I think the Back Porch on DG is probably empty now. @WormslovUsharon and @kittriana, waving at you from here. I am learning semps and succulents in the other forums. @juhur7 are you still around?

My red oak a couple of days ago. It's a baby.

I am here, Ju goes by @JimArd something here, @evelyninthegarden is in and out, as is Nancy, see if I can locate.

Thank you! I don't remember all the handles

https://garden.org/thread/go/9... lots of us visiting here and handles are my waterloo also

Well I am here and still fighting a 2 week old cold. My sister is here for our Christmas visit and leaves on Tuesday. All is well. Roses are pruned and spring flowers are planted. Christmas decorations are out and as done ss they will be. All is well.

I am here and I just broke a bolt off in the Necchi sewing machine I was working on, getting it ready to sell. Ordering a couple of bolts and a belt. it's fancier than I need.

Pond work is easier, fixed a waterfall yesterday. Haven't been home much with the nice weather up until today

We have colder weather moving down, but I took my vegetable knife and split a pot of dwarf spathos in two, got told I better be ready to do a bunch more, chuckl. It will wait for Spring. Plants are not as happy in house this Fall as usual. May be the weird stuff from outer space hitting our ball of mud. Drizzles this afternoon, more leaves are falling. My drip buckets are full again, nowhere else to save the water to. I got several puttering jobs done, an olla glued together, a cookie experiment that will need a spoon to hold them together long enough to eat, so the day was not a total waste.
My face is still recovering from the novocaine, but the tylenol I am taking is working just fine for pain. Dogs are still determined to get a bath a day so I had a serious talk with Oakley - she has been running just after dark until 10 or 11 at night, at least she has come home cleanish, needed a towel to dry her off though. Full moon chasing, deer disturbing when they try to bed down and garbage days seem to be calling her to run off. She happens to be snoring behind me now. She can also growl in her sleep and grinds her teeth, sheesh, but she isn't happy until she is in this room to lay down.
Luka the great grandson is a busy child. He walked at 9 months and has been forming words quite well. Seems so young for an 11 month old, and you best be fast to get the dogs waterbowl up off the floor when he shows up, chuckl, he is learning to run from his mom when she comes after him and is a fan of Lady Gaga 'Poker Face' to dance to.

Glad you are feeling better Kitt.

I'm expecting some grandkids this afternoon I think. need to finish the Necchi but rushing to buy a replacement bolt won't work til the tool arrives to connect my bit to the right drill to get the broken bolt out.

My dogs are hoping for dry weather. I spent yesterday letting them out, then in, crate and rotate because the big dogs and the Australian Cattle dog mixes do NOT mix well. Work tomorrow and maybe wednesday, then off except for a couple of repairs with my grandson

Big storm here this morning. I had my helper assist with finishing laying more french drain pipe along the back of my house, and connecting it to the old drain. It's working. With the sump going on the uphill side and the french drain behind the house and on the downhill side I'm not flooded. This is a plus.

Kitt, did you get any of this? Sharon, did the snow get to Las Vegas?

It comes in this evening until morning, I have general drizzles right now, pulled some weeds, buried my latest olla in the dirt in a bed, stripped the hot peppers and am drying them in the oven, transplanted 3 plants to free up a hanging pot my daughter requested, peeled a sprouting onion down to plant it out,

puttering preps you know? Washing sheets, wrapped another present, need to get my little leaf blower out and clean the porches off.

Went to the Bellagio Hotel last night to see the Holiday display with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was crowded but crowd was very well behaved. My sister left for California this afternoon. I had my teeth cleaned this morning. Just about over my cough.

It is 65* outside, but the cold is from the north, I am cold all thru. Sunshine out, but these temps are staying, I see down to the 30's at night for at least a week . We got 1/4" in the wee hours with thunder and lightning, It sounded comfortable in spite of the dogs. My daughters day off and she had 2 tickets to go somewhere, so her hubby is joining her at 2:30 to go see the show. Usually she and a friend go, but the girl cancelled, I didn't want to go.
Took my little ol car to get a diagnostic run on it, the car made until the last mile and went dead in the middle. Chuckl, my daughter asked if I had put oil in it, so I explained it had oil even if it was a tad low, but shuddering and shimmying had nothin to do with oil level. Perhaps a timing belt, cross fingers. It is a 2010 Scion this year, but still has 192, 000? somewhat miles. It threw lights on several issues as well as the dreaded engine light.
I really need to toughen up and get out into the garden, but cannot convince myself to do so. That sunlight does not fool me into thinking the world is warm.
My oldest grandson has been bullfighting now for the rodeo for a few years since he left the Marines. He won an 'Ultimate Bullfighting Challenge' in Fort Worth about a week ago, am told TikTok had his pics up, I was sent private ones. This was taken 1 year ago if you can see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... So a day or so later after he won the FW fight, he was hurt, but is doing well up there in FT Worth while he mends. Not an ultimate challenge I would undergo, I have a more practical approach to the animals I tended. I don't do Tik Tok by the way, and not sure if I could share his FB page to show the rodeo footage.

