Hey Drippy, how are you doing? Saw your post on the "other side" and thought I'd drop you a line. :)
So glad you and your son are ok after the car wreck, EGADS, that's scary stuff!

How's the job search going?

Have you found your new digs? Perfect time to be a be a buyer, hope you find the home of your dreams with loads of space for planting. It's time to see the thousands of containers added for zone 7, welcome to "our" zone, girl!

I wasn't around for a LONG time, we lost my sister and my mother in law within a few months of each other in 07 and I kind of lost myself too.
It took a lot of time to get back to a good place, but I'm doing very well now and am a happy girl again.
Life really punches you a hard one in the gut sometimes, doesn't it?
Winter sowing truly kept me from totally going over the edge! I sowed my little heart out. Place the seeds in soil, water well with tears now and then for memorial containers and get on with it. So I did.
Every time I walked by the front garden and saw the sunshine dancing on the Dusty Miller I ws'd for my sister, I could smile. The same for Betty's snapdragons that wintered over the year after she passed. Powerful stuff in those seeds!

Oh, ROS Bluebird!!!! How awesome that bloom must have been for you!

Take care of yourself Kim, hope all is well and your sweet home Alabama comes to fruition!

Shore

Hi Drippy,

Great news on the buggy!!! Sounds like things are really moving forward for you and DH, that's wonderful! It's tough being in limbo, when all you want to do is put down some ROOTS! :) Can you do any sub teaching before the cert. comes in? My sis in law was in a similar position moving from DE to Syracuse. I can't remember if she could sub during the wait for her cert. to come through. I guess every state is different also.

Awww... that was sweet what you said about your fave tree. What was it? Maybe you should plant a seedling of it if it would grow in Alabama. Then you can watch it grow outside you NEW favorite window! Yeppers, property is much more reasonable, hope you can get those zillion acres!

The memorial gardens sure do help you get through. Seeing something flourish in memory of our loved ones lost to us gives a sense that they are always close.
It kept me from a one-way ticket to the loony bin- go WS!!!

Bad girl that I am, still have a row of about 20 containers on the side of the house that *may* still get planted out, but I'm not going to stress on them. Might just heel them in for the winter all together and see what makes it till spring. They are tough little buggers, so most should pull through just fine.

It surely is good to be "Back in the saddle" again, I've missed my WS pals and look forward to spending lots of time on the forum as we get near the season. Funny to be excited about winter- never was before WS, dreaded the onset. My how things change!

Hope all stays well and only gets better for you!
Let us know when you get your house, can you take pics to post? Would love to see your new digs!
All the best to you,

Shore

Hey Drippy, how are you doing? Saw your post on the "other side" and thought I'd drop you a line. :)
So glad you and your son are ok after the car wreck, EGADS, that's scary stuff!

How's the job search going?

Have you found your new digs? Perfect time to be a be a buyer, hope you find the home of your dreams with loads of space for planting. It's time to see the thousands of containers added for zone 7, welcome to "our" zone, girl!

I wasn't around for a LONG time, we lost my sister and my mother in law within a few months of each other in 07 and I kind of lost myself too.
It took a lot of time to get back to a good place, but I'm doing very well now and am a happy girl again.
Life really punches you a hard one in the gut sometimes, doesn't it?
Winter sowing truly kept me from totally going over the edge! I sowed my little heart out. Place the seeds in soil, water well with tears now and then for memorial containers and get on with it. So I did.
Every time I walked by the front garden and saw the sunshine dancing on the Dusty Miller I ws'd for my sister, I could smile. The same for Betty's snapdragons that wintered over the year after she passed. Powerful stuff in those seeds!

Oh, ROS Bluebird!!!! How awesome that bloom must have been for you!

Take care of yourself Kim, hope all is well and your sweet home Alabama comes to fruition!

Shore

Hi Drippy,

Great news on the buggy!!! Sounds like things are really moving forward for you and DH, that's wonderful! It's tough being in limbo, when all you want to do is put down some ROOTS! :) Can you do any sub teaching before the cert. comes in? My sis in law was in a similar position moving from DE to Syracuse. I can't remember if she could sub during the wait for her cert. to come through. I guess every state is different also.

