Kitty - thanks about my Amaryllis. :) I'm still going for massages for my Achilles/shoulder, but he suggested I get a massage gun. So that's on the way, because he tried it on my Achilles, and my stride lengthened. It was amazing! Yes, we go for walks in the snow. I'm limited to 15 minutes for a while, though. lol Wow!! You got 5 inches of snow!!! That's fun for dogs!!! Well, except mine won't go in the backyard. Our snow is pristine. No dog prints, which is weird. Sugar is definitely the leader, and Teddy won't go outside without her. lol For sure! You are busy. And taking mental breaks is good for everyone now and then. :) Amaryllis blooms in January sounds great!! They're so beautiful!! Oh, that poor pitbull. :)

Carol,

How winderful to have massages! I think I’d love some massages, too!!! Very good legs & backs! Keeps you fit! Your dogs must live your walks. It’s now so dark early….. we are traci g around outside maybe 15 minutes, too, some in backyard. Funny Teddy needs Sugar to go outside! Guess they are friendly family now!

Ideas on Christmas bouquets?

Love roses for Christmas! My choices below….. maybe my daughters ir son will send me one?

Wouid you like rosrs for Christmas?

Carol -- That dog park looks amazing. I've never seen anything like it. I wish I could take Penny somewhere like that, as she'd love being off-leash in a natural area like that. She has poor recall (same was true for Maisie), so I can't let her off-leash when we hike, etc. I'm glad you're hooked on amaryllis! I do find they really help with the gloomy winter days. I'm really not much of a baker anymore, but these spice cookies were always one of my favorites to make: [link] Molasses Spice Cookes with Orange Essence. One Thanksgiving, I used them to make ice cream sandwiches with pumpkin ice cream in the center. I guess it was an odd dessert for Thanksgiving, but really yummy! That's great you're feeling some relief from the massage gun. I hope you continue to improve. Yeah, I have the putz houses and little figurines my mom used to put up for Christmas when she was a child; I just haven't put them up since we downsized apartments over a decade ago, but I think it's about time for them to come out again.

Ben/Trish -- Yes, I agree with Trish that Erlicheer does have a nice scent. I kept getting whiffs of them across the living room as I was working from home. They aren't musky like some varieties. I never had much luck forcing Erlicheer myself, though. My go-to paperwhite varieties for forcing became Wintersun and Inbal, as they aren't so musky either. But this year, I think I'll just see what arrives already potted at the grocery store. I suppose you both could grow these varieties in the ground, though! Ben, yes, I always love seeing what unique things TJ's might get in; one winter, they had these wonderful little pots of lily of the valley, but I never saw them there again. I'm glad to hear from you that Kristine is doing well.

Trish -- I don't think anything can beat the crispy-skinned duck from Asian restaurants, but here's the recipe I used in case you're curious: [link] Easy Roast Duck. I like it because it's very low-effort. I do as people suggest in the comments and put big pieces of potato and onion under the duck rather than water. And I just use salt rather than soy sauce, as I found the latter made the skin soggy.

Kitty -- Maybe you'll find a local gardener who will be happy to get that calamondin. I'm sure it's hard to pick and choose what you'll take with you. I know you must be so busy, but I'm glad you still find time to check in :)

Carol, that dog park looks great. Hopefully Sespe Sunrise is in your future - if you still want it. I've read it's good for cutting. I must get out early tomorrow and cut a couple that should be ready. That's good about the massage gun.

windowsill, those cookies sound so good. Pumpkin ice-cream! Reminds me of weekend lunches when I was a child. We'd have ice-cream between wafers as dessert. Huge treat. Yes, my Erlicheer are in the ground. Some in very odd places - like poking up through a grevillea. I must lift them and make a good clump somewhere suitable. I was discussing Christmas lunch with my son today. His girlfriend will be at her Mum's so it doesn't have to be vegan. He said just do chicken (rather than turkey), but now I'm hoping he'll agree to duck. We're having cocktails (Harvey Wallbangers!) and snacks on the 23rd. I'm hoping to find some tasty vegan ones.

Kitty - I'm so far away from fit that I can't even read the word. lol Oh well. I need to swim more, but Don's so busy. Anyway. :) These massages hurt too much to be enjoyable. :) Yes, it's strange that he hated her so much and now she's everything to him. He doesn't even get riled up when he sees other dogs. He trusts her to take care of him. Anastasia will love her new place. I wonder how she'll do with the chickens. Maybe you can train her to like them. Borrow a chicken one at a time. :) I love Hearts!! The inner petals look like a heart, so well named. Both bouquets are beautiful. Maybe they can send you a mixed bouquet of the two varieties. No, I'm not that fond of roses in the house. I don't like how they die so quickly and how much pesticide has been used on them. Maybe A & A won't do that. :)

Windowsill - I didn't know that they have enclosed off-leash parks for pay. My daughter told me. Maybe you have some around your city. My place is called Play Unleashed. There are about 7 or 8 different themed areas. So much fun!! Have you tried googling? It eases my mind so much having them there, and it really rockets my mood up. Love being there. We're going on Thursday. :) That's too bad about the bad recall, but it's hard with the hunting breeds. I have my Amaryllis right next to the door of my computer room. Every time I come in, I admire the blooms. Gorgeous!! I'd love to see pics of any Amaryllis you've grown. :) Mmmm...Molasses Spice cookies with Orange Essence. That sounds delicious!! I made blueberry pies today with lots of lemon. YUM Citrus makes everything taste better. Wow, you made an ice cream sandwich out of the molasses cookies! That's clever!! It sounds perfect for Thanksgiving with all of the aromatic spices. :) Thanks about my getting better. :) Yes, bring out the putz houses!! :) Are they the same size as Diane's?

Trish - thanks about the dog park. It's like being in the mountains for the physically challenged. :) Sespe Sunrise, please post pics of your cuttings. Oh, I'd hate to cook vegan. Thankfully you're spared that this Christmas. Stuffed mushrooms would make a tasty vegan snack. Let us know what types you're thinking of making.

