Carol, I'm so sorry about Covid bringing you down. Do you think you got eksposed in the movie? And what an awful time to be sick. Sending strong ESP thoughts your way for quick recovery.

Like Sheila, I got my last booster, the bivalent vaccine, and flu vaccine (super dose for seniors) around Oct 15, and I'm so glad I did. This is especially crucial for us oldies. Diane

Carol, so sorry to hear it's Covid, but hopefully those antivirals will really help.

Kristine, what a sweet photo of Azalea.

flowers, I'm so disappointed that you lost your post. For one thing, I'm wanting to hear what your specialist said. More snow! I remember your photo from years ago of the wiggly line of snow atop something. Can't remember what it was.

Diane, I do hope you'll try rooting your Caramel Antique. Sheila, had to laugh about you being mad!

Houzz, post my comments, you dork.

Sheila, my husband got both on Monday with zero reaction. I wanted to do them a week apart so if I got a reaction I would know which one was the culprit .lol

Kristine, I've gotten my last two flu shots with the Covid boosters at the same time. No Reaction--but then I've never had a reaction from any vaccine in my life.

I see my dork comment showed up. Did any of my other comments? My nekst comment won't be printable. Diane

!@#$%^& houzz.

So many of us down with one thing or another. I hope everyone will be back to normal by Christmas, especially those of you with little ones to care for.

Trish, the afib specialist I saw didn't offer any easy solutions. Options are ablation, or shocking the heart back into a regular rhythm. There's an implant, Watchman, that I don't fully understand, but I'm not a candidate anyway. Ablation should last longer. the shocking one can last years, months or even hours. There are a couple drugs, but he doesn't recommend them. The only life style changes he suggested were drinking more water and getting more sleep. He said to ease up on green tea, less ginger, no cinnamon supplements, no K2, which I thought was necessary for D3 to correctly process calcium, less pumpkin and chia seeds, no turmeric, and no collagen. Some of these interact with meds, are natural blood thinners or affect BP. Sorry, everyone. I should have put this in a private message.

I'll post that snow thing you mentioned. My husband called me out to see it, scratching his head. I accused him of draping a hose over the arbor for the snow to form on, but there was nothing inside those squiggly things. I think it was a phenomenon.

There are several arbors, but it only did this on this arbor.

Geeze Flowers, it sounds like your Dr is taking you off of all of the healthy stuff?

Well try it and see if it makes difference. Hopefully that does the trick.

Diane, Houzz is really a pain lately!.

I can only type words that appear in the suggestion bar

Wow Flowers, your arbor snow pic is amazing! Definitely a phenomenon, but I'd sure like to know why. Can I copy your pic and post it on my AP Chemistry forum to see if anyone has an idea?

One of my friends has an arrythmia that's not afib, and had an ablation several years ago and had good results. My cardiologist hasn't recommended ablation or the Watchman (I've seen commercials for it), just wants me to stay on Eliquis and the BP meds, some of which I'd been taking long before my afib episode in 2010. But I don't think I've had any episodes since my first one, although he says you can have them and not know it.

Everyone, please get the current COVID vax and a flu shot.

Carol, hope you're feeling better soon!

I've looked for Lisa's name here because she had told me that this was one thread she was active on, and I did indeed see her posting here in the past. I wonder if Jenna in Temecula has had any news from her. I did phone message her some time ago and she messaged back that she was very busy taking courses to be an ultrasound tech. I just wondered what had happened to her beautiful garden with all those roses.

Kristine, I know! That's exactly what I thought. There are so many benefits in chia and pumpkin seeds, collagen and green tea, and ginger.

Susan, you certainly may use my snowy arbor photos however you like. I will definitely be interested to hear what your scientific friends have to say. I plan to do exactly what you're doing - stay on Eliquis and the beta blocker, as they seem to be doing their jobs.

