May - Flower Power

Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

It's time for a new thread so I thought I would kick it off. Things are starting to bloom pretty well so let's show them off. I know we've posted a lot over on Facebook, but nothing wrong with posting here too as we chat.

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Ripley, MS

Thanks Elaine, you know I am all about the chatting, just started the other to keep up with dear friends who don't come here anymore.
I hope everyone had a very special Mothers Day

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Yes we like to chat! Pretty peony! I drove up in the north part of the state yesterday to go to a "tea" with some ladies. I passed several places that had tons of the most beautiful peonies blooming. I took Charlie and Samantha with me and they really enjoyed their outing! I put them in a large crate that I secure with the seat belt They didn't utter a peep on the way up or back! I parked under a shade tree while I was at the "tea" but left the music playing and the motor running so they would be cool. I was at a house in the country so I wasn't afraid to leave the car with motor running. They conked out as soon as I got out of the car and didn't wake up until I opened the door to get in. They actually act better when I take them somewhere than they do at home!! I stopped at a couple of little towns and walked them around.

Late this afternoon I went over to Debra's house for dinner. Her husband grilled chicken for the family and she included me.

Tomorrow I've got to start picking up all the azalea limbs I pruned! Hate doing that part.

Ripley, MS

How nice you got to see Debra, how is she doing?
I can just see you and the pups, walking around enjoying the day.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Debra is doing great. She doesn't have any plants anymore. She has gotten rid of everything. Only has landscape shrubs. She spends a lot of her time camping.

I can't seem to get anything done either for going. Sarah and I spent the day today shopping for plants in Conway and just looking around at some of the shops and had lunch. I got supplies to make 2 sedum wreaths to put on the workshop door. There is a nursery in Conway that carries a lot of sedums. I'm using perennials hoping they will last for several years. They told me they just use sphagnum moss to stuff in their forms. I'll soak it to get it soft and then poke my cutting in while it is still soft. I'll post pictures when I'm through.

It's rained here most of the day. We needed the rain.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

My project is half done. Need to make one more just like this one. I soaked the Spagnaun moss in warm water to soften then stuffed it tight and secured with fishing line. I wrapped the fishing line 4 times getting it close together. I cut my sedum apart and used a pencil to poke a hole in the moss. When it dries it will lock the cuttings in. The nursery I brought the sedums from makes a lot of sedum wreaths, forms, etc to sell and this is how they told me to make it,

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Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

Charlotte, that is really cool! So, the sedums just take hold in the moss and start dividing/sending out runners, but do you have to keep the moss moist? You are so talented!

I've been trying to wind up everything in the garden and yard before we go on vacation next week. We leave next Tuesday and as usual, there is always a lot to do. Thankfully there isn't much I can do with the veggie garden but let it grow, turn on the sprinkler system to auto, and hope it rains some while we're gone. I'm putting my few container plants under shade in the back yard so they will also get watered by the sprinkler. If they make it fine, if not, I'll deal with them when I get back. I'm not going to stress about a couple of container plantings.

BTW, I bought a small strawberry pot of sedums at our botanical garden this year and there was a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe in the top of it. The lady told me it had holes drilled in the end of the pipe for watering. When I replanted my large strawberry pot, I had Earl make me a piece with tiny holes drilled down in the bottom of it with his Dremel (I measured the length of PVC I needed to go deep down into the pot). It works so well and keeps the water from emptying out too fast into the lower holes. Thought I'd pass along that little hint. He made me 2 lengths by mistake (thought I needed 2) so I stuck one in another pot and I use it for deep watering. You can't really see the top of it once the sedums fill in.

Sandra, I'm really enjoying the FB thread. It's so easy to post photos there in just a minute and it doesn't matter how many you post, lol! I should post some over here too but I never seem to get around to it. I'm trying to delete and sort a bunch off my SD card & my iphone before we leave. Goodness before phone cameras did we make so many photos??

