He has the kindest, softest eyes and ways about him, just super nice. I've noticed him for months. He's a customer at my second job. I wear a wedding band and gigantic hunk of glass, gigantic glass, to ward off all men at the second job. I cannot tell you the number of times I've had to think to myself "So glad I could decorate your scenery for you dude. I'm just here to do a job."

Well, apparently he noticed me too. He stopped by my lane a couple of weeks ago and said "I saw you cutting your grass in your front yard", and I said "Yes I was. Next time you drive by, if I'm there stop by and say hi!"

Last week I saw him again while I was supervising, and all heck was breaking loose. I had to fix something on the register where he was. He pointed at the ring and said "Is that real?" And I said "It is not, I just use it to get rid of men... but it's not for you" (I don't even know how it popped out of my mouth and it was very coy? I sure wasn't trying to), and ran off to do something else that needed to be supervised. As fate would have it, his register locked up again. This time he asked for my number.

Things are moving forward, and that's all I'll say. Because either of us could change our mind at any moment.

Signed, Smitten kitten

Aww… My heart is fluttering for you! He sounds like a nice guy and worth finding out more about. (Love your new user name. 😁)

rob -- This certainly qualifies as a super 'good' for the thread. Have fun with it!

That’s sweet news!

I am happy for you Rob!

That's wonderful, Rob. I hope things progress how you want them to.

Nicole, I love your garden! It has a lot of breadth of plant variety and so many discrete areas and features. Truly, a labor of love. ❤️

Lucille, nature always calms and centers me. I took these photos this evening when I went out to play the 10th hole that is actually our backyard.

and when dusk fell, thankful for the sunset.

I could sit and stare at grass and trees for hours…..I may have been a Druid in a previous life. The beauty of the natural world is restorative to both mind and body.

Wow Nicole! You're really good at that! Doesn't "look" FREE at all! LOL

Thank you for ALL the compliments on my NEW landscaping! Yesterday, I put in 160 mixed lily bulbs, in a 12" X 60" bed out front. I hope most will bloom in August. (Some things I have to buy)

@kswl......I LOVE your backyard! The view IS truly spectacular! WOWSER!

Thank you Nicole, this is the second time we’ve had a golf course as our backyard….the best part is that someone else takes care of it!

Marilyn C best of luck with your . Have you found a place yet or still looking?

Another who loves trees, plants and flowers. The picture below is from our sunroom looking out at our backyard. We love the privacy and the feeling of the trees enclosing our area.

Sadly, our beautiful magnolia is barely seen. It is blooming now. 😊

One of my favorite things about this neighborhood (and a deciding factor i us buying property and building here) is that the trees were not cut down.

We love our old, tall oaks and of course our mountain view! Must have lots and lots of trees!! (and yes, we are out in the county area so you will see power lines 😂). I could never make it in the city. (Tina Marie)

Those azaleas are fabulous, Tina! The shrub is so full of blooms and they are such a vivid color ❤️ The setting is just lovely, with great views both in distance and close up. As to the power lines, funny thing about that— I now love seeing wooden telephone poles with wires strung everywhere. It evokes a feeling of nostalgia that surprises me sometimes. That feel of countryside is precious to someone who grew up with it.

Aww thank you KSWL! Those azaleas need pruned badly but I wanted to wait till the blooms were gone and haven’t gotten around to it. Funny thing is we do not have good luck with them in the front yard. ?? I love tending my flowers 😊. The power lines dont bother us, but sometimes others are surprised to see them. I grew up in the country with family acreage all around and have only lived within the city limits for 3 years when first married. Could never do it long term! (Tina Marie)

Tina Marie -- we have the same problem with our azaleas, By the time they are finished blooming, we are rushing t get all the other things done before it gets too hot. Last year and this year, that has been like a switch flipping. They didn't all get trimmed last year because it just got too hot and stayed there. Your view is beautiful.

Tina Marie: Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!

I took a chance on a May watermelon, and it is fantastic. I have some May peaches ripening in a brown bag, I hope I’m as lucky with those. 🤞🏼🍑🍉

Where are you, and where did the watermelon come from?

Thank you Nicole! (TM)

Okay so I'll say something else.

He's a classical guitarist. He wants to hike the entire Appalachain Trail. And he likes me for me. The first two surprise me, and the last just makes me happy. Giggle even.