Awww... that was sweet what you said about your fave tree. What was it? Maybe you should plant a seedling of it if it would grow in Alabama. Then you can watch it grow outside you NEW favorite window! Yeppers, property is much more reasonable, hope you can get those zillion acres!

The memorial gardens sure do help you get through. Seeing something flourish in memory of our loved ones lost to us gives a sense that they are always close.
It kept me from a one-way ticket to the loony bin- go WS!!!

Bad girl that I am, still have a row of about 20 containers on the side of the house that *may* still get planted out, but I'm not going to stress on them. Might just heel them in for the winter all together and see what makes it till spring. They are tough little buggers, so most should pull through just fine.

It surely is good to be "Back in the saddle" again, I've missed my WS pals and look forward to spending lots of time on the forum as we get near the season. Funny to be excited about winter- never was before WS, dreaded the onset. My how things change!

Hope all stays well and only gets better for you!
Let us know when you get your house, can you take pics to post? Would love to see your new digs!
All the best to you,

Shore

Hey Drippy, how are you doing? Saw your post on the "other side" and thought I'd drop you a line. :)
So glad you and your son are ok after the car wreck, EGADS, that's scary stuff!

How's the job search going?

Have you found your new digs? Perfect time to be a be a buyer, hope you find the home of your dreams with loads of space for planting. It's time to see the thousands of containers added for zone 7, welcome to "our" zone, girl!

I wasn't around for a LONG time, we lost my sister and my mother in law within a few months of each other in 07 and I kind of lost myself too.
It took a lot of time to get back to a good place, but I'm doing very well now and am a happy girl again.
Life really punches you a hard one in the gut sometimes, doesn't it?
Winter sowing truly kept me from totally going over the edge! I sowed my little heart out. Place the seeds in soil, water well with tears now and then for memorial containers and get on with it. So I did.
Every time I walked by the front garden and saw the sunshine dancing on the Dusty Miller I ws'd for my sister, I could smile. The same for Betty's snapdragons that wintered over the year after she passed. Powerful stuff in those seeds!

Oh, ROS Bluebird!!!! How awesome that bloom must have been for you!

Take care of yourself Kim, hope all is well and your sweet home Alabama comes to fruition!

Shore

Hi Drippy,

Great news on the buggy!!! Sounds like things are really moving forward for you and DH, that's wonderful! It's tough being in limbo, when all you want to do is put down some ROOTS! :) Can you do any sub teaching before the cert. comes in? My sis in law was in a similar position moving from DE to Syracuse. I can't remember if she could sub during the wait for her cert. to come through. I guess every state is different also.

Awww... that was sweet what you said about your fave tree. What was it? Maybe you should plant a seedling of it if it would grow in Alabama. Then you can watch it grow outside you NEW favorite window! Yeppers, property is much more reasonable, hope you can get those zillion acres!

The memorial gardens sure do help you get through. Seeing something flourish in memory of our loved ones lost to us gives a sense that they are always close.
It kept me from a one-way ticket to the loony bin- go WS!!!

Bad girl that I am, still have a row of about 20 containers on the side of the house that *may* still get planted out, but I'm not going to stress on them. Might just heel them in for the winter all together and see what makes it till spring. They are tough little buggers, so most should pull through just fine.

It surely is good to be "Back in the saddle" again, I've missed my WS pals and look forward to spending lots of time on the forum as we get near the season. Funny to be excited about winter- never was before WS, dreaded the onset. My how things change!

Hope all stays well and only gets better for you!
Let us know when you get your house, can you take pics to post? Would love to see your new digs!
All the best to you,

Shore

Hey Drippy, how are you doing? Saw your post on the "other side" and thought I'd drop you a line. :)
So glad you and your son are ok after the car wreck, EGADS, that's scary stuff!

How's the job search going?

Have you found your new digs? Perfect time to be a be a buyer, hope you find the home of your dreams with loads of space for planting. It's time to see the thousands of containers added for zone 7, welcome to "our" zone, girl!

