November 2018, Week 4 "Oklahoma! Where The Wind Comes Sweeping....."

6 years ago

I'm starting this one on Saturday evening and, for many of us, a Wind Advisory for strong winds will be in effect as we start the new week on Sunday. I don't know if the timing is the same for all counties, but for many of us the Wind Advisory is in effect from 6 am to 6 pm and could include (depending on your location in the state) wind gusts in the 40s up to the 50s. I think the gusts in the 50s will be more of a far western/northwestern OK thing while the rest of us will have gusts in the upper 30s and 40s. It probably won't be a good day to rake leaves, but then in some cases, the wind could blow a lot of the leaves up against a barrier like a structure's exterior walls or fences, and those piled up leaves will be easy to gather later on after the strong winds die down.

I know we'll be substantially colder tomorrow but I'm okay with that. Since it isn't prime time for gardening, let it be as cold as it chooses....and I'll mostly stay indoors looking out at the cold day (I hope). Well, after we get the rest of the Christmas lights put up on the house tomorrow morning, then I can stay indoors.

I spent a lot of time this past week unsubscribing from seed companies' mailing lists because some of them (Pinetree, for example) were sending 1 to 2 emails daily announcing their sales and offerings for Christmas and it was driving me nuts. Who has time to sit and delete all those repetitious emails? Ain't nobody here got time for that! Maybe I'm still in Grinch mode. We'll see if unsubscribing keeps the inbox from filling up so quickly. If I want seeds, I'll go and order them and I don't need constant emails exhorting me to come shop for bargains. Maybe I feel this way partly because the seed box still has tons of seeds in it that I can use for 2019 and there's likely not much I need to order.

I cleaned the house back before Thanksgiving and it still looks really, really clean. I think it helps that all the mud from the Sept-Oct deluge of rainfall finally, finally, finally has dried up, so no one is tracking it in on their feet or paws now. The rain has stopped falling for the most part and I am not going to complain. We got about half our usual annual rainfall in that two months, so we don't even need any more rain and we're happy to finally be mud-free. We still have tons of Asian lady beetles trying to come indoors every time we go in or out through an exterior door on a warm day, but we just vacuum them up and return them to the Great Outdoors. This distresses the 4 year old granddaughter who likes to think of them as her pets, so we just vacuum them up and toss them outside when she's not here. I long ago lost the argument on whether or not lady bugs are pets.

If y'all don't follow our beloved Dixondale Farms on FB, you should! They have been posting photos of their fields of onions, and have begun the harvest this past week as they already are shipping bundles of onion plants to southern growers who plant them in late autumn and harvest in spring---mostly this occurs in the Deep South where, I suppose, they have Zone 8 and warmer winter conditions. It would be harder to grow onions here from an autumn planting in zones 6 and 7 because our winters normally are a bit too cold at times and this can lead to the onions bolting, though I think it could be done in a low tunnel or high tunnel if a person was careful to control the heating/cooling every day in order to prevent the bolting.

Tons of cool-season weeds (mostly grasses, but also some broadleaf plants) are sprouting in our pastures and yards now. Hopefully some of the tiny green sprouts will prove to be henbit because if they are, the henbit could be in bloom for the butterflies and bees by late December or early January as long as the weather doesn't get too cold. The bees need something---they are eating corn dust from the cracked corn we put out for the deer, and sometimes I put out sugar water for them in hummingbird feeders (be sure your hummingbird feeders have good bee guards if you do this, or they'll get inside the feeders and drown). There's still a tremendous amount of bee activity for this time of the year, but then, we still are having lots of warm days interspersed with the cooler ones.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Dawn

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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author

6 years ago

Nancy, Y'all got cold earlier than we did, and we didn't really have any rain although the dogs came in with something having made them wet---maybe dew.

Jennifer, Well, here it is a couple of days later, and the floors don't look so clean any more. Guess I'll be mopping and dusting tomorrow probably, but it was nice while it lasted.

I've made no progress on the Christmas tree, but I'm thinking maybe I'll set it up and start decorating it on Thursday or Friday. I have a full schedule for every day until then. Really, I could postpone it even longer but I'm afraid that if I do, then I won't get it done at all. We get so busy in December...and it starts early in the month this year with the local Christmas parade on Saturday. That means we'll be decorating the fire engine all day and participating in the parade in the evening. Last year we got paged out to a house fire while we were in the parade, right in the middle of Main Street, and we had to turn off onto a side road and hurriedly strip a lot of the decorations off the truck so we could rush to the fire. I'm hoping we avoid a repeat of that this year. I reminded Tim today that we need to be sure we put decorations on the truck this year in a way that allows all the doors, compartments and control panels to fully operate despite the presence of the decorations. To my way of thinking, that means we use a lot less decorations this year....which also saves decorating time.

Chris dropped off the 4 year old for a few hours today so she wouldn't have to ride down to the Dallas vet's office with him and one of his Quaker parrots, so I spent those hours playing dolls and board games with her. She was delighted we still have the Thanksgiving decorations up but also excited that half the Christmas lights are up. I've been trying to slow down on putting up the tree because the 9 year old really wants to be here with us when we decorate it, so I'm trying to wait until she's here on Friday-Sunday. I might partially decorate it and leave some of the unbreakable ornaments for her to add to it when she comes over Friday evening, since we already know we'll be busy all day Saturday.

Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? I did some online shopping today, but it took forever and I am nowhere near done. At least I've started!

We have a rainbow cat now. Pumpkin decided to roll on the rainbow Tim and Aurora had drawn on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. After he stood up and walked away from the rainbow, his white/pale orange cat hair was rainbow colored....so then he laid down on the ground beneath the shrubs and rolled in the dirt/mulch. Now he is only faintly rainbow colored underneath a sandy brown layer of dirt. I suppose he thinks he had a great afternoon outdoors, but he is a mess and he'll have to clean himself up.

The 2019 catalog from Tomato Growers Supply Company arrived today, but since I was doing some Christmas cybershopping, I haven't really had much of a chance to look at it yet. I missed the catalog last year when the company was transitioning from the founding family to new owners, but a brief look at the catalog shows me that some things(not a lot that's real obvious) have changed under the new ownership. They've added more non-tomato seeds, like cucumbers and squash, and no longer feature growing supplies and books in the catalog itself. Other than that, the catalog looks much the same as always.

I enjoy the winter garden planning/dreaming season too. It is the one time of the year that the garden is still perfect....maybe because it is still in the hoping, planning and dreaming stage, so nothing has gone wrong yet.

Early this morning we had a house fire a few miles from us...around 2 or 3 a.m. I have a good dog story related to this fire. Apparently the fire was started, the family believes, when a heat lamp left outdoors to keep the outdoor dog warm somehow ignited something and set the house on fire. (This is very common---we often respond to fires started by heat lamps left to keep various kinds of animals warm on cold nights.) The indoor dog became aware of the fire and tried, perhaps unsuccessfully, to alert the sleeping family. In order to get their attention and alert them to the fact that their house was on fire, the dog jumped up onto the bed and peed on the bed, waking up the owners who quickly realized something was wrong, found the fire and got everyone safely out of the house. I hope the dog gets a good reward, perhaps in the form of his favorite food, for waking up the family in time for them to get out of their burning home. Fire season hasn't gotten too bad yet, but we're having a few fires a week. It is a lot easier to take grass fires and vehicle fires in stride, but I just hate the structure fires. It is hard to see someone's home burning with essentially everything they own going up in smoke.

