Another Eden

I'm afraid of my cereus!!

2007-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

Does anybody but Jim and I remember "Little Shop of Horrors"? I'm beginning to think I have discovered the plant species of the Audrey 2. It has to be a night-blooming cereus! I brought my cereus inside back in October (or september or whenever it was, You people look it up in the past postings if you're so worried about it) and before I brought it it, I trimmed the thing back fairly heavy. Then we stuck it back in the darkest corner we have in the house and about half the time forget to water it. Then the other night I noticed that it was erupting with new foliage (well, not foliage like most plants, it throws out these modified stems that later widen into something that looks sorta like a leaf) there's about nine of them so far, one about halfway up to the ceiling and another reaching for the middle of the room. And we all remember what Audrey 2 ate, don't we?

I'm not saying that I have heard it talking to me. I have heard it, but I wouldn't say that in a blog where people might decide I'm crazy. Most of the people that know me already know I'm nuts, heck they don't even have to know me for very long to start to suspect. Actually, I like the line last night from "Boston Legal". (Don't blame me, Kathy got me hooked on it) When asked if he kept in touch with his imaginary friends from childhood, he replied "Sometimes we have reunions." I can relate. My problem is that the voices in my head never heard of parlimentary procedure.

Sorry it has taken me so long to update this thing. School is crazier than I thought. Don't you just love that every professor thinks that their subject is the most important in the world and it doesn't matter if you skip the homework in your other classes because those professors will understand.... Sure they will. anyway, I've been studying and typing through most of my free time. Actually, I should be doing my lab prep for chemistry tonight. I'm working on the theory that it won't take me very long. In my defense, I did kinda skim it before I sat down to do this and it didn't look to complicated.

Well, I guess I messed around too long. Blogger started me on their new one against my will. It wouldn't let me sign on to the old blogger. When I tried it kicked me over to opening a new one. I still haven't heard whether there are any problems. I guess when Susan yells at me again for taking too long I'll know.

For those 0f you that have been paying attention to these rants for a while you know that I'm hooked on the old standards music. Unfortunately, I don't really know anybody else that likes it so I'm having to grope my way. But I have found another great. Billy Eckstine, or the Great Mr. B, sung in the '30s and '40s, and he has the smoothest baritone voice you'll ever hear! It is amazing. When I first started listening, it was mostly Frank, and he's still pretty good. But there are people out there that just blew Ol' Blue Eyes away!

Ok, I'm going to do my chem lab prep. I'll try to bee a little better at this (sure, you've promised that before [shut up, they understand] yeah, they understand that you're slow and lazy[ that does it. I'm not letting you go to class tonight] poor me. chem how exciting. you don't even get to blow stuff up anymore!)

Ok, that's it. I sent him to the corner. I'll do more another time. God bless. Wayne

Winter Wonderland

2007-01-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Isn't the snow beautiful in Uptown OKC? Well. Not exactly, because it isn't really snow. It's all just sleet. Someday we may get some snow, but not in this bout.

We have been poured on by the "Great Ice Storm of '07". At least that's what all the TV stations have been calling it. I promise they have been in hog heaven. Actually, I think it just proves that God has a sense of humor. It is all so pretty but it makes a rotten snowman.

Well, I realized that I still haven't posted the gardening chores for January. I blame the Christmas season, when it lasts longer than the carols in the department stores, it tends to take everything else out of your mind. So here it is:

January
If precipitation has been deficient (1" of snow = ~ 1/10" of
water), water lawns, trees, and shrubs, especially
broadleaf and narrowleaf evergreens. Double check
moisture in protected or raised planters.
Check on supplies of pesticides. Secure a copy of current
recommendations and post them in a convenient place.
Dilution and quantity tables are also useful.
If you did not treat young pines for tip borers in November,
do so before March.
Check that gardening tools and equipment are in good
repair, sharpen, paint, and repair mowers, edgers, sprayers,
and dusters.
Inspect your irrigation system and replace worn or broken
parts.
Control overwintering insects on deciduous trees or shrubs
with dormant oil sprays applied when the temperature is
above 40o F in late fall and winter. Do not use dormant
oils on evergreens.
A product containing glyphosate plus a postemergent
broadleaf herbicide can be used on dormant bermuda in
January or February when temperatures are above 50o F
for winter weed control.

You'll notice that most of the things have to do with pesticides. My apologies to my "green" friends, but there are people out there that use the stuff and if they're going to use it at least I want them to use it right. Remember, with pesticides of all kinds, less is more and just because a tablespoon works doesn't mean two tablespoons will work better! Actually, I would be more than happy if the whole world went to Integrated Pest Management, but I don't really see that happening. I did a report a few years back and according to the EPA the use of pesticide and fertilizer on residencial areas is about 50 times that of agricultural. Now come on people. Your yard is stopping world hunger, its just feeding the grasshoppers. And there isn't any bug killer out there that will kill a grasshopper after it's second shed.

Anyway, not to be a complete downer. Here is ..... TaTaTaTaTaDaaaaaa... What's in bloom. Yes, I know it's January, yes I know that there is several inches of ice on the ground (actually I took this picture before the ice, but the flowers are still on there, they aren't happy, but they're there.
This is the flower of the winter jasmine. It is deciduous, although as you can see, the stems are a dark green that fools the eye from a distance. On warm humid days (not a whole lot of those in January) you can smell it's true jasmine fragrance from quite a distance. Plus it is blooming in January, not too shabby. There is one at Myriad gardens that is about six or seven feet tall and wide, arching over and covered in blooms, well, it was before the ice. Now, who knows.

And for those of you who thought I was crazy for babying along a red twig dogwood through the Oklahoma summer.
This is our dogwood against the ice. Of course, we only have a few days a year that we have this kind of background for it. And you can't see it from the inside because we have insulating plastic on the windows. And you can't enjoy it from the outside because it is bloody cold out there. Ok, so maybe I am crazy. I still think it is pretty.

Well, that about does it for me. Kathy wants to go to Mustang and see Maddox. So I guess I'm going to go clean the car off so I can see to drive.

Stay warm, stay happy stay loved. Wayne

The ice storm is coming, the ice storm is coming!!!!

2007-01-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

Well, ain't life a pip? After salivating for days the meteorologists are finally getting the ice they have been praying for. Sleet has been coming down here in Oklahoma City for about three hours now and the roads are getting iffy. I went and picked Kathy up early, took my mom some groceries so she won't starve and hit Blockbuster for a couple of movies. And yes as a matter of fact, I did pick up "Johnny Dangerously", it is, after all, the best Michael Keaton movie ever made. Kathy has never seen it and since we are stranded at the house until the spring thaw (which I figure will happen Sunday or Monday, but it may be tomorrow) I'm going to make her watch it with me. "Ya shouldn't oughta hang me on a hook, Johnny. My dad hung me on a hook once....Once!" That's for Jim. Even if nobody else gets it, I know he will.

Have you ever noticed how wives can get you on trouble very easily? I have been in the application process at OSU Stillwater for a couple of weeks. Since classes didn't start til the 22nd, I figured I had plenty of time to get everything straightened out. Well, classes start the 22nd at OSU/OKC anyway. In Stillwater they started the eighth. Needless to say, I didn't leave myself enough time. So Kathy says, "Go over to Rose State and look into taking that chem class you need to graduate from OSU/OKC and at least maybe you'll get a couple of credits in this semester." So over to Rose I go and ask the lady in the prospective students office for a catalog and schedule and she asked if I had applied and I said no and she suggested that I apply and enroll that day so I could get the classes I wanted and so I did and so now I am a student at Rose State. Well, it was necessary, I guess. That is the only school in OKC that I have not gone to. I got Kathy back, tho. I'm also taking Financial and Managerial Accounting (no, I don't know why that is a required course for Public Horticulture) and guess who my tutor is going to be! Ha! That'll fix her!

Well, my son-in-law, D'Artagnon asked for the link to this thing and I sent it to him. I probably should go through my old posts and see if I've said anything bad about him and delete it..... Naw, usually the meanest thing I say about him is making fun of his name and I do that to his face. He's the one I like. I don't really get along with my family all that well. We are avoiders. If it seems like it is going to be a problem, we avoid it until it is easier to just not go around each other rather than fix the problem. Yeah, like I've said before, we put the dis in dysfunctional.

This is D'Art. I'm trying to get him to let me take a serious picture of him and he always wants to make a goofy face, (no he isn't just goofy, well, yeah, he kinda is) so now that he is going to read this thing I'm going to post all the silly pictures of him until he'll let me get a good one.

Nothing else is really happening, so I'll close this out. All of you, find one person that really needs to be loved and do something nice for them. it will amaze you how good it will make them and you feel. Unless they are paranoid, at which point they'll start going crazy about what you're really up to. And let's face it, that's fun too.

God bless. Wayne

Christmas is over at last!

2007-01-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well, last night we went out with our son Jonathan and his wife Audrey and their three kids, Sabastian, Rebeka and Nadia. After dinner at Pizza Inn (well, we were paying and let's face it, that's a lot of kids) they came over and the kids opened their Christmas presents. Just in time to plan for Sabastian's birthday on January 10th.

The kids seem to like the presents. If you're wondering about having never heard of them before, we don't get to see them too often. Jon is the oldest of my kids and when his mom and I got divorced it hit him fairly hard. And let's face it, his mom doesn't have a lot of nice things to say about me. Jon at least is up front about things. He'll at least come out and tell you that he doesn't like me very much. My middle child (Alison) doesn't talk to me much and says she doesn't have a problem. My youngest child (Abby) didn't talk to me for a couple of years but says she never had a problem with me, but Alison and her mother did. Oh well, the kids like me, well, Bas and Beka does. Actually Nadia would scream any time I got near her, but last night she was crawling all over me. I have pictorial proof!

Here's Beka on top of me and Nadia climbing up in my lap. I think Beka was trying to break my neck here.

And here's Nadia giving her grandpa Wayne a hug. No I'm not really holding on to her to keep her from running away!

And here's Bas and the back of his dad's head. He is of course, too mature to climb all over his grandpa, being 12 years old on the tenth.

So Christmas is finally over. Kathy and I have gotten everything for everybody until next year. Maybe next year we can make Christmas last only a few weeks instead of a few months.

Well, Susan made a comment on my last post saying that she will sell my house and make me move. Hah, fat chance! I told you what it would take to make me move. Get me my house (you know which one) for about 20 grand and we'll talk. Why yes, the sky is a nice, rosy pink in my world.

I've been thinking lately. I have discovered the problem with the church. Usually I just pick on the Baptists cause I know them. I was raised a Baptist and have spent most of my life in the Baptist church. We Baptists have a lot of problems, but I think I have discovered one with the entire corporate church. We've given up the miracle business! We've given up prophecy. Prophecy in the Biblical definition, telling the truth. Let's leave the soothsayers out of it. But if any of them are willing to work under the Old Testament test for prophecy I would be perfectly willing to believe in them!

Maybe it isn't just the church. Maybe it is the world. Elijah listened when God spoke to him and he spread the word to others. Today he would be tossed in an insane asylum as soon as he opened his mouth, (let's not even contemplate the dung fire and lying on one side) we wouldn't want to listen to him (well, neither did Israel, but that's another problem). Anyway, Paul listened to Jesus and stopped persecuting the church. And the church forgave him! Would we have the same sense of forgiveness? Would we believe the miracle?

A few years ago, Kathy and I were going to a large church on the northwest side and one of the girls of college age wanted to do an experiment where people prayed for germs. Ok, it may be weird, but she set up this experiment because her professor was a non-believer and she wanted to give him a reason to believe. Well, the poor child had a heck of a time finding 20 people to put the germs on their prayer list. My favorite excuse was that God didn't care about germs. I think the problem was that we have stopped believing in miracles. "What if God doesn't answer our prayer?" By the way, he did. The germs in the petri dish that got prayed for; notice I said prayed for, not prayed over, as far as I know nobody that was praying for the germs (the girl removed herself so there couldn't be a conflict) ever even saw the petri dishes until the experiment was over; those germs grew more than 85 % faster. The professor still didn't believe. He said that the germs picked up vibes from her and knew she wanted them to grow faster. Well, my problem isn't with the professor. My problem is with the church. There were still people in the church that were unable to see that maybe God doesn't care about germs, but He cares enough about us that He'll even answer our stupid prayers. And yes, I don't think that was a particularly holy use of prayer time, but it proved to the girl that there were people who cared enough about her to pray for her experiment, and it proved to her and some others that God cares enough to listen.

Look for a miracle. Stop thinking that miracles are things of the past. Stop thinking that God doesn't do miracles anymore. And before you think I'm talking about things from TV or something remember that miracles may not be flashy or big. Jesus used mud that he made from his own spit. And would we be willing to accept that miracle? See the miracle in every butterfly. See the miracle in every smile from a child. See the miracle in the healing that God can do, go ahead and go to the doctor, but don't expect that to be the only medicine you need.

Look for the miracles that God has put into your life. And thank Him for them.

God bless you all.

