Interesting, it appears a few threads have just been disappeared. Seems like the Garden Web server gremlins are quite busy these days causing technical snafus.

At the same time I think the fact that you look after your Mother the way you do is very heartwarming. We raise our kids trying to do right by them, but at some point we can't raise them any more and truth be told we will end up depending upon them to take care of us.

Your mother obviously did a really good job to raise a son who with sufficient ethics and morality to look after her and consider her the way you do. I would consider myself ultra blessed if my own kids did that for me when they were grown.

So what's missing, aside from the 'Mantra' thread?

Al

The whole thread up and disappeared? Very interesting... I didn't even notice just now... hmmm. Well... I think we can probably guess what happened. ;-)

I would be honored to post some pictures for your Mom, Mike... and so, without further adieu...

The Babes...

Mom (Maia) and her brood...
{{gwi:57207}}

Olde Bulldogge pups...
{{gwi:57209}}

{{gwi:57210}}

The Blooms!

Hippeastrum "Sweet Lilian"...
{{gwi:57211}}

Hippeastrum "Pasadena"
{{gwi:57212}}

The Jungle...

The East Window Alcove...
{{gwi:55468}}

Hippeastrum "Lady Jane"
{{gwi:57213}}

Another view of H. "Lady Jane"...
{{gwi:57214}}

The South Window...
{{gwi:57215}}

A few of the last roses to bloom this year...
{{gwi:57216}}

{{gwi:57217}}

{{gwi:57218}}

{{gwi:57219}}

And the last bouquet of the season, from our gardens...
{{gwi:57220}}

{{gwi:57221}}

{{gwi:57222}}

Thanks for your request, Mike... I hope Mom enjoys them! And I hope she's feeling better. She's lucky to have such a dedicated son... I only hope my kids are there for me when I need them. I believe they will be... they're great kids!

So what's missing, aside from the 'Mantra' thread?

I was having a conversation with a poster on Oahu about stuff including my reminiscing fondly of having lived their. The post was started tonite and disappeared tonite.

Absolutely nothing in the post to warrant mod removal, has to be a glitch in the system.

Sweeeeet, Jodi!! Great pics. The pups are soooo cute. ;o)

JaG - Must be a glitch. I was searching for something I posted to copy/paste to another forum and I noticed the 'Mantra' thread was still in the archives, so they didn't delete it.

Al

Gremlins, Fairies, and Trolls... Oh My!

So it seems to be just the usual gremlins that mess with GW at times. That's cool. I didn't think anything was even close to bad enough to be removed.

Jodik,
The pups are just so beautiful!!!! Boy looks like you and that littla mama had your hands full.. LOL!

I know Mikes mom will love seeing them. I recently shared some of my own pups with Mike and his mom. ;) And they know the heartache I still have from getting them a new home! LOL..

It was so hard to part with them, I dont know how you do it! I think my dog is prego again! ARGH! LOL!! (Mike may have new pics for mom in about 8wks~ LOL!)

The Plants are so beautiful too!! Such huge happy blooms!
is that salvia tucked in the arrangement? What a nice touch! I can't wait for spring! LOL!!!

I agree with you and justaguy! Mikes mom did a great job! He's a wonderful person to get to know!

I too hope my son turns out like Mike. :)

JoJo

Thanks, JoJo! That's actually Pineapple Sage tucked in the bouquet.

Pineapple Sage is it's common name... I can't recall the Latin... it's a plant from Central America, I believe, and it's only supposed to be an annual in my neck of the woods. We purchase at least one starter plant every spring, and I save a large space in a perennial bed for it. It can get shrub-like in size. It grows green all spring and summer, but when the cooler days of autumn arrive, it begins throwing out gorgeous red blooms! And it doesn't stop until frost gets it!

Even though our winter was quite harsh last year, some of the Pineapple Sage seeds survived to start a nice patch at the end of our Bulb Bed. It's one of my favorite garden annuals, and always worth growing, I think!

This is Maia's first litter. She's 3 years old. We won't breed her for at least 2 or 3 years, now... the request list has to be good and full before we even think about a breeding!

We've been breeding/working with American Bulldogs for the past 30 years, or so... and with the Oldies for the last 15 years. Neither breed was "finished" when we began, but after 30 years of careful research, crunching data, and breeding, we have 2 finished breeds that are what we call the "Total Package", and a reputation within the world of Mollossors that we're very proud of.

It never gets easy to see pups leave... but I know they all go to great homes, so that eases my mind a lot. We usually have a long waiting list, comprised of dedicated Bulldoggers who don't mind waiting for the best specimen for their situation and needs. We don't advertise, and our clients are strictly through word of mouth.

The time in between a request and the actual breeding gives us plenty of opportunity to get to know the people who will be providing homes for our pups. Owning a dog a huge, lifelong commitment... and we like to be certain that commitment is there!

