I would like to assure Cynthia that there are plenty of us who "still work for a living" who have no trouble at all with EST and have little difficulty squeezing the limited sunlight into our physical activity routine. Sounds more like a scheduling problem to this girl scout. ;) Hope your sister's recovery is moving along in the proper direction and doing so predictably. Is she home now? Good to hear that warmer temperatures are assisting in ice removal. Our driveway is pretty slick and I worry about Rex slipping, sliding, and wrenching something in the process (only to protect our investment, mind you). "Dog bowling" helps and directing him over the snow covered lawns after a day-glo tennis ball limits the risk. In his "frail elderly" phase I'd be worried about Monty, IF I didn't hate dogs, that is. Did Cynthia take both Dannie and Hope "on the road" yesterday (excellent suggestion, Woody)? Why does Chloe have wear booties, Cindy? is it protection against the nasty stuff they lay on accumulated ice to get it to melt? I imagine that at her size ingesting even a little of it by licking off her paws could do some damage. I understand today is the Superbowl... like I care? I suppose the pre-game show will start by 10 AM and the post game wrap-up will linger into the predawn hours of tomorrow... . Sounds like a PERFECT day to get out and tackle errands, if you ask me! Do trials greatly increase your work load at the awfice, or is it just that the work load changes character? The Camellias are beautiful! I have to admire them from afar, I'm afraid, even many of the beautiful Hydrangeas don't perform well here, too often nipped by late frosts if not securely bundled up. Interestingly, the winter lows are not what zaps 'em, it's those late (May) frosts that do 'em in. It will be some months yet before any thought of getting out and working in and around the yard begins to invade the space between my ears. But is sure is fun to read about the exploits of others. Any chance you'd take a closer shot of the foliage for me? we had an arrangement at work that I THINK may have used Camellia leaves... very pretty. Power to you on the decluttering, Kathy. It's sometimes hard to get started but once you're rollin' the feeling of accomplishment is great. V., I heartily recommend tackling the basement! I haven't enjoyed a project as much in a very long time. Sure, it's a ton of work, but it's the sort of thing that's right up my alley; requires good planning, mastery of some new skills, and methodical execution. Best of all, I've refused to be daunted by a helpmeet whose partipation can range from downright sullen to wonderfully inspired, and THAT'S made a big impression. It's gratifying to see a new, useful space emerge in "glorious living color", too. I'd say you guys are due for a bit of a "spruce up" and a wedding seems like a perfect reason to do it. VERY exciting about your new ring, any chance we can get some more information on that? I have all the "family jools" from Mum's side of the family, nothing terribly valuable, but some interesting pieces. I'm absolutely amazed at how tiny they are... several won't make it over the second knuckle on my left (smallest) ring finger! Did "Luck Be A Lady" last night? (listening to lots of Billy May arrangements lately and it reminds me of your DD and her trumpet). Julie, you were clearly on fire yesterday with respect to one-liners, I'm not sure you overlooked one opportunity in your inspired post. :) Yes, the mopboards will be pickled to match the window trim and the stairwell railing. The "new" rule in this house is that nothing is put in the 'frig. without a cover and all vegetative matter is to go into the crispers. I found one too many cans with contents identifiable only because they had labels on them. Dessicated tomato paste with mold on it is so "yesterday". ;) Mercifully, we have the ultimate recycling opportunity; fully mobile, and sporting a snug-fitting fur suit. I've been thinking of you Woody. Every time I look out the windows and survey the winter landscape I wonder how you arrive at the spacing for shrubs/trees in your fantasy landscape plan. Do you plant with mature size in mind or for immediate effect, relying on future thinning/pruning/limbing to keep things in order? And I have to do some "scale" drawing pretty soon, too. Only this time it will be for the upcoming floor project and will be pretty easy... just simple geometry. How's your printing progressing? Hi to Eden (has she been outdoors in 2 weeks?), Michelle (who we know will slog through drifts to get to the compost pile), Jerri (the purple footed one), Sue (who's either working or lying about it to cover her Facebook tracks), and so many others... and also, beleaguered Marian, holding down the fort in an ice-coated world. Camera back yet, Deanne? While shingles may be itchy and uncomfortable I won't start worrying about your unhappy condition until you begin dragging your backside over the carpet... hang in there! OK, time to think about what could be the final assault on woodwork, you guys...