Carol,

We all need better fitness. Youvareca freat swimmer! I hope you can start when it works best fir you. Teddy is more gentle now and doesnt bother other dogs because of Sugar-Wonderful! Amazing! Anastasia chases everything! She’s a hunter! She even tries to chase our kitty, Jewels, which now ignores Anastasia when she runs up to kitty. LOL! Anything moving is fair game to Anastasia! Those chickens are going to get a fright if they enter my yard! Oops! Good exercize for Ana, though. LOL!

Holiday decorating anyone? Hoping to stay entertained as I wait through the winter with all your gorgeous roses, house olants and decore. . I will only decorate the tree & outside a little because I am packing up.

Enchantment is a lovely bouquet from A&A

Kitty, I like White O'Hara, though I'm like Carol - I prefer my roses in the garden. I did cut a few this morning though, as it's going to be hot. I'll be staying home today so that I can apply wet towels to Rosie. Aircon units haven't arrived yet, though I have had a notice about their shipping, so I'm hopeful that they'll at least turn up.

Carol, I'm hoping to buy!, not cook, those vegan snacks, though I'll make guacamole.

Today's plonk, Sespe at the front

Trish,

Lovely Sespe! I enjoy my roses in the garden best, too. But…… nothing but snow outside right now. And snowing…..

Front yard

Anyone for a little cup of snow at ny Bistro table set on my porch?

Lol, Kitty. What's the weather like where you're planning to move to?

Hola! How is it going?

Ben those mums are amazing. I saw this one on Reddit and now I

want to collect some. Wow what an amazing find you scored.

Diane, I would like to send some Christmas cards to you all. I have dyslexia and bad handwriting but I love stationary and stickers.

Kitty, did you decide to move to Vancouver or Portland?

Carol, I'm just entranced by the story of how Teddy went from hating Sugar to now loving and depending on her... it's so remarkable and heartwarming. I love hearing your updates on them.

Here's a random picture from two days ago of my Christmas cactuses now blooming. (Most of them are technically Thanksgiving cactuses, as are most that are sold in stores and nurseries). I grow them in terra cotta pots on the north side of my house near the front porch year-round. For some reason, I have been in love with these plants for a long time. They are in bloom for about two months.

Amazing Susan!

I put my one year old plants in the closet and now they have buds. So excited for indoor blooms. I heard they were hard to get to bloom again. Do you fertilize them a lot before blooming?

Kitty - We're going to go swimming on Friday after my massage. I'm tired of going there. My body needs to get with the program. lol We haven't gone swimming for a long time. I'm glad that Jewels has gained her bravery medal and can ignore Anastasia. I'm really curious as to how it will go with Anastasia and the chickens. Yes, it's better that you don't decorate for Xmas. Big move is coming closer!! Ooooh, my!! What a gorgeous bouquet of Enchantment blooms!!!

Trish - You're taking good care of Rosie. :) :) Hopefully the air conditioning unit will arrive before the winter season for you. It's taking it's sweet time. Lovely Sespe!! Are those butterfly bush flowers at the back?

Kitty - you know I don't mind cold or snow. I'll come and sit a spell with you. lol

SoCal - wow! That's a crazy and beautiful mum!! I've never seen anything like it.

Susan - awwww, thanks!! :) :) He just needed a dog that could stand up to him (with our support), and she was that dog! We really lucked out with her. She was in a Special Needs category at the adoption site. There are no special needs now at all. Well, except she likes to counter surf. lol But that's not special needs. We went to the off-leash forested area again today, and since I can barely walk, I spent most of my time hiding from the dogs in different places. It's so fun to be hidden in the trees and see them run past at full speed, then stop, turn around, and smell their way to me. I looooove those Christmas cacti!!! So pretty!!! It loves your weather/care. And that's a long bloom time.

@Z10Socal

Lovely! Wow! That mum looks like an under water sea anemone!

I will be moving in spring when home is sold to the Seattle area. I chose some land to purchase. For now in NY it’s snow, snow, snow for the winter…..buried in snow waiting to move & packing. LOL! I’m doing construction on my NY home too…. may be finished around January.

Trish,

Thank you! Ha, ha! What can you do but laugh when you are snowed in! I will be moving near the Pacific Ocean and can see ithe Puget Sound from the new PNW property. It will rain all winter there and has had snow for a few days occassionally in the winter. Temps in winter are 40-50s days in winter. Rarely freezes. It is Seattle weather. It has really beautiful clear-non-humid summers for a couple months. Rain can be drizzle, not down pours usually. . It’s not sunny CA, but PNW has beautiful evergreen forests, camelias, Azaleas, rhodes, and roses-it is beautiful.

The 3 sides of the property will be clear of shaded trees and I have neighbors with cleared properties, so enough sun for roses. One side boundary line of property is forest, but property is 77 feet wide so I think I will have plenty of sun on the other sides of property. I have to clear out 2 trees on right side of property only & blackberries and then it will be lovely to landscape.

Susan,

That’s a gorgeous cactus! Wow! I wondered ….it has blooms like a fuschia. Lovely!

Carol,

Swimming sounds refreshing and great for you-best therapy! Oh, My My, you went to a dog park in the snow. Did you stay for long?

Must be fun watching the dogs run! What does Sugar do in counter surfing? She sounds such a happy dog! She must love being around Teddy and her new family!

I am curious about the chickens, too. I know Anastasia would instantly chase them-that is what she does. However, if I say no, and she is on leash, she will calm and leave them alone. It’s all fun play, she thinks. I think when my excavation tears out the 2 trees next to the property line-next to their fenced chicken coop, and digs- up blackberries on spots of the property, the chickens will be scared to enter my prooerty during my excavations , I hope Then I will spray and put hay down on all places where there were blackberries. The chickens liked my ”natural prooerty with blackberries & unkept nature.” They may not like my new lanscaping as much, I hope.

