what I call McDonald's coffee syndrome. If you can find one that isn't religious affiliated or owned then they still treat you like you're brainless. Reason being they're scared to death to do it because women have come back and sued them just the way the idiot who orders scalding hot coffee ignores the fact that coffee is scalding hot and then blames McDonald's and turns around and sues them. I guess they feel you'll have buyer's remorse due to your biology.

There are hospitals that will do it. You just have to push the issue quite a bit and sign an awful lot of paperwork. Now if you were a 22 year old guy wanting a vasectomy you could stroll into any doctors office you please with little to no questions asked and hand them your insurance card for 'elective surgery' and a check to cover the rest. Gotta love that ERA.

Still contemplating having it done. I think I'll just go in and tell the doctor I want a female vasectomy! LOL. Think it would work?

Thankfully I've been able to handle the occasional bouts and the power surges (not hot flashes *grin*) haven't been too bad or too frequent. Not a pill popper or herbal supplement fan as I never trusted the homeopathic stuff. Chinese and Korean doctors who run legitimate practices in the U.S. with an 8 year medical doctor degree I trust. Something on the shelf at Wal Mart or my mom tells me to whip up I take with a grain of salt. I research it rather than dismiss it immediately but 98% of the time I find no validity in it.

My philosophy has always been "If it looks too good to be true and sounds too good to be true THEN it usually is too good to be true.". The theory behind making my sex drive diminish due to something I'm taking I'm not convinced of. I'm more convinced it is age, lifestyle, stress, hormones, and how well one is getting along with the mate/partner.

My husband has no pesky hormones or female problems ---outside of me (*grin*) but even he says now days he's more interested in sleep and talk than he is in slap and tickle. Guy is only 53 and very physically fit and in good health.

I think it is the curse of middle age. Ewwwwwwwwww!!!! So unfair!!!

In Jim's case though with a whole house of women I'm sure he was desperate to find relief. If not for all of you then for his self. LOL! Anything is worth a try. Reason why the liquor cabinet stocked. It is for our mutual benefit in turns.

Kind of envious of everyone's garden activity. Mine is in stasis as it is summer. Spring, Fall and most of winter except the end of December-mid February the plants are going gang busters. Not much going on now in my yard. :[ It has also been dry but none the less sticky by our standards. YUCK! Plants are loving the humidity but no one or nothing else is.

Weather has been a steady laser beam of 111-114 and they are threatening rain within the next 2 to 4 days. We'll see. Not complaining about the temps as I am celebrating it is not 117 or hotter! Oh praise be no more 118 or 122 on the thermometer. Doesn't mean there may not be another. Just means there isn't another day like that this week. Phew!

I have neglected my yard and garden and do need to get out there and take a look see. Been almost a week. Also need to water the back. Have to move some things off the patio, put some empty black pots in the garage, put the hose away, blah...blah...blah. Still have a massive pile of dishes to do from lunch. Gotta get busy kids.

Peace. Out.
TTC.

Hmmmmmmm....If I think of any non Buddhist positive and enlightening things to read I'll let you know.

gggrrrrr!!!! I got logged out when I ran Spybot Search & Destroy. . . guess I've got one MORE thing to forget to remember! lol

Nothing much new here..same old, same old: get up, go water & pick tomatoes, drink a cuppa (coffee) to then wake up, finish the pot o' liquid gold with my breakfast. . yada yada yada! Rinse and repeat. . . lol

I've got my eye on a particularly large 'mater. . . . seems two 'maters decided to join and make one HUGE 'mater; it's blushing now. . . .red soon. . . . then its . . . SAMMY TIME!!!! rofl (I crack myself up sometimes, I really do!)

