@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw Azalea’s story had me in tears. My mom was a drug addict for most of my young years and even tho for some years now she is clean, I’m not able to forgive her. not sure if forgiving is the right word... I talk to her, and I’m friendly to her, but the love a daughter should have for her mother is just not there. Its even worst now that I have my own two babies.... it truly is very sad... praying for Azalea and Your family, and how lucky of her to have a kind grandmother like you ❤️.

Carol so happy you are feeling better!

I love wrapping and decorating for Christmas 😆. I think I just love Christmas time in general now with kids I try my best to make it magical!

Ceres - that's something that is hard to forget. You've probably forgiven her...but it's hard to forget and to trust again. I'm glad that you have broken the cycle and are full of love for your kids!! Thanks!! I'm so glad to be feeling a lot better before Christmas.

Kristine - yeah, that was a lot of snow to get in one day. It's funny to watch the dogs in the snow...they don't really like it very much. LOL The snow is good timing for kids. They're stuck at home...but the snow makes it so much more fun!! And, yeah...heh, heh...no shoveling!! Although my husband never wants my help...doesn't want me to hurt my neck/back.

Kristine, I appreciate you telling Azalea’s story, I’m so glad she’s in your loving home.

Ceres, bless you. It is very difficult to understand why so many with little ones choose drugs over their children. Addiction truly is a terrible thing. Just like Carol said I’m glad that you’ve broken the cycle.

UOh Ceres, I am so sorry that that was your story too.

Drugs are rampant and trust me when I say that we are not the only grandparents raising grand or great grandchildren. Spending many days in court we were with dozens of other grandparents.

Azaleas siblings are broken little people and she doesnt even care. Addiction makes you very selfish.

The weird part is that her mom left her on our doorstep when she was 9 and she still hasnt forgiven her

You would think that would have made her want to be a different kind of parent.

The drug epidemic is out of control and there are not nearly enough good treatment centers and unfortunately the kids pay the price.

Ceres, may you be blessed as a woman and a parent

I know those old tapes like to run through our heads and bring back the past but I pray that you will focus on today and and the remarkable woman that you have become in spite of a hurtful and dissapointing past.

Carol, Im glad that you are really feeling stronger.

Honestly, it wasnt the same without you and your wonderful comments.

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw that is very sad indeed. I have fought very hard my whole life to be the opposite of her. I have worked hard my whole life, I was on my own at 12y. I built a beautiful life all on my own. No parent, no husband, no nothing.

I’m a strong person, and have mostly deleted those terrible years from my mind. But sometimes it comes crashing back.

I think the hardest part was, as a young child understanding why you and what you did wrong to deserve such a thing. It took me a long time to make peace with God. Today, as I look back to where I came from I can see His doing and work guiding me and bring me to where I’m today. It doesn’t make it easier tho. This year was the first year that I brought my mom to meet my kids (she is in Brazil where I’m from).

my babies are everything to me and I most certainly spoil them! They are just the sweetest kids and I’m very lucky!

anyways Merry Christmas guys! No more sad things!! Give a big hug to Azalea for me!

God works in mysterious ways! 😘

Oh my goodness, you all look like Christmas Angels.

What a beautiful family Ceres.

Merry Christmas!!

Beautiful picture Ceres! Your daughters are precious!

CeresMer ! dear, I hope you cried with happiness and gratitude.)))) Just don't get tired, just don't get tired. The girls are still small, you still need sooo much strength.

My son is now 31. But only yesterday he was 5 years old;))) I even remember his sweet smell;)))

Nice to meet you all and have a good dinner for everyone !!

Carol, I was looking for you.

)))))))))

Thank you @sara_ann-z6bok and @Rema merry Christmas to you guys!! Rena, I’m always grateful!! Sometimes I feel like I’m living a dream lol! I’m also very tired bc the kids are exhausting 🤣. but you are right, times goes by fast, I can’t believe my baby is about to turn 5! I’m already crying!!

@cereaMer that took STRENGTH. It’s amazing that you’ve come all this way after being on your own to figure it out since age 12. You’re killing it :) I’m happy that you’ve made peace. Your family is beautiful!

Some photos I took tonight. I baked this last night but I cut into it this evening

Hello Rose Friends - It's been a tough year but Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes for 2021! (Maroon Eight, Burling Leong, 2015). I hope you enjoy your next rose season!

Ann

Thanks, Ann, and I hope you enjoy your next rose season, too, and that 2021 is a better year for all of us. I love Maroon Eight, which is new to me.

