Not Enough to Share---Yet

A lot of things reproduce like crazy.  Irises seem to.  I have a few that I haven't had long.

Enough to Share

 I have a lot of purples.  Some are light, dark and medium.

 I have more of these than I thought.

 These are striking and it turned out I had a lot.

 This is a salmon color.  It looks lovely with everything.

 I want to separate these so they provide contrast with the darker ones.

These are short so they would be better in front of something else.  They aren't elegant-looking to me.  But they would provide contrast.

I Don't WANT More Energy

I was out of B-12 and looking for a replacement.  I could find B-12, but the little bottles kept saying it was for increased energy.  I remember having energy.  It was nice.  I haven't done things because I have lots of energy in decades.
I do things because they are on my list.  I do what is on my list and my feet hurt...all the way up to my knees.  If I did any more, I don't know how bad I would feel.  I am pretty sure there is a better way to feel energetic than just feeling antsy.
Larry kept saying, "It's B-12.  Get it."
I kept muttering, "I don't want more energy.  I want the one that says it is for the nervous system."  I have electrical shock feelings in my fingers and feet.  I think it is because I have pinched nerves.
I'm going to make an appointment with a podiatrist tomorrow. B-12 hasn't made a significant difference unless I would be worse if I hadn't been taking it.  I honestly can't tell one bit of difference when I take supplements except I have less money.
Supplements are like wrinkle cream.  I use cream to get rid of my wrinkles and I still have wrinkles.  Of course, I might look like one of those dried-apple dolls if I didn't use it.  I'm afraid to try doing without it.

I Took My Kindle Fire

I went shopping with a friend today.  We ate at Pinera's.  They have free wifi.  I tried to download a book on my Kindle.  It wouldn't connect.  I can use wifi at the hospital when I'm volunteering and also at home.  But I had absolutely no luck at Pinera's.  I saw people using their laptops.  The server said just connect with internet explorer.  Well, that wasn't going to happen with my Fire.
When I shop with somebody, I do what I'm going to do and then I sit in the car and read while they do whatever amount of shopping they want.  I'm not in a hurry, I don't mind waiting, I just don't want to shop if I don't need anything because I spend more money if I'm actually in a store.
But I was pretty limited in what I could read today...stuff I had already downloaded and finished or stuff I'd downloaded and didn't want to finish!
Rats!
When I got home, I downloaded a bunch of stuff so that won't happen again soon. My Kindle DX  would have worked better today.  It doesn't fit in my purse as well though.

I Hate Being Wrong

I really hate being wrong.  But I like finding out I'm wrong.  That means I can fix it and not be wrong any more.  Well, about whatever it is.
The most recent revelation was that my feet seem to not hurt as much since I've started walking.  I'm not a fan of exercise and it seems absolutely stupid to walk when my feet are so unhappy.  But they really do feel better.  The big ol' question now is, do I want my feet to feel better to the point where I'll continue to walk for exercise when I'm finished with my vacation?  The excursions show icons of somebody running up a mountain and say it is strenuous.  Leigh seems to think people with walkers shouldn't sign up for them.
I've walked for about four days now.  Four loops around the driveway took me 17 minutes the first two days.  The third day I only made one loop, but today I did the four loops in 11 minutes.  I'm getting better.  I'm also using different shoes to try to determine which I should take.  The lace up crocs seemed like a reasonably good choice because they are lightweight. But I could feel the rocks in the driveway through the soles.  So I think I probably need a different sole.  The Nikes feel better than the Merrels so far, but I'm not completely decided.

This and That

 When I'm gardening, it is important that I have something to do when I take a break.  I'm happy to read, but I get a little more done if I put other things around me.  So I worked on figuring out a design for the gourd I'm painting and started sketching it in with the white pencil.  The egg crate has colored eggs that are ready to be carved.  So I carved one egg...just because the stuff was handy.

 These are plants I want to put out in the flower bed.  Below is a trench for an electric cable for the fountain we want to set up.  The fountain isn't new, but we haven't used it since we moved here because the pump was 220 and we need a 110.  But I can't plant this part of the flower bed because the guy will have to be able to walk around when he comes to do the electrical work..