Wayne

Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know this is the second day of 2007. I'm surprised I got started on this post this soon. This place has been crazy. Twelve days of Christmas? Hah, we do 30 days of Christmas. We had Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving so Laura could give Keith his presents. Then we had Christmas the next weekend so we could give Laura and the kids their presents. Then we had Christmas on Christmas with Jill, Jeff and Maddox and Keith (he came back into town for Christmas) and then on last Sunday my mom had Christmas at her house (which we didn't go to because, let's face it, when my sister and I get together we put the DIS in disfunctional.) Anyway, since we weren't going to my mom's we had Abby and D'Art bring Natasha and Ethan over and if I can ever get my son to answer his phone we'll figure out a time to get the presents over to those kids. So a few pictures to let you know what Christmas was like.

Ryan thanking his Nana for his present (and Nana hiding that cheesy, fake grin he does for all pictures.)

Ethan on the communal Big Wheel.

Kathy and Natasha reading "The Giving Tree", one of Natasha's presents (yes I still tear up when I hear it).

Maddox perfecting his slam dunk (you know, OSU has a much better basketball team than OU).

Well, that is just a little of Christmas. It took even longer than it took Blogger to download the photos.

Other stuff that Kathy and I have been doing. We went to Target the other day and Kathy couldn't figure out why everybody had cart loads of Christmas stuff and then the Starbucks lady told me that everything was 75% off, so we ended up with a cartload of Christmas stuff. Next year I'll have pictures of the matching 6 1/2 foot trees we got for the porch for 10 bucks each, with match ing tree skirts. And several miles of garland. I'm tired just thinking about it.

Speaking of thinking. Have you noticed how bizarre home ownership is? Kathy and I have a "vintage" home. According to Susan, that's a nice way to say old. Anyway, we have a dehumidifier in our cellar (yes, we have a cellar. And cellars in Oklahoma are always damp, so everybody gets dehumidifiers so they don't get mold and mildew on everything they put in the cellar. It would be easier not to use the cellar but then we only have four cubit feet of closet space in the whole house. Apparently, people in 1908 didn't have any clothes.) Ok, so we have a dehumidifier in our cellar. But because it is winter and we are running the heat we have to have a humidifier in our bedroom so our sinuses don't dry out and start to bleed. Why isn't there a way to bring all that humidity up from the cellar to the second floor? Anyway, besides the humidity problems, we need to renovate out shower. We have a corner set-in shower in the second upstairs bathroom and it is starting to leak. So now we need to get a new one. And since the people that owned our house before us renovated with the set-in it is easier to just replace it rather than building a new one (and with me and plumbing, easier is definitely important). But they don't make them that size anymore (which is a good thing because we don't really fit in the bloody thing anyway), so we have to get one that is about three inches bigger on each side. And I want to get the one that comes out a little bit and is rounded so I feel like I have at least a little elbow room and am not knocking the door open every time I bend down to wash my feet. Oh, well, we'll do what we do. If there is anybody out there with loads of plumbing and building experience that wants to come over and help me install the stupid thing for free I'll supply pizza and beer (well, a couple of slices and a six-pack).

Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year and that it just gets better and better,

God bless, Wayne

2006-12-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I have been so inactive lately. I would try to blame it on Christmas, but mostly I've just been lazy. Once Laura and the kids left I just quit doing anything mostly, which makes for a really boring blog.

Well, to come up with an idea I'm stealing this idea from Susan who stole it from Kay's and Carolyn's blogs. Well, maybe not stole..... Yeah pretty much.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate pretty much all year long. I usually drink it instead of coffee, unless I'm at Starbucks where I get a venti mocha. Wait, that's pretty much hot chocolate. During the Christmas season I love to drink egg nog. The problem is that if I buy some (I haven't made any for years) I'll drink the whole thing in one sitting, and since Kathy has decided that we need to lose weight I've tried to stay away from it this year.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just leave them under the tree? When I was growing up and when my kids were growing up anything wrapped was from a family member. Santa's presents were unwrapped. We did the same thing when my kids were small.

3. Colored or white lights on the tree? Colored, colored, colored!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Decorations are mostly Kathy's thing. So I put up whatever she can get me to help with whenever she can get me to help.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey and (Kathy's, only Kathy's) dressing. With plenty of turkey I don't really care what else there is.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child. Sneaking down before everyone else was awake and looking at all the presents.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My brother and sister blew the story when I was 8 or 9. I pretended to believe for a while because I'm no dummy, if you don't believe in Santa you don't get any presents.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope, had to wait till Christmas morning and even then usually after church.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? However Kathy makes me decorate it.

11. Snow! Love it or leave it? Love it in pictures, hate it when I'm trying to get anywhere. I thought for years that I hated cold. One winter in St Louis I realized that I just hate wind.

12. Can you ice skate? I can fall on my butt.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A Dick Tracy Junior Detective Set. It came with a badge, a wrist radio (that I never could get Dick Tracy to answer) and a gun that shot out little plastic bullets. Yeah, Mom got rid of the bullets fairly soon.

14. What is your favorite thing about the holidays? The thought that Jesus came to this world just for me!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My absolute favorite is my mother's buttermilk chess pie, however I am the only person in the entire world that actually loves fruitcake.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The new tradition (well, it's a few years old now) of watching my grandchildren rip open presents.

17. What do you prefer, giving or receiving? Receiving, but not big things. I like lots of little things that show that the person thought of me when they got them. I love giving the perfect gift but with the adults I know the perfect thing isn't usually perfect. Of course, with grandchildren, as long as it makes noise and flashes lights, it's perfect.

18. What tops your tree? A star that Kathy and I got a few years after we were married.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? By the time Christmas comes I am usually so sick of Christmas songs because they've been playing them in Wal-Mart since St Patrick's Day. But during a candlelight service Silent Night can make me tear up and I love Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby, actually it stays on my mp3 all year.

20. Candy canes, yuck or yum? The fruit ones are pretty tasty, although they are a sin against nature. The peppermint ones should only be hung on the tree and look pretty.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Remember that Jesus came for us.

Just in case you need an extra Christmas present.

May God bless each of you.

Wayne

Baby, it's cold outside!

2006-12-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I am a wimp when it comes to cold. Actually, I can stand the cold, it is the wind I absolutely hate. I think I'm living in the wrong place, considering that Oklahoma gets more wind on a daily basis than Chicago. The weathermen (those never erring prognosticators) said that the wind today would be light, 10 to 20 miles an hour. That doesn't seem all that light to me. But I guess since it is supposed to be blowing 15 to 35 miles an hour tomorrow I'll try to enjoy this.

Well, Susan and Jim and Susan's mom and dad, Berle and Roy came over for dinner the other night. I think everyone had a good time, I know I had a great time. Everyone ate and talked and had a good time. Susan ate everything on her plate and even ate some of these really nasty cookies that Laura gets in southeast Missouri. I swear that they are made out of library paste with little fake chocolate chips mixed in. Susan had to eat around the chips but she could at least eat the cookie. One more dessert wins against steroids! Kathy told me after Thanksgiving that it was rude to take pictures while people are eating so I didn't get any shots of people with their mouths full and after everybody was finished I was to full to get up and get the camera. Here is a pic that Ryan took with his mother's camera. I still don't get why it is rude for me to take pictures but cute for a 5-year-old to do it (although his mother isn't looking like she thinks it's all that cute). Just to prove to you that artistic talent runs in the family here are some other shots Ryan took.

Notice that his focus is the princess castle instead of his sister. This gives an aura of mystery to the entire shot.

This is my personal favorite. Notice the importance given to the baby wipes container. Notice that it takes on almost gigantic proportions. Notice the thumb in the corner. I told you he took after his Papi. Actually I have been teasing his mother since his birth about how much he looks like me. It used to make her crazy but she has started to accept it.
This one is a masterwork of color and surrealism. I think that might be a belly button but I don't know for sure.

Ok, enough of his masterpieces. After all, he may be an artistic genius but he and his sister are also cute as the dickens. Here is Erin posing with her gingerbread house that she made (with a little bit of help from her mother).

And here's Ryan with his. He had a little less help from his mother. I personally think they both did a wonderful job!

And one last pic. Erin is finally used to me enough that she won't scream and yell when I pick her up or help her do something. She'll even call me Papi and tell me about her Polly Pockets. And trust me, there is a lot of stuff to tell about Polly Pocket.

Take care of yourselves, and take care of someone you love today.

Wayne

Let it snow.

2006-12-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Car horns honk are ya' listenin'
Pickups skid, ice is glistnin'

Good afternoon, I hope everyone has been having a great week. I know I have, even though the kids are wearing us out! So far the kids have been shopping and eating and playing and eating and decorating for Christmas and eating. They don't eat a lot at one time but they seem to need something every four or five minutes. Luckily their mom is usually around so I can always say "go ask mommy if I can get that for you."

Here's Erin putting an ornament on the tree. She worked on the tree for a while then she just started hoarding all the ornaments that Kathy would give her. I think she likes looking at the ornaments in her pile more than on the tree.

We had the whole crew over for the decorating, Jill and Maddox came over so Maddox could "help" that went over really well! But we got it all up and the house looks beautiful and it is amazing how Christmasy just having the tree and some garland around can make you feel.

We also had snow last Wednesday night-Thursday morning. Yes it was the Oklahoma special. Three or four inches of snow on top of two inches of sleet. Makes for fun driving. Not that anybody in this town can drive anyway! This was Erin's first snow ever and Ryan's first since he was about six months old (which he can't remember anyway) so they were pretty excited. Ok, not as excited as their mother, but still pretty excited.

Here they all are making a snowman. It was tough work since the snow didn't really want to stick but they finally got it all together.

I'm glad I got the picture of it since this morning someone knocked it down and swiped the scarf and hat. While they were out there freezing anyway Laura talked Ryan into making a snow-angel. It turned out much better than the picture did. Ryan was happy to be out in the snow and now that the snow is melting he is having ever so much fun playing in the slush!

Ok, believe it or not, there are things we need to do in the garden during December. Me, I mostly like to sit by the fire and read plant catalogs, but there is work to do.

December
* Continue mowing cool-season lawns on a regular basis.
* Remove leaves from cool-season grasses or mow with
a mulching mower.
*Continue to control broadleaf weeds in well established
warm or cool-season lawns with a post-emergent broadleaf
weed killer.
* If soil is dry, irrigate all plantings at least 24 hours before
hard-freezing weather.
* Review the years schedule and make plans for next
years improvements.

Post Thanksgiving Basketball and big wheels

2006-11-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Well, after rereading my post from yesterday I realized that I talked a lot about Thanksgiving and didn't really talk about anything else. Leave it to me to focus on food and leave everything else behind.

Friday night we went to the Hornet's game. They were playing the Timberwolves. They got creamed. Well, not really, they lost 86 to 79. The halftime show was by the Mapapas African Acrobats. They were fantastic! One thing I didn't really understand was the number of times that they broke into the action to do something. They upgraded somebodies seats, then they had somebody shoot for CDs from Midfirst bank, (the money kind not the music kind), Then they had somebody shoot for something else. I don't know what all they were doing, mainly because we couldn't here that well. We were after all, two rows from the back wall. Talk about up in the cheap seats!

Keith, Ryan and Jeff at the game.

Laura and Erin at the game.

Saturday, for those of you who don't live or understand Oklahoma, was Bedlam. Bedlam is whenever Oklahoma University plays Oklahoma State University in baseball, basketball, wrestling, softball, shotput, but let's face it, the only time it matters is FOOTBALL! I am a life long OSU fan (mainly because my dad and my sister were diehard OU fans and I'm contrary) plus I am a student of the OSU system, so I was naturally rooting for my Cowboys. But on the other hand. Texas Tech beat Texas the night before so if OU won they would go to the Big 12 championship against Nebraska (who we beat)and if OSU won Texas would go to the championship. And nobody wants that! Well, it worked out that OU won 27 to 21, but the last play of the game was a barely incomplete pass by OSU which had all the OU fans in the room (which was everyone else) pretty much on the edge of their seats.

We also had a mini Christmas because Keith had to go home Sunday. He'll be back Christmas but Laura and the kids will be in Las Vegas. Anyway, on of the things that Ryan got was a big wheel (actually I missed seeing the kids open presents because I was putting the silly thing together) and it was the best thing ever, according to him. I'm not sure he still thinks so since it has gotten him in trouble several times because he can't stand not riding it in the house. Papi had to put it in the shed yesterday until he could settle down and obey the rules. Most of the time I can't get him to let me take pictures of him on it but I did manage to sneak this one in. Of course right after he noticed the camera was pointing at him this is the only shot I managed to grab.

He's a cutie pie, but I think his dad spoiled him for a camera. The poor kid had a video or still camera shoved in his face for the first four years of his life.

Anyway, that about does it for now. Hopefully everyone had a good Thanksgiving and is looking forward to Christmas. Let's remember why we have Christmas, more than the toys, more than the tinsel or tree. The greatest gift we could have. Someone to love us no matter what we do. Someone to care for us when we don't even want to care for ourselves. Someone who was willing to come pay the price for our sins. I love you all because Jesus first loved me.

Wayne

Kids, Thanksgiving, Basketball and running around like a turkey with my head cut off!

2006-11-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well, how long has it been? I'm afraid to look. I figure Susan will tell me when she yells at me for going so long between posts.

