Marilyn said:I consider all the bulbs (1946 - the total of just the tulips came to 1402!) I ordered/planted & the many bags of organic matter I bought to improve the soil, my Christmas gifts!

We are both looking forward to next Spring seeing them all in bloom! I've never planted that many bulbs before in one season.

(forgot to mention) my hubby and I don't exchange gifts either, so that's why I considered the $$$ I spent on bulbs my Christmas gift.

Dutchlady1 said: MuddyKnees! We are glad you found us!

We received an unexpected bonus at work and I can guarantee you that by the time I have bought a few more plants, mulch, and rocks to border the paths it will be ALL GONE!

jvdubb said:I got a tricycle planter from my dad and a $100 gift certificate from DH to the foo foo nursery nearby. I usually only buy compost and topsoil from them. But I may save this for a new shrub to replace one that needs to go.

Merry Christmas everyone

What is the foo foo nursery, is that its name and what do they sell?

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I got a gorgeous stained glass frog wind-chime from my sister + pruners and seeds from DH and kid.

LOL Marilyn! I call it the foo foo nursery because they have crazy fancy stuff and their prices are exorbitant. But they do have nice plants and excellent service. Dirt is usually all I can afford there.

Happy holiday all,
No Christmas tree here but I received a cheerful text and a photo email from my daughters (too early) this morning;
then a knock on the door - a neighbor bearing a gift of Wisconsin cheese and lovely little smoked sausages;
another neighbor begging for beer - I already had his gift wrapped - gave him a warm hat and ...beer;
next came a neighbor's cat who wanted food, food, food (she comes everyday, not just on Christmas);
carried gifts of food, gardening gloves and hand knitted dish cloths to a neighbor's house;
received a lovely Torte cake with a billions layers of sweetness...mmmm...chocolate;
received a snappy little e-card from my cactus friend;
then on to the last house to give gifts to the young family of my 'adopted' grandbaby - she got her first teeth already, wow!
received two lovely blouses and an invitation to join them at the Chinese Buffet restaurant on Saturday.
Not a bad day for this old lady.
Hope everyone enjoys the day.

JulieB said:Merry Christmas to you all! I'm so glad I found people eager to talk gardening with such competence & passion!


Enjoy the day!

to ATP Julie! We're happy you're here!

jvdubb said:LOL Marilyn! I call it the foo foo nursery because they have crazy fancy stuff and their prices are exorbitant. But they do have nice plants and excellent service. Dirt is usually all I can afford there.

Good thing you got a $100 gift certificate from DH!

We don't *really* exchange gifts either; rather we get or have gotten things we would have gotten anyway & then hold them until Christmas & wrap them. Back in early Oct. we got a birdbath to replace one of ours so we just put it in the closet & brought it out & wrapped it. I also got a Permaculture gardening book "Gaia's Garden". And a surprise to my hubs but not to me was a hatchet which will come in handy for many garden chores. I just finished assembling the bird bath.

Hatchets are amazingly handy little things!!

Santa brought me a new birdbath, too. My old one broke a couple of months ago. (Santa brought that one too, probably about 15 years ago)

Karen

A pair of ergonomic garden clippers, which I hope will have mercy on my carpal tunnel, and a bag thing called a Roo that goes on like a chef's apron, ties behind the back, and has a fold up pocket. Fill it with vegies or whatever, then release the top fasteners and you can unload of your treasures at once, they just roll out the bottom!