 So I vacuumed the leaves from a corner by the steps so I could plant something there.  

 The new one put out two more blooms today.  They are both darker with less gold edging.  The light one in the foreground was supposed to contrast with it, and is...but they mostly finished blooming before the darker ones started.

 I have a neighbor who said we could go to a house that nobody lived in and dig up some flowers.  She said we had permission.  So we did.  We dug up kind of a lot.  This pink peony is one of the things I wanted.  As we emptied our haul, she said we didn't really have permission but she didn't think they would care!  I really don't steal things on purpose!

This monkey grass is from my sister-in-law, Judy.  I've divided what she gave me and spread it around in several places.  It is very hard to dig out of clay.

Self Validation or Free to Be Wrong

When I was in school, I always knew when I was doing all right.  My teachers smiled when they saw me (so did the librarians), my grades were good, I was in extra-curricular activities, honor society.
When I went to college, that was still how I could tell I was on track.
When I graduated, I still felt like I was doing things right.  I married, had children, had a job, worked on furthering my education, but I felt crazy a lot of the time.  I was very busy doing what I thought was right, but still.  I couldn't tell if I was doing all right.
I started watering the grass.  It was peaceful and quiet.  The grass that I watered was lush and green.  I could tell I was doing it right. My love of gardening seemed to grow from that.  I could have a vast amount of control and positive feedback from my plants.  And I didn't have to talk to anybody or defend anything.
But the other areas of my life were difficult.  If you work, it is possible everybody appreciates your efforts.  But there are times when it seems you are putting everything you have in it, and nobody notices.  A friend said, "Doing a good job around here is like wetting your pants when wearing dark pants...you get a warm feeling but nobody notices."  That may not be original to Judy, but I'd never heard it before.
I love my kids and I'm proud of them.  But raising kids is difficult because they sometimes don't like things that the parents feel are important.  So the defensive feeling is there.
Anyway, trying to come to terms with "I'm OK" on my own was a hard thing.  If your parents think you're an idiot and tell you so, you either give up and accept that you're an idiot, or you blow them off in self-defense.
The next thing was the understanding that if I make decisions based on what somebody else says, I'm stuck with resenting them if I don't like the results.  I started noticing that nobody is right all the time.  It's about percentages.  It's nice to be right.  I'm right a lot.  So I listen to what others say, check it against what I can find out about it, and decide what is "right" for me.
My "bubble" contains what I think is right.  Letting somebody else tell me what is right and accepting it blindly, is wrong.  This includes doctors.  They can tell me what they think is right.  And I'll listen.  But not quietly.
My blood sugar was 78 this morning.  My plan several years ago was to not go on medication, lose enough weight that my organs and glands would think they were serving one human, and then eat normally and see how that goes.  I was going to use the Atkins diet to get there.  It seems to be working for me.  It was not what my doctor planned in response to those rising blood-sugar numbers.
Self-validation is different from denial.  Self-validation means I decide and I check for objective and subjective proof.
I told my husband once that I played tennis just like a professional.  When he stopped laughing to catch his breath, I said, "I've watched them.  They hit the ball into the net, out of the court, and in.  So do I.  It's the percentages that are different."
One more thing:  I have heard this and read it several times and liked it: If you didn't see it, it didn't happen; if you didn't write it down, you didn't see it." Hence the blog.

Where Did You Come From?

 I was talking to a lady who is a member of an iris society.  She asked the names of my irises.  I don't seem to pay attention to what their names are even if I buy them and they are labeled.  This one is a strong gold color and I got it from Kelly.

 This one is a lovely plum color that I got from Kelly.

But I have been anxiously waiting for this one to open.  It was in a location where I thought I knew what it was going to be.  I'd planted the ones that I call rust with some that I call salmon.  But I didn't plant this one.  I didn't have one like it.  This flower bed is the second to last that I've started.  A bunch of them in this bed are from Lydia.  They came unlabeled in a WalMart bag.  But this corner had the two colors that I thought would look excellent with a Japanese Maple.  It was a very welcome surprise.

 This is what I was expecting.