Laura and the kids didn't fly in from southeast Missouri, she drove. Eight hours with a five-year-old and a two-year-old. She's braver than I am, that's for sure! They got in safely Wednesday night and we haven't stopped moving since. Thanksgiving on Thursday. Basketball on Friday night, Bedlam on Saturday. I'm exhausted!

I know, I got these backwards, but I'm too tired to try to fix them and although I would usually just take them off and do them over I don't wanna do that either! Our Thanksgiving was smaller than usual. Of course Susan and Jim deserted me to run off to his sisters, so that was two gone. Maw and Myrna and Megan couldn't come because Megan is getting married in the Spring on some cruise ship and Maw had to keep her strength up for that. I told her that Thankgiving at my house would be more fun than some silly old cruise but nobody listens to me. Anyway, we only had twelve counting Kathy and I and all the kids (the only ones that really count anyway!)
Here's Debbie being her usual charming self. I love the way that a camera brings out the best in people!

And here's Julie and Sam. Sami is one of my favorite non-related grandchildren cause of that thing on her plate. Look a little closer. Yes that is a whole turkey leg. She loves 'em. She ate that whole leg (even tho it was falling off the bone, so it wasn't as much fun) and then took the other one home with her! Anyway, Keith and Jill have known Julie forever and Debbie was Julie's nanny and now is Sami's and so they have made it over the last two or three Thanksgivings. I keep threatening that we're all going to go out but they are three reasons that we probably never will.

Actually, we had thirteen for dinner. This is my granddog, Zeus (my other granddog, Bambam, Zeus' daddy didn't come) Zeus was amazingly patient, both with Ryan who's holding his leash, and with the fact that I roasted the turkey outside and he laid right under the roaster and I didn't drop the turkey once. That probably irritated him to no end.

Here's my little sweetie, Erin. She pretty never knows what to do about Papi. About the time she gets used to me they take off for somewhere else but she has been letting me take care of her some and she usually giggles when I kiss the top of her head.

Well, that was Thanksgiving. The food was good and plentiful and although we didn't have as many souls around the table as I would have liked I love each of the ones that were there. There was food, fun, laughter and love. God was smiling on us and what else is Thanksgiving for but to remember His love and care that he sends to us.

God bless us every one (yes, I know that is from a Christmas story, it still fits!)

Wayne

Party Hearty!

2006-11-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Ours was fairly busy since we had to get everything ready for Kathy's work group party on Saturday and then clean everything up from Kathy's work group party on Sunday. This was most of the people that Kathy started with. A few of them couldn't make it but most of them did and a wonderful time was had by all, and they didn't hardly complain about work at all! Well, not after the first couple of hours anyway.

This is (from left to right)Keith (Brenda's husband) Brenda (one of Kathy's best friends) John (Kathy's husband {no, not my Kathy}) Kathy (John's Kathy not my Kathy) Sharon and HO (Sharon's significant other)

This is (from left to right) Kim, Marisa (Kent's daughter) and yes, that's my Kathy

This is Kent and his son, Devon

Sharon and Kim in a big hurry to leave.

So to reiterate. Kathy started work with Kent, Brenda, the other Kathy, Sharon and Kim. And a few others but since they couldn't make it why should I confuse you or myself by trying to rattle them off. Like I said we had a great time, well, I did anyway.

Laura comes in tomorrow evening with Erin and Ryan, and then Keith comes in Wednesday. We are planning on having somewhere between 13 and 25 for Thanksgiving dinner. Hmmmm, between 13 and 25. I love having detailed plans, don't you?

Well, hopefully I will post some pictures of Erin and Ryan when they get in before Thanksgiving and I'll definitely post Thanksgiving dinner pictures.

Still trying to find out if Blogger beta is going to screw up everyone's settings, if anyone has any info please let me know.

Have a wonderful day and be good to yourself.

Wayne

2006-11-17T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend is almost upon us. Kathy and I are having some friends from her work over tomorrow so today Jill came over and cleaned house. Well, she tried to clean house and what she got done (which was a lot) looked great, unfortunately, Maddox wasn't feeling too good and when Maddox hasn't feeling good he let's everyone know about it! He wouldn't let anyone else hold him, well, I fib, he would let Kathy hold him, as long as she was walking around, mostly he wouldn't let me hold him, the little monster.

Oh well, like I said, we're having people over tomorrow even though Kathy doesn't feel all that good. She has a rather bad cold that won't let her sleep comfortably. I don't talk about it too much since I'm the one who gave it to her. I took her to the doctor today and he gave her a script for cough medicine and then we took the script to Target to get it filled and their computers were down so it was several hours before we could get the syrup and then Kathy just took it a little while ago so I'm hoping that she'll just sleep through the night and catch up a little. She told her doc to prescribe the big bottle so I would have some when she gave it back to me so I guess we know what her plan is.

I'll try and get some pictures of everybody at the party. You really haven't seen fun until you've seen an accountant blowout! Sometimes they get so wild they take out their pocket protectors and run around with scissors! Ok, enough ragging on accountants.

I don't know why but Susan told Kathy that I needed to post some pictures of some silk arrangements I did (she hasn't even seen them) and when Kathy and Susan talked last night I don't know whether Susan said something about it or Kathy just thought of it but she asked if I had and I hadn't so here they are.

Anyway, I will try to post a little Sunday or Monday about the party (Susan says I have to keep this thing up so she'll have something to do when she escapes the hospital) and hopefully I'll have pictures.

By the way, has anybody out there changed over to Blogger Beta? They try to get me to change over every time I sign on and I almost did the other day but then I read something in their warnings about all the url's will change so I don't know if I read it right or misunderstood or just panicked (actually, my computer makes me panic at least once a day whether I'm on it or not. Did you know that the NSA reads everything that goes over the internet? I also heard that they have hired my high school English teacher and she is sitting at some desk somewhere and critiquing my prose! She didn't like me all that much 33 years ago and she is probably still having nightmares about the fact that I came to school on senior ditch day and the week after graduation. Boy, it just gives me the willies!) Anyway, you know it isn't really paranoia if they are out to get you.

Ok, if anybody can reassure me that my blog won't end up circling around Jupiter or something then I guess I could switch over to beta. So if anyone has any info it would be appreciated.

Take care of yourselves and God bless.

Wayne

More Fall Color

2006-11-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

One of the hardest things to remember as a designer, at least for me, is multiple season interest. There are times I get hung up on my plant-du-jure and that is all I can think about putting in all my designs. Luckily in Oklahoma there are plenty of plants that do well and have multiple season interest and I have managed to fall in love with almost all of them.

Ok, so what am I talking about when I say multi season interest? Well, it can be a lot of things. A lot of times we notice the flowers and don't really pay attention to anything else about the plant. Other times we think about the fall color. But there are a lot of things you can plant that don't really have fancy flowers or stupendous fall color that can still give you some interest in the landscape. For instance, structural interest. Harry Lauder's walking stick, or contorted filbert, does well in Oklahoma. During the Spring and Summer it mostly has a rich green color that makes a nice backdrop to other plants, in the fall the leaves turn a blah yellow and fall off soon, but in the winter time, especially after an ice or snow storm it has a structural interest that will beat just about everything else around.

In case you weren't impressed with the pics of the bald cypress the other day, here is one that is a little more into the color change.A nice reddish rust color and good even branching. An altogether wonderful tree. Great in wet spots, handles drought, can stand up to the hottest weather Oklahoma can come up with. The only thing it is picky about is that it has to have full sun. I have seen some planted in a grove style that are completely one-sided because another was shading it out.

Well, I know y'all are probably bored with it, but I don't care. I am still in love with the Chinese pistache. Great tree, grows wonderfully and has color like this.Which brings me to my other thing about multi-season interest. A lot of plants have flowers that are not really noticeable or don't last very long but then they have fruit that persists until the birds finally strip it. Chinese pistache is one of these. This is the fruit on the female pistache.Some of the trees will be completely covered in these fruiting structures and you won't even notice until a wind storm comes by (like the one the weather men are panicking about for tonight) that strips the leaves and all of a sudden you'll notice these beautiful reddish, pinkish berries all over the tree. Unless the wind is particularly hard and then you'll notice them all over your yard. Well, landscaping, like life, has it's trade-offs.

Ok, speaking of fruiting structures. Lantana is one of my favorite perennials. And one of the reasons is its fruit. The berries start out green and then turn anywhere from pink, red, blue, purple or black. And all on the same plant! Wondrous!As far as cool fruiting structure go, there is really none so cool as moonflower vine (the one related to morning glories, not the datura). It is an annual, so it's kind of a hassle to keep planting it, but this year we were trying to have something on the arch while trying to get rid of the passion flower. Yes, I love passion flower, but there is also a butterfly larva that loves it and they stripped the vines last year so that it looked really ugly and didn't flower at all. And while I love having the butterflies and to do that you need something for the larva to feed on, what they are feeding on doesn't need to be right on the front walk so that everybody in the world sees it first thing! Anyway, here is the fruit for moonflower.Is that the coolest thing or what?

Now you don't have to know what the plant is to notice how pretty something is about it. This is off a vine that my neighbor has. I don't know what it is, don't particularly like it because it is filled with thorns, don't notice when it flowers because they are small and blah, but during the fall it has these all over!And the birds love them as much as I do. Maybe more.

Ok, last but not least. Until a few years ago, the state flower of Oklahoma was the mistletoe (then since the State legislature didn't have anything more pressing to do, since life here is so idyllic) they changed it to the Indian blanket. Anyway, the mistletoe is supposed to be a parasite that will kill a tree (not true, it roots into the bark crevices and is fed by bird poop) and I will admit that it isn't all that attractive. Though you have to give it props for that whole kissing thing, and according to legend (don't know if it is true or not) the reason it was made the state flower in the first place is because some settlers wife died and he put flowers on her grave for her birthday every year in January and the only plant he could find green around his cabin that time of year was mistletoe so he petitioned his representative to honor it (all together now, AAAAAAWWWWWWW). Anyway, you have to admit that it looks kinda cool when the trees are bare and it has the berries all over it. When it's low enough to see the berries.

Sorry it's a little blurry, there is only so much that photo-pro can do after you crop so you can see what you're supposed to be looking at.

So, that pretty much is all I have to say for now. Laura and the kids will be here in about a week. So then I'll have Ryan and Erin to play with and irritate with my camera. Until then, Take care of yourselves and be nice to someone that you usually don't notice today. It just might keep them from going over the edge.

Wayne

A bit of color, a bit of Maddox

2006-11-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

This is actually a week old post. I posted it to Multiply and Multiply promised to post it to Blogger. Multiply lies. Anyway, most of the news will be old to just about everybody. But here goes.

Well, what's in bloom? Not much, and what is in bloom is usually so unobtrusive the only thing that notices the flowers is the wind. But there is plenty of color left in Oklahoma right now. We are just starting to think about fall, and not thinking hard since today the high is supposed to be about 75. But I was out running around this weekend and saw some color to show y'all.
Is there any question why I love Chinese pistache? Not only is it one of the most hardy trees for Oklahoma, it can stand being planted right by the street without tearing up sidewalks or dying from the exhaust and it has fall color like this! Absolutely wonderful.
Another favorite, crape myrtle. You get flowers throughout the summer, from white through pinks and reds to purples, fall color like this and when you tree the plant up, such beautiful bark interest in the winter!

And now for one I don't particularly like except in the fall. Bradford pears are usually weak limbed so they split in windstorms (and one thing we have in Oklahoma is wind!) in the Spring their flowers... well, they just stink! Rotten fish wafting on the breeze. But I have to admit, their fall color is impressive. Reds, purples, and even in years of drought (which Oklahoma also has), they show their color well.
I'll put more fall pics in my album.
The only thing more fun about fall than the color is Maddox. Jill, Jeff and Jeff's parents, Diane and Harvey, took Maddox to Haunt the Zoo last night and brought him by so we could see his costume.

He's not real happy about the mask, actually he's not really happy about the costume, but he's still cute as the dickens!

Well, the only other interesting thing we did over the weekend was bring the tropical plants in. Amazingly enough we only brought in 14 and put a half-dozen in the cellar. Maybe that isn't amazing to you guys but just a few years ago we had 60 something potted plants that we had to find places for. Trust me, by February, Kathy was going nuts to get them all out of the house! One or two in the bedroom or bathroom isn't too bad, but when you can't turn around without getting slapped in the face with a leaf (or worse, a thorn) it gets a little irritating. We were a little later bringing them in this year but the weather has been so mild and the porch is so protected that we just left them out there.
Susan is doing well the last I heard. They got all the tumors and she is quietly (for Susan) recovering. I went up to see her Friday but Kathy and I decided to let her rest over the weekend. We'll bother her later. Thank you all for your prayers for her, and my daughter and my mother and me and Kathy and all our kids and grandkids and... Well just thank you.
Take care of yourselves and be good to someone today.
Wayne

Grandkids can wear you out~

2006-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, apparently Blogger and/or Multiply hate me, or hate each other, or get miffed when I go to one or the other one first or something! Supposedly, Multiply will let me cross post to Blogger and supposedly when I post to Blogger I can copy it to Multiply. Well, it DON'T! Several months ago, my daughter, Laura got me on Multiply so it would be easy to pass pictures of the kids back and forth, and I started blogging on Multiply. Well, then Susan
decided that I needed to blog to Blogger so she could send friends over to read my rants and raves (not exactly sure why they would want to) and that way people that don't want to don't have to join Multiply. So now I have two blogs with mostly the same stuff on it and I was thrilled when Multiply said that it could cross-post. Well what usually happens is nothing, and if something does cross post it won't take the pictures with it, and after all, nobody wants to read this stuff, everybody wants to see my grandchildren! Anyway. That's why I haven't posted to Blogger for a few days because I was waiting to see if Multiply would send it over. Well, guess what? It didn't so here is another copy of my post from Wednesday and I will post another copy in a few minutes of what I posted on the fall color. But for now, the important stuff!

