Morning all, A chilly 32 degrees out here this AM. Lots of clouds and I guess it is supposed to snow later. News on another front, Doug is going to have to have surgery on that toe of his. The arthritis is preventing it from bending and flexing properly and as a result he is getting very thick callus and those blisters that dont heal. Hes pretty bummed out but philosophical about it as it could be worse. They did a full range of blood tests and everything there is normal. Im working on another magazine article so will try to check in when I can in the next few days. Da! Hey there, great to hear from you. Those fabrics and patterns are really lovely. Didnt that show make you want to take dancing lessons? LOL I do have to say that that foxtrot they were doing didnt look anything like the one Doug and I were learning. ~~ Thanks! Glad you liked the pic and frame. I found this new borders software that has hundreds of frames to choose from and it really is a lot of fun to play with. Norma, I cant believe you have crocus blooming already! I dont have any crocus foliage even showing up yet but do have some tulips and narcissus foliage breaking ground. Hi Eden, how great to hear from you. I love, love, love those plants. Are you going to use them in your outside containers this year? ~~ I still have brug cuttings in water and they are still doing OK. Mine did have some yellowing leaves but a month or so ago I started adding a bit of water soluble fertilizer to the water when topping them off and they are no longer getting yellow leaves. I dont know when Im going to pot mine up but want to wait as long as possible. The one cutting I did pot up Ive had to cut down twice. T but orchids are good for dieting! You wind up playing with your orchid collection instead of eating. LOL~~ I got that Charleys Greenhouse catalog also and already ordered from it but not plants. They have some great high intensity fluorescent bulbs that produce twice the light as normal bulbs. I want to try them out. They should be great to get my large fuchsias going again. V, so is that how you got me to buy those plants????? ~~ I could swoon to go to a flower marked where most of the flowers were orchids. How neat! So happy to hear they had a great time together in Paris. Barb, thanks for checking in. Hope you had a good birthday. Bug, your kitchen looks great. So clean and new! Makes me want to get out a bulldozer and rip mine out and do a remodel. Sue, ROTFLMAO! ~~ have a great day at the garden show. Looking forward to pics. Michelle, where do you have those coleus cuttings? Are they in a window where they get too much cold? Coleus dont like cold temps and just sulk if they arent warm enough. I have some under my lights in the basement and they dont do as well as the ones upstairs that get more heat. Eileen I just absolutely loved all your garden photographs! What a breath of spring. Im SO ready for spring right now I can just about taste it. LOL Grace, RE the login thing, check to see that you are checking the box to remember your password when you do log in. ~~ Glad to hear you got some rain. Have you not gotten enough rain this winter? It seems so strange that some areas get too much, much more than their average like up in the PNW and some areas are dry, dry, dry. Weve had a ton of precip here since September. Marian, very cool you had a Meadowlark in your yard. They are such cheerful looking birds. It is always fun to have something unusual for a yard bird. A friend of mine here has a flock of Turkeys that hang out from time to time. OK I really have to get off this computer and get my day started so Im off to the gym. Have a great day everyone, Deanne

That appears to be a Tachinid fly egg on the Saddleback. Good catch, Calliope! It seems like they often lay their eggs closer to the front of the caterpillar, for some reason. Yes, it's truly gorgeous and such a good picture! I had to close down my wholesale container nursery for a couple of days at one time because of these BAD creatures! My employees were practically threatening to quit, lol. I eventually managed to get stung by one, too. It felt like I had been shot. Many years ago, someone here in the Gardenweb said that this caterpillar reminded her of a Scottish terrior with a jacket. I can't quite get that comparison out of my mind, lol.

I'm not sure what the nose wiggle means. I can flare my nostrils, and my nose moves when I wiggle my upper lip. I can wink each eye separately. I can raise both eyebrows together or only the right one. (Can't raise only the left one.) Tongue curls up only. I can spread my toes and can move each great toe separately. I *used* to be able to whistle, although not *loudly*. (Always wanted to learn that piercing whistle that's done with the fingers in the mouth.) I know my hearing is failing, but...can you really hear people chewing (not ice) if their mouths are closed? I was told I was very attractive as a young woman and into middle age -- faded to 'fairly' now as I am past 70. (No children or horses have been frightened yet.)

If your having trouble smelling certain roses try smelling them first thing in the morning before it gets too hot. I can only smell Evelyn in the morning. I'm not sure and maybe someone can explain it better, but I think as it warms up the oils that make the rose smell evaporate, once again I'm no expert but that's how I understood it when it was explained to me. I think it is disappointing to wait with anticipation to smell a rose that gets raves about their fragrance only to not be able to smell it. That's how I felt about Evelyn until someone suggested smelling her in the morning. Also her fragrance has grown more intense as she matures.