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Yes Elaine they will root and spread. You know how easy sedum is to root. The page I got the idea from said to line the form with moss and then put dirt down and another layer of moss and then secure with wire. I figured if they made them to sell they knew how to make them so I followed the nurseries directions instead. I have a two panel metal outdoor screen I use to screen my water hose, dyer vent, air conditioning electrical panel on the side of the house from my sunroom. I put a half moon planter on top of each panel and kept trying to grow ivy on it and it would always die because I would forget to water it and the sprinkler doesn't hit it. So last year I put sedums in the planters and they did great and are back this year!! So the wreaths will not need much water. If they get too dry I'll just spray them.

That's a great idea about the pcv pipe. I read about that before but never tried it or known of anyone that did. I think I'll get some and put in some of my pots. That's the one thing I don't like about plants in pots. It's so hard to keep them watered. But I'm like you Elaine I'm not stressing over my pots if I'm gone for a while. I'm not planting anything expensive in any of them. I'm pinching back my coleus and filling pots with it.

Where are you gong on vacation? I missed it if you said.

Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

We're going to Alaska! So excited. We're on a cruise from Vancouver to Seward/Anchorage the first week and then will spend a week on land in/around Anchorage and taking a train to Denali to spend a few days there then back to Anchorage for 2 days and fly home from there on Jun 2. Long trip, but this is our 25th anniversary gift to each other plus Earl's 70th Birthday celebration.

We sort of wanted to go to Europe this year but with all the mess going on over there, he was hesitant to travel to Paris which was where we wanted to start out. So we opted for Alaska. We've been there on business at different times but not to many of the places we'll be cruising to & visiting in Anchorage and not to Denali.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I do remember you talking about that but had forgotten . I know you will have a great time!!!

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

That will be an awesome trip Elaine! I hope ya'll have a great time! My sister and BIL went on a cruise similar. They left from somewhere in Washington State and then sailed for a week or so and then took the train. They had a lot of fun! Well, my sister hates fish and seafood - so she thought she was starving on the trip because there was a LOT of fish and seafood, but otherwise had a great time!

Charlotte, I love the wreaths and Jessica would too because she loves sedums and succulents! Of course, the sedums would be hardy....... Where did you get your frames? She might could make one for her new house.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I found the frames in my attic about a year ago. I don't have any idea where I got them or why I had them! I put them in the garage thinking I would sell them. Then I got the idea to make the wreath. Plant Outlet in Conway sells a form already made. It would cost about the same amount to buy the supplies to make one. The ones they sell are round. They are also the only nursery I've found around here that has all the right kind of perennial sedums. I bought 5 different kinds. I have a big space to cover and the two oval ones are perfect for my space. I'm going to hang both of them on the door. It took 3 bags of sphagnum moss to make one wreath.

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

Blaidon would like to introduce his baby...Bryson James Bryan born yesterday 6 lbs 3 oz. Mom and baby doing great.

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Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I know Blaidon is excited to be a big brother!!!

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

LOL!!! He is more interested in Mickey Mouse at the moment. He got up this morning and went to get his Big Brother cap and told Chris, Go.

Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

I saw Ashley holding him yesterday. Such a cute baby and I know y'all are excited and proud! Congratulations!

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

Thanks Charlotte and Elaine we are very excited and proud for his future. Hope this one lets me hold him. Blaidon won't let anyone but Tori hold him until now. We'll see how this is gonna go.

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

Precious baby! Congratulations! I bet Blaidon will be all for someone else holding him soon when he realizes everyone wants to hold the baby! :)

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I'm still working on the things I had neglected for so long with Richard ill. I had my flooring guy out yesterday and they are going to sand and refinish my kitchen and the back of my den. They are putting new hard surface flooring down in my bedroom, the bedroom I'm using for my craft room and the hallway. They are going to pull the carpet off the stairs and sand and refinish the steps to match the downstairs. Then I got on a roll last night and got all the popcorn off the ceiling in my bedroom. Still need to go over it with a damp sponge to get all the residue off and paint. But the messy part is behind me. The spring in my dishwasher door has been broken for several years. It's a pain! My flooring guy said I should replace it before they refinish the floor so I went to Lowes and bought a new one yesterday afternoon. Hopefully they can get it installed soon. I've got repaint my garage door next and the pediment above my front door! Then my deck really needs to be power washed and resealed. Probably by the time I get all this done it will be time to start over again!!

