Best/Worse/What did I learn today? Drop in, walk our gardens, come sit awhile…

Moved us over

We came from here


https://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1558943/

This message was edited Jun 9, 2023 3:42 PM

Pat, you are making progress big time, when do you sleep?

LOL. I have not had a nap in days and my sleep has been limited by circumstances.

I love your gardens, Betty. Garden art and fun full foliage. I have not added new art in a while. It gives such a welcoming look & a punch of color.

This is NOT Chinese Elm. It grows by itself and doesn't sucker (spread) and the leaves are nothing like the elm. It's nowhere near a water sourch. It hasn't noticeably grown much in 5 years and there aren't any black "things" on the leaves. The leaves don't drop either. It's rather pretty. The leaves aren't shiny either.

Had a good day at the ending of Senior's Week. I won 2 prizes for my Atlantic Beach pie. Best Overall, and also Best Presentation :) Won a $15 gift card for a restaurant in a town nearby & a gift basket of goodies. I never even got to taste it lol The testers (3) had one, and everyone else wanted a piece of the winning pie lol
Lost spectacularly at Crib lol Mine was the worst score lol

Well ya can't WIN at EVERYTHING!!! Better to lose at cribbage, there was NO money riding on that, right??

No, no $$. Prizes were given out though.

Beautiful garden Betty. I trim my roses as soon as the petals start falling. Trim them just under the rose in front if the first set of leaves.

Susan, this is what my phone says that plant is.

That looks like it - sawtooth leaves & all. My neighbour has one and it's about 40 ft or more tall in the last 11 years she's lived there. Was only 2ft tall when she moved here.

Susan, when you touch it does the leaves close.

Betty, my landscape is French Country. So is my house. Someone did stop by the other day and asked if I was England. I said no, but my mother's parents and her older brother and sister were born in England. Mine does not have a bare spot.

I did well yesterday I moved through the front landscape like a mad woman. Cut back, deadheaded, removed weeds and threw it all on the ground. The landscape guys came today and picked it all up. In my search or weeds I found two really sweet strawberries. I had one and Emma had one. My hardy hibiscus are up and something is eating the leaves. Usually do not have that problem but we did have a lot of rain. Probably brought something back from the dark ages.

I had plans of many things I was going to do today but visitors got in the way. There is always tomorrow. My brother from Reno is in town for the weekend and is going to drop by.

Betty, I am like you, my car has not left my garage all week. Sorry you could not get your yarn but I do understand long walks.

New season of Heartland started on Netflix. Filmed in Canada.

Pat, so happy you're getting things back to some what normal. My son says Spokane has been getting quite a bit of rain. How about your area.

Betty that basket you have is exquisite. Love the yellow. Problem with gardens with every inch covered, there is always something to do.

Always something to do AND hard to get in there & weed!!! You should see me doing the "Twister" game trying to weed in the back flowerbed! I waited until the tulips had all ripened so I could pull the dead stems and could finally get in there. I need to dig up a bunch more of the variegated iris to thin them out & share them. Then thin & spread my lilies around more. I would have liked to have added more potato vine & pink Wave petunias but it's getting late for that here.

Compared to Spokane, we have gotten very little rain. It was a nice cool day today.
At one point today, my car said 67F. That felt about right.

Linda, I always trim my roses further back to keep them from getting too long and leggy. I end up getting about 3 good flushes that way instead of the steady few roses that the more modest cutting provides like your method.

Dana & wife Carrie come on Thursday. I am trying to get as much done as possible before they get here. I wish the new bed frames came earlier!! I MIGHT be able to get the living room painted before they get here if I skip the halls until AFTER they leave. All that cut work around doors is SLOW going! Sharon has offered to help me paint. If I get all the rolling done & as much cut work as I can do from the floor (IE, not climbing a ladder). With Sharon's help on the ladder work, I'll bet we could get the living room done. Sharon & I are going to paint & cut new baseboard as well. I will be asking my brother for a quick tutorial on the chop saw.

I am taking a DEEP Breath and trying to rein in my hopes and expectations to something more realistic. If the contractor would get his equipment & finish the caulking, , if the people that say they want the FREE King Captains bed would SHOW up.... I could leave and get my supplies. I can't get the bed frames I ordered here any faster than they get here... If my son (who is VERY sick with asthma at the moment) would send the 3 teens to get their stuff off my patio....