A note about names. Kathy and I are a blended family. So when our grandson Sabastian (who is now eleven) started to talk he thought that Kathy's name was Kathywayne, because that is how everybody in my family talked about us (Kathy and Wayne said....). So I became Grandpaw Wayne and Kathy, weellll, Kathywayne. So now Natasha calls her Kathywayne and we assume that Ethan will as well whenever he decides that people can be trusted enough to talk to. When our grandson Ryan was born, Jill and Laura tried to come up with cute names for everyone and I get called Poppy and Kathy Nana (for quite a while we didn't know if Ryan wanted Kathy or a banana) but then as Ryan aged he kinda put a Hispanic spin on my name (why a kid growing up in Qatar would say it with a Spanish accent who the heck knows) so I started writing it Papi. And we are assuming that since that is about the only name Maddox has ever heard me called then he'll start calling me Papi. But then when Abby and D'Artagnon lived with us for a while after D'Art graduated Tasha was just starting to talk and Abby tried to get her to call me Papi (because she thought it sounded a little more elegant than Grandpaw Wayne) but she decided that my name was Peepaw and that was that, she won't call me anything else. And you know Peepaw is so much more elegant than Grandpaw Wayne.

Well, we kept Maddox Saturday night (Jill and Jeff came and got him Sunday morning) and we kept Natasha and Ethan Tuesday night (Abby and D'Artagnon came and got them about 10:00). And all I can say is that those little things are exhausting! Kathy and I didn't get anything done Sunday because we were so tired and I went to sleep as soon as they came and left Tuesday. Why is it that I could take care of three kids and get everything else done and still have a life when my kids were little and now I can't even watch one kid for a few hours without taking a three hour nap?

Maddox's other grandmother taught him a rainy day game, go and play in the van, so he thinks that's what you do anytime there is a van available.
And of course the most fun and Nana and Papi's house is the stairs!
Peepaw is ok but what the heck is that flash that keeps lighting up the room?
And the most fun Natasha can have is playing in the bath.
Post bath, chewin' on the dragon.
Anyway, we had loads of fun with the kids, Laura and Erin and Ryan are coming soon so I'll have pics of them for Thanksgiving. I think I'll go take a nap and rest up.
Be good to someone today, and do something for yourself.
Wayne

Tuesday musing that turns into a rant

2006-10-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, last Saturday night we celebrated my granddaughter, Natasha's birthday. Yes, yes, we were a couple of weeks late but in my defense, it just means she gets cake and ice cream longer and more times ripping paper.
Here she is with her mother and her birthday cake. She helped decorate it, mainly because Kathy and I were running late when they got here, plus we spoil her like crazy. Luckily she got plenty of toys from everyone else, plus she is a little clothes horse. We gave her a dress and sweaters and pjs and a robe and gloves and a scarf and etc, etc, etc. She modeled all of it, unfortunately my camera battery went dead and my son-in-law, D'Artagnon only took one picture of her modeling, but here it is.Sometime I'm going to have to explain to the boy that the only job he has is to keep a camera trained on the kids at all times just in case they do something cute!For instance, here's Ethan giving his peepaw a big smile while practicing for his upcoming role in "The Omen II". I swear my camera has red-eye compensation on it, but every picture I have of this kid he looks like a demon possessed hell-hound. I was sitting at my desk the other day working on a design on the board and this picture came up on the screen saver (I have my computer screen saver set to the my pictures folder and of course since I take all my pictures on 2816x2112 just in case I need to make a poster of the bloody things, the picture filled the entire screen!)

I have to admit for a second I was in a panic! He just about scared me to death!

Anyway, even though you can't tell it from the pictures, Ethan is a little angel, well, he will be when he gets past his pinching phase, or maybe I just think he is because every time he sees me he laughs his head off. Perhaps he isn't an angel at all. Maybe he just thinks I look funny! (I can almost hear Susan now, "Everybody thinks you look funny!") Well, maybe I do look funny but I am coping with my looks, except for needing to lose weight and my hair turning grey and I've got wrinkles and .... Ok, maybe I'm not coping all that well with my looks. You know, one time my son and daughter-in-law, Jon and Audie were in a play at church and my daughter Abby was doing the makeup and Jon and Audie were playing grandparents with grown up grandchildren so Abby wanted to use me as a makeup model to figure out where all the wrinkles went! I don't get no respect! (Thanks Rodney)

Ok, for those of you that thought I was weird because I had a possum in my cellar, I can now reveal that the siren call to wildlife is genetic. Abby had a vole just sitting on a pile of dirt and sunning itself in the backyard. They caught it and put it in a bucket and then had to call me to get directions to the wildlife refuge that I took the possum to. Of course, after I told them how easy it was to find they get out there to find that someone graffiteed the sign and you couldn't read it anymore so they had to hunt for it.

When they finally found the place D'Artagnon took the bucket a little ways into the refuge and then, not thinking, kind of slung the vole out onto the ground. By the time the vole came to his senses and ran off he was looking pretty mad. So if you are out by 50th and North Council and a vole comes out of the bushes with a shiv, run away! I'm pretty sure that Abby's vole and my possum are probably out there in the bush somewhere plotting my demise. I tried to explain to the possum that it was Kathy's idea to throw it out but like most of us, he wasn't interested in assigning responsibility, just in fixing blame. He's probably working his way back here with all his little possum buddies to work me over. Hey, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the world isn't out to get you.

Since I had talked about D'Art so much in this post I was going to put a picture up of him but blogger won't let me add anymore. But it did remind me of one of my pet peeves. PICTURES! For all of you ladies (and men) who hate to have your picture taken and erase them off the camera and hard disc (yes, Kathy, you know who you are) give us a break. Let us take your picture now and then. We want something to remember you by if something should happen to you. I remember when the Murrah bombing happened about a year later a husband of one of the women lost said that she hated to have her picture taken and now he couldn't remember what she looked like. I know that we are all vain and want to have pictures only when we look our best, but let's face it, ain't none of us Cindy Crawford, heck even Cindy Crawford ain't Cindy Crawford, have you seen what she looks like without makeup? One of my favorite songs is "Popsicle Toes" by Dianna Krall, there's a line in there about "Why do you always load your Pentax when I'm in the nude?" Wow, talk about stream of consciousness. Anyway, now and then we want a picture. We'll leave the camera off when you're naked but let us shoot when you're covered up.

Ok. I guess that I've covered all my life for today. Yeah, it is boring, isn't it?

Be good to yourselves,

Wayne

2006-10-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for all of you that have been praying for my daughter and her surgery today. They got out the wisdom teeth but they had a hard time getting her knocked out (apparently they never got her all the way out) and when they got down to what they thought was a tumor it ended up being a filling that had worked its way down to the bone line where the bone had gotten irritated and grown some calcium around it, this was causing swelling, pain, and suspicious shadows on the x-rays. Anyway, they got all the wisdom teeth, all the filling and all the extra calcium out, a biopsy was sent to the lab but the oral surgeon said that he didn't think it was any kind of cancer.

Now that you don't have to pray for my daughter any more (though if you want to keep it up, I'm sure she wouldn't mind, she is still having to go through seminary classes after all) my friend Susan is about to have brain surgery next Friday. The doctor seems to think that there will be something to work on once he gets in there since she isn't a blond, but she is after all a redhead, so if nothing comes of it he better watch himself!

God bless all of you.

Wayne

Loads of fun, but is he exhausting!

2006-10-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

For all you non-believers out there, here you go, proof that there are lions at the OKC Zoo. Well, at least there is one lion there. Most of the time you can't see them because they are hiding behind the hill but when we took Maddox to the zoo on Saturday one of the lionesses finally showed herself! She was much less interested in looking at us than we were at looking at her! You wouldn't believe all the people that clustered around the glass trying to get shots of her.

We had a fun time with the little monster but boy can he wear you out! It was our own fault. Jill and Jeff dropped him off about two in the afternoon and we went to the zoo. When Kathy and I were worn out from the zoo we decided to take him to Pizza Inn for dinner (buffet night, very cheap, don't worry, we just ate the toppings and salads and left the crusts) where he scarfed down about a pound of spaghetti (well, about a pound of spaghetti was fed to him, he's still a fairly sloppy eater) and assorted veggies and jello. The jello was a big hit, believe me. Then Kathy wanted to run to Steinmart for a little while. And then we took him home and gave him a bath and got him ready for bed. Of course by then he wasn't sleepy any more, just cranky! Finally, about 10:30 he decided to give it up only to come to the conclusion that 5:50 was a great time to get up! We thought Jill and Jeff were going to come spend the night but they stayed with a friend of theirs so Kathy let him cry for a minute thinking that they would get up with him, so by the time she went in and got him he was good and worked up. He definitely wasn't happy with his papi when I decided that he needed to drink the juice I got him that morning instead of the juice he had had the night before! Who knew he would prefer warm, stale watered down juice to fresh icy juice? Well, apparently I should have!

Anyway, Jill and Jeff came over to get him about 7:30 so Kathy and I could go to church. Ha fooled them! We were so tired we cut church and went back to bed! Of course then the problem was we couldn't take an afternoon nap! I hate no Sunday afternoon nap! So the upshot is, we will go to Northwest Baptist next week and try out the Sunday School.

For all of you that have been praying for my mother, and I guess for those of you that haven't, she had the glaucoma surgery and came through well. I guess I don't understand what glaucoma is. Apparently, they use a laser and shoot a hole through the iris and enlarge it enough so it won't close up on its own. This allows the excess pressure to be released and somehow the eyeball doesn't just collapse. If anyone out there can explain it to me I'd appreciate it! SOOOO, next Monday she goes back to the opthamologist and they check the hole and if it is ok then they do the left eye. I don't know what the heck they do if it isn't ok.

And while you are praying for my mother (oh, come on, like you have anything better to do than pray) you could go ahead and mention my daughter Alison. She lives down in Ft Worth where she is going to seminary and she is going to have surgery this Friday to remove a growth from under her wisdom teeth. They don't know yet what kind of growth it is yet, but she has managed to talk to a couple of thousand people who all know someone who knows someone who knows someone who had this and lost a jaw or died or ended up having their head collapse into their neck. Needless to say, my only advice to her was to stop talking to those people! Anyway, she is a tad anxious, so if you could all just send up some prayers for calm and healing between now and Friday I would appreciate it.

Back on less stressful matters, here's a quick pick of Maddox sharing secrets with a friend.And just to prove that he does sleep sometimes, not often and not long maybe, but sometimes.

Take care of yourselves. But most of all, take care of someone else. Work this week to convince one person that they are important!

Wayne

2006-10-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

OK!!!!! I had some really great pictures that I was going to put on this post, but blogger apparently hates me! Any way, if you want to see the pictures from the Chihuley exhibit go to Wayne's pictures. I don't think you have to be a member of multiply anymore to just look at them, if so it is easy and free to join and you can just lie and make up a name. So on with the blog!

Whatever you're doing, drop it and run to St Louis and go to the gardens and see the Chihuley exhibit! Ok, I understand that not all of you can go, sometimes it is a little hard to get here from Doha, but it is a really fantastic exhibit! We spent several hours wandering through the gardens and looking at the various art pieces. And with Kathy's knees you know it had to be wonderful.

Besides the exhibit, we went to the zoo on Friday and had a great time. Sometimes going to supposedly "kid" things without kids is great. Not to say there weren't plenty of kids there, but I didn't have to take care of them. The nice thing about St Louis zoo is that it is free. Free to get into, parking however is up to $9, but on the other hand, it was $9 for four of us to park and it would have been a lot more for four of us to get into OKC zoo. On the third hand, OKC zoo is also a botanic garden so all their plants are labeled which makes me seem much smarter when Janie or Kathy asks me what some plant is. The animals were all in good moods, none of them tried to eat us anyway.

Well, when you stop being a kid you stop doing silly things like pub crawls. As a thoughtful, mature adult you do winery crawls! We went out to the wineries on Saturday, visited 4 or 5 in a fairly small area, and did the tasting thing, had a picnic lunch at a beautiful place somewhere near Augusta (I don't really remember where, I did mention the tasting thing, right?) They had live music and the crowd was pleasant and congenial.

The Winery Crawlers

All in all, the weekend was a great success. Janie and James are wonderful hosts and pretty much did whatever we wanted. Next time, though, they have to come to our house! Of course, the winery crawl is going to be a lot more extended.

Please keep my mom in prayer, she goes in tomorrow to have laser surgery for glaucoma. Hopefully everything will go smoothly

Watch out for that little red car!