Whoa, you running an x-rated tomato patch, Bets? Tomatoes are conjoining right there in front of God and everybody? They should be turning red!
Not much going on here either. Picked Kay's corn. Tried to teach Kay how to take it off the stalk smoothly, but she couldn't get the hang of it, sighed and left me to it. She got 15 ears from 4 stalks of corn she allowed to tiller. Not bad at all. If she can grow it, I will happily snap it off the stalks.
Critters have been our biggest problem lately. Another Mama bird found her way into my workshop and decided a storage shelf would make a great nesting site. There were already eggs by the time I discovered her nest. I wonder if this is one of the chicks who were born in my workshop last year. I put up a birdhouse under the eaves outside. It's empty. Having watched a snake I was pursuing climb the wall of my workshop, I guess I can't blame her. I'll fix the tear in the window screen after these little guys fledge, but I think Mama was the one who tore the screen. Rabbit wire on the outside of the windows and a snake -proof nesting spot is my plan for next year.
Another Naked Lady is about to bloom. Safe from deer and Kay, the weeding machine. She's found her new calling in the garden. She recognizes plants by feel and smell. She swears she is planning to return the wheeled contraption I made to sit under large pots to make them easy to move. It is what she sits on to do the weeding. I'm not expecting its return anytime soon and that's okay with me. I'll make another one for the container of dragonfruit.
I've pulled wasp stingers out of Kay twice this week. Had close calls with the honeybee's evil cousins myself. I haven't been able to come up with any plan of attack where wasp are concerned beyond a spray can of Raid and vigilance. They tried to colonize the inside of the lemon cucumber "column " The lemon cukes started out growing on a tomato cage, but soon outgrew it. I put tall pieces of bamboo inside the cage and they kept climbing and are about 10 ft. now. Anyone got any good ways to use cukes that don't involve much salt as in pickles? Kay has to be careful about her salt intake and we have a refrigerator full of cukes.
Newest grandson should be arriving any time now. The greatest joy of being a parent is eventually getting to be a grandparent. Lots of fun playing with the little heathens and few of the responsibilities, if it works out the way it should. Too many GP's are prime caregivers these days. Parenthood is definitely a gamble.
Nadi showed me a pic of Hillary gone Goth to connect to younger voters. You would feel differently about the expensive, conservative pantsuits if you had seen that photo, TTC. I'll ask Nadi to post the link.
By the way thank you for the card it was appreciated!

Kay limits her reading only to what is available in an audio format. I know she read a book titled "The Buddha's Wife" not long ago. I remember because the title caught my eye when I took it out of the mailbox.
The mailbox was damaged and I had to replace it. I'm assuming for now it was the substitute delivery person and not an act of malice from a northern source.
Carrie, hope Chicago made all the hassles of the trip worthwhile. Enjoy the disconnect, but I hope you recover your phone.
There is a cucumber sandwich calling my name. BBL.

Since I've been messing with a writing contest on tumblr, have a tumblr link.

http://jupiter2.tumblr.com/post/131072324908/hilary-adopts-new-goth-look-to-appeal-to

Speaking of birds, I think there's another barred owl near my micro house. Every morning at around 4am the one across the road lets out a series of very loud hoots. Then there's an answer from above my house.
If I'm inside the house when the sun comes several cardinals will peer in at me, still. Nadine TV must be a family event for cardinal families.
Birds are weird.

Chicago was STRANGE. No big cat fights (there were the ex-wife and the wife, angry adult children, neighbors, nuns, and so forth) although there very well could have been! Particularly the ex-wife and the new wife, who were meeting for the first time. They were very civil to each other, even talked about what to wear to the wedding. We veered close to politics once or twice but managed to steer clear. With all those nuns, you know you can't talk about religion. We talked about safe topics. Also, wife #2 has grandchildren who call her 2nd husband "grandpa," which I think rankled wife #1 (who has neither grandchildren nor a husband #2) just a bit.

Also, we got on neither of our original flights! Lucky for us there was a second flight both times. Lots of destinations have only one flight a day.

Jim, my research tells me that Hillary going Goth was for a 2015 photo op.

Good Morning :D

Checked out Hilly's Goth Look. Better than those horrible pant suits and honestly she looks good as a brunette! No joke on the brunette thing. Don't like her choice of black hair but she definitely looks better with dark hair. Unusual for a middle age woman and one with pale skin!

Typical rule is as we 'age' we should lighten our very dark-dark hair just a shade or two so we don't look so washed out. Case in point I lightened my natural color of very dark black-brown (thanks dad) to the color of my mother's hair which is a red brown and don't look so 'hard'. Dark hair on Hilly seemed to had the opposite effect. Not black though! Dark-ish to medium brown definitely!

Played up her eyes. For some reason the blonde, her natural color (?) makes her look 'washed' out and paler and doesn't make her eyes sparkle. I could see her as a medium brown brunette. I think she'd look awesome.

As for her 'taste' UGH! Horrific! Who on Earth is picking her clothes or taking all the full length mirrors out of her house??? Saw her debate Sanders one time. She had some white, contemporary style pant suit that made her look like she was tented for termites!

I'm sorry. You only get one chance to make a first impression and that awful pant suit is burnt into my mind. Sure the thing was designer and probably cost the equivalent of 4 months of my house payments but still. Seriously??? As a fashion marketing, management major and a former department manager at Neiman's I want to grab Hilly by her pony tail and drag her through the store and dress her! Those awful ballerina flats have got to go too.

Put on some damn heels and learn how to swagger in them. Don't have to be 3" high. I have some quite stylish heels at 2" that have little kitten style heels and are quite comfy. If I can work 10 hour days in them standing on marble floors she can walk across the stage in them!

Sarah Palin. The woman is a cryptic, babbling, bat shit crazy, "I see Jesus in a Cheeto" high functioning retard (at the risk of insulting high functioning retards) BUT that woman knows how to dress!