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

I've been trying to click things off my To Do list but it seems for every one that I remove, I end up adding 2 more. It never ends and I'm really getting tired of begging people around here to do anything and I'm including paying them to do it. I called my odd's and end guy over a week ago, he hasn't made it yet and every time I call he says the same thing...I'll be there in a couple days.

Took us 4 days but finally got the pool emptied and clean and then I started to dump all the chemicals in and the rain has started here so after it stops I think Sat. I really need to re-test. In the mean time any headway I had made in my flower beds is over with. Tonight is our garden club meeting and our plant sale is Sat. so there won't be much time this week for pulling weeds with all the rain in our forecast.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Jeri I know what you mean!! I forgot I need to buy new shutters. They have faded except for one that gets a lot of shade. So I have miss matched shutters and one is popping loose and needs to be reattached. I do have someone that will hang new ones for me. He will do small repairs for me. I was planning on repainting them and he said I should just buy new ones and start over. I want to see how much the flooring project is going to cost me before diving into a few other projects. The guy that does repairs for me also flips houses and if he doesn't want to or can't he can give me names of people that will. He does maintenance on my irrigation system too. I also need to do some repair work on a two room shed!! The outer sheets that cover the building has some rot on the back wall where they join together. I'm going to buy some boards cut the right length and screw over the damaged area. I also have a door that is too tight and want shut all the way. I need to trim some of it off on one corner. It would really be nice if I could get all this finished and such sit back and relax! Something keeps tearing the lattice work away under the workshop and pulling down the insulation on the floor. I spent one day recently screwing in solid boards over every place they had broken and I think I've just about the whole area covered in solid board. Time to declare war!!!

You all may already know this but I plugged my phone in to charge last night and this morning the red warning light came on for low battery. I couldn't get it to start charging so I googled and it said to be sure the charging port was clear of debris. I took a toothpick and the port was full of lint, dust and probably particles from where I was removing the popcorn. I couldn't believe all the lint that was in there. After cleaning it out it works fine!!!

This message was edited May 17, 2016 11:29 AM

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

Sounds like you have been busy Charlotte ! I have been having trouble with my phone not charging at times - get up the next morning to a dead phone - so maybe I need to check that. I carry mine in my pocket all the time so I am sure lint could get in there.

Jeri, I know what you mean. I check one thing off and add 2 or 3 :( and there is only one of me! I worked for several hours on Sunday afternoon trying to finish cleaning out the rest of my foundation bed and putting out new mulch. I have one entire side of the house done and maybe about a 1/3 of the other side done. My mulch that I have won't hold out to do it all. I probably have about 10 - 12 bags left from the 100 that I bought, and I have about 7 bags that I already had on hand. One section of this that I have to go will be far worse than anything else I have cleaned out. Somehow it got a patch of what I think is Johnson grass started on it and it is almost as bad as fighting bamboo. It spreads by underground runners and gets very tall. I tried really hard to dig it all up last year, but it is everywhere this year - like I didn't make a dent in it, so I guess I am going to try to poison it and try to get the roots killed before trying to dig this time.

I spent quite a bit of time last week getting ready for Jessica's graduation party. I'm attempting to attach a picture of the cake. Now, this week, Jessica and I are working on a cake for Alex's med school graduation on Saturday. We are supposed to close on Jessica's house on Friday (but at the moment they are not sure whether we will get to) and then have his honors convocation that evening. Then we are moving Kyle and Maddie out of their apartment on Saturday and have Alex's graduation that afternoon. Then I have a wedding shower in Russellville on Sunday afternoon for my great niece. So, needless to say, I probably won't make much progress with the mulch this week :(

I am not sure if I have told y'all, but Alex has an interview for a emergency medicine residency on Thursday at Kissimmee, Fl. He is flying down today and will interview from 8 - 1 tomorrow and then fly back tomorrow evening so he will be back in time for convocation. Prayers would definitely be appreciated! He is trying not to get his hopes up but there is SO much riding on this it is next to impossible not to...... and I can tell he is a nervous wreck. Thankfully Saturday while everyone was together I think he was able to relax and have fun for a while and give his mind a rest for a little while.

My daylilies are blooming like crazy. Hope everyone has a great week!

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Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I got all the prep work done on my ceiling yesterday and bought my paint. I'm getting ready to roll the paint on and be done with that project!!