A Little Landscaping needed……

I decided to put hay down in spots where blackberries were removed, because it holds hill soil in place and I can’t garden in those spots for a season or so almost and will need to spray a few times to ever remove blackberries. The property has blackberries at bottom of a 216 feet hill & a couple other spots. I don’t need to have fancy landscaping at the bottom really for awhile, anyway-just hay. However, I am going to plant some fur trees at bottom of hill to line street for privacy and a few azaleas, camelias, and rhodes, too.

At top of hill, it is level and cleared already. I have planned to put 13 rectangular 8’ by 8’ raised rose beds in a 40’ by 40’ area, approximately. So far planning to hold about 78 roses. I have a few more beds to add around house to be built in hill with about 25 more roses. I can add roses anywhere later, too. I plan to garden mainly in middle and level top of hill property.

.

I will reseed some areas of lawn, too, in first season. Hope chickens don't like to eat ”blue grass seed.”

Have a rosie day!

Pink O’Hara

Planning Christmas gifts! I am putting in a Mary Kay Cosmetic order today or Monday. I have Berry Vanilla & Apple Berry body creams, lavendar hand lotions, and fun stocking stuffers if anyone needs to order a present for themselves or a friend or relative? Message me. Thank you,

Diane,

Missing You! Happy Holidays!

Kitty

Good morning friends, sorry that it has been so long. . Thank you Ben for reaching out, no invasion at all. Who doesnt love to hear from friends ? guess that I didnt realize how long it has been. I guess between Azaleas school and Dr app plus yard work that time has gone flying by. Honestly, was yesterday thst we were planning her 6th birthday and now her 7th is in 2 weeks. But thank you all so much for being comcerned about us. This has been the craziest fall ever. Warm nights and roses still blooming,

Kristine I love looking at all your beautiful peach rose pictures. Glad you are well. I'm not on here often,so I did not know you weren't on here as often as well.

Kitty, I'm so excited for you. I'm hoping to finally move next year in my forever home. So ready!

Carol, it's always great to hear from you 🤗

Carol, I am so sorry about your dreaded vertigo. It it me hard a month ago and I was bounching off of the walls for a week and like you said, one morning it was over, just like that. Kitty, Washington State is so beautiful! I lived north of Seattle for 5 years. The years thst I was there we were in a drought so mot much tsin but oddly, we had a major, everything shut down, snow storm. Your mew place sounds really lovely. Ben mention the garden fatigue and im with you. I was going to remove a bunch of roses to cut back on the work but digging them up is actually more work lol so we will see how thst works out. I have missed so much so I cant comment on much but know how special you all are to me

Its 40 degrees out lol

Bolero

Gypsy soul

Julia Child yesterday what is going on ?

Soul Sister

Even Olivia is in bloom

Ladies, Carol, Kitty, Elestrial ,Trish, Diane , Judi and Susan, and anyone else I miss?I make friendship gem bracelets..I would love to send you all some if you would like one. I have so many beads right now so really want to give some away.

Windowsill and Ben I can make you one too.

Kristine, so good to hear from you. Azalea's 7th birthday coming up! It seems no time since you were waiting to adopt her. She looks to be thriving. Amazing that your roses are still flowering so well. Olivia looks particularly lovely. How's her health and bush shape? I'm thinking about getting another pink rose, so would love to know.

Carol, Rosie and I spent yesterday and overnight in my daughter's flat, which is amazingly much cooler than my place. Unfortunately, she won't spend time down here if she's on her own. And if I were to shut her in, she'd get very distressed. Wet towels in the worst of the heat did the trick. Today is going to be even hotter. I must get up in a minute (5.45am) and take her for a walk as it's forecast to heat up by 8am. Then tomorrow it cools down, thank goodness.

Socal, that's a lovely gesture. But I don't wear any jewelry at all these days, or any makeup either!

Kitty, good to know you won't get much in the way of snow where you're going - and have plenty of room and sunshine for roses.

@Z10Socal

That’s wonderful that you are considering yout forever home-moving next year! Very Exciting! !

I’d love to order a bracelet! A pearly one wouid be nice. I’ll try messaging you. Lovely! Thank you! Kitty

Kristine,

Lovely! You’re back! Sooooo happy to hear from you! Azalea looks adorable! I missed seeing her photis! Very happy to see her almost now 7 years okd! Wow! You have blooms! Beautiful! I had 9F last night-the coldest in Dec. since I moved here 9 years ago. Praying it warms up! My roses are buried sleeping under 5 inches snow. I just got the heat fixed & turned it way up!!! LOL! A whole house full of warmth!!!!!! YAY!

Trish,

Thank you! Yes! Moving away from Y’s Dec, Jan, Feb snow snow snow!!! LOL! Now my house heat is fixed so the snow looks pretty outside! It’s very warm inside! YAY! Any AC yet? You will love it!

Kristine, it’s good to hear from you again! And nice to see photos of Azalea and your roses. Both are lovely.

Aww, SoCal, how sweet of you! I don’t wear jewelry either, but I’d still be tickled to have one from you. I like the warm peachy and fall colors best.

You are very welcome Trish. I don't wear makeup often but I always have on some bracelets.

Judi I think you weren't able to message me here last. If so can you message me at @loverofgems on insta? Kitty I will direct message you right now.

Thanks for all of your kind words on my zygocacti. That pic is actually 6 separate plants on the garden table, and there are several others on the pavement around them not in the pic. We went to Costco today for a quick grab of a Christmas wreath, but I fell for a ~10" pot of white zygocactus. (I had resisted the same thing there last year). I only have one white and one light pink at the moment, and was gonna get one of each at my local nursery. But a 2" pot is $10 each, so I bit on the $23 pot of white ones which has at least 6 plants in it. It's in full bud, and once it finishes blooming, I'll bust them up into separate pots. Don't need that many whites, so I'll give some away.