Always looks stylish, well put together, and immaculate in things that flatter her figure and in colors that compliment her skin and hair. She knows how to make an impression. Maybe that's why---just like Herpes's, you can't get rid of her. She's nice to look at until she opens her mouth.

The only person who is allowed to look like they slept in their clothes is Sanders. He's one of those people you can put a $2,500.00 suit on and he will still look like he slept in his clothes. Works on him because he already has that 'Weird Uncle Fred who doesn't shave, comb his hair or shine his shoes and has to wear clip on ties for church' kind of look going. Guy dresses like a low level grocery store manager or a clean, marginally employed struggling alcoholic who wears his 'going to a funeral suit with the gravy stain that never came off the lapel' to every occasion.

You can rock a $14.00 dress from Wal Mart if you know how to wear it, with what and when. And for God's sake get a FULL-LENTH mirror (approx. 60" long) and use it!

So there's the fashion critique for the day.
Would anyone like to send me some full length photos? (*cheese grin*)

Gotta go wake up DH.

Will get with the X-rated maters, cucumbers, ex-wife visit and all else later.
BTW Jim, very happy you got the card. Little thing. Glad I could do it.

TTC

hhhmmm....oh, BOY!! Sex, politics and re4ligion. . . where to start??

Jim, I can't fault my tomatoes for their antics: my oriental lilies started it with their rampant sexual escapades and orgies. I'm seeing crosses of my original lilies that are quite amazing!! Even last year's marigolds got in the act: this year, I have a few of their offspring scattered among this year's celosia!!

I don't care what Hilly wears: you can dress up a cow in high heels and pearls, but it's still steak on the hoof!! IMHO she's just running to get Bill back in charge again! The land shenanigans they BOTH were involved in back when Bill was govenor has never been fully explained and resolved. Bengazi. . . documents show that the staff there asked repeatedly for security upgrades and more security personnel and were denied and or ignored. . . . as Secetary of State, she SHOULD have known. . . if she didn't (as she claims) she was incompetent. As for her emails, containing classified information sent over her private unsecured server. . . in the military, such a gross security breach normally results in a court martial and time in Leavenworth!! I will NOT be voting for Hilly for ANY governmental position!!! I agree with the polls that shows her to be "untrustworthy".

Nuns. . . bless them! I'm not going to weigh in on ANY belief system: To each their own: even sociopaths and narcissistic psychopaths have their own belief system. I think there was some rock n' roll song about swearing there was no Heaven, and praying there was no Hell.

And how is YOUR day going??? ROFLOL

Besides, Jim, it's like the pot calling the kettle black. . . what with you posting about the naked ladies in your garden!! lol

Ahhhh...Military Intelligence. What an oxymoron. I served at Ft. Huachuca, the nation's only military intelligence base. My job was 97B, Counter Intelligence Agent and Korean Linguist. As far as Leavenworth they'd have to contract with the private prisons to hold us all. Sorry to disillusion you but the true keeper of our nations security and national secrets are the apathetic, bored and just plain uneducated janitors in the building.
My job was to review debriefings on people that were 'questionable' and had been detained and/or debriefed (translation: interrogated) by the military, type up reports, discuss them with superiors and then file them.
These included Secure, Classified, Secret and Top Secret documents. We used any computer that was available depending on who wasn't working on it. We left paperwork on the desk. We took stuff into our rooms at the barracks and read them whenever. We filed them in a filing cabinet. One can not hack a filing cabinet. The thing was never locked since the military is a 24-7-365 operation and everyone needed access. We talked on an unsecure phone line to superiors if we had questions about things.

There was NO shredder to be found in any place on that base I ever worked. We tossed stuff in our garbage cans and left them for the janitors to empty or pick up off the floor. All of this paper work was stuffed in huge bins marked 'RECYCLE'...ROFL!

And this was just the Army. There were also the Air force, Navy and Marines who had their own branches on base. Can't imagine what their offices looked like.

The only reason there is a shred of national security in the U.S. is because some janitor had enough energy to wad up the documents BEFORE throwing them in the recycle bin or simply didn't know how to use the copy machine.

The next time you see a janitor in a government building---please say thank you for keeping your social security number confidential and America's national security in tack.

Hillary does what every other politician, regardless of initial at the end of their name, has done. Only difference is she got caught.

If you're going to throw the book at here then throw it at me, every veteran that served in the military intelligence field, the entire military's intelligence community presently serving, the CIA, the FBI and the Pentagon and the U.S. Federal Reserve and please make sure to shut down Ft. Huachuca.

Perhaps Ft. Huachuca can be converted into another Leavenworth? The military prisoners and 90% of our country's government officials and employees can share it with the illegal immigrants that run across the base on a regular and consistent basis.