Oh, and speaking of vehicle fires, while Chris was jogging at the neighborhood park near his home yesterday (he drives there and parks in a parking lot and then runs the paved trail), his pickup truck ignited and was fully engulfed in flames by the time he rounded the bend and saw the fire. Fortunately, the park ranger already had seen the fire and called 9-1-1 but the truck still was a total loss. As awful as this was, of course he has insurance and it is fortunate that this occurred in a parking lot. Had it happened at home, the truck would have been parked underneath a carport and it is highly likely that the fire would have spread to their home. So, while he is lamenting the loss of his truck, he also is grateful that it didn't catch fire while parked in the driveway beneath the carport. Being a mom, of course I had to ask him how in the world the truck just started burning, and he said he thought maybe it was an electrical wiring issue since the truck was parked on concrete, the engine wasn't running, etc. It sure was an awful way to start the new week, but I'm just grateful that he, his girlfriend and the two girls weren't in the truck when it caught on fire. Things could have been so much worse.

The lack of wind today was really lovely and I think tomorrow will be the same as far as low wind speed is concerned, and then the wind comes back again, but not as strong as it was on Sunday. A lot of trees lost a lot of leaves to that wind, but we joked that the leaves weren't falling as they were flying sideways. About the only trees with leaves remaining on them now are the post oaks and the red oaks. While some red oaks have faded, they are fading slowly to an orange-red and still look awfully good even if they are no longer a brilliant red. This may be the best fall foliage color we've had since moving here.

Have a great week everyone. I know we all get busy with holiday activity at this time of the year about the same time that gardening activity really drops off, but all too soon, we'll be looking at January 2019 and the start of a new gardening year.

Dawn

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Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
Oh I'm sleepy. Hot beef sandwiches and broccoli for dinner. I believe I'm close to being food comatose.

Brrrrr, still. 33 out there/windchill makes it 23. Jerry is out there somewhere, has been all day. I wonder if the hanger-arounder dog chased him. I'm going to spend tomorrow trying to get a rescue shelter found.

Thanks for the heads up on Dixondale, Dawn.

I spent the entire day after church, just reading. And will continue that tonight unless I fall asleep, of course.

Have a good week yourself, Dawn, and everyone else have a good week, too!
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hazelinok
6 years ago
Oh Dawn, I'm so jealous that you cleaned your house over a week ago and it still looks really, really clean. I cleaned our bedroom a week ago tomorrow and it already needs dusted and vacuumed. I get overwhelmed when I think about the fact that I'll probably never have a really clean house. I like a really clean house. It feels so good., but is a rare thing around here.

Our tree is up but is only partially decorated. I've decided to change the style of Christmas décor. I really like my old style. It fit well in our old home. ANYway, I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and purchased some burlap/plaid types of ribbons and ornaments...that are also shatterproof, which is a necessity this year with these young cats. I didn't get quite enough ribbon to finish the tree...and, of course, Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday, so I'm on hold until tomorrow. The plan is to put a small tree in the 3rd bedroom next year, when I'll hopefully have it organized and decorated. The small tree will hold all of our family keepsake ornaments. This room should be a relaxing room...one where I can meditate and journal. SO, those ornaments will be meaningful in that room. BUT, back to our new tree and new style. I can tell I'm going to like it a lot. I want to simply for sure.

I want a turkey. They are just so...funny and ugly, but cute at the same time. Can they live with chickens? I've heard something about a disease they get from chickens...blackhead? And where can I get a single baby turkey?

Juno might not be outdoor cat material. She is so scared to go outside. Finbar has been out a few times now and stays on the property so far. He's a little uncertain of the outdoors too, but he seems to like it.

I can't believe Thanksgiving break is already over. I wish I would have gotten more accomplished...and had spent more time with Ethan, but part of that is that he isn't wanting to spend more time with me...which is normal and healthy. It's just difficult. We did go to breakfast on Friday morning. We saw the Crimes of Grindelwald too...among other things, like finishing Star Trek NG and putting lights on the house. BTW, if anyone is a Harry Potter fan and wants to discuss Crimes of Grindelwald...let me know. wow.

It's cold, y'all. Miserable today. That wind tears right into you. Anything not securely "tied" down, is blowing all over the property. The asparagus ferns that were on the burn pile, are all on the back fence now. Ridiculous.

Nothing gardening to add. It is exciting to think about the spring. That's why I love this time of year...it's so hopeful and a time to dream and plan. And it's all perfect because dreams can be perfect....and dreaming like this helps us to keep going and trying and believing that our next year's garden will be amazing...even if we had a hard time the previous season. Does that make sense?

Sure wish I had that salad garden going, especially with the recall.
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October 2018, Week 5
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Larry, We remain too muddy to do anything at all. Even walking across the lawn leaves footprints indented into the ground which then have water seep into them, forming mini-puddles. After a couple of months of record rainfall, it is starting to feel like the mud never ever will dry up again. We're hoping maybe most of the mud will dry up by Thanksgiving if we can get some more dry, sunny, windy days. On the other hand, all you have to do is check the mud to see which creatures are roaming your property, and most days I see fresh animal tracks from bunnies, white-tailed deer, coons, possums, armadillos, some sort of smallish cat---probably bobcats, as well as occasional coyotes. We have a ton of squirrels this year but they are so small and lightweight that they don't leave noticeable paw prints. You're such a good son to your mother. I wish her peace and contentment in her final years. It is remarkable to live to be 94 years old, isn't it? The extremes that we swing to here in this part of the country are enough to drive a person mad....too wet or too dry all the time, it seems, and rarely if ever are conditions just right. I can see a forecast low of 37 in our forecast several days out from now. If that doesn't change, we'll likely see 33-35 degrees and probably a frost in our garden, thanks to our low-lying microclimate. I think it was in the forecast for next Thursday or thereabouts, which wouldn't be too far off from our average first freeze date---a little early, but not very much. I'm going to miss all the flowers, but I'm ready to let the garden go to sleep for the winter. Nancy, It sounds like y'all are going to raise a huge amount of garlic. My garden paths are walkable thanks to the heavy amount of wood mulch on them, but the soil in the garden beds is too wet for me to do anything. I do think snake season is pretty much over now that the nights are so cold, but I won't consider it truly over until we have a couple of freezing nights. I am still seeing grasshoppers and wish they'd just die already. I found a big green one of the leaf of one of the potted amaryllis plants I had out sitting in the sun on Thursday, and flicked him off of it. On Friday, I found new grasshoppers in one of the early instars---about a quarter-inch long. Oh well, every grasshopper egg that hatches now will produce a grasshopper that will freeze soon, and that's one less egg that will overwinter and give us new grasshoppers in the Spring. So, based on that reasoning, I guess every small hopper I see now is a good thing. Jennifer, I spent the whole morning and half the afternoon cleaning house yesterday before the granddaughters arrived yesterday, and was so pleased with the shining, gleaming clean of it all. Of course, all it takes is one trip outdoors and in again by the three dogs and the floor quickly loses its just-mopped glow. It only takes a minute to Swiffer up the new pawprints, but I'm going to wear out this Swiffer pretty quickly at this rate. lol. There are days I wish the dog yard was concrete. Well, not really, because it wouldn't be comfortable for them, but I get so tired of muddy paw prints. The dogs and cats are completely over having all the mud and puddles and just prefer to stay indoors as much as they can. We all need some dry weather....and if we ever get it, then I'll spend a day in the garden. I hope you have a productive and fulfilling day today whether you chose to spend it indoors or outdoors. Now that leaves are falling in the dog yard, that helps put another layer, albeit a thin one, of something between the mud and the dogs' paws. I thought I already had switched out all the Halloween decor for Thanksgiving decor, but realized yesterday that I still have the Halloween welcome mat out by the back door, so I need to replace it with something else today. That's a minor thing in the overall scheme of things. Oh, and all the girls' Halloween artwork still is up on the fridge. Maybe this afternoon or evening we can create some Thanksgiving artwork to replace it. We have a really busy day planned, so they might be too worn out to be creative late in the day though. The annual periwinkles (these are pink with a white eye) that I have in six large containers near the back door are starting to decline as the nighttime lows dip into the 40s. I really need to replace them, and now that the weather is finally cooling down, it probably is a good time to do so at last. It is supposed to be a pretty windy day today. I'm grateful that we haven't had a frost or freeze yet because that means a lot of the vegetation in the pastures still has some green in it. Were that not the case, I'd be worried about grass fires/wild fires with the sort of wind expected today. We are rapidly approaching a worst possible case scenario, with tons of new growth that soon will freeze and either die or go dormant, fields so wet that fire brush trucks would immediately bog down and get stuck, and a lot of wind. This reminds me of 2005-06, and not in a good way. We need for the rain to stop for a while so the ground can dry up again. After hoping throughout the summer drought for rain, it seems ludicrous to now be hoping for it to stop, but we've had at least 6 months worth of rain in the last 2 months and enough is enough already. My poor compost pile just looks like a pot of soup....I don't know when it ever will dry up again. I keep adding cardboard to it, hoping the cardboard will soak up all the excess moisture. Dawn
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okoutdrsman
6 years ago
Figured I should comment. I've been trying to keep up on reading all the posts and comments, but as usual, by the time I get through, I don't have time to comment or have anything to add.

