What I am doing in my garden now!

Sofer hada good idea I told my vet I was looking for another pee wee and they found this little man cruzing down winslow way and called me. They thought he was Japanese chin. I called him little booty man. I don't know why,. He was the most crooked thing I had ever seen. Even his teeth were crooked. He lasted 1 day out here. He was 6 pound soaking wet. He thought he was a big boy. right in the middle of the pack coming down the stairs in the middle of everyong. I thought he was going to get killed. He really thought he was huge. Then Jessie thought he was a little rabbit or something and went afterhim. I thought oh no,.. I found him a great home with the king and queen of hoyty toty. His name is bouregaurd, I see him walking down winslow in his little rain siut. Kills me He definiatly went from the cattle dogs slums to the casle. He flies on planes now . He id very happy. I loved pee weee and he was a perfect size. 13 pounds before he lost his sight. 20 after. I'll keep my eyes open.

Great rags to riches story, Heidi. I love those.

There are 4 other small terriers or their crosses that might be a good decision for your daughter: Norfolk Terrier, Norwich Terrier, Cairn Terrier (ToTo in Wizard of Oz) and the Australian Terrier. They all have enough get up and go to be a bit of a challenge for her, but are usually mellow enough to be very good house dogs and pets. Good luck in finding just the right dog. Dotti

I got pee wee my junior year in college so he is a plu grad. He was shaking in the back of the kennel and I asked to see the puppy in the kennel and the lady pulled out the bigger one and I said the little dude in the back. He was tiny shaking peed all over the counter. I asked how long had he been in there and she said half an hour I said how much she said 5 bucks I said hes mine. I had a scooter and I would zipper him up in my coat and off to class we went. Sofer has some good ideas I think most important is to be patient. It took me 2 years to find pee wee. Some little dogs like poms I have heard can yap all day if left home alone. Our just trash our house that's why they come with us. I know max can be home all day and is very happy. You'll know when you see it. People have gotten cattle dogs and then they realize it was a mistake so do a little research. It is hard to get rid of them once you have had them for a while.

I was doing a search on petfinder last night (couldn't help myself. I was excited at the prospect of somebody getting a new home!!). There is quite an active cairn terrier rescue at http://www.cairnrescue.com/ And it seems like there were several in the Salem/Corvallis area.

Get out and see eclipse just starting here. Very red moon.

Oooooooh. Ahhhhhhhhh. Not so red here. Where are you, Sof? Weird to think we're looking at the same moon. Do you think you got some good pics?

I love Sizus always wanted one,They are so loving and they love to be pamperd, and wear clothes. DH says no little dogs so we've always had big dogs ( be nice Sofer) until I got Tyler What ever you do don't get a corgi, found out the little tyke weighs 30 lbs. and is in constant trouble. Of corse where Ester was ill he had no one the play with he's till a pup will be 2 in Dec. 09

Cairns are great easy going loving dogs. Rescues allow you to shape the dog from what the previous owner didn't. Well you get to try and love them and accept them.
I love big dogs tilly just ones in a small body. IE Jack Russell.
Look at my moon shots. Follow the bouncing ball. I shot on a tripod and gently moved it and got some great shots. I missed the eclipse. I got there at the end with the red on it.

I also got some great comet fakes that I shot of the moon.

This is just the moon no motion.

Woohoo. Much redder there. Thanks to you, I caught the eclipse, but there wasn't much color.

Those are cool, I got to see a little of it on my drive home, more like over my shoulder.

Here is the moon between the Ponderosa pine. I have a whole bunch of these.

now thats a big "Yow"

Nice shots, soferdig! The moon looked so cool! It's going to be a very long time before we get another one like this. It was really red at my place, too.

Cairn terriers are great. I saw that rescue website and forwarded it to Claire. I agree that finding just the right dog is the most important thing. She would love any of those terrier breeds listed.

Heidi, what kind of dog was peewee? That's such a cute story! And I love the one about the rescue dog whose name is now 'beuregard'. What kind of a dog was that? Chinese crested, Mexican hairless?? I saw lots of cattle dogs at local shelters. Australian shepherds too, which just breaks my heart. I can hardly bear it when i see an Aussie in a shelter. All animals really, but I just have a soft place for Aussies like you do for Cattle dogs.