All of that is out of my control and I need to just let it go. NOT easy. I can rake up the seeds and leaves. It is cool out, maybe some outside work will calm my upset spirit. FIRST paint the closet, let it dry THEN when I want, I can move in the clothes from current bedroom to the return to my Master bedroom I'll throw a temporary bed in there.

no, it's not a sensitive plant, Sharon.
Pat - you just reminded me - I need to trim the dead wood from my rose bushes. It's very unsightly even though it's in my back yard "I" see it. it's a foribunda, so "hedge rose". I planted a lilac in the front yard, and a flowering shrub in the side yard next to my park bench.

Afternoon, overcast, in high 60’s.

Susan, sure wished i could have tasted your pie, mouth watering here, almost tempted to make a sweet, have a tiny bit of ice cream left, could be my treat to me🥹
Did you use up the birthday gift card your daughter gifted you for your birthday?

Glad Pat you realize that there are many things beyond your control, hard to do I know.

At the price of gas Sharon not a wonder anyone’s car moves from a the driveway.I haven’t watched until the killed the young man..forget his name.






I’ve had the little ones today, keeps me busy from 9a.m.-3:00pm. Day is almost over.. having Chinese then am hoping to go out for a bit and pull dome weeds.

Not only is the traffic horrendous but there has been an accident and road has been closed since early morning, home is a good place to be when roads are that bad.

What has caused the roads to be so bad Betty? Surely it is NOT snow?? the smoke?

I got the queen box springs gone but still have the king captains bed. I have texted my brother and asked for his help putting up 1 curtain rod. I have texted grandson and asked him for help. I asked him to please load up all this stuff off the patio. I explained I have company coming, his Dad is sick, please come help, bring his step sisters. No answer from anyone.

Marie picked my Home Depot order and it has a totally rotten experience! It was a curbside pickup. They left her waiting for 20 minutes, then when she called them again they were ok.... 10 mintues later she calls AGAIN and they tell her they accidentally gave up part of the order!!! I guess they didn't intend to tell her! When she called them & they said they gave up the order, I guess they expected her to just drive away!!! She strongly suggested they go scour the store and REFILL the order!

My painter/contractor agreed to be here tomorrow at 9AM and be done & loaded and ready to leave before 11.30.

I got my new utility knife and I am going to take out my aggression on cutting up the carpet into manageable pieces to get in the garbage cans. Then do more tidying, maybe even work on the new canisters I bought. They are solid white metal and I am adding floral design with black letting for contents: Flour, sugar. etc.

I am hoping Mark will come and do the curtain rod. I can do it but he does MUCH better job & I know it's done right if he does it. Guess if worse comes to worse, I will put paper over the window. I will only be in that bedroom while Dana & Carrie are here.

Wow you are having quite the day Pat, no doubt your cutting board has grooves in it!!

Will Dana be able to help out a bit on their visit?

Kudos to Marie, what were they going to do leave her in parking lot all day because of their mix up?? Did she finally get your order? Frustrating for sure.

As for road being closed a few concessions away from me it was due to a murder a believe..one was transported to hospital where he/she died, someone on our VH said it was a mom and son but police aren’t releasing any news.

At same time our Butter Tart Festival is happening, expected over 10,000 people.

Tomorrow i have the Fathers Day workshop, had hoped to be asleep by now as i want to be up at 5 but Ziggy has other ideas..he is outside again grrr

Grayson enjoying his day out..

Yikes, scary about the murder!!! No doubt the police are being extra closed mouth due the Tart Festival.

Yes, Marie got the order but had to get nasty with them. THAT is not in her natural character.! I got a BIG surprise, while I was in painting the closet, Adam, Andrea & 6 YO Alex got the stuff cleaned up off the patio & cleared the yard for mowing. I never knew they had done it until I went out to cut carpet.

I cut the carpet all up and got it into the garbage cans. Patio is not "pretty" but at least now it does not look like an extension of the dump.

I got the nicks & issues painted in the kitchen. One area someone must have pulled down a commando hook the wrong way and it took plaster and all. I am sure that was their Christmas lights. They REALLY like to string lights EVERYWHERE.

No Dana & Carrie do not have a DIY bone in their body, let alone manual labor. They hire everything. Between allergies, knee issues, shoulder injury and weight... not happening.

