Is this an April Fools Joke?
Or is it really you?

Good to see you back up and running.

Good to have you back Annie, just sat down for a few minutes to check out what's up on the forum. Sounds like you ran into a gold mine, well... that's what we gardeners consider it :o). We're now allowed to keep 4 hens or ducks on city sized lots now soooo if I can get Basil the terminator to understand chickens are a no-no I just might get some hens myself.
Spring has sprung at least 2 weeks earlier than most years but am I out there in the garden, NO! I'm stuck in the house painting the last room to be tiled, we ripped the carpet out and emptied the room of everything other than my TV, Percy's tree (one of those multi level cat stands) and the daybed. The tiler is coming on the 12th. So until then we've got stuff stashed everywhere.
I'll be looking forward to pictures and what's happening in your neck of the woods.

Annette

Thanks Kathy!

No fooling. It is I!
Yuppers, it took my darling DH approximately ten minutes last night to fix my computer...after making out checks to pay all our bills. I guess he decided it would be better to get my computer up and running again rather than pay another high long distance phone bill. (oh my!) Bless his heathen heart.

But as for April Fool's Day...I told my mother this morning that I was pregnant. :[
She actually believed me! :0

Word to the wise - Don't ever tell your 83 year old mother such a thing. She laughed and feigned grabbing her heart when I said, "April Fool's!"

I found a dandy little garden tiller at WalMart today. Just my big. Has a 12 inch span and two separate handle bars for easier control. Tiny little gas tank. So, I called DH to tell him about it and see if we could swing it. I considered pulling a prank on him by telling him that I had already bought it and hoped he wouldn't really mind too much, but decided against it. I'm too young to be a widow. He would have had a stroke before I could have said, "April Fool's!"
I'm just too much Irish for my serious Scotsman to take sometimes. But he loves it, just the same. I make him laugh and he keeps me out of trouble. It's a good thing both ways.

~Annie

Hello there Annette!

I am so glad to be back on here chatting with you.
I could not tell from your letter that you don't like to write letters. It was very newsy and wonderfully interesting. I loved it. I love getting REAL letters in the post.

I am soooo thankful for spring to have finally arrived. Now, if I can just survive the next few weeks of pain and suffering while I my body & legs adjust to all the hard labor! I hurt all over!!!
See? I really need that adorable little garden tiller...

~Annie

Hey, there - I just popped in for one last browse of the CG forum before bed and here's Annie. Glad to see you back. Thanks for reminding me about checking the local horse farm for some "good stuff". The new neighbors that moved in last fall have a pet rabbit in an outside hutch - lots of good fertilizer there, too!

Goodnight. See ya' later.

Hi Annie!!! It is so good to see you here again!
Happy Spring!

Annie- I'm one of the newbies, but I've been looking through many of your old posts. There are so many great pictures of your gardens, but I was wondering...are you still planning to move your potager and put in the new arbor? I've been working on my potager plans all winter and I can't wait to get out and start digging (still too wet here).

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! Nice to see you back :)

Hi Anne - it's so nice to see you back. :o) I am really looking forward to seeing your all new pictures.

Take Care.

Annie, I have missed you! I have a link to your album and would even check it regularly to see if you were posting pictures. Computer troubles! I can relate to that but couldn't survive as long as you did without one.

So glad to have you back. I would think about you whenever I see the sedums greening up.

glenda

Annie ~ Glad you are back. Your gardens have always inspired me. You have such positive energy and a lovely home. I've not been around as much as I was but hope to be in here more regularly. Looking forward to hearing about your gardens and seeing pictures of them.

FlowerLady

Dear Annie, it is so good to have you back! I have missed reading your wonderful, sunshine-y posts. But at least your computer was fixed at the perfect time, when everyone starts posting beautiful spring pics again! ;-D
CMK

Good Morning, Everyone!

Thank you all for the "welcome back". I missed each and every one of you.

Stormy here today on this Good Friday. Dark and a bit chilly out. Good weather for gardens though.

Glad for the rain though. We've had high temps and high, dry winds this past week and wildfires every day. Nothing close to here, but close enough that I could smell the smoke. My dogs erupted in chorus with every firetruck that passed by over on the highway.(hehehe).

I took pictures of the gardens on the 31st. Glad I did, as the hot, dry winds dried out all the pretty yellow Jonquils later that day. Blasted hot winds ruined them before our Easter Sunday family picnic and egg hunt. They were magnificent in chorus with the yellow forsythias, white Bridle's Wreath, and Redbud trees now in full bloom all over the garden. My beloved Jane Magnolia is breathtakingly beautiful this year and smells so wonderful.