Z10, I grow them outside on the north side of my house right next to the front porch year-round. Our porch light is on from dusk to dawn right above them, and it has never affected their blooming schedule. They just start blooming on their own starting in late October-early November. They get fertilized like all of my other non-corral pots all year... every two weeks if I'm on top of it, and once a month if I get too busy, which is (sadly) often the case. Thanks so much for the kind offer of the bracelet, but it's not my thing.

Carol, so interesting on Sugar's back story. It sounds like she found her perfect home, and that having Teddy there was great for both of them.

Kristine, so good to see you back. I must admit that your Soul Sister is the one that really rang my chimes :-D

Kitty - yes, you have great times ahead of you!! So exciting!! :) Wow, I googled and the PNW is zones 7-9!! Incredible!!! I'm so jealous. :) We stay for an hour at the off-leash area. The dogs run the entire time between Don and me, trying to find us. Sugar will put her paws on the island/counter and try to drag things to the sides so she can eat them. We know better now and push everything back. Instead, I should clean up more. lol But... And, yes, she's a happy dog. I love her!! You may be right. They may stay away from the noise and upheaval of your yardscaping. Wow, you're going to be able to grow azaleas, rhodos, and camellias!! Wonderful that you're going to have around 100 roses or more!! What fun!! SWOOOOON over those Pink O'haras!! Oh my!!

SoCal - it's always great to hear from you, too. {{{{{hugs}}}}} Your bracelets are beautiful!! I know my sister would love the ones on your arm. I don't wear bracelets; they bug me. It's so nice of you to reach out to us and offer. You are a dear. :) :) Am I remembering right that you're going to move to a farm/acreage? Can you remind me, please? I'm so excited for you!! :) :)

Kristine - oh, I'm so sorry that you were cursed with vertigo for a month. What a waste of part of your life. My medication kept the worst of it at bay. Just felt miserable, not like I wanted to die. I hope yours wasn't too horrible. I'm SO glad you reached out. :) :) I love hearing from you!! Oh, Azalea still has her spunk and style. :) :) I love that hat. :) Gypsy Soul is my fave of the roses!! Soul Sisters has such a great color!! Thanks for showing us your roses; they're always so beautiful!!

Trish - Wet towels sound like just the thing to do. Ugh, even hotter tomorrow. Oh, no....lol...I would never want to wake up at 5:45 a.m. You are a great dog mom!!

Susan - :) :) You got another zygocactus! Can you share photos? So the new ones have white blooms? Thanks about Sugar. :)

We miss you, Diane. {{{{{hugs}}}}}

Jemma,

Welcome back! What a thoughtful gesture, I don’t wear jewelry, but thanks for including Windowsill and me!

This is the place my local mum seller gets all his plants from:

Kings Mums (link)

The photos are drool worthy, but he said the plants are small , not always in good shape and mislabels happen….but selection in unmatched.

Windowsill,

Duck in any form is decadent, but I especially love Peking Duck too, with crackly skin, steamed buns, hoisin sauce and scallion brushes. The steam buns must be handmade to be top tier! I had grown Lily of the Valley as a child in the D.C. area, I tried for many years to grow it in Texas, but it always succumbed to heat and humidity. I planted it again last year in California, will wait and see if it comes up next year. Like your mom, I cut lots of Double Delight, I think DD and Neil Diamond are the most popular two varieties in bouquets I gift. Their coloring is so striking and the fragrance so strong, they get much more attention from friends than Evelyn or Juliet or other varieties rose fanciers covet.

Kitty,

Seattle has the most beautiful summer. I worked on a project for Kings County one summer, their office was right between the fish market and the international foods area. One of my best assignments.

Trish,

Don’t you love the scent of Sespe Sunrise? I’d describe it as perfume and fruit, very forward and strong.

Susan

Beautiful collection of holiday cactus. I always oversize my pots for fear of drying out, perhaps in your milder climate you don’t need to. I saw those same blush zygocactus at my local Costco, so huge and healthy. Now that you picked one up , I must go back and get one too, lol!

Carol

You’re lucky to have access to a beautiful dog park, they are a great social outlet for both 4 legged and 2 legged creatures. There’s one in easy walking distance of my house, I walk Elon there almost every day. He knows most of the people and dogs, and will jump right into a friendly lap.

Kristine,

What a beautiful late season display, my Julia turns amber orange in fall too. Azalea look so warm and cute Welcome back!

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

Beautiful Double Delight & Neil! I used to have DD in every garden I had in CA and OR. I ordered her from a vendor for my NY garden, but they sent a wrong rose. I never reordered her. I may need to add her in Seattle, after all these years of missing her. I’d like to know more about Neil Diamond’s gowth habit? Wonderful you worked near or at Pikes Market! I grew up in WA & visiting Pikes Market. I brought my daughter to a ballet intensive audition at PNW Ballet in Seattle once and the kids and I stopped at Pikes Market for sausage for my son and home made Greek Yogurts for the girls! Yum! Then we bought a large bag of fresh oranges for treats. Just fun looking at all the goidies at the pier. Wonderful memories!

Carol,

Thank you, regarding Pink O’Hara, she may be my Christmas bouquet present. Will you be ordering roses or flowers for Christmas? I may order Living Coral rose bush from A&A, too, -a potted bush, delivery spring, for a xmas present, too.

Carol,

Which do you like better? Parade Day or Neil Diamond? Bremerton/Seattle are zone 8, Woohoo! Wow! An hour at the dog park in the snow? Brrrrrrrrrrr! I am so glad Teddy & Sugar love it! It sounds so mych fun! Oh, I can take Anastasia to dog oarks in Seattle! Yay! Oh, I groomed Anastasia yesterday! It’s quite short. She needs a jacket now to go outside. It was 9F at night 2 nights ago. Now warming to 37Fday/26F night. Too cold for me. The coldest in Dec. in years!!! Sugar & Anastasia both ”Counter Surf!” LOL! I see Sugar is very devious moving the food where she can reach it! HA! Creative Sugar! Hee, Hee! Anastasia, as you know, waits for me to turn my back before she sneaks to grab a bite as she checks out the counters. . All I have to say is ”Uh, A,” grunting, and she stops & walks away or “I see you!” She immediately about faces.…. LOL! Our sneaky poodles! And those little chickens do not have a chance!