I am holding out hope that the King bed will leave yet. It's only 7PM.

Morning, rain to start at 10 and will keep raining for 4 days,that ought to make the flowers /garden grow. Would be a great time to sprinkle grass seeds.

Well Pat if it wasn’t for want Adam wouldn’t have a home, sure home he knows that and appreciates it. Glad they came to clear the porch, that was bothering you big time. You’ve taken a few more steps forward, soon this fiasco will all be behind you never to be done again right?

Been up since 5, Ziggy was at the door when I checked just after my last post so that was good news.

all ready for the little ones to come, lots of birdies will have homes by this afternoon.

Sweating like crazy, guess was all the class preparation or could just be muggy so will put the a/c on for the day.

After class i need to run to town, hope the road is open.. also going to my friend Anne’s whose husband does tree limb etc garden furniture to pick up a support square usually used for peonies but I will use it on Tod’s rose bush and see if that helps any..

Wish me luck

"Never to be done again", Right?? LOL... I am NOT a slow learner, I am a quick forgetter. I will need to hire my guys to do some extra mowing. Their side of the yard is over 12 inches long and will need to be cut in stages.

My brother is coming this morning to hang the new curtain rods. I was at Walmart buying them last night as the store closed. I have huge amount of work to do to hang curtains. ALL of the curtains will need to be hemmed, all 3 bedroom & the new living room ones. There are 3 HUGE panels in the living room that I bought 2nd hand but new in the package. The catch being they were all 108 LONG, yep. 100 wide but 108 LONG, they were meant for outdoor use on a patio. Once I determine the proper length I will get started on them.

Betty - now that I have had my pie-baking "pat on the back", I made a rhubarb custard pie last night (when it cooled down enough to turn the oven on - it was 11:30pm when I put it in the oven). I'll have to make the Atlantic Beach pie when we gather - maybe Tuesday?
Pat - how wonderful to be moving forward with re-taking back your home. I know the feeling. That was quite the job to cut up all that carpet! Has the bed arrived yet?
Off to church

1 bed frame due Tuesday, other frame due Wednesday. I am planning on having my current bedroom available with the king size bed with clean sheets for Thursday when my company arrive. That is the "regular guest room" when I was not sharing the house. I will use the twin, the ONLY bed besides mine that currently has all the parts etc! It has to be set up yet but at least I have everything!!

This was the gang able to be at my party Friday. So many awesome surprises. I'm not done making baby quilts. Great grand # 23 coming in Jan. I am so very lucky and blessed with my family. Our children are all in the row behind us except for one grand on the far right. Red shirt & gold shirt are sons. Two lovelies in the center are daughters.

This message was edited Jun 11, 2023 11:02 AM

What a beautiful family you have Karen, was your birthday gathering correct?

Drats next class at the door

Be back early evening once I unwind

Worse class ever, had the young 12 year old girl from sewing here to help me, the 3 boys went nuts, out of control, the other 12 yr. Old girls were as giddy as heck

Hoping 1p, call is ok

boy and girl hormone mix?? is that the "went nuts" and "giddy as heck"?? When I had 11 YO girls at my house, I finally had to close the drapes and tell them the next girl peeking out the window, I would take them ALL home! I had a parade of boys on the street trying to get the girls attention.

Karen, what a wonderful picture and family. I miss that kind of thing. It's just not the same any more.

omg - the hormonal age........ I don't envy you, Betty!

Karen, what a wonderful photo. You and Walt look marvelous. And you children and grandchildren are adorable.

Pat, finally your son got his act together and got the patio cleaned off. As far as the other items, just go with the flow. It will all work out in the end. We can choose our friends but not our relatives.

Betty, they are saying we are getting rain this afternoon and i has cooled down but I will believe it when I see it. Funny about the boys and girls. That long line of traffic looks like a nightmare. Where are they all going.

I have a group of 5 white butterflies that have joined my back landscape. I think 4 females and one male. That poor male is gong to wear himself out trying to catch the females. I had dinner with my youngest brother and his wife last night at PF Chang. Introduced my brother to crispy green beans. He ill never look at a green bean ever in the same way. What a sinful thing to do to a healthy green bean but they are so delicious. He is in town from Reno for a Mason's get together.