I wasn't around for a LONG time, we lost my sister and my mother in law within a few months of each other in 07 and I kind of lost myself too.
It took a lot of time to get back to a good place, but I'm doing very well now and am a happy girl again.
Life really punches you a hard one in the gut sometimes, doesn't it?
Winter sowing truly kept me from totally going over the edge! I sowed my little heart out. Place the seeds in soil, water well with tears now and then for memorial containers and get on with it. So I did.
Every time I walked by the front garden and saw the sunshine dancing on the Dusty Miller I ws'd for my sister, I could smile. The same for Betty's snapdragons that wintered over the year after she passed. Powerful stuff in those seeds!

Oh, ROS Bluebird!!!! How awesome that bloom must have been for you!

Take care of yourself Kim, hope all is well and your sweet home Alabama comes to fruition!

Shore

Hi Drippy,

Great news on the buggy!!! Sounds like things are really moving forward for you and DH, that's wonderful! It's tough being in limbo, when all you want to do is put down some ROOTS! :) Can you do any sub teaching before the cert. comes in? My sis in law was in a similar position moving from DE to Syracuse. I can't remember if she could sub during the wait for her cert. to come through. I guess every state is different also.

Awww... that was sweet what you said about your fave tree. What was it? Maybe you should plant a seedling of it if it would grow in Alabama. Then you can watch it grow outside you NEW favorite window! Yeppers, property is much more reasonable, hope you can get those zillion acres!

The memorial gardens sure do help you get through. Seeing something flourish in memory of our loved ones lost to us gives a sense that they are always close.
It kept me from a one-way ticket to the loony bin- go WS!!!

Bad girl that I am, still have a row of about 20 containers on the side of the house that *may* still get planted out, but I'm not going to stress on them. Might just heel them in for the winter all together and see what makes it till spring. They are tough little buggers, so most should pull through just fine.

It surely is good to be "Back in the saddle" again, I've missed my WS pals and look forward to spending lots of time on the forum as we get near the season. Funny to be excited about winter- never was before WS, dreaded the onset. My how things change!

Hope all stays well and only gets better for you!
Let us know when you get your house, can you take pics to post? Would love to see your new digs!
All the best to you,

Shore

Well, day-um, Drippy! You are taking a wild ride! You waited so long to sell your house and join DH, and now you're moving again. You don't have a house there in SC to sell, which is good, I guess. Well, hope you like AL, and sorry to hear about your accident. So glad you weren't hurt.

Life can be crazy sometimes. I've had my share of dark moments myself. Just hold on tight!

So glad to hear that you and your son did not have serious injuries though I know from experience that even "minor" injuries can have permanent effects on one's physical abilities.

Hurrah for your husband's new job! I spent some time in Huntsville in the mid 70s when my brother-in-law was there in the air force. Spring was very nice.

Glad you can take your memorial plants with you. Wish rosemary was hardy here. Love using it for roasted potatoes. I bring my plant inside for the winter. It survives but doesn't thrive.

I know moving can be stressful and will be thinking of you as you downsize. I've been there but I love to move and am having itchy feet. Think we are here to stay though.

What an adventure!! Wowsers! Sounds like you are in a competition of sorts. Where to next Drippy?? LOL!

Honestly though, you sound excited and I'm happy for you and your family that things are working out. That Newfie is gonna be some hot down there so you'd better buy a property on a lake. :O)

Keep us posted. Love the news!

Made it to AL - weather's been a bit rainy, but warm. I am eating peppers from the green pepper plant I started in JULY in Greenville; gotta love the south for that! Hopefully we'll have the car issue settled by the end of the week, and I can start looking for work again.

Dawiff, I was raised to look for the good, and already here I'm seeing amazing butterflies. I also had time to read the new Dan Brown book, the Lost Symbol, while DH is on a business trip.

Mnwsgal, no, you don't want to move. Really. What you want to do is move latitude lines around so you get a longer period of warm weather for your gardening passion. I could never winter my rosemary over indoors in MA, either.