RaeAnna, your photos are gorgeous, and I love the way you have positioned your cake in front of the tree. Hope it was delicious.

CeresMer, that is such a lovely photo of you and your kids--beautiful all of you. The pastel colors are perfect and the setting is so elegant.

I wish all of your the happiest of Christmases in spite of the challenges we face this year. Carol, I hope you're ready to do some low key celebrating at last.

I post this photo every year--it has great meaning for me. All of us were gathered at the table eating Christmas Eve dinner when I looked outside to see the moon rising rapidly above the mountains in all its Christmas splendor--a once in a lifetime view for me: Moonrise Over the Mountains, Christmas Eve 2015. Diane

Kristine - thank you!! We're all such a wonderful "family" here. :) :) God bless you and others who make a real difference in the world. You are the world to Azalea. <3

Ceres - I can't imagine being on my own at 12 years of age...and having had no foundation to help you begin thanks to grossly negligible parenting. And, yet, you did it!! What an incredible woman you are...and look at how HAPPY your children are!!! You are an amazing person, and I am SO proud of you!!! Let all of us older women be "mother-figures" for you. Take our pride in you and bathe in it!! God bless you!!! You are a fabulous mother!!

Rema - that is SO true...they grow so fast...and you said it so well! :):)

RaeAnna - Welcome to the cover page of Home and Garden Magazine. Seriously!!! LOL I can't believe what a beautiful picture that is!! :) :)

Ann - the simple beauty of your single rose...Merry Christmas!!!!

Diane - we cross-posted! LOL

I'm still on the gravol...but, I'm feeling well enough to have a wonderful Christmas!!! That really is a stunning picture...and please post it every Christmas...it's magical and filled with the season!!! Reminds me of Bethlehem!

Diane, that is a lovely picture!

RaeAnaa, you are so talented. It’s a joy to have you and Ceres join us.

I had a simple, but special surprise yesterday that made me feel good. I received a Christmas card from my cousin Coy Sue. She is the daughter and only child of my Aunt Inez, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 102. She told me that her mom chose my name (Merlena) and felt honored that she named me. My Mom told me my name was chosen from a list of girl names of those who attended Oklahoma City Schools. Inez was the Secretary for Oklahoma City Schools Superintendent for many years. It made me feel good that it was a special memory for them both. Coy Sue wanted to name me Debbie. When I was a child I was always in awe of my older cousin Coy Sue. She was a lovely young lady, who was about six feet tall with beautiful blonde hair, and always so sweet, and still has a uniquely beautiful speaking voice. And for some reason when I was little, a female who was that tall looked really, really tall! She’s a retired school teacher. My favorite cousin, just like her Mom was my favorite aunt.

Sara Ann - that is a lovely surprise...simple...yet delightful! :)

I wish this vertigo would go

but in the meantime,

Let it snow, Let it snow, let it snow!

OK, from the looks of all these snowy pictures I think it's time to start the Winter thread, lol!

We also got a lot of snow in Western PA.

Maybe someone else can do the Winter Thread....I'm still suffering from my vertigo...it's even worse now. Christmas was fun...but really difficult. I find it so boring without all of you....so I may pop on to read...but I won't say much.

I'm so sorry, Carol. I was hoping the blasted vertigo would make a quick exit before Christmas. I still hope you were able to do a few Christmasy things (lying down?) in spite of it. So how is that terrible snow situation at your place? I can't imagine dealing with such amounts of snow, though I know many here in various "snow belts" certainly do. Now, Santa Diane says rest up because we want you here, even if you are only able to read this thread--and issue the occasional remark.

This has been one of the laziest Christmases I can remember for us--horribly decadent. I had chocolates for dinner. The guilt, it burns. I slept all afternoon between reading the newspapers and occasionally checking things out on the forum. My big exertion of the day was feeding the zoo--cats, then the birds. The quail have been around by the gazillions. Even the dastardly squirrel has been zipping around eating berries off the ornamental pear and crabapple trees. We had the typical Idaho snowstorm today--a day late for Christmas and a half hour of heavy snow, followed by rapid melting. Everything is nice and brown again. We celebrate our Christmas mainly on Christmas Eve with a spread of finger foods (which we're still noshing on), and a slow opening of gifts. It was just five of us immediate family. We had a magnum of fancy French champagne. When I saw the size of that bottle, I thought my daughter and son in law had lost their senses. They are members of a wine club which gives points for purchases during the year, and that champagne was totally free, though it took a lot of wine purchases to get it--bad children. Jemma got a whole array of pink matching tech devices which she wanted. In fact, she knew everything she was getting in advance--some surprise--but better to get the exact things than return this kind of stuff. This will make her "show" more interesting. She's on a brief hiatus for the holidays, but is planning to show off some new games. I told her I wanted to be a featured guest on her show, maybe for a gardening segment, but she was lukewarm to the idea. Just joking, of course. I got an unwanted gift--a faster computer made by my son in law. Now I have to plug in new passwords, lose cookies, and deal with houzz. Arghhhh. I didn't want a faster computer. This one is too much for me as it is. OK, I've blabbed enough.

