Follow Us!
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
|
My sister was telling this story at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday about one of her coworkers...
This couple decides they are going to buy a miniature horse for their 7 year old son this year for Christmas. They find someone who raises them and head off to buy this horse after telling their son that Santa called them and needed them to come pick up one of his presents early. The husband asks his wife if they need to take a trailer and they decide they should be able to put a miniature horse in the back of their Tahoe...it's miniature, right? So, they take off for this town called Prosperity to buy the horse. When the get there the guy asks them how they plan to get the horse back home and they tell him they plan to let it ride in the back of the Tahoe. It will fit, right? He tells them "Yeah, it will probably fit but you won't have any glass in the vehicle by the time you get where you're going and you're likely to get injured because this isn't like a dog that will just lay down in the back seat for the ride home." So the husband goes down to the Tractor Supply store and buys a dog kennel, comes back and asks the guy which miniature horse is his. The seller tells him, "which ever one you want to catch". So, this guy has to run out into the field and chase the miniature horses until he finally gets ahold of one. They have to pretty much stuff it into the dog kennel and this little horse is NOT happy. Nor is the couple. The horse neighs at the top of it's lungs and struggles inside the kennel the entire trip and stinks to high heaven so they have to drive with the windows down. They pull up at red traffic lights and people are looking at them like they are completely nuts. So, they finally get this horse to their house and realize they haven't thought about where they are going to keep it. They don't have fencing, no stall, no barn. Nothing. So, they have to go out and buy the supplies to build what it needs. They kept it in a regular outdoor dog kennel until they got that done. And, they have now found out that you can't ride the horse for at least a year.
This is one of those Christmas presents that will take the word "Merry" out of the equation. One of those spur-of-the-moment purchases they will have to look at and feed for a year before their son can enjoy it...
It was just a couple of weeks ago that I posted several pictures under the plant identification forum, one of which turned out to be the Texas Star Hibiscus. On Saturday I went to some yard sales with my youngest sister and was telling her about this particular plant. Lo and behold, we pull up at a church having a mission sale and they have one in full bloom. It was spectacular and I had no idea it gets as tall as it does. I'm 5'2 and it was much taller than I am. Then again, that's probably true for lots of things!
I came across a four-volume set called "Successful Gardening, A Step by Step Guide" for $5. It encompasses something like 16 chapters on everything you can imagine...plants, planting, propagation, pests/diseases, composting, on and on. It will take me a month of Sunday's to get through the entire set because each volume is huge. My husband just laughed when I brought them in the house and said we have more books on gardening than we have actual gardens. True enough, but I have a hard time passing up anything related to gardening especially when it's at a good price.
It was too hot this weekend to do much in the garden but I did get most of my green beans harvested. Lots of blooms on them, so there will be more to come. I had to wait until late evening because of the stifling heat, whch meant offering myself up as a human sacrifice to the mosquito population. Tomatoes...hmmm....lots of tomatoes on the vines but the birds or something are eating them as soon as they start turning. I've gotten some for personal use, but really like to can tomatoes and just don't see that happening. I've thrown out more than I've kept. Still reaping cucumbers out the wahzoo. Squash and zucchini have slowed down to a crawl but my pink-eyes took off all of a sudden and are full of blooms.
Supposed to be more temperate and less humid this week. I'm certainly looking forward to that! Have a great week everyone, in your gardens or out!
Seems to be my year for bird stories. When I got home from work the other day my husband called me outside to see that 4 mockingbirds had gotten inside the fence around one of my blueberry bushes. They scalped it pretty good but I guess they like a good, sweet treat as much as we do! They only ate the BLUE blueberries!
Bsmitch...aren't you proud of me. I got the image uploaded this time!
I just happened to walk outside late yesterday and look up at the martin gourds. This poor little baby was hanging on for dear life. I ran for the camera and my husband ran for a ladder but just after I snapped this picture one of the male martins came up and put him back in the gourd.