Here's a link to a dog that has made me laugh for over a day now. Put his name, Fester, with his description , "He has one very striking blue eye and not many teeth - which allows his tongue to stick out; sometimes a little - sometimes a lot. ", together with his image and it's somehow just hilarious. Maybe this dog has a good personality. Oh wait - he doesn't get along well with other dogs, either!!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9770953

I'll remind her to give the local vets a call and let them know she's looking and would be a responsible owner.

Probably because they laugh at him.

no doubt! Poor little thing. He's so ugly, he's cute.

No, by no stretch of the imagination is that dog cute. That is a very ugly dog.

And I keep meaning to let katie know - I have been baffled by why the group turned away from the word swill as descriptive of a water feature - to swill, as a verb, is to splash or run copious amounts of water - as in to swill off the steps, to swill out ones mouth, or swill out a basin. It also refers to washing and bathing. I know Sofer is no-all man, but the action of swilling, in the OED, precedes the use of the word for swill as in Pig/animal/human feed (referred to as liquid food). I'm quite certain that it could justly be used as descriptive of a water rush with a circular motion - although I have not found a literary reference to that.

So, Katie, no word block there, and I award full marks to the initiator, and only 3 marks to the runner-up. As un-abdicated queen, pro tempore, I can do that. I am making a bid, having hung up my crown yet again, to reinstate the idea of a swill over the berme in Pixy's garden, even if it is a symbolic one. (Do I hear shouts of pedant!! pedant! toss her out!) No good, I'll just put my hat, I mean my crown on again - and make decrees. (And we all know how boring that would be).

I've know a couple of those hairless dogs and there is not much cute about them. Pee wee we think was pomerainian . weiner dog and terrier. He love sticks the bigger the better. I do love heelers but I love little dogs. I think once you have one you never want a big one again. They will steal your heart. Our friend Jeff has always had golden retrievers and just got one of those king charles spainels. Loves it. My friend tiger whose is this big bad landscaper has always had chiwowas. Little dogs are kind of hard to find young you will be fighting the little old ladies for them. There are alot of loder ones because the owners pass away. Good luck

Laurie, I fear the word was abandoned here in the same way that it has been abandoned in general useage in the U.S. But we shall see about how a swill would work, even if it's made with plants.

Heidi, you are right. I have noticed how the smaller dogs are hard to find.

Oh, heidi!! Perfect image of the big bad landscaper and the little old lady fighting over miniature dogs - old lady swinging handbag and umbrella, beating the bgeesus out of big man, crunched over and covering head - dog yapping frantically not caring which of them wins as long as there are biscuits!

Well, lets reinstate the word to its full glory! Lets stake a claim for the right of swill usuage, and extend its meaning - after all, berme is not exactly nomenclature - someone has resurrected that one. We aren't doing much cheerleading right now - lets get that word out there!

Every time I dip into the cold waters of Gastineau channel I SWILL with delight as I spin in the the glorious foam. I scream in pain as my only rational choice is rapid abandonment from the perils of this inglorious decision. It was cold there today.

Love to go river rafting down the Yakima river, 4 hour float, cooler tied on back with lunch and cold ones, but you are a little extreme for my blood. LOL
To cold
Tills

I laughed with Steve's comment, I absolutely purrrrred and laughed with Tils. What a nice way to start the gardening day.

You 'swill' with delight??? I would like to see that.
Here's another one:
I was out in the garden today and it made me happier than a pig in swill.

ewwwwww, double ewwwww!!! I doubt a pig would ever waste their swill that way. More like a Pix in mud!

Your Highness - Benevolent Leader.

So I haven't lost my brain - thank you for that. I do attribute some of my word selection to my early reading - English literature combined with a very literate mother have certainly complicated my attempts at current conversational English.

Sadly, I used Merriam Webster to look up the term swill and was confused by the omission of my definition. I should have known to use the OED; my high school English teacher is somehwere knodding her head knowlingly and hoping I've learned my lesson.

I'm feeling a little bit better about that.

The OED indeed! A big YES to that one! You should completely know better, I'm sure. HOpe you have a big magnifying glass for that one.
No photo yet of your swale?

Oh, MY swale is just in my head - don't have one put together - though I have enough rocks that I will do it when the opportunity arises; i.e., when I get a berm or two created for my alpine garden (also still in my head). But I need to get picture of my beautiful hellebores. I'm in awe of their beauty. My new goal is to create a meadow full of them.