I particularly like how this one looks with a backdrop of lavender.  I think it is from Leigh.  I moved it from the Rose Hill bed.

Busy Today

Most days there isn't much to do at the hospital as a volunteer.  Today was better.  Time goes very slowly when I don't have anything to do.  The people who work there are really nice.

Turkeys

A guy came into the gift shop this morning while his wife was having tests.  He said wild turkeys will fly up into trees and eat squirrels.  We obviously need more wild turkeys around here.

Tulip Tree

I've called a Japanese Magnolia a tulip tree for a really long time.  Eventually I figured out that what I was calling a tulip tree was actually a Japanese Magnolia.
But we moved to Tennessee and I found there actually is a tulip tree.  It is a tulip poplar and is the state tree of Tennessee.  The flowers are way up high on the tree and not very flashy.

The tulips that show up the best in this picture are to the left of the trunk.

Daddy's Pepper Sauce

I have a quart jar of pepper sauce Daddy made.  I've refilled it with vinegar so many times the flavor is pretty faint.  I asked Mama how he made it.
hot banana pepper
3/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
pickling spices
sugar (I don't know if I'll use sugar or splenda; the peppers may not be crisp with splenda, but I don't eat the peppers anyway)
At the hospital they have condiment packages of table vinegar when they have turnip greens or steamed cabbage.

Monster Hunter International

I'm enjoying this series.  I'm on the second one right now.  One of the side parts is that it is set in Alabama and mentions towns, cities, and places I'm somewhat familiar with.  It hasn't mentioned Lloyd's barbecue yet:)

New Sandals

If shoes don't come in half sizes, they say to buy the next size up.  Well, that makes sense, but sometimes there's space left at the end of the toes.  They feel lovely.

Exercised Today

I walked briskly for seventeen minutes this morning.  I wore my brown tennis shoes.  Perhaps later today I will walk again wearing my white tennis shoes.  I didn't find it as boring walking briskly as walking determinedly. I don't know why that would be.  Exercise where nothing is accomplished is difficult for me.  Yeah, I know I've whined about it before.  But I am signed up for excursions to really interesting places and I started wondering if I would miss the interesting places and just rejoin the group on their way back.
I also don't know which of my walking shoes are the best for my reluctant feet.  I also have a really nice pair of golf shoes, but they are heavy and I don't want to haul them around in my suitcase if I can wear something lighter.  Yes, I know barefoot would be lighter, but ragged, bloody feet aren't on my list of decorative wear.  I've tried it already and didn't like it.  In fact, it took a long time to get my feet back to looking human and it wasn't from walking over old lava flows.
Also, I went to bed at 11 p.m. and got back up at 12:30.  My husband said I still wasn't in bed at 2:30.  He woke me up at 6:30 a.m. because I call Mama at 7:00 A.M. so I didn't get much sleep.  I'm not convinced exercise helps me sleep because sometimes when I've exercised my legs want to twitch, jerk, or cramp.  I think I might sleep tonight just because I didn't sleep much last night.
My husband said, "Old people don't need much sleep."  What a charmer.

Coincidence?

I haven't seen any slugs since I served my seedlings coffee.  It made absolutely so sense to me that caffeine would deter slugs, but I tried it. It is possible that it was a coincidence, but it is certainly something I will put on my strawberries as I don't like sharing with slugs.
A lot of things don't make sense to me.  I guess that just means I don't know enough to fill in the blanks around it.

Notes for Fall to Myself

Don't plant cuttings in plugs in the greenhouse.  Use those for seeds.
Break off long stems and save roots for angel wing begonias.
Don't plant any more bulbs in grass areas.  I don't like leaving the greenery to grow and replenish the bulbs which means the grass can't be cut and it looks bad to me.
Try lining the greenhouse trays with aluminum foil to discourage slugs.