We've had strange weather this week. It's very cool and cloudy out today. I just checked and it's 57.

Clint got a full time 40 hour a week internship for the summer. He is going to be working for the San Jose Water Company. It's not a water company in the terms we usually think of. It's a large publicly traded company that also provides services to other companies. Clint is getting a degree in Environmental Engineering with his specialty being Water Conservation. With CA being in a huge drought water conservation is a good field to be in. He had thought he did terrible in the interview and was afraid he was not going to get the job. He interviewed with an older lady and just felt he had not been able to make a connection with her. He obviously did much better than he thought. He has very good people skills. The San Jose Water Company hires 4 interns from his college every year. They selected his name as one of the ones to be interviewed. So it was not something he had applied for on his own. They selected his name through the college. He will have a very impressive resume by the time he graduates. Justin already has his internship with a Certified Financial Planning firm. It is also a 40 hour a week paid job.

Genna I hope things work out for Alex this week.

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

Thanks Charlotte. I haven't heard a word from him today - not sure if that is good or bad, or if he just doesn't know anything. I didn't expect him to know yes or no today because we know they are interviewing next week as well. Although, it sure would have been nice to get an offer before graduation this weekend. .... but more waiting. We should be used to it by now! :)

The closing on Jessica's house got delayed because they were late getting title work in on the house that was my parents. I am using it as collateral for her down payment so she doesn't have to spend the money she has in savings. Her payment is higher than we had hoped so I wanted her to have a good cushion in case anything happened. Anyway, they didn't get the title work on it until this morning so my bank delayed closing until next Thursday. BUT, then when the title work DID come in, they had performed the search on the wrong parcel and came up with the fact that it was titled in my brother and sister in law's name............which was because it WAS my brother's property they researched!! I had to figure out what in the world the title company had done, go home and get a copy of my deed and tax statement, and then explain that they had the wrong piece of property because they SEARCHED the wrong property! That was about 10 this morning. The title company that is doing my closing called the company they had outsourced it to and they corrected it and had it back to them this afternoon so HOPEFULLY we are ready to close next Thursday!

We move Kyle and Maddie out of their apartment this weekend as well. They will be with us most of next week, and I know they are going to Garland for Memorial Day weekend. Not sure how long they will be staying there. I guess it will depend on how the closing date goes on their loan. They have a tentative date of June 1.

Jess is working this week at Merle Norman, but she is bored silly. She has been so swamped at school with work and then now Merle is super slow on business..... so she is having a hard time filling her day. It is a small shop and she says you can only dust so many times ! LOL Not sure she will work there all summer. She might try to pick up something in LR short term, but we don't know that she will be able to find anyone to hire her short term. I suggested she might try doing PRN work for Walgreens since she worked for them for several months and knows their system. With vacations, etc this time of year, they might need someone to fill in here and there. But, wherever she works as a tech, she will not be allowed to do a rotation there as a student - and they have to do several, so that might create a problem too with where she could do rotations.

We will be going to LR tomorrow night for Alex's convocation, and apparently it will be late when we get back home. Then we will go back to LR on Saturday morning to load up Kyle's things. He will be storing them temporarily in the house that Jess is getting. Then we will have graduation and back home again. Then back to LR and on to Russellville Sunday for a shower. We had PLANNED to take all the dogs and crates with us and spend the night at Jessica's house.... so that got killed. Alex has a new puppy at his house that can't be around our dogs yet, so that rules that out.... so we will just be driving all weekend apparently.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Genna

Ripley, MS

Genna, you make me tired just reading all that !
I was hoping you had heard from Alex.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I think I would rent me a room at a dog friendly motel!!! Way too much driving in such a short time for me! So where is Kyle going to store his stuff between moving out this weekend and Jessie closing on her house?

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

Sandra, I make myself tired just thinking about it! :( Definitely not what we had planned for the weekend.

Charlotte, Kyle is actually going to store a lot of his stuff in an empty bedroom at the house Jess is buying. The girl living there says they already have two bedrooms completely empty and that he is welcome to go ahead and store it there. Any electronic items will come on to my house. There will probably be several things that come on to my house - but the big items and a LOT of boxes will go there. It will be much easier to just go back and forth unloading, Uhaul will be cheaper (if we use one) and it will be easier to get the trailer they need from LR when it is time to move. The sellers were leaving for Seattle on Monday, but they have decided to stay in town until Thursday when we are supposed to close.

