DavidofDeLand said: Vacuuming will soon become a more relevant then ever!

Yeah, Golden's are big time shedders!

So do Oaks!

And sycamores.

Today sure feels like Spring!!!! Got red leaf lettuce & spinach plants today. Now to get them into some good dirt.

yes...beautiful day indeed. Ive gotten a few things in the yard done. Didnt do a darn thing since spring..summer a blur. Feels so good to be out again.

Oh Lin...Bo is just BEAUTIFUL...ok HANDSOME If I wore lipstick I would have lips on my monitor. Big huhs and kisses from me and happy wags from my kids. Oh...you can have a too

It is a nice time of the year Pam. Beauty in our gardens can always be found somewhere when we look around;...always!

Its good to take a rest from that rediculous striving for perfection we gardeners dream of at some times of the year. I am well off into that lack of perfection phase now myself! (Its OK!)

All the cool seedlings Spring will bring from leaving some of it alone for a while are always a plus!

I'll be thinking of you in February. All is going to be well for you .

Ginger, thank you, your post sure made me smile! Our Bo is a good boy except for when he decides to eat my shoes, a rug or the furniture! He got ahold of a kitchen towel this morning and chewed a big hole in it. I had to open his mouth and reach in to get a wad of string! About 5 minutes ago I saw him chewing something and found that he'd chewed a piece of rubber from his first toy we got him; a hard rubber ball with openings revealing plastic (like a water bottle inside). I had to throw it away. I guess even though he's seven months old, he's still teething. He does leave things alone when we say "Leave it" but we still have to watch him like a hawk; it's definitely like having a young child in the house. It's hard to totally baby-proof everything so I make sure to watch him constantly. Tomorrow I have to run some errands for an hour or so and he will be crated while I'm gone or I can imagine what I'd find upon my return.

I am not able to walk him on the leash because he really pulls ... this morning he spotted a squirrel in the tree in the front yard and I guess he thought he could climb the tree to get it; I really had a hard time controlling him. I never realized how strong a 70 lb. dog could be! He's real good with my husband on-leash but when I give him the quick yank and he doesn't budge. He responds to sit and down but only if you have a treat for him. The breeder said she trains her dogs with tiny bits of kibble which I'm not sure I agree with just because of what I'm experiencing with Bo ... he doesn't want to obey unless we have a treat and I hope to get him out of that habit quickly; we know that in time and with continuous reinforcement he will be the gentleman we expect.

He does keep me laughing even with his mischief.We have a sunken living room with a wrought iron railing separating it from the dining room. I blocked the area off this evening because I was in the kitchen trying to cook dinner and didn't want him under foot. He doesn't beg for people food but wants to follow me around the kitchen and get in the way while I'm working! Anyway, I took this picture when he was sticking his head through the bars of the railing. I hollered at my husband because I thought Bo's head was stuck, but it wasn't; he just hoped he could fit through.


And, this is a shot I got of him looking at me this afternoon:


He loves water; when I was watering plants on the deck today he was biting the water and his entire face and head were soaked, he was having a good old time. I will have to get him a kiddy pool to play in. He got his first bath late this afternoon and he sure smells better! My husband took him into the shower and used the extension hose thing on him and he loved it!

I have to admit that I am far from a perfectionist gardener; just the opposite actually. My attention span is like that of a danged gnat; I seem to flit from one thing to the next and buy plants thinking I really want them; most end up stuck sitting in the nursery pots on the side of the house and sometimes never get planted. If they don't end up looking too bad I donate them to the gardens where I volunteer. I'm really not a gardener.

I drool over photo's here of everyones gardens and property!

I bought mulch in the spring when HD had it on sale. I piled it at the back of the driveway, against the gate that I thought opened in. Well it opened out & what was left of the pile was moved.
Then a couple monts ago I had to move the remaining piles again. Well today I moved the last 5 bags to where it will be spread in the back yard. Underneath the bottom 2 bags I found some of the healthiest plant roots I've ever seen. Pulled all those lose & pulled some other weeds.
Discovered my Dutchman's Pipe finally coming back after the cats ate it to the bare stems this summer. Now it's intertwined with the Bleeding Heart Vines.
Moved the Den Orchids back in the Palm tree so they can enjoy the weather.
Got worm castings & cottom compost today. Hope to build & fill the planters over the next couple days. Step Son will be visiting so will take advantage of an extra pr of hands to assist me.

