Garden shots

Lilac ~ Beauty of Moscow

Daffodil ~ Tahiti

Prim Rose ~ Alpine Primala

The Work Begins

As I sit here it almost sounds as if the toads are right at the my office window. They must be close as the window is closed.

Today we started the patio. We had spent our time healing and gathering the materials we were going to need to do this project. We got a total of 5 1/2 tons of 1" stone to finish the 6 tons that was put in the hole last year when we had it dug. We got the 24"x24" pavers delivered as well as enough sand to do this project. All this had been waiting for at least a week. We spent the past two to three weeks laying out the patio and making a form. When the materials came, we spent the past week putting in the stone, leveling it and getting it ready for the next step. Today Husband rented a compactor and we compacted the stone into a nice solid base. Tomorrow we start with the sand and the laying of the pavers.

Also today, as we were finished with the compactor and had returned it to the rental place, I noticed a bunch of cars in the driveway of the vacant house next door. I had heard some time ago that it was under contract but there were issues. The builders considered the property sold and it was totally vacated. There was one car and two SUVs crowded with people. One man, as he got out of one of the SUVs saw me watching and waved. I returned his wave. After a bit, he was outside with a handful of flags, so I introduced myself asking if he was the new owner. He was a pleasant fellow by the name of Frank; tall, lean athletic built; early 30ish. He introduced me to his lovely wife; lean, athletic and redhead. We chatted for a bit, both Husband who joined me when he heard me chatting and I were trying to get away so they could finish their inspection. It was hard though, since we seemed to have so much in common with these people. We work in the same field; we have passions for the same interests and conversation flowed. The entire family got involved and a party started. This young couple will come the end of May with their two Huskies. I gave them some hints and questions to ask at the settlement table. These were questions that they shouldn't have to ask but no information was ever given to them. I had watched this house being built and knew where the drainfield was, the well, the septics. All this is important if you have a passion for planting as they said they did.

It was a good day. Rain isn't expected until Wednesday so we have until then to get this patio together.

A Rose Society meeting

Pearl Palace ~ Listed as a miniflora but probably more like a floribunda in size and shape. It is disease prone and the blooms have a tendency to burn in the sun, but it is a strong rose and does well for me.

Today was the meeting of the rose society that I belong to. I had been asked in February if Husband and I would do a presentation on photographing roses for the club. Between me being sick, Husband getting his hand caught in the press at work and later sick as I was (I gave him the viruses) and trying to put together the materials and money to start the patio, it was hard to get a presentation together. But one day we actually did sit down to discuss what we would talk about and I put it together in it's final stages last night during a slow period at work. I think I threw Husband a little when I started talking today because at the last minute I had gotten the latest issue of the American Rose and broke into the presentation with a discussion of the pictures in that magazine. I prompted Husband to jump right in and the presentation turned into a question and answers on photographing gardens and roses/flowers. I had taken along two of my cameras to demonstrate the differences in the cameras and which type of camera we would recommend. I didn't realize that there was a professional photographer in the group but he only backed up everything we were saying. It was a very fast hour with everyone getting involved. There wasn't one yawn in the entire group as well as the discussion going on far longer than I could have hoped. It went very well.

Later, the president approached us and asked us if we would consider giving a hands-on class at the meeting at his house in July. Everyone who attends is to bring their camera and we will all practice taking pictures of his roses so folks can get a better understanding of what is a good shot and a bad one and how to get the good ones. This leads to the next thing that was asked of us. We are to put together a photo contest for the York Area Rose Society, getting a plan for categories and rose classes for the year 2007.

Today was a good meeting to do all this because it's been rainy here and there was a large attendance. Husband said to me later, "I thought there would only be about eight." My response was, "That's about the usual number of folks who attend." It was a good day.

However, when I got home, I was disappointed that the rose I was to get Friday hadn't come yet. On the UPS website they have it marked as being delivered 2:25 pm Friday. At that time I did see the UPS truck out front, but the driveway was blocked with the delivery for the patio and UPS just seemed to drive by. I remember looking at the clock when I saw the UPS truck out front. I never got my rose. So, my guess is that I will have to call the company I ordered it from and tell them the situation. They will follow up with UPS to locate it. This rose is Sharifa Asma, the favorite rose of a close friend who passed away this February. I ordered it in his memory so I am quite upset that UPS screwed up this order.

It has been raining pretty steady all day here. I spent the rest of the day resting and catching up on sleep, reading and taking it easy. Even dinner was the wonderful turkey dinner the fire hall serves up this time of year. The fire hall has three dinners like this throughout the summer. The turkey, today, then later there will be a ham dinner and a roast beef dinner. Comfort food all the way around!! I don't think we've missed one yet. If you eat at the fire hall, it's all you can eat. If you get take-home, there's enough in each meal container to feed about 2 1/2 people. They feed you well. The local cub scout troop is there to make sure you get your order and it's fun to watch the kids trying so diligently to make sure you are satified.

It was a good, quiet day.

Thoughts of Spring

Flowering Almond

Alpine Prim Roses

Cold hardy Camellia

Crabapple tree, Flame

Some Things...