I don't have a lot of info on how the interview went. He said it went "ok but he had mixed feelings" about it. I haven't had a chance to talk to him except for more than a few seconds other than texting and so I don't know much - like whether he liked the people or the hospital. Not that it really matters - either way, if offered a position he would have to take it. I did manage to find out that there were over 1,000 applications for the position (I had really expected all 5,000 that didn't match to apply - but maybe some didn't find out about it or some just can not handle the thought of emergency medicine)...... They are to interview 36 people total, and out of those they CAN select 7 people, but they may or may not fill all 7 positions. They did say he will find out next Thursday, May 26th as well. So more waiting and more praying.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!


Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

You must be buying a for sale by owner house. Because you would not be allowed to put things in a house you have not closed on otherwise.

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

I'm still praying that things work out for Alex in Fla. There is a chance that some of the other spots won't work out for the ones that were selected and maybe then there will be another chance for him also. I know that time is running out and can only imagine how his head is spinning after all his hard work but I know that God doesn't close a door without opening another.

Camden, AR(Zone 8a)

Yes, we are buying a for sale by owner. We close on Thursday.

Thanks Jeri. He was not impressed with the facility at all - and the facility just recently got a level 2 trauma certification. There are 2 facilities very close by that are level 1 trauma centers so this ER gets almost no traumas because they are routed to the better facilities. This is not good from an intern or resident's standpoint because more traumas means more exposure to procedures and processes and learning opportunities to deal with such things later on. As an intern (and even as a resident in years 2 & 3) they have to have specific minimums on things like chest tube placements, intubations, and numerous other procedures. Alex is REALLY concerned that he might not be able to reach the minimum numbers in this facility - and he is also concerned because the facility only has preliminary certification for this program because they have to show the numbers to sustain the program. Although he REALLY needs a position - he also needs one where he can learn the things he needs to learn. He also learned that something like 70% or more of the patients can ONLY speak Spanish and they do NOT have interpreters on sight! When he rotated in Texas - they had interpreters in the hospital to help, but this facility doesn't have them. They rely on phone interpreters :( He would also have to live probably a minimum of 40 min from the hospital because it is in a very unsafe area so that will also be an issue. Just continue the prayers. I am not sure at this point if I am praying for him to get it or not - just praying that God's will be done because I am sure He knows which is best. He will find out on Thursday.

He had heard a rumor there was surgical position open in New Orleans and the program director and one of the surgical doctors both called the program on Alex's behalf only to learn that the rumor was false and that there is not really a position open. It was nice to learn they called on his behalf - just no opening.



Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Genna that sure doesn't sound like a very good situation for Alex to go into! The right thing will come along for him.

I'm going to have a major mess here for the next month or so. I'm having a new dishwasher installed this morning. Then I'm having my shower retiled and new tile put on the floor. He is also going to take up hardwood and put down tile in a half bath downstairs and in a small hallway in front of the bath leading into the garage. He is probably going to do that next week. Then I'm having new flooring put in my bedroom and another bedroom that I'm turning into a craft/sewing room. I'm going to use an engineered vinyl that looks like wood. They call it a luxury vinyl. The stuff cost almost as much as hardwood! I'm making that area pet proof! Then I'm having the kitchen and den refinished and the carpet taken off the stairs and having it done to match my hardwood downstairs. Everything in my den, kitchen and foyer will have to be moved out and put somewhere!!! It's going to be wall to wall furniture!

This weekend and yesterday I prepped and painted my garage door, repaired and painted the pediment above my front door and repainted my front door the right color. Last week I got all the popcorn off my bedroom ceiling (only one more room to go) and painted it. I'm going to get a clean organized house yet! There is just so much that I had been putting off doing because Richard just couldn't handle all the confusion.