I hope the neighbor may do something with her chickens when they see they are too close to my dog, on my property, and possibly near where I will build my home. The chickens look cute, but not fond of the rooster, Yikes! Whay do tou do to get a rooster to be quiet? Bang pots & pans at him? Maybe Anastasia will bark at him?

Wondering how to dress for the holidays?

Independently designed with real roses.

from Thursd.com Holiday colors: red, green, gold, purple, pink.

Ben - Oooooh... those are crazy beautiful mums!! Holy cr*p, your Neil Diamond is sensational!!! Mine is nowhere near as impressive. Yes, we're lucky. We do have to pay for each dog park we choose because they're a private business, and we get an area that is only for our dogs. Teddy can't handle any other kind. Elon is such a social butterfly that he does well at the off-leash areas.

Kitty - my Double Delight (when I grew it) was white for the majority of the time because of our cool weather. Do you mean will I be ordering roses/flowers for the home for Christmas or for outside? :) I have my Amaryllis. That's good enough for inside. :) I've ordered lots of roses for spring. :) I think Pink O'Hara is a great choice! Living Coral looks great! My Neil Diamond, so far, doesn't hold a candle to Parade Day. But Neil Diamond is still fairly new. Yes, you'll be in zone 8!!!! Holy moley!!! What a great zone to live in. :) :) Yes, Anastasia should love the dog parks there. :) Yes, you were made for zone 8 if you find 37F cold. I think that's fabulous weather to walk in. lol Gosh, my Achilles is killing me. I overdid it with the massage gun after I went to massage. It feels like I'll never be able to go for a walk again. Whine, Whine. lol Oh well, this too shall pass. Anastasia countersurfs, too? This is the first dog I've ever had that has done this. She got a small package of walnuts last night. Yes, she's very sneaky!! Just like yours. Maybe it's the white poodles that do it. lol She's our first white dog. I googled, and roosters crow more if there are predators around, so Anastasia may make it worse. Yikes! Hey, that's a perfect dress for us all (well, Jim, Windowsill and Ben may feel differently) to wear for Christmas. :) :) Cool picture.

Kitty -- I've always thought I'd be so happy to live somewhere where the winters are like the ones you describe. The plans for your garden sound wonderful. I can't wait to see everything you do with that yard. Glad you're treating yourself to some cut roses or a rose bush after all the work you've been doing to prep for your move! And yes, get yourself a skirt of roses ;)

Kristine -- Your roses look incredible. That Bolero is luscious! Looks like you get the same sort of apricot-tinged JC blooms in fall like Diane gets. The color of Soul Sister is just gorgeous.

Trish -- That plonk with Sespe Sunrise and the butterfly bush blooms is so pretty. I hope you and Rosie get some relief from the heat soon. I had to look up that cocktail you mentioned; sounds yummy and festive!

Susan -- Those zygocactuses are incredible! Oh, and I can imagine giving into the temptation of a big pot of white ones. I've always wondered if I should try one as a houseplant. I'd like some blooms right now! The roses get kind of scraggly and unattractive right now (well, more scraggly than they usually). I think it's the combo of the short days and the heat being on in the apartment.

Socal -- Those beads are lovely, but I also don't wear anything on my wrists. The jewelry on your insta is beautiful! (I was curious when you mentioned your handle.)

Carol -- Oh, those park visits sound like so much fun. I did a bit of googling, and I didn't find anything like that near me. I know there's a water park somewhere in NJ that opens up to dogs on the last day of the season, which must be a lot of fun. You'd asked about amaryllis pics, and I dug up these ones from a couple years ago. I guess I was very liberal with ordering bulbs that year! I don't think roses were cutting into my budget so much back then...

You'd also asked about the putz houses. I can't remember exactly what Diane's looked like, but mine are pretty small -- maybe 3-5 inches or so wide? I got them set up today under a little potted blue spruce I got from Home Depot. I regret now that I haven't set them up since I think 2012. I put little LED lights inside the houses, which I've never done before, so I'm excited to see them glow for the first time. The ice skaters on the little mirror were my favorite as a kid, and they still are.

Ben -- Those chrysanthemums are so gorgeous! I would have been on cloud nine carrying home that box of the ones you got from your neighbors. I kept seeing Martha Stewart posting some beautiful varieties that Baker Creek Seeds sells, and it made me think, "Someday..." I guess in our climate, a greenhouse is required for those fancy varieties. I hope your lily of the valley come back for you. Funny story -- my mom gave me a clump of her lily of the valley to put on my balcony (back when I had a balcony), and that clump introduced slugs to my balcony, which became a menace! I'd be out there at night with a flashlight, beer traps, etc.... I finally got rid of them somehow.

Diane -- Missing you and thinking of you!

Socal, I'd love to know about your move too. What happened about the cafe? Did you ever start it?

susan, that white zygocactus was a find. My mother used to grow them on her balcony. I had one once but it didn't survive.

Carol, I don't remember reading that about Sugar's effect on Teddy before. That's terrific. Rosie counter surfed when I got her. I'd left 4 sheets of pastry to defrost on the kitchen bench. Came back and they were gone. She must have had such an upset tum! I used to hide from Honey, a boxer we had decades ago. She thought it was great fun. I tried it with Rosie. If other people were around, she didn't give a hoot - she'd try to beg treats off them, but if there was no-one, she became really anxious.