2006-10-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, as I was ranting about weird drivers the other day, Susan reminded me that as a realtor she has to drive that way, it's the rules. Something about annoying people or something. Of course, for all of you that know her, you know I wasn't talking about her! After all, she has a lot of practice driving while talking on the cell, checking her PDA, looking at the multilist on her laptop, knitting four or five rows and putting on her makeup all at the same time. I'm sorry, I exaggerate, her makeup is always perfect before she leaves the house.

Last Saturday I went over to my daughter's house and helped them cut down a tree that was too close to the house. Of course I took my camera, but since my daughter-in-law, Audrey was keeping the kids inside so a tree wouldn't fall on them I didn't take a single picture. Sometimes I think I'm a little too much of a grandfather. Personally, I liked my son-in-law D'Artagnon's idea better, we should have just gone and played golf. We would have gotten just as hot and sweaty but it would have been more fun. Of course, the best thing about golf is the beer and Kathy has me on the South Beach diet and it doesn't allow beer! What a dumb diet. Personally, I think we should go back to the fifties and bring back the drinking man's diet. If I remember correctly, you weren't allowed any food but you could have all the cocktails you wanted. Probably won't come back, especially because then you'd need a designated non-dieter with you all the time. Of course, I've got Susan and my next-door-neighbor Joe and Kathy doesn't drink that much. This could really work! Probably not.

Well, I was in a panic, my MP3 player was about to go out. By last week I was charging it for 20 hours and getting about 45 minutes of music. Kathy finally got tired of hearing me whine and swapped with me so now I charge for 3 hours and listen to it for a couple of days. Apparently the only thing that bugs Kathy more than me singing tunelessly along with Frank and Ella is me whining about not being able to sing along with Frank and Ella. It isn't so bad for her, she can keep the thing plugged in at her desk and listen whenever she wants, not that she listens that much. She can still stand the radio stations. I used to complain that I couldn't stand the radio because they played the same fifteen songs over and over. After all, Jimmy Buffett never recorded any song but Marquaritaville, did he? I can't really use that excuse any more. Not since I checked the music on my computer and found out I have 16 renditions of "At Last". Of course, on the other hand I have 417 hours, 7 minutes, and 26 seconds of music, so you would think that I do have a little bit of variety. And I hardly ever listen to Kenny G's "At Last" because then I can't sing along! Whatever it works out.

Well, I'm off to make sure my mother has lunch. More at another time.

Take care of yourselves.

Wayne

Apparently I'm really bad at this!

2006-09-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been four years since my last post. Well, not quite, but it seems that way. I promise I will try to do better. We've all heard that before haven't we? No real excuse, though things have been fairly busy and it just seems time runs away from you. For all of you that read this, I sincerely apologise.

My mom is still pretty weak and I have been taking her lunch every day, and then I usually eat lunch with her to make sure she eats. There goes a couple of hours out of the day. I take Kathy to work and pick her up every day. There's another hour and a half. And then every once and a while I get to see my grandchildren, that trumps everything else of course. Like I said, no real excuse, except the fact that I type really slow and have a lot of typos, (it is amazing how often spell check just can't figure out what it is I want to say.) Maybe I should get one of those voice programs and let the computer write it all out.... nah, with my accent the computer wouldn't be able to figure it out either.

Anyway, maybe I should just start my rant and not worry about it. I don't know about y'all but I'm really getting tired of the city wasting my tax money! Why the heck do they continue to stripe the roads, put up speed linit signs and install traffic lights? Everybody knows you're just supposed to ignore all those things! I know everyone knows that because every day somebody tries to run me over! I want everyone out there to try an experiment. For the rest of this week, stay in your lane, do the speed limit and don't run yellow lights (much less the red ones) I will bet you that you will get where you're going on time and be calmer when you get there. Oh and by the way, that little lever on the steering column? That's called a turn signal. It is amazing how easy it is to use and it lets everyone know you are planning to cut across four lanes of traffic in fourty feet to make a left hand turn as the light is turning red.

Well, what else is going on? Not much. Kathy and I are planning to go to St Louis soon to see James and Janie and visit with Keith and mostly to see the Dale Chihouly exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. I'm kinda torn, I really want to see the exhibit because I like his work, plus they say it is amazing at night, but the way Chihouley has been suing everyone in sight because they make glass too is a little disturbing. Oh well, I guess none of the greats could ever play well with others. Look at Picasso, the story goes that he was several hundred dollars in arrears at his favorite cafe and when the owner wanted him to pay he scribbled a sketch on a napkin and told him, "There, that is worth millions." Kind of conceited, but let's face it, true.

Well, since I have been a bad boy, here is the maintainance schedule for both September and October. Can you believe it is almost October? I am definately getting old, the days are flying by!

September
Last nitrogen fertilizer application of the year on warmseason
grasses should be applied no later than September
15.
Brown patch disease of tall fescue can still be a problem.
White grub damage can become visible this month. Apply
appropriate soil insecticide if white grubs are a problem.
Water product into soil.
Continue bermudagrass spray program with glyphosate
products for areas being converted to tall fescue this fall.
Meet water requirements of turf.
If pre-emergent control of winter-annual weeds is desired
in lawns, the application should be completed by the 2nd
week of September. Note: Do not treat areas that will be
seeded in the fall.
Plan to seed bluegrass, fescue, or ryegrass as needed in
shady areas in late-September through mid-October. Fall
is the best time to establish cool-season lawns.
Choose spring flowering bulbs as soon as available.

October
Plant spring flowering bulbs now in well-drained soils with
good sunlight. Planting depth is two times bulb diameter.
Plant pansies, kale, and cabbage.
Dig and store tender bulbs and tubers in a cool dry place.
Container-grown shade trees and pines are most successfully
planted in the fall. Broadleaf evergreens or
bare-root plants are best planted in the spring.
In mid-month, fertilize cool season lawns.
Seeding of cool-season grasses for perennial lawns can
continue through mid-October.
Over-seeding of warm-season lawns with cool-season
grasses for winter should be performed late this month.
Warm-season lawns are healthiest if winter over-seeding
is not performed!
Continue mowing cool-season lawns on a regular basis,
even if warm-season grasses have quit growing.
Remove leaves from cool-season grasses or mow with
mulching mower.
October is an excellent time to control broadleaf weeds in
well established warm or cool-season lawns with a postemergent
broadleaf weed killer. Don’t apply to seedling
fescue.
Mow and edge neatly before killing frost.
Clean up marginal water garden plants after first frost kills
the tops.
Place a net over the water garden to prevent leaves from
falling in the water.
Remove diseased plant material from the landscape to
reduce disease problems next year.

I am going to try to stick something on here at least a couple of times each week. If I don't feel free to yell at me, everyone else does.

God bless each and every one of you.

Wayne

Home Again, Home Again

2006-07-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that blogger isn't going to let me upload pics today. Maybe someday they will let me do what I want, but probably not.

We're back. Isn't it amazing how exhausting it is to have fun? I didn't really do anything but I needed a full day to recover! Tablerock lake was beautiful as usual. Branson was impossible to get around, as usual. We stayed at a different lake house than we stayed at last year, which was different from the house we stayed at the year before. So far they have all been nice, but with their own little quirks. This year's place the quirk was the driveway which was mondo steep. Jeff backed the boat down on Saturday so we could unload it and then we couldn't get the thing back up the drive! When ever you're in Kimberling City, I suggest you call Larry's wrecker. As a matter of fact, if you need a wrecker in Kimberling City you better call Larry's wrecker because he is the only one in town! Anyway, Larry was fast and courteous and only charged $65, which I thought was a bargain for the only wrecker in a resort town. So the truck and boat were out of the drive, the boat was put in the water and a fun lake time was had by all.

Ma (Kathy's ex-husband's mom) and Myrna (his sister) were there with us and we had some really great fish and fresh vegetables that they brought with them. And then one night we went to American Bandstand Theater (Ma's nephew Earl works there) and saw Paul Revere and the Raiders and Bill Medley from the Righteous Brothers. For those of you that old enough to remember, Paul Revere hasn't gotten any more sane. He has slowed down some but since he is turning 69 this year, I guess he has the right. It was a great show, especially since it was free. On our way, the kids were asking me what songs Paul Revere did and for the life of me, I couldn't remember a single one. But once the show started I could sing along with every one, which made Kathy poke me with her elbow several times. She always does that when I start singing along too loud.

Besides the driveway, the other quirk for this house was Sly the fox. Apparently we weren't the first to feed him, since he didn't really mind scooting under the railing and coming up on the deck if he wasn't fed fast enough. I do have pictures and if blogger will ever let me put them on I will put up not only Sly's smiling face (at least I think that was a smile.....) but also the kids playing in the hot tub and Keith, Shawn, and Jeff trying out Keith's hookah that Laura brought him from Qatar (yes, it was just tobacco in it, I checked. What was put in it after I went to bed, I don't want to know!)

I'm going to close this off. It is time to get dinner ready. We still have a housefull for a few days. It's fun but little kids are exhausting!

Be kind to somebody today. And make it a member of your family. Sometimes we treat strangers better than those we love, let's all try to change that!

Wayne

See you in a week

2006-07-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we leave tomorrow to do the family reunion thing. Luckily it isn't the same family reunions I grew up with. The chances are slim that any weapons will be drawn. And cousins sleeping together is almost unheard of.

Keith will join us from from St Louis. Ma and Myrna will come in from Kennett. Ma and Myrna are Bill's family (for those of you that don't know, Bill was Kathy's first husband) and a lot of people think it is kinda weird that I enjoy family reunions with Kathy's ex-husband's (deceased) family. Well, I can't help if people think it's weird, but since I was almost a pall bearer at Bill's funeral and almost had to do the eulogy (Bill's childhood friend made it just in time to be pall bearer and Keith stepped up for the eulogy) I don't think it's all that strange anyway!

I couldn't leave y'all without pictures to contemplate though. Jeff's brother or cousin or something is a semi-professional photographer and he took some pics of Maddox and Jill and Jeff. Of, course, you don't even have to be a semi-good photographer to get good pics of those three but I still think they came out pretty good.

Needless to say, I have them on my screen saver, I know, it's amazing, you'd think I was proud or something.

And in case you're wondering if there is anything blooming in the gardens, well, the answer is not much! For those of you in civilized parts of the world, we have been having 100plus temps for the last week. My son-in-law, Shawn, just returned from Qatar says it was cooler there. But we do have something

Now, some people call these surprise lilies. My mother always called them naked ladies. The leaves come up in early to mid spring, soak up the sun and die back. Then a couple of months later these beauties come up. And you better pay attention. The stalks will come up and they will bloom in the matter of a few days, sometimes it seems like a few hours! There is another variety that I also have a few of, that bloom in early fall. A really beautiful red. The pics will be posted I promise.

Well, that's all I have for now. I think I'll go and see if I can finish packing.

Take care of yourselves and each other. Find someone that God needs for you to love and show them.

Wayne

Please save me.

2006-07-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's official. I'm going to stop making fun of our daughter Laura for not posting very much. You really can't get anything done when the kids around. Every time I started to post something there was a crisis (I don't care what you say, Erin looking at me with puppy dog eyes and wanting something is a crisis!) and I couldn't get anything done. Well, the kids are asleep and Kathy and Laura are at Michael's (Kathy won't let me go with them to Michael's, she's learned) so I figured I'd steal a few minutes and see if I can tell you everything that has been going on..... Nope, too much information, not enough time. Anyway. We've been spending a lot of time playing with the kids and catching up with Laura and enjoying the time. We;ve also been spending a lot of time over at Jill and Jeff's. Kind of a twofer. Since we (usually) only see Laura once a year we end up spending a lot of time with all of us as a family but this year we will end up seeing her three times. She came in January, she's here now and they're coming back in November when they basically shut Qatar down for the Asian Games. Any way, some of what we've been doing: Laura bought a slip and slide last year that ended up never being used. This year we used it. The kids never figured out they were supposed to go down on their bellies. But they did enjoy it. Jeff did his best to teach them how to do it! No matter how many times he had to go down the thing!Who could say no to this face? Ryan, relaxin' and muggin' for the camera.

Erin in a contemplative mood.

We are going to be heading down to the lake for a while. Hopefully, I'll have some time to blog some more before we leave, but I hear Kathy and Laura driving up so I'll finish this off for now.

Be good to yourselves.

Wayne

Living room's done, now for the dining room

2006-07-05T08:04:00.001-07:00

Have you ever noticed that one thing leads to another? It seems like the most innocent statements can lead to a ton of work. For instance, last week Kathy thought that it would be a good idea for us to kill the weekend painting the living room. The last time it was painted was a couple of years ago. My daughter, who watches a lot of HGTV, decided we needed a dramatic statement in our dining room. So...

We had a blue and gold dining room. Well, then we took the lace curtains off the living room window so we could look out and see the gardens. Then we thought it would be nice to be able to look out at the garden while we were eating and be able to watch TV downstairs without feeling like the neighbors were watching. So the living room became the dining room and the dining room became the living room. With me so far?

