Gordon's Garden Diary

1 Jan '08 7:18 am

Had a good giggle at your last letter - sorry: I thought it was clear, North is still 'North' on the compass. You remind me of something my poor despairing mother said to me recently when I was being very vague about something most people would consider important: "My boy, one day you'll get Alzheimer's and nobody will even realise!" It is a sign of your genius, not your head injury that sometimes obvious connections aren't made Laughing

Good luck with the preparations for your guests. Over here Aunty May - aged 94 and much less Alzheimery than I am - and I are having a quiet night. Having chatted till 1am night before last, we might well not stay up to watch the fireworks on the river tonight...

1 Jan '08 11:55 am

Moss always grows on the south side of a tree....this is a useful fact to know if you are ever lost in the dense NZ bush...so far I haven't needed to use this important piece of information,but it is handy to be able to drop this fact into scientific conversations.Which somehow points to the advice that you should always stay on the path.Speaking of paths,and issues and such-like,studies have shown that 3 out of 4 things we worry about don't happen,and 3 out of 4 things we don't worry about happening -do
which just goes to show that even if we're worrying about the wrong things,we are doing just about the right amount of worrying.
Dixie.

1 Jan '08 4:20 pm

What an interesting, meandering sort of thread, you've created here Gordon. Happy New Year to all! I've got to admit it never occurred to me that Northern exposures would be the sunny ones down under, though it makes sense now that I think about it.

We just got back from Bozeman, Montana where we spent three nights with three of her cousins, their wives and kids. It couldn't have been a better time. I like everyone of them very much. We hiked and went cross country skiing. Dinners were big communal affairs and we played a card game called "Hell" ten at a time which was totally crazy. I think I got an idea of what your new interior community might be like weatherwize, Gordon. I was joking before we left that what didn't kill us was bound to make us colder. It was colder, but only in the teens and twenties F. I survived! We just got back late last night and that marks our last big social event of this holiday season. Lia and I will spend New Year's Eve at home tonight playing cards and having a couple of drinks. Such party animals, hey?

Boy, I am so hungry after hearing about everyone's holiday meals! Think I'll go heat up some duck soup.

1 Jan '08 6:35 pm

In lieu of any formal new year's resolutions, I will adopt Dixie's pragmatic analysis as my approach to 2008 Razz

1 Jan '08 7:54 pm

Hi, all - It's 10 minutes before midnight and the new yeaqr as I type this, so all the best to everyone in the new year!

Did you know, Dixie, that here the saying is, "Moss always grows on the NORTH side of the tree"! And, Jack, I'll humbly accept your analysis of my "genius" Rolling Eyes

. Thanks so much!!

Enjoy the soup, Mark - I guess I deserve a midnight snack - I've been transcribing vegetarian recipes (for the new life) for 2 hours, and it has made me hungry!!

Cheers, all!

gordonf

2 Jan '08 5:00 am

I wonder what pragmatic analysis that was,Jack?
We have had our vegetarian daughter (from the planet vedget)staying with us over Xmas,and the pantry fills with lentils,dried beans,hummus,pasta-she ties it all together with tomatoes-often quite tasty actually.
dixie.

15 Jan '08 3:56 pm

Gosh, but we HAVE all been quiet! You OK, Gordon?

Dixie - your comment about we do the right amount of worrying, but not necessarily about the right things. So you could say my New Year's resolution is: Don't worry about worrying as long as you do it (like most things!)in moderation.

15 Jan '08 4:21 pm

Hi, Jack, and thanks for thinking about me. I'm fine, just sitting back watching the weather reports about the strange weather all over from eastern Australia to Europe. Looks as if it has been a very bad year for avalanches both in Europe and here in the Rockies, with numerous people killed already. And what about poor Australia, going from drought to flooding in such a short time?

I also noticed that the forum has been unusually quiet of late. This surprises me, since it's summer and gardening season down south. You'd think there would be lots of plants to show us frozen-up northerners! Very Happy

I've been keeping in touch with the people up in Venables Valley (where the village I plan to visit soon is located), and as a result I'm becoming more and more excited about the visit! I've even been thinking about which of my plants to take with me and which to shuffle off to friends' gardens to wait for later transport, if I do, indeed, move there.

Tonight, the weather has changed from wind and rain to just strong wind, so strong that it has been blowing windows out of some of Vancouver's tall buildings with the result that one of the city's main streets has been closed to prevent vehicles from being hit by falling objects. "Cold and bright" is the latest forecast for the rest of the week.

How is your garden coming along? Any life from the seeds I sent yet? Don't give up if there isn't - some of them need a cold season to bring on germination. That has happened to me several times, with the result that unknown seedlings emerge over a year after being planted (remember my "mystery plant"?). That's what happened to my Podophyllum seeds last year - they finally sprouted in time for the next winter! Now I'm waiting to see whether the tiny shoots will make it through THIS winter!! Very Happy

That's it for tonight from here. Keep well!

gordonf

16 Jan '08 5:38 am

Just popping in to say "Keep your head down Gordon." You are right about the strange weather all over the planet. It does make one wonder where we are headed. Happy New Year belatedly!

16 Jan '08 4:09 pm

Thanks for your concern about my weather too Gordon. It's been consistantly cooler than normal, but not as extremely cold (yet, knock on wood) as last year. Then I remember between ten and 13 years ago it would be cold enough to kill off my 'Waverly' salvias. I must have taken cuttings and restarted them at least 3 years in a row. That would have been when I was just starting to garden. After that start things have been very benign so I'm not sure how odd the weather/climate is here lately. Hard to tell which is the norm. Enjoy your guilt free, hunkering down in front of the fire time.

Gordon's Garden Diary

Happy New Year, Gord!

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