Tiffy, I think I am going to hang out my shingle as a moving consultant. Assuming we get a house before the end of 2009, I will have lived in 4 places this year - I think that makes me highly qualified!

Drippy, so sorry to hear that you have not had an easy time of it with the move.....and a car accident to boot! I admire you and your family for managing to keep making good decisions in the face of so many unexpected changes. I hope the new job for DH will be just right for him.

You certainly would qualify as a 'moving expert'! lol I used to have extensive experience with moving, but you have me beat, we never moved four times in one year. [g] I am very happy you have been able to get through the dark moments and continue to have such a positive attiude. Very encouraging.

Didn't you have a collection of 'music' plants, or am I remembering wrong? Were you able to take any of them with you? It's been awhile since you were doing thousands of winter sowing containers. I hope you will find yourself settled in a new home before long and ready to start winter sowing all over again.

I wonder if the area you are heading to was in the flood zone? I have seen photos of Georgia but wonder if Alabama had problems too?

Please keep sharing your news. I really enjoyed hearing how things were going. I've often wondered how you were doing.

Prairiemoon, I did have a collection of music plants - other than my memorial plants, very few made it through two moves. But...I have thousands of varieties of seeds, including seeds from many "music" plants. As soon as I can light somewhere for longer than a couple of months, it will be container city!

My Rose of Sharon "Bluebird", which was one of my memorial plants, did make it - one of the cuttings I rooted bloomed in 6" pot - and bloomed blue, so I was immensely rewarded.

There is no evidence that I am in the flood zone - we've had lots of showers, some heavy at times, for sure, but no flooding here.

Hi, Shore - no wonder we haven't 'seen' you around. That was a double punch in '07 for you. I would have lost myself, too, if I lost my sister. Damn. I am glad you were able to get through the "one foot in front of the other" time and come out to joy again - many people can't.

Something to believe in surely helps - LOL, I used to tell my doctor all the time at my annual physicals, when he wondered how I got into my 50s and have (knock wood) so far been able to stay off prescription drugs, that gardening is my hedge against death. On one of the worst days when DH was working in SC and I was still in MA trying to sell the house, I looked out my favorite window at my favorite tree in the yard, and thought, "You know, that tree was here before I moved here, and it will be here long after I've gone". The memorial gardens are SO helpful - life DOES go on, and they remind us of that.

I just got a new-to-me buggy this past weekend - cute little HHR with low mileage - so now I'm beginning to ramp up the search for work a bit. I put an ad in the paper today to try to get piano students, and I've connected with my local professional organization. I'm waiting for my AL (public school) certification to come through; that ought to open some doors. Househunting will get kicked into high gear on the weekends - DH is working hard during the week with the new gig. It does look like we can get more for the money house/land wise than up north.

And I'm itching to wintersow again! Last season was poor, as I knew I was in limbo with the moving. I have a zillion seeds - just need a zillion acres to put 'em on, LOL.

So glad you're back with us, Shore!

Hi Drippy, I could have sworn I responded to your additional post, but I see that I haven't. Sorry about that. I do remember how many containers you have always done. I was always amazed! lol I'm sure you will have a ton of wintersown plants next spring, regardless. :-) Very exciting to get your 'Bluebird' to come true to color. I always feel more attached to plants that I've started myself. ..... Congratulations on the new car! Low mileage is such a budget aide and finally you can get around! You sound encouraged. Forward motion always helps doesn't it? Look forward to hearing a job and new house with garden has been found!

Shore, so sorry to hear about your Mom and sister. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that must have been. I do understand the 'winter sowing as therapy' though. Or gardening in general. Glad you are doing better.

Shore, the tree was a tupelo. I didn't save seeds from it to bring down here, but I understand tupelos grow down here anyhow. It wasn't necessarily that it was a tupelo that made it so special, though - it was its spiritual placement in the yard.

I did apply for some substitute teaching - they wanted a gazillion forms for that, too, but I finally got everything together and sent it in yesterday. Hopefully that will pan out - it's a good link to finding piano students, too - schools are a great place to network.

