I come everyday to see if anyone popped in. We actually had rain today, the majority of the day. I have a project going of de-cluttering and cleaning out a storage room right off my laundry room. It is the room the Christmas items are stored. Spend yesterday morning, with a helper helping, putting Christmas back in boxes. Then before I put items back, I decided to clean off a few shelves. Well 4 hours later, I had cleaned off many shelves and had made a complete mess. Got Christmas put up on the top shelves and today started on the shelves I didn't get to yesterday. Filled the shredder bin at least 7 times. Old tax returns and investment papers. Community gardeners dropped off bags of tree leaves. Must have at least 20. Going to use mower to chop and then mix up in the compost pile. We are also trimming some of the ivy. To high off the grown. After trimming, then we will spread leaf mulch and then compost. Need to hurry. We were making great progress then I caught the cold from hell. Day after Thanksgiving and just got rid of the cough last weekend.

Well I am glad both of you are well, or recuperating and getting well. I got my garden turned and seeded with winter crops but I'm having to water it, going dry again, and warm.
When I am in the office aka deep summer or deep winter, I check in every day. when I'm not it can be weekly. This is that scary time of year when the phone rings it's a telemarketer. ya'll take care

Root Beer plant dormant, I will trim it back when I trim the Turks Cap back.

Wind blowing, leaves falling, senseless to mulch them til the winds quit, I did some gardening - by lopping off the pepper plants, the dead asparagus ferns, and the basils. Tied the fence wire down, started shaping the other corner on the composite edging. When it's ready it will form a tiered strawberry section, IF I get out and rabbit proof the outer beds, chuckl.

Cashmere Bouquet and bougainvillea are dormant. Wait! do bougainvillea go dormant or die? Guess I will look it up later, but data will just show 50/50 chance either/or I bet. 2 months I will know for sure. Thermometer shows 72* today

Dogs are happy.

One of these days I'm growing root beer plants. But I don't water enough, the south side of the house is dog territory and they like moisture and more heat than I have.
They smell so good. Dogs do look happy. you're home, they get to supervise,

I'm trying to find a home for my corn seeds. With the continuing droughts I'm only keeping 2 small envelopes, corn is a high water crop and I don't eat that much of it. So far no takers. Because I keep my seeds refrigerated, they last years.

Bees picking up pollen substitute to feed to the queen so she will start laying.

My great grandson does not like sugar, nor having sugar on his nose.

Seeds showed up today, and I did not get my garlic cloves planted out.

Took this a few evenings back during our last rain

I appear to be moving slowly and slower these days.

I am definitely moving slower, I haven't gotten my Totally Tomatoes order placed. I think have some cherokee purple seeds in the fridge. I may start a few pots in the greenhouse, that's the hard one to beat the heat and get the fruit.

Your great grandson is 1 already - my how the year flew by. First big pond cleanup is Monday, doing while we have the weather. But not taking plastic off the north side of my chicken run. I seem to remember snowmageddon hit around the 20th of February.

I had my grandson from Spokane from Last Thursday to this Monday. His dad, my son, will be 60 this year and his wife is tak

ing him golfing each month in a different state where he had not golfed.

I spent over 2 hours in my front landscape this morning. Low temps but clear skies so the sun kept me warm. I am in the process of trimming by my English ivy back because it was getting out of control. Taking it down to the ground and it was at least two feet tall. I have compost, chicken manure and round up alfalfa pellets to lay on top. The landscape helper along with the other landscape crew took a hedger to it and eliminated many hours of labor. I gave each group a nice tip because it saved me weeks of my cutting it by hand. I am only cutting in areas that had too many other plants to use he hedger. Th area I am going to do tomorrow if the weather is nice is where the strawberries came up voluntarily. The strawberries are delicious and have spread over a large area that also has ivy and hardy hibiscus. The strawberries either got planted by a bird or a grandchild eating and throwing a strawberry. It is amazing how large they get and are delicious.

Oldest granddaughter is having a baby boy mid July. She has had two miscarriages and it looks like they fixed the problem. Small medical procedure. Needless to say, they are very happy.

My daughter and her husband are going to ark City skiing this weekend. High is going to be 30. They have been born and raised in Las Vegas and not used to this type of weather. Should be interesting how they do.

We have received more rain in January than we got all last yer. Best news is the West side of the Rockies are getting slammed with snow.

My roses are budding out. Probably because of all of our rain. They will just freeze this week because we are forecast to be in the low 30s.

Kitt, my first great granddaughter does not like chocolate. Cannot believe he is already one. Second great grandchild, George, turned 1 just before New Year Eve. They are so cute at that age.

Hi Sharon. 1 is a very cute age. My grandchildren are age 7 to 18 now, be a while before I see 1 again. Pond cleanup Monday went well, now winter is coming back.

I am sprinkling my vegetable seeds, so far carrots and broccoli are up, pots of fennel and strawberries and ornamental plants all benefit from the sprinkler. It's very dry here, although getting colder now

I have to pot my strawberries so can move them to shade in the summer, but get some berries.