Susan, so great you won on your pie. My mother was a great baker and so is my daughter. I never liked sweets and I definitely did not like precise recipes so never learned how to bake.

I have dinner at my daughter's this evening so best I get caught up on my reading. Hugs to you all. I have Monday and Tuesday free, Wednesday Dentist appointment for cleaning and Thursday a manicure. Friday we are all going to granddaughters to pick apricots. Going to make me some jam using monk fruit instead of sugar.

I can't imagine your place with those young kids Betty. Maybe you will rethink doing that again.
Karen, loved the photos. That's a lot of great grandkids.

Oh Sharon, I WISH I did not like sweets! The battle of controlling my weight would not be so hard! I have dental appointments starting later this month. I did not want to enter into that process (2 new crowns) until AFTER my company had come & left.
The kingsize Captain bed left the house last night. I have contacted them again and told them I have some other stuff they can have. Nice young couple with disabilities and starting over as they just moved here from 6 hours away and could not move much with them.

Afternoon everyone, been raining since yesterday afternoon, we sure do need it!

Great representation of families of old Karen, beautiful beautiful family. When Rogers family would meet we would rent the local Legion as no person could accommodate that many. Roger was 1st of 11.

Glad the bed went to a good home Karen, am sure the appreciated it and will to anything more you can offer them.

Lindakay at Easter I believe i had 53, 3 sessions, this one was a hard one. Cutest11 year old girl who has MS .. such a heartbreak watching her try so hard, i pretended to touch up a few flowers the others had painted as not to Center her out. Hoped I would get a good nights sleep but no big sigh. Headed to Midland 1st think this morning, managed to get, falling asleep, backm8n a tad

Rainy dull day here.

I walked the TH or at least tried to before it started to rain. Zeke is now on a prong collar and will only be allowed to walk on a leash for awhile. The stinker was on a 20 ft leash but not held by me.. He knew exactly what he was doing. He kept looking back at me when I called his name but then would take off. I ended up having to take the Bronco to go after him. He always goes to Keiran's place looking for Keiran, Hailey and Piper. Bless Chaos he stays right with me although I think he is secretly happy as he gets a car ride out of it.

Pat I had my Sat. night PBS concert from either Spokane or Seattle. It featured Roy Orbison and also very young looking Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, Elvis Costello and Bonnie Rait to name a few. Patrick Swayze was in the audience as was Carly Simon. Orbison has been dead for over 30 years. I think the concert was in 1988. It was excellent. Forgot what a talent Orbison was.

Bless you Betty. Those young people will remember this time with you.

It sounds like you are making progress Pat. I am glad the 3 teens came and cleaned the junk off of the porch.

I could nap but am trying not to in hopes the sandman will find me tonight.

Be good to yourself.

Well it's now official....I am considered to be Cancer Free!!!! Dr. is being conservative as this is a new development for this form of leukemia. Wants me to come in for blood woork every three months. Which I will but at some point if nothing changes, I will be done with that too.

Woo Hoo Karen !! What a great late birthday gift.

Wonderful news, Karen!! That's fabulous!

Of goodness, blessed be the Lord, miracles are there for the praying! Not a wonder you are yahoo’ing p, so happy for you all.

I put my head down and fell in a deep sleep, no sooner fell asleep Cathy came to the door so up I went, she left when young Vanessa got here sooo just climbed into bed.

Dianne, sandman won’t come here tonight, rain brought the frogs, the rabbit might put me asleep though, talk about loud.
Noah’s dog has that shock collar, he just takes the control in his remote and the dog sits.glad Chaos stays by your side. PBS is a great station. i found a new station, Rogers 17, crafts, sewing and cooking. I usually watch Murder She Wrote and a few English shows, find them relaxing.

Rain is suppose to stop later, overcast tomorrow but rain Wednesday and Thursday… need my grass cut but won’t be this week. Not sure what your weather will be??

My ‘to do’ was oven, drats i took ham bone out to make soup so stove was hot so have to do it first thing in the morning, did get 3 loads of wash though, just took bedding out of dryer, nothing like getting in a warm bed.

Karen, that is amazing! An answer to prayers!

Zeke is too smart for his own good. He is about to get a lesson from the Alpha female!