We didn't put up a tree, lights or decorations this year because we'd both been under the weather. Hubby had a bad cold that he caught from his students before the holiday break and he kindly shared it with me but mine progressed to a bad case of bronchitis so neither of us had the strength for decorating. We got our Christmas gifts a couple of weeks early ... a 7 month old Golden Retriever we've named Boeing, "Bo" for short. My husband teaches in the aviation field so that's where the name Boeing came from; he had a different name when we got him but he never answered to it and the minute we started calling him Bo he responded ... so Bo it is. We had cats in the family for many years but this is the first canine we've had in our household in @ 28 years and we are having so much fun with him! He sure keeps us laughing with his antics but he's very smart and we're finding training him to be quite easy! He's a big, strong puppy at 75 pounds already and I still need some training with him on leash to keep him from pulling which we're working on. I also bought myself a Christmas present because I knew we were getting a dog. It's a dark brown hoodie sweatshirt with a huge blue dog paw print on front and the words "Walk with a friend" I told hubby he needed to buy himself a present so he did ... a 60" plasma t.v. LOL. We have three big televisions in this house already and we don't even watch a lot of t.v. except for an occasional basketball or football game during the season. I do like HGTV once in awhile and a station that used to be called GMC (Gospel Music Channel) where they played music during the day and aired family-type shows and movies at night. Earlier this year they changed the station name to UPTV (Uplifting T.V.) and it's my favorite channel because the only thing they air is family oriented shows; re-runs of the Walton's, Seventh Heaven etc. and family friendly movies. If a movie has any curse words, they are edited out. Don't get me wrong, I'm no angel and I've been known to say a curse word a time or two but as I've gotten older I've tried hard to be better and think before speaking and I just feel that there's been so much garbage on television for so many years that it's refreshing to have a channel nowadays that airs gentler, kinder shows.

Below is a photo of our Golden Boy; he'd been out in the yard, yanked a hunk of sod out of the ground and promptly ran to the screened porch where he jumped up on the settee and ate it. The pillows were first placed above the sofa because he wanted to eat them ... they've since been removed from the porch and stored in a closet because they were still within his reach.

Happy New Year everyone ... may 2014 bring you all many blessings!

No gardening gifts. I'm buying a new vacuum cleaner. How exciting! But needful.

Oh, we got a carpet shampooer too; which has come in handy with both me and the dog tracking dirt in. ... and the dog is a kinda, sorta gardening gift since he loves to be outside in the garden as much as I do. I just need to train him to understand that just because I dig to plant, it doesn't mean he has to dig holes everywhere too. He has been really good though ... he only dug one hole in an area where my husband put a fence post.

I received a couple more garden surprises for Christmas. My mom gave me a suet bird feeder in the shape of a giant 14" frog! LOL I have never seen a frog feed a bird let alone a frog hanging in a tree. This will definitely add some whimsey to the garden! A dinner guest brought me some tulip bulbs rooting in a glass vase. I have it sitting in a sunny window hoping it blooms for me. Any hints for this first time tulip grower? There must be 20 or so bulbs in there! btw, DH loved his garden scooter. He used the box for indoor target practice with my new BB gun! ETA: My neighbor brought over a beautiful giant red cyclamen! I used it as a centerpiece on my dinner table

@plantladylin
I am laughing out loud as I expected your husband to buy a suitable warm jacket or sweatshirt - but a huge television! Didn't see that one coming!

Your dog is beautiful. A 70 pound baby. Hope he gives you much joy and doesn't require too much use from the vacuum. Ha.

Luv that suet feeder. ♥

@shadygreenthumb: I love that suet feeder too! I've never seen one like it around these parts; very cute and I know the birds will enjoy their suet treats from that cute frog.

@greene: I think our Bo is beautiful too and he sure has brought a lot of joy into our lives already! Golden Retrievers are known to shed a lot but so far I haven't had to vacuum any more than usual. The dog has a very thick coat and he gets brushed/combed every day with a special comb to get to the heavy undercoat so maybe that's keeping the shedding to a minimum. Umm, regarding my husbands Christmas present to himself ... we live in Florida and my husband has never worn a sweatshirt in the almost 48 years I've known him. He's not fond of long sleeves at all. Most days of the year he wears a short sleeved dress shirt and tie for teaching but every so often he'll wear a long-sleeved dress shirt. He has a couple of light weight jackets and will wear one if temp's drop below 50º but he doesn't like heavy jackets at all.