Yes... Mike is a peach! His Mom should be proud. I don't know him very well yet, but just the fact that he cares enough to be with her and help her out speaks volumes.

When my Mom developed acute leukemia late in life, she asked me to come stay with her... I dropped everything and went to care for her. I feel that's the least I could have done... after all she did for me, and after all the hell I put her through as a rebellious teen. Our parents sacrifice so much for us, to help make us into the adults we become... the very least we can do is give some of that back.

Here are a few more for Mom, Mike...

Rose Bouquet... from the gardens.
{{gwi:57223}}

Chicago in summertime...
{{gwi:57224}}

{{gwi:57225}}

{{gwi:57226}}

{{gwi:57227}}

St. Francis, the patron saint of animals... looking over our gardens...
{{gwi:1296}}

Harry, the barn cat... more of a cat in a dog suit, really!
{{gwi:57228}}

And a few more roses from the gardens...
{{gwi:57229}}

{{gwi:57230}}

{{gwi:57231}}

{{gwi:57232}}

{{gwi:57233}}

{{gwi:57234}}

I hope Mike's Mom enjoyed the pictures... and I hope she feels good today! :-)

MY GOD!!!!!! I am at a loss for words, thankyou..

When my mother gets up and is feeling better later, I will put her on so she can see these beautiful pictures and kind words...Those are the cutest dogs if I may..Look at them all looking at us..lol. What flowers too! Great pictures! Thankyou!

I it is safe to say I am greatful for all of you here!!:-)

Was out shoveling this am, since 500 am. We got at least 2 feet of snow around here and it's not done snowing..I will take some pics for you all. Just got up from another rest since I myself may have phenmoia and am exhausted..I am off to the docs tommorrow..

I am so greatful to know you all, and you know what, all your kids will trun out just fine...Justaguy, Jodik, Jojo, thankyou, if the are anything like you..

Al, once again thankyou for being the glue that binded us all together and saved our plants from the gates of hell!

Mike

GORGEOUS PICTURES Jodi...WOW, I had a lot of fun looking at those. Thanks for taking the time to post them.

Mike, I hope your Mom is feeling better today. Say hello to her please :o)

Jag, I agree GW is def. having some technical difficulties the last several days now...hopefully everything will be up and running soon.

OK...Talking to my mother this am, she did see them Jodik...In fact I told her I was going to leave a space for her to comment, after I went to bed and she did. But it's gone.

Oh well, you probably never got a chance to see what she had to say, so she still wanted you to know what she thought..Here we go again....

Mike:-)

My mother..

Jodik, I would like one of those little faces, and I am serious. I have always loved boxers. They are so elegant yet so strong. My son will talk to you in e-mail about a possible chance next time maybe.. The bouquet of flowers you sent me has me feel so much better. The good part about this is that these flowers will not die. I can look at them over and over again. I say that plants respond to love. That must be so, because all of you sound so loving.Thankyou for caring. No wonder my son likes being here so much.
I have a deep love of dogs. Have you seen the pictures of Jojo's dogs? So adorable they are.
I once went to the pound recently and that was a horrible experience. I couldn't bare to see all those sad faces. I went there out of curiosity, and came out crying all the way home. I wished I could of taken them all home. Jodik, your dogs are so cute.
I am not that computer savy, sorry for this. I have to type one letter at a time. I am from ole school, so please excuse my spelling errors and thankyou for allowing me the time to be here in such good company. It took me a long time to write this, but worth the time. Someday I may be back once I get use to this technology. I must admit that I have told my son to post a few ideas of my own in the past. I like this place, except for the mean people, like the one that I saw last night that is no longer here.
I hope you all stay well.
Thankyou

Thanks very much, Mike's Mom! Mike is more than welcome to email me about dogs. I hope you're feeling better... it's definitely no fun to be cooped up indoors with an illness, in winter. I'm more than happy to share my gardens and flowers with everyone... isn't that what it's all about, anyway?

Don't worry at all about misspellings or typing errors... not everyone is tech savvy. I wouldn't be, myself, if it weren't for my husband... he's a self-taught computer geek from way back when! We used to have old Commodores in the garage, though I have no idea what he was saving them for!

We began getting a little snow early this morning, and now, it's really coming down! I don't know how many inches are predicted, but I can tell we're heading for a White Christmas!

I just hope the roads are cleared by the 23rd... we'll be packing everyone up and heading north to see the kids and grandkids, and to drop off a load of pups to their new owners. That should be a fun trip! Four hours in an Escort wagon with a crate full of yipping puppies!

Thanks very much for all the compliments, everyone! What began 5 years ago as a blank yard with nothing but a few trees, has become a wonderful conglomeration of bulb and perennial beds, English Style rose gardens, raised vegetable beds, sun and shade gardens, and a small but growing own-root hardy rose nursery!