Here's my two cents... After obsessing over the possibility that some of my beloved plants have the MV, I have decided to keep them. I'm fortunate (thanks to the Great Recession) to have bought a property that has loads of room and therefore, the suspected plants will live far away from the rest. Many of those I suspect are virused are special to me. I will attempt to pollinate the ones that I can, but knowing genetics, its a crapshoot! Regarding pots and sanitizing.... I can't say whether or not what Josh says what he heard is true or not; however, I can tell you of my experience. I grow all of my hippies hydroponically... same with my orchids. The medium is called hydroton and is essentially expanded clay-- same stuff as the clay pots we use. The pots and the hydroton are porous and porous enough to absorb sanitizers and even bleach. In fact, its difficult to rinse these things out! However, the key is time. When I sanitize hydroton, it goes into a bucket with a bleach solution for a month plus. Having spoken with master gardeners who grow their orchids the same way as I, I can tell you them do the same and never passed any illnesses. Take this with a grain of salt-- but it has worked for me.

Congrats on the fledging and the second nesting. I am very anxious for the fledging of our nestlings, because it will be our first successful fledging. I'm also bummed that we will most likely be on vacation when they fledge: we are leaving for a week starting on the 11th, and today is their 8th or 9th day. I have no idea if they will stick around or not...hopefully I can atleast see them once when we get back just to be sure that they made it and are safe. Maybe mine will fledge late so I get to see them, however it is very doubtful since it is late in the season and I'm providing mealworms; I'm really just hoping for healthy fledglings. I think my TRES will be fledging today or tomorrow. I have been seeing heads poking out and hearing a lot of wing-flapping.

OK, we're not finished but here are some progress pics. First, a big thank you to my wife who has really jumped in and helped me a LOT on this! A few generic comments- we've still got some planting to do, particularly around the gazebo. So it's not 100% complete. As mentioned above the plants are spaced for their mature size. So they look a little spread out right now, but they'll grow into place. The Bermuda grass is just coming out of dormancy, so it looks pretty wimpy in the pics. This first picture is the view from the driveway and sidewalk approach. There's a Siren Red Crepe Myrtle accent with a couple of Cordyline Red Sensations next to it. Veriegated liriope and dwarf mondo grass fill in the area in front and a border of Red Muhly Grass is behind. I discovered that spring is a bad time to buy Muhly Grass because it's not growing yet and is therefore hard to find except in small size. It'll eventually fill in and create a solid border though :-) The below pic shows a red banana tree (which was battered by high winds a couple of days ago, that's why the leaves are torn) surrounded by Pee Dee Gold Liriope with some Dwarf Mondo grass in front of that. That's a Tonto (red) Crepe Myrtle in the back. The grass is Mexican Feather Grass and is beautiful when the wind blows it! There is going to be a large Koi pond in front of the gazebo with an arched bridge connecting the patio to the gazebo (that's why nothing is planted there).The small bush/ tree outside of the bed is a fruiting Pomegranate tree. They only grow to about 10'. Below is the back of the gazebo with a Texas stepping stone to the backyard area. The small plants surrounding the rock area are an interesting new variety of Asian Jasmine called "Salsa". The leaves are beautiful- red, green and yellow all on the same leaf! It is not supposed to be as invasive as regular Jasmine, but I enclosed it in metal edging just to be sure. The Crepe Myrtle to the right is lavender. In the background is the stepping stone & gravel path we made back to the equipment pad. I like this because it makes for a really cool "zen view" from the other side of the pool through the slide opening. This is more Mexican Feather Grass with the Pink Muhly border coming up to each side (just beyond the pic). That's another Cordyline in the middle and Blue Fescue lining the front (this view is from the back). Last pic, this is really to show a "before" pic of the pergola. I put this in myself many years ago and it needs to be refreshed. I'm going to rebuild it sometime this spring or summer- removing the roof panels, power wash the cedar, install a roof gable with "sunburst" pattern, re-roof it with sheathing and shingles, install some decorative trim on the columns. That's it for now, back outside for more landscaping!