Ingrid, we all miss Lisa and Jenna so much. Jenna is active on Instagram, but Lisa hasn't been heard from for quite awhile. I'm not clear which one is studying to be an ultra sound tech, but I'm guessing Lisa. Either one would be wonderful at putting people at ease. We are also all looking forward to seeing your new garden in the spring. You have chosen some beautiful roses. You've learned a thing or two along the way, and had more than your share of garden disappointments with hungry critters. I do hope they will let you enjoy your roses and do their nibbling elsewhere.

I took Eliquis for a few weeks and could barely get off of the couch.

Does it affect anyone else that way?

And the crud lingers. It is hanging on like grim death lol

Carol how are you feeling today?

Im supposed to get my covid booster tomorrow but am still feeling crummy. Do I go for it or wait?

Kristine, I stopped Sotalol in about March this year (hadn't had an episode in 5 months) as even on a quarter a day my pulse was still only 55. I felt better off it but not back to normal. I continued taking Eliquis for another couple of months, then switched to aspirin. I felt really good after stopping it - motivated and active. GP clearly thought this very unusual, and cardiologist didn't comment. Sorry to hear you're still feeling lousy. Don't know what to recommend about the booster.

flowers, I'm having an ablation - next month, I hope. Episodes are almost daily, and quite bad a lot of the time, despite being back on meds. I think that's why I've been falling. I'm losing muscle strength as I can't do much.

I'll be interested to hear what you find out about flowers snow phenomenon, Susan.

Ingrid, Lisa did say a year or so ago that she has rabbits who've caused a lot of damage. She posted here once or twice a few months ago, but nothing since. I miss her so much.

Trish, I'm so sorry to hear about your medical travails. I hope very much that the ablation helps you., and that the procedure makes the new year a much better one for you. Thank you for the info about Lisa. Honestly, if it isn't ground squirrels it's rabbits.

Kristine, I don't think Eliquis affects me that way but I'm still learning.

Trish, surely that will put an end to your episodes. Let us know the date so we can hold you in our thoughts and prayers. Ablation seems to be the preferred treatment. You will be a new you and enjoy tending your garden again. I'm excited for you.

For anyone close enough to drive to the Rosarium when they open in April, they are having a sale until January 1st. Two roses @ $40. Of course, no shipping fees, so that makes it a pretty good deal. There are 4 pairs offered. Queen of Elegance & Celestial Night - Arctic Blue & Iceberg - Hot Cocoa & Sugar Moon - Honey Dijon & Pumpkin Patch.

Kristine, if I did not have a fever and tested negative for Covid, I would go ahead with a Bivalent Covid booster if it were me. Things seem to be cranking up around here. If you just had Covid, you are supposed to wait until 3 months after to get your booster.

You really are someone who we do not want to lose or to be stuck in a hospital.

Flowers, I did everything I could to post your snowy arbor pic to my Chemistry forum, but no luck. I was able to send it to myself in an email, but I couldn't save it to my documents file at all, or even copy it directly into my Chem forum post. It kept coming up as something that looked like a Houzz link. I'll try again tomorrow, but it looks like it might be a Houzz thing.

Hi Susan9santabarbara,

it's yet another annoying Houzz thing. At worst you can take a screenshot of the picture, crop it and use that. The resolution won't be great but it's better than nothing I guess.

Titian10b I hope the ablation will help you and you will feel better! 

Rosecanadian I hope you are ok and your covid symptoms will go away soon! 

I've been reading that there's a big cold front coming down over the US in the coming days, stay warm everyone!

Flowers, Pretty arbor looks like noodles of snow.

Kristine, Sweet photo of Azalea making cookies…. she’s growing up-soooo adorable!

Working a lot….. I’ll chat w/ you all this weekend.

Sheila, I am going to get booster today . I am Certainly well enough to get it. And you are right, things are pretty nasty out there. Back to the masks .

Flowers, what is an ablation?

I hope that it kicks you back in to normal heart rythm. We need you around for a long time.