I just got in from moving plants to the greenhouse. Last year I did wagons, in the garage, out of the garage. Then I went and started a bunch of stock from seed this year, late spring, most didn't bloom but lived, and I bought dahlia bulbs, so I have a lot more plants than last year. I stuffed them all in there. Put the light on 5 hours, from 5 to 10 pm, so I can check things when I'm home.

Took the cat to the vet to be sure he hadn't silently contracted feline herpes in all his years with Miley. Turns out his vaccinations protected him, but got a checkup while we were there. My beautiful 7 year old Cuchulainn has a heart murmur. I'll get a sonogram soon and see what's up. He could also use his teeth cleaned, and bacteria from placque can damage the heart. Meds may help him if we can get a clear diagnosis.

Merry Christmas everyone. 64 in Vegas and loving it.

Merry Christmas, we warm up tomorro, the gals in the house are falling like dominoes to covid, my dau goes to check if hers is clear, while mine was a Christmas Eve surprise. Today my grandsons woman tested positive - and Luka the bulldozer is still suckling, none of us are hospital sick, but I admit to weakness, so I sleep and then I get back up and clean and sanitize, then back in the sack. I seriously doubt anything in the garden has survived, though I saw a new squirrels nest 5 feet off the ground next to the bird feeder. Ravens also have been visiting the bird feeder- makes me wonder if every bird in Texas has a grapevine out about 'Food Here' with a big arrow.
Stay warm Sharon!!! Time to tuck back into bed...

Merry late Christmas. Warming up here today. Had 8 year old for about 9 days now so not much internet time, picked my grandson up on the 26th, he and I spent 2 days rewiring my camera system and replacing broken (water damage) cameras. Finishing out french drain this morning, more grandchildren come at 1 so I won't be on much.

Kitt, I wondered when you said your daughter couldn't taste anything. Glad you aren't hospital sick, rest and rest and more rest and some vitamins? Get well. Happy New Year. Not sure when I can get back online

So warm today, felt so nice. I got up to the garden, pulled the frost covers, about all the strength I had, chuckl. Cilantro is still healthy under those covers, the other greens are pretty much to a stem blasted to slime. Funny thing tho, I didn't expect as many onions to cave...alliums. I did lose some, but all were free as regrows, so am good. Mints all look dead, that 2" rain before the freeze probably caused the root damage, the dirt should have been dry...the St Augustine grass is freeze dried silver, the over abundant chickweed satisfyingly yellow white. Even the paperwhites got bit hard. That gal is growing so fast Gypsi! Poor Luka, his first ever cold snuffles and I can tell you he is extremely unhappy about it, chuckl.
He and the dogs water bowl have a growing history...usually he plays in the water and dumps it out. I heard him crying broken hearted miserable tears last night and went to see what was up. He had dumped the water, yes, but he was holding the empty pan and bringing it to me, all of its water was gone and it broke his heart. He will be 1 year old on Jan 8th, this is the very first time he has gotten ahold of that pan and not spilled a drop on himself. I had to tell him we would get it fixed and his grampaw swooped in and loved on him.
My dau returned to work today - said she did fine til halfway thru the day and all her stuffing fell out. I am still trying to find out where the rest of the family has stuffed my kitchen towels. They are gone, all gone. Odd I can find no sign of them....I have located many oddly put away items and returned balance where I can, rubbed the oil on the butcher block, and hand rubbed in the cream. We use Boos Block and I am quite happy with it, now 3 more chunks to go, chuckl. Now to go Google that 'Sloppy Ears water bowl' Floppy sloppy?

She is growing. Sassy too. She and I have had a couple of rough days but in a 10 day period it's to be expected. I think she goes home Monday. I threw and anchored my old truck cover over the raised bed with pots of fennel, and one tidy cat bucket with a brussel sprout about to sprout, some pots of soapwort and snapdragon, 2 layers of truck cover, put rocks and pieces of firewood on the edge, pulled it off yesterday and most everything lived. My onions aren't in yet.

@WormslovUsharon and @kittriana are we keeping this going or letting it die?

I've got a feral mama cat in a trap and her kitten in a dog crate needs moved to a trap so they can get fixed in the morning. I have apparently become allergic to mountain cedar but the zyrtec I rarely take seems to work. And this thread is really quiet - happy new year

happy New Year to all. had covid Christmas Eve, starting to feel like the head cold part and the weakness is passing, but New Year so have been really busy cleaning and wanting to get out, but not pushing anything except sleeping. My daughters mom in law had surgery 3 months back, and visiting her takes all day, she lives about 40 minutes east of me, but she has been confined to the apartment - the adults in our house take turns going to take her out to eat, pick up her groceries, move her plants around, and assist during her pt at least 3x a week. She is better, but the brace is making her sore now. She is 75 believe.
Dogs got into trouble yesterday, I came home from that trip and found a dog on my bed and had pissed on it. Didn't soak thru to the mattress, but that was a final straw. Got sheets and blankets cleaned up ( pillows were still clean) and this morning Oakley stayed out late and came home rolled in manure, so got a shower before I went into town for my lab work for Monday appt. Trying to study and find what I will do next year with these supplemental plans dropping good Drs and only paying those who will take appts cheap. I don't live where someone like Allcare, or Kaiser, or United will work for me.
I do not mind keeping the thread, but like you guys will just keep checking in occasionally, and I do like hearing from you guys.