Ugh, dogs came back rolled in manure, wondering if they are smelling heats around the neighborhood - lots of dogs out roaming today. It wore me out washing them in the tub, so I crawled up into a warm spot and slept. I am going to sprinkle seeds tomorro. The youngest grandson is taking my great grandson to live in their own apartment now. I have been gathering up stuff for bath and kitchen the gal will need and have a few more items to add to the box. Need to run a shopping trip for the stuff...The boy also has surgery scheduled with the VA Mon for his shoulder ( he was a parachutist and it yanked his sockets out? I think he said, so he jumped with it out of socket anyway) It will take him a bit to recover. So that is my 2 grandsons in recovery. Justin was fighting bulls and got hooked in the thigh - he is in pt now and expects to be back in shape in Sept. His son was with us for the weekend of the 13th -he will be 12 in June.
I hear ya Sharon, I need to get out and get my strawberry bed finished.

I was in my front landscape again this morning but only made 45 minutes before the sun went behind the clouds and immediately got a chill. Dog, cat and myself headed inside. I proceeded to clean out my Tupperware drawer, match lids to containers and put the rest in a sack for a friend. She will check to see if she can find some matches. I put them all in the dish washer to give them a fresh start. Then I cleaned both cat litter boxes, then after dark, brought in the hummingbird feeders and put in new food. I waited until dark, so they would feed until they went to sleep. Garden helper will be here tomorrow. Hugs to you all.

Kitt, we double posted. Boy, you will miss that little guy. The strawberry area is the area I was working in today. Strawberry spread everywhere and so did the ivy. I would rather have the strawberries so I was cutting back the ivy, while trying to locate the strawberries, when the chill moved in So, if we have sun tomorrow, I will be out there again. Does not really matter what the temp is as long is it is about 45 but with no sun shining through, it gets cold fast.

@WormslovUsharon are your strawberries in sun or shade? I only have one spot where they haven't died in ground and that is a north side flower bed the areas that never get much direct sun, the rest are in pots so I can move them around before they die. The full sun all died first August

They are on the North side of my front landscape which gets shade from the two story property from the afternoon sun and the streetscape trees semi shades them in the morning. But they are also on irrigation twice a day during the summer.

Did more work in the front landscape and uncovered many strawberries. Starting to put on new growth. I need to get dry leaves shredded and put down, then compost and chicken manure. Crazy roses are budding out. Suppose to freeze tonight and tomorrow night. Say a small prayer for my succulents.

My Queen Elizabeth rose is covered with new growth, and we have several days of freezing nights on the way, but not a hard freeze so far, a 32 degree freeze. I can't water anything twice a day and when I did have strawberries in the sun and did water several times a day they still died, I think soil compaction around the roots. They died on the pond tray with roots just barely touching water (like all those shared posts with video on Facebook and other social media selling drilled pipes) I have some survivor strawberries and I'll keep trying

So sleepy today. Too much work is catching up to me.

Hmmmm, north. Saw a strawberry patch that had sawdust, shavings they were growing in- and a raised hill area under. I was a zone farther north at that time. I have a week of nights down close to the 32* marks, 50's daytime. My hands get icy thinking about it.

It's going to the lower 30s here with a possiblity of snow or sleet Tuesday. But it will be ok. Can't last forever

I have spent three days, about 4 hours a day removing ash tree roots from my rose bed and garden beds. And also trimming and thinning the ivy. I went in to one large bed only planning on loosening soil around two rose trees. Ended up 2 hours in the bed chasing ash tree roots that encroached from the streetscape trees. It's a raised bed that is about 10' by 8'. In the bed below it, that is level with the sidewalk, I moved to and tried to find where the root was coming under the sidewalk. Found the root but could not find the end before my shoulder gave out. I am so abusive to myself when I am on a root hunt.

I am having difficulty getting up from gardening. I am on my hands and knees the majority of the time and maybe I was just tired but twice on Saturday I had to get next to something so I could pull myself up on it to get myself up. I told my son I need a rope in the sky. It has been in the mid 50's. Like spring weather. Cold front moving in this week with wind and clouds.

Sharon it's time for a kneeling stool to help you up. And I'm not far from it. Too cold for gardening here though, when it was warm I had to round up firewood and prepare for the cold. It's not going to be dangerously cold, but my Queen Elizabeth rose and a hasty Rose of Sharon may die back some.

Watching sleet and ice funneling up from San Antonio north toward Dallas and Arkansas. I20 and I40 corridors looking really nasty as well.
If I am on the ground on hands and knees, THAT is how I get up. Push myself with my arms as far up as possible, rock a bit sideways so I can get one foot under me and my belly button and go on up. It usually means I need to do more knee bends- or dancing with Luka doing bounces and bends, chuckl. My knees are weak. I have a tearing muscle in the right one, so am not on my knees anywhere any too often.
Drizzley, 10 mph north wind, shivver, 42* feels like 36*. I no longer see freezing temps, but there isn't much variation in the next 3 days tween 34* and 42*. Sunset is at 5:58 pm tonight. I would have gone out and thrown seeds on Sunday, but it was raining on the right day to do it. So that means it is still too early, next seeding attempt will be around mid Feb I guess.
Sharon, we know how the roots gall you, I guess the Ash is missing the Sumac tree...seems a never ending chase.
Gypsi, you should be staying indoors and warm today. That ice always follows the I20 corridor at this season.