I just LOVE this warm weather!!!!

@plantladylin Be careful when walking that beautiful new "baby." Our daughter was walking one of their dogs (before he was trained), tripped, and was dragged by him before she finally got him under control. She didn't have any serious injuries but was really scraped and bruised.

Lin, if you guys have a leaf blower it's a great way to dry a dog. We used to do it with our Aussie & she LOVED it!!! She thought it was the coolest thing ever! She would stand perpendicular to my legs & the hubs would turn the leaf blower on her & we'd dry one side, turn her around & dry the other side.

Saturday my dh & I planted about 170 narcissus bulbs out back & today I finished them off planting the remaining 30 out front. Can't wait till spring!

Ann, love your dog drying system.

Bet your narcissus will be beautiful this spring.

Wow, you all are busy, busy!! No fall planting here in our teeny, tiny yard. Sometimes I wish we'd rented this house out and stayed at the other place. LOL, I don't want my husband to hear me say that though ... we were in the other house 38 years and the last couple of years there I complained all the time about so much yard work. I'd love to re-do this entire yard here but it just seems we never have the time or energy to do much except mow. I got so frustrated with all the rocks around the perimeter and in all the flower beds that I just ended up dumping red mulch on top of everything ... BIG mistake. The red mulch is pretty but now that we got the dog we're going to have to get all that mulch out because he wants to eat it and I don't think that's such a great idea with the red dye they put in it not to mention pieces of wood getting into his system. I told my husband the dog will more than likely try to eat the rocks too! I'm having to watch him like a hawk all the time because he wants to eat everything in sight. The fencing material should be here the end of this week and he will be installing it in the next couple of weeks so that Bo can go out into the little yard off-leash.

qwilter/Jean: I can't wait to see pictures of your raised bed planters; I know they are going to be wonderful!

Rocklady/Jean: After this morning I am not going to try walking Bo ... that's my husbands job until we can get him trained better. I am so afraid of falling and breaking something!

Ann: That is so funny about the leaf blower for drying your dog! My husband uses the leaf blower to dry his truck and my car when he washes them; I will have to tell him to try it on the dog!
Re: all those Narcissus bulbs - wow, your yard is going to be a beautiful sight come spring, look forward to seeing those pictures!

It's the fastest way to dry a dog like ours was or yours is. You just can't get those coats dry with a towel. You'll of course, have to be careful in the winter & not do it when it's too cold but otherwise it works great. My hubs used that way to dry our car too. Great minds think alike?

Lin....there is real love in Bo's eyes in the pic of him looking at you. Try getting him a BIG ball like Dixie has. It's a 14inch jolly ball without the handle. Don't waste your $$ on one with a handle...he'll only chew it off. Dix's ball still has years of play left in it....worth every $$ spent on it

Ginger: Where do I get a jolly ball, from pet smart, pet co., wal-mart? It sounds like just what he needs. I need to teach him what he can and can't eat. I walked in the room Saturday and noticed him crunching on something ... it was a large starfish from a container with sea shells and sand dollars I'd collected years ago. He ate almost the entire thing! I was so worried that it was going to be detrimental to his digestive tract but he seems okay, didn't seem to faze him in the least. Crazy boy is sound asleep on the kitchen floor at the moment ... probably dreaming of what he can get into next.

sounds about right. PetMountain.com. I also get Nylabone Dura Chew Bones there...the largest size...when my crew gets them to a size I'm nervous about I pass them on to a friend's smaller dog. Back to the jolly ball....A Yankee Cat's sister has/had an online store which is where I got the first one 5 or 6 years ago (forget the name of the site) It is still in GREAT shape. Not long after, I came across PetMountain.com....they were on sale so I got a second one as well as a 10 incher. Bill pulled the plug out of the 10 and added small stones to it, but didn't get the plug back in tight enough. After 3 years or so Dixie managed to work it out and chewed at the hole left making it bigger so that one went in the garbage. Anyway either a 10 or 14 inch should work for Bo...personally I'd go with the 14, but NOT smaller then 10. As you know and have seen from pictures Dixie LOVES her BIG ball