Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to bring you up to date on, well, really almost nothing. You may remember me from such posts as “Strange Encounters”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
Not much has been going on here. The snow is mostly gone from the garden, but the guy I live with said they’re saying it might snow tomorrow night. He said that would be fine.
There’s at least one crocus still flowering, and some snowdrops, too.
This is Crocus niveus.
Mostly, though, there’s been a lot of sweeping and raking and things like that. And filling the bird feeders.
The guy I live with said he was going out tomorrow to get more bird seed. They eat a lot of seed.
Speaking of birds, we haven’t seen any owls, though we hear them pretty often, at night. The guy I live with said that two people near the south end of the field, where the owls liked to be in the last several years, have installed blindingly bright spotlights that now keep the owls away from that part of the field.
The spotlights are illegal, but some people think they can do whatever they want, no matter how it affects the owls, or other people, for that matter.
But it is nice to hear the owls hooting at night.
A couple of months ago the guy I live with went kind of crazy ordering seeds. 
Half of these are bulb seeds, calochortus and fritillaria, and the rest are things like penstemons.
He decided that the garden should have a bunch of penstemons again, like there were back in the last century when he and his wife were working on a book on them, and maybe also to make the hummingbirds even happier.
The only thing is that he doesn’t have any peat moss or perlite, for the seed pots, so he’ll have to get those pretty soon, but he also has no plant labels. He said he can’t get the plastic kind he’s used for decades. No one has them for sale.
He ordered a bunch of popsicle sticks earlier this year, but when he used those, the sticks turned black after being watered a lot and the names became illegible.
So his next idea, which I thought was absurd, was to get one of those burning tools like people had for hobbies, sixty years ago, and burn the plant names onto the labels.
I guess we’ll see.
He did get sand. Coarse paving sand; not what they call “play sand”, which is too fine.
So that’s it. Really, this post was just to say that we’re still here, and not much is happening, other than some complaining about not being able to get plant labels. And the spotlights. Lots of complaining there.
I’ll leave you with a picture of me in my own “personal nest”. I started making these extra-cozy nests when the guy I live with put another afghan on the couch for me.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Does TGYLW have any old venetian blinds, with the skinny, ugly, metal slats? Cut up, they make excellent labels. If you write on them with pencil, it lasts forever, even in the sun.
No; there aren’t any Venetian blinds here. The guy I live with thought about getting something like those for the kitchen sliding door, so it won’t be so bright in the kitchen.
Well I’m sure they don’t sell these hideous old metal ones anymore. My house was full of them. I have millions, say the word and I’d be happy to send some for you to try.
Thanks; that’s okay. The guy I live with would probably install them in the living room windows and constantly peer out between the blinds to see what’s going on outside.
(That would be nothing; really. Not much goes on around here. But twenty years ago, things were different. Much different.)
Rhody makes his own personal nests also. The problem with his though, is that they are in my personal nest.
We don’t have to many arguments over who gets to lie on the couch. Sometimes if I’m lying there and the guy I live with wants to take a nap, he sleeps on the floor beneath me.
That is what Rhody suggests I do. He does not mind sharing with the kitty, but there is not enough space for me.
Oh well, huh.
We haven’t quite had snow here but heavy frost and freezing fog – and a threat of snow which is enough to send us into a panic. We are not and have never been prepared for snow here so it comes as a complete disaster when even an inch of snow falls. These are days for snuggling into comfortable and cosy nests!
The snow here isn’t usually too bad, and we are hoping some falls tonight.
There aren’t really any preparations for snow except to make sure the bird feeders are filled and that the bird bath heater is plugged in. Our car is designed to drive in snow, too.
(The weekend after the guy I live with got his first Subaru Outback it snowed three feet. That’s a lot. So, naturally, he and his wife went out driving in it. No problem at all. There was one time when his wife said “Oh ^&%$, we’re stuck!” The guy I live with said, “No; we’ve stopped. Look.” And he just drove right through all the snow.)
The guy I live with has been looking at pictures of frosted foliage and gardens on Facebook. That almost never happens here.
Mani – please tell the man you live with that I gave up with plastic labels and splashed out on one of these:
https://www.brother.co.uk/search-results?term=PTD450VP
The labels aren’t stiff enough to use by themselves, but if you buy the ones with sticky backs, you can stick them to plastic labels. They don’t fade or break
Thanks; I suspect they would fade in this climate. We have 33 percent more ultraviolet here than at sea level, and light intensity, expressed in calories received, equivalent to Cairo.
Vinyl house siding, a pair of tin snips, and an old-fashioned guillotine paper cutter.
Someone sent the guy I live with a package of labels just today.
Yes, popsicle sticks didn’t work for me either. I bought a box of plastic labels from OBC Northwest (http://obcnw.com/blankbeddingpotlabelswhite4x58.aspx) about 10 years ago. I am still working my way through them. End up re-using old ones over and over until they crack. Have fun planting seeds. I need to get started next weekend while there is still a decent amount of stratification time ahead. Oh, and NARGS seed sale is opening up soon!
Thanks; those might work. The plastic does eventually get brittle here, thanks to the intense sunlight.
The penstemon seeds will go outdoors in pots, but the bulb seeds are going into the refrigerator.
