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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Greetings from the Sunshine State

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Greetings from the Sunshine State

by Anne Laurie|  December 22, 20193:44 am| 142 Comments

This post is in: Garden Chats

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Bismark Palm - Cope

From Florida commentor Cope:

t is with some trepidation that I offer up pictures for a Garden Chat post, because I am no gardener. Until she was sidelined with two major health issues, Mrs. cope did a masterful job of making our yard look very nice indeed. It is to my benefit that Florida is pretty hospitable to many plants through most of the year, particularly since we in central Florida have not been getting multi-day hard frosts like we used to do back in the day (thanks, Chinese hoaxers). Most of what we want to be growing in our yard now is pretty content to grow and look pretty on its own with minimal involvement by me.

All I can do is try to keep things alive and looking presentable under her expert direction. I cannot possibly match the breathtaking garden and outdoor work of some of the more diligent BJ contributors (I’m looking at you, Ozark Hillbilly). I just want to make a case that even the least talented among us can, through luck and wise tutelage, keep a yard in passable condition.

Picture at the top is a Bismarck Palm. Over almost 30 years, we have cut down, planted and then cut down numerous palms and pines but this is the one we love. I used to string Christmas lights on it when it was smaller.

Yellow flowers - Cope

Unknown yellow flowers. I’m sure I could use the miracle of the matrix in which our lives are embedded to identify this plant but I don’t want to. These appear all over our yard, entirely as volunteers. They seem to come and go in spurts and soon after I took this picture, they were replaced by store-bought annuals that have since turned to mulch.

Tabasco peppers - Cope

Tabasco peppers. My most inspired attempt to grow things from Mother Earth. I keep two planters of these near the front door. They have been very prolific, providing 4 or 5 crops of peppers so far from which I like to make edible sauces and condiments. For a long time, seranno peppers graced these pots and I may go back to them when these plants are no more.

Pineapple plants - Cope

Pineapple plants. You know that thing where you cut the top off a fresh pineapple and stick it in the ground? These are them. In fact, a couple are second generation having come from pineapples we grew. Not for the impatient as they take some years to finally fruit and don’t fruit every year. I’m sure I could research pineapple culture in more detail and learn how the Dole family does it but, again, I don’t want to.

Sunday Morning Garden Chat:  Greetings from the Sunshine State

Spider lily. Yet another volunteer. This plant appeared in our back yard entirely on its own a couple of years back. It is only pretty for a few days and since it isn’t easily visible from inside, I have to remind myself to go out and check on it every so often. This picture was taken a couple of days after peak pretty because I wasn’t diligent enough in keeping watch.

***********

What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?

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Reader Interactions

142Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    December 22, 2019 at 3:45 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    December 22, 2019 at 3:46 am

    ????

    Eddie Murphy reprising Mister Robinson's Neighborhood with commentary on gentrification is JUST what I needed to end 2019! #SNL pic.twitter.com/i0lh6k71Nt— Vontay is typing still…. (@ayeyovontay_) December 22, 2019

  3. 3.

    SectionH

    December 22, 2019 at 5:02 am

    @rikyrah: Good Morning!

    Too True to be Good, that works too.

  4. 4.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 22, 2019 at 5:14 am

    On my way back from a German/Austrian Christmas Markets River cruise. After arrival and an overnight in Frankfurt, we took the soc!alistical train to an overnight in Nuremberg before the boat started running on Sunday. We hit Regensburg, Passau, Linz/Salzburg, Melk and Vienna.

    Totally charming experience.

    Right now, we’re in the AA Flagship Lounge at LHR, and I overheard an unguarded, loud-ass phone call in the middle of the public space  that shocked me in its recklessness and stupidity.

    This would be my responsive missive:

     

    “Dear Masters of Tiny Middle Management International Business Universes:

    This is a Heathrow business lounge, and when you are trashing an employee loudly on a phone call to a third party, dropping several full names so that your company is identifiable and acknowledging that your non-compete isn’t enforceable In Switzerland but you’re going to pretend it is anyway, then I think I understand why that employee is unhappy and likely to poach your customers.”

  5. 5.

    Baud

    December 22, 2019 at 5:37 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 5:40 am

    Cope, your photos are lovely!

    I can see why you love your palm tree, and I love the yellow flowers that pop up for you.  Your tabasco peppers are handsome, but can they compete with the taste of a serrano?  I ❤️ serrano peppers!

  7. 7.

    Baud

    December 22, 2019 at 5:42 am

    Florida looks warm.  Nice garden.

  8. 8.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 5:57 am

    Lovely pictures cope!