Know that for a fact as my 'job duties' in the military got temporarily suspended and I got 'voluntold' I and several others had to go work outside of the military with the state Border Control by the simple virtue of the fact we could ride a horse and shoot straight. (Met Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2001 long before I ever moved to AZ after my military career).

As for getting Billy back in office what a joke. I think Hillary did an excellent job the first time around balancing the nation's budget and bringing our national debt to ZERO!

Billy was too busy smoking pot, chasing women,(I'll be polite with that one), eating cheeseburgers and playing the saxophone to be bothered running the country although he did look nice in his suit when he made an appearance.

Let's see "I'm not dishonest or a hypocrite but I just got caught" Hilary or Trump who--- EXACT QUOTE, "I love the poorly educated."

Gotta wonder why Trump loves the poorly educated. Maybe that's because who makes up 90% of his voting block.

People with no to little college education or barely high school diplomas; who think women are idiots, hate anyone who isn't white as proven by the KKK's endorsement of Trump proclaimed loud and proud by David Duke personally.

Can't think of a better person than David Duke to endorse you for President or the KKK way to embrace the Christian concept of "Love thy neighbor as thy would love thyself." (I think Jesus said that didn't he? Then again Jesus wasn't running for President and didn't need the KKK's endorsement at the time.)

And people who think he is going to 'Make America Great Again' by buying Trump hats made in China. He's a great job creator and cheating people out of $30K in phony real estate licenses and degrees at Trump University so they can afford to buy those hats made in China while selling houses to mega millionaires who outsourced American jobs to Elbolia where people work for .22 cents an hour!

And of course my personal favorite...national televised mockery of the disabled. Not once but twice. Gee, makes me wonder what he say about my Epilepsy disability. Think he'd flop around on stage, while telling me I'm a woman that bleeds out of my 'whatever' despite the fact my I.Q. is 152?

Oh...and refusing to release tax returns proving he reflects the highest degree of personal integrity and openness to share with the people exact how a President manages money and balances his own money. Forgot..Trump doesn't have any money. He went bankrupt 3 times and has numerous lawsuits where he's being sued by contractors who did work for him but he has refused to pay.

Yes...outstanding and shining example of not being crooked. Presumptuous Republican Nominee Donald Trump: Making a-ME-rica great again" . If I were Trump I would love the poorly educated too. For the obvious reasons cited of course.

'There's a sucker born every minute.'. P.T. Barnum and Trump perhaps should exchange slogans. At least P.T. Barnum was no a liar or a hypocrite. He made no apologies for being a carnival barker, ripping people off, and had the decency to keep his money in America while employing disabled Americans to work in his freak show and ripping off Americans who thought it was a good idea to come and mock freaks and their disabilities.

I don't wonder or worry about Trump. The world is full of Trumps. I wonder more about those who vote for the Trumps of the world regardless of their political preferences and affiliation.

I think Jesus said, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." Makes me worry all the more about those poorly educated persons who can not separate God's facts from the world's fiction.

I'm not touching the Catholic religion. I have some very, very, very strong opinions on it. Not positive. So I'll shut up.

Speaking of separating....
Ah...tomato porn! :D Gotta post some pictures. Exciting and lovely stuff. May make it my new screen saver. :D

Our big thrill here right now has been being able to get whole quarts of strawberries for .75 cents a piece. Been eating them like crazy and loving it.

As for ideas with cucumbers saw a lovely recipe for strawberry, cucumber salad with fresh mint and bacon vinaigrette dressing. Also my grandmother used to make these cucumbers I loved. She sliced them real thin, put sugar in them and a tiny bit of water and a little vinegar. Jarred them and put them in the fridge and then just served them like that. The liquid has when you get that soft, peeled ginger that comes with sushi. You know...the pink stuff. Anyone know what I'm talking about there? If concerned about the sugar use Stevia.

Also thin sliced cucumbers would make an excellent replacement for shredded lettuce as a topping on fish tacos or in place of pickles on your hamburger. If I think of something else I'll let you know.

As for my cacti they are at rest now and shouldn't be kicking into gear again until fall. Then they'll be on hiatus once again until late winter when there is no more danger of frost and then be on cacti crack until summer once again.

Orgies of lilies sound wonderful and so fragrant though. Great at night when the scent is heavier. Mmmmmmmm....how nice.

anyway here is about as close as I got to my plants have a merge session. They have done quite well in this regards and keep popping out new little buds that just compile one on top of or next to each other.

These are a bunch of different Echinopsis and the tall pot has an Aloe in it. Not sure of the variety. Not exactly A. vera but in the same family.

Have a great day all.
TTC.

Song of the Day: "Life of Illusion" by Joe Walsh. Watch the one with the video and lyrics! Great.