Was at Rachel's on Sunday - she has a great place. What a perfect house she and her husband, Carl built. Scrappy is even cuter in person (dogson) than he is in pictures and Cinder has a beautiful, sweet soul. I even got some kitty-lovin'.

So now I have some native snowbrush (ceanothus velutinus), native cranberry bush (viburnum trilobum), native pacific dogwood (cornus nuttallii - can't tell you how long I've wanted some. Most native plant sales either don't have this to begin with or are out by the time I get there. Thank you, Rachel, for getting the order in and picking it up), and native sweet gale (myrica gale - I killed the one I had before).

And Rach is right - she has lots of scotch broom, beautiful burgundy mahonia and madrone trees. She's in Nisqually, where there's lots of washed sandy, gravelly soil. I, on the other hand, have heavy clay in the foothills of the cascades, with salal and salmon and thimble berry being my "best friends". Anyway, I have a madrone to try and brought home some mahonia and an evergreen huckleberry courtesy of Rach, as well. All in all it was a good day. Now to plant by moonlight with my headlamp before the rains start again.

I also have lots of wallflower seedlings from our spring/winter sowing and a few sweet peas. Wish I'd seeded some more cyclamen hederifolium - all I can think of is Laurie's million seeds. How are they all doing, girlfriend? I have visions of little pink heads swimming in a sea in that beautiful greenhouse. Doh, probably not blooming yet, but a girl can dream.

Speaking of wintersowing - my escholtzia are up & running. But I could not remember which one I sowed. Another Spring surprise...

Also - Wells Medina Nursery has some gorgeous hand-pollinated Hellebores. I brought home a white one spotted with burgundy, and going back for the pale butter yellow, with burgundy eye zone.
Too many to choose from.

I Katie 59 if you are coming here in April and don't mind sitting on the ground you can prick out a thousand little cyclamens if you aren't coming maybe I will try to send some home with pixy tomorrow.

Kayte, My friend Paul got some great hellebore's at wells and said they were some of the prettiest he has seen

Heidi - they were so pretty and the colours so gorgeous - I wish they weren't so pricey.
I had lots of Corsican & I've given lots of that away - mine are in bloom now - love the Chartreuse. But the hand-pollinated are stunning - good colour saturation. One of the doubles was especially nice, but the flowers were too heavy - they nodded, so you had to push them back a bit to admire their faces.
Glad to see the interest in them, but not the price!!!

I think most of the double all sag. I walked through. H---------- the other day where there were thousands blooming. Oh was it pretty but most of them did sag. They would look great at the top of a rock wall. I saw one in another nursery today for 56 bucks. That is ridiculous for a hellebore. I like them but not for that price.

Pics of my Hell. I bought last year for 12 bucks, can't wait for it to open., Have 15 babies so far from Laurie's seeds. Loven It.

Katie - OED. Love it, just love it (I'm enough of a wordnerd that sometimes I just cruise it over a cuppa tea - so restful and exciting. Bit sad though. I'm also quite fond of the dictionary of quotations).

Oh, tils, that photo makes me shiver with anticipation - go plant go! And well done - 15 Helle babies and counting! Excellent. I noticed that all of the plants (now 3 year olds) that I planted out last year from seed have come 100% true to the Slatey blue parent! Now that could be because my white/purple spotted were too young to blossoming enough to cross breed (they are in full spate right now) or the slatey are dominant, or it was just very good luck! But nonetheless, I am starting to get a very good stand of them! So exciting.

The trip to Rach's sounds very good. Where is she? A bit quiet lately.

Mary – beautiful hellebore. And from seed? Fantastic.

Laurie – you sound like a woman after my mother’s own heart. When my parents were first married, during wartime (1942), they each brought to the marriage with them a dictionary. Their evening entertainment, when my father was home (he was in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and stationed in various places in the U.S.), because they had no money and few possessions, was to have a little competition to see who had a word in his dictionary that the other did not have. Now, at 89 and 87, they are all about the crossword puzzles.

I'll bet that Rach is too busy out in the garden to get online. LOL. We've been having incredible weather, 60 degrees and little rain.

I think I like your parents katie -

Bought a copy of Fine Gardening April 2008 edition. It is the best one I've every seen. It has pictures and ideas about everything we've been discussing for the last two months. Rex begonias, woodland setting. Garden from beginning to maturity. It's great. If you buy gardening books, get this one.