Iris Problem and Solution

I want to mix my iris colors after they stop blooming.  I considered different methods but mostly they seemed chancy because the tags might come off during digging them up, piling them, and replanting them.
Today I decided a permanent black sharpie might be my best bet.  So I went to every clump with a bloom and wrote a couple of letters to identify the color to me later.  For example, 2P means two-toned purple.  L Pl means Lydia's Plum (I got it from Lydia).  K Pl means Kelly's Plum (I got it from Kelly).  The two plums are different, but I couldn't think of a way to differentiate them for later other than source's name.
If it rains, it should still work:)

What is that beeping sound?

"What is that beeping sound?"
"That is a patient pulling off her toggles that connect her to her medications and monitors.  When she disconnects them, they beep.  She pulls them off and throws them across the room and tried to hide them."
"Well, I'm thinking about going home.  That constant beeping sound is awful."
"We have one that sounds like a siren.  Do we need to hook you up so we'll know if you're trying to leave?"
"Let's wait on that until I am not able to say no."
Glad I'm a volunteer:)

More Iris Colors and a Lizard

 I need to mark which clumps are which colors because I want to group them differently when they are finished blooming.

 Yellow and gold combination is striking.

 We have a lot of lizards, but this one is different.

 I've been waiting for this color to start blooming this year.

 We have a lot of darker purple ones, but not so many of these.

 Nice

This is a different variety.  It is a smaller plant with a smaller bloom that is a light yellow.

Monterrey Chicken

Today one of the choices at the hospital for lunch was Monterrey Chicken.  I didn't know what it was so I looked it up on my Kindle Fire.  The recipe and pictures looked delicious.  Just the barbecue sauce wouldn't be on my diet.
When I got to the cafeteria, it didn't look as good as the picture I'd found, but they also hadn't put barbecue sauce on it:)  It was tasty.  It is sometimes difficult to find anything on my diet I'm not tired of!  This was a different combination of things that are on my low-carb diet.
I went back to get a carry-out box for my husband and they were out of the Monterrey Chicken!

Retired and Slowing Down

My gas gauge showed half a tank.  My odometer showed 265 miles.  I thought my gauge was broken because I'd been filling my tank when my odometer showed 300 miles and it was costing about $30 (I have a Honda Civic).  Well, I went to the gas station today and told them to fill it up because I didn't want to run out of gas if my gauge was broken.
$18 later my tank was full.  My gauge wasn't broken.  All I can figure is that I'm driving slower because I don't really have to be anywhere at a particular time.  I volunteer two days a week.  I aim for 8 A.M.  I don't rush because if I'm later than that, so what?  Some volunteers aim for 9:30 A.M.  We decide when we want to go and when we want to leave.
So I find myself driving like someone people hate to follow.  If somebody is following me, I move way over to the right, but these people aren't German and don't pass between cars.
Sorry, Guys.  I'm poking along and my gas mpg loves it:)

Peony

Our first peony opened today.  I planted about five new ones last year and one of them has a bud on it.  Our gem magnolia is loaded with buds, and we found buds on several gardenia bushes.  The gardenia bush I bought last year lost all its leaves and is barely looking like maybe it might live.

Slug Solution?

 I prepared my baskets two different ways.  Some of them I put cuttings in.  The cuttings lived, but the baskets look pretty sad.  

 This basket shows the second way I prepared the baskets.  I just broke off the stems and kept the roots.  I put the roots in a new liner with new soil.  These look better than the others right now.  I don't know which I'll like better further on in the season.

 The cuttings I took did ok in the greenhouse, but they look awful so far in the flower boxes.  Larry said they always look awful at first.  We'll see if they even survive, much less look good.

 I put the ones I prepared with the roots in front.

 This picture shows the shelves I'm painting for the porch.  I want to keep my gourds on the porch.  The next step on the shelves is clear varnish.  I used exterior paint, and I'll use high-gloss exterior varnish when I'm sure the shelves are dry.

 This is the frame and bottom two shelves.  

This picture shows a slug and lots of diatomaceous earth.  The diatomaceous earth is supposed to prevent slugs.  I've decided it really just lets them show up against it.  I found a link that said slugs don't like caffeine and strong, dripped coffee is an organic method of fending against slugs.  So far the best thing seems to be finding them, picking them off, smearing them with my shoe.  Yuck!