Ben, I can detect a scent from Sespe Sunrise, but my sense of smell is so poor these days it just smells a little sweet and spicy to me. I'm very jealous!!

Kitty, I fear for those hens and the rooster!

windowsill, that's surprising about lily of the valley bringing slugs. I remember them from the garden we had in England when I was a child. I have a lily of the valley toilet water I spritz over me occasionally. My favourite perfume. No-one seems to wear perfume anymore - unless I just can't smell it! Thanks about the plonk. It's still surviving after a fashion. My first Violina (Hans Evers,Tantau) bloom is in it. It smells sweet., but no complexity. It's cooler today, thank goodness. Rosie and I are exhausted after a pretty sleep-deprived night. I love the photos of your Amaryllis and putz houses. So cute. Fun to see them lit up. I think Diane has a skating one as well. I hope she comes back soon.

OK, Trish, I'm back and totally cranky, complete with the seasonal blues. You'll wish I'd stayed away. But seeing you mention the Putz Houses and Lily of the Valley cologne, I had to comment. I, too, loved that old L of V scent, and wore it at times. It was made by Yardley of London and called Muguet de Bois. I tried to get it a while back, and I think they don't make it anymore. I'll hunt again. I just got some Clinique Happy again, which I love. I also love Shalimar, a heady, deeper scent. My bottle fell behind my dresser ages ago, and is lodged there until I get some sucker to pull the dresser out for me after I've removed a ton of bric a brac from the dresser top. Too much work. So you have an Evers rose called Violina? I've got to check that out. It sounds gorgeous......We are having mildish weather and a few things are still blooming, though the deer keep eating at everything. The last rose standing is still standing. You guess. It's Julia Child, the two biggies, plus Munstead still has a beautiful black gloom and bloom. The deer ate the lovely Bernstein-Rose blooms yesterday. The greedy rodents. So it would have been a tie. I still have alyssum, some penstemon, snaps, and one calendula bloom that survived the latest deer attack. It's been raining on and off with more to come. This is our rainy season (or snowy season if it's colder, but our highs are in the 50sF. I've blabbed enough, and will come back and blab more later as I work my way up the thread. Take care, and I hope you are having a lovely Southern Hemisphere holiday season, and everyone else, too!

Windowsill, love your Putz house display. Diane

Le Houses de Putz. This is but a tiny bit of our collection. I began acquiring the houses and pine cone and other elves in the early 1990s when they were dirt cheap and available in local antique and junque shops, even yard sales. I gave everything to my daughter because she wanted to add to her expanding Christmas collections. It's like a museum around here. Martha Stewart featured her houses on the cover of her magazine, plus she showed her elves, too. And so the prices skyrocketed and new imitations began being made.

The elves and little snowmen are all antique. Newer houses mixed with old. The most old houses are in back on the hearth.

You thought I was through?

There will be more until morale improves.

Diane, so good to see you back here. I've got an ear-to-ear grin. Where's your skating rink? Or did I imagine that? My Lily of the Valley is Yardley. I can't remember if I got in a shop or online. I think online, but that would be 5+ years ago, I think. I don't know Clinique Happy or Shalimar. I don't think you'd like Violina - it's not petal packed. I've planted it infront of and below a sitootery. (Actually came across that word in a book I was reading written in the 1930s.) The idea being that the scent is at nose height. B^%$#y deer. I believe venison is quite tasty. I think I may have had it once long ago in the UK. It's changed from baking here to quite cool. But a very dry Spring. Huge water bill, but what the heck. It's hard to feel Christmassy downunder.

Windowsill - That's too bad that there isn't a contained dog park near where you are. Thanks for posting pics of your Amaryllis plants. It's nice that you don't have to use grow lights. What I'm doing for that is no lights in the daytime, and then I put the lights in the pot on a timer during the nighttime. That way, I don't have ugly lights in the way of the blooms. I think I have the pink striped variety that you have. Or maybe similar. It's pretty! But, having seen those pictures, it really made me love the dark red ones you and I have. LED lights are a great idea for your Putz houses. I'm glad that you have them up again. :)

You'd also asked about the putz houses. I can't remember exactly what Diane's looked like, but mine are pretty small -- maybe 3-5 inches or so wide? I got them set up today under a little potted blue spruce I got from Home Depot. I regret now that I haven't set them up since I think 2012. I put little LED lights inside the houses, which I've never done before, so I'm excited to see them glow for the first time. The ice skaters on the little mirror were my favorite as a kid, and they still are. You have a lot of figures to go with the houses. My fave is the dog on the bench. :) Slugs...the gift that keeps giving. lol I'm glad you got rid of them.

Trish - Yes, Sugar has been wonderful for Teddy. :) Oh, no!! Pastry is such a pain to make, and Rosie got them all. These dogs of ours. :) (And cats, right, Diane?) :) They all gift us with stories to tell. Was your Honey a slobbery dog? I've heard that about boxers. I'm glad that your weather is moderating.

Diane is back!!! :) :) I'm glad. :) :) Have you tried getting barbeque tongs and using them to reach the perfume? Might work. Well done, Julia Child and MW!! Greedy rodents is right. We're having snow, and you're having rain. We're finally getting some cold weather. Middle of the week it should be -16C/3F. No more snow for the next 2 weeks. Lol, yes, more Putz houses, bring them!! :) lol My faves are Frosty's ice cream shop and the church with the spire on top. It must be fun to arrange them all.

Trish - perfect way to describe it...ear to ear grin...me too!! It would be weird not to have cold and snow for Christmas. But Christmas it up...bedazzle with candy canes. lol

Hi, Carol. I hope your Achilles is better and you're getting in a holiday mood. I celebrated Krampus Night last night, which is for grumpy, naughty people. I don't have a dog, but I'm always reading about Boise's dog park, which is free, and after a certain date in October, all the Boise parks are open to owners and dogs. I don't know about leashes though in those parks. As far as Putz house sizes, the old ones are small and less elaborate than the newer ones, so you can tell which ones are newer in our collection. And, of course, the white fancy houses were new about 20 years ago.