Ripley, MS

Charlotte, you will have a whole new house when you are finished

Genna, I have prayed Gods will for Alex the entire time. He is the only one who knows where Alex should be.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Yes Sandra and ready for it to be over but it has just begun!! The dishwasher guy today said "boy this thing is on it's last leg - good thing you got a new one"! Why did he think I got a new one!LOL I think I'm going to do one more thing while I'm at it and paint the bricks on my fireplace a cream color to match the cabinets on both sides. I'll do that myself. I also need to touch up some woodwork especially upstairs. I'll do all that myself. I'm hoping eliminating the carpet in the bedrooms, hallway and stairs will cut down on the dust. I keep my ceiling fan running all the time and I have more dust in my bed room.

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

Back home from five days camping with Lamar & Kitty. Archie their son and Terrie our oldest came up Sat. We cooked, ate and got plenty of rest. I didn't get on the internet much but did see that Alex graduated. I just wanted to send my congratulations to him!!!


Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

Just checking in with everybody. We got back from vacation in Alaska late last Wednesday night. I posted a few pictures on FB after about a week but haven't had time to post anymore since. Almost caught up at home with laundry, gardening catch-up, groceries, etc. Man, that sure takes time. I did NOT want to go back to work today.

Looks like everyone had a great time at Kathy Ann's this weekend. Glad the weather cooperated and hope everyone got some good plants. She has quite the garden. It's probably a good thing I didn't go as I don't know where I would put anything right now. I need to divide/move some iris and some of my DL's could stand dividing too. I have at least one shrub that has died. It's small and has been struggling for a year now but I thought it had made it. I need to decide if I want to replace it with the same thing or what. My DL's started blooming while we were gone and really look good. I should dead-head but don't have time. Seems like everything really took a leap while we were gone. The tomatoes must have grown a foot or two at least.

I was pretty frustrated when I saw my tomatoes last week. We love Cherokee Purple tomatoes and the 2 plants I started from seed have turned out to be some sort of paste tomato! I am so mad!! I ordered the seed from Baker Seed (should be reputable). So we went to Lowe's yesterday and found 2 CP plants that are good sized and I dug up one of the paste plants and replaced it with a CP. I also had one plant that had started to get disease (some sort of blight I think) in the top of the plant, so out it came. I left that spot empty and planted the other CP in another open spot. Hopefully it's not too late and we'll get CPs in August sometime.

Jeri, I saw your plant photos on FB. You always have the prettiest plants too!

Genna, has Alex heard any news yet? I'm still thinking about him and praying he will hear something soon. Orlando is a good place to be, but you're right that he probably needs a Level 1 trauma hospital, especially since that Level 2 is very close to a Level 1. Huntsville Hospital is the only Level 1 in Alabama. My daughter is an ER trauma team RN there and is quite proud of the team there. She loves the doctor there who got things rolling several years ago and got them certified as Level 1. Even UAB is not Level 1. At least it wasn't a couple of years ago.

Jeri, I saw your plants on FB. You always have the biggest, prettiest plants. Hope y'all aren't getting soaked again down that way. My niece in Houston was supposed to come to Alabama for a good friends wedding but their flight was cancelled so they didn't get to come. Bummer.

Charlotte, you are going to be really busy and your house in upheaval for a little while. But it will really be worth it when it's all done. Have they started yet? I have some little projects I need/want to get done but can't seem to pull the trigger because I know things will be in a bit of a mess while it's getting done. I want to have our bookcases painted in the den (they are wood and I want them painted white) and want to have the TV opening enlarged and reconfigured. Shouldn't be too hard but you know how it is. And our vinyl shutters need to be painted in the worst way but I haven't settled on a color yet and they need to be cleaned first and I'm worried about painting vinyl (or plastic or whatever they are). They are very-faded hunter green. Anyone have any experience with this? I keep reading all sorts of conflicting info on this. The paint guy at Benjamin Moore says it's fine, just use outdoor paint. I don't know.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

