How vain are you?

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited May 2014

    Yeah, I always am on my iPhone. But I meant the "big girl panties".  

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited May 2014

    ahahahaha, didn't figure that one out!! Yep, the panties are HUGE!!!!!

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    Good morning, vainsters!

    It was a relatively nice weekend in Ontario and, so, I have my garden planted: heirloom tomatoes, green- and yellow beans, basil, parsley, creeping thyme, dill, echinacea, foxglove, delphiniums, lupins, and various annuals.  Now... who has suggestions for getting the dirt out from under my cuticles?

  • GramE
    GramE Member Posts: 5,056
    edited May 2014

    How I miss gardening, although my energy level is not what it used to be.   It was pretty to look at my efforts and see things blooming and attracting birds.   Living in an apartment in the heart of the city with only an 8 foot balcony is not the same...   I do have a butterfly bush and some fake bright pink flowers.   I get a bit of a gardening fix at my sons with a huge deck and this year plants near the front door - begonias and geraniums with petunias.  If nothing else, I get to water them all.    

  • GramE
    GramE Member Posts: 5,056
    edited May 2014

    Have you tried putting on gloves with lots of hand lotion on?   this loosens the soil and good cuticle treatment.   

  • kayfh
    kayfh Member Posts: 790
    edited May 2014

    SelenaWolf. You know those disposable surgical scrub brushes they use in the hospital? They have a sponge on one side that is impregnated with soap iodine cleanser.  The brush side is soft, bazillions of little fingers poking up and perfect for getting the soil out from under your finger nails, cuticles, toes (if you garden in flip flops).  You can get those lovely little brushes sans the sponge side from LeeValley Tools, online, or at their store.  They are dead cheap and they are the best thing since.....

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2014

    SW - nail brush with hot soapy water in a bowl, or sink...softens the dirt, gentle, gentle scrubbing..

    I want to SMELL your garden, must be delicious!  Are we all invited for tea?

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    Absolutely!  Lady Grey on my back deck... Here are my irises.  Chives- and creeping thyme in the foreground, Princess Elizabeth climbing rose in the background...

    image

     

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    image

    This is the original 1910 cast-iron tub from the house.  It was unusable (unfortunately), so we put in the back garden where I planted it with lilies and violets.  In the half-moon bed in front are Sweet Woodruff, garlic chives, oregano, and marigolds.

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    image

    And one of my foxgloves.  In the foreground are more chives and to the left is gentian.

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    image

    And my French Lilac, from whence is made metformin... Nerdy

  • Blessings2011
    Blessings2011 Member Posts: 4,276
    edited May 2014

    Barb - There is a fine line between short haircuts. There's the "flat, shapeless cap" that most "older women" seem to fancy, and the short, fluffy, spiky, curly, sassy cuts that are truly youthful. Believe me, I went through all of them trying to find the look I liked best. But between long and short.... it's the short I love best! SO easy to take care of! Dries in minutes, and I can leave it naturally curly or straighten it, depending on my mood. And I can spike the top, if I so desire. Luckily, it grows pretty fast, so even the not-best haircut is just temporary.

    Selena - O.k. This is me, shaking my finger at you! ThumbsDown Where were your gardening gloves? With everything I've read about LE, I know I should wear gloves every time I dig in my garden, but I so love the feel of soil through my fingers!!! And yes, I deal with the dirt aftermath, too....

    I adore the planted bathtub in your garden! The closest thing I have is an old rusted child's wagon (mine) that is planted with pink and white draping verbena, and an old rusted wheelbarrow that I am thinking of planting with kitchen herbs.

    Sadly, here in Central California we are in the middle of a terrible drought, so we have to be so water-wise right now...

  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited May 2014

    Lilac!  That's one of the few things I miss about Up North. That smell is wonderful. 

    Metformin really?

  • Ariom
    Ariom Member Posts: 6,197
    edited May 2014

    Selena, your garden is just beautiful, I can almost smell that French Lilac and the bath, planted out is fantastic!

    Dirt remover for me is a massage with coconut or olive oil and then a scrub with a soft nail brush, or exfoliating salt scrub if they are really bad.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited May 2014

    Selena, tell me please that those are NOT this years' pictures???? My garden hasn't woken up yet except for 3 lonely tulips all different colorus! Where are all the ones I grouped together????

    Blessings, very good point about the short hair, thanks for putting it into perspective. Still curly for now....

  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited May 2014

    It sure would be nice to garden someplace that everything didn't burn up before July. Oleanders, Crape Myrtles & Zinnias are about all that is blooming by ghen. I do manage to keep my herbs in big pots alive.

  • DeliriumPie
    DeliriumPie Member Posts: 1,370
    edited May 2014

    do you know what a moon flower is Melissa?  The plant itself is kind of ugly and alienish but the flowers are beautiful and they come back te following year like crazy. I've gotten them to last through the end of summer for the last three years. By July everything else is Texas toast!