Sarah Ann/Merlena, I think you would be a wonderful host for this forum. You are a natural writer and story teller, and have so many photos to share. Would you consider it? And, Carol, we all appreciate the dedicated job you have done on this thread with your poems and photos of your lovely garden, which you grow so well in some really challenging conditions. Your humor and kindness is so appreciated. Diane

Carol, I know we all miss you. I’m glad that even under the circumstances that you had a fun Christmas! I hate learning that your vertigo hasn’t gone away, please get better soon!

Diane, since you suggested it, I will start a winter thread, with the stipulation that hopefully Carol will be better and she can continue it. I think you would be a great one to begin it, but I won’t quibble!

Carol. Darn it. That relentless vertigo.

Being a vertigo sufferer myself my heart aches for you and the disruption to your life.

I will keep you in my prayers sweet friend

Sorry about your vertigo. I do hope it ends soon. My aunt is in your position currently also. It’s rough. Get well soon

Diane, stay on your old computer. Who wants to deal with losing your cookies?

My son in law is adamant about me using the new computer. He says this one will die on me,and I'll lose everything. And of course, since he literally made this new computer, he'll be mortally offended if I turn this gift down. If I had my way, I'd stick with this computer which isn't that old (I'm a lot older). He's a huge tech expert, so what do I do? Right now, I have a few days respite from this annoying dilemma, since he really threw his back out of whack yesterday. He absolute cannot take ibuprofen or aspirin, since he was a kidney donor to his nephew, and the docs said in no uncertain terms he's not to use NSAIDS or aspirin. They are too hard on the kidney. He can't even walk or sit comfortably. I know what this is like--the poor man. Diane

Diane, my brother in law got my parents in law a new computer a few years ago. He gave them a PC when they were used to a Mac. They never could be comfortable with the computer after that.

I have seen children "help" their parents move out of their homes and almost kill them in the process.

I've seen this a lot. People are not tuning in to what the giftee wants. Wouldn't divinity have been more thoughtful, really?

Diane, my husband says you can back up your computer so you don't lose anything if it dies.

Also, can't we get help from genius bars retrieving our "lost" data were the computer to die? I'm sure the FBI could help us. We need you here. I was so sorry to hear Carol lost all her photos once or twice. I didn't say anything, but you could have sent your SIL up there to help her and get him out of your hair. I am very sensitive to this issue because my sister never got a home computer after she retired from work where she was using a PC. I really feel this is really bad for her brain. Her husband has a Mac, and could have helped her get one and still could. OTOH, you could send your SIL to Minnesota after his Canadian trip and he could help my sister.

I also think he should head to Florida and help Sherry who has seemed to go on the blink after her husband died. That could well have been computer problems too. Some people really need to look for a techie spouse but not so techie that they want you to try a new computer.

I know I can back up everything, Sheila, and I store my photos in a huge account Ray has in a storage computer--can't think of the name of this. Ray is a computer engineer/cybersecurity expert, and manager of a big IT department for St Lukes Health Care System, the largest employer in Idaho--that's why it's hard to go up against him. He's a great guy, too, so it's hard to be ungracious about a gift. When the government security software, Solar Winds, was hacked by the Russians recently, St Luke's went into overdrive because they use Solar Winds, too. The whole department was working into the night to make sure the software was OK. I thought that was kind of interesting because you don't want a Health Care System's networks and everything else knocked out by some horrid hackers. But I take your point about parents having too much technology foisted on them. Luckily, I have three geeks living here that I can plague until they fix everything right--but what a hassle. I don't look forward to it. They do call me a Luddite, of course. Ray would probably love a trip to Minnesota, land of his birth and home of the Vikings. And I know he could help your sister, too. The back is going to be a problem, though. I'll mention Minnesota to him.

About that divinity.....can you send me some? Just joking, of course. I used to make the stuff, and I love it even more than my favorite chocolates. I've just become so lazy about baking and candy making. I like The Vermont Country Store, too. Thanks for your sympathies. Diane

I'm sure your SIL is a wonderful man, Diane. The divinity and chocolates from Vermont Country Store were great!