Phaque Crepe

My view of this low carb, high-fiber diet is that when I can, I substitute something with less carbs in a recipe that I like.  Sometimes it isn't even a recipe, it's just an off-the-wall idea.
Today I shopped with a friend.  This gave me unexpected time to look at stuff in places I usually zoom on by.
I found Buena Vida whole wheat tortillas for low carb diets.
I am not a real fan of tortillas out of a package, but I looked at the nutrition facts and saw that one tortilla has 9 g of carbs with 5 grams of dietary fiber.  So I decided to try it. This put it on my diet.
I decided to make a dessert crepe with my low-carb tortilla.  When I got home, I put a tortilla on my cast iron griddle to warm it up.
Then I buttered one side and sprinkled Splenda and cinnamon liberally.
Next I put cut up strawberries down the center and topped the strawberries with little dollops of sour cream and rolled it up.
It was quite tasty.  I think it would be good also with cream cheese:)
I think it might make a good base for an individual pizza, too. Now I need to go back to the store to get mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. 

Interesting Sales Tactic

"I want a quart of exterior latex paint."
"You don't have to have exterior.  Interior is cheaper."
"But it's for something that I'm going to have on my porch."
"OK.  But you don't have to have exterior."
"So if I am going to have these shelves on the porch, I can use interior?"
"Why do you want shelves on the porch?"
"I want to keep the gourds on them while they mold and dry.  I'm allergic to mold and don't want them inside."
"So you are going to leave the shelves on the porch.  I thought you were just going to paint them on the porch."
Helpful is good, but I wonder why he thought I didn't know what I wanted when I said what I wanted.  Sometimes I don't have a clue, and then I have to give the circumstances and rely on advice.  But the guy didn't know me, so he couldn't just assume I didn't know what exterior is for!  And I don't know why I should have to explain all that, anyway.
Now I'm worried that I look like an idiot and that's why he was being so "helpful."
Maybe that's why people dress up when they go shopping...so people will think they're smart?  Duh.

Iris Observation

Irises are blooming everywhere right now.  Some people have large clumps of one color in one location.  They are all lovely, but the most beautiful collection I have ever seen, anywhere, had a random mix of colors.  Something about the mix of colors really pops, especially when the sun hits them.

These aren't mine.  We haven't been collecting irises long enough to have this profusion.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to leave them alone long enough to allow a mass of blooms.  I keep separating them and starting more beds.  Maybe I can let them multiply and fill in spaces soon.

Syncing

I think Amazon does a nice job syncing what I'm reading from one device to another...mostly.  That pretty much applies to books I've bought through Amazon.  But if I import an ebook from a different source, it may not sync it at all, or it may sync it to the least read selection.  That is why I sometimes am reading different books on different devices.

Day Lilies

The Day Lilies I got from my rose bed went into an erosion wash out in the field.  At one point Larry was using that patch as one of his garden places.  But every time it rained, a big wash appeared at the west side of it.  This year he isn't using that area for his garden.  But he has put shredded corn stalks, sawdust from his planer, all sorts of things to try to prevent washing.  I asked if I could put the day lilies there and he said no, he didn't want day lilies in the field.  So I dropped them around and still had a pile where they'd been dug up and dropped.
Yesterday when we were riding around in the Gator, I asked why he didn't want day lilies in that wash.  He said, "There?  That's a good idea.  I thought you meant in my garden."
So this afternoon I dropped most of them in the ditch-in-the-making and dumped mulch over the roots.  It didn't make much sense for me to dig them in as they would be deeper.  So I just dropped them and covered them up.  I guess I should water them but it might rain in a few days.  Maybe I'll water them tomorrow anyway.
I am not sure what color these are, but I don't think I had any seriously ugly ones in that rose strip.

Blackberry Winter

It has been lovely warm weather and now it is cold again and frost is predicted.  I heard it referred to as "Blackberry Winter" this morning.
I looked it up to see if it is the opposite of Indian Summer.  It is.  Indian Summer is a short return to summer-like weather in autumn.  Blackberry Winter is a cold snap during spring.  It has different names, (like dogwood winter) but basically was a way for farmers to know when to plant their crops...after blackberry winter.