So cold last night that this morning everything was covered in white frost which seems to be melting off pretty quickly. I believe that it was mid 20. Burrrr!

Carol, how are you feeling? I hope hope that you are on the mend.

We miss you and send our love.

Jim, where are you?

We are getting concerned

Susan, that is too weird. Those photos were taken with my iPhone, stored in my photo file and posted here, but never through the HOUZZ system. I put them on my desktop and drag them into place, or use the # assigned to them in the photo dropdown under the comments. I could send them to you in an Email or private message. Ah! I just read Seaside's suggestion. Try that first. That should work.

Seaside, I also heard about the blast of cold weather headed to the US.....from Siberia, no less! Brrrrr! Looks like we're on the edge of it.

Kristine, believe me, I don't know much about medical things but I think that procedure intentionally scars small areas of the heart by freezing or burning to redirect the electrical impulses, hoping for a normal rhythm. It's Trish, not me, that's having it done. Sheila is the one to ask for the real definition. I hope you are feeling ok after your shot today.

You got it pretty well right, Flowers.

@flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA If you want to send me the first pic (the closer one) in an email, that would be great. Then once I get it, I'll delete my email from this post. I think the resolution would be better than a screen shot. My email: (Edit: I got the pic via email)

Hello to all of you. Could one of you please post if you can see this? If it has posted, I'll write to all of you something longer. My posts are showing up on other threads. Diane

I see it!

Thanks, Susan. I'll try a little longer post and see what happens.

I did some research on weird snow shapes, and there are some out there---not eksactly like the ones in Flowers garden, but formed in a similar way, maybe. For eksample, perfect wheel shapes called rollers are formed if the snow is fluffy, new, moist (not dry snow) and there is a little wind. The conditions have to be just right. Flowers shapes probably had those conditions and a little something more, but I couldn't find what that might be. Sometimes perfect snowballs are formed that lie on the ground. Weirder yet, are penitentes, masses of figures that look like a solemn religious procession, heads bent and in long robes. By far the most strange shapes are formed by ice--vampire like, scary looking creatures, and a host of other weird sculptures. I hope we can get some more info on the shapes in Flowers' garden.

Kristine, did you get your vaccine? I agree that hospitalizations are up, here also. I got my flu and fifth Covid vaccine Oct 15, and boy, I'm glad I did that.

Carol, I'm thinking about you and I hope it won't be long before we get a little post that says you're better.

And Jim, please let us know how you are. The last we heard you were going in for a stress test. Nana worries.

We're having the dreaded cold wave now, but I see that in several days it's going to warm up with lows slightly above freezing. Maybe I can run outside and throw compost on the roses that still need it.

Kitty, glad you dropped by. I was looking at some photos of the Huntington Gardens and saw their stunning Japanese garden. It's the best one I've seen in a photo at least. I hope some day you can visit Huntington. Tom Carruth is the head of the rose garden there. He's really whipped it into shape over the last several years. I would ekspect as much from the guy who bought us Julia Child, Twilight Zone, Ebb Tide, Love Song, Memorial Day....shall I go on? Diane

I just posted a longer message and I can see it, but it's not showing on the main list. I doubt if you can see it. Can you see this post? I think we need to start another thread--winter is coming. Who wants to start it? Carol can take over when she's feeling better. Diane

I see them both

I can see this one, but not a longer one, Diane.

Hi Diane,

I can see your two short posts from today asking if we can see your posts, but not a long one. 

Before that the last post I can see from you is from three days ago saying "!@#$%^& houzz", which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Ahhh sh*t!!!! I lost everything I typed...my fault (not Houzz). I went to go to another tab and I didn't open a new one. CRAP!

Okay...try again. Very annoying. LOL I'm feeling almost 100%!!! I started to feel really good today. Still have a dry cough...but other than that I feel happy and not like I have one foot in the great beyond. YAY!!!!