This time of year is always hectic with hunting season going on. Reading through some of the earlier comments, it's somewhat of a mystery to me, the concerns about hunters being in the woods or surrounding areas. Not a huge mystery, since I know there's a percentage of the orange army that doesn't hunt the way I do. Or, my entire hunting group, for that matter?

The reason I dropped in to brag about getting a Chip Drop! 5 months since I signed up. Half of the load was pretty course, but the rest looks pretty good. Either way, I'm pretty excited! Now the work starts.

As always, when I showed them the area they could dump 100 plus loads, they were all over it. Acted like they would be bring a lot more, but I've heard that before. Guess we'll see?
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
I can share your joy about the wood chips, Bruce, having been there. We've used about half our pile so far, so they're lasting us well. I'm going to have to get a hold of the electric company guys for more this next year.

Dawn, I was just wondering about Chris's parrots. (And by the way, SO sorry about his truck, but am glad no one was in harm's way because of it.) So. How many parrots does he have? How many Quaker ones? Are the Quaker ones true to color? How old are they all.

Haha re Rainbow Pumpkin. Jerry did something similar last Saturday. Whatever he rolled in was white--like cornstarch or baby powder. He looked very pale, and I leaned down to pet him and poof poof, out came clouds of white. I got a good laugh out of him. Mr. Powder Puff.

I finally got Jerry in last night. Pretty sure he'd had a scare from Tippy the stray. And yes, Tippy is not going to live with us. It's really too bad, as he is a sweet sweet dog. If he didn't chase cats, I'd probably have tried to talk GDW into him, and probably could have, because we both think he is a terrific dog. But the cats do not need that nonsense. I'm sure the dog could be trained not to do it, but nope.......... I was buried in paperwork, reading, church stuff and trying to find a rescue place for Tippy. Finally got er done, Send out queries to four different places who are all on FB, and placed two phone calls. The same shelter that took the homely little bulldog 2 years ago agreed to take Tippy. So that'll be another $75.00. SHEESH. I wish these strays would stop finding our house. Gets expensive. But I so so appreciate WAGS and Wildheart and all the other rescue places.

It was 33 again this evening--but the wind wasn't blowing much so felt much warmer.
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hazelinok
6 years ago
Hey Bruce. Congrats on your ChipDrop. I signed up about the same time as you, but shortly after, Asplundh was chopping down/up trees in our area and they dropped a big load of wood chips at our house, so I took my name off the list. I've used about half of the pile...it's composting, so I'm not sure how good it will be as wood chips once I have time to resume using it as such. Did you pay anything? I know you can offer a "donation" or such, and it's supposed to expedite your delivery.

Dawn, my house is somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas too. I'm okay with that. I've decided to not stress...and just enjoy the process. We also have a BIG weekend ahead.

In about 5 weeks, I'll seriously be thinking about Garden 19. It will be hard to hold off starting tomato and pepper seeds until March, but I'm going to. I'm missing fresh tomatoes. Anyone else?

Nancy, so glad you got your Jerry indoors. And glad you found a place for Tippy.

I'm back to work tomorrow, so I'm going to end this post now.

:)
Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
We're waffling on the Tippy issue. We're already knee deep in animals. GDW and I have been feeling guilty because we're not doing enough to serve God. So I made a commitment to the church to do X and X and X and X. . . . . GDW hadn't yet. And he confessed to me during the past week that part of it is because he just can't hear people well enough. I said to him, since we seem to be the stray animal drop-off point, perhaps he could extend his generosity to be a sort of animal ministry, as his hearing problem wouldn't be as much of a problem with them.

He DOES like this dog--we both do. He could be taught to respect the cats. So we'll see what develops. I think of you, HJ, with your two and how challenging they are. Tippy is like God's gift to the world. He is smart, and intuitive, and just wants to be loved. We are sure he has had a rough life and has been abused. Our neighbor interacted with him some and had the same exact idea.
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jlhart76
6 years ago
With 4 dogs our house is always covered in dog hair. Dad came down Wed so I made sure the floors were cleaned, but by Wed night there were puppy prints all over the kitchen. I gave up having a spotless house. Now I just want to keep animal fur down to a tolerable level.

Spent most of Sat cleaning up the front yard. Got all the dead stuff cut down, anything that was crispy dry got broken into small pieces & tossed on the garden as mulch. The rest got tossed across the fence into the backyard so it could go in the compost bin. But Tigger (our youngest) seems to think anything tossed over the fence is for her, so she would pick it up and carry it off to wherever she thought it belonged. If the weather cooperates this weekend I plan to rake up all the leaves (how do we have so many when we don't have a single tree???) and clean up all the branches little girl spread all over the backyard.

