Hope u all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the Very Best in 2006!!

We really haven't had too much snow lately, but we have found someone who is willing to shovel the driveway which makes hubs very happy *S*

I have gotten a few seed catalogues but haven't ordered anything yet. I am really going to try to cut back this year as my health is not good. But of course I say that every single year. LOL

I am going to plant wave petunias in the beds again this year, as last year they filled in so well and looked so good. So I shall repeat that and hope for the same results. *S* I have some seeds already in the fridge just waiting for me to plant. So It will be wave petunias, marigolds, geraniums, tomaotes, zucs, cukes and onions. Ops yeah I forgot impatiens too... *G*

I have gotten the high speed internet and it is like night and day from dial up. I also have a new computer which is much faster than my old 7 year old computer, though i still prefer it over the new xp. Son is helping me with trying to teach me stuff, like burning dvd and cd... ha! That is going to take me a while. LOL

Don't have as many birds around any more though they did stick around until November this year so that was very good. I'm hoping they will be back soon. Not as much snow as we normally have, maybe a bit over a foot and it hasn't been very cold ...yet *touch wood*

Son is coming over tomorrow to help me get the tree and some more decorations down and put away.

I'm wondering when the amaryllis will have to start coming up from the basement. I think it is too early yet. I'm not ready for them to come up anyways.

I'll try to come in more often, it's just been very difficult for me the past few months.

Take care
Debbie :-)

Enjoy your new Internet power.

A friend who lives in Courtney on Vancouver Island had Rhododendrons that would normally bloom in May that were blooming in December. Then my Mom (also on Vancouver Island) has Roses in bloom, well actually they were buds left from last summer that decided to spread their wings. Unfortunately where I live I won't see any blooms outside until April. If I'm lucky... One very weird winter all over Canada.

Syreeta who really misses living in Victoria at this moment!

Haven't been here in a long time. There just doesn't seem to be a lot going on here at the moment, so i kind of got out of the habit of checking in. Sorry about that!

We're having a mild winter here too. People keep saying we'll pay for it, but i think this is our reward for having had such a cold January last year. Gotta look on the bright side of things! :) We don't have as many birds either, just chickadees. My sister-in-law (a couple of miles away as the crow flies) is getting pine grosbeaks this year. Maybe they're the ones we had last year, who knows?

I have one amaryllis blooming. It was a Canadian Tire rescue a couple of weeks ago, and i really should have rescued more! Oh well... I should bring my other ones out and see how they're doing. I've never had one rebloom yet, but i keep trying! I've planted some datura seeds indoors, and taken some cuttings from a petunia that was still inside, and have done ten winter sown containers so far. I'm hoping to do more this weekend. Haven't ordered any seeds yet, though - not until the end of the month, because otherwise i'd be tempted to start things like petunias and impatiens a bit too early!

This evening we had a Horticulture meeting where we planned for what we'd do this year. It was decided that i would do a demonstration of lasagne gardening in my own yard. Easy for them to say - where the heck am i going to put a whole new bed?! LOL Maybe i'll add on to one of my existing beds, just a small area. I didn't want to start anything major this year because of the garden tour in July.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'm just about dozing here, so i should get going.

Take care, and enjoy the high-speed, Debbie!

Marcia

Marcia, I haven't been checking here much either lately. Haven't had much to talk about on the planting side of things.

But things are going to start to change soon. I have been looking for wave petunias at walmart the last couple of weeks, but they don't seem to have any in, only saw two kinds of petunias; a lot less than last year.
I think I bought some extra packs last spring, so well have to look thru my seeds in the fridge and see waht I can find. I will be starting them soon so that I can take cuttings from them, also going to be starting my impatiens seeds and geraniums soon I guess. I just have to remember where I put the seedling mix. LOL I have been moving stuff around so much since last fall I have forgotten where I have put stuff. I put away grand daughter's pic for Christmas and now I can't remember where I put it. LOL My memory is getting so bad it's scary, I guess it is from stress or old age, don't know which. *S*

It was 5C here yesterday and was actually melting! I couldn't believe it, it was great! Today it wasn't as warm because of the cold wind but it was nice and sunny all the same.

I have also been doing some exercising and reading Dr. Phil's book about weight loss and hoping I can drop a few pounds. Am thinking about buying a treadmill too, have to talk to doctor first though. Have had some bad news about my kidneys. Have to go and see doctor about my stomach as something has shown up on that test too, so will find out about that this week. Hopefully the meds he gave me for my high blood pressure will fix my kidneys too. If i could get rid of some of this stress it would help too. *sigh* Getting old is a pain.... literally,,, but better than the alternative. *S*

I'm getting use to the new computer, so that is nice and it is much faster than the old one. *S* Still have tons of stuff to learn about it though so son will have to come over and give old mom some more lessons. *S*

Marcia, are pine grosbeaks the ones that are sort of reddish purple? They are pretty. We are suppose to have them here but I have never seen them. I thought we would of gotten some birds around the feeders in the past two days seeing as it was nice, but no sign of anything, guess they are still hiding in the bush.

I haven't been in the fruit cellar for weeks and that is where my amaryllis are. They could be blooming their heads off down there and I wouldn't know. LOL To get them to rebloom U have to put a paper bag over top of them, so that they absolutely get no light what so ever, cause apprently if they do it breaks their dormancy and they don't bloom and u have to start the process all over again.

That petunia that u brought in the fall is still growing inside? wow! That is great! Sounds like you are getting things growing at your house. *S*

Couldn't u just show how to make an lasanga in a box? Have samples of all the stuff and just layer it in a box, would be less work for ya wouldn't it? Of course, I'm sure if u expanded one of your beds, just a bit... *G* you'd find something to plant in it. *S*

Well take care and I hope everyone else is doing well and Jak, I hope u come in and tell us how the new house is.

Debbie :-)