    OT I’m running on extreme sleep deprivation. Both my oldest dog Rosie and my furnace decided that this morning at 1:30 was a good time to die. It’s 59° in here ? and I have the oven on to keep us warm.

    Rosie is still here, resting peacefully not uncomfortably, I think she had a stroke. But time is running down (she’s extremely old and this was not totally unexpected as a result, so condolences not needed, she’s had a happy doggy life). I promised to make a cake for a dessert raffle due this morning at 10, and I’m debating just making it now but I’m afraid I’ll pass out while it’s in the oven. And sorry, I’m babbling… I’ve had about 6 hours of sleep total over the last 48 hours.

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    December 22, 2019 at 6:04 am

    @satby:

    Oh satby?????

  10. 10.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 6:08 am

    @satby: I think I’m using the last comment to get my scattered thoughts in order. Sorry…

    Cope, I think that yellow flower looks like a potentilla. Is the plant kind of like a shrub?

  11. 11.

    Baud

    December 22, 2019 at 6:08 am

    @satby:  she’s had a happy doggy life

    Thanks to you!  I’m sorry.

  12. 12.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 6:14 am

    @rikyrah: really, it’s ok. She way exceeded  her expected lifespan and isn’t suffering now, and I’ve been kind of expecting her to go since her (and my) dear Hershey died last May. She was slowing down but eating and going out as needed until last night, and now she’s just sleeping as things slow down more, so sad but not sad.

    I mean, I hope I sleep my way out when it’s my time, ya know? I just wish it wasn’t so chilly in here, but she’s bundled up and warm.

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 6:26 am

    Somehow it never occurred to me to post this before – In the garden chats of Balloon Juice

  14. 14.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 6:33 am

    Also, cope’s pictures are beautifully sharp focus when you click on each one, and it’s making me jealous I can’t grow pineapple.

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 6:37 am

    @satby: (shakes fist at the jet stream)

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 22, 2019 at 6:40 am

    We had our Christmas dinner here in Beautiful Downtown Glendale last night with the exchange of gifts afterwards since scheduling on Christmas Day was problematic for half the guests.   We went out for dinner at a Chinese run buffet.  The kid’s pretty much recovered from the surgery on her nose(mainly a sinus problem and they did a small cosmetic fix).  She checked how much it had cost on her insurance’s web portal(she doesn’t have any co-pays) and the total came out to $85,000.  She had the surgery at the hospital she works at and it was about a 2 hour surgery.

  17. 17.

    Betty Cracker

    December 22, 2019 at 6:43 am

    Nice garden, Cope! We get those spider lilies sometimes too. I’m not sure if the mister grows them on purpose or not.

    Rainy weather here in Florida. We’ll get three inches of rain over the next 24 hours, I hear. I’m going to hit the grocery store this morning while the road is reasonably dry and while all the Christians are in church. I’ll snag the best prime rib roasts, then I’ll hole up in the swamp through Boxing Day.

    @satby: Peace to Rosie and you too.

  18. 18.

    Dog Mom

    December 22, 2019 at 6:54 am

    @satby: Oh, Satby – I hope that your pup just drifts off to peace very gently.  Good luck with staying warm and getting the furnace fixed quickly.

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 6:56 am

    @Betty Cracker: Don’t forget the potatoes.

    I’m roasting a pot in the morning.

  20. 20.

    scribbler

    December 22, 2019 at 6:56 am

    @satby:  So sorry, Satby.  I hope Rosie’s demise continues to be as painless and easy as possible.  Hugs to you.  And heat soon, too! At least we here near Lake MIchigan are experiencing a bit of a December heat wave!

  21. 21.

    WereBear

    December 22, 2019 at 7:00 am

    @satby: Stress sympathy! And I understand about the sweet doggie.

  22. 22.

    eclare

    December 22, 2019 at 7:17 am

    @satby: Oh what a lot to deal with.  I know you said no condolences, but I’m still sorry.  And the lack of sleep does not help.

  23. 23.

    JPL

    December 22, 2019 at 7:24 am

    @satby: Expected or not it still leaves a void in your life and I’m sorry.

  24. 24.

    Ohio Mom

    December 22, 2019 at 7:24 am

    As a non-gardener, Cope may be the role model I need.

    We have volunteer Black-eyed Susans. Gobs of them. If we Iive here long enough, they will probably cover the entire yard.

    I’m up earlier than usual, I’m hungry. But I don’t want to risk accidentally waking Ohio Dad up, he has a nasty cold and needs his sleep. Nice (as always)  to have this joint to hang out at.