My partner and I hope to have a small to medium sized greenhouse erected next spring... although, we've been planning that for 3 years, now... and we'll use it to start our rose cuttings. We're specializing in truly hardy, own-root roses... mainly old fashioned and hard to find varieties, although we'll have Canadian, Iowa Buck, some English, German, and other rose types, too. There are so few rose sellers in our area, and it seems that the majority of rose plants are grown in Texas, or are grafted varieties that just don't do well in northern gardens.

Roses and perennials are my outdoor passions, but indoors, I'm addicted to Amaryllids, and trying to grow orchids!

No... I haven't had the pleasure of seeing JoJo's dogs yet... I do hope she posts some pictures!

Don't get me started on dog rescues and shelters... I'll never get off THAT soap box! There's no reason for our nation to have such an overwhelming dog and cat population problem... and if more breeders and owners took real responsibility, we wouldn't have a need for pet rescues and shelters!

We live in such a capitalistic, disposable, consumer driven society... it seems that everything is created to be used and discarded. This mentality seems to carry over into the area of our pets, too, because so many people get pups or kittens or other baby animals, never realizing that these are living, breathing, feeling animals, completely at our mercy. They require a lifelong commitment, and yet, so many people dump them once they find out a little work is necessary, or some training is involved, or they get bored... it's so sad.

I can't even watch the Humane Society commercial on tv without weeping like a baby... just thinking about all those innocent, defenseless animals that are abused, or dumped, or unwanted. Owning a pet is a lifetime responsibility, and breeding is an even bigger responsibility. We owe it to our animals to do it right.

Ok... I'm climbing off my soap box now... it's a subject that irks me no end...

Mike, take care of yourself... pneumonia is not something to mess around with! If you get too sick, who will take care of YOU?

And now... since everyone is having such a good time... here are a few more pictures from earlier this season...

{{gwi:57235}}

{{gwi:57236}}

{{gwi:57237}}

{{gwi:57238}}

{{gwi:57240}}

{{gwi:57242}}

{{gwi:57244}}

{{gwi:57246}}

{{gwi:57248}}

{{gwi:57250}}

{{gwi:57251}}

{{gwi:57252}}

{{gwi:57253}}

{{gwi:57254}}

And that concludes our garden tour for this evening! :-)

Thank you for joining me... it's nice to look back at the gardens of summer... especially since it's still snowing out there! Yikes!

My photo album online contains over 2 thousand and forty something images of flowers, family and pets... in no particular order, other than as they were taken and uploaded. I'm happy to share my garden accomplishments... and I'm glad they have the power to make you all smile!

Happy Holidays!

Oh, my! Now there's some lovely color for the Holidays!Thank you for sharing these pictures! I know that it isn't exactly easy to co-ordinate images and posts on GardenWeb, but I certainly do appreciate the effort involved! Cheers, friends.
I hope you're all tucked in warm. Out here in the West, the Solstice countdown begins!

Josh

A lovely thread. Thank you to everyone who participated. I wish I had something lovely to add to the magic.

Insomnia has me once again, so instead of tossing and turning... how about a little more magic...

{{gwi:57255}}

{{gwi:57256}}

{{gwi:57257}}

{{gwi:57258}}

{{gwi:57259}}

{{gwi:57260}}

{{gwi:57262}}

{{gwi:57263}}

{{gwi:57264}}

This is one of my patio pots tucked among the garden plants...
{{gwi:57265}}

{{gwi:57266}}

{{gwi:57267}}

Miniature Roses...
{{gwi:57268}}

{{gwi:57269}}

{{gwi:57270}}

A strange container...
{{gwi:57301}}

{{gwi:57302}}

{{gwi:1307}}

These are just some of the pictures from last spring and summer... I hope everyone enjoys them! This is what keeps me busy, and very happy, during the nicer weather!

It's a lot of work... but so worth the effort!

Hi all.
I've read posts and sure have enjoyed all the pics!!! Mike thanks for requesting this thread! It has been alot of fun!!!

I will post a few pics now...:)

Here is the parents of the pups...
Mom, Bitsy (tan dog) is a mix of Chiuahuah, toy poodle and terrier. (gosh I hope thats right! I can never remember the spelling! UGH! lol)
Dad,Rowdy, the redish brown, is a mix of Chiuahuah, and mini pincher. Both are the worlds largest love bugs!!!

I will try and get a few better pics later today...

{{gwi:57303}}

Just a few days old with mama..
{{gwi:57304}}

grown up! 10 wks. old...Shorty on the left and poo bear on right.
{{gwi:57305}}

This is priceless.. Shorty sticking his tounge out.. LOL!
{{gwi:57306}}

Free for all tug of war with big brother Goober! LOL! poor cat thinks he's a dog.
{{gwi:57307}}

Here's Goober, the worlds largest paper weight..LOL!
{{gwi:57309}}

Well that's it for my babies for now.. maybe later I'll post a few of my plants..:)

Have a great day everyone and keep the pics coming! What a fun thread!!!