Then Kathy found the exact rug she wanted for the living room...

and we got some tables that were a very dark wood and of course the couch and chair are navy blue. Needless to say, it was a cave in there. So fine, we can paint the living room, Navajo white. But you know, as long as the furniture is out of here it is a real shame not to refinish the floor. So another two days are added (not that it was that much work, but I am old and can't spend more than three or four hours a day on my knees playing with the floor). Anyway, the walls are painted, the floors are done (we used a Minwax product, Polyshades. I highly recommend it. We used it on the extra bedroom upstairs. Minimum preparation and it really looks beautiful) and now all I have to do is load the furniture back in. Oh, and then, since we did the living room floor and the dining room is right next to it with a huge arch joining them, I might as well take all the furniture out of the dining room and redo that floor too. Plus Laura and the kids are coming in next Tuesday, so I better move my butt!

Well, as a personal aside to Susan, sorry I didn't check my email or blogger over the weekend. I would suggest either sweet potato vine or ice plant. Both are easy to care for, grow rampant, and colorful. Give me a call and I will get you some the next time I'm out.

Now, as far as my garden goes, who knows what's in bloom, I haven't been out of the living room for four days! Actually, I did run outside just about three or four million times (well, I'm lazy and paint and polyshades fumes give me a headache!). Being full summer for the third or fourth month in a row my plants are in a bit of a pet, but I do have some faithful and reliables!

Is it any wonder that I love hardy hibiscus. This is one of the smaller of our four hardys and it and the others will have about this many flowers every day until frost. They are a bit of a clean up issue because the flowers only last one day and the spent blooms litter the ground but who cares when they look like this.

And in the category of what was I thinking, a few years ago I decided to plant a few tuberose bulbs for our daughter Jill's wedding. I knew they would only last the one summer because tuberoses are tropical and I planted them in the back (north-facing) yard because that's where the wedding reception was. Well, once again the plants don't read the same gardening books I do. We have two of them coming up right next to each other in a not particularly protected location. The fragrance is fantastic! What I figure is that not only did one of them survive, it decided to reproduce too.

And the moral of the story? If you like a plant, plant it! You might find out that it has be relocated or potted. But you might also find out that it will work out beautifully.

And last but not least, the caladiums I was complaining about a couple of weeks ago because they weren't coming up have had several come up and not only that one of them decided that it needed to set seed, so it decided to have a flower...

and a very disturbing flower it is too! The poor butterflies couldn't figure out quite what to do. I watched one for several minutes just flit around and light and flit around and light someplace else. Finally, he left dejected and headed for the chaste tree. That one he could figure out.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth and spent some time thinking about what it means to live in our country. Take care of yourselves and show someone that they are loved.

Wayne

Friday at last!

2006-06-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that sometimes life just runs away from you? There you are plodding along and all of a sudden days have swept by and you can't really remember what you did. Oh, you haven't noticed that... Oh, it's never happened to you... Ok, maybe it's just me then. Apparently I can clip right along and lose days and days. Years ago, the first time I read that book that they made a movie with Sally Field where she had Multiple personalities (apparently I don't just lose days, I lose my memory for movie titles too) anyway, I decided that I had multiple personalities too. Not because I was necessarily losing days at the time, although I was drinking perhaps a bit more than was good for me, mainly because I'm paranoid and obsessive. Anyway, that went on for a while until I realized that if I did have multiple personalities the others were having a much better time than I was. They were probably better looking, more popular and were invited to better parties too. Rotten personalities. They never take me anywhere and then I have to do all the laundry. I bet they got invited to the White House during the Clinton years and got to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. I tell you what.

Ok, enough of that, that's why we never take you anywhere, sitting there and mumbling to yourself. You think we don't have anything better to do than listen to your complaints? There's a party at the lake this weekend, go pack our bags.

Ok, ok, make me do everything and then I have to sit around here and watch old Oprah reruns. Boy oh boy. Just you wait. They'll be sorry......

Sorry, stream of consciousness thing.

Ok, it has been a wild and crazy week. Mom is home and doing well. But she doesn't have much strength so I have been taking lunch to her and my sister has been doing the dinner shift. Plus all the stuff that she notices looking out the window at her garden. You know I thought your eyes were supposed to get worse when you got old. That woman can see a weed at 150 feet! Plus she can see that the tomato plants are wilting before they even do. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been keeping her in their prayers.

Well, the plan this week is painting. Yes, I know, it is the Fourth weekend and everyone is going to the lake, which is why we're staying here and painting. Actually, we're just painting the living room unless Kathy goes nuts and decides she can't stand the dining room anymore, or she makes me pull up the run in the bedroom and refinish the floors. Anyway, she found a rug at Home depot online. Actually, she found it in the store but bought it online and saved about 50 or 60 bucks. Well, I was going to show you what the rug looked like but blogger won't let me post pictures today. Oh well, I have to move some furniture so we can have all our fun tomorrow. Have a good and safe and happy Fourth of July.

Wayne.

New blooms

2006-06-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I have figured it out. All you have to do is put all the pictures on the blog and then write the stuff. That way you get at least something up for your time.

Well, mom is at home and exhausted. We took her out of the rehab center on Friday and it was a several hour ordeal. Actually getting her out was a couple of minutes but her talking to a friend of hers that she hasn't seen for a while that was taking care of one of the patients in the place and recognized her voice and then having to say goodbye to all the staff and patients that she got close to and then having to go out to lunch before we got her home because after all we would just have to go out later and having my sister and I and my daughter and five of my grandchildren to help load everything up and haul it off it takes a little time. Anyway, she is at home and resting and the home health people are supposed to show up today and do all the preliminary paperwork to get her back into that. Whew!

Ok, this weekend was the gay pride festival and parade in Memorial park and my only question is why do they let them park all over the place in the park? I have seen the police come and chase families away that were just unloading their cars by a picnic table and we had people parked up next to our fence for ten and twelve hours at a time. I hate to sound un-pc (actually, I don't, I'm fairly used to sounding un-pc) but I have to wonder if the parks department would have allowed parking on the grass for any less vocal group. Of course, it may just be sour grapes because my granddaughter Natasha spent Friday night and all day Saturday with us and one of my favorite things to do with her is take her to the park and play on the swings and you couldn't even get on the swings because there were tents set up all around them!

OK, enough complaining. Let's get to what's blooming.

This is one of my new favorites. It is an ice plant that has recently been introduced in Oklahoma. For years everyone apparently assumed that ice plant wouldn't survive here but lately there are all sorts of places that it is a perennial. To me the flower almost looks like a tiny strawflower.Not the best shot but I still love crepemyrtle. I'm especially impressed with this one because, believe it or not, the flowers are a great shade of dark red. Yes I know it looks pink, but it really is darker than this. I'm just not sure how to make the colors true with my camera. If anyone has any ideas I'll take 'em.

The only thing better than ice cream in the summer is hibiscus. We have several hardys planted and usually get a tropical or two and pot them up. The flowers are amazing and even though they confuse the heck out of the hummingbirds and butterflies the little darlings continue to try.And for those of you that think the magnolia is the most beautiful flower in the world I've got this one from mom's yard. Her tree is about twenty five years old and is almost past the struggling for acid stage.

Well, that's about all for today. Hopefully I'll get a few more posts in this week since mom's home. Take care of yourselves.

Wayne

A fix for your Maddox withdrawal

2006-06-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

For all of you who can't go more than a few days without pix of Maddox (or am I the only one?) We went over to their house the other day for dinner and caught him out in the pool.
And of course after a hard day playing, a guys gotta eat!
And trust me, after this kid eats he's gotta have a bath.
And as always, there's always time to clown around in the tub.

Think about the joy of a child today. We tend to get so caught up in the stuff that we forget to laugh. Remember, God has a sense of humor. Just contemplate the giraffe or duckbill platypus!

Wayne

What's in bloom.

2006-06-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well, blogging has apparently become a two day event. Yesterday I got the pictures put on and it took so long that I had to wait until today to write the crazy thing. Well, I guess that is better than most of last week when the website wouldn't let me on! Anyway, here's what's in bloom around my yard.

Slightly blurry (slightly? What're you talking about? It looks like a Jackson Pollock painting! Slightly blurry, yeah, someone might buy that....{Shut up, I'm blogging here!}) Where was I? Oh yeah, slightly blurry and really confused, this is my pink weigelia. Usually it blooms in late April, this year it bloomed in March and now I'm getting sporadic little blooms here and there. Hummers love these shrubs.

This is a caladium in a hanging basket. Kathy and I bought a box of about 50 caladium bulbs at Sam's and I thought that these were the only ones coming up, but I have found a few coming up in the four-o'clocks. I guess I was just getting impatient. I was getting a little miffed at Sam's I'll admit. But apparently all is well. And yes I know that this isn't a bloom, but if you've ever seen caladium flowers you understand why they're grown for the foliage.

This is just one of our stands of liatris. The cool thing about liatris is that they are a beautiful shade of purple (they also come in pinks and whites) and that they are one of the few (maybe the only) spike type flower that opens from the top down instead of the bottom up. Just a little liatris trivia, try that for your next bar bet. The uncool thing about liatris is that, yes, this is only one of our stands of liatris. We bought a box of bulbs (yes from Sam's) about four years ago and every year since I have thinned liatris. In case anyone wants any, this fall I'll be thinning them again and if you don't take them I'll be throwing about fifty bulbs away!

This is one of those weird plants that I don't really adore because it isn't all that cool of a plant. It's scarlet runner bean, an annual vine, that I planted about three years ago and I just keep putting it in the same place because it isn't any trouble. I save seeds from it every year and just sow in the Spring.

Another case of the plants not reading the books. Check any of the manuals and they will all tell you that you have to dig up your dahlia tubers if you don't live in a frost free zone. When we lived in central Florida when I was a child my mother dug up her dahlias to lovingly store them in dry peat moss till all the nasty frosts were over. Which is where I learned to hate digging up dahlia tubers. So a few years ago when we went to Sam's and bought dahlia bulbs I figured I would just let them die and buy new the next year. The next year we went to buy more dahlia bulbs and planted them, and then the year's before came up. Since then we have been having about 40 to 50% of the previous years dahlia production. This year we have about 12 Plants coming up. I figure in about 3 years we'll have to buy some more. Something besides light pink please!

Kathy is enamored of giant head sunflowers. If you will look at the picture close, you'll see this is a species sunflower. This is what happens when you are too lazy to the flowers off before they start dropping seed. I always figure if God wants to plant it, I'll enjoy it. Kathy disagrees when God plants Johnson grass. She says this year I'm pulling sunflowers so she can plant the giants next year. And some sunflower trivia: sunflowers are members of the Asteraceae family which means that the flower is not really a flower. It is actually thousands of tiny flowers, some circular, some ray type.

We went down to farmer's market the other day and found these great Persian shields and begonias and they immediately went into the cement planter by the front steps. The shield has since been trimmed back a little bit and is bushing out some. I'll post some more pics when it gets a little fuller.

And on the same trip we got some sweet potato vines. Notice how well-behaved the Marguerite (the light green) is. It is keeping to itself and giving the blacks plenty of room. I'll take another pic in a few weeks to show you how it has about choked the blacks out. It is an aggressive little sucker!

I know I've shown the flowers on the chaste tree before, but just one more reminder of why I love these things.

Well, for those of you that have been praying, mom is supposed to come home on Friday. She of course was ready last week and never mind that she couldn't stand up. Keep her health in prayer, please and if you have any extra prayers ask for me and my sister to have strength so we won't choke her.

Spend some time today thinking about the flowers that God gives us. Large or small, Smelling like perfume or a rotting corpse, they all have a place in God's world and he watches over every one, and if he'll watch over them, how much more of his attention will he give to us?

Wayne

2006-06-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we had the meeting with the rehab center that mom has been in for a couple of weeks. The decision made was that unless something drastic happens she'll be getting out next Friday. She's happy, I'm kinda happy, my sister is worried. My sister has this idea that we need to stop her from doing gardening. Like that is ever going to happen. I would be happy if we could just get her to understand that an hour here and there is better than doing six hours at a time and not being able to move for three days! Thanks to all who have kept mom in your prayers.

As for my life, not much else has been happening. We just keep on keeping on. It would be nice if I could believe that the weathermen aren't lying to me again. They are claiming that there is a 60% chance of rain here in the metro this weekend. I figure that if we get anything it won't be enough to dampen the ground. I could be wrong, though. We could get enough to cause flash-flooding and none of it will be around long enough to soak in.

Jill and Maddox came over last night for dinner. As usual Maddox was about the most intelligent person I have ever seen. I swear that kid has a genius-plus IQ. Now if he'll ever start talking, he'll show everyone else too. There was a very significant cartoon in the paper the other day that illustrates just my point. One grandparent is saying to the other that their grandson is an artistic genius and the other grandparent says not to put too much pressure on the boy so the first says, "I'm not, I don't care what kind of genius he is." We tend to do it, don't we? Our kids, our grandkids, we want them to have things we didn't have and then sometimes we want them to be things we couldn't be. We all need to be careful (and me most of all) to let the little monsters be just what God made them, not what we think God should have made them. But then our judgment is so much better than His sometimes, isn't it?

Be good to a kid in your life today. And if you can't find one, be the kid yourself that God made you to be!

Wayne

Is it going to be kind?

2006-06-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well, let's see if Blogger is going to be nice to me today?

