Yay!

Yep, I agree--they should like it there fine. Wish you were gonna be at the spring fling. I was just counting yesterday and could bring as many as 6 smallish (but not SMALL small) mounds. Bummer!

I saw that! Bummer.

Do they fall over? Need support?

Bon, GDW and I did the travel map thing. Actually you are not that far out of our way--only maybe a half hour. The problem is that I realize you've got children and a husband. And you know we're taking a lot of plants. We have a club cab. Would be easy to fit ONE person in with plants and such, but don't know how you'd feel about coming by yourself or maybe with just one other. We'd crowd as many in as possible, but . . . if you can get a day away by yourself or with just one other. . .we'd be thrilled to swing by and pick you up. Really--map it yourself, you'll see it's not that far out of our way. OR, maybe we could just drop off the shastas to you. What do you think?

MINE fall over, that's why I'm willing to part with many of them. But mine only get partial shade for 1-3 hours. Or the ones in the sun, 5 hours of morning sun, and they fry. I frankly think YOUR light might be spot on.

Shastas should not have to be supported--they're strong and sturdy if in the right place. I don't have the right place, bless their hearts. :)

Nancy, that's very very sweet of you and G to consider me! It's SO tempting. I have a bad back and makes traveling hard on everyone. I giggle as I write that my kids would be heart broken to be left behind. Lil' Miss misses luvncannin! They adored everyone at the last SF we attended. I'm pretty certain they have the garden bug in them, but it may not flourish until they are older. hehe

That reminds me when we were at OSU Tulsa while my son was testing. My daughter and I were sitting outside on the bench visiting with a woman from Broken Arrow, a city gal who hates bugs. My daughter picked up a lady bug. The woman cringed. My daughter talked affectionately about its role in life and the story behind "good luck" and passionately defended its existence. All the while the woman was like, NOPE. It's a bug.

You and G enjoy yourselves and save the room for more plants (LOL). I look forward to your posts afterwards. I look forward to everyone's posts afterwards (especially those who complain about finding places in their garden to plant their loot.)

I think you are right about my front yard. I've grown the coneflowers, carrots, leafy greens and zinnias. Everything grows wonderful and I've often wondered if that zone is considered "normal" compared to our blazing summer sun and heat from 1pm onwards. I bet they'll do fine, but I wanted to be certain.

I think I'll do all kinds of flowers in the front yard, like a cottage garden.

bon

Oh Bon I would come get you if I could. I could just knock you out till we got there so you wouldn't even suffer lol. My sister has back pain from too many surgeries gone wrong. It is sad to see her suffer and not be able to garden like she wants.

Oh Kim, I'm so sorry to hear that her surgeries didn't help. Before surgery I hung with a lot of back pain sufferers to gain coping skills. Pain is torture. Even childbirth provides "breaks" between contractions. Not so with many types of back pain, especially nerve damage.

Watch her mental health. I was highly suicidal before surgery.

Even labor pains at birth, in normal situations, provide breaks in between contractions. Nature/god has done that so we don't lose the energy or the will power to carry on with the birthing process. If momma gives up mentally, there's no hope for the baby. So, I believe, nature provides those breaks for our minds and hearts during labor. Not so with nerve pain and damage. It's torture that breaks the mind over long periods of time.

Hugs and love to your sister from me. Even that doesn't express my deepest compassion for her. <3

bon

It breaks my heart that there really is no hope. If she lost weight it would help but I think she uses food as comfort.

I do feel so sorry for those with chronic back pain--have had several loved ones with that problem. Mine has "gone out" on occasions--excruciating.

Oh Bon, I'm so sorry about your back and luvncannin, your sister too. My dad had two back surgeries but always had pain of sorts. He never would say he was in pain but you could see it on his face.

I loved the story of your daughter and the lady bug. That sounds like something my daughter would do, she's 11. She loves bugs, although wasps and bees are not included lol.

Yeah. Even I don't do bumble bees or scorpions. I think we have Rusty Patch bumble bees on our property, but I don't want to get close enough to get a proper ID. The wild Sweet Pea patch is their territory. I've begun harvesting some of the seed pods to plant and help it grow bigger. Other than that. Nope. Some things are best left alone. LOL

edit: From "English pea" to "Sweet Pea" Easily confused. The wild sweet pea is poisonous to humans.

When my sister was little she liked bugs. She didn't mind picking them up. Until the day she touched a cowkiller. No more bugs.

It's amazing what kids pick up. You may have taught Little Miss about lady bugs, but someday she will surprise you and "know" something you didn't think she was paying attention to. I used to be an avid birder. My kids just rolled their eyes at Mom and her birds. But the youngest got in an argument with a friend who called a bluejay a bluebird. He knew they were 2 different birds.

Chronic pain is hard to live with. I was lucky enough that surgeries took care of most of mine. I think back pain is harder to treat. I have an almost daughter in law who is suffering now. She's too young (so are you) to have to deal with that.

While we were clearing the front lawn to look presentable, you know, like a city residence .. I was seven foot away from where Lil Miss stood. I could see the sun shine off something on the ground and it looked as though it were moving. And I need glasses! She slowly backed away keeping a girth about 5 foot wide between her and whatever it was that intimidated.

Me: What is it?

I don't know.

Me: Was it a big black beetle?

Yeah... she didn't act like she wanted to even think about it. It must have been HUGE.

Me: That's one of the good guys.

Yeah, well. Okay.

LOL I wish I could have seen that monster beetle!

I've had doctors turn down helping me because I didn't fit the age criteria for degenerative disc disease. Took about 6 years and 5 doctors. Actually, it was a nurse practitioner who set the ball rolling just on the information the other doctors had on file.

My adopted daughter (she's my best friend's daughter, my kids call her sister) turned 40 this year. She had destroyed her knee playing softball and damaged the meniscus since then. She needed a knee replacement, but no one would do it because she was too young. She finally found a doctor who would do a cartilage transplant and then repair the meniscus. She had to jump through hoops to get the insurance to pay for it, because, of course, it's experimental. It's been 4 months and she still can't put full weight on it. I don't know what the end result will be. I don't know what young people are supposed to do when they're in pain. It's so frustrating.

Crazy!! Crazy medical stuff. Ridiculous! I'm glad you finally got SOME relief, Bon.

Amy, it really is frustrating. I don't have an answer for it bi-partisan or not. Everything is mucked up with healthcare.

Thanks, Nancy. I just came back in from several hours of burning brush and listening to my son ponder philosophically over the fire. Life is grand!

And we saw a Hawk Moth! No snakes. Thankfully.