Rob, he sounds wonderful! Musical and sporty and cute— the trifecta! And I am sure he is counting his lucky starts for having met you too!

As of late I’d feel more able to commiserate than add something entertaining or uplifting, But I finally have something mildly amusing to contribute:

Nine days ago a new thread popped up, I read the subject line over and over again and could make no sense of it. I opened the thread, read the OP, started reading some responses but simply could not break focus from the subject line. I tried to pick up on a typo, tried reading it “out loud” in my head with different inflections, could neither figure it out nor move past it. Day after day I’d try to skip past the thread so I wouldn’t get sucked in.

This morning it finally ocurred to me to stick the subject line into a google search in the off chance something might pop up. Lo and behold!

A southern slang phrase, similar to "what's up?" or "what's new?". It's a casual way to greet someone and start a conversation, often used to ask how they are doing or what's been happening.

It still makes no sense to me, just sounds wrong, but at least hopefully I can move on! 😂

Same here, FOAS.

I don't worry, don't get in a hurry
Ain't no reason to fight if the fish don't bite
Don't bring me no bad news
The only thing that I ask of you
One time if you could
What you know good
What you know good

Great thread, lucille. Life is good for me, but no entertaining stories. I hope you are feeling much better.

Rob, thanks for sharing this. It made me smile😊

Foodonastump, I have lived in the deep South my entire life and no one I know has ever asked me in that way. I knew what it meant though. More likely to hear "whatcha been up to (or doing)" by my sister, who is the only one I know that says "whatcha."

Lucille, I hope you are feeling better now. I am in a bit of pain myself today. I had surgery Tuesday AM and (with Dr's approval) drove 4.5 hours back to FL this morning. It's good to be home to DH, my 16.5yo dog and three feral cats after nine nights.

Rob, he sounds like he is worth getting to know.

Joan, the pond lillies are so pretty. Tina, the azaleas - I miss seeing so many of those! Nicole, love all the daffodils.

Made perfect sense to me and I have not heard the phrase before and have not heard the song.

I HAVE been enjoying all the POSITIVE comments. This has been a very nice thread.

Katlan, I noticed a house that was nearby and had a lot of work done to it. I contacted the owner to see if he would consider selling it. Found out he remodeled it...new roof, septic, pipes, etc because they planned to move there. They were living about 100 miles away, but have a lot of family here and own quite a bit of land here.

Later they decided instead to build a new house on some of the land, and they were planning on renting it, but he is open to selling it. He is elderly and recently had cancer. So going from there. It is only about 4 miles away....sure beats the 175 miles we moved from to get here.

I didn’t know the song but the phrase made perfect sense to me! I love the flexible combination of the creativity of people and the evolution of language. In my family I hear phrases like ”Say hello home”, which means of course ”Extend my heartfelt greetings to your family when you arrive safely home”.

What a nice thread this is. I love spring, every week something new is emerging, or blooming, or blossoming, fading. Right now my irises are up, the ones on the south side of the house are blooming, the ones on the north side will bloom this weekend. I divided them about 20 years ago and gave the divisions to my friend. She plopped them in her back yard until she had time to place them properly, but she was so busy she didn’t get to it, but they were perfectly happy and have been ever since.

JoanM, I enjoyed seeing your water lilies. I immediately recognized the light blue with the purple stamens. It is Woods Blue Goddess. Those stamens always reminded me of eye lashes. Here is a picture of mine, when I had it. It got huge. In the picture, it had been flattened by a heavy rain storm.

Lucille, I hope that this upbeat thread has helped you feel better. Lots of good happening my way. Our garden projects, big ones, are coming along nicely. There are an enormous number of blue jays and cardinals at the garden. such a delight to watch a nd listen to. So far the deer have not discovered my garden. Fingers crossed I have not jinxed myself. I have a service that sprays deterrent every three weeks. So far it has been effective. Best of all, the grandkids are finishing the school year. Three have successfully completed their freshman year of college. . They have all called to say they want to visit. Imagine they want to see their grandparents? I know they are anxious to see their friends, so it is so sweet that I have a place in their lives. They are so precious but they grew up too fast. So happy so many of us watcha know good.

I recognized the saying for some reason. I get a kick out of slang and regional shorthand.

I saw a new color Peony at Trader Joes, new to me anyway. It is very different from the pink I usually buy.

I can’t decide which one I like better.

