Thanks Sue, I was just asking because she mentioned she would be having eye surgery and wondered if she had already had the op and was in recovery.

A computer crash is very irritating! These days I feel absolutely lost without my pc and internet. Remember what it was like 30 years ago - goodness life has changed!

The roses I ordered arrived today and are soaking right now. I want to plant them tomorrow but think I will only do it after lunch when it is a bit warmer - high for tomorrow afternoon 37F opposed to 30F in the morning! Actually, I suppose it probably doesn't make much difference when I plant, I am still going freeze my b... off

I have already posted this on the THANKFUL thread, but I am getting a new computer today and will probably disappear for a while as it has a different operating system.

There will be a new learning curve and I am a bit uncertain about how long it will take me to catch on and be up to speed.

I've put this off for a long time, so I am truly technologically challenged ...

I went with a Linux operating system so I could get out of the Microsoft greed cycle. I don't want to keep spending my retirement savings on updating my computer and computer software. I'd rather spend it on the garden ...

btw ... my new computer already loaded with the new operating system which is just as powerful as MS 10 cost less that $100 ... a first step away from MS greed

My computer crashed a week ago, but now it's back. So much cat hair had accumulated in the case that it shorted out the power cord. Luckily, after the hair was vacuumed out, the case was replaced with a less open one, and the power cord was replaced, the computer was resurrected successfully, so I didn't lose a thing, although the new case doesn't seem to have a slot for my photo disk, so I'll have to figure that one out.

On the eye surgery front, things are not that good. The surgery is off the table for now. After they did a billion tests to make sure that the hemophilia didn't pose too much of a risk, a pre-op exam revealed glaucoma, which will have to be treated first (I'm dying by inches here). The good news is that the glaucoma should be easy to manage because it was caught so early, but the bad news is that cataract surgery can't be performed on eyes suffering from the pressure glaucoma creates.

I guess there's another piece of good news. I was in a hurry to get lots done before my surgery, but now I can take my time.

I missed a lot of holidays, so I'll post them below.

Zuzu ... glad to have you back ...

>>>> (I'm dying by inches here) ...

We are ALL dying by inches ... so we shall join you ....

The Rose of the Day for November 7th was Reconciliation.



This one comes with a little history lesson. November 7th was always the biggest holiday of the year in the Soviet Union. It was the day of those massive parades in Moscow's Red Square, with all of the soldiers, tanks, and missiles on parade, and the huge banners of Lenin and Stalin on display everywhere. It was called Revolution Day for short, but the full name was Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. You may wonder why the anniversary of the October Revolution was celebrated in November. The revolution began in Russia on 25 October 1917, but in 1917 Russia was still using the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used elsewhere. So when it was October 25th in Russia, it was November 7th everywhere else.

After the fall of communism, Boris Yeltsin changed the name of the holiday to the Day of Accord and Reconciliation, stating that it would honor not the revolution itself, but the victims of the revolution, the civil war, and the Stalinist purges. This was not a popular decision. Diehard communists and workers staged protests, went on strike, and rioted throughout the country, burning Yeltsin in effigy, on that day for the next two years, until he left office.

Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, ended the controversy by canceling the holiday. He instituted a new Day of People's Unity, to be celebrated on November 4th, and decreed that there would be no more celebrations of any kind on November 7th, but some Russians still celebrate it as the Day of Accord and Reconciliation.

November 8th was Election Day and there were two Roses of the Day.

November 9th was World Freedom Day, and the Rose of the Day was Freedom.

November 10th was National Forget-Me-Not Day. The rose of the day was Forget-Me-Not, more commonly known as Line Renaud and Dee-Lish.

My Rose of the Day for November 11th would have been Veterans' Honor, photos of which Lyn kindly posted in my absence.

Today, November 12th, is Fancy Rat and Mouse Day, so the Rose of the Day is Minnie Mouse, more commonly known as Roller Coaster.

Zuzu, I'm sorry to hear about your eye complications, but I'm glad you are back with the rose of the day. The choices for November 8th are perfect, and I liked the history lesson for November the 7th.

Then there is the subject of cats sabotaging computers - they definitely do! My cats can walk across the keyboard and cause the computer to do things that I can never duplicate. They also regularly trip the surge protector into which it is plugged, so don't think the hair thing was a casual accident. Cats can be jealous little people.

They certainly are! As soon as my local Geekgirl took away the computer, they started taking turns sleeping on the cable modem, so now my telephone is virtually useless because they somehow created a loud hum that precludes conversations.

Maybe that phone needs cat hair blasted out of it!

porkpal said:Cats can be jealous little people.

Cats are people ?

Good grief, PP, don't ever tell them that ! They already think they own us ... oh, please have mercy ..

Actually, I think they consider themselves to be superior to humans, and most of us allow it. It is when we do not respect their status that they attack our toys to get our attention.

Today is World Kindness Day. Charity is our Rose of the Day.

Some of these special days need to be more widely known and celebrated/practiced. Charity is a very lovely rose - and a good way to begin our observance of the day.

Today is International Girls Day. The Rose of the Day is Flower Girl.

Zulu,

I am very sorry that you are enduring both glaucoma and cataracts. On the positive side, I am glad that your computer problems have been resolved.

On another note, this is my first season for growing non-Knockout roses (i.e., Beverly, Dark Desire, Wedding Bells and Savannah). Now that the end of the growing season is approaching in my zone 6b garden, each of the four cultivars has put up a single tall cane, 6 - 7 feet in height and about twice the diameter of the largest of the other canes. Have others seen this kind of behavior in roses? How should I deal with it?

Zuzu, I really like the clusters on 'Flower Girl' - mass planted would look stunning!

Rose season 2016 is a thing of the past for me It could have been better!

November this year is nothing in comparison to last year. We only had our first frost/snow on 23 November last year and the season started early so we had three full flushes.
This is about half of what I cut on 20 November last year


This year we had late frost in the beginning of May which damaged a lot of the first buds. Then, very early frost in the beginning of October. The result: the first flush was so-so, the second good and only a couple of Oct/Nov blooms.
There aren't enough to cut for bouquets - just a few single blooms. Took these pics today....
Blue Gene, Edgar Degas, Summer Lodge

King's Macc, Sonnenkind, NOID

NOID rooted florist rose, Bonica


Not much left to do in the garden other than raking leaves and a bit of winter pruning.

Today is Republic Day in Brazil. The Rose of the Day is Star of the Republic, which probably has nothing to do with Brazil, but it looks like a gorgeous rose.