Christmas shopping is almost done. Cliff bought his gift (xbox console) and mine (he's lousy at keeping a secret so he wound up telling me what he got me); I bought for the dogs and cats (hey, they're our "kids" after all); and all I have left is my dad & his wife. And my department's christmas party next week. Our theme is "thrift store christmas" so it should be interesting to see what gifts people bring. Is it against the rules to pick your own dirty santa gift?
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
Yay! Our daughter in Owasso sent me a message this morning. She said she couldn't quit thinking about "Tippy." So she decided they'd like to have him if we weren't going to keep him. Her kids will be over the moon with joy! Daughter and hubby are coming to pick him up after lunch and he'll be a surprise for the kids! Yay yay!
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
I think I'll work my way up from the bottom because if I start at the top, I forget everything I read before I can comment on it. (grin) I can just read backwards from bottom to top as I type to make sure I don't miss anything.

Nancy, Hip, Hip Hooray! I'm so glad "Tippy" is going to a good home where he'll be loved and adored. Your success in rescuing animals continues! I'm glad that someone stepped up who wanted to adopt him, and he'll remain in your extended family so you still can see him occasionally. I know his future is going to be better than his past.

Jennifer, That's how I am with dog fur too. I do what I can, but it tends to feel like an endless battle that I never really win. At least for the major holidays, I do clean like a maniac and try to corral all the hair and pawprints. It doesn't last long, but it does look great for however long it lasts. The rest of the time? I try to keep the house clean enough but it is far from perfect, and I'm okay with that. I've never been the kind of person who thought that my floors had to be clean enough that you could eat off of them. After all, who eats off of the floors? Now us.....we use dishes and sit at a table. lol. I have told Tim many times that when I sweep up dog and cat hair, I should bag it up, save it, spin it into yard and knit sweaters from it or something....not that I'd ever have the energy to do that. Maybe 30 years ago I would have had that sort of excess energy.

I normally am an early shopper for Christmas, but we have the girls most weekends and I cannot shop for them while they are with us. I'll get it all done, though.

I don't think it is against the rules to pick your own 'dirty Santa' gift. We do that sort of a Christmas gift exchange at our VFD holiday party every year and I might have been known to pick my own gift a time or two. (grin)

Jennifer, You can use decomposing wood chips as wood chips. They'll do nothing but improve the soil over time. You might need to add a layer of newer chips over the top if you think they are decomposing too quickly (weed seeds can sprout more quickly and more often in partially decomposed wood chips than in fresh wood chips).

I did get all the autumn decorations taken down today, so at least that is a start. Because of radio/repeater technical issues that we hope will be resolved county-wide with new software due to arrive (we hope) tomorrow, we have been having to leave our fire radios on 24/7 so we don't miss a fire call. (The pager feature isn't setting off the tones on our radios that normally would get our attention and wake us up at night.) Being a light sleeper, I cannot sleep with the radio 'talking' in my ear, so I am sleep-deprived and low-energy today. I slept in a separate room with the radio on so Tim could turn off his radio and sleep all night, sacrificing my sleep for his. I'll do the same tonight. I expect I won't sleep well and won't be worth 2 cents tomorrow, but hopefully this will be the last night we have to do this. I likely would have started Christmas decorating today if I'd had more sleep and more energy, but at least I got the Thanksgiving un-decorating done. I am grateful for that.

Nancy, Tim and I have seven grand-birds and, yes, sometimes we babysit them when Chris is out of town on vacation. He has four Quaker parrots---two sets of 2 who share adjacent cages. The ones he has had for about ten or eleven years are Ducky and Sarah. One of them (Sarah) is the traditional Quaker green, but Ducky is a rare blue one. Ducky speaks the most and, because he learned to speak from Chris, he can sound exactly like Chris' voice at times, which freaks me out. Ducky is super smart.

The other two are Quakers he rescued about 7 or 8 years ago because their owner didn't want them any more. Their names are Arthur and Guinevere, and they both are traditional Green Quakers. Artie and Gwennie don't speak nearly as well as Sarah and Ducky, but their speech and behavior have improved a great deal since he adopted them. They are smart, but don't show off their intelligence like Ducky does.

He has a pair of parrotlets named Snowy and Sunny. Sunny is yellow and Snowy is white (just as their names imply). They don't speak, but are just tiny, adorable (and sometimes nervous) birds. They are temperamental and you have to watch them carefully as they will pluck out their own feathers when stressed. You have to stay on top of things, figure out what is causing the stress and work to remove whatever is stressing the birds. They are territorial and will attack the parrots if the parrots get too close to their cage. They are like tiny little yippy dogs who don't realize that they aren't 10' tall.

Then he has a seventh bird, also a rescue that he adopted about 5 years ago after the bird's elderly owner died and none of her adult children wanted to take in the bird. Her name escapes me at the moment, (I think maybe it starts with a B) but she is a canary-winged something or another. I don't think she is a canary-winged parakeet, because I think she is larger than a parakeet but I cannot remember what she is except that she's canary winged---all green except for a strip of yellow on her wings. Regardless, she lived alone for decades and it took her a long time for her to adjust to having a bird family after Chris adopted her. Chris lets the birds out of their cages for enrichment activities for a couple of hours daily and he lets them all out together, but it took her years to adjust to being out with the parrots and parrotlets. She used to stay in her cage and refuse to come out. She comes out and mingles with the others now, but they'd better not attempt to come into her open cage door or she has a fit. He only lets them out (as far as I know) in one room in the house, so that he can contain and easily clean up their mess. They're pretty well socialized and like being around people.

Bruce, Congrats on the chipdrop!

I am sure that you and your hunting bunch are ethical, law-abiding hunters. Well, guess what? We have a lot of rednecks here who don't get licenses, don't obey the laws, spot-light from the road, poach on land that clearly is marked "No Hunting" and "No Trespassing", etc. etc. etc. We have guys who kill just to kill and don't even take the meat. I could go on and on.

Not long after we bought our land, I had a guy chew me out because we had bought and "destroyed" his favorite hunting spot by building a house on it. I checked around and found out he NEVER had permission to hunt on this land, which had been in the same family for more decades than he'd been alive. When I first met him, he was hunting from the back of a truck driving up the road, which I am guessing is not a legal way to hunt. We didn't even leave here yet, but were just up here on the weekend working to clear our property and fence it. It is people like that, or folks who turn untrained teenagers loose with powerful guns and no hunting education who ruin it for everyone.

Has it gotten better around here than it used to be when we first moved here in 1999? Undoubtedly it has, but some of the same guys that Tim chased off our land at gunpoint 20 years ago still sneak onto people's land to hunt without permission. Bad seeds don't change, and now they're just hardened felons who apparently haven't been influenced to behave any better just because they've done prison time. The limited number of law enforcement officers and game wardens we have here must cover a huge territory and cannot be everywhere at once. Just in the last two days, I've heard officers dispatched because someone was hunting on private land after being caught there previously and being forced to leave. (They waited a day and came back...) and I've heard officers dispatched because somebody cut a fence (likely on a high-fence paid game-hunting ranch) and sneaked onto land to hunt. It really is never-ending, and not only during hunting season. There definitely is out-of-season hunting that occurs illegally as well. Keep in mind that a lot of Red River counties were settled by criminals who fled Texas and crossed over the Red River and settled here before statehood, and you can see that heritage today in the way some of their descendants behave (or, actually, fail to behave). So, all of us are careful to dress in red and orange for our own safety because everyone here has had close calls with stray bullets and with illegal poachers/hunters. I know people who've been struck by stray bullets, both in and out of hunting season. One of them was sitting on her own porch at the time. You learn to be careful for your own sake. I don't like it, but it is what it is.