Kathy and I went out to dinner last night, actually I planned to make my famous smoked sausage and green beans and after I told her she said she had been thinking about eating out, hmmm... I wonder if there is a connection? Anyway, we went to the new place in the Penn Square parking lot, what a great place to have a restaurant, in one of the most crowded and hardest to get to parking lots in town, The Elephant Bar. It has a bar, but isn't a bar. Problem with truth in advertising if you ask me. And since my entire life is Blogger fodder, I was already composing my headline as we were leaving the place. I turned to Kathy and asked her, "What is the problem if the best thing you can say about a restaurant is that, 'it's decor is fun and campy'?" The food was ok, nothing particularly wonderful. Kathy had a chicken Caesar salad and I had a hamburger and fries, I know, not our usual arrangement, but she wanted to eat light and I was too tired and bored to figure out anything more complicated. The main problem we had with the place is that it is LOUD. They were putting together a 25 top next to us, well actually it was an 18 top and then some more people came in and stood there for about 15 minutes (not an exaggeration) until they found some more chairs and then some more people came in so they had to get more chairs and tables. All this about three feet from us. Real conducive to relaxed dining. To be truthful though, even if they had not been running around right next to us, we still couldn't have carried on a normal conversation due to the noise level of the whole place. And then we shared a dessert, walnut brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce and whipped cream and slivered almonds. It was ok, but Kathy and I could have made it better at home (but then we would have to clean up) and besides we put raisins in our brownies (trust me, it tastes better than it sounds). Service was not really even so-so. We ran out of water twice, not earthshattering, but irritating. And just to reiterate, parking was atrotious! I hate the Penn Square lot at the best of times (although I can't really think of any best of times, Maybe the time our daughter Alison had a dead battery in her car and I had to go out there at 10:30 to give her a jump start, at least there were places to park then). Well, needless to say (then why are you saying all this?) we probably won't go back there again. All in all, I preferred Cheeseburger In Paradise even if they didn't play much Buffett and you need to take an extra couple to split the chocolate nachos. Or maybe if you didn't eat any dinner you could eat the whole chocolate nacho yourself.... Can we spell gluttony?

Well, maybe I can put some pics on today: Well, apparently not. I don't mind that it won't let me put pics on as much as that it tells me they're added and then there isn't anything there. Don't you just hate it when your computer lies to you? They think they're so smart. Sometimes when I have insomnia I'll come down and I can hear my computer and MP3 player whispering to each other. I just know they are plotting something. I'm pretty sure that if they can ever get the toaster to agree to their plans I'm sunk.

Well, I tried to fool blogger by using microsoft publisher to put the pics on and publish the blog. Ha ha, I'm the one that was fooled. After about 20 minutes trying to get everything put together just so, it still wouldn't let me put it on Blogger. This is the commentary I had on publisher. At least you can figure out what I have in the garden, and maybe soon I can put pics up.:

Ok, so apparently you have to do all these convoluted things to get things published to Blogger. I donÂt know if this is going to work. Luckily Kathy got Microsoft Office through work so now I am trying to do this in Publisher Maybe itÂll work and maybe not. So the top left picture is some sweet potato vine that we finally got. Notice how well behaved the Marguarite is? IÂll take another picture in a few weeks. IÂll bet it wonÂt be half that nice then.

Top right is a close up of a butterfly on the chaste tree.

The center pics are of some Persian shield and begonias that we planted in the concrete planter. I love Persian shield. It is such a cool looking plant.

The bottom picture is of one of KathyÂs sunflowers. She wanted me to pull them all up because she planted the giants about three years ago and I always let them seed out for the birds. Well, the dumb birds donÂt eat enough because we always have a great big crop of small flowered sunflowers. I still think they are pretty and they donÂt droop over from the weight of the blossom either.

Take care of yourselves today. Wayne

I've Been Bad!

2006-06-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is actually a post from yesterday. I wrote the whole thing out and it wouldn't let me add pictures and then Blogger wouldn't even let me on. I would apologize but this time it wasn't my fault! Blame it on Blogger.

My apologies to everyone. It has been way too long since I blogged on this thing. I would love to say that I have been hyper-busy, but mostly I have just been lazy and then time got away from me and then Blogger wouldn't let me on and then...... Oh well.

So to catch up. Dinner at Susan and Jim's was fantastic, yes that was last week, but I already apologized and all that. Jim cooked steaks and we had veggies and potatoes and a really delicious chocolate birthday cake. Well, Susan had to do something, it was Jim's birthday after all. The company was wonderful, the conversation stimulating (until we all started yawning about 9:00), and best of all, I was the youngest person there so I could rub their noses in it! The only bad part about it is that I apparently haven't had a camera long enough because I forgot to take it with me so I could capture the revelry for blogterity. I better change the subject, I'm apparently making up words again.

Latest on the mom front. The doctors never really figured out what was wrong with her, but her physical symptoms went away so they put her into a rehab center to gain back her strength before they would let her go home. So now she's fighting with the physical therapists and telling us that the doc wants her to go home in a day or two (I'm not going to be the one to tell her that we don't even have the evaluation meeting scheduled until next Thursday). The great part about it is that I get to hear about how awful the place is when I visit mom and then as I'm leaving I get to hear the nursing staff complain because she won't wait for them to help her go to the bathroom. Here's my question, if the nursing staff wants to help her go to the bathroom, why has the nutrition staff come down to her room twice to ask her why she hasn't gotten herself down to the dining room? Anyway, it has all been good because I have been christened the "good" child. I have kept her tomato plants alive and Kathy found the perfect robe (JC Penney Spring/Summer catalog, page 158, white, extra large {yes, that's too big, but that's the size she wanted}), and all the while my awful terrible sister has been keeping up her house and making sure her bills are paid and all the other unnecessary stuff and so is the "bad" child. Hey, I'll take what I can get!

Ok, to the plants. What is in bloom? And what's new: Well, apparently Blogger doesn't want to let me add any photos so I will have to show you what is in bloom in a later post.

Be good to yourselves, God bless,

Wayne

What's in bloom.

2006-05-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to show some of the things that are in bloom in my garden and in my mother's yard, yes I have been spending a lot of time in my mother's yard getting things ready for her to come home and now it looks like she'll have to go to an assisted living center for a while when she gets out of the hospital anyway. And this has to be short because I have to get the house ready for Jim and Susan to come over for dinner for Jim's birthday (Happy Birthday Jim!!!) I don't know how old Jim is today, isn't it amazing that people don't want to tell you anything if they know you blog. Actually, I haven't even talked to Jim since I found out that they were coming over tonight. Jim and I are the laid back ones in the group. We just do whatever Kathy and Susan tell us to do. Much safer that way.

Before I get to what's in bloom, I would like to welcome Shelly back to blogger-world. We have missed her posts and I am very happy she is feeling better!

Ok, what is in bloom: This is a close up of the flower of a chaste tree and a shot of the tree in the start of bloom. I love these things. They are one of the most beautiful plants I have.

Asiatic lilies come in several colors and are always prolific bloomers. These are some out of my mother's yard since mine haven't started to bloom yet.
This is black and blue salvia. I love it for the interesting blooms, I hate it because unlike most salvia this isn't a "set-and-forget" plant. As a matter of fact, it is a water hog! Let it go one or two days without water and it droops something awful.
This old climbing rose is actually from my neighbor's yard. Roses depress me. I have a couple and they don't really take that much work, you just have to stay on top of things and as Kathy will tell you, I tend to get sidetracked and then my roses get black spot and powdery mildew and aphids, sigh.

Ok, technically this isn't a bloom. Actually, non-technically this isn't a bloom. No matter what I say, this is a leaf. But this is new growth on my ti plant and I just love the color show!

Ok, May is almost over (May is almost over? Where did May go?) and so here is the checklist for June (June already? No, it can't be June already! Where did May go? { Sorry, just a little denial there. It isn't just a river in Egypt you know.})

June
Vigorous, unwanted limbs should be removed or shortened
on new trees. Watch for forks in the main trunk and
remove the least desirable leader as soon as it is noticed.
Remain alert for insect damage. Add spider mites to the
list. Foliage of most plants becomes pale and speckled;
juniper foliage turns a pale yellowish color. Shake a
branch over white paper and watch for tiny specks that
crawl. Watch for 1st generation fall webworm. Pine needle disease treatments are needed again in mid-
June.
Cultivate and mulch. Mulching will reduce about 70 percent
of the summer yard maintenance.
Fertilize warm season grasses as per April instructions.
Dollar spot disease of lawns can first become visible in
mid-May. Make certain fertilizer applications have been
adequate before applying a fungicide.
Seeding of warm-season grasses should be completed
by the end of June to reduce winter kill losses.
Brown patch disease of cool-season grasses can be a
problem.
Meet water requirements of turf.
Post-emergent control of crabgrass and summer annual
grasses is best performed on young crabgrass plants.
Continue to water deeply as needed. Apply at least one
inch of water each time.
Softwood cuttings from new growth of many shrubs will
root if propagated in a moist shady spot.

Separated at birth? You decide!

2006-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, for those that don't know, these are my two youngest and their two youngest (well, technically, Maddox is Jill's only, so far, so he is also her oldest). These shots really have nothing to do with my post today, I just liked them and unfortunately what Emily says is true, you start to take pictures that you just know you are going to use for blog fodder. It is so sad, I'm starting to feel like everything in my life is just for my blog. Unfortunately, I have a boring life!

Back from the lake and napped out. We just went down to Murray for one day, well, ok, a few hours. By the time we got there Jill was Maddoxed out and the wind was blowing like crazy so I took one ride on the boat and Kathy didn't even want to do that, and we ate lunch and grabbed Maddox and headed home. Of course, while we were there I did get some pictures.
Naturally, with our timing Maddox had just gone down for a nap when we arrived. You have to give the kid credit, he slept for about an hour and a half with eight adults and two other kids running around plus all the other visitors to the camp site. This was his first camping trip, and if his mother has her way, maybe his last.
Our son Keith, the only person I know that flies 800 and something miles to go to the lake with his sister and nephew. He flew in from St Louis on Friday and flew out this afternoon.
Yeah, Maddox is just hiding his face in embarrassment because his daddy has on one of those tacky "Other" University t-shirts.

Cheesy smiles and amazingly enough, no bloodshed even though they had been together for almost 45 minutes! Actually, they get along pretty well, they just gang up on everyone else.

Anyway, we left the lake and took Maddox home with us and spoiled him rotten. He is so sure that he is going to get his way, he doesn't even cry at us. Wrapped around his finger and he knows it. Though his Nana did say no to him when he tried to climb the stairs. The "N" word really hurts his feelings, he has to bury his face in his Papi's shoulder for at least 30 or 45 seconds before he is wanting down to try again for the stairs.

We kept him Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon took him to his other grandmother's. The whole plan is so nobody gets too tired. I thought that was a laugh until we came home from dropping him off and took a FOUR-HOUR-NAP!!! To think I used to take care of three of them with no problem. Now I can't take care of one with out help. I am old. God in his infinite wisdom made sure that my children were all grown before I was too tired and senile to take care of them.

Today is Memorial Day. We need to remember that the men who died for us, did it not so we could do anything we wanted but so that we could do everything we ought.

Wayne

2006-05-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my mom and all your kind words and thoughts. She is still up at the hospital and getting more antsy every day to come home. Fortunately, the doctor doesn't want to send her home until he figures out what is wrong with her. Which amazes me, since she has always been able to con her doctor into sending her home so she could "recuperate". Anyway, she won't be going home tomorrow which is a good thing since my sister and I are cleaning her house up and we're slow!

Other than mom and house cleaning there isn't much else to report. Things are pretty slow and the weather is hot and dry. It seems like about the time I finish getting the gardens watered the plants I started on are drooping. For everyone who thought I was crazy when I labeled the purple flower a balloon flower a few days ago (they didn't look much like balloons). Here is a picture of what they look like before they open.

See, it makes a little more sense now, doesn't it?

Well, the plan is that we're going to go to the lake one day this weekend (whenever Kathy tells me to) and spend the day with Jill and Jeff and Maddox and then bring Maddox home with us and keep him overnight. Then when we're too tired to take care of him we'll take him over to his other grandparents house and they'll keep him for awhile. I'll be taking the camera with me but you can bet I won't let Maddox play with it around open water!

Love one another.

Wayne

2006-05-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend.

Yesterday Kathy and I cleaned the windows in the sitting room and our bedroom, did you know that tree leaves are actually green and not reddish-brown? First you have to climb out onto the porch roof and take down all the storm windows and take out the glass and clean it and clean the windows themselves and clean the frames of the storm windows and put the storm windows all back on. And it really helps if you don't drop the paper towels because they unroll all the way down! Trust me on this one.

After we cleaned we went out to a new restaurant that Jim told me about. Cheeseburger in Paradise, yes like the Jimmy Buffett song. The food was excellent and the service was great, the only complaint I have is that between the two guys they had playing live music and the sound system that they had while they took breaks I only heard two Buffett songs. Luckily neither one of them was Marguaritaville so I didn't have to immolate myself. Unfortunately neither of them was Pencil Thin Mustache, how disappointing!

