May Brings May Flowers!

Happy May Day! Everyone is welcome to join in!

we came from here - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/979549/

67.8 °F
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity: 77%
Dew Point: 60 °F
Wind: 0.0 mph
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph
Pressure: 30.21 in (Rising)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Mostly Cloudy 7000 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 18 ft

Today
Partly cloudy. High 83. South winds 10 mph...becoming southeast late this afternoon.

The 48th Annual Shrimp Festival is here! http://www.shrimpfestival.com

Taken this morning before sunrise

Another dull & dreary day here.
Overcast.
43º
Wind calm.
Forecast; sun. (I don't believe them!)
I will be planting today.
Radish, potatoes, cilantro, peas, lily bulbs, gladiolus, any other that might need seeding.
Tomorrow is first day of Farmers Market. I will be taking eggs & Hostas. I need to price & tag the Hostas. we'll see how good of advice I got over the winter. I posted in Hosta forum, asking what people would like if they went Hosta shopping. Lots of answers, & I based my orders on their choices.

Weird thing on our local news.
A 75 foot tall White Pine tree that stood in the medium of a freeway in Northern Minnesota, called the "Honking Tree", was cut down & left lay by vandals.
Everyone that drove by would honk, so it was named the honking tree.
How sad this country is coming to, that someone would cut the tree down. It was probably 100 years old. There definitely is not enough discipline in this country any longer.
Yesterday someone managed to shut down 3 buildings at the U of MN, by sending a note that someone was going to be shooting a gun at 6 PM.
Too many lawyers with to much time, figuring out how to call all these nuts innocent.

Well off my soap box & back to start the day!
Bernie

Good morning!

It's calm, intermittent heavy rain showers, but pretty nice in between, even a few rays now and then. Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and we enjoyed gorgeous calm weather for the rest of the day! Which was so wonderful after all the nasty wind for the past days. Even went back outside after dinner. It's currently 50°F. This past April was the 5th warmest in history, well since they started keeping records at least ...... Hope May will be warm as well, I'd hate to get a frosty spell now that everything is turning green!

Sharon - very pretty. You were up before sunrise this morning???? How early is that? I'd have to get up before 5 am to beat the sun, sunrise was at 4:58 this morning ;-) Sunset will be at 9:51.

Adina - your lawn will be all green before you know it! lol :-) It's coming along very nicely. Yeah I'm pretty content with the outcome ..... the negotiations are ongoing so the new government coalition hasn't been formed (same parties that are currently in power) ...... could be another week of negotiations... which I think is a bit long. When they've sealed the deal we'll know more .......

EB - wow that's a gorgeous photo :-) So peaceful!

Ric - gorgeous Clematis

Bernie - so sorry to hear about the tree. What a shame. Too many messed up people around unfortunately.

Hope you all have a great day!

Rann

thanks for the new thread, Sharon. Lovely blossoms in that photo!
Happy May Day, everyone. This would have been my father's 102nd, birthday--he was born on this day in 1907. I was born when he was 34--you do the math. LOL
Celia: you've joined the ranks of the rest of us grandparents! and you do have two little cuties to brag about!
Adina: Hang in there--you'll have a nice grass lawn to mow before you know it!
Bernie: I'm in complete agreement with you about not enough discipline!
Hope you do well with the hostas, etc. at the Farmers Market on Saturday!
Ric; at least your hanging baskets are high and dry!
Rann: glad youhad a calm afternoon yesterday.

We had more showers last night and we are waterlogged. Some people in the low-lying areas of our little city had water inside their houses. Again, I'm glad I'm on a hill but the rain has really beat down all the plants and blooms. We need several days of sunshine!

Currently 73º heading for a high in the low 80's.

Sharon: The Shrimp Festival sounds fun! This is the week-end for the annual "Toad Suck Daze" festival in Conway (about 30 miles from here). They are expecting about 150,000 (Yes, you read that right) to attend the 3 day event. I'm staying away--been there, done that already! and don't ask about the name-- I think I posted a link about it last year. LOL
I forgot to tell y'all that I am attending the Central Ark. RU in Little Rock this week-end. Should be fun, even if it does rain. The lady who is hosting it has a big lovely house and a covered patio (and a big garage for us to put all our plants in) so she can handle the crowd in spite of the weather. :o))
Y'all have a good week-end and everyone stay dry!


No current photos--everything is too wet.

Shrimp Festival!?!? Darrell would be envious as heck! LOL I don't think I'll tell him...

Mau, I remember the Toad Suck event from last year. Waaaaay too many people for me.