He usually does this in January, just because.
he probably won’t order anything from the seed list because he says we’re running out of room for a whole lot of plants.
Looks like your guy is still busy with the gardening chores. Because the Front Range seems more breezy than ever, I’m hoping it means there will be less leaf raking for me after raking the catalpa and maple leaves. The ornamental pear leaves are finally starting to drop from the neighbor’s yard (and into mine of course-as I’m downwind). Just when you think you’re done… Stay warm and cozy during the storm that’s expected tonight.
I think the guy I live with would like more leaves to blow into our yard. He either rakes them into the gardens, or uses the leaf blower (battery-operated.
It helps keep the soil from freezing. He would take leaves from neighbors, but he says they might have lawn chemicals on them.
I wonder if you are referring to Pylon labels, I too used them for many years and now they’re not available anymore. I bought many horrible, awful, very bad labels before I came across these.
https://growerssolution.com/collections/plant-labels/products/white-plastic-labels
They really are very close to Pylon labels, shipping was expensive but I bought enough to last for many years. They look off white in the photo but they are plain white. Happy planting.
Thanks. Those might be just the thing he’s been looking for. He used to get them locally, or from GardenTalk, but they’ve been out of labels for a while.
He has some metal tags, but they’re pretty big and not really convenient.
We use those. DP Industries recycled styrene .042″ molded labels, 8 per.
Those would probably work, too.The guy I live with was sent a package of a hundred, which is more than enough.
Plant labels – I use pieces of vinyl or metal mini blind slats if you can find someone discarding one. Right now I’m using pieces of a slat from a vertical blind. I cut pieces about 1”x5” and use a wax pencil for the writing. These all hold up much better/longer than regular plastic labels I’ve found. Good luck!
Thanks; I think he found what he’s been looking for.
The labels have to be written on with a No.2 pencil, or softer. (Actually he uses Staedtler Mars Lumograph HB pencils that belonged to his wife.) The labels stay outdoors in the pots for at least a year, sometimes longer.
The pots are something else entirely; B.E.F. Growers’ Pots, polypropylene, that he got over thirty years ago and they’ve been outside ever since. Only one has cracked.
Glad to hear that you’re both still here. And your nest looks cozy, indeed!
My nests are really cozy. I modify the couch constantly.
Mee-yow Mani an Guy wee had no snow til weekend an wee have a hole 2 inchess! Where iss ALL THE snow?? Neether of us have it…..weerd!!!
Guy you sure did buy alot of seedss….wee hope you find propurr stickss an labelss an Purrlite…
An that Crocus iss purrty!!
Iss there Bye-Law there?? Call them about spotlitess! Wee know sum Perrygrin Falcon nestss inn Minnysoda have litess on nestboxess ’cause THE Owlss sorta eat baby Falconss….
Butt yore Owlss seem poe-lite an not doin anything wrong.
Poor Owlss….at leest you can heer them.
Wee still up here two. BellaSita iss tryin to rite Catmass cardss an shee still has at leest 6 to due. Maybee more….
Mee sayss eat sum Catnip an nap out! 😉
Mani you look so cozy inn yore purrsonal nest ❤
**nose bopss** BellaDahrma an (((huggiess))) BellaSita Mum
Thanks; I love the old, creaky couch; the guy I live with said all the purebred border collies who have lived here loved the couch, too. He keeps saying he’s going to get cushions made for it, but he’s not sure how to measure to get it exactly right (the cushions are expensive).
It might snow here tonight. I guess we’ll see.
Mee-yow Mani mee understandss yore love of THE couch! Mee REELLY got upset when BellaSita got rid of THE floppy futon…shee hated it butt mee loved it….mee even bit her!!
Now mee LOVESS THE loveseat an curlin up on turquoise blankit an nappin….
Mee asled BellaSita ’bout measurin cush-onss an shee told mee measure THE length, then THE width an then THE depth of cush-on…mee hopes this helpss.
Did youss’ get snow? Wee apposta get snow Fursday!!!!
**nose bopss** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum
We didn’t get any snow, except for a few flakes. It’s going to be really cold here for the rest of the week, too. Well, below freezing anyway.
The thing about the cushions is that they’re have these sort of cutouts, where the arms are. And they’re like $700 US. The cushions we have are really old, though not as old as the couch. If you saw the picture on the post “A Short, Sentimental Post About The Couch”, that gives an idea.
Mani same same…..so far….tempyturess are 26 deegreess an North wind.
Snow comin Fursday wee keep heerin…
YIKESS ’bout THE Cush-onss!! BellaSita slapped her paw to forehead meowin shee furot they were custom chush-onnss! $700.~ USA iss ALOT of $money$…..
PHOOEY!
It is a lot of money, especially if the guy I live with got the measurements wrong.
They say it might snow tonight, but I doubt it.
Wee understand ’bout costss Mani…wee wish hee mew sumeone who cuud ree-due cush-onss fore a reesonabell price!
An same here with THE snow or rather LACK of snow…storm missed us xcept fore sum rain an sleet….BLAH!
Yes, the guy I live with hesitates because the measurements would have to be precise.
No snow here, but maybe some later this week.