  25. 25.

    donnah

    December 22, 2019 at 7:25 am

    Satby, I’m sorry for your loss. Even when we know that our pets are leaving us, it’s still rough.

    Cope, the tree and flowers and perky red peppers are all lovely; a nice mix of textures and colors in your yard. I’ve only lived in Ohio, but when I visited my sister in Florida years ago, we took a walk around her neighborhood and I was astounded to see a poinsettia plant growing in someone’s front yard. It was at least three feet tall! I will never forget that.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    December 22, 2019 at 7:27 am

    The yellow flowers are beautiful and it brightens my day.    It’s a rainy day in GA so no outdoor work for me.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    December 22, 2019 at 7:27 am

    Are there any southern hemisphere Juicers?  Today’s Google doodle celebrates the start of winter, and I’m curious if Google changes it based on geography.

    I guess I could google it…

  28. 28.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 7:32 am

    @Ken: The Goog is celebrating the winter solstice here at 28 degrees north.

  29. 29.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 22, 2019 at 7:32 am

    @Ken: There are several jackals in Australia and one(that I know of) in New Zealand.

  30. 30.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 7:35 am

    @WaterGirl: I do find the serranos more flavorful.  That’s why I expect these tabasco pepper plants will get replaced with them.  The problem is the tabasco plants just keep producing.  There is a full crop waiting for me right now and I hate to pull them up when they are so prolific.

     

    @WaterGirl:

  31. 31.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 7:36 am

    @satby: Yes, satby, they are very woody and shrubby.

  32. 32.

    donnah

    December 22, 2019 at 7:36 am

    @Ohio Mom:

    I’m an Ohio Mom, too, and I’m up earlier than usual, but it’s because I’m the one who’s sick and didn’t want my coughing to wake my husband. So I’m hunkered down on our sofa with a mug of hot coffee and a warm cat to make myself feel better. I hope your hubby feels better soon.

    We’re lucky to have my middle son from Charlotte, NC home for the week, so I’m hoping to feel better to enjoy his stay and all of the holiday festivities.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 7:38 am

    @satby: When it rains, it pours. Sorry Mr. Morton decided to pay you a visit.

    Cope, be careful who you be callin’ diligent. In my gardens, weeds are just God’s contributions.

  34. 34.

    TS (the original)

    December 22, 2019 at 7:39 am

    @Ken:  The doodle is different down under – and as well as that our seasons change on the first of the month rather than on the equinoxes /solstices – so our summer began on December 1 – and it is extremely hot & fires are raging – and have been for many weeks.

  35. 35.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 7:42 am

    My favorite cat is sitting on the nightstand, facing away from me. He has grown an enormous backside. Wow. Time for a diet.

  36. 36.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 7:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: In my garden we call those things perennials.

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 7:51 am

    A seven-year-old labrador has undergone two lifesaving operations after gorging on more than 30 homemade gingerbread Christmas tree decorations. The dog’s owner, Rachael Bulmer, from Bournemouth, rushed her pet Marley to the PDSA Pet Hospital in the Dorset town after it became seriously ill. Vets performed emergency surgery on Marley to remove ribbons attached to the biscuits.

    Bulmer, 37, said: “I had been baking gingerbread tree decorations, and left them in gift bags on the kitchen counter side, ready to give as Christmas treats. I thought I’d left them safely out of reach, but when I noticed some were gone, I instantly knew who had taken them. Over the years Marley’s been no stranger to eating things he shouldn’t and usually they pass through. But this time he started acting strangely and looked like he was going into shock. He was violently sick and brought up some of the ribbon.”

    During the operations, which lasted three hours, the vets managed to remove 34 decorative ribbons which had been attached to the tree decorations and which were causing a potentially fatal blockage. They also found that Marley had swallowed a number of bones, which had also become lodged in its stomach.

    PDSA senior vet Aoife Clancy said: “It was a lengthy, high-risk surgery. Marley’s chances of surviving the night were looking poor, so he was transferred to the out-of-hours provider, Vets Now, so he could be cared for overnight. Thankfully he pulled through but needed critical round-the-clock care for four days before he could go home.”

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 7:53 am

    @Ohio Mom: I love black-eyed susans, but mine were starting to crowd out all the other stuff I had planted, so I was pretty brutal in late fall and pulled out a lot of them.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 7:54 am

    @sab: I try to give credit (blame) where credit (blame) is due.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    December 22, 2019 at 7:54 am

    @TS (the original):  Thanks!