Bernie, sorry to hear about the tree. So many people have no respect for anything.

On the lighter side of things, my DB in OR sent me a news clip about a fish that hit power lines in Salem, OR. A 14" fish, likely dropped by an osprey, hit the lines and put power out for awhile. In the story, the fish, as in any good fish story, went from 14" to 15" to 16" by the end of the day.

49.6 °F hopefully reaching 63º. Rainy.
Mostly Cloudy
Windchill: 46 °F
Humidity: 78%
Dew Point: 43 °F
Wind: 7.9 mph from the SSW
Wind Gust: 10.3 mph
Pressure: 30.17 in (Falling)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 3 out of 16
Clouds: Few 2500 ft
Scattered Clouds 4500 ft
Scattered Clouds 7000 ft
Mostly Cloudy 13000 ft
Mostly Cloudy 20000 ft
(Above Ground Level)

Flax flowers.

That's a hilarious fish story, Celia!! LOLOL! I hope you're having a great time with your goddaughters. :-)

We're doing fine, Adina! The water is down in most of the city. I did drive on a road over a reservoir that a lot of the bayous coming into town from the west drain into, and the water there is right up to the bridge - a good 15-20 feet higher than usual. I'm sure they'll be releasing that water s-l-o-w-l-y as the water in the rest of the city subsides and can handle it.

Today is partly cloudy and warm. The mosquitoes will be out in full force this weekend - just in time for the Mom-and-Daughter Pioneer Girls camp out. The big bunny and I are leaving in the morning. Except for the crummy bunk beds we sleep in, it should be a lot of fun! :-)

Observation for Houston, TX (KSGR) as of 11:53am CDT (12 min ago)
Temperature 81 °F 27 °C
Dew Point 70 °F 21 °C
Humidity 69%
Pressure 30.06 in 1018 mb
Wind Speed 13 MPH 11 kts
Wind Dir S 170°
Ceiling 3900 ft 1189 m
Visibility 10 mi 16.1 km
Heat Index 85 °F 29 °C
Current Conditions Mostly Cloudy
6 hour min temperature ending 6:53am CDT : 73.0°F / 22.8°C

Rest of today Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A few morning sprinkles. Highs in the upper 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.
Tonight Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

The sun came out about 10 AM. Still a cool NW wind though.

Ground is working up nicely.
Planting is going good.
Bernie

I should have said the girls are coming on Saturday. My days are all messed up! Arrrrgh!

typical fish story, Celia! enjoy your day with the girls tomorrow!
Marylyn: you and the big bunny have a good time on your camp-out! Hope you have lots of mosquito spray!
Bernie: glad your planting is going well.

The riding mower was delivered today but I haven't used it yet--too wet. I may have to wait until Monday as I will be gone tomorrow to the RU and on Sunday afternoon to my DGD's band concert. That will give the weeds time to get even taller! LOL I got the walk-behind mower out and mowed some of the worst areas but it quit on me and I couldn't get it started again. I managed to get my plants and things divided, labeled and loaded up for the RU. All I have to do is drop Friday off at my DIL's house in the morning and be on my way!

You have fun at the RU!!!

Here was our grass in the back yesterday.

Edited to say...those blocks are 6 tall.

This message was edited May 1, 2009 3:28 PM

Thanks, Cuckoo, but I don't think that I have any more of a green thumb than anyone else. Give the climate and the plants the credit.

Marylyn, did you get your leaky roof fixed? That has got to be a pain.

Van Nuys, California (Airport)
Updated: 1:51 PM PDT on May 01, 2009
78 °F
Scattered Clouds
Humidity: 37%
Dew Point: 50 °F
Wind: 4 mph from the SE
Pressure: 29.96 in (Falling)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 9 out of 16
Clouds: Scattered Clouds 23000 ft
(Above Ground Level)

No, I don't think my dh has called yet. We just keep a big cooler right there under the skylight. Hopefully he will call next week.

Yuck! I think the worst thing is how it stains the ceiling. I've not had the problem, but if I ever do, it will really mess things up. The ceilings are done in what people call "cottage cheese" or "popcorn" and are off-white with little sparkles in it. In repainting, you'd never get the color matched just right and you'd cover the sparkles. I don't know if this is the original ceiling from when the house was built or not. I would not be surprised if it has asbestos in it. I tell DH that we need to keep an eye on the house roof (It's over 25 years old) and replace it before the roof starts to leak, but he seems content to let it go until it does leak. No! No! No! BTW, Brad Ausmus is hitting over .400.