As to Diane's comment that we need a new seasonal thread...I will do it if no one else wants to....far be it for me to quash someone's lifelong desire to host the seasonal thread. LOL

Flowers - that is SUCH a cool picture of the snow!! I'm glad you've made a plan for your Afib. What is ablation? Hopefully it will work like a charm and give you back your life so that you can be you again. :) :) Thanks, Flowers for the ablation definition. I really hope it works!

Susan - I'm feeling much better! Thank you!! I've had the most recent iteration of the COVID and flu shots. Didn't seem to help, but maybe I would have been in the hospital otherwise. Who knows?

Kristine - I'm feeling MUCH better! I hope you feel better soon too. Do you have COVID too or did you have a cold/flu? Been pretty cold for you there!

Seaside - Thanks, so much! I'm feeling sooo much better! Yes, that cold front will be coming here too. It's supposed to be -27C/-17F.

Yeah, Diane - I can't see the long message you wrote. If no one starts a new thread on Sat., I'll start one. :) :)

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts you've sent me!

Oh, and these are the roses that may be available (through Star/Week roses) with my Wildwood rose place. I'm VERY excited that Rouge Royale may be offered!!!

-Pinkerbelle (probably won't buy that one)

- Rouge Royale (Definitely will!)

- Big Mama (maybe)

- Cinnamon Dolce (maybe)

- Elle (will)

- Love's Promise (will)

- Peter Mayle (maybe)

- Raspberry Cupcake (will)

- Stilleto (maybe)

- Grande Dame (will)

- Sheila's Perfume (last time I'll try this one...hates me...but I want it to live)

- Stainless Steel (will)

Anyone have any thoughts (good/bad) about these?

Carol, Your roses look like wonderful selections! I hope tgey are offered! I am so excited to see your rose orders delivered this soring! You are going to have an amazing plethora of new beautiful roses and a grand and beautiful garden!! Oh, No, Covid! i hope you are resting and take special care if yourself. Warm honey tea is nice. i am sure your hubby will take good care if you.

Taking the day to rest….. to get well, also.Little under the ”icy weather“ feeling. We got a couple inches of snow….. Fingerlakes area around me got more snow including Buffalo. We just missed it with light sprinkles , but ice snow in my area. Melted a little. Keeping warm… turned in my fireplace heater….niiiiiiiiceeeeee…..toasty warm!

Carol, I love Raspberry Cupcake, a Kordes w/ a n amazing scent….. beautiful lush petals, fliribunda! And beautiful Loves’s Promise! Sheila’s Perfume can be heavenly., too!

Oh no Kitty are you feeling puny?

There is so much crud going around right now and you work so hard that maybe you got rundown.

Hope that some rest helps.

Carol, how are you feeling? I hope that you are on the mend.

I sure hope that you will be able to get all of your dream roses, especially Rouge Royal

Grace Gardens offers it but it $50 plus shipping.

I'm still on the fenc e because I also really want a Lafrance rose .

Geeze so many beautiful roses and such little space.

The Lafrance rose has Sentimental value because my grandchildren are Lafrance.

Diane, I agree, Houzz is being a pain right now.

In the past it has straightened out fairly quickly but this craziness has gone on for way too long.

But the alternative of not being able to communicate with you guys is not good so we continue to struggle with posts and hope that they actually show up.

Have a fabulous day.

Hey, onl y more 4 days and then the days will star t to get longer.

Kristine, La France is a beautiful prize rose! A wonderful a

addition to your gardens! What do you mean ”your granchildren are Lafrance?

Hello everyone I hope your all doing well... I am still kicking but not as high...lol

Temps have swung up and down I see really cold temps coming for last week of Dec into Jan...We just had a ice/sleet storm..

Enjoyed the the snow pics and cookie making pic... :-) And roses.... :-)

On the downside I just found out I have a blockage so will be getting a heart cath December 27th to see whats going on... They will stent if needed etc...