Hope the picture works. If not, please look in my photo album. It's not something we get to see every day...or WANT to. I'm just glad the little fella wasn't harmed.
EEEEEKKKK! You know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for". Last year we were struggling through drought status and begging for rain, rain rain. This year I think every storm is targeting my yard. It's great for the trees, shrubs, and flowers but it is overkill for the vegetable garden which is getting soaked in excess of 2 inches at a time, sometimes several times a week, as these slow moving storms dump tons of rain in one area. Then there is hail (thankfully, small hail) and high winds to contend with. Last night as yet another storm blew through I watched through the kitchen window, sure the corn was going to be flattened. It made it through!!! Every year we end up straightening the rows of corn at least a couple of times during the growing season. The silver lining last night was that my son lost power at his house and had to come to ours for a while...which meant he had to help string green beans!
So, tomatoes are looking rough. Bush cucumbers are looking rough although the trellised cukes look great. Pulled up some onions that looked bad and the bulbs were mushy. The pinkeye/purple hull peas are only about 5 inches tall and seem to be taking forever to grow. Still lots of good things in the garden happening with the green beens, most peppers, corn, okra, squash and zucchini. I met one of my sisters halfway between our homes and traded her two grocery bags of veggies for use of her pressure canner and got 5 qts of beans put up last night.
The weeds are simply outstanding! Bumper crop.
I bought local cantaloupe and watermelon from a roadside stand a few days back. It was the best cantaloupe I have eaten in the longest time. Sweet, juicy, perfect. If the watermelon is half as good I'll be a happy camper.
Yesterday morning we had a soaking early morning rain and the rest of the day turned out on the cool and cloudy side. It was perfect weather yesterday evening to work in the garden catching up on weeding detail and mulching plants. It got downright chilly out there, but we got everything completely weeded and most of the mulching done. In years past I have always been outside before daybreak to check the vegetable garden and water, but for some reason this year I have not adjusted to the time change and have not been getting up in time to take care of the chores. So, I sent hubby on down to Lowe's and had him build me 2 overhead sprinklers, extra hose, and a timer. They are 5 feet tall and set to run from 4:00am-6:00am. So far, so good. Everything is coming along nicely considering the late start I got. Lots more weeds, though, so we're mulching heavily. Saw some tiny, half-inch squash babies when mulching and tomato babies and pepper blossoms starting to show their lovely faces. Overhead watering is a huge change for me, though, and I'm anxious to see how things go as the summer heats up.
Picked up a brand new Earthway 6500 High Wheel Cultivator with 3 attachments at a yard sale for $7. Looked on the internet and saw they run anywhere from about $80-$130, so that was a GREAT yard sale find! Will put the mold board plow adjustment on the Earthway tonight and run it down the bean and pea rows tonight to see how she does. I have an ancient wheel cultivator that I have used for years that is well past it's retirement age but not one that I'm willing to part with completely. The wooden arms long since rotted off and hubby fashioned new ones out of some kind of pipe material. Looks funny, but works like a charm.
Wanted to take pictures but the batteries in my camera were deader than a doorbell. I buy lithium batteries and no matter how long they say the things last it always seems that when I really want to take a certain picture, that's the time that the camera says "batteries are empty".
I was defending Garden Guides in the seed swap/trade forum and happened to notice that today marks a year that I have been a member on this site! Thanks to all of you who have made this a special place I love to come to every morning during the week. I grab a cup of coffee and log on as soon as I get to work. Don't tell the boss, though!
Happy Mother's Day this Sunday to all the moms out there. You think God made mothers so we could have websites like this?
Off tomorrow so I won't be snooping around again until Monday!
I proudly admit to being technoligically impaired but I DO try to keep up, so I broke down and bought a cell phone with a texting keyboard. I set up the contacts and stuff last night, then sent a text message to my daughter this morning that said, "I can text now. Not fast, though. Love ya. Mom". Ten minutes later the phone rings and a woman says, "I got your text but I don't think it was for me, but I want you to know that I am VERY PROUD of you". She laughed and said that I would get better with practice and it was great for keeping up with her own daughter in college. We both were so tickled. I told her I only sent a message that I could now text, but it didn't mean that I could SEE!