Thanks Mike!!

Hope mom and you are feeling a little better and enjoying these!

Jojo

I love it..I love this thread!!!

Thankyou Jojo and Jodik for such generousity and much love behind these pictures...It just lifts our hearts and spirits up!

They are so cute and very beautiful..Ditto from my MOM..

You are a bunch of special people, and I hope everyone stays safe..

Maybe I will post a couple of pics of the few containers I have in the snow, and one of my nemises too..lol

Hugs to all..

6 days and counting....Aren't our pets and families, and oh yah plants everything???? :-)

Mike;-)

JoJo, they're so cute! Look at those little faces! :-)

I so wish I wasn't allergic to cats, but I break out in hives and have asthma attacks every time I get too involved with one. We do have the barn cats, and I can interact with them a bit... but then I have to wash my hands, or the itching and sneezing begin!

This is Maia as a youngster...
{{gwi:57310}}

And her mother, Emma...
{{gwi:57312}}

This is Huck, the sire of the current Maia litter...
{{gwi:57313}}

I don't have a picture of Maia's sire, but picture a larger, more muscular male version of her! His name is Juggling Toad... Toad for short... don't ask, he belongs to my son!

Knowing what Maia's sire and dam look like, it's easy to see where the coloring and other characteristics come from... and knowing what the parents of the current litter look like, you can see the genetic path being forged! It's incredibly interesting when you know the histories, the pedigrees, behind the animals... and you can see, and sort of manipulate the genetics a bit to obtain the characteristics that make up that "total package".

There's an ugly side to breeding, as well... and one that quite a few breeders never take into account. Keeping a gene pool clean and free of inherent problems, while also keeping it strong and stable, takes a lot of study and work. It takes a certain amount of sacrifice, balancing between compassion and commitment. It's really an art form.

Well... it's time to feed and clean the hoards again! I shall return to share more!

Thank you for the compliments... it's my pleasure to share a glimpse of my life with you all!

I'll leave you with this... Hippeastrum "Papillio Butterfly", one of the most beautiful of these bulbs...
{{gwi:57315}}

Wow...!!

Jodik...I we are ever to buy a dog from anyone, it would be you for sure...Did you say somewhere, I think you did, that you grow roses to sell or was it something else..If you are an ebayer. especially for hard to roses, those beauties that you have, I am in...

As for a pup down the road, we'll leave that for later..lol

I am coming so close to starting a buld collection for my mother..If I decide too, would you help us with it..My mother is prodding me to do so...Bad thing bringing her here..lol

Mike..:-)

Yes, Mike... my gardening partner and I are starting a small own-root hardy rose nursery. We began collecting mother plants a few years ago, and went really nuts last season buying and planting young shrubs, climbers, ramblers, miniatures, and other rose types.

Every plant we carry must be able to survive in our climate with a minimum of effort. I refuse to go through the motions of babying any plant in my garden, and if a plant can't make it with just a good layer of mulch, than it can't live here.

I don't do rose cones, burlap, digging and burying, or any other form of excessive work. If a few inches of mulch aren't enough... oh well. Our winters are very unpredictable, and I have physical limitations. I don't want to have to work too hard or worry too much about my roses.

One of my favorite rose types are the miniatures. They're really gorgeous, don't require much except feeding and a light pruning, and most are hardy in the northern zones because they're always grown on their own rootstock! They're usually continuous bloomers, and flower from spring to frost!

One of my favorite miniatures is called "Teddy Bear"... it's a coppery orange color that fades to a salmony pink... just beautiful! Another is "Green Ice"... it's white in warmer weather with green tinges, but the cooler weather brings out the greenish tones. Another beauty!

I don't sell roses on Ebay... but I'm sure we could work something out. I would certainly be willing to help you choose some hardy roses that would do well in your environment, and perhaps we could work out a trade.

There are actually a lot of nice roses bred for northern gardens now.

When it comes to dog ownership, I think the mistake a lot of people make is not researching enough... not fitting the type of dog into their lifestyle and living situation. People are very visual... they see a cute face on a pup and don't take into consideration how big the dog will get, what type of exercise it will require, how much training it will need, its breed traits, etc...

Different breeds have different needs, although I believe every breed of dog should have basic obedience training, at the very least.

Our dogs are Olde English Bulldogges, not to be confused with the English Bulldog, which is a walking genetic mess, for the most part. Our dogs average 40 to 65 pounds, and do require a bit of exercise. But because they are more mid-sized, they can fit into a slightly smaller living situation than, say, a large breed.

See? You get me started talking about the things I love, and now I can't shut up! :-)

It's feeding time at the zoo... again!