I'm at my dealership waiting while my car is serviced. Elaine my shutters are also vinyl and have really faded. To make them look even worse one is more shaded and hasn't faded like the others. I asked my guy that helps me with things if he knew someone that could take down my shutters so I could paint them. I have a 2 story house. He told me I should just replace them. He said the vinyl gets brittle over time and they are not terribly expensive . He said he would put them up for me. I'm waiting until fall to have that done as I don't want ladders in my flower bed right now. They are starting on my bathroom tomorrow. I already gave a mess and they haven't started yet. I had to clean out a bathroom closet yesterday. At least this is forcing me to go through a lot of stuff. I threw tons of old makeup, ect out yesterday .
I have decided to paint the brick on my fireplace in the den. I have a cabinet and a bookcase on each side. I painted the wood on them years ago. I think if I paint the fireplace an off white like the woodwork it will really brighten up the room. I've given up on trying to keep things clean until everything is finished!
I really enjoyed the RU but took very little home. I just took a few plants I'm going to put in my garden area. I have my yad basically like I want it and don't have room to add anything else. Sarah and Kim took very little home either. We just went for the fun of it.

This message was edited Jun 6, 2016 3:21 PM

Central, LA(Zone 8b)

Thanks for the kind words about my FB pictures and so glad Yall had a great time, Elaine!!! I knew you would it is so unusual compared to our life style but a lot is the same in unison. I wanted all the totem poles. LOL!!!

We have certainly had our fair share of rain. Has anyone heard any more from Cindy after her flowerbed fell into the river? I think we get a break tomorrow but then I heard there is a storm in the gulf.

My shutters haven't held up any better Yall and they are treated wood. The weather really does a number on exterior surfaces.

Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Elaine didn't have time to finish my post. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time on your trip.

Cindy keeps losing more and more of her riverbank. I think I heard her say she wasn't replanting a flower bed there. I don't blame her after losing beds two different times.

Jeri I had wooden shutters that had been on my house forever. But when I had vinyl put over all the wood trim I replaced the wooden shutters with vinyl ones. I had that done either in the late fall of 2003 or the early spring of 2004 - can't remember exactly when. I was hoping to eliminate the need to have shutters repainted!! Didn't think about the sun fading them. I guess there is no way around either painting or replacing shutters.. I have one of those pediment things over my front door. Of course there is no way to wrap it in vinyl and I had to repaint it recently. I discovered the boards on the top are all rotten. I poured some bondo into the rot but the whole thing is going to have to be replaced at some point. I guess I'll wait until it falls down!! LOL My house was built in 1971 and it's been there since then. I am concentrating on getting repairs done this year and next year I plan to start doing some traveling.

Laceys Spring, AL(Zone 7a)

I was surprised the shutters have faded so much too, Charlotte. We used all vinyl trim or brick and only have a couple of things we have to paint so I really didn't think we would have to do anything with the shutters. They are in good shape otherwise. We finished the house in late 1999. I can't find a color I like in new shutters, that is the main reason I want to paint them. I guess I'm picky. I have already tried a couple of sample colors and narrowed it down.

This is a picture of some 'raised beds' in front of the Anchorage Museum. I thought is was interesting how they had put herbs in some, shrubs in the higher ones, and irrigation tubes between them. I guess they try to keep the moose from chewing everything.

Thumbnail by OutsidePlaying Thumbnail by OutsidePlaying Thumbnail by OutsidePlaying
Little Rock, AR(Zone 7b)

Other than fading my shutters look fine to me too. But to paint them I would have to pay someone to take the top ones down and pay them again to put them back up. I think by the time I did that and then paid for paint I wouldn't be saving much by painting them. I just want a dark brown (almost black).

Those beds are really interesting! Reminds me of something I've seen before (not the beds but the crate thing). Something from a farm????

Jeff called me tonight to tell me he thought Clint takes after me and all my jobs! He said his college has hired him as a sustainability intern for next year. He will be working 10 hours a week on sustainability projects for the college. He is president of the Sustainability Club is how they figured he got that job. Then somehow he has gotten a job with a company that rents bicycles in Santa Clara. They have self pay boxes (like at parking lots) and he will check the boxes and promote the bicycle company on campus. He is going to work 5 hours a week for them. Then he still has his RA job. Jeff and Kristi were concerned that he was taking on too much with his studies too. He assured them he was not. That he really enjoyed doing a lot. He also is in the cheer band. But I think it's fairly flexible. He doesn't have to go to every game. Just has a minimum number he has to go to stay in the program. One of his professors also told him that he was going to get him a really good internship for next summer. Jeff was thinking he already had a really good internship for this summer. The school is in the Silicon Valley and is known for having really good connections in the business community.

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