We had much nicer weather today---our high was 65 and there was no wind, but we started off the day with 26 degrees and heavy frost. Tomorrow the higher wind and higher fire danger come back again.

Another seed catalog arrived today....Seeds N Such. I haven't had time to look at it yet because I was making a gingerbread house, which is now, thankfully, completed and sitting on a cake pedestal in the kitchen.

Dawn
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
While eating dinner, the name of the seventh bird came back to me....BeBe, which led me to the type of bird she is....a canary-winged Brotogeris (sometimes called bee bees for short). She is a real sweetie and is mid-sized---larger than the parrotlets and smaller than the Quakers.
hazelinok
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I got Seeds N Such today too!

I like reading about Chris' birds. I would like to have birds (other than chickens), but that is one more thing I do not have time to care for properly, so I will say no to myself.

So happy Tippy has a good home, Nancy. I saw his pic with the grandkids on FB. I SO wish my dogs would be that calm.

Jen, hair comes with pets in the house. It's worth it though.

Got some more decorating done tonight. I'm mostly done. I have a list of things I still need--a tree skirt and tree topper in my new "style". All of that will have to wait for a few days. OMEA is Saturday and it's a 16 hour day. Plus the shopping and preparing. We do get to use the school kitchen so that is nice.

Another issue that will be an extra time sucker is Ethan was in another wreck this afternoon on the way to get a haircut. I had a bad feeling when he left the house. A women didn't stop at a 4-way and ran right into him. His car is probably totaled. So, I will be driving him around again. And we've gotta deal with the insurance and finding yet another car. We didn't get her insurance info 'cause she was hurt! (although didn't go to the hospital) plus she was angry that she got a ticket. ANYWAY, the police report should have her insurance and information. I'm just glad that she wasn't seriously hurt and that Ethan is okay.

We got a Google Mini. It came free with Spotify. It's so creepy. All you do is say "hey google" and then ask your question or give your command. Weird. Not sure I like it.

So...because I've gotta get up extra early to get all the animal stuff done and get dressed, make lunch and get Ethan to school, I'm going to go bathe and head to bed. I got used to not having to leave so early once he started driving. :)
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
I am so blessed. So blessed to have you, my very special friends. SO blessed God found a home for our latest homeless pet. Love ya all!
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jlhart76
6 years ago
HJ, my brother gave us one for Christmas last year. But ours must not have been top of her class. We can't figure out how to get her to do anything other than set alarms (then we can't remember what the alarm is for), tell time and weather, and answer basic questions. Most of the time she just says "sorry I can't help with that".

Dawn, hunting from a vehicle is definitely illegal, something my brother found out when he was 15 or 16. Took him about 5 years to pay off that ticket. Your stories are part of the reason I really don't want to move into the country, though I am a country girl at heart. Cliff's attitude (New Yorker obnoxious when he wants to throw the accent around) is liable to get him in trouble around a bunch of redneck hicks.

Still need to pull out the Christmas decor, ut first I have to figure out where to put a tree that won't get eaten by the mutts. Our boys are good about leaving it alone, the cats mostly ignore it now, but the puppy and any houseguests are another story. Last year I put it on the kitchen counter. A friend I went to school with does her house up incredibly for haloween and Christmas. We're talking people use it as a backdrop for photos, and the local paper has done full page spreads of it. She makes the Griswolds look like amateurs (for those Chevy Chase fans).
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
Jennifer, Chris' birds are great pets, but a lifelong commitment as they often live for several decades. He knew that when he got his first two though. I doubt he ever thought he'd go from two birds to seven though. They need a bedroom of their own for all their cages (and supplies). His birds are very spoiled---customized food blends for them and tons of bird toys including the inevitable Christmas presents he buys them.

I hope y'all have a great weekend and think it is so nice you'll get to do the cooking in a school kitchen.

Poor Ethan (and y'all too). I am glad he was not hurt and I just hate that y'all have to shop for a car again. It is unfortunate you're back to ferrying him around again. I am sure that crushes his sense of independence as much as it wrecks your sleeping time. Is this going to make his auto insurance go sky-high? Because that certainly doesn't seem fair if it does happen since she caused the accident.

We're never going to have a creepy electronic device like that in our home---not Alexa or anyone/anything else. I don't like them and don't want one.

Nancy, I think we all are so blessed in so many ways, but particularly because we have gardening and we have each other.

Jen, The people who hunt illegally really irritate me, and there's tons of them out in the very rural areas like ours. I know they are playing the odds---figuring that the chances of them getting caught are pretty slim just because there's so few officers covering the whole county (and they are right about that). The penalties can be harsh---but only if they get caught.

I'd probably put the Christmas tree inside an old child's play pen if I could find one. (Unless the dogs are large enough to jump into the play pen). Or, have a 4' tree up on a table.) Jersey chewed up all the Christmas lights when she was a puppy, which was unfortunate because it was a pre-lit tree, but she doesn't bother the tree now that she is old and white-haired (I'd say old and gray, but the gray hair now has been replaced with white hair). The two younger dogs are easier to manage---when they are indoors, they spend most of their time in Tim's office with the door closed. It is an interior glass French door so I can keep an eye on them while they mostly snooze in the two recliners in there. I was working in "their" room today, and they gave me dirty looks a couple of times because apparently I was making enough noise to keep them awake in the middle of the afternoon. Considering how often their barking wakes me up at night, I didn't feel guilty at all, and eventually they fell asleep anyhow.

I like Christmas decor, but in reasonable doses. I have no desire to be like the Griswold family. lol lol lol I hope to put up the tree on Friday, but if I don't, then I'll make getting the house decorated my number one priority for next week. We already have plans for the rest of this week.

More gardening catalogs came today if y'all are keeping track. Today it is Park Seed, Vermont Bean Seed Company, and Totally Tomatoes. I haven't looked at them yet, but I did look at Seeds N Such a little bit last night....at least the first 6 or 8 pages. My favorite find in it is seeds for ornamental oregano (it looks similar to Kent Beauty if you're familiar with that one). This is the first ornamental one I've seen that can be grown from seed and it is called Kirigami. I am sure it will be PVP like Kent Beauty has been since it was introduced, but at least you can grow your own from seed instead of from cuttings. My guess is that it is new to the market and everyone will have it in their catalogs, though I haven't had time to look at the other catalogs to test that theory.

Dawn
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jlhart76
6 years ago
Yeah...the "puppy" is 75 pounds, and her name is "Tigger" for a reason. So putting it up, inside a playpen, behind a baby gate (though she doesn't cross the one into the cat room) isn't deterrent enough for her. So outside or kitchen counter is the only places left.

First year Cliff & I were together, he made fun of me for wanting a tree with cats. Apparently christmas trees are of utmost fascination to cats. So the first weekend I had it up, I stood guard with a water bottle. It's been 6 years & I still had to shoot the brats last year.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
Ooops. With a 75-lb. dog, your options are really limited.

On the attached link, check out #9, which features the Christmas tree inside a large dog kennel type fence. While it is not especially pleasing aesthetically, it did allow those folks to have their tree. I'm laughing though, because I don't think I'd go that far.

