Posted on 01/19/2005 9:51:40 AM PST by Mo1

I think kitty needs some of Loddy's ham and eggs to improve its disposition.
I'm waiting for some cheater to post a picture of a Kansas windmill.
It will be welcome. :)
If it wuz Dark's cat that would be, ham and legs...
Looking at what she just did to the back of my hand, she'd also want a hand sandwich with finger food appetizer.
Although sliver might be more accurate... Coffee's up finally...
Ouch.
Retribution was instant I'm assuming, and quite painful.
Silver's looking somewhat smug in his take-down of a human?
(I think I caught him with his mouff full).
He bolted off the porch, I followed apologizing profusely.
He deigned to to allow me to pet him, lashed out at me claws sheathed, just to establish reassert his position in the pecking order, and then graciously allowed me to pet him again.

I did get one little nick on my forearm.
Oh.
Violating the sanctity of the tail is a demnable offense to a kitty.
Kearen shredded my hand simply 'because she could' it seems.
Right now she's laying on her back, all four skyward and looking oh so impossibly cute.
She's trying to lure my hand to convenient biting distance.
Thanks, Grannie. Yes, I did have her for a long time, and she was a great little companion, but the time always comes to let go. I miss her. Heck, I still miss my calico cat that died 16 years ago, and the siamese cat that died 5 years ago.
It's a gorgeous day today, finally, as it was yesterday. I've got bulbs and seeds to plant - gladiolas, dahlias, caladium, begonias, etc so I'll be out today doing that. We've had so much rain, and the soil is just saturated, so I'm going to do a lot of my bulbs in decorative pots and just cluster them in sunny spots on the patio for now.
Our hardwood floor in the living room is nearly complete, and it is just fabulous. I'll have to take a photo and post it. We're not completely done, because there was a problem with the materials, and we had to send some back. There was also a supply problem, and we are waiting on addition stair-nosing materials so we can complete the job. We are going to start moving some of the furnition back in today after we get everything felted. The wood is Brazilian Walnut. I'm sure it's not actual walnut, but it is very dense and hard, and has a beautiful finish.
Yep, that happens.
Ya know, my dad has been gone for nearly 14 years, and I have moments where I think I'd like to talk to him about something, then I realize that I can't! It's kind of a disconcerting feeling.
DUE TO EXTENSIVE HURRICANE DAMAGE, WE ARE NO LONGER OFFERING CALADIUM BULBS FOR THE 2005 SEASON.
ALL REQUESTS FOR CATALOGS WILL BE ENTERED INTO OUR SYSTEM AND SENT EARLY NEXT YEAR IN TIME TO ORDER FOR THE 2006 SEASON.
Happiness Farms Caladium Growers has the privilege of being the Largest Producer of Caladiums in the World.
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Looks like I best search immediately for a new source of bulbs...
AAACK! Actually, I found some at Costco, and also saw some in bags at the local nurseries. I bought a bag with three bulbs, and will go search for a few more today. I'm going to go crazy planting bulbs today, also bought some Heuchera and peony, too.
The bulb industry has been hammered:
As many of you know, Florida was hit hard in the 2004 Hurricane season. Four major hurricanes made landfall in Florida within 7 weeks. Three of the four hurricanes passed through our area.
This is undoubtedly the worst year in history for the caladium industry. In the days following the final hurricane, we watched impatiently as the water subsided. As our fields began to dry, we knew our crop did not look well. We would not realize the storms' impact until we began harvesting in late Novemeber. We were dumbfounded. There were several varieties in which we dug back fewer bulbs than we planted. Overall, the larger sizes are nonexistent this year. We have harvested only #1, #2 & #3 size bulbs to date. We were not alone in our low crop yields. Other caladium farms that looked "OK" topside are reporting their yields are very low.
Our story begins with Charley. He arrived the August afternoon of Friday the 13th. It was forecasted to make landfall around the Tampa Bay area, but it took a surprisingly hard eastern turn. It came in around the Ft. Myers area as a category 4 hurricane (5 being the top rating for a hurricane) with top winds clocked at 180 MPH. The best thing about Charlie (if there is a "good thing" about a hurricane) was that is was a very compact storm, less than 100 miles in diameter. Its small size also meant there was not a lot of rainfall associated with it, which was good for us. Charley tracked just to the north of our town, but it was the most damaging of the three storms. A ride around our farm the next day revealed that we had a fair amount damage to our barns. We cleaned up all of the debris and made preparations to fix our barns never imagining another storm would strike.
We were barely finished when Frances came straigh for us. She arrived late Saturday night/early Sunday morning September 4th/5th, only 3 weeks after Charley. Frances arrived as a category 2 storm, but was twice as large as Charley. Frances, including it's outer bands, was the size of Texas. To make matters worse, it was an extremely slow moving storm(5-7 MPH) which meant it would dump a lot of water on us. We experienced the eye of the storm: so we got both the front and back end of the storms' rain. We felt like Noah. The combination of seasonal rain and Charleys deluge left our ground saturated and rivers flooded. Frances created lakes and ponds where there was nothing but dry ground previously. Many farms to our south were totally underwater (as much as 3-4 feet) for days. After the water receeded, we began to see the toll on our crop.
Jeanne was almost a carbon copy of Frances. Both made landfall around the West Palm Beach area as category 2 storms and tracked directly toward us. Jeanne like Frances was also a rain maker, but thankfully moved through a bit faster. What Jeanne left behind however, was more water than our area lakes and rivers could hold. Water levels rose to historic highs. Roads were washed out and houses flooded. Our fields that should have been seas of color were now just lakes.
We can only hope and pray that in 2006 we can start to recover and restore seed levels to what they were in past years. We thank you for your patience and understanding in this year's shortage. We will do our best to fill your orders.
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Many growers have no stock to sell this year.
MY DAUGHTER TOOK MICKEY THE KITTY IN FOR HIS SECOND SHOTS YESTERDAY. HE HAS RINGWORM ON ONE EAR. IT IS HIGHLY CONTAGOUS. LORD LOVE A DUCK...THATS ALL SHE NEEDS IS THREE RINGWORMED KIDS.
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