I always had containers that didn't get planted - my columbine survived as it was - no heeling into the ground or anything. That always surprised me, because we would get some deep freezes in MA, and most stuff just left in containers was toast. My mint, which I grew in containers to keep from spreading all over the yard, always survived as well - LOL, mint will survive the nuclear holocaust.

Hiya, Prairie - yeah, like Shore, I'm feeling "on the way up" again. Carpe diem!

Just thinking about you tonight and so I popped in to ask how things are going with the search for the new house?? Any bites yet?

Sounds like you are keeping busy - new auto, getting it together for teaching some piano culture, etc. Sounds great! Our daughter is taking piano and so enjoys it. I love to hear her play. She kept up with the lessons during the summer and I would always open the windows when she practiced so I could hear the music while working in the gardens. If she played something I liked, at the end, I would give a loud 'ENCORE! ENCORE!' LOL!

OK, I have to ask... Do they get snow in Alabama? Call me a curious Canadian here. Sort of like the Americans who show-up here in July asking to see an igloo. :O) I kid you not.

Hope all is good and the house hunting is a great adventure!

Hi, Tiffy - we did some cruising around and I took some pictures today. It's about maximum fall color time in northern Alabama - the difference between here and the north is that the color is not as blazing, but more maroon/rust/gold/brown, with a bit of bright red/yellow/orange. Then there is the cotton - fields and fields of it, all ready for harvesting now. It's breathtaking. DH and Drippy and I did a country drive today. I know we should be calling realtors and all, but I am just starting to catch my breath again, and the realtors (naturally, it's their job) want me to move faster than I'm ready to.

I got a call from the city Friday; they finally got through my paperwork and I am going on the substitute teacher list. It's a big school system, so hopefully I'll get a bit of work out of it. It's a good way to network for piano students, too - heck, the ad I spent $110 to run for 2 weeks in the city paper didn't produce any results at all - boo. Costs too much to try to get a job anymore!

I am glad your daughter is enjoying her lessons - it is something that will carry with her all her life - if she doesn't want to be a Van Cliburn (and most of us don't), she'll still be able to come home from a hard day of work and sit down at the piano and relax.

Snow is a rare event in AL - it happens only once every few years, I'm told - it doesn't last long either. This is a zone 7b here, bordering 8 (probably most people's yards have some 8 microclimates). OMG about the igloos - NS is a beautiful place in July - come to think of it, isn't the area around Antigonish a fairly warm zone due to the Gulf Stream?

I hear you about the realtors. Just remind them that you are the one buying the house, not them. :O)

Fields of cotton - now that would be a site to behold!

Oh, how's good old Drippy taking the heat? I hope it's OK.

We actually get some of the Gulf Stream flowing here, hence the warmer winters at times. Tonight was great. I took the dogs for a walk and the wind was actually warm. The hat came off and the hair was left to fend with the wind. There must be a swell on the Atlantic as you could hear the waves crashing on the granite at the tip of the peninsula, about a 5 minute drive from here. I could have kept walking forever but the Valley Bulldog was getting tired. :O)

Keep us posted on the house hunting and give Drippy a big hug!

Drippy's doing pretty well, Tiffy, for an old dog (10 1/2 is old for a Newfie). We cut her hair in SC, during the real hot weather, and she could use another cut now, but she's handling the temperate season now (high 60s to mid-70s) fine. Only thing is, she's kind of antsy (for a Newf - Newfs are mellow in a major way most of the time) in the apartment - one of us (usually me, as DH is working) always has to get up with her for a spell in the middle of the night, even if we walk her just before bedtime. That dog is so spoiled, though! Anytime I am eating a Klondike bar she nestles herself right around my feet, waits patiently, and gazes up at me with those big brown eyes until she gets the last bite. :)

I'm going to the calm Caribbean in March for a week, but I miss the rugged Atlantic (MY ocean :)) so much I can't even allow myself to think about it. I absolutely do not miss the cold, though. I only feel nostalgic about snow when I think about it. I'm flying to NY in December for an award ceremony for DS, and hoping snow stays far, far away on that day.

House hunting on Saturday - hope we find something soon so I can get wintersowing!