A few minutes later my husband calls and says, "I got your text message. Why did you send it to me?" He's worse than I am with this cell phone stuff and says he tried to text me back but could only get a "G" on the screen and didn't know how to get it back off.
Now, I see a message from my sister that says, "Yes u can! u signed as Mom! we have a new tailless kitten named Betsy. Love ya, Sis".
OK...I'm crying laughing now because I apparently have sent this message everyone in my contacts list, which means it is also went out to my professional contacts, business associates, my CEO and CFO. Now ain't that just grand!!! Think I better go home tonight and read the book a little more closely...with reading glasses.
The local nurseries are getting in on the spring fever, too. Woodley's and Wingard's are both having spring fling events on Saturday and the timing between their seminars is so that I can get to one place in the morning and the other in the afternoon. I'll get 3 different seminars in one day. I spent part of the evening yesterday calculating what spending money I'll have available because I know I won't be leaving either place without something in tow.
Happy First Day Of Spring, Everyone.
I had full intentions of planting some cool weather crops on this gorgeous weekend. The CIRCUS changed all of that in a hurry. We did get a lot of prepping done on Saturday and the plan was to get most of the planting done late Sunday afternoon after Brayden and I got back from the circus. That didn't happen. Grandpa was fast asleep when we got home and had been for the entire afternoon, so the raised beds weren't ready. Oh well. Planting can wait another day. The circus only comes once a year and by the time it rolls around again, Brayden will be back overseas. Oh how we are dreading October and that drive to the airport to see them off.
A few pics...Brayden heading in to help Grandpa...
Helping till...he told me "Go, grandma, me and grandpa are working!"
It just doesn't get any better than this!!!!!!!!!!!
Christmas 2008...15 missed and loved family members weren't able to be with us, but I'm happy that we were able to get this many together in one place at one time.
I'm so glad to see others have posted photos from Christmas. Your families are all beautiful!
I've been flying on business over the past 3 days. When I was able to see through the clouds the fall colors were stunning. What a beautiful fall season this has turned out to be.
Saturday my son and I go to the hospital to take Jessica and little Kaylee home. We were excited, rushing around to make sure we have everything done that needed to be done. I tell my son we have to stop and wash/vacuum the car because I'm not picking up Kaylee at the hospital in a car that is wearing several days worth of a dirt road jacket. We get that done and it's off to the hospital. My son heads inside while I stay to make sure the carseat is properly installed in my car. I open the back door and there is NO CARSEAT IN THE CAR. I could not believe this had happened. I call up to the room and say, "Jessica, now don't get angry but we have a slight problem...no carseat". Dead silence on the other end, then, quietly, "you have got to be kidding me". Nope. Wish I were, but nope. My son and I left the carseat at the CARWASH! WHO DOES THAT???? I have to admit that I found it hysterically funny. I had tears rolling down my face...partly because it happened and partly because Jessica was so angry and partly because my son was mortified. My husband went down to the carwash and the carseat was sitting right where we left it, so he met me on the interstate halfway to the hospital. All is well. Everyone home safe, happy, and with a good story for the baby album.
Phew...I've got to get better at this grandmother thing. Last week it was Brayden locked in the car for an hour and now this! The last week of being 50 years old left a lot to be desired. I hope I have all of this out of my system now.
A couple of pictures of Kaylee are in my album.
Our granddaughter, Kaylee Ann, arrived yesterday morning at 10:28am. I'm happy to report that everyone is doing well this morning after a dicey delivery yesterday due to a ruptured placenta. I barely made it back to the hospital in time and wasn't able to hold her until late in the evening. She's beautiful.
Oh...and for news of the weird...I have an identical twin in Houston. We both now have granddaughters born on November 6th.
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