    Having had to deal with the concept of “season” in software, changing on the first of the month would definitely be an improvement.  Changing on the quarter months (January etc.) would be even better.  Then I’d only have to worry about the businesses that have their first fiscal quarter begin on February 9 or some such idiocy.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 7:55 am

    @cope: Next year! :-)

    I am on the train and it’s still pretty dark, but i have been watching the most beautiful sunrise out the window for miles and miles and miles.

  42. 42.

    Raven

    December 22, 2019 at 7:59 am

    @WaterGirl: Ridin on the City of New Orleans. . .

  43. 43.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:03 am

    @Ken: I keep my schedule on a little paper calendar in my purse. My sister keeps hers on her smart phone, and it reschedules everything every time she crosses the international dateline.

  44. 44.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:05 am

    @Raven: Thank you. I have had an annoying earworm stuck in my head for three days. Yours is much better.

  45. 45.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 8:07 am

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks, Betty.  I started getting ready for this rainy day last night.  I roasted some potatoes and onions, carrots and mushrooms to go with the big thick pork chops I grilled.  My plan is to use the left-over veggies in a pot of Italian chicken sausage soup I want to make.  Mrs. cope’s sister is coming over for a movie day so some soup and hot garlic rolls will help us, well, cope.

  46. 46.

    Lapassionara

    December 22, 2019 at 8:09 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: oh, my. What a saga!

  47. 47.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 8:11 am

    @Raven: Raven, I think you and I spent time at the U of I around the same time in the early 70s.  There was a DJ (I think on WPGU) who played that song every so often prefaced with the comment that it was “…the best damn train song I ever heard.”  I happen to agree with him.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:14 am

    @Raven: Yep! It’s finally light out, so no more beautiful sunrise.

  49. 49.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 8:14 am

    @cope: then I suspect they are potentillas, since they look just like them.

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:14 am

    @Raven: I was trying to think of the name of Tim’s bar last night, thinking that was surely the bar you were talking about.

  51. 51.

    pinacacci

    December 22, 2019 at 8:16 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:  dogs!!

  52. 52.

    chris

    December 22, 2019 at 8:19 am

    Woohoo! It begins.

    Tomorrow will be 0 minutes 3 seconds longer–Wunderground

  53. 53.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:21 am

    @WaterGirl: Try purple coneflowers (echinace purpurea). They will crowd out even black-eyed susans. Plus they are very decorative, and quite drought resistant. Bees love them.

  54. 54.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:22 am

    @chris: Woohoo. That does make me happy.

  55. 55.

    WereBear

    December 22, 2019 at 8:28 am

    @sab: My favorite cat is sitting on the nightstand, facing away from me. He has grown an enormous backside. Wow. Time for a diet.

     

    Here’s a favorite post: Don’t starve the fat cat.

  56. 56.

    HinTN

    December 22, 2019 at 8:31 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Standing rib roast, check

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Mashed potatoes with butter and buttermilk,  check

    Salad and pecan pie. We’re ready.

    Happy Hollandaise, all.

  57. 57.

    HinTN

    December 22, 2019 at 8:35 am

    @sab:

    He has grown an enormous backside.

    Thanks for making me giggle this rainy first day of winter here at 33N.

  58. 58.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:38 am

    What is up is that my Dad’s old, now totally blind cat was losing weight drastically. 15 to 10 pounds in a couple of months. I took him to the vet. He had some kidney issues (also tapeworm, which they didn’t catch, despite the little wrigglers in the stool sample.) So we put him on a special diet of cat kidney friendly extremely expensive canned food. Liverskidneyssalmontuna all ground up in the same can. He likes it a lot. All the other cats like it more. They steal what he doesn’t eat, and the more successful thieves are becoming massive. Starscream is the best thief.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 8:40 am

    @pinacacci: I came home to find my roommates lab ate a whole pound of M&Ms. He’s sitting there looking at me like “Wha’s up, Dawg?” I call the vet. Force hydrogen peroxide into him till he pukes. So I fill the turkey baster, shove it down his throat and squeeze. I do It again. Then again. Finally he pukes all over me.

    Then he’s sitting there looking at me like “Wha’s up, Dawg?”

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:42 am

    @sab: I always plant purple coneflower with the black-eyed susans because they look so nice together!

    In 2018 I broke my ankle so let’s just say it was not a good year for my garden, and apparently the black-eyed susans cared less about the weeds and about not being watered than the coneflowers did.

    So they even crowded out the coneflowers!  And a ton of other stuff.  Or the thistle crowded everything out and then the black-eyed susans moved right in once I got the thistles out by the end of the summer this year.

