* * *
Last night, we passed one of the six churches we pass on our drive to and from the post office every evening.
“Let’s become rabid fundamentalist christians!” Fred suggested.
“Do we get to tell people they’re going to hell?” I asked.
“HELL yeah! We can tell everyone, repeatedly, until they start avoiding us!”
“Ooh, that sounds like fun!”
You’re all going to hell.
(Save me a seat)
* * *
By the way, all y’all who keep telling me I need to get a kitten? I can’t hearrrrrr youuuuuuu. Lalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Heh.
For the record, we’re not against getting another cat – preferably a kitten – but Fancypants has only been missing for about four months (only!), and we’d like to give it a few more months, at least through the winter.
Of course, that’s all null and void if I fall in love with another kitten.
* * *
Gardening advice needed – can I chop my butterfly bush down to a nubbin and still expect it to come back okay? And when would be the best time to cut it back? Fall? Spring? It’s grown in kind of funny and tilted, and I’d like to cut it back severely in hopes of getting it to look a little more normal.
Also, my Million Bells Petunias, can I cut those back, keep them in the shed, and expect them to come back next Spring? Or am I dreaming?
Please leave any advice in the comments, thank you!
* * *
I’m currently reading and enjoying
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. I try to stay away from the political-type books, because even the thought of them bores the snot out of me (though I did read one of Ann Coulter’s books several months back – maybe last year – and enjoyed it), but watching Fred guffaw over the book made me want to read it.
Al’s especially funny when he talks about Bill O’Reilly. I mean, I like Bill O’Reilly a lot and usually enjoy his show, but you can’t deny that he’s got blowhard tendencies. Of course, anyone who points the finger at either the Left or the Right and blames everything on them has to be taken with a grain of salt.
* * *
The happiest! kitty! in the world!
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Found this for the Butterfly Bush…..=)
When and how should I prune my butterfly bush ?
We suggest cutting butterfly bushes back to about 4 feet high for the winter (so that heavy winter snow won’t crush the bush to the ground). And don’t cut the butterfly bushes back too early; November is our recommendation.
Depending upon the severity of winter, your butterfly bush may appear dead in spring. Don’t despair. Even when a butterfly bush doesn’t develop leaf buds on the previous year’s branches, it will usually sprout new growth from the root system. Be patient though. It might be late May before your butterfly bush shows signs of new growth.
In early June, cut off any branches which died over the winter. This is also a good time to trim the butterfly bush to the shape you’d like it to be.
During its blooming period, usually mid July through September, you might deadhead (remove spend flowers) every two weeks or so. This assures that the bush will put its energy into producing more flowers rather than seed.
I am guilty of saying “Bye bye” I also say “ciao” a lot. And not to be cool. It’s part of my Italian culture. I get lots of weird stares when I say that. Hope you are well:) I am down 47 lbs. Go me.
I think you can chop your butterfly bush to a short stubby sticky up thing. I cut mine down to about knee high and it came back in a beautiful spray shaped arc. I did it after the last freeze in March, before it started budding out with leaves.
Found about Million Bells……
Calibrachoa (million bells)- Million bells are like tiny petunias. They need to be cared for just like petunias. Million bells love direct sun and they also love water and fertilizer. You may need to trim your million bells if they become to “stringy”. Simply trim them back about six to eight inches and keep fertilizing like normal and your plant will become more full and lush. As with Wave Petunias, million bells like to be fertilized at a constant feeding rate using Miracle-Gro
Heh. “Heavy winter snow.”
Down here, that’s a half-inch. 🙂
We have this damn butterfly bush that grows along the side of our office building. It’s pretty, but it gets big fast; well… maybe not so fast. But still it gets big enough that we have to chop it down or the person who parks in that spot has to get out of their vehicle into a veritable jungle of butterfly bush and blossoms… we just chop it whenever and the damn thing grows anyway. When I say grow I mean it’s almost little shop of horrors freaky… I chopped it in June, and it is once again as tall as me.
Thanks ~ the happiest kitty in the world always makes me smile. He (you) should write a book – The Zen of Spanky.
Here in the Midwest they cut them back to about 12 inches and the bushes come back great in the spring. I say whack ’em.
The only thing worse than those ‘bye-bye people are the ones who call everyone Hon. I’m forty seven years old – I do not need some bimbo grocery store clerk calling me Hon.
Both “bye bye” and “buh bye” are annoying to me, but not as much as when I sneeze and somebody nearby feels compelled to say “God Bless You.” I never know what to say so I usually don’t say anything at all. I mean, what if I don’t believe in God? Or if I do, why would God waste time blessing me for something as ridiculous as a SNEEZE? “God Bless You” and “To Be Honest With You …” have got to be two of the most ridiculous phrases I’ve ever heard.