How To Protect Christmas Trees From Dogs and Cats

They also have photos of trees hanging from the roof, an old Victorian era thing that appears to be back in style, at least for some pet owners. I just know if I tried hanging a tree upside down from the ceiling, at some point it all would crash down to the ground.

We did not have trouble with our 80-lb. Rottweiler-Terrier Mix, Duke (Jet's big brother), and the Christmas tree, but when we weren't at home, I put the dogs upstairs in a bedroom and closed the door in order to keep the tree safe. I feared the 3 dogs would destroy the bedroom while they were in it, but they didn't. Otherwise, they were free to roam the house although, honestly, except in the worst weather, they preferred to be outside in the dog yard, at least until they got really old....and by then they were so settled down and mellow that they never touched the tree.

I've had a lot more trouble with cats destroying indoor Christmas trees than with dogs doing the same. Pumpkin, our youngest and most willfully stubborn cat, believes his purpose in life is to climb the Christmas tree and knock ornaments off of it, all day every day if he isn't outdoors or out in the sunroom. He spends most of December either outdoors or in the sunroom for the sake of the Christmas tree, but he attacks the thin pencil tree in the mudroom as often as he can while he's coming and going indoors/outdoors throughout the day. I've learned only to put unbreakable ornaments on that tree or they don't stand a chance of surviving the season. The other cats really just ignore the tree, but they are substantially older than he is and they, too, terrorized Christmas trees in their younger days. Every year I get at least one photo of Pumpkin buried deep inside the Christmas tree, invisible except for his head sticking out of it as he looks around and plots his terror campaign to destroy ornaments.

I love the Christmas season and holiday decorations and the whole nine yards, but when you have indoor pets, they really do limit what you can do.

The only way I can have a gingerbread house is to put it on a cake stand as far back on the kitchen counter as possible so our younger dogs cannot reach it. Even then, I never leave them unattended in the kitchen/dining room/living room space once the gingerbread is up because I know if I leave them for 5 minutes, I'll come back to dogs eating gingerbread.
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okoutdrsman
6 years ago
Jennifer, I didn't have to pay for the load they delivered. I probably should look into it, tho. It would be worth it, if it increased to odds of getting more later!

Dawn, the illegal hunting activity infuriates honest law abiding hunters more than anything on this earth! After all, we put a lot of effort into making sure we play by the rules and feel like we support wildlife and the management of it through taxes paid on sporting goods. It's poaching in every sense of the word.

The ODWC receives no monies from the state coffers and relies solely on funds doled out from the above tax dollars and license sales. I've had a lifetime license since 1981 so they don't make much off of me other than the interest off of what I paid back then.

With all the push for gun control over the last decade and the buying frenzy that follows each event, it's provided more funding for each of the state wildlife departments. I find it interesting that the anti-gun and anti-hunting movements are in a way actually increasing the dollars that support our sport!

As soon as hunting season slows down, I'll be starting on a little larger greenhouse. Just hope I don't overfill it like I always do on the old one!

My seed catalogs are trickling in and I have several online shopping carts loaded with seed. Now just to go back and price compare, delete the duplicates and pry open the wallet!
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luvncannin
6 years ago
I have been reading but still have such a hard time posting. I miss conversing easily with you all. I am not getting as many catalogs as I usually do but enough to keep me busy.
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Rebecca (7a)
6 years ago
Just wanted to check in! Had to take a gardening vacation, plus I’ve been sick (on the mend!) and neck deep in holiday cooking and baking. Plus work! So I am around, and will certainly be itching to start seeds in January. Still need to finish the clean up and shut the yard down for the winter. No Christmas tree here with the cat, but I have some outdoor ornaments and garlands to put out. My Christmas decorations are spilled flour and cookie sheets! I’ve gotten the Seeds and Such and BI catalogs, but need to clean out the seed boxes before I do any ordering. I want that ornamental oregano too! Wonder if bees would like it.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
Bruce, Yes, I understand why the so-called hunters who ignore the laws would infuriate legitimate hunters.

The catalogs are trickling in, but then, it is only November. I remember when none of them arrived, ever, until the day after Christmas at the earliest. They do come earlier now than they used to. I don't have any seeds in any shopping carts, but eventually I will. It is inevitable.

Of course you'll overfill the greenhouse. Have you ever noticed how one greenhouse often is not enough and eventually a person has two greenhouses....or three....or more? (grin) One greenhouse is not enough, no matter how large it is.

Kim, I miss seeing you posting here. I am sorry you're still having trouble posting. I hope everything is going well. Is the move to Denton still going to happen? Soon?

Rebecca, I've been wondering where you were.

I like your Christmas decorations....they are the sign of a merry baker and a happy home.

Why must cats make it so hard to have Christmas trees? Some of our old cats will sleep beneath a Christmas tree, in a nice, calm mellow way. They never climb it and never knock things off either. Then, other cats are a total PITA.

I don't know if the bees will like the ornamental oregano, so I guess there is only one way for us to find out.

It is hot here today and, while it feels nice, it is almost too hot. The Asian lady beetles are swarming outside the exterior doors as they do on every nice warm day in late autumn, and I am having a hard time keeping them from coming into the house when dogs, cats or people go in and out. On the other hand, the fact that they are flocking to the doorways so desperately makes me think that all the time we spent looking for places they might come in and caulking those places is paying off because they are being forced to use doorways. It is 78 degrees and feels like a nice April day, well, except for the fact that the wind is bringing down lots of leaves from the trees.

There were no new seed catalogs in the mail today. I did a quick walk-through of the garden looking for a missing rooster who's been gone since Sunday and probably was a meal for a bobcat or coyote. The rooster wasn't in the garden. I haven't found any feathers anywhere that would indicate something snatched him and he put up a struggle either. There's not much happening in the garden--the Salvia farinacea, autumn sage, lavender, rosemary, sage, garlic chives, onion chives, comfrey, Purple Homestead verbena and verbena bonariensis all remain green, but little else is green and nothing is flowering at this point. Too many frosty nights I guess. I made the cats and dogs come inside because I was concerned copperheads might be out today, mingling with the autumn leaves and, therefore, hard to spot. The cats were out most of the day until a little while ago and the dogs were out for about half a day. I see cold weather arriving in a couple more days, so I was trying to get them as much outdoor time as possible while the weather was so warm.

Speaking of coyotes, down in Frisco, TX, a jogger was attacked by a coyote a few days ago and had to undergo surgery afterwards. This particular coyote has been seen quite a bit and also attacked a child previously. That sort of thing wouldn't keep happening here because nobody would call the police or animal control---they'd just shoot the problem animal and that would be the end of it. Sometimes living in a rural area is a lot simpler than living in a city.

Coyote Attack

Dawn
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okoutdrsman
6 years ago
Dangit Dawn! Now I’m jinxed!

I didn’t mention I’ll still be using the old one until the poly sheeting gives up. It’s good for 150 plants, but normally sees 300. After all the overly tall plants I’ve given away, if I can spread that 300 to three times the space, maybe they won’t look so bad? The main thing I’ll be doing to avoid that is waiting a couple of extra weeks to do starts.

