Happy Valentine's Day

           Well, I got no candy, or cards, or roses this year, and the one guy I've been chatting with for 3 months has dropped off the edge of the earth . So I guess it's just me and Benny for this year! All these Valentine's days have turned out to be let downs . If you are fortunate enough to have someone in your life, go give them a hug and kiss right now ....then come back to me.   OK? Now that that is out of the way, it's business as usual. Very cold today O degrees I think. Benny was out less than a minute. I bet he peed on my tires. He is the second dog I have adopted from down South and one thing is common. They both hate winter. Terrified of snow. Hate the cold. Despise rain. Pansies. Both, I say. I just got confirmation on my orders of my garden cart (JOY) and my yellow Bleeding Heart (JOY again) now my gotta have it list for this year is complete. Got the most adorable violet patterned dish from my friend Betsey. Your card is in the mail, dear. Thank you SSSOOO much. It is exactly what I was talking about!! When I was a small girl, we lived on a dairy farm. My mom and I would stroll down the paths that were created in our woods when a company came to harvest Witch Hazel  that grew in the back of our property. One place had a tiny pond. Frogs would lay eggs each spring and they would hatch into Tadpoles shortly after. Mom got flat rocks and put them around the pond so we could sit there. It was surrounded by literally THOUSANDS of violets. Most were violet, but there were some white in there. The flowers would cross pollinate, and some would have blue and white on the same petals! Amazing for a small child to see. That is where my love of all things botanical came from. I highly recommend this for any child. Hell. You might foster another Euel Gibbons, or Peter Watson. Who knows! Do they even sell Witch Hazel anymore?? I bought all the plastic netting they had at Wal Mart. This year, the birds are really going to have to WORK to get my raspberries, plums, and blueberries. The gloves are Off! When I get a cherry tree, I expect to have confrontations. My Uncle Al had one and every year he would try to keep all the cherries. I don't know why. He didn't can or anything! He would hang pie plates from the branches and Christmas ribbon and all sorts of bizarre things so the birds would not get any.  When your tree is 20 feet tall, I figure  the birds can have  the ones I can't reach .  And his creations didn't ever work anyhow!! But it was amusing to watch every year.  Well, I'm off to do some boring housework, soooo, this is LOOPY signing off for now.....Toodles Diggers