Oh, and let’s not forget the folks who begin every other sentence with “At the end of the day …”
ARGH!!!!
I think I need to switch to decaf.
You can NEVER have too many cats!
=^..^=
My mother has two glorious butterfly bushes, and
every year she hacks the crap out of them, and I whine, but they always grow back big and beautiful and attract all the lovely flutter-bys. She has done this in both the fall and the spring. I’d say spring, you don’t want to hack it down and have it die because its tiny and vunerable in the winter, but then again, I’m in CT…ya’ll don’t get much snow or winter weather down ‘bama way do ya?
By the way, I gave that kitty belly a virtual rub. It was simply irresitible 🙂
Robyn, there are a million churches around here too. My daughter’s music class is in a church, and the first time I tried to find that specific church I freaked out on how many churches I passed in five or so miles. At least a dozen. Freakin Christians.
You’re going to hell for that, Aidan.
(Hee!)
Yes, but is he going in a HANDBASKET?
So I was sitting here thinking I’d have to stop reading your journal, because it’s become my habit to say “byebye” but then you seemed to imply that buh-bye was okay, which is *really* what I say.. I thought you were just spelling it right, or something. Whew.
Mira, Aidan is going to hell in a specially-woven handbasket with a comfy cat-hair-covered cushion.
Jen – even if you were a “bye-bye”-er, you wouldn’t have to stop reading as long as you didn’t say it to me! (Of course, you could be a total rebel and murmur it to yourself every time you visited my site!)
I hate bye bye, but LOVE Bu bye – cause it reminds me of that classic SNL skit with Helen Hunt – it always makes me laugh. So around our house we use bu bye with a heavy dose of sarcasm. My hubby is French Canadian so his drippingly sarcastic bu bye is said: Bu bye – La! and it always makes me laugh.
Maybe Fancypants never forgave you for shaving off all his fur…
Robyn,
I know now that you are my long lost sister. Not only do I struggle with my weight (hey- I LOVE food), but Bye Bye drives me up a friggin’ wall. And what the fuck is with hon and sweetie???? Don’t even get me started on “Love”. Don’t call me love. Don’t use any term of endearment with me unless you go to bed with me at night or gave birth to me. S’far as I know there is only one person who tucks me in and one person that I sprang forth from.
BUHHHH BYE!
found this on butterfly bushes
just go to google and type in butterfly bush
you can find lots of info
Some Buddleia species, like B. alternifolia, B. asiatica, B. colvilei and B. globosa, bloom on last year’s wood. They provide nectar for spring and early-summer butterflies, and they shouldn’t be pruned until after blossoming. In mild climates, cut back right after blooming for a second show in fall. Prune these bushes judiciously in fall, to maintain shape and remove old, woody stalks.
Among the many other varieties of Buddleia which bloom on new growth, it’s possible to stagger
bloom times for a continuous nectar supply. Deadheading (cutting off) spent blossoms will force the plant to keep blooming, in an attempt to produce seed. My Buddleia ‘Lochinch,’ kept in bloom well into October, brought a Red Admiral into my garden when I’d given up seeing another.
In cold climates, mulch in the fall. Cut back to about a foot high in late winter, before new growth
appears. You’ll be amazed by the height the shrub attains by midsummer. You’ll also get larger
flowers and a neater-looking shape.
I say “bye bye” occasionally, and it drives me nuts every time I hear myself say it. I don’t know why I do it. I sound like I’m four!
Funny thing I was reading Say’s journal yesterday and at the bottom of the entry in the last paragraph, I found myself reading it thinking she meant Fred as in your husband, not her cat. I don’t know why I thought that I guess becasue she has talked about his book and stuff. After the first little bit, I figured out she was talking about the cat, but I was laughing very hard at the drooling when he’s happy and purring when he jumps on her. I’m still laughing at that!!
wkg backwards…
Oh he looks like he’s experiencing pure bliss. That’s the cutest pic. Your carpet looks like the one on the commercial that is so soft it puts the teary baby to sleep. So, if it’s that soft, your cat is probably in heaven.
i love al franken. cant stand o’reilly. but to each her own.
i have a suite picked out in hell with southern exposure and a view of the ocean (or river styx). would you like me to see if i can get you in the co-op?
i use buh-bye when i’m being sarcastic/mocking. you know in a seinfeld type of way.
Robyn:
In the south (where we are), cut your butterfly bush to the ground around mid-march. It will grow back to a shapely shrub about 6′ by 6′ and bloom like mad
-Chris