On coyote incident, it really comes down to man’s encroachment into wildlife habitat in most cases. It sounds very similar to when the people of California decided to take the management of mountain lions out of the hands of the professionals. Not sure what the count is, but I know there has been several cases of animal/human contact and the human didn’t fare well.
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AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Here it is Thursday and I just figured out there was a new thread. ::eyeroll::

Something went after one of my chickens late last night. I can't tell whether the missing feathers are from molting (she was really scraggly to begin with) or something going after her. But she was squawking and awake at 1 am. Honey knew there was something there. And she went out twice afterward to guard the yard. No smell of skunk, no sign of racoons (I don't think she would have survived them. ) Maybe a cat? Yeah, we got lax about locking them up. They are closed up tonight. I also left the run open so the dogs could go leave their scent in the run while the hens are in the coop.

In our old house there was a hook in the ceiling by the front windows that a lamp on a chain once hung from (remember those? It was a 70's thing). We always wired the tree to that hook. Cats could climb, but couldn't knock the tree down. When I had toddlers the tree sat in an old porta crib (you don't know how I wish I still had that thing.) I have a 6 sided pen I could put a tree in, but there's not much room for that. I believe we will put the little tree on the side table like we did last year. Maybe next year the dog will be calmer? But then the baby will be 2. I was fascinated by the upside down trees hanging from the ceiling! Don't want one, but fascinated never the less. I did like the idea of a flat tree on the wall. I once saw a tree that looked kind of like a fancy mug rack that they had hung ornaments on. I've thought about that. The trouble is, the tradition since my first child was born was to give kids an ornament every year. I did, and my mother did. The idea was, when they left home they would have ornaments for their trees. But my kids won't take their ornaments! They put them on MY tree. I don't think any of them do trees.

I have gotten a reprieve cleaning wise. My SIL is not coming for Christmas. Those who will be here know my housekeeping. I really want to spend some time while it's cold deep cleaning things.

The counter surfer got 2 meatballs and an Italian sausage the other day. Ron got complacent and left it within her reach. My son's dog has been teaching Sasquatch to escape. At least they both come when you call. When the beagle gets out she says screw you and runs away to find a dog catcher. Seriously, within half an hour of escape she would be in the pound.

H/J I am SOOO sorry about Ethan's wreck!

Talking about hunters that give other hunters a bad name, when I worked for the ranch, someone (no hunting was allowed) field dressed 4 deer AND A COW right at the gate to the pasture. Didn't even leave the ear tag so we'd know which one she was. She would have been pregnant, too.

A trip to Bartlesville tomorrow. We have a contract on Dad's condo. We have to close before Dec 21st.

XOXO
Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
Hahaha, Amy, I pulled that stunt last week or the week before. Good to see you. Good for the condo. Hope all is good.

Glad you're on the mend, Rebecca.

Also totally bummed for Ethan and you, HJ. Thank God he is okay. But what a miserable thing to have happen.

Best to you, Kim.

It was not too hot here today, Dawn, but it was beautiful!! Topped out at 71, We got so much done outside! It was so much fun! We added more soil to the veggie beds. We've only used about a third of our wood chip pile. If it didn't take so long to haul stuff to the raised beds, I could be getting the wood chips in some of the flower beds. It's kinda hard work, and today GDW said he wanted to go do something else when he'd only done two wheelbarrow loads. I laughed and said well one thing was sure. We had no deadlines to meet right away. Looks like it will be find working weather tomorrow and the next day, too. So he blew leaves for a while, and I doubled mulched those and added them to the veggie beds. Tomorrow I'll go pick up some alfalfa bales and pellets.

Yes, the garden catalogs are showing up here, as well. I haven't even really looked at them yet. I've been purging again in the house, washing and neatly folding excess towels, sheets, blankets, and clothes for Wagoner Area neighbors; brought on, no doubt, by Mom's recent death. Again, realizing I want my stuff pared way down so when I die, there isn't a big mess for the kids. And I also have to decide whether I'm going to keep quilting, because if I'm not, I need to get rid of the stuff. Agghh.

No Christmas tree here, of course. I have my Christmas table runner, big Christmas snow globe, and largish nativity scene that goes on top of the entertainment center. That's it. However. I'm thinking of putting lights out on the front porch/deck. I might just do that.

Yep, Dawn, regarding living out of town and coyote situations.
Rebecca (7a)
6 years ago
https://insteading.com/blog/microscopic-images-seeds/
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I went into an absolute panic this morning. I have to order seeds! WHAT have I been thinking? BUT. We did get the hay and pellets. Fun throwing the pellets into the bed and then watering. Poof poof, like teensy little explosions of green everywhere. I got 50 lbs and they will last a while!

The raised beds are getting fuller and fuller of "soil stuff," but having said that, there's still only 8-12" in each bed. And I worked in the big unwieldy center bed and a couple others. Made some good headway. It's a mess, though. Bermuda had encroached where a couple big daylilies were. I'll dig those daylilies out, along with the Bermuda. I was trying to rake leaves out, but it was tough, with all the plants in there. I guess I'll try the leaf blower tomorrow, and then toss the leaves right back in.

Then I scrambled to find some seed potatoes to order (got some from Irish Eyes), and got my onions ordered from Dixondale. I have to get a few tomato seeds, pepper seeds. And probably a few flower seeds and herbs. . . but not many, at all. And I grew so many herbs and flowers last year, I expect most if not all the annuals will be self-seeding.

Glad you got a reprieve, Amy! My house is a mess right now. We need new carpeting in the living room. We best set money aside; maybe a year from now. Animals are awfully hard on carpeting! AND leather furniture. I think I'll go get a brown marker and go over the brown leather furniture. . . LOL; the cats don't scratch the furniture, but nonetheless it does get pokes in it from their travels.

A friend send me a link for making PVC tomato cages. I was very enthused! I think I'll give those a try this year.

Any of you ever make fruitcake? I'm kinda thinking it's be fun to do that since I never have. Maybe. Jen? Rebecca? Dawn? Anyone?
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Rebecca (7a)
6 years ago
No one around here likes fruitcake, so I never make it.
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slowpoke_gardener
6 years ago
Nancy, dogs and cats may rough carpet, but calves are rough on compost piles. I no more than got this replied and they are ready to play on it again.
Nancy RW (zone 7)
6 years ago
Hahaha! What the! Will they just tear it all down? Cute little buggers, though. That's a good-sized compost pile.

Rebecca--there are so many bad fruitcakes that it's no wonder few people will eat them. But I tasted a really yummy one some time ago. . .
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slowpoke_gardener
6 years ago
I love some fruitcakes, mom use to make a no-bake fruitcake that I thought was the best I had ever eaten. It was sure a lot of work to make it. She would cut up all kinds of nuts, candied fruit, crushed graham crackers, melted marsh mellows, and heaven only knows what else. Mom made me one and placed it in a round fruitcake tin, I poured a good bit of peach brandy in the tin and put it in the freezer for a couple of months. The cake even taste hot, and I loved it. I think one would taste good if it had some pepper jelly in it.
luvncannin
6 years ago
We got the big whole seed catalog from Baker creek at work. I have always wanted one but never would pay 10 for it. Well if catalogs don't sell the cover gets returned and the catalog/ magazine gets put in the trash ;)

My seed inventory is done and n when I move will determine what seeds I need. I already have a long list for kitazawa.
hazelinok
6 years ago
Hi Everyone. I'm going to try to remember all I want to comment on. I've been reading all along just haven't had a chance to comment.

