About Green and Growing Things

That ice storm awhile back took quite a toll on the large white pine tree in our back yard. I estimate that we lost 20% of it in the form of broken and badly damaged limbs. It could have been worse, I suppose, but after sawing, trimming, and raking, we ended up with quite a pile of limbs that needed to be removed. I decided to haul them to the landfill, because they grind such yard waste into reusable mulch. Better than burning! It took two carefully packed truckloads to get rid of everything. Here was the first load, packed up one afternoon and ready for a trip to the landfill first thing the next morning. Ah, the joys of owning a pickup! Josey loves going along. She always assumes the people at the weigh-in window will give her dog treats. Little did she know that you can skip weigh-in when the load is yard waste.


With the warmer weather recently, our tulips started to show. This is always a signal to the deer that "lunch is being served." So, we have learned to quickly cover the tulips. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a chance of seeing any blooms. Over the years, I've tried all sorts of methods for covering. Eventually, I settled on the approach seen below, which is this years incarnation.


Finally, I have long enjoyed schefflera plants. When I was still working, I had a rather magnificent plant in my office. It was 4' tall and seemed to bush out more and more every time I trimmed it back. (When I retired, I left it for a future office occupant, rather than go to all the work of hauling that "tree" home.) Here at home, I have another plant that friends gave me when my mother passed away in 1979. It is starting to rival the one that I had in my office. The amazing thing is that it very recently decided to bloom. I've never seen a schefflera bloom before. Below are two shots of the blooms, one taken with flash and the other without. I don't know if they will open up more or what. Do any of you know? I'll post another photo if anything interesting develops.

Recent Happenings

Just because I haven't posted anything since Birkebeiner doesn't mean we have been sitting around idle. Here are a few of our recent activities.

I know that you have all seen one of those many movies where some little old lady or little old man is portrayed as "the bird lady", or "the dog man", or "the cat lady", or whatever. Well, Kathie recently did a stint as the dog lady, operating a dog hotel for dogs of friends who were away during spring break. Below you will see Sparky, Ginger, and Josey being entertained by the dog lady, although the second shot will prove that not all time was spent in play.



Last week, we traveled to Colorado to spend some time with Travis. (And to deliver that cedar-lined chest I made for him back in December. You can click here to refresh your memory about the chest.) While we were there, he took us to have lunch at the new restaurant where he is now cooking. It is called Maya Cove, and you will see a shot of all of us together there just below.


While we were there, he introduced us to his new girlfriend:


She is really thin.


Just kidding, Rachel! He loves you best. Just for the record, here are Travis and his real main squeeze.


When we planned our trip to see Travis, we decided to build in a side trip to Las Vegas. So, we spent a few days there as well, where we met good friends Cheryl and Gerry Stone. We stayed at the Monte Carlo Casino and saw a great show by Stevie Nicks and her band.