...are just worth waiting for. This little woodland wildflower was planted in this spot four years ago. I just wandered outside yesterday to see what was going on in the front flower bed on the other side of the magnolia. In front of the house there I have a number of wildflower cultivars, mostly started from root stock such as this little bloodroot. I hadn't seen this little plant in years and feared it's demise, but there it was with not just one flower, but two! Not only that, but there were three other young shoots coming up close to the mother plant. I almost missed it's pretty flowers. This particular plant is a native of the area but I've never seen one in the wild. They seem even less rare than the Virginia bluebells which I also have growing in the same bed. They aren't in bloom yet but are pushing buds nicely. When both these plants are done with their flowering, they will quietly go back into dormancy until next year. The Virginia bluebells are also spreading with the same slowness as the bloodroot. I just have more of them.


A picture of the magnolia through the screened window. Also in this picture is a pretty Warbling Vireo, a bird I'd never encountered until we moved here. He and his mate have a nest just above the front door of my home and he sits in this tree as a sentry over the family. This bird is extremely shy and will fly away at any movement, so to get this shot took time and effort. I will address the fussiness with the RAW photo that I have in the computer and see if I can't bring him up any more than this.

There is a beautiful breeze blowing in from the open window by my computer. The sun is shinning and the day calls me outside.

Weather and Work

Today seems like an early April day. It's a bit more blustery than I'd like to see it but the temps and rainy conditions are appropriate. The early plants that should be in bloom are. Spring is here in all of it's glory.

Though not fully recovered from my illness, I was able to get outside over the weekend and enjoy the unusually warm weather. I must say, we got a lot done considering all the problems we've had in the past two weeks. We got the mulch put around the garden where it was needed. I got all the roses out of the garden and into permanent homes in the new bed which was finally ready for them. I started pruning the roses and got most of the front ones done, the OGRs were also done. I need to fertilize these soon. Hopefully I will get outside to shape and prune the new ones I just planted and get those fertilized. I'm also hoping to get the garden tilled and the compost in it to prepare it for the summer's produce. I have onions, peas, carrots and lettuce that need to be gotten planted. The compost bins need to have the red wrigglers set aside, emptied and the old brushy stuff mulched and put back in the bins with the worms on top. By autumn, the new stuff will be ready to top dress the beds for winter. Oh, BTW, I didn't purposely put those red wigglers in the compost bin. You know what they say, "You build it, they will come." And I have tons of the wigglers in the compost bin.

Yesterday was my first day of classes for the new software we will be using at work. And we're supposed to be able to operate it with a six hour seminar. Oh, yeah, like that's going to happen easily. There are a number of coworkers on my shift who are familiar with Photoshop, including myself. Armed with this knowledge, we have a better chance of figuring out the new InDesign software we are getting. What makes matters worse, however, are the new computers, the Mac Tigers that we're also getting. The operating system is very different from the OS9s we're used to using.

It's funny. When we got the G3s and G4s about 10 years ago, everyone complained about them. Yes, they were different from the old Harris system we had been using and many of the people couldn't see the ease that these new computers and software would make job. Everyone thought I was weird when I tried to explain how these computers would work compared to the old system. Eventually, people became comfortable with them. This time, however, things seemed different. Sitting at the back of the room, as was not necessarily my want, but that I had been one of the last people in, I could hear everyone as the instructor began to talk. There were tons of questions for the tech folks as he explained the different software formats that were compatible with this new system. It didn't take long at all before people began to see how easy this new software could make the job. A lot more room for creativity. It's just going to be tough without formal training to get used to these new Tigers and the new software; to get used to feeling our way around the new system and get the work done at the same time. Right now it looks like we're all getting the new Adobe Creative Suite 2. That would be a dream come true! I used a lot of the software that is featured in this new suite as it is but to be able to tweak my own photos in a pinch and send stuff to Illustrator for adjustments would be heaven! Especially for specialty text formats that I can't do now. The computers also feature a new dashboard for our convenience. I have big plans for this dashboard!! I used the Internet a good bit for stuff we need to do the job and I'll be able to set up the dashboard to make getting these things easier.

Now, if things just fall together....

Something New

I'd been feeling so sick that I decided I needed to pamper myself some. I bought myself a new dress for $28.99. Husband thought he should pamper himself because I'd been so sick leaving him to clean the house and cook the meals. He decided on a new truck for $28,000. What's wrong with this picture???

We had argued Thursday because he wanted to go out and test drive trucks. I wasn't willing to leave the house. Yep. I stayed home. I told him he was more than welcome to go out and test drive all he wanted and inform me of each when he returned. Friday morning he decided to do just that and came home with this beautiful fire red GMC Canyon. No, he didn't buy it. He brought it home for the test drive which lasted until today.

I got to test drive it without all the time and stress of the sales people. I was feeling better Friday and even went back to work for the first day. It's still going to be a long recovery for my illness, but I'm making progress daily now. We drove the truck all day Friday and into Saturday before returning it to the dealership. However, I must say that it now permanently resides in our driveway.

One of the biggest things I had about this was that Husband was giving up his Wrangler. That Sierra had been in the family for the past seven years and we did enjoy the "top down fun" of it in the summer. But we really did need some hauling ability. The Cherokee provides some, but for tall stuff, there was a problem. Being gardners, we often lug a lot of tall plants around and even with the top down on the Wrangler, we were still limited on how big we could go.

Husband hasn't said a word about the Wrangler since he decided to do this. It sat at the dealership while we test drove the Canyon. We cleaned it out today and realized the Wrangler was a nice looking vehicle with less than 50,000 miles on it. They'll have no problem getting top dollar for it.

I drove the truck home today from a birthday party. I like it. It doesn't drive like a truck but handles nicely and has a great suspension on it. Yes, it is a 4x4. We couldn't live on this mountain without it. I think we're going to really like it.