"Lady Friend", I think

This is a picture from last year but they look the same this year. These came with the house, which means that they are a variety that has been around for a long time. Someone on the amaryllis forum said that they are called Meade's Strain, an old variety that comes true from seed.

"Shaft of Gold"

Kelli, those amaryllis are gorgeous!! Would you be interested in trading seeds?
Dmail me, please.

marsue, we will expect many pictures of the RU.

As long as we are talking hitting, Joe Mauer came back from an injury. First at bat tonight & for the season, over the left field wall for a home run!

We are all ready for the market tomorrow. Lots of eggs & plants.

Spring is here and the annual Apple Blossom Parade is tomorrow going through Saint Joe., Missouri. My fruit trees are blooming and the grass seems to be growing way to fast for me to keep up with let alone trying to garden. I actually love it though!

Marsue you have a great time at your Roundup and hope you get some neat plants.

Bernie can't imagine the white pine being cut down let alone imagine what was going on in those who would do something like that. Oh brother.......................

Henryr10 I too am getting awfully tired of this excess rain we've had here too. It cramps my style!!

"Shaft of Gold" Kelli is so pretty and those ruffly edges.....their cool!

Weather in N.W. Mo. is mostly cloudy, a little cool(54 degrees) this evening, but pretty nice as long as the rain stays away so things can dry up some. It has too, there's a parade tomorrow!
Cuckoo

Well, we were cold this rmorning with some sprinkles but late afternoon the sun came out for a couple hours and warmed us up a bit. Cheered us up alot too!!

Good news is I got my truck back today!! Now I just have to get used to sensitve brakes and not so sensitive gas petal again. Opposite of my dad's truck. I stopped at a stop sign on the way home, hit the brakes a bit too hard and jerked to a stop. I had to relearn how to drive my truck again. LOL.

Good morning!

We had to get up at 7:30 this morning since the girls had to be at ballet practice at 8:30. They have a show at 3 pm today .... the spring show in their ballet school. This year it's Peter Pan. Selma's one of the lost boys and Hildur Eva a flower. This is her first show so she's a bit excited and very nervous to be dancing in a big theater for the first time! lol

Another busy, busy Saturday ahead!

The wind picked up again last night, still a bit breezy this morning and currently 43°F. Partly cloudy and rain in the forecast for today.

marsue - hope you have a great day at the RU!

Pepper - glad you finally got your truck back! :-)

Kelli - wow those irises and amaryllis are gorgeous! I especially like the deep red amaryllis and the color on the Lady Friend iris is amazing!

Cuckoo - hope you get good weather for the parade today!

Look what's flowering now for the first time! I'm so excited - last year the buds got ruined by frost.

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Rann

Well our big gear division at work is about bulletproof w/ the Gov. contracts.
But Chrysler going down took a big bite out of our HVO (High Volume Ops) group.
So a bunch of their people are furloughed or moved.
Two of the machinists they can't lose got moved to our division.
And so I got furloughed... 30-60 days...
my job is secure based on Chrysler's Jeep division starting back up.
As it's the only division they had making money it's predicted they will be down about 45 days tops.
So I get a gardening vacation.
The deal is I go on the big UN PLUS Insurance paid (thru June at least) plus 25% of what the UN doesn't pay.

So all in all not a bad deal!
In fact three people actually asked to be furloughed LOL!

Ric

Ric, a furlough is better than a lay-off or a letting go. (Or is a furlough the same as a lay-off?) So sorry this is happening. It's an unfortunate part of our economy these days.

Rann, I love your hellebore. The girls are lovely and I'll bet Hildur Eva will be the prettiest flower there.

Pepper, I'm sorry but I laughed when I read about you and your brakes. LOL

Rain, rain, rain today with a hgih of 59º. Still better than snow.

The girls called me a little bit ago and they are on the road. Melody, the little one, is not coming. She isn't feeling well and they thought it best. I talked to her on the phone and she says "hello" to you all!!!

Lay-offs were last week. They won't be coming back.
Supposedly my job is secure....... it was the Chrysler Bankruptcy that got me.
The Powers that Be didn't think that would go thru......

Off to Dayton hopefully for the last time.
Ric

Ric, I didn't understand the terminology. Are you getting full salary or part salary?


Van Nuys, California (Airport)
Updated: 1:51 PM PDT on May 02, 2009
70 °F
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity: 55%
Dew Point: 53 °F
Wind: 9 mph from the South
Pressure: 30.04 in (Steady)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 6 out of 16
Clouds: Mostly Cloudy 4300 ft
(Above Ground Level)


hiking pictures - sugar bush

Spanish broom

golden yarrow - These signal the end of spring to me.