I hate to keep dumping photos, but things aren't too exciting in gardening right now. We go for months without rain, and now it's rain all the time. Better than snow, I guess, but clean up ground to a halt. I made cheese biscuits tonight for my dinner. I could OD on those things. I add a bit a cayenne for zip and extra cheese cause I like it. I have to gain weight to play Santa in a few weeks. But my hair still brown, folks, except for some gray in front. Family trait.

I used to collect some special porcelain birds, which have ended up in the music room because of my excess junque in my living quarters. Below are Italian Tay Birds. Tay was the name the artist used on his bird sculptures. These birds are about 50 or more years old. Diane

The little gold bird is antique and has a pincushion on its back and a thimble up its bum. It's Italian, I believe. Lots of blue and white pottery and china in back.

Italian birds, but a different artist, Armani. Yes, that's his name. Do you see the ladybug?

Oh !@#$ Some old woman got in this pic. There is a mirror in the back of the cabinet that holds the birds. The birds below are European but not Tay.

I love the Putz houses. I had never heard of such a thing as a Putz house before this forum. They are so darn cute. Anything with miniatures and lights is cool. SoCal, your braclets are beautiful. I admit that my eyesight is worse so seeing what you have done with tiny beads is impressive. Carol, how did the wedding go? The big excitment here is the addition if s 40 gallon fish tank. I wanted a cat, we got fish lol We lost Auggie this summer and I really wanted a kitten. Dan said that he is allergic , I think someones pants are on fire. But the tank will be fun and looks pretty. Kitty, how fun to plan a whole new garden, especially know which varieties make you happy. Are you taking any with you? Well time to get ready for church. Isnt it hard to believe that 2025 is almost behind us .

Vulcano

Diane - Achilles is still bothering me a lot. I bought a massage gun which really hurts when I use it...BUT...it may be helping. We'll see. How did you, lol, celebrate Krampus Night? I've heard of Krampus from an episode of Murdoch Mysteries TV. show (Canadian). There are tons of fantastic free dog parks here, but Teddy would be dangerous in them. I used to walk for 2 hours/day (no matter the weather...-30C/-22F didn't faze me) with my 3 dogs before we got Teddy. That park was the best park (had to be careful about coyotes, though). From AI: Nose Hill Park in Calgary is a large urban natural area, covering approximately 11 square kilometers (about 2,700 acres or 1,129 hectares), making it one of the biggest municipal parks in Canada, known for its vast grasslands, trails, and panoramic city views. Me again: I adored walking there.

I think you told us a few years ago what Putz means. I forgot, so I looked it up: AI: because the name comes from the German word "putzen," meaning "to decorate" or "to adorn," reflecting the tradition of German-American families setting up elaborate, decorated miniature villages (putzes) around their nativity scenes or Christmas trees. The term also evolved to include the German-American practice of "putzing around" with these decorations to make them "just right," with the popular cardboard houses emerging from this tradition in the 20th century, especially after being mass-produced in Japan and sold in U.S. five-and-dime stores.

You're getting the majority of your rain when the garden doesn't need it. Oh, well. Yum on the cheese biscuits. The birds are so realistic in their expressions and poses. You look younger than your years. :) :) Hi, Diane!! :) :)

Kristine - the wedding was so much fun and such a great experience. Both sides of the family were together for 3 days and really got to know each other well. There were about 30 of us there, and each of us was armed with a sachet bag of my rose petals. We're thinking of going there for family reunions. I'm glad you got a fish tank. What kind of fish did you get? We had a 55 gallon tank (before we moved to Calgary) that had Ciclids in it. I miss those fish. You could still get a cat...there are hypoallergenic cat breeds. The Siberian and the Sphynx are the most hypoallergenic breeds, but there are also: Siamese, Bengal, Russian Blue, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Javanese, Balinese, Oriental Shorthair, Burmese, and Tonkinese. :) Just saying. lol

Your Vulcano bloom is stuffed with petals!!

Kristine, get a kitty. You deserve it. Your beautiful roses are in so much better shape that what little is left of mine. We had several hard frosts, and then it turned warmer, of course, but most stuff is ruined. Julia is triumphant, of course.

Carol, we always need rain. This is the desert, plus at higher elevations, we get our snowpack for irrigation. Remember dams and reservoirs. Also our electricity. Putz also means fake. I think you got a cleaned up definition. In Yiddish, putz is a real insult to a man and means several things, but you can correct me on that. He was a real putz. I just like Krampus and am amazed at the horrible myths that the Germans inflicted on their kids. Krampus kidnaps kids and threatens them with birch switches, etc. I think I looked a bit like Krampus in that inadvertent photo. Diane

I may have posted at least some of these before a while back.

Trish, I found a bunch of sellers of the Yardley Lily of the Valley spray cologne, from Amazon with a bad price to Walmart. I plan to get a bottle before long. I wonder if you could find it in Australia online.

Very boring, gloomy day here, and my holiday shopping, what little I do, is done, except for a bottle for the son in law. So we need some seasonal rose photos. Carol, why are we still posting on a summer thread--haha?

I am seasonal.

I am more seasonal.

No, I, the Sugarplum Fairy, am more seasonal.

Wait a minute, I'm the Ballerina.

The tree is decorated and it's with me, the most seasonal.

I have the most seasonal color.

You roses are pathetic. I am the most seasonal because I say so.

Carol, putz is a jerk, and it comes from Yiddish like I thought, and is a male part of the anatomy, which I also thought. You need an adult dictionary. I'm sorry those Achilles are still so painful. Can you see a specialist about this? That's a good idea about using tongs to reach the perfume. But it still will be really difficult to even approach the side of the dresser because of a desk. It's complicated.