Diane, I feel your pain since I also hate getting a new computer! And Shelia I can’t even imagine switching from Mac to PC as they are such different landscapes. I have a brand new expensive work laptop that I am supposed to migrate to, but it is such a hassle setting it up to be like my old one. I must do it, since we need my old laptop to run an old spectrophotometer in the lab so it is my first project when I get to work in January. The new computer has now been in my possession for two months and I just installed antivirus software and stopped there. Sigh.....my least favorite thing.....I remember 5 years ago hating my current laptop since it was new then. Now I get to spend a few months hating another new computer until I get used to it. Old one is Windows7 with a number pad on the right and 3 button mouse pad, which I love. New computer is Windows 10, has no number pad so now I have to type all numbers from the row at the top and no real buttons below the mouse pad, just “virtual” buttons in certain zones on the extra large pad.....this is what takes me months to learn. My hands literally have to learn new movements for the mouse pad. That being said, I really hate an external mouse since I like to make all movements of typing and mousing without moving my hands more than a few inches.

Stephanie, sympathy to you too. The BIL did this Mac to PC switch to my husband's parents when they were 95 years old or up on top of it if you can believe it. They made it to 103 and 96 but that switch ended their computer use.

Oh that is sad, especially since Mac users get the huge benefit of being able to seamlessly move to a new computer with ALL their settings intact if you know what you are doing. It is the one thing I envy about the Mac users. Macs are extremely popular amongst the students at our university so I am surrounded by slightly more Mac users than PC users. If they get a new laptop everything is just “ported over” and they have nothing they have to reset! My DH also has a Mac. I am always jealous of Mac users when I am struggling to make all my settings to be just like what I am used to on my new PC.

Stephanie, I'd send my son in law down to help your, but his back is out. I don't know what I'd do in your place because SIL does all the settings on the new PC for me, including my photo backup on Microsoft One Drive. But the cookies I like will be gone, and I know houzz is going to give me mucho trouble. I am too old and cranky to want to deal with all this. Do you work at USC? I think you posted a photo of some buildings you walk by to work. I have a few vague connections to that school. Diane

My chicago peace decided to give me a giant bloom yesterday

RaeAnna - GORGEOUS!!!!! Chicago Peace is such an exceptional rose!! I love your giant bloom!!!

@Diane Brakefield - FIGHT ON!

Thanks, Deborah. There hasn't been much mention of the computer because of SIL's back problems. He's kind of hobbling around and had to see the doc on Monday. Why can't we have gnomes work the insides of these wretched computers, anyway? Diane

;-)

:)

Happy new year everyone! I hope 2021 is much brighter for all of us.

Ditto, RaeAnna!!

It seems there are many people out there afraid of their computer crashing. I had that happen to me a few years ago. I am currently using an external hard drive to store everything, pictures, my bookwork, all documents. I don't store anything on my computer anymore. I also bought a second one to switch out now and then in case there is a problem (which has never happened, knock on wood). These are relatively inexpensive (under $100 depending on how much storage you want) and so easy to use, just plug it in the front of your tower or side of your laptop and save to it.

I store my stuff on Microsoft One Drive. I'm on my new computer now. Son in law did all the installing, updating of passwords, etc, and made it much easier for me. There have been a few little bits that have had to be corrected or added. I lost all my cookies, of course. I guess he knew he was in deep !@#$ if he didn't do all the "hard" work--it was a Christmas present, after all. This computer is, indeed, faster, but at my age, I don't really care. Now my granddaughter, a real gamer, has state of the art everything, and it's all pink! Diane

Diane -- hope the new computer is all it's supposed to be for you! It's always a relief to just have it done and move on. @Nola z5aWI -- I back up to an external hard drive a couple of times a year so I have it in case we have to evacuate for fire. Much easier to grab a hard drive than a 27" iMac! But I also use Dropbox for most documents so I can access my stuff from my home computer, my work laptop, myipad, or even my phone! I put my recipes on there, too!

Diane & Deborah, Right?! Mine is filled with pictures (roses and grandbabies) and recipes. All the good things in life! Lol

I keep everything on Dropbox or iCloud. The computer could be stolen or crash. The house could burn down, but I wouldn’t lose a single file. I like that peace of mind. For me, a computer is just a platform for installing and running programs.

Hi, I found this today. Unidentified but, just thought I would ask in case anyone had a clue as to what it could be?

It’s more on the pink side than orange, coral if I push it