Dawn, the link you posted is so funny. I LOL'd.

Our cats have mostly been good. Asher would "nest" in a particular tree my Mom gave us many years ago. It was a very full, expensive and fluffy tree. I would walk through the living room and feel like someone was watching me...and it would be Asher in the middle of the tree just chilling out. The other cats knocked off an ornament here or there, but it wasn't too bad. Finbar is just goofy and runs behind it and darts all around, and Juno wants to chew on the tree. So far it's not been too bad.

So good to see Kim, Rebecca, Amy, and Bruce post! :) Missed you all.

I love how you're working on your garden, Nancy. I've put it to bed and won't mess with it until probably February. Next year though! Next year. I won't be a flippin band parent next year.

Well, I have a long day tomorrow (and today was long enough!) so I am heading to the bath and bed.

<3
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jlhart76
6 years ago
In my garden clean up last weekend, I saved all the marigold heads from this one plant. It was about 3ft tall and almost as big around, beautifully shaped & the flowers were pretty. Plan is to only save the good seeds so I don't waste space, but I'm nowhere near motivated to do them all. Is there a quick way to tell which ones are good? Usually I check each one & any that are bendable get tossed. But how do you tell with a large quantity?
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
6 years ago
On the off chance that Larry doesn't know, there is an ugly storm/tornado headed in his direction. Tornado north of Owasso around Oolagah and Talala earlier. I hope the storm missed George. And less than a half inch of rain for me out of the whole deal.
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slowpoke_gardener
6 years ago
Thanks, Amy, the wind and rain have let up now, I hope it has all passed. I have not been outside, but it sounded mean.
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Rebecca (7a)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Everyone survive the storms ok? I haven’t checked my rain gauge yet, but i do have a few small limbs down.

Going Christmas tree shopping with mom. We sent our huge, heavy 12 foot tree to Texas with the family, because it was really too much for mom and I to handle without hiring help. So we are downsizing the tree and getting pre-lit. But she is super picky about trees and hates shopping, so we will see how it goes.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
6 years ago
Aaaackk! I'm so far behind I don't know how I can catch up, but I'll try. And, technically, this is a new month and a new week but I want to finish this thread before I start the new one.

Bruce, It definitely is encroachment of a major type. Frisco and all the surrounding areas have grown, and continue to grow, exponentially. We drive down some of the roads mentioned in the coyote area occasionally, and they were country roads not too long ago and are city roads now. The development is occurring at such a breakneck pace that one of the things I tend to say to Tim every time we drive through there is ""where's all the wildlife being pushed away into?....what's left for them now?"

Amy, It is alright. You've been through a lot recently and I am sure you have a lot on your mind. Now that you've found this thread, I'll go start the new one for this week in a few minutes.

Regarding the chickens? We've had ferrets, weasels and ringtailed cats all get into coops we thought were secure, so maybe you have one or more of those sneaky beasties around? The first two, in particular, can squeeze through fences and through tiny openings.

Congrats on the contract on your dad's condo. That happened fairly quickly all things considered. I know you'll be glad when you can cross the condo off your list of things you have to worry about.

Nancy, The beautiful weather sounds nice. All too soon it will be icky again, either cold or snowy or windy or icy or some combination thereof. Today was only 56 degrees so warm but neither too hot or cold. All the wind the last two or three days brought down most of the leaves left on the trees, so we look really wintery now and even the last remaining red oaks in the neighborhood have lost their red and gone brown or naked now. It definitely looks wintery and I sure miss the green foliage.

Fruitcake is an acquired taste. My dad made it as did several of my uncles, but I never acquired a taste for it. Early in our marriage I made one. I have no idea why. I wonder what I was thinking? Maybe I thought that making a Christmas fruitcake was a southern/family tradition I should carry on into my adult life? Nope, nope, nope. It wasn't worth the bother, we didn't even eat it, and I never made one again. If I wanted a fruit cake (and I don't) I'd order this one from Corsicana's Collin Streat bakery that ships tons of them annually:

Deluxe Fruitcake

A lot of people in Texas, in particular, consider this the ideal fruitcake, perhaps because a lot of it is not fruit---it is pecans. They sell about 3 million pounds of fruitcakes per year (mostly at this time of the year) and ship to at least 195 countries, in addition to the USA. In this particular case, even though I love to bake, I feel like they make a much better fruitcake than I ever could or would or have.

Rebecca, I am not even sure my dad and his family members really liked fruitcake, but I guess it was a tradition from their relatively poor youth so they kept making it and eating it....despite not really liking it. I think maybe it is because their parents loved it and they lost their parents really young, so perhaps they clung to the fruitcake tradition as a way of hanging on to their memories of their parents.

Larry, It is really kind of you to provide some entertainment for the cows.

I know there must be some really good fruitcakes, but most of the ones I've eaten would not have been labeled as good in any shape, form or fashion, which is a shame considering how much work goes into making one. It also is tiring to try to chase down all the ingredients. I've noticed the last two or three years that a lot of the candied fruit type stuff that goes into them isn't even sold in local stores any more.

Kim, I bought the Whole Seed Catalog at Sam's Club the first couple of years but it wasn't that special, other than just for reading it to pass the time, and I stopped spending money on it.

Jen, I don't know of any way to tell the good seeds from the bad ones when they all look the same at the time you harvest and dry them. About the only thing you could do would be to run a germination test by sowing 10 or 20 of them on a wet paper towel or coffee filter and putting it in a ziplock bag. Check daily to see how many germinate. That at least would give you an idea of what percentage of the seeds you've saved will be viable. Keep in mind if the original plants were hybrids, their offpsring likely will not come true from saved seed.

Jennifer, I hope your long day on Saturday went well and that you've spent today resting and recovering.

Amy, I was watching the weather when the tornadoes spun up and was horrified when they started issuing Tornado Warnings for a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" type tornado emergency. It looks like it was horrible in the areas hit, but also seems like injuries were minimal and no one died. Why can't we have normal weather here? Tornadoes at the end of November are not unheard of but also not terribly common.

We had some very strong wind gusts (likely in the 50s) as our severe tstorms roared through, but no real damage here. Some people in our county had portable structures, like sheds and carports, flipped or destroyed and trees damaged and power lines down and such, but I think it all was straight line wind damage and no twisties here. We got less that 0.20" of rain out of it, but I'm so relieved to not have mud any more that I'm not complaining.

Rebecca, I hope y'all found a Christmas tree that was up to your standards. We bought a terrific and beautiful pre-lit one several years ago and I love it. I believe we got it at Lowe's. When I looked at the trees they have this year, none of them were anywhere close to it in quality though. It seems like everything we buy anymore just keeps being made more and more cheaply, although prices continue to go up.

We had the girls this weekend and had lots of holiday fun, but I am exhausted and ready for the new week so I can catch up on my rest a little bit,

Good-bye November!

Dawn
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November 2018, Week 4 "Oklahoma! Where The Wind Comes Sweeping....."

Okiedawn OK Zone 7Original Author

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