Keeping my spirits up!

I will let everyone know how I make out!

I am enjoying my holiday season inspite!

I hope your all having a wonderful December!

Next year God willing I'll add more to this tree...

Good luck, Jim with your medical work and 2023 in general!

Blessings, Jim! So happy to hear from you. Your tree is gorgeous!

Kitty - I just tested myself again...still have COVID. I'm extra worn out today. Yes, Don is really being attentive. :) I hope that Wildwood offers those roses!! I'm excited!! Nice that you have a warm fireplace heater. :) :) So, you grow Raspberry Cupcake? Do you have a picture? Great to know it has an amazing scent!!

Kristine - Feeling extra worn out...still have COVID. My kids are in Calgary now...but not with us. Sigh. Yes, I hope that I can get Rouge Royale!!!!!! I'm SO excited to get that one. I hear you about expensive roses...I could have gotten Eglantyne (husband said to get it)...but I passed on it because it would have cost $100 for the rose and 60$ for shipping. That's insane! So your grandkids are French? I hope you get LaFrance....either from here or somewhere else. :) :) I agree...it would be beyond sad to not talk to you all. :) :) Oh, I forgot that soon the days will start getting longer!!!

Jim - I'm SO glad that you're still kicking (even though not quite as high). {{{{{HUGS}}}}}} And thank you SO much for letting us know how you're doing. Your tree looks so elegant! Ours always looks like it got on by a Christmas snow storm. :) :) I think you'll put all of your JIMness into getting better and you'll find that they'll fix you up!! <3

Jim, for you to add more to that tree, it's going to have to sprout more branches.

Thinking of you and the days ahead. We're all turning into heart patients on this thread.

HOUZZ is obviously having major problems. Diane, I see both your short test posts. A notice pops up every time I log on that says I have 14 new messages. I haven't had 14 messages in all the years I've been here, combined.

New seasonal thread

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6331437/merry-christmas-seasonal-thread

Carol,

I hope you are resting and feeling better.

I love Raspberry Cucake rose! I gave never seen her before, but oh, My, I’d purchase her if she was availabe here. You seem to be doing so well writing on this thread & starting another new thread! I am resting up again today….. resting. Anastasia & kitty all cuddled up w/ me. I’m a little better. I’ll work tomorrow.

Jim, Beautiful Christmas tree! Your new home looks so cheery!

Diane, I hope your posting works better on Houzz. I miss your beautiful photos & witty loving posts!

Yes, Kitty, isn't Raspberry Cupcake lovely? And according to hmf it's supposed to do really well in hot climates.

You're not feeling well? A cold? I hope you feel better soon. Rest. and rest some more. :) :)

Carol, Thank you. Going to work today, almost better. Sprinkled a little snow again last night. It’s like living in an ice box. Oh Oh, Hawaii sounds soooooo nice this time of year! Lol! Let’s all go and not cone back until spring!

Thank You Sheila, Kitty, Carol, flowersaremusic,

I think I spotted a new seasonal thread... lol

Hi, Jim,

Wonderful you joined us!

@Diane Brakefield Sorry I missed your comments above. I’ve been a little tired & skim reading some posts. I love looking at everyones posts daily, but wiped out now.

However, I just caught your post about the Huntington Gardens. It’s been many years but I used to live in LA & visited them & the Japanese Gardens, often! I remember them well! They have the largest Kwanzan trees ever-that’s what inspired me to have a Kwanzan in my gardens. Interested who the curator of the garden’s is now!!! We just love his taste in roses!!!

Wishing everyone a more Healthy Holiday Season!

The curator of roses is Tom Carruth. I'm glad you got to visit the Japanese garden there. And I hope you're feeling lots better. Diane

Thank you, Diane! Tom Carruth, anazibg rose rose & Japanese Gardens!!

Kitty - I'm glad you're feeling better. :) Yes, a healthy holiday to all of us. :)