be careful w/those. I'm going to start getting my mix ready so I can start a few thing. Need to go rake under that one big tree fro all that is left from ice storm. I stayed out in the freezing clod to clean up the big limbs and all, but really need to rake up all that other mess. have a good day everyone.

been very nice here. going to be 74 today. haven't got much done. picked up tree limbs from the big blow last week and it took over 2 hrs. all the cedar beds are finished so guess i will start some flower seeds and tomato seeds this week.

william- who is looking for something to do!

If this kind of a morning doesn't get the gardening juices flowing, nothing will! I couldn't believe it when I went out. Of course, I don't like this for the plants.... I mulched the strawberries so they wouldn't start blooming too soon. I sure hope I wasn't too late.

I wanted to start cleaning up the garden and beds, but know better. I like to leave all that stuff over them for protection. I do have a clear area around the base of the compost pile where I will sow lettuce seed on Valentine's day as a trial; never done it before.

The lettuce under lights is about 2 inches tall now; need to move it to the light near the floor so the temp will be cooler.

What's everyone up to these days?

Sad day around our house today.
Bob Scott, our outdoor mouser, went to meet his maker last night. Apparently. a stray dog or coyote was looking to make a kill and succeeded. Heard a dog fight across the road about midnight and went downstairs to investigate. Saw that one of the motion detector lights at the front of the house was on and went out to see what triggered it, and found Bob in the path beside the house, lifeless. I think his neck was broken. No signs of broken skin or torn fur, so it must have been for sport.
He loved to stretch out in one of the flower beds, underneath a Japanese Maple, but I plan on redoing that bed this spring, so will have to find another suitable final resting place.:Rb

oh how sad. hope it won't come back around. I would be a little leery.
Oh I found plenty to do. Also need to finish sanding the base board to put back up after fresh coat of stain. yep I have to find something to do until my flowers take up all my time and base boards it is. yuck. oh let me not forget I shampooed the carpets on sat a.m. lol yep bored.
Great weather! just love it.
Bonnie

rb, so sorry to hear about your cat. Year before last was the bad one for us, we lost DH's cat, a dog, and our favorite bobtail cat. I have them in various flower beds marked by rocks so I won't accidentally dig.

Warm but windy yesterday. It was nice to get outside and enjoy it. Just went for a walk since there's not much gardening to do yet.
Surely one warm day won't fool our plants. The forecast still has some nights below freezing in it. I know there will be some plants that come up too early since that happens every year. I need to sit aside some boxes from all my unpacking to cover things with when we get a late freeze. At least we haven't had any nights below zero this winter so I'm hoping my iffy plants will make it. I planted three salvia 'Black and Blue' for the hummingbirds last spring. I'd like for at least ONE of them to come back. Would I jinx myself if I said that it's late enough in the year that we won't have any more brutally cold weather?

We painted a birdhouse gourd this week and I also saved some seeds from it. I tried to grow some once before, but put them out too late. I'm going to try again and also gave some seeds to my dad to put along the edge of his pasture. He says cattle will leave them alone and has grown gourds along the fence before.

Sorry to hear about your cat RB. Poor thing. Stray dogs can be meaner than any coyote especially if there's more than one stray running together. Wish people wouldn't dump animals. : (

Our weather was very scary again last night. Horrific winds and lots of rain. DH said the creek was running the fullest he had seen in a long time. Thankfully, I don't see any large limbs down in the yard; I think the ice storm and tornado pruned them up. It is raining lightly now.

Good luck with your gourds christie. I left mine in the milk parlor and they are all covered with mold and not dry in the least. I wish I had left them in the field like the Amish website suggested. If they survive, I am going to try the finishing techniques listed there. Thanks for the link.

rb,So sorry about your cat. It always hurts to lose an animal friend.
We've already had a thunderstorm today. no
problems though.Glenda I've seen some swollen creeks after a storm. An awesome sight. Its amazing the power these sleepy little creeks can have.

What's happened to everyone?
Its only a couple days till Valentines day,a bittersweet day this year. It'd be my husbands and mine 50 anniversery. Its been 4 years now since he's gone. I've fixed an arraingement with yellow flowers and gold trimmings. I've finally come to the conclusion that it is time i got on with my life. So on the good side i can finish healing.
On the bright side. I'm going to plant radishes,lettuce, tomatoes and peppers.

oakleif, I hope the day won't be too hard on you. I can't imagine what life would be like and, yet, I know it comes to all of us. I will be thinking of you. I think your attitude is right on. I admire you.

It is nice to have gardening to do, it is wonderful therapy for anything.

We won't be planting anything here; ground is still covered with ice and snow....

Oakleif, I add my condolences too. I find my garden not only feeds us--it heals my soul.
Dont know what I would do without my yards and garden.

Oakleif, I will be thinking of you. I also don't know what I would do with out my flower beds, lawn, grandchildren and mahala.
Bonnie

I'm a little late but bless you Oakleif. I've been offline because of the icestorm.
We got quite a bit of ice and have some tree limbs down but Mother Nature was much easier on us than last year. The main trunk is split on my dogwood and on a little sandcherry tree. Hope my dogwood recovers. It lost some limbs last year too poor thing. I wouldn't miss the sandcherry as much but still hate to see it so damaged.

Christie, the ice storm last year split the main trunk on a 20+ plus nectarine tree--3 ways. My Son-in-law drilled holes, put bolts thru, and pulled it all back together. Last summer, it had already grown around the bolts.

It's encouraging that your nectarine tree is doing ok. I'll do a little trimming up and cross my fingers. I sure wouldn't cut it down. It's not damaged enough for that, but I know the damage makes it more likely to have pest and disease problems later.

Thanks so much GW friends.It was windy but warm and cloudy. a spring day!!
I got half of my lettuce and radishes planted. enough to start with. Will stagger the rest of seeds for later. Got part of other veggies started too.I was tired when i finished. Been too lazy too long.

Lowes down here has rose bushes in for $4.00 and $7.00. Bought a yellow climbing rose for my DD.
vickie

rb, your story about your cat sounds so much like mine that I just posted! I'm so sorry..I know how you must have felt.

Well, I just spent some time today acting like I know how to revive and repot an ailing orchid. Hope I did it some good...only time will tell. Managed to get some lavender seeds. Really looking forward to seeing if I can get them to grow here, since I kept killing them in our MO home...

missfourseasons, I have to say I kill that too. lavender that is. I have tries many times and it starts and then dies, or nothing at all. I have decided it take a better gardener than myself to grow lavender. I love the smell and it is so pretty. Really hope yours works out this time.
The island were a great place for my family and myself to visit. We all went after 2 of my children were married in the same year. We all loved it so much and enjoyed our time. But was nice to come home after 2 weeks. I keep telling myself I will go back again during our winter months to enjoy the wonderful plants etc.
Bonnie

Well, I just noticed today as I was driving out of my office, this patch of grassy area in the middle of our parking lot some things that "looked" liked lavender...Tomorrow I'm going to pull over and give it a good looking at because if it is, then I'm trying to grow that stuff in earnest! Wish me luck!!