Yeah, that's just another drawback and another reason I'm so hesitant. I honestly don't think I want to get a cat. As much as I'm draw to Amaiko and would love to put one to work I just have this lingering feeling in my gut that says no...and I really think I should go with my gut on this one.

I hate the squirrels even more for putting me in this predicament!

Huskyluv wrote:

Yeah, that's just another drawback and another reason I'm so hesitant. I honestly don't think I want to get a cat. As much as I'm draw to Amaiko and would love to put one to work I just have this lingering feeling in my gut that says no...and I really think I should go with my gut on this one.

I hate the squirrels even more for putting me in this predicament!

My thoughts too. I've heard you mention several times that your Dakota feels that cats are fair game outdoors and that would make me nervous

Yep, that's exactly right. He's fine with cats indoors but the second him and a cat are outside he lets loose which would be another major issue. Not fair to the cat and not fair to Dakota either. I think we've just determined that the cat idea should pretty much be off the table. Sorry Amaiko. Poor thing, in her description it said she was sweet but often overlooked. Can't stop thinking about her though.

I have the happiest guinea pigs in the world! They are gorging themselves on mom's fresh, home grown tomatoes, bell peppers, parsley and cilantro.

Before and afters of the raised bed...


April 20th:



May 2nd:



As of May 19th:

wow what growth! my veggie garden looks the same. i lost a cucumber plant, at all most $4 i think im gonna dig it up and take it back! yum yum

Vaaaaal...

Here's a pic of my tiny, vicious kitty! Actually no other cats come around because of her. She does kill birds but I still have a couple of lovely of pair cardinals and tons of woodpeckers and some nast blue jays that frequent my bird feeder. The cat together with a squirrel "resistant" (nothing is squirrel "proof", IMO) feeder discourages the squirrels from eating the bird seed. I think she's smart enough to stay away from the dog when he's loose in the yard.

I think you should find a kitten from a litter of "barn" cats that could be socialized yet is accustomed to being outside.

BTW, the garden is looking great! Wish I had enough sun for veggies :/

Aww, Lisa, that cat is a cutie!

My other concern with an outdoor cat is that it would have to come inside during the colder winter months. I'm not anti-cat by any means but I just don't really want a cat roaming the house...nor do I want to repel any birds from the yard. I kinda think that the cat idea for us is not the best idea...I don't know.

I read online that putting dog hair in the the garden helps repel squirrels as they don't like the texture. I am skeptical about that but I brushed out Dakota and put his fur around the base of all my flowers and plants last week...squirrels haven't touch a single plant since then...coincidence?

Well, we all certainly have enough dog hair to repel all the squirrels in our own yards AND to share with the neighbors! I would guess the squirrels smell that dog smell and are afraid as well. I have heard about the hair idea. I hope it works for you!! Your plants are too beautiful to be all torn up by nasty squirrels!

That's what I'm thinking is that it's the smell of the dog rather than the texture of the fur...who knows. Anyway, I found a new little hole in my garden this morning...compliments of the squirrels.

I went to Lowes yesterday. I really hoped to find some decent plants on clearance...but got skunked. Boo!!! I returned two of my Lowes clearance plants that died, one was an Eastern Star Dianthus and the other was my Anouk Lavender that kicked the bucket. The other 3 ES Dianthus really bounced back, are doing very well and all three are flowering. My other surviving lavender is doing fantastic. You win some, you lose some.

3 of my creeping phlox are struggling, they're back and forth the past few weeks on health so I'm doing my best to keep them alive but I can't say for sure one way or the other how they'll fare. Everything else seems to be doing very well, my Kangaroo paws have lots of new growth after salvaging them from the clearance rack and reviving them...they went through a bit of a rough spot right after I planted them but have rebounded nicely. My neighbors Gladiolus are flowering already and his are just a bit bigger than mine so I hope to see mine start blooming in the near future as well. My rose bushes are going nuts with growth but the beetles are an ongoing problem. All the trees we planted are growing rapidly, my Japanese Maple and crepe myrtle that were shorter than me this spring are now taller than I am...I bet the crepe myrtle will be taller than the hubby pretty soon at the rate it's growing! Oh and the white Magnolia flowers have started opening, *sigh* beautiful!

I bought a new plant/bird feeder stand at Lowes yesterday and put it in the ground close to the house and far away from the bird feeder stand that the squirrels have decided to take over by the back fence. I placed my hummingbird feeder on the new stand close to the house and am hoping that the squirrels don't come near it. The added bonus to having it so close to the house now is that I have a much better view of the hummingbirds when they come to feed. And sure enough, shortly after I put the hummingbird feeder out (after a week long break) the hummingbirds were back feeding!

Picked up a couple of clearance Dianthus today.

Where are they going to go?

You (and Jenn) should be really proud of yourselves for doing such an amazing job on your backyard/gardens/landscaping! I wish I had an interest in doing it myself. Hubby likes to do some, but he doesn't know what plants/flowers would do well in our climate. He just looks at stuff that he likes the look of. I do too, but I at least try to find out if it has to be re-planted next spring or it'll come back.

I had him plant the bulbs I got at Costco, and they are starting to sprout! I'm so excited!

good score! i checked lowes on wed and they had junk i picked up mulch.

Claudia wait till you see everything now the rain has done some good.

I planted the Dianthus yesterday, one went with my other Dianthus group and the other one went along the black aluminum fence in the back.

