Nah...just some gardening awards at the banquet. If they could see what the garden looks like now, they'd probably take them away!

Last Friday I bought a half dozen strawberry plants and got them planted on Monday. I used a half whiskey barrel pot that I filled with potting soil. Actually, I only put five plants in that because I was afraid they would be too crowded...the last one I put in a pot by itself. I'd forgotten how big that whiskey barrel thing is and was afraid I would run out of the potting soil before I got it filled! I wanted to get a pic of them today, but the weather was too misty.

Planned to go to the lake today because it was supposed to be a bright sunny day. It's dreary and misty here too.

We were catching a possum or raccoon nearly every night at the hole in our fence between neighbors and us. Finally took the cage out and closed up the hole yesterday. (DH got tired of driving them to the farm). This morning we had a raccoon in the trap/cage that we forgot to close when we moved it up to the patio. Just shaking my head.

And that's why we won't plant strawberries this year. I don't know how to protect anything from the raccoons. Looking forward to your photo, Linda!

Strawberry plants with a few flowers and fruit. And some pansies I repotted last week!

Nice and healthy looking plants. I passed by some kumquat and orange trees at Costco the other day. The very same ones , but smaller, were at Lowe's yesterday. Costco-$19.95, Lowe's-$29.95. If they have any left at Costco tomorrow, I think I'll get a couple.

Did anyone see the meteor?

Sandi.....Those raccoons heard about the free vacation trip to the farm! Everyone wanted to go!

Those pesky raccoons are going too far. Now they're eating the new growth on the water lilies they ate to nubs last year. My gardening friend tried to talk me into "teaching them to swim" in the pond...in the trap

If gas gets too expensive, DH might have to start calling them a taxi to take them to the farm! He took a possum today. One of these days there will be an article in the paper about the mysterious and unusual concentration of wildlife roaming in a particular area.

Sheila, I could Fedex one to you if you're interested? Two or three, even four!

Nope....Have my own thank you!

We take them down to a city park that has a wild wooded area and release them.

Okay, I'll trade you two very noisy squirrels in an empty cage, and one large possum in the squirrel trap. Both caught the same morning.

There must be an art and science to catching and releasing these critters

Just saw a show on mammals on PBS...The Life of Mammals, I think. So, in the last half they started talking about mammals that successfully take advantage of human towns and cities. Of course, raccoons were one of the two main stars in that part. Very interesting!

It's been a long day. DH has been really sick, but didn't want to go in to get it checked out. Finally, we went to the VA in San Antonio, took just about the whole day (Urgent Care had the longest wait...many hours before even being seen, xray not so bad, pharmacy over an hour). He has Bronchitis...hoping the medication will help.

So sorry, Linda. Could it be brought on by allergies? Seems everyone here is coughing and sick from all the pollen and the wind blowing it around. Hope the meds work for him. Most men usually just wait too long to go to the doctor! Take care of yourself too
We ran up to the lake today. Everything was so green. Spotted a few wildflower patches along the highway. Haven't had time to go up to check on the house in months. Last year at this time, we turned on the water and it spewed thru the broken pipes all in the walls. Had flexible pipe to replace it all. Seems to have worked. Of course, it hasn't been as cold either. Picked up sticks in the yard, ate lunch, and came home!

Linda, I hope your DH is feeling better real soon.

Thanks! Could be allergies...but then, too...he's still smoking! Long-time smokers are especially prone to Bronchitis...my daughter is a pulmonary specialist, she could swear to that.
Actually, I've had allergy problems since January, when the Arizona Ash started blooming especially early...I'm a bit allergic to ash. That kind of ash pollen is petering out a bit now, thank goodness. I'm thinking of taking an axe to my Arizona Ash, even though it does make the bees really happy in late winter.

We took DGS to the Sunshine Community Garden Saturday early morning to pick out tomato plants for his garden. Thought we'd go early and beat the crowds. It was packed! it was also windy and cold!

People who don't have the room to garden at home can rent spaces and have a place to grow. They share the bounty with each other and also furnish fresh vegetables to some of the food banks. There's even have a program to teach the blind to plant.

They had long lines to get into the greenhouses, a huge tent set up for all the varieties of tomatoes, and fairly easy check out lines. We ran into lots of garden club people we knew. The best part of the morning was taking grandson into the mini garden for children to pick their own veggies. One of the gardeners showed T where to pull up the carrots. He was soooo impressed! They had all different kinds of carrots, including A&M maroon ones! At the exit of the garden, the lady offered to wash the carrots so T could eat one. He declined, opting to take them home to show his parents.

We came back to our house and planted his tomatoes and sowed two kinds of carrot seeds. ( I hope they come up).

Sandi I was out there with some friends pretty early too! The lines were crazy! I got some tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and some herbs. I'm going to be putting some shadecloth this year so they don't get burned like last year.

We didn't even try to go into the greenhouses. The lines were too long. I really wanted to go into the herb gh. If it wasn't so far from our house, I'd have a plot there! Lots of nice, helpful folks.

We started a small garden on the side yard by the rain tank. I think it's going too get too much shade from the fence. Another good idea gone bad! I have two tomatoes that are the Club Cultivars to grow for the flower show. Large cherry tomatoes.

I still have too many plants to get out of the ghs. Backyard looks like a junk yard. The garage is full of plumerias that I yanked out of the ground when we had the first freeze. I don't have a good spot for them, except behind the pond....and I ordered another one from the co-op. It's a sickness, I think. I want to go to Wimberly and get some tropicals too.

I picked up nothing but funky-colored tomatoes this time around - because I could! Mostly purple varieties. DH was disturbed by the sunsweets I picked up at Costco last week. That'll teach him!

Towards 11am the lines eased up pretty quickly. They had plenty of everything (except a few select tomato varieties) and all the items I picked up were wonderfully healthy. The tomatillos are already in bud! The only tiny ones were the basil I chose and the flat leaf parsley, but both are growing quickly. Hope to have everything in the ground this weekend. Hope.