  • Tomboy
    Tomboy Member Posts: 3,945
    edited May 2014

    Beautiful garden, Selena. i didnt know that metformin was made from the french lilac, but you do have quite the medicinal garden. foxglove i think is used for digitalis, the heart medicine. and the marigolds are calendula, basis for many a healing balm. and the gentian violet is used as an antiseptic, altho sometimes i draw with it, or dye small pieces of fabric. amazing.

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2014

    OH, moonflowers...I'm swooning. used to grow them when I lived in washington dc, but up here the growing season is too short... BAHHHHHHHHH,  get many one bud, and the night air is too cold for the smell to waft anywhere....more BBBBAAAAAAAAHHHH

    SW - sweet woodruff was one of Vita Sackeville-West's favorites ;-)

    Back out to dig more veggie bed b4 it storms...

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    Pick Sweet Woodruff flowers after they've just opened (just the flower, snap it off like you would a chamomile flower head for tea) and put about three of them in a glass of chilled white wine.  Pretty and adds a nice "something" to the taste of the wine ...

    Add nasturtium flowers to your salad; they taste peppery like watercress.  Nasturtium seeds can be pickled- and used like capers...

    Chive flowers (both regular and garlic) are edible; add to salads, roasted potatoes or meat.  Adds that nice garlicky-oniony flavour, just like the leaves do...

    Pumpkin flower is, also, edible and makes a lovely garnish for sweet potatoes or squash...

    Sugar violets and rose petals (dip briefly in egg white, then sprinkle with sugar) to decorate pastries and cakes.  Rose water can be added to a plain cake recipe for a lovely flavour...

    Put a blackberry, raspberry and mint leaf in each compartment of an ice-cube tray; freeze, and use in iced-tea or other iced drinks...

    Toast mustard seeds in a dry frying pan until they "pop" and add to salad dressing for a bit of "zing"...

    Sage has the loveliest purple flower that can be used in bouquets and is, of course, edible.  Sage, also, makes a nice-tasting tea that can ease a sore throat.

    Hmmmm... what else?

    Oh, yes, herbed butters!!!  Soften 1/4 lb stick of butter and add your favourite, dried herb or herb mixture (about 2 tsps).  Roll up into a log and refrigerate to set.  Lovely accompaniment for corn-on-the-cob...

    Herbed mustards (use dijon) work the same way...

    Summer savory is the BEST herb for green beans...

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2014

    SW - you forgot some of my favorites, chocolate mint, and lemon verbena

  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited May 2014

    My yard is getting ready to change a lot as right now it is like the primeval forest-too much shade, but I am getting ready to have to take down a massive American Elm. It shades the back of my house from evil Texas West sun. I will have sunnier area to plant, but stuff will also burn up faster. It sure is gonna make my little 1954 little-insulation, original single-paned windows house hotter:(

  • Tomboy
    Tomboy Member Posts: 3,945
    edited May 2014

    oh, that sounds like a beautiful tree, Melissa!

  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited May 2014

    Very sad Cath, but it had some bad trimming long before I ever had the house and has gotten rot from water getting down into where it shouldn't. Additionally, elms have an inherently weak branching structure and it has caused some major damage in the past from lots of big breakage in storms. It is very close to the house & the house next door & could pretty much level either house if it comes down or breaks. I'm also cringing because it is so big it is going to cost close to $3000 to have it taken down. Dutch Elm disease is making a comeback too...

  • Tomboy
    Tomboy Member Posts: 3,945
    edited May 2014

    It is a good thing it is coming down, then! better at the hand of a good tree surgeon, than a storm! it will be like a blank canvas there, in that part of the yard for you to fill!

  • pupmom
    pupmom Member Posts: 5,068
    edited May 2014

    Putting my toe back in the water here. Will see how things go. Anyway, I have some really big vain news! I'm having a neck lift in July after we return from Turkey. Nervous, but very excited to erase 15 to 20 years (yeah I'm being very optimistic). I think it can happen though, cause my facial skin is in excellent condition (all plastic surgeons we consulted commented about that). My only real issue is my neck, which has a giant bulge of fat under my chin and neck bands, which are practically covered up by the fat. Everything got really bad this year. Not sure why, maybe age finally caught up with me. 

    Hope all vanies are doing great! Haven't read through the thread yet. :-)

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    Welcome back!  It's good to see you.  And let us know about the neck lift.  Would it work for "crepey" skin, do you think?

  • pupmom
    pupmom Member Posts: 5,068
    edited May 2014

    Selena, not sure what that is! Cosmetic plastic surgery is pretty amazing now. For younger people (like you!) Quick Lift and even Lifestyle Lift (which we were not terribly impressed with, although many swear by it) would be very appropriate. After much research and thought, we decided I needed a deeper more traditional lift. Surgeon said it will take about 3 hours. Of course I will hide out in the house for at least 2 weeks until the stitches are out and the swelling down.

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited May 2014

    Like you, my facial skin is holding up fairly well to the passage of time (thus far), but my neck skin is growing "crepey".  I'm not too sure how else to explain it.  It's not wrinkled it's just... crepey.

    Somebody help me out here!

    "Younger people (like you!)"... Oh, but you're lovely; however I'm pushing into my mid-fifties and starting to feel it!

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