Trish we have no ice skating rink. The closest is the snowy lawn area in front of the village in the first photo. I could easily sculpt a tiny snowman that is skating. Hmmm.

My daughter does all the decorating and we dare not interfere. These are her collections. My guilt in all this is that I've given her a lot of this stuff and encouraged the addiction.

A couple (gingerbread man and snowman) of ornaments below I sculpted and painted. Actually, I scupted and painted hundreds of different ones. Hard to believe. It was a long time ago.

Diane,

Your Christmas decore is amazing! Wow! Soooo many beautuful irnamentsornaments, figurines and houses! I’m thinking of down suzing…. doing less, giving things away, and you have sooooo much! So much beauty!

Anastasia had her hair cut so sge has to wearca sweater outside now. And she’s into the holiday spirit wearing bows & stuff.

I’ll catch the rest of you tomorrow….. 🥀🌹😊🥀🌹😊🥀

Kitty, I did laugh at Anastasia's rigout! She looks very pleased with herself.

Diane, I expect I could get the Yardley's online, but I think my bottle will see me out! I love those birds, they're exquisite. The little gold one looks a bit startled - not surprising in the circs. Your Putz collection must be worth a fortune. I wonder where i got the skating rink from? Can't have been windowsill, as this is the first time he's shown them.

Diane - Oh, yeah, higher levels get snow. Didn't think of that. Yeah, I forgot the other definition of putz...as in, he was a real putz. Noooo, you could never look like a Krampus. :) Those are heartwarming Victorian illustrations. Love them. I'll change the thread to Winter. :) Those are beautiful rose pictures. The one that hit me in the face with its beauty was Ballerina, which isn't usually my first choice. Great picture of it! Finn is right ,though. :)

Oh, really, lol, a male part of the anatomy. I had no idea. lol. I'm going to mention my tendons to my doctor this week. I got a call back about my bone density. I've been osteoporotic since my 30s. Blah. But, functionally, I'm doing better, since I haven't broken anything in my past 3 falls. Yeah, best to leave the perfume. Diane, I'm chuckling over the snowman tree topper. :) I love the gingerbread man with the chocolate chip hat. Very well designed. You certainly do have a lot of Putz et al decorations. :) Best leave your daughter to it.

Kitty - oh my goodness, Anastasia is one of a kind. :) :) I love her little bow. :)

Here's my daughter, Kedra, in a medical helicopter. She looks like she's 5 years old. lol

These are my glass houses. My ZZ plant is decorated, too. Holly did the snowflakes based on Victorian patterns.

We've moved!! lol

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6519352/winter-seasonal-thread

Kitty, Anastasia is an ornament unto herself. She loves modeling her new look. She would also look cute with some delicate ornaments around her neck. All these Christmas collections are sort of a joint thing with my daughter, but she does the decorating. I have a ton of ornaments of my own, sitting in a box in the basement storage room. This makes me kind of sad because I was a pretty big holiday decorator at one time, and now I don't do any of it.

Trish, don't worry about the skating rink. If we had more room, I'd suggest a rink to Samantha, but where would we put it? Sort of like my crowded garden. we've maxed out. That's hilarious about the little gold bird looking startled. I'd never noticed that at all, but as you say given what's up where.......

Carol, sorry for going overboard with the posts and pics. No one complain if I take a break. I spent half the day posting here. I guess I'm so used to Sam's massive snowman collection, I've never chuckled at the tree topper. I love that photo of Kedra, the fighter pilot, a five year old fighter pilot. It's a great photo. Did she do a selfie. I couldn't see how anyone else could have taken the photo. I wish for you a solution to the tendon problems. There's got to be something. Steroids? Anti-inflammatory pain meds? Anyway, I hope you get some good answers. Your glass houses are so unique and pretty in the subdued light. And I'm impressed with Holly's snowflakes. That takes talent and patience, and a bit of work. But paper cutting is fun, too. I did a lot of crazy paper cutting for my granddaughters, particularly Clare. Boy, did we have the craft sessions. Oh, the kitty above is Barley, the biggest, smartest cat I've ever been around. He's quite the character, nosy as heck, and follows Ray around all over the place like a dog. Finn is my orange kitty. He's my boy. Scaredy cat, a good hunter, and a total pig when it comes to food. Diane

Diane - you didn't go overboard. Sorry if you thought that's what I thought. :) Post as many pictures as you can. I love it all!!! :) :) Kedra the 5-year old fighter pilot. lol I'm not sure if she took a selfie. I think my massage gun is starting to help. I think I'm always going to be prone to Achilles problems. But, I'm going to use the massage gun every day, even when I'm better. It can, maybe, keep the pain away. Turns out my doc doesn't have time to see me. We're going to do a phone call about my bone density. I'll ask her sometime in the new year. I'm in love with my glass houses, and Don's going to get me a new house every year. Pretty soon, I'll have them all over the house. lol We all like to collect, don't we? Thanks so much. :) I think Holly found patterns online for the snowflakes. Oh, I can imagine you had great craft sessions with your granddaughters. We had a box full of stuff, and the girls loved making things. But I wasn't very good, so I couldn't suggest anything. Barley. That's right. I'm terrible with names, etc. Awww...I love that Barley is so loyal to his man. Finn and Sugar would get along well...they're both pigs for food. :)

Carol, Diane,

Anastasia, Barley & Sugar would all be great together! All pigs for food! Anastasia snatched my 2 hot dogs roght behind my back-hysterical. I turned-she jumped & gulped instantly 2 full hot dogs!

Trish, Carol, Diane,

Thank you! Anastasia is so noce at putting on her sweater! Brrrrrr! it’s realky cold outside. 34F/31F today. Snow is icy frozen now! Coldest Dec. I ever had.

OK, Carol, I see ”We all moved!” From Seasonal-Summer tovEonter thread! LOL!

See you there!

Kitty - that's hysterical!! Naughty Anastasia!!! And she got them so fast!! Oh, now I want a hot dog. lol