What I Did on a Cold Wet Day

It was too cold and wet to do any gardening today. I spent most of the day trying to keep my feet warm and cutting up old blue jeans to make another blue jean blanket. The one above is Middle Monkey's. The one I worked on today is for Baby Monkey. Teenage Monkey has a beutiful log cabin quilt I made with Mom. Well she pieced the top and I quilted it. We have a big bag of old worn out blue jeans the boys have outgrown and torn up so bad they cannot be handed on. Manly Man goes through a lot of jeans also. He has to wear a knee brace that rubs holes in his pants.

Here we go again

Look down see Middle Monkey sitting on the floor with his foot in his mouth. "Dude, do not chew your toenails."

Winter Pictures Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Abby, Internet Police Dog, getting ready to bully the neighbors Boxer.

Baby tomatoes off the dryer and in the sewing window. Move them to the green house in 5 to 10 days.

I know, I know there are a million pictures of daffodils on garden blogs right now, but what else is this pretty right now. This is the best I can do for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Still have plenty of cabbage

My Valentine

Look what he did. He slipped out in the middle of the night and brought this to me. This man has given me diamonds, pearls, saphires, a chain saw, tiller, blower, flowers, candy, boys, and love. He has accepted a dixie cup full of worms without asking any questions. He then built a home for the worms. He is not a gardener. Do not take any gardening advise from this man. He does not know and he will make something up. He loves banana trees and will bring them in the kitchen if you don't watch him. I am one lucky woman.

Manly Man with Tailless Cats

Here is Manly Man with both of the tailless cats. It's cold outside and they are all trying to stay warm. Ignore our unfinished window, we are still remodeling. These are the cats that chase my butterflys in the summer. They will also pop you on the bohiny when you walk past them without a proper petting. He is the manly man who makes all of my garden hardscapes. Life is good.

Abby Internet Police Dog

I wasn't going to post, I really wasn't. I am a night person. I generally get the monkeys to bed and play on the internet until at least 11:30 or maybe 1:00 am. I may have some wine or beer until I get sleepy. Well I am trying to change my evil ways and go to bed early say 10:30, after the news. I will not waste any more of my time watching entertainment news shows. How many famous people trashing their lives can I watch after all?

So I make a cup of herbal tea and get ready to wind this party down (not much of a party without beer). Hopefully, I will get up early like a good little gardener. I get myself into my pj's and look for Abby. Oops, I left her outside. Part of my stay up late ritual is bringing in the dog for her dinner, then search for gardening blogs until it is late late late.

Tonight was the night I changed and she was having none of it. I tried to feed her and just leave the bedroom door open so she could come in at her leisure. Nope, she paced up and down the hall. So I got up. She ran into my office and spun in circle beating me with her baseball bat sized tail until I sat down on my ball (yes, I sit on a stability ball). Then she got up about every thirty seconds to poke me with her nose to make sure I was going to stay on the ball and do my job (play on the computer). Her job, apparently, is to make sure I do this every night. Now she is happy and laying down in the living room, her usual habit.

This is a German Shepherd and she is taking her job way too seriously. I can't have her in the house and walk from room to room without her trying to walk in front of me to make sure something does not get me. This causes tripping (still not graceful) and hollering "ABBY LAY DOWN," or "ABBY KENNEL." She also drops a huge chew bone on my feet about three times a week. It hurts. I am safer with this dog than ever before, except for the bruises.

Sad State of Affairs.

I get a phone call from my manly man. He is in a big box home improvement store. Some poor woman was bringing back her third dead rosemary to get yet another replacement. She could not figure out why they kept dying and there was no one on the stores staff who had any plant knowledge at all. So he felt bad for her and called me and put her on the phone. Turns out she was trying to grow it in container on a covered porch and was watering it every single day. Death by overwatering and lack of light. So I did that stupid stores work for them and answered her questions. Now here is my problem. Why the hell don't these stores hire some one who actually knows something about plants or train the people they have hired. I won't buy plants from them because they are so poorly cared for in the stores that I have had a hard time getting them to thrive after I transplant them. Ask a simple question say "Sun or shade?" The response is generally a blank stare. Even the plant varieities they sell may or may not be appropriate for our zone. This is why I try to always buy my plants from an independent nursery or even a chain that specializes in plants. Better yet are shared plants from other gardeners. Stupid big box store.