I've already set up a meet with my financial guy for tomorrow. It's the first time he has ever answered me within 5 minutes!

I'm already wondering if it is the right decision. All I have to do is look in the mirror at the bags under my eyes to know that it is.

Rick There's not enough money to make up for that kind of stress. You put up with it for too long! I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for you. Hope tomorrow's meeting goes well!

It was an interesting day.

I put my letter of resignation on her desk as soon as I got in. (She arrives 30-45 minutes after me.) She didn't mention it at all the entire day. She did tell the front desk staff and the back office lead, but nothing else.

She may be running scared. The new person that was supposed to start today isn't starting until the 25th. The other MA has already been having talks with her about leaving. The contractor has her last day on the 29th. All things considered, she is looking a tad bit screwed. But, hey, not my problem.

Glad you got through the day, Rick! Our mental health is priceless and sometimes overlooked… proud of you for taking care of yourself!

NOT your problem! You have been bending over backwards keeping things going there. I'm guessing if you and the other MA had been treated even a little bit better by her, she wouldn't be up against it now.

I agree with Chantell, time to take care of yourself now. Bet Larry just cheered when you handed in that letter. She's lucky you gave her 4 weeks notice, especially if that doesn't include any of your paid time off.

Jim was putting in more hours than he'd planned the past couple of months, too. He says he'll be done in July now, but I've noticed that date keeps getting pushed back. It's hard to let go knowing a program will suffer without you, but they have had SO MUCH time to line up people for him to train and mostly haven't done so. He is back to putting in 20 hours a week and taking 10 hours of vacation to make up the 30 hours required for full benefits, and he says he'll be flipping that to working 10 hours and burning 20 hours of vacation any time now. I'm trying to get him to set a firm date and just cash in any remaining vacation at that time rather than trying to maximize his benefits like this. As I may have mentioned before, Jim is SUCH an engineer!

I got my new Netherland Bulb Company spring bloomers catalog today. Soooo much temptation!

Very well said Jill!!! How's your leg feeling?

Chantell, thanks, I'm getting there! My physical therapist says we can wind things up with 2 more sessions, so this was a much quicker process than the post-surgical PT. Until we did the initial evaluation, I didn't realize I'd damaged muscles and strained ligaments both above AND below my knee. I guess I went down so fast when I slipped on the ice that I couldn't tell how much that leg got twisted. It could have been way worse, for certain, and I'm grateful! I've also come to realize just how helpful PT can be in accelerating the recovery process. I was healing, but with the massage and stretching and targeted exercises I'm healing a lot faster!

I added some lily bulbs to Lisa's NBC shopping cart. I have a bag of mixed oriental lilies from Costco to get into the ground, also! Most of my other Costco bulbs & bare root plants are potted up now, including tall garden phlox (4 varieties), hosta (2 varieties), tuberous begonias, bleeding hearts (managed to pick up 2 bags of the same variety in different trips), Siberian iris, and caladiums. Begonias and caladium tubers are on a heat mat in the basement; everything else is on the back deck. I do still have a bag of EE's to pot up (heat mat for them, too?), and it's probably about time to kick start my plumerias.

I picked up a bag of "mini" pine bark nuggets from Black Creek Nursery, and they were more like medium in size, not quite as huge as the large nuggets but definitely not the 1/2" to 1" size I was getting before. I have a couple older bags of actual "mini" nuggets (aka pine fines) from last spring but will need a new source after that. The ones we were getting at Meadow Farms are no longer "mini," as Terri found out last summer. If anybody finds a source, PLMK!

I use the mini pine bark together with compost for tropicals, especially plumeria. I did pick up several different types of compost at Black Creek, will let you know which ones seem best to me, but I think a blend could work really well. Got cow manure (dehydrated, extra dollar per bag but the bags are much lighter and possibly contain more product), mushroom compost, leaf gro type stuff (not the branded one), and the Land & Sea compost that they're always using on my favorite gardening you tube channel, Garden Answer.

When I was in GA right after college, a chef friend had a small organic farm supplying high-end herbs and edible flowers to area restaurants. He made the best compost the extension service had ever analyzed by combining live oak leaves (which fall in the spring) with crab waste (the nastiest stuff I've every shoveled into a truck). I wonder if Land & Sea is simlar?