    Bastards!  And I say that as someone who ordinarily would never raise my voice at my flowers. :-) Thistle is evil however, and deserves every unkind thing I say about it.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    December 22, 2019 at 8:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

     

    “Let’s do it again!”

  62. 62.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 8:46 am

    @satby: Peace to Rosie and to you too. We all should slip away so easily in the company of someone we love.

    Cope, your yard looks like summer. I particularly like the splashy color of the peppers.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:47 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: You’re lucky you caught it quickly enough that you could induce vomiting.  When my cocker stole the really high quality chocolate 66% cocoa (that a friend had brought me from Germany) from the kitchen counter, we had 7 days in the ICU.

    She was a trooper and still lived to be 16.

  64. 64.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 8:47 am

    @TS (the original):

    You change seasons on the first of the month? I’m trying to grasp that. Seasons seem like a celestial event to me. Solstice, equinox, solstice, equinox.

  65. 65.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:48 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Labs will eat almost anything. My parents next door neighbor had a lab that figured out how to open the fridge door. They had to get it reversed so it opened next to the counter where he couldn’t get his nose in.

    I did hand my lab a piece of stale bread once that I hadn’t noticed was moldy. He took it, then dropped it with a look of utter betrayal in his eyes. I still feel bad about that. I gave him a lump of cheese in apology.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 8:48 am

    @Baud:

    “Dude, if you wanted some all you had to do was say so.”

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:48 am

    As long as we’re talking about dogs, I will put this here.  I had no idea that peanut butter could be bad for dogs.  Read the whole thing. :-)

    Why some peanut butter is bad for dogs

    In our never-ending quest for “healthy” human products, sometimes we make changes to ingredients that aren’t so good for our dogs. For example, the addition of the sugar substitute xylitol to candies, gum and, now, peanut butter.

    Xylitol is perfectly safe for human consumption, but it is without a doubt unsafe for dogs. Dogs who have gotten into gum containing this sugar substitute have been getting sick for years. But the addition of xylitol to a food we give our pets so often can only spell trouble.

    Xylitol toxicity can cause low blood sugar in dogs in the short term, and in the long term, it can cause liver failure. Both of these conditions can easily be fatal, and both will rack up some pretty serious veterinary bills, though luckily they can be covered by pet insurance.

    So far, xylitol has not been used in mainstream peanut butters, but a handful of specialty peanut butter makers have added it to the mix. Be sure to check the ingredients on your jar before you use it for training or treats for your pet. If it contains xylitol, leave it on the shelf.

    The same thing goes for many sugar-free human foods and treats. Always check the label, and if xylitol is in the ingredients list, keep it well away from pets. Resourceful dogs are quick to search purses for gum, or jump up on counters or rummage through the trash can. There is no limit to the lengths some pets will go through for a treat. But when that treat contains xylitol, it could be deadly, even in low doses.

    Peanut butter is fine to give to your dog in most cases. Because of its high-fat content, dogs who have had pancreatitis should probably avoid peanut butter, as should dogs who are on an elimination diet for allergy purposes. But when it is safe and xylitol-free, your dog will love you for it. Check the ingredients first and talk to your veterinarian before you give your pet anything new to eat, including peanut butter.

  68. 68.

    TS (the original)

    December 22, 2019 at 8:49 am

    @Ken: But we have to cope with fiscal year changes – even within government. The tax year ends June 30, the benefits year end for medicare type items is December 31, health insurance (private) seems to have some time in April as their year start, cause that’s when the rates always increase and my health card (government) is renewed every September. Just have to go with the flow.

    And our google doodle has just changed from the basic google to be “happy holidays”  a term rarely used in our part of the world. It’s been Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from whenever I can remember.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:51 am

    @Baud:

    “Let’s do it again!”

    You caught that perfectly.  They live in the now, not in the 5 minutes ago when we were making them puke.

    Kind of like my (then) 8-year old nephew who ate WAY TOO MUCH candy and chocolate on a trip to Colorado, cried and moaned about how much his tummy hurt.  Threw up a little while later, took a 30-minute nap, and then got up and ate more candy.

  70. 70.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 8:53 am

    Also, YAY! I have a book scheduled to come out late in 2020, and I just found email from my editor asking if I’d be interested in having it release in May instead. You bet! It’s a sequel to The Wind Reader, so a long time gap is bad.

  71. 71.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:54 am

    @TS (the original): So y’all are also having a war on Christmas, even after you let Rupert Murdoch emigrate.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 8:55 am

    @WaterGirl: When my my roommate got home he was like, “Oh he eats chocolate all the time.” I don’t think a pound at a time tho.