Kindle Fire

I've been using my Kindle Fire for several days now.  I have managed to connect to wifi at home and at the hospital.  I've transferred pictures and books onto it.  I've viewed my blog but haven't managed to post from it.  I can put the title in, but can't put anything into the body.
I'm very pleased with what I've been able to do on it.
I like how it fits in my purse.  It isn't as light as my husband's kindle, but it isn't as bad as trying to lug a laptop around.  It holds a charge pretty well, too.
I like being able to check email on it or check something on the web.
I like being able to enlarge the size of something from the screen.  I finally realized I can find books using the search function rather than cruising through the pictures of the front covers.
I've been reading on my DX Kindle at home, but I like it that I can take it around and have all of that.  I am aware that it is possible to read, surf the net, check email on smart phones, but I like the size of this as opposed to a phone's display...and there isn't a monthly bill for it.  Well, I can't use it like a phone, but I have a phone.  The fancy one has a pretty fancy monthly bill that goes with it.
I like that this had an initial cost, but not a monthly payment.
No, it isn't an iPad.  My connectivity issues due to my location precludes buying an iPad, even though they look absolutely cool on television and in someone else's possession.
I'm not willing to move so I can have an iPad.
When I think how far technology has come since I was a child, I am amazed.  I had a record player and a clock radio when I was in high school.  I can remember when my family got a television when I was in first grade.  It was black and white.  I wonder what technology will be like when my grandchildren are my age.

Red Fox?

I've seen a fox several times lately.  Today it was about 20 ft. from me when I pointed it out to Larry.  Larry went inside to get the camera.  The fox came toward me several more steps, then veered off around the art room.  I don't know where it went then.
Larry said it is a red fox.  It was a light brown color so I don't know why it isn't a brown fox or a tan fox.

More Iris Colors

 This one wasn't blooming yesterday when I took pictures.

 These are day lilies that I didn't want in my rose bed.  I'm going to toss them around today before they get too dried out.

More isis colors.

Happy Easter

 The irises have started to bloom.  These didn't bloom last year (the first year we'd had these) so we didn't know what colors they are.  We have some others that we still don't know the colors of, but these are doing well in spite of my care not matching what the tv said to do.

 Closer view

 Nice colors

 Encore azalea

 More colors

The wood standing behind the gas tank and well house shows the beginning of the structure Larry is intending to make into a free-standing screened in porch which will have the grill in it.

What is that racket?

"What is that racket?" I asked my husband.
"That's what our vacuum cleaner sounds like," he answered.
Ouch.
Honestly, I use the irobot roomba and the one I can pick up to clean corners and crevices.  But still.

Hunger Games

Today we saw The Hunger Games.  It left some stuff out, but basically I thought they did a good job turning the book into a movie.
I wore compression socks, gel inserts and tennis shoes.  My feet liked that combination.
When I got home, my Kindle Fire was waiting for me.  I charged it and played with it for a while.  The book that I'm reading digitally isn't an Amazon product so I'm still using my DX.  I probably will, anyway, a lot.
The next thing I want to try to do with the Kindle Fire is try to transfer some pictures via usb port.
My Wireless Adapter worked today and my new aircard.  It isn't faster because I'm not in a 4G location.  But I do have wireless now, and it works:)

Spring Blooms

This rhododendron is one we planted last year.  It had a few blooms last year, but this year it has grown and produced more blossoms.  We were so pleased with the two we planted last year, we planted several more this year.  Azaleas are similar, but deer don't eat the rhodies.  We put chicken wire over the azaleas to keep the deer from eating them.

Life's Hard When You're Stupid

My purse I was so pleased about finding smelled bad.  So I used saddle soap on it and dumped baking soda in it (a lot).  Today I decided to take that purse.  I sniffed it.  It smelled fine.  So I put a few things I'd need in it and set off.
On my way to meet with some friends, I reached into my purse for my cell phone to let the first friend know I was on my way.  I came up with my cell phone and white stuff around my nails and cell phone.  I looked in my purse and found I hadn't dumped the soda!  My digital camera, wallet, phone, etc., had been nestled in a bed of baking soda.
Yesterday we saw our first humming bird of the season.  Today we've seen four.
We also saw four deer and one fox.
The gel inserts feel really good in my Crocs.  My feet have been thanking me all day.  I'm going to try them in my tennis shoes tomorrow.
It has been in the 80's, but today it is rainy and in the 50's.