I can check Season's for the VA pine fines. I know they have it, but don't know this years price.

Jill - soooo glad to hear your leg's on the mend!! I've never seen a PT for myself (work with a bunch of them though - if that counts LOL) but will keep your words in mind should one ever be suggested. Ohhhh tall garden phlox - is it fragrant?

Hey mid Atlantic folks and hello from Baltimore. I mostly hang out in the daylily forum but peruse things here from time to time.

Lately I have putting in time and effort in my woodland garden at the top of my hill




Lots of spring cleanup but it is definitely shaping up





I think I need to get some more daffodils bulbs next Fall. The ones I have were taken from elsewhere in the yard planted by previous owner. Most likely Ice Follies. Do you folks have favorites? I expect there are way too many choices.

(Another Jill)

Jillz - welcome!!! What a beautiful space you have...can't wait to see more pics!!!

Jillz, beautiful gardens! I really like the setting with the bench and the hellebores in your second photo. As far as daffodils, I am so drawn to the miniatures, division 5 triandrus, and division 6 cylamineus. I like the way these dainty flower forms look in my woodland gardens. A few favorites are 'Hawera' but it is harder to find these days, and 'Thalia' - a classic white triandrus, but there are so many more that I can call favorites too I have been building up a collection, mostly getting about 10-15 bulbs per cultivar vs planting en masse in drifts.

Thanks Chantell and Terri.
I looked up Thalia and it is going on my Want List.
I would love to see pics of your daffs Terri if you have some.

Jillz, I started playing with Instagram reels about a month or so ago and put this one together of some of my daffodils to the tune of "here comes the sun". You can view it on the computer at this link even if you don't have an Instagram account. If you do watch it, make sure to unmute it - for some reason Instagram always defaults to mute on me. The sound icon is in the lower right corner of the video reel frame.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2...

Delightful, Terri!
Hello, Jillz!
We used to have 2 Terris, and we have 2 Sally's so, 2 Jills is

I think I have Hawera; if they need thinning I'll mark them.
I have lots of old clumps, mostly standard like King Alfred, Ice Follies... probably 10 -12 different daffos in my yard though

Jillz!

I'd love to find a time that works for people to come over and dig daffodils -- when they're done blooming and before the leaves dry up and completely disappear. I have so many clumps that are getting too crowded to bloom well. Dig, replant half the larger bulbs, take the rest... sound fair? That way mine will bloom better, and I'll be able to share lots of fun varieties. I'm kinda nuts about daffodils. I'll try to stick some tags into clumps. Most of the original labels have vanished, but you may find tags when you dig. Anything from the double daff area or the butterfly daff area I can probably ID when it blooms in your yard. I do have Thalia, will see how thick those clumps are when they bloom (they're a late one).

Last year I managed to dig up most of the little daffodils at one end of the island bed and spread them around, but there are still some thick clumps of 'Ice Follies' in there as well as in the front bed. I'll have to think about the best system and timing for this...

Our lawn renovation got delayed until the end of the month, and Jim has been dragging his feet with regard to choosing new flooring and countertop material... all of which means my place isn't looking so good for the spring plant swap this year. But! I could host a daffodil dig in June instead. I'll post on the swap thread to see if anybody else would like to host, and if not we can go to Ballenger Creek Park (near my house) this spring.

I better get out in my own yard with labels asap,, if I hope to thin my daffs and have a clue about ID.
And where did my white dutch hyacinths go? I fear I dug them up and forgot to replant. They are nowhere to be seen.. do chipmunks eat them? I've had them several years doing great, can't imagine why they'd disappear in one year.

One of the things that really makes me smile every spring is one lone pink hyacinth that I planted in the fall of 1993 still surviving from a cheap bag of 5 picked up at one of the box stores. It was one of the first things that I ever planted here. As far as something eating them, I always thought hyacinth bulbs were poisonous - a quick google search is so contradictory - some say poisonous and left alone, some say squirrels and chipmunks...

Today's Fun Random Idea is a 2012 garden tour of Holly and Rics place in PA I hope they are well though we haven't heard from them in a long time.What an amazing property.