Chinese houses

It looks like the pond will dry up this year.

Mostly sunny til late afternoon and we reached a high of 62. Very busy in the greenhouse today. I had people coming back buying more plants and had lots of new people too. I couldn't hardly keep up with my work today.

Kelli: send that pond to Arkansas--it will be overfloweing in no time! We are waterlogged here! It rained all day and I'm not kidding but it didn't damper our RU--we went right on with it in spite of the weather! I didn't take all that many pictures--was too busy taking part in the plant swap, not to mention enjoying all the food! You can view the few pictures I took by clicking on this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/marsue777/RUAtDebraS?authkey=Gv1sRgCNKU_5bzvqvC_QE#

Bernie: hope you had a successful day at the Farmer's Market today.
Pepper: Hooray, you got your truck back!
Rann: I know that Hildur Eva made a lovely flower and that Selma was very good in her part, too, although she is too pretty to play the part of a boy! Hooray for your hellebore bloom!
Ric: Should we be glad for you or sad? If you are getting paid through all this, then we will definitely be glad!
Kelli: those wildflowers are lovely but they have some unusual names! LOL

Rain, rain, and more rain here. Currently 56º and light rain.

I took this photo yesterday in between showers. This is a peony--Sorbet, by name.

This is a bloom on my climbing rose, Golden Showers. It's a good thing I took this picture yesterday because none of the flower around here look very "golden" today --they are all very forlorn looking after all the rain. It could be worse, at least my house is not flooding nor is the roof leaking.

Great day at the Farmers Market. Manager did a promotion & got lots of vendors to come. Weather was beautiful, a little cool, but sunny. Windy later.
We sold 59 dozen eggs, 13 potted Hostas & 73 tomato plants. The best 1st day ever for us.
All daylily lovers would have had fun. A new vendor had dozens of varieties there, freshly dug out of her field. Nice big fans at reasonable prices. Another new vendor was selling Maple Syrup. Lots of baked goods, canned items & jellies. One bedding plant vendor with lots of nice things.

Bernie

Bernie, you have me wishing I was up there today. LOL.

Mau, I have that peony but this is it's 1st year so it probably won't have flowers.

Nice job Bernie!

Very lovely, Kelli.

It rained most of the day and, just before the sun went down, it stopped.

I had a great day with Crystal and Kassie! We went to breakfast then went shopping. Crysatl got her this Cat In The Hat. Kassie said the tag was hurting him and wanted to know if she could take it off him. I said yes and before I could get the scissors, she pulled it off herself. It made a big hole in Cat's arm. She was very upset but Crystal told her I used to be a nurse (really a medical asst.) and could help him. We got the hole sutured and a band-aid put on the wound and things were better again!

She really liked Iris and I think Isis liked her.

Kelli great shots again!
Looks like this has been a banner year!

Celia looks like a Grand Time!

Mau don't you LOVE the RU's!
I'm off to see your pictures next.

Bernie! Congrats!

Rann I've really taken to the Hellebores. Nice one!

Sorry I was a bit unclear.
Unemployment kicks in immediately.
They pay 65% of Gross Pay.... the Company will pay 25% of the 35% difference and my Insurance.
So I'll get about 85% of my normal check.
So a slight hit but I can easily make that up in not driving to work (gas), odd jobs and selling plants.
I plan to finally sharpen my typing skills while I'm off and get a bunch done around here.

I am getting back on the job hunt trail too.
This place is OK but I lucked into the job. It's not one I'd have picked if I had my choice.
I'm going to start hitting the plant farms and nurseries.
I'm a great saleman and know the product.
In fact I've been thinking hard about getting back into the Restaurant Supply line again lately.
Maybe IKEA? Best of both worlds.......

We just got back from Dayton at about 10 PM.
All the major stuff on the remodel is done now.
Just some sanding, painting and a few minor repairs to do.
Good thing as tempers are running hot.
Her Family gets along OK if they see each other a few times a year.
10 or so weekends...... not so OK.... LOL!

Ric

Mau that looks exactly like the first ORVG RU a few years ago.
Held at tobasco's house because of a rain out it was a blast.
In fact that house is so VERY similiar I was looking for t !

Ric

I just went through the pics of the RU! It looks like fun was had regardless of the weather! LOL

Dark, 64°, Clear.

I finished a quick, inexpensive project yesterday that I have been trying to get to for some time.

For some time I have been unsatisfied with storing the pots and pans in the cabinets because of the damage to the "non stick" surfaces. This is the solution.