    @sab: The Woofmeister certainly will. Except bananas, he won’t eat bananas. Percy on the other hand is the pickiest damned eater I have ever seen in a dog. There must be a dozen different treats he won’t eat. And don’t try and sneak a pill wrapped in ham or some other delectable cold cut to him, he knows that trick. But he’s polite about it. My wife will give him chew bones or some other treat and he will take them, walk around a corner, and spit them out on the floor. Doesn’t want to hurt her feelings I guess.

  73. 73.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 8:57 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yay! I am anxiously waiting. Too soon to preorder?

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 8:57 am

    @sab:

    My parents next door neighbor had a lab that figured out how to open the fridge door.

    My cocker spaniel learned how to do that, too.  On her first successful attempt, she got 4 chicken breasts, bone-in, in white wine and butter sauce, several helpings of wild rice, and 3/4 of a homemade chocolate cream pie.  Though she just licked out all the chocolate pudding part, leaving my (homemade!)  pie crust, which she apparently didn’t care for.

    After that, I had to use duct tape on the refrigerator door.

    Yes, this is the same pup who ate flash cubes years earlier.

  75. 75.

    MomSense

    December 22, 2019 at 8:58 am

    @satby:

    Oh no!! I’m so sorry about Rosie.  Please be careful using the oven for heat.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:01 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That is so awesome!  Did you put a penny in a wishing fountain anywhere while you were on your cruise?

  77. 77.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 9:01 am

    @sab:

    lol. Yes, sadly too soon to preorder. Because my publisher is a small press, Amazon might take a couple of weeks to show both the ppb and e-book even AFTER it releases.

  78. 78.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 9:01 am

    @WaterGirl: My german sheperd learned to work the footpedal on the trash can. I watched her stroll up to the can, step on the pedal, and peer inside for edibles.

    I eventually hotglued a cliplock to the top of the trash can to keep her out.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:02 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh my god, chocolate is SO bad for dogs.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:03 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m pretty sure I got my niece Wind Reader for Christmas last year – would the timing have been right for that?

  81. 81.

    debbie

    December 22, 2019 at 9:04 am

    @rikyrah:
    I thought he was GREAT, but my god, 10 children???

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:04 am

    @sab: The worst is when the “chow hound” pups are also smart.  Plus, food is the great motivator.

  83. 83.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 9:05 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes, I think it came out in late Sept or early Oct.

    I actually think my editor was worried about bringing the new book out late in 2020 because the election would be consuming everyone’s attention. I know I was worried about that.

  84. 84.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 9:06 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes, this is the same pup who ate flash cubes years earlier.

    So that when you let her out to poop at night, you knew where you had to clean up the next morning?

  85. 85.

    debbie

    December 22, 2019 at 9:06 am

    @satby:

    I am so sorry, but glad Rosie is comfortable. Are you getting the warmer weather we have over here? It’s supposed to be near 60 for most of the week.

  86. 86.

    TS (the original)

    December 22, 2019 at 9:07 am

    @sab: That be google – they think all english speaking countries are the same

    As for Murdoch, he still has too much influence here with RW politicians.

  87. 87.

    eclare

    December 22, 2019 at 9:07 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Congratulations!

  88. 88.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 9:07 am

    @WaterGirl: We had a golden retriever who ate my bic razor. Turns out its blades were just thick tinfoil, so not harmful. His brother, however, ate carpeting and the carpet pad. That required surgical intervention.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:08 am

    I hope I don’t jinx anything by saying that my train is getting into Chicago 31 minutes early.  On the down side, the connecting metra leaves 4 minutes before my train says it will arrive.  Oh well, my niece probably wouldn’t be ready for me that early anyway.

  90. 90.

    debbie

    December 22, 2019 at 9:08 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    We’ll get three inches of rain over the next 24 hours, I hear.

    If it keeps you-know-how off the links, I’m all for it!

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:09 am

    @sab: Ouch!  on the bic razor.  Wow, I’m still cringing at the thought.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:10 am

    @debbie: I only wish he knew how to do anything constructive. :-)

  93. 93.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 9:11 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: and the books arrived Friday, so thanks very much!

    @MomSense: Oh, I know! But I had to bake a cake anyway, so bonus.

  94. 94.

    Bg

    December 22, 2019 at 9:12 am

    I’m pretty sure the yellow flowers are buttercups. Years ago my husband found some growing in a crack in a sidewalk downtown, pulled them up & brought them home for me. Now they’re all over our backyard

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:15 am

    @Bg: They don’t look like my buttercups, also called sundrops.  Close, but different.  Do yours look at all like mine?

    Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Greetings from the Sunshine State 1

  96. 96.

    MomSense

    December 22, 2019 at 9:15 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I learned in a most unpleasant way that the inside of a baseball is a combination of weird string and rope.  My lab was outside in the backyard with the kids as always, but I noticed the kids pointing at him as he sort of scooched on the ground dragging his bum across the grass.  This was only about a month after he had emergency surgery to remove an obstruction – an entire corn cob that almost killed him.   Using a giant pair of chopsticks fashioned from sticks, I managed to assist with  the string removal.

    On a much happier topic, Cope’s garden is lovely.  I’m so envious of the year round growing possibilities.

     

    Cope, you can have jasmine and bougainvillea and so many amazing plants I can only dream about.

  97. 97.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 9:15 am

    @satby:

    Good, I was worried they wouldn’t get there before Christmas.

  98. 98.

    rikyrah

    December 22, 2019 at 9:16 am

    @HinTN:

    Yum

    Yum

    Yum ???

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    December 22, 2019 at 9:17 am

    White Republicans are not having a fair trial in the Senate to hold Trump accountable; it is akin to how racist whites allowed whites who lynched Blacks to get off. America allowed Blacks to be lynched, now America is allowing Democracy to be lynched!— Janet Langhart Cohen (@LanghartCohen) December 22, 2019

  100. 100.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 22, 2019 at 9:17 am

    @MomSense: Oh dear god. Dogs are great, but there are days when things happen that they don’t show in the sweet puppy pics.

  101. 101.

    satby

    December 22, 2019 at 9:18 am

    @debbie: around the 50°s here most of the week, and if it’s sunny there’s enough solar gain that it should be downright balmy inside. But I’m hoping I can get a furnace guy in tomorrow sometime. At least yesterday was a good day at the market.

  102. 102.

    MomSense

    December 22, 2019 at 9:20 am

    @WaterGirl:

     

    Ever try bee balm (monarda)?  It’s in the mint family and grows like it.  I love it because it’s tall and the flowers look like firecrackers.  I have bee balm, black eyed Susans and purple coneflower in my pollinator garden where they duke it out in the most outrageous showing.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:23 am

    @MomSense: I have bee balm, but not planted near the other two.  I will have to think about that when I “fill in the blanks” in my garden next year.  What color is your bee balm?

  104. 104.

    MomSense

    December 22, 2019 at 9:25 am

    @WaterGirl:

    My favorite is the scarlet red, but I also have purple.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:28 am

    @satby: Stay warm!  I sent you a note about Rosie.  Maybe Rosie is waiting for Hershey to come and meet her and show her around doggie heaven.

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:29 am

    @MomSense: I was trying to remember whether mine was purple or red.  I guess it could be either. :-)

    I have a lot of purple, so I should go for the red in the spring.  I am fussy about reds, but scarlet sounds perfect!

  107. 107.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:33 am

    I have been up since 4, on the train, and I’m super hungry, so if anyone is having breakfast, please eat a little bit extra for me, please.

  108. 108.

    jeffreyw

    December 22, 2019 at 9:38 am

    @WaterGirl:

     

    Breakfast for Lunch pic.twitter.com/ArRuZkfrtM

    — jeffreyw (@imjeffreyw) December 15, 2019

  109. 109.

    LivingInExile

    December 22, 2019 at 9:48 am

    Today is dog bath day.  Two dogs.  They don’t know yet.  The quiet before the storm.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:55 am

    @jeffreyw: Fritos, the breakfast of champions!

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 9:56 am

    @WaterGirl:

    I love black-eyed susans 

    Sooo…ummm… you’re delighted when you discover a woman with a black eye is named Susan?

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 9:57 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Umm, give me a minute while I rethink that.

  113. 113.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 9:58 am

    @sab: LOL

  114. 114.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 10:02 am

    @HinTN: Pecan pie!

  115. 115.

    StringOnAStick

    December 22, 2019 at 10:02 am

    @Raven: Hey, I just posted this 2 threads ago, but we have some of the carpet runner stuff that we used to provide a walkway for an elderly pet years ago and I’d be happy to ship it to you for your sweet doggie.  We’re planning on moving several states away in a year or so, and you’d be doing us and the planet a favor if I could send it your way.  I’d much rather it go to someone who could use it than it becoming something I don’t have time to find a proper home for during the frenzy of moving.  Send me your shipping address at kitcoh at gmail .com and I’ll get it packed and sent.

  116. 116.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 10:02 am

    @jeffreyw: What’s up with the chocolate chip coconut peanut butter walnut oatmeal cookies? Couldn’t you make up your mind?