Have loads of fun with your new friend Rob 💕

JoanM, I want to see the new peonies at Trader Joe’s that change color as they mature! Or maybe it is Fresh Market.

Allison I hope the pain from your surgery is soon a thing from the past. I'm glad you are home now.

@lucillle, hope you continue to improve and feel better. Thanks for starting this thread. I’ve enjoyed the stories.

Anyone play the NYT mini crossword? Coincidentally, one of today’s clues was ”Flowers depicted in classical Chinese art”

Shall I direct the ants coming through my kitchen window to Trader Joe's? There are no tasty peonies in my cupboards.

DW's peonies were in full bloom this week but now they are saturated with rain and drooping to the ground.

We cancelled our plans to spend the weekend at the lake cabin because it was forecast to rain ALL WEEKEND which so far it pretty much has and will again overnight and tomorrow. I've knocked a few things off my to-do list so at least the W/E is productive. Hoping for a break in the rain this evening to grill some chicken breasts, broccolini, and purple asparagus from the garden.

At least the farmers are enjoying the weather since all the crops should have been planted by now (around here anyway).

LoneJack, we could use some of your rain. We’re supposed to be getting temperatures in the 25 to 30 C range (80 F.) and windy, all week. I‘ve just finished annihilating a few wasp nests. Right now I’m sitting under my back deck looking at my poor hops. It’s a beautiful day.

For a smile. Our Clutch has a new toy.

Rox - you are having warmer weather than we are down here in KC. We will have highs below 80 all this week before it gets back to normal highs in the low 80s for early June.

Your hops should like the warm weather, hope they get the needed rain too. I assume you brew your own beer?

LoneJack, I do not brew my own beer.

I only have hops at the back of my house to cover up the wooden posts. Plus, hops are the one thing my late MIL assured me that I could not kill. She’s been right so far. 🤞

I know they’ll like the hot weather. They’ll look like this by July.

I’ve covered the posts with different types of horseshoes. One post, I’ve started nailing railroad date nails from abandoned track that I like to go for walks on. I’ve found some from the 1920’s!

These are my peonies. They’re barely out of the ground. I hope they fare better than your DW’s did.

Wishing you good fishing weather.

Those spikes are cool, roxsol 😀

I didn't know they had dates - how did you learn that?

Carol, they are nails, not spikes. Spikes are much bigger and used to attach the ties to the rail.

Railroad date nails are nailed into the tie to tell you what year the tie was put down. It helps the RR’s keep track of (lol, good pun if I have to say so myself) how old the ties are for maintenance purposes.

eta According to my husband, the railroads don’t use them any longer.

Roxsol your yard is lovely. I didn't know that about RR nails. We lived for quite a few years where there were railroad tracks nearby and while we picked up used ties when they replaced them and left them beside the tracks (to use in our yard) I never knew to look for nails.

I also have hops, but they are Golden Hops. The color is exquisite, I love how they smell. Hard to kill but easy to control. I have the yard fenced against deer now, but when it wasn't I can't recall if the deer left them alone or not. Mine are not photo worthy yet, they are just filling out, but they look like this:

@roxsolid...I've never seen the dated nails. COOL!!!!! Your place is very pretty!

Rox - I've never seen the RR dated nails either and I worked for a RR for 27 years! Don't think they would work with the concrete ties they are using in some places now.

Yikes! Now i feel very old, or very nerdy for knowing about this.

From Wiki:

Date nails were tagging devices utilized by railroads and utility companies to visually identify the age of railroad ties or utility poles. Octave Chanute, railroad and aviation pioneer, is credited with the idea for using date nails as a way of tracking the life of railroad ties.[1] Different railroads used different sized nails with either alpha or numerical markings. An example would be a Southern Pacific Railroad nail with the marking "01" stamped on the head of the nail. The "01" would identify the nail as being hammered into a railroad tie in the year 1901.[2]

LoneJack, I’m sure they have a better system now for keeping track (lol, still makes me laugh) of rail ties.

I hope you’re enjoying your retirement.

Well, now I want to name my next child Octave Chanute! What a great name! (just kidding, that ship has sailed.)

Months ago I started the Basil Pesto Project, a large flower pot on my apartment

patio with dirt and some basil seeds. Here, a young basil, with a petunia for company.

Very pretty, Lucille!

”Here, a young basil, with a petunia for company.”

That sounds like a line out of a PG Wodehouse story. 🧐