Maybe It's Fixed

I always have trouble when I change my internet connection.  But maybe it's fixed.  A neighbor came over and restored it to what it was Friday.  And I didn't do the iTunes update this time!  I can connect to the internet and put things on my iPod!  Yea, Neighbor!
I volunteered this morning at the hospital.  Again, I was alone.  I took my Kindle to read when I had nothing else to do.  But a guy was there with his wife.  They ran him out so she could do her physical therapy.
He said he can't afford to keep his Medicare supplement.  It started out being $20.  It had gotten up to $120.  And this time it went up to over $300.  He gets his medication from the VA.  He was in the Korean War (or Conflict).  I felt bad for him.  He talked until they came to get him when his wife came back from therapy.
When I got home, my neighbor brought four old tires over.  I stacked them so I can have raised beds for a few strawberry plants I haven't killed yet.  I think I read about the tire raised beds in my permaculture book.  Larry thinks they look bad.  I don't think the looks are important to me...function is the thing.
The lumber yard delivered some wood and the truck wouldn't start.  A tow truck came, but he had parked odd and I didn't know how he was going to get that truck out without destroying one of our azalea bushes.  He got the palate truck off the lumber delivery truck and towed the delivery truck to the road with it.  Then the tow truck hooked up.  It took about thirty more minutes before they thought it was secure enough to tow it.
The last good thing is that I bought some gell inserts for my shoes and my feet feel better.
It was a messed up day, but it all turned out OK.

You Might Could Kill Them with Roundup

I had a teenager moving some day lilies for me.   He was concerned that he was going to destroy them because the ground was really hard and dry.  I told him he might could kill them with roundup, but I didn't think he could kill them on purpose with a shovel.
Several months later and the ones I separated and planted look good.  The ones I got tired and left on the ground in a pile look good, too.  The ones he gave up on and left alone look really good.  They are going to take over my rose bed if something doesn't happen soon.  Roundup?

My Friends' Clothes Are Going on a Cruise

My friends' clothes are going on a cruise!  Part of them are because I'm not worried about whether they fit or not as long as they aren't too small.  Right size?  Great!  Too large?  OK.  Why would I want to wear clothes that are too large?  Well, the material is soft and the clothes will be comfortable in the heat.
I also made a stack to give away while I was at it.  No, they weren't too small, but there is a very limited number of things I think I will need for two weeks and no seasonal change.
I have also put out my mulch for today and started painting a shelving unit I got at Ikea about 14 years ago.  Since I'm going to put it on the front porch of my art room to hold the gourds, I decided the natural finish wouldn't be adequate protection for the wood.  I painted an identical set that I had at school and it looked good to me.  But at school we had to get everything off the floor at the end of school and put it back together in August.  I had a problem keeping up with the pegs the shelves sat on and had super glued substitutes into the holes.  So when I took it apart the last time, I put it in the hall for whoever wanted it.
If I could figure out why my feet hurt, I would buy some sandals that would address the problem.  I thought maybe it was because of the concrete floor and tile at school, but they still hurt when my walking is on the driveway and yard.

Gorgeous Sunday

The weather is beautiful, our flowers are looking enthusiastic, and I'm really tired.
I put out six loads of mulch and it will take a while to finish that area.  The lilacs we put out this year look good, but I watered them.  Why wait until the turn brown?
We took a shelving unit from the shed to the front porch of my playhouse (arts and crafts, greenhouse, etc.)
I sanded it as it was lumpy dirty from its stint in the shed.  I plan to paint it, but not today.
I've spent a while trying to get my iPod to sync.  I downloaded the update and now I'm not authorized to do anything with my iPod...including transfer the audible books I paid for!  Apple wants me to pay for a consult.  Well, at that rate, every time they put out an update, I could be paying them so I can use what I've already paid for!
Yea, Apple!