I planted out some Orange Perfection Phlox yesterday. Tried them last year, but they didn't make it. This rain may ensure these do. I dug around in the bin at the store until I found one, just one package with moist peat inside. Holding it up to to sunlight, I could just make out something possibly alive in that dark green plastic bag. Makes me mad to pay five bucks for dead rootstock. They are not the best looking root stocks I ever saw, but think they will make it. I only need one to survive to establish a nice clump this year for next year's blooms.

I also planted a package of purple Liatris and a package of Freesia bulbs for summer blooms. I love the smell of Freesia. Yummy.

All the Peonies are up and beginning to make tiny flower buds. Hopefully the red ones and deep magenta ones will bloom this year too. If they do, it will be their first time.

Some deer came into the yard this winter and ate the top branches off the one surviving River birch sapling, but it is recovering nicely now. I caged it with a tomato cage and for now they are leaving it alone. They are "camped" up on the hill, hiding in wait for my juicy, delicious roses to start blooming, no doubt. :[

I've been taking the dogs for walks up there every morning and hopefully their pee and poop will make them think twice about coming any closer to the back yard. My English Shepherd could easily take down a whitetail deer.

DH said this weekend he would finish stretching field fence around on the inside of the existing barbed wire fencing to keep out critters. That won't keep deer out, but it will keep our dogs in, so we can let them run loose on the property. That will be great. They need the exercise and I need them to do their job protecting the place. They love it, too. Hopefully the raccoons & coyotes will take the hint. Keep Out!
Anyhow, so far so good.

Gotta go check on my chicks. They poopy up their water really fast and will be ready for breakfast. :)

Talk to you guys later.

~Annie

Welcome back, sweet Annie! It's great to be reading your gentle and newsy posts again. I hope your peonies bloom this year. I have a Sara Bernhardt that is going into its fourth year without blooming, though my other peonies do well every year. Maybe this year will be the charm for both of us.

ThinMan

Welcome back! Great to hear what's happening.

Those pesky deer--sorry that they're invading your gardens.

While deer can jump high, they do not want to jump wide areas. A second fence, 4 feet away from the first fence, will do it. Of course, you can't use the same posts as the barbed wire, so that would add so much to the cost.

I use cheap, 32" high, temporary edging fence in two parallel rows, 3-4 feet apart when I am starting new plants and don't want them plowing through my deer resistant garden. The fence is from Lowe's and comes in 10 foot sections that link together. I move it around all the time. If I want to temporarily block my garden path, I just make a circle out of one section of edging and put it at the entrance.

Cameron

Welcome back Annie! That must have been rough not being 'connected'.

I'm 'sort-of-a-newbie' as don't do gardening forums in the winter, am too busy in the summer to post much, and don't have great pics to post as so many of you do. I look forward to seeing even more pics of your beautiful garden (I've had your photobucket albums bookmarked for awhile) and pics of your new chicks. I loved having chickens but don't anymore - it will be fun to see yours.

Nah,

I had other things to do and sitting really does a number on my circulation. I sit here too long as it is. Not good.

I spent the winter crocheting and reading and other things. I made some things for my big brother that he needed. Stayed busy. However, it is also the time of the year when I do most of my genealogical research. I found a lot of new information and wanted to upgrade my family history website. It is very much in need of bringing it up-to-date and adding new pages, photos, images and documents. But alas, that was not on the table.

I am still having problems with this thing. Bummer. Hope DH can fix it tonight.

The rain cleared off and the sun came out. Turned out to be a lovely day. I forced myself to go out and dig out more of those blasted cannas. They take over wherever I plant them - multiplying like rabbits! Out! Be gone with ya! I have two more big clumps to dig out and then three smaller ones and I will be rid of them. Maybe I can find a place for them where they can "breed" all they want. No, no, no....the thought of having to dig them out again just terrifies me. No, no. I have been digging for two months off and on. It is for the sake of the garden that they must go. Goodbye cannas and Hello roses! :)

Later all you dudes and dudettes!

~Annie

Annie - how delightful to see you - your gardens are always such a joy to look at - hope we get a chance to see your new chickes also - Welcome back ......

Lynne

Annie, I couldn't help but smile when I saw that you were back. I always enjoy reading your posts, you're such an artist with words.

Welcome back, Annie!

MeMo

Welcome back! We're going to get chickens this year too, so I will let you know how it goes this summer.

Happy gardening!