  117. 117.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 10:04 am

    @sab: Starscream?  Mad libs cat names?  Love it!

  118. 118.

    jeffreyw

    December 22, 2019 at 10:05 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: We were out of hazelnuts.

  119. 119.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 22, 2019 at 10:07 am

    @jeffreyw: Heh.

  120. 120.

    sab

    December 22, 2019 at 10:11 am

    @mrmoshpotato: My stepson named him. I think he is named after a Transformer. He yowls in the middle of the night a lot, so the name fits him.

    His little housemate is the sweetest, quietist cat ever, and the same stepson named her Megatron, which doesn’t fit at all. So we call her Meg.

  121. 121.

    Amir Khalid

    December 22, 2019 at 10:13 am

    @LivingInExile:

    I have this strange mental image of you sneaking up on the doggies with a bathtub behind your back.

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 10:15 am

    @Amir Khalid: Did you get a new guitar for the holiday?

  123. 123.

    WaterGirl

    December 22, 2019 at 10:15 am

    @sab: Meg is a good name for a sweet cat.

  124. 124.

    Amir Khalid

    December 22, 2019 at 10:18 am

    The bottom team in the English Premier League, Watford, are leading visitors Manchester United — Manchester United!! — 2-0.

  125. 125.

    Amir Khalid

    December 22, 2019 at 10:23 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    If Watford maintain their lead, this will be only their second win of the season. And they’ll still be bottom of the table on goal difference. United will be eighth.

  126. 126.

    JPL

    December 22, 2019 at 10:25 am

    @debbie: I had no idea he had that many children.    The show was great though and it was fun watching it this morning.

  127. 127.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 10:32 am

    @WaterGirl: Hehehe

  128. 128.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 10:35 am

    @sab:

    He yowls in the middle of the night a lot, so the name fits him. 

    Excellent!

  129. 129.

    Steeplejack

    December 22, 2019 at 10:38 am

    @sab:

    What is the kidney-friendly canned food you’re giving your cat?

  130. 130.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 10:41 am

    @Amir Khalid: I see a bathtub chasing the dogs around the house.

  131. 131.

    LivingInExile

    December 22, 2019 at 10:50 am

    I may try putting wheels on the tub.  They’ll think they are going for a ride.

  132. 132.

    debbie

    December 22, 2019 at 10:58 am

    @JPL:

    It was even better than when Dave Chapelle hosted, and I didn’t think that could be topped.

  133. 133.

    oldgold

    December 22, 2019 at 11:13 am

    Cope, nice pics.

    I own a slice of sandy soil in the Sunshine State. In a weak moment, I considered doing a little (very little) winter gardening.

    Assuming I do not come to what is left of my senses in the springtime of my dotage, to have a chance at raising a crop that the condo curmudgeons do not have a jolly time ridiculing, will I have to add some fertile alluvial soil to this thin, dry, sandy soil?

  134. 134.

    Aleta

    December 22, 2019 at 11:14 am

     

     

    @WaterGirl: They should label jars Not Safe For Dogs.

  135. 135.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 22, 2019 at 11:18 am

    @LivingInExile: Splish splash getting wheeled around in the bath, on a nona Saturday night!

  136. 136.

    Aleta

    December 22, 2019 at 11:22 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: “But he’s polite about it.”  I love to see dogs do that.  The ones who politely take a treat and then let it fall out of the side of their mouth so casually and inoffensively.

  137. 137.

    cope

    December 22, 2019 at 11:27 am

    @oldgold: Thanks.  It depends on what you want to plant.  We live in a sandy pine ecosystem so the soil is pretty much just that…sand.  When we put in new plants, we usually add some topsoil mix and maybe some fertilizer to the hole.  For some things, though (think palm and Norfolk pine trees and pineapples), it’s straight into the sand they go.

  138. 138.

    oldgold

    December 22, 2019 at 11:42 am

    @cope:

    Thank you for answering my question.

  139. 139.

    laura

    December 22, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    @satby: Sending you all the warmth and comfort I can muster. Lack of sleep, lack of heat and impending loss -the hits just keep on coming and you continue to hang in and hang on. {{{{{HUG}}}}}

  140. 140.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    December 22, 2019 at 12:22 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Congratulations! Good news.

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    December 22, 2019 at 12:29 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    A satisfying win for the underdogs! I was glad to see it.

  142. 142.

    bg

    December 22, 2019 at 7:38 pm

    @WaterGirl: no, mine look like the ones in the original post.  Maybe Fla has a different kind?

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