The Garden Plants and Flowers

The spring planting on the compound is pretty much done. We were lucky to have a late spring this year so we had a little extra time. There was an unfortunate hail storm one night a couple of weeks ago which did some natural pruning to the hostas and volunteer bleeding hearts. They seem to be coming back with the help of a week of sunny, cool days. […]

Snowy Weekend Activity

The first major accumulating snow of the season is coming to the midwest this weekend. My favorite indoor activity on a cold weekend is… ok, maybe second favorite… well, for sure at least third, is online shopping. Why else would I always ask for Amazon and iTunes gift cards for xmas? If shopping is one of your favorite activities and you need to get holiday shopping started, I have several perfect solutions for you. […]

The Late Summer Blues

Yeah, I’ve sorta taken a break from writing. The fact is that there hasn’t been much to tell and I was in and out of such a dark mood I was afraid that if I did write something, just for the sake of writing, I’d hear the voice of Edgar Allen Poe screeching, “Hey dude, Lighten up!” Maybe the appointment I have to get my teeth cleaned on Thursday will brighten my mood. […]

The Greenhouse Incident

Sometimes my wife Snowball’s projects don’t even sneak up and build slowly, they explode fully grown from the start. An example of this is the hobby greenhouse that we have. Pearl Harbor could not have surprised me more than what happened on a late spring day many years ago. We were sitting on the front porch enjoying a refreshing beverage. As the UPS truck pulls up Snowball says, “Oh that must be the greenhouse I ordered.” This being the first I had heard of any plans for a greenhouse, my mouth opened but no words came out. I just walked over to the truck and helped the somewhat overwhelmed delivery guy haul four 200-pound boxes to the garage.

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