I guess I may be postponing my "move over" by a few weeks. I have a contractor coming tomorrow to give me bid on refinishing all the hardwood floors. If I can afford it, it should be NOW while the house is empty. I had thought I would just get by with area rugs but have reconsidered that idea. Guess we will see when I get the estimate.

I moved JUST a twin bed into the master bedroom and I will move a small night stand that will serve as a dresser. Quick and easy to empty when the time comes to refinish the floor.

I am cleaning my current bedroom, washing sheets and preparing it for Dana & Carrie. They come Thursday and will leave on Monday. This will work. It was my "Plan B" if the bed frames did not arrive in time.

I ordered a battery operated high power staple gun. I have 8 dining room & patio chairs to recover. I figured I might as well make it easy. I hope to start on the chairs tonight. I got my trip to the dump down early today and have been just puttering a little outside off & on. Shoveling dirt, weed eating, moving sprinklers. I want to cut & place a shim to adjust the patio gate to shut better. We'll see how easy it is to get to my jigsaw, I sure can't use my table saw right now with everything in the garage!

Karen, that is awesome news. Praise God!!

Sounds like everyone is busy.
Finally getting my new doctors lined up. First appointment is tomorrow for a new knee doctor. Not looking forward to it, but it's time for me to get my left knee replaced. It has been giving my fits, giving out and making me fall.

I have someone coming by on Thurs at 9am to look at why I have my SE corner of my den (built & over- insulated) goes down to 23F near where I sit at my computer. My hands become like ice there. Also, he'll check into why my pipes freeze. Likely the heat tape has burnt out. It is the same one from when I bought the mobile back in 2006. It was working then. I didn't realize that I could unplug it or flip a breaker for it during the spring to fall. Someone (back then) said I could leave it running all year. Obviously NOT. After all, it takes power to run it when it's not necessary, right? I'd better clean out my closet, cuz that's where the breaker box is lol Lots more room in the shed, now that Wyatt (young neighbour that helped me a few weeks ago) has helped me re-organize it!

Ouch Susan, I can't imagine paying for the heat tape year around but I imagine it has a thermostat so in the summer it stays off... It only comes on when needed? I hope it all is any easy fix. Is it possible the heat ductwork has come disconnected or not properly installed when the addition was made? That is the addition, right?

Karen, happy to hear you are getting your knee fixed. I know you put off a lot of your own medical issues to care for Todd.

I hope I have not ruined the nightstand I was working on. I left the stain on too long and it's tacky and does not want to wipe off. Oops... I don't work with stain, I have worked strictly in paint and "wash". I hope I can do something to reclaim the nightstand. I'm ok with black if the nightstand is for me. I was trying to prepare it for Marie. Oh well...!

I didn't get everything done I had hoped for but am pleased with the amount I did get done. I considered trying to mow the lawn. Didn't take me 6 feet to decide that was a lousy idea! My mower is NOT self-propelled and it was just too heavy for me.

MornIng, won’t be a sunshine day but won’t be a rain day either..

Took a walk around the gardens this morning, taller greenery waiting to bloom sure took a beating, lots laying on the ground, sun would have helped giving them energy to stand back up.

Lindakay, hope all goes well with your 1st appointment, was it diffiCult to find a new one, that would be impossible her, such a shortage of doctors. drats a knee replacement 🫢, would be looking forward to that surgery. Didn’t you have surgery a few years ago on your knee?

Pat, you are a go for the gusto kind of gal, that is a lot to get done all at once.I would undertake a room at a time but not the entire house..you are one of a kind.

Susan, glad you’ve a young neighbour who is giving you a hand..perhaps there is a new method they use now for warming of pipes.

Pat and June will be here for 9 so best I start the stove cleaning

I had my right knee replaced in 2006. It's time for it to be redone. And my left knee has been giving me fits for mor than a year. But because Todd was sick, I couldn't take care of it.
It took me a month to get this referral. Not to bad.

Well oven is done, made room for roasters and frying pans, kept 2 and a 1 egg
Now watch me cook lol

Next time i am in Barrie will have to buy another package of grips so i can finish covering the racks end I always burn myself on.

June and Pat will be here any time and Melanie just called, dropping in with Grayson..

Wouldn’t it warm my heart if I could get Grayson to paint a birdhouse for his dad for Father’s Day?? Doubt he would stay still that long.

A mom sent me a photo of her 2 girls with their finished birdhouses.