Today I was at Cypress Gardens and they had some plants there on clearance so I got a Blue Flag Iris.

Okay, now that I am back from vacation I was finally able to take some pics of the new plants and update pics of the older ones.

First things first, here's a pic of the Blue Flag Iris that I got right before we left for vacation. I'm pleased that it is doing well and did not suffer at all in our absence. Still haven't decided where I want to plant it but it looks like it should bloom in the near future.


Also we went to Lowes today and I picked up a few new clearance plants! Ahh!

The new stuff I got today:

1 - Dancing Dolls Salvia (pink)
1 - Dusky Maidens Delphinium (pink)
1 - Red Mountain Iceplant (red)
4 - Gold Marie Bidens (yellow)
1 - Snow Princess Lobularia hybrid (white)
3 - Creeping Jenny
4 - Petunias

A pic of the new stuff...


And here are a few update pics of the older stuff...

My veggies are going crazy with growth!


One of my little ferns growing nicely that started as a bare root.


One of the flowers on one of my recently acquired Dianthus. It didn't have a tag so I don't know what color variety it is.


My Gladioli were budding when I left on vacation and I was so happy to be welcomed home by the site of several of them flowering already. A very nice homecoming sight indeed!






Oh and one of my lavender Crepe myrtles is flowering as well.




All for now!

Wow, Val!
Everything is looking really great!

Thank you Claudia!

For some reason I just can't seem to find the motivation to plant my new stuff in the two new planters I bought...main deterrent is the blasted heat. Every time I go outside it's like instant headache...me and heat don't mesh well.

Edit to add: And my pincushion flowers around the mailbox are struggling...I think the searing heat is too much for them. If you so much as touch the car (when it's outside) or the concrete you WILL burn your hand!

We've hit high 80' and low 90's for today....UGH!
I've been keeping the furkiddies in during the day, and walking morning and late afternoon and nights now that it stays light out past 7:30pm. We have a dry heat so maybe that's a tad bit better than heat and humidity

I don't mesh with heat well either - I really wish I can skip right through summer and it be September already.

Storm was panting last night because he was hot. We had the thermostat set to 72 degrees with the ceiling fan to move the cool air, but all he wanted to do was go outside and lay in the cool grass in the middle of the night! Hubby is going to see if sleeping in the basement with him helps since it WAY cooler in the basement.

Nikolai was panting last night, too - until he discovered the cool tile in the bathroom... then he was wiped out on that and wouldn't come upstairs to bed with us. When he finally decided to join us upstairs, he insisted he be allowed into the closet, because it's dark, den-like, and confined. Weirdo.

Oh I know! I wish we could go from May straight to September and completely skip June-Aug! Yesterday it was 97 degrees here! I wanted to die! At 76 degrees in our house the a/c is running almost constantly. Dakota now spends most of his time downstairs since it's cooler there...he never wants to be upstairs with me anymore!

I changed my morning walking time with the other neighborhood housewives to 6 AM starting tomorrow because Dakota looked like he was going to pass out halfway through our shorter than usual walk this morning. In fact I cut the walk short for everyone for Dakota's sake...he's well taken care of. lol

Oh Kate, Dakota's taken to laying on the hard floors 90% of the day now too. We don't have tile but he still prefers the cooler wood floors over the carpet.

Yep - ditto here....Or Storm will go lay on the front door mat where there's 2 A/C vents!

Val your Gladioli look great! i planted some but they are not coming up, in fact most of the bulbs i got from walmart were a flop, wont do that next year! my costco hostas are doing well!
sierra was panting all night the last 2 nights she was on the bed at one point and it was shaking from her panting! i had to tell her to get down. i do not give them roam of the house when we sleep as sierra is know to have accidents when not confined to the bed room. i asked ken to set up our indoor portable AC unit today so we can sleep at night. other then that we do not have AC in the house, just fans. it got to 79 inside yesterday

I went to Lowes to check clearance plants...

Will post pics later!

ohhhh i can't wait!

Oh it's nothing major, just a few small things this time.

So first off a couple pics of the clearance flowers that I bought last weekend in their new planters. I think both planters turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

This one sits outside in the morning sun area.


This one is staying on the patio where it gets somewhat filtered morning and afternoon sun.



Okay and the new stuff I bought today:

- A mixed hanging planter containing Petunias, Calibrachoa, and Verbena
- Variegated Chinese Privet
- Dwarf Burford Holly

Here's a pic of the Chinese Privet and Dwarf Holly:


I am going to save the Dwarf Holly for the landscaping that I am working on for our house in North Carolina. But the Chinese Privet is staying here as well as the hanging planter.

I took a photo of my pretty new water gauge that is shaped like a butterfly at the top and has glass accents but I accidentally deleted it when getting them off my memory card. I will have to take another one tomorrow if I remember.

And lastly a couple pics of my new mixed hanging planter...

Went to Lowes again yesterday...something's wrong with me! Twice in 3 days!

Came home with:
1 - Dusky Maidens Delphinium (pink)
1 - Ice Carnival Daylily (off white)
6 - Variegated Sweet Iris (blue/purple)
2 - Saucy Seduction Yarrow (pink)
2 - Moxie Blanket Flower (yellow)



I am keeping everything except 3 Irises and the 2 Yarrow which I will take to our other NC house.