Tiffy, I saw your ornaments in another thread somewhere, too, and was impressed. They look awsome. I'm a big fan of mosaic work. I have a cement bench outside that I'd like to do something on...maybe this spring! I feel for you with your back, I also pinched my lower back this winter, but it seems to have worked itself out. Hope yours does too, long before you need to pick up any bags of soil :^) Take it easy! Oh c'mon, Ve e! You're in zone 5 and you're not ready for spring to spring?! We still have snow up to the tops of my legs and I'm thinking about it :^) It seems like you wait and wait then bam! its here and there's a million things to do and not enough time to do it, then it's hotter than hades and all you want to do is sit in a lake and do anything but work! LOL! I even saw some crazy crows already! They were probably lost ...:^( I'm loving the daylight, too.

Hi everyone, what a dreary and wet Spring (at least where I am!). I've been busy with real-life issues for the past couple months and haven't been on here much at all, but I'm finally back at home and starting to go through the garden ... the weeding and clean-up is tremendous having been away for a while. Overwhelming. I have some plants that will be needing dividing, and I'll be posting here as I get to them, to see if anyone is interested in trading. Right now, I've been working on the Irises. I have Mini Irises in a very dark purple: I also have Mini Irises in a plain white, just a little bit taller than the dark purple ones above. I don't have a good photo of these though. In addition, I have Tall Bearded Iris in a pale yellow, as well as a pale purple to share. I am also thinning out the Hens and Chicks area, these spread nicely but are also pulled out easily if they get beyond where you want them. I also have a beautiful fragrant light pink peony that will probably need dividing, if you're interested. I can't find the photo of that one, but might be able to in a day or so. In exchange, I'm mainly looking for named plants. I inherited a lot of plants with our house and wish I knew what they were, so now I'm trying to only add named varieties. Mainly looking to trade for Irises, Hostas, Daylilies, other bulbs ... the specific varieties I am most interested in are listed on my trade page so please have a look! I receive mail through my trade page, so if you're interested in a trade, just shoot me an email! Thanks a bunch! :)

Linda, i know, it does make you wonder, why money? they say hey can't take things because the of the high shipping charges and sizes might not be right so they can get exactly what is needed. but the battered woman's shelter here, takes any clothing, housewares and furniture, the food bank will take food or money, Saint Vincent society, anything, PACE - people who don't have alot will take anything, march of dimes, used wheelchairs etc., red cross - money, and if you want to donate winter knitted items, you have to use their pattern and make only the sizes they want. We also have alot of Native Canadian persons and they have alot of agencies and they are looking for and gratefully accept it. the value village -- who supposedly helps the diabetic association, picks us your unwanted things and diabetic association is paid something really stupid like 3 CENTS A POUND (they weigh the donations). so this is what it is like in my city (about 120,000 people), also we have about 6 or so privately owned seniors homes (they run about 2,000.00 a month) and about 6 city owned homes. very interesting post PeaBee i am enjoying finding out about how generous other cities are! debbie

I also flush less and have a large bowl in the kitchen where all the rinse water goes. I don't use a bucket, just take the water out when the bowl is full, since it's not far from the kitchen to the outside. I can certainly get the kitty litter but how do I use it in plants that are already in the ground? With some of the teas I can't even get underneath the bushes without being scratched badly. I gather that just using it as mulch will not be successful. odinthor, I'm jealous, but obviously I can't change my soil. We haven't put in the drip system yet because there's a problem with one of the connectors and my husband is having trouble overcoming his inertia to address it. Meanwhile I'm moving around several hoses from plant to plant and drip watering in that fashion. organic kitten, I'm really touched by your post. I'm so glad that you were inspired to have a rose garden of your own because of what you've learned on the forum. The drought has been difficult to cope with, but as time goes on we've had to get used to the idea and are developing coping mechanisms. Old dreams and ideas have had to be discarded and that can be a painful process, but learning to try new things is also challenging and can be satisfying when something works.