So all together Saturday was productive and still rather relaxing. But then came Saturday night, well technically it was Sunday morning. At about one in the morning my mom called and told us (well, Kathy since it usually takes a lot more than a ringing phone to wake me up at one in the morning) that she had been throwing up since about 6:30 Saturday night and she wasn't getting any better and maybe she needed to go to the hospital. So it's out of bed and over to her house and call the ambulance and they load her up and take her off. First I have to tell everyone about how impressive the Village Fire Department is. I don't know how many times we've had to call 911 from mom's house, but every time the fire department has been first on the scene, calm and calming, tender and gentle with my mom. Last night was no exception, they are wonderful guys! Anyway, so then the ambulance came and did all the stuff and loaded her up and ran her into Baptist. Just before the ambulance left I called my sister and listened to her yell at me for a few seconds about that she didn't have the kids and why wasn't she called first, but after a while she calmed down and we all went to the ER for a few hours. After getting some stuff for nausea in her and rehydrating her by IV they sent her up to a room and we finally dragged ourselves out at about 5:30. Fun way to spend the best sleeping hours, I tell you! Mom is doing OK, they still don't know exactly what's wrong, but she is comfortable and able to keep some food and liquids down. Of course, if you want to know what's wrong, you don't go in on a Sunday when the labs are at skeleton staff. Tomorrow they'll run all the tests they can think of and maybe, maybe find out what is the matter. On the other hand, we've taken her to the hospital before when they've had her for a couple of weeks and can't figure out the problem and they send her home cause she just got better, so we'll see.

Anyway, we came home and got a little sleep and Jill called and wanted to know if we wanted to go to the lake for Maddox's first time and Kathy said no. We probably should have. Jill told us later that they were on the boat and Jeff was holding Maddox and Jill was taking pictures and Maddox was enjoying himself and then when Jill took Maddox and put the camera down, Maddox picked up the camera and tossed it over the side. The good news is that they just downloaded all the pics they had in it last week, the bad news is of course now you've gotta get a new camera, and then the good news is that now you have an excuse to get a new camera and you have a little better idea of what you want.

So basically, that was my weekend. I do wish we could have gone to church, but neither one of us could have stayed awake no matter how dynamic the preacher was, especially me. Mom is doing ok, my sister is sick at home so she didn't get to go see mom this afternoon but I did and took her some stuff she needed. Kathy and I got our Sunday naps twice, morning and afternoon. And Maddox is practicing for the Majors with all the wrong stuff!

Love someone today.

Wayne

Friday at long last.

2006-05-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again. Notice Susan, two days in a row. It really isn't fair. Apparently Susan is back on the steroids so she has enough energy to stay awake so she's checking my blog every three minutes to see if I've posted. You know, the only thing that makes Susan testier than not knitting is people who don't post on their blogs.

Speaking of knitting, Kathy and a bunch of other knitters are going over to Susan's tonight for a knit-fest. I was invited but being in a room full women with sharp pointy sticks is rather unnerving. I think the better plan is that Jim and I are going out to dinner and then spend a couple hours on the porch. That way, neither of us are going to threatened or teased by the knitters. We will be talked about I'm sure but if we can't hear it, it isn't happening. I learned that when I was a child along with the whole "they can't find you if you cover your eyes" thing. Actually, people seem surprised that I used to knit when I was in high school and college (well, the first time I was in college). What they don't realize is that when I was younger, much younger, I liked to get into fights. And let's face it, there is nothing that will get you into more fights, faster, in high school, than doing something that is not exactly normal. And also, if you're looking to get into fights, it doesn't hurt to have a couple of sharp pointy sticks to take into the fight. Of course you have to remember that I went to high school before half the student body was armed.

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I have been trying to apply to OSU Stillwater lately, and I'm wondering if they have too many students so they're making it hard or if I'm just slow. You have to fill out a 7 or 8 page (on computer) application, even if you have been a student at OSU/OKC for years. They even wanted to know what my GPA in high school was. Ok, everybody that has been out of high school for at least ten years that remembers your GPA raise your hand..... Yeah I thought so. They have all kinds of (to me anyway) silly questions and it takes so long that I can only do a couple of pages a day before I get bored and get off. Oh, well, maybe I'll be finished before school starts. All right kiddies, here is a life lesson for you. Go to college before you're too old to fill out the application!

Well, I'm going to try to do a little more on the app and finish watering the gardens and dig up some more treelings out of the garden and pick up Kathy from work and get a shower before I go out to dinner with Jim. Oh, my, I'm tired just thinking about it. Maybe I'll just take a nap until dinner.

Be good to yourselves.

Wayne

Trying to get on Susan's good side!

2006-05-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Matisse makes a drawing, then he makes a copy of it. He recopies it five times, ten times, always clarifying the line. He's convinced that the last, the most stripped down, is the best, the purest, the definitive one; and in fact, most of the time, it was the first. In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt. ~ Pablo Picasso.

Well, this is probably going to be a short post. But I have to do it since Susan sent me a nasty e-mail because I haven't posted lately. As most of you know, she has been exhausted lately and has been napping instead of knitting and we all know how testy she gets when she can't knit! Actually, I did post on Sunday, but then when I tried to run spell check on it blogger ate my post. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was the most socially insightful, thoughtful and illuminating piece of liturature since James Joyce died. And probably made about as much sense too!

Anyway... Well, not much has really been happening. I have been busy but I'm not sure I could tell you what I did. Dang, I have a boring life. Seems like most of the stuff I've done is that stuff that takes up hours and hours to do and seconds and seconds to tell about. I guess I could explain all about the miniblinds I put up in the sitting room. Took me all Sunday afternoon and into the evening not including the time Kathy had to run back to Home Depot because I picked up 1 vanilla and 4 white. Well, I pulled the first one off the right stack. Really, I can tell you all about it. Riveting stuff, really.... No, really it is!

Ok, maybe not. I guess I better just talk about what I have in bloom. Sonner or later I'll have more color but for now this is what I've got.
This is my other clematis. It's a Lady somebody-or-other. I can hardly even remember hybrid names and Kathy hates having the labels around so I usually just love the plant and don't worry about getting another one. Actually, if I get multiples I tend not to have any other plants, it si a small lot after all. Almost everyone knows this one. The beautiful calla lily. According to all the books and labels and other gardeners, calla lilies won't grow in Oklahoma. Our winters are too severe. I've had these planted for about four years now and they come up every year, taller and thicker than ever. Just goes to prove that the plants don't read the plant books. This is a geranium, Yes it is! I have more problems with this one. It kind of just creeps along the ground and when it blooms it is covered with the small pinkish, red flowers and then everybody thinks that I don't know what I'm talking about because it is a geranium! The other plants that are called geraniums are pelargoniums. No relation I promise, yes I do know what I'm talking about! I do this for a living dadgummit! I've been to school for this stuff! It is too a geranium! Oh, never mind. Think what you want, I don't care. Bah Humbug! Ok, ok, I'm alright. Well, this is balloon flower. I'll be posting another picture of this one a little later. It kinda snuck up on me. They actually look cooler before they open but I missed this one as a ball. You'll see what I mean later on.
This is beardtongue. I love this plant, but I'm not sure why. The flower isn't big or flashy or exciting or long-lasting. The plant is just a plain green. Maybe it's because it always reminds me of the lilies of the field. God makes the bees and butterflies come to pollinate it and he brings it back year after year. And if He'll do that for this insignificant plant, what will he do for me?

Be good to yourself today. Remember that The Most Perfect God loves you, and who are you to say he made a mistake?

Wayne

2006-05-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it is Wednesday already, how time flies when your having fun... or not having fun, for that matter. This evening and Thursday evening and Saturday, I'll be helping my son=in-law D'Artagnon put up a fence. More manual labor for the old man. I'm getting too old for this.

Last night was the last class for CADD, the second class starts June 5th. Don't know if I'll be able to take it yet but hopefully I will. It is a really interesting program and can cut my design time significantly. Of course I need to find someone to give me a job in it because the bloody thing costs almost $4000. Who's got that kind of money lying around, and if you do, could you lend me the 4 grand to get the program? Yeah, I thought so.

Well, I've decided that I need to find more blogs to read. All the ones I normally read are posting less than I do, come on y'all, get busy! Things to do people to see. I'm going to close this out now. If I can lift my arms above my waist tomorrow I'll post more.

Wayne

Cat Cheesecake for Susan

2006-05-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

Not having animals myself, sometimes I feel left out by all the animal pics flying back and forth. So when I got these from Alison I decided I would put them up just for Susan and all the others out there who can't go a day without cat pictures.

This is my ex-wife's cat. Pictures are courtesy of my daughter Alison (for some reason, my ex wouldn't let me borrow the cat for pictures).

Wayne

Home Again.

2006-05-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday all. We made it back safely last night and immediately had to fall down for our regular Sunday afternoon nap. What the heck is it about Sunday that you have to take a nap?

We had a wonderful time in Ft Worth, at least I did and Kathy said she did. First of all, we got to see our daughter Alison,

which is always a treat. And a rare treat at that, since she lives in Ft Worth, is going to Seminary, this summer has accepted an internship at her home church in Honolulu that lasts from next week to two days before school starts again, and is always running around doing something. She makes me tired. We took her out to dinner and lunch a couple of times, something as a student she doesn't get to do often. And we all went out to the Ft Worth zoo and the Ft Worth Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. That's right, Ft Worth, I didn't even know that Ft Worth had an Arbotetum, much less that it was fabulous!

First on Friday night, while Alison was at a potluck dinner for the Hawaii Mission Group at the Seminary (which has nothing to do with her internship) Kathy and I went to a restaurant called Chipolte, apparently a francise outfit all over the Southwest except of course for Oklahoma. The menu is fairly limited, but what they make they do really well. Take my advice, get a burrito bowl. In the burrito itself they jam about three pounds of stuff and looking around the restaurant I couldn't see anybody that could eat it neatly. I didn't even try, I just tore mine apart. After dinner we went back to Alison's apartment and all of us stayed up and taked til after midnight. Neither Alison nor I particularly like the phone, so we end up having too much to say when we do see each other.

On Saturday morning we got up and Alison fixed us breakfast and we all packed up and went to the zoo. the zoo in Ft Worth is pretty nice but doesn't really measure up to the hype. It is small but they have the exhibits wider rather than deeper so you can see the animals well. I'm not sure the animals are all that happy about it though. Once again I have decided that evolution didn't make sense,

although I can see some family resemblence, I think this fellow seems much more cheerful than I. Do you ever think that if we could communicate with the animals that they would be offended that some people thought we were descended from them?

After we left the zoo, we went to lunch at Red, White and Blues Barbeque. A Memphis style barbeque place in the middle of cowtown. What were they thinking? Apparently this is why I'm not a restauranteur. They were making a fortune. The food was great and the service was quick and friendly. I wouldn't think that they could make it but the place was packed.

After lunch we went to the gardens. Finally, the fun stuff! Well, fun for me anyway. Kathy's knees gave out before we got to the Japanese garden and I think Alison was just humoring me. But I had a great time. I may have been the only one because when I suggested we go back the next day and see the rose gardens and perennial garden the response was underwhelming.

In the conservatory they have some of the most beautiful and well kept plants I've ever seen. And the signage was fantastic (isn't it sad how excited I get over signs?). In a lot of the public gardens the plants are mismarked or the signs are missing or out of date, but they really kept up. Sounds silly, I know, but it is really helpful from an educational standpoint, after all, most people want to know what a plant is but doesn't want to spend years taking ID courses and buying hundreds of dollars in referance books. Everything at the gardens was wonderful, I was a little diappointed in the fragrance garden. There wasn't anything in bloom and most of the plants were scented flowerers not scented foliage plants. But other than that it was an exciting and magical place.

Signage.... It's not just for plant names anymore!

Thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers over the weekend.

Wayne

Electronics are taking over my life!

2006-05-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am such a fibber! I told you guys that last Wednesday was going to be my last post til I got back, but then I finished getting ready to leave and got bored with all the other stuff I need to do, so here I am again.

I was packing for my trip and realized that I have too much stuff! I'm only going to be gone about 48 hours and am taking four, that's right four, charging cords. Well, I *have* to take the cord for the new camera because I don't really know how long the charge lasts on the thing. And then I *need* the cord to charge the MP3 player because, after all, there's about six thousand miles from here and Fort Worth that have no people or towns or radio stations or anything sowhile I'm driving I'll need my music both ways. And after all, if my cell phone goes out, how will I know who's calls I'm ignoring? So there I have to bring the charger for both the house and the car. You know, when I moved out of my parents house I fit everything I owned in the trunk and back seat of a '69 mustang. Now I go away for a weekend and can barely cram all my stuff in a cavalier. I've turned into a pack rat! Oh who am I kidding, I've always been a pack rat. But when I moved out of my parent's house it was all their stuff.

Well, Kathy went to see Maddox last night. No, I didn't get to go. I had class. And it was his real birthday! Anyway, here's what a one-year-old looks like.

I don't care what anybody says. He's cute! And he knows it!

Speaking of dour old men. You can see why there are very few pictures of me out there (no Susan, it isn't because the FBI is after me) but I'm thinking of using this one for the cover photo if I ever write a book. I think it has that indefinable quality that you can't decide whether it is utter wisdom or complete confusion.

For those who are more used to digital cameras than I am, and that is almost everybody, What should I set my pixels on? The thing defaults to 2816x2112 which seems a little excessive to me. I know that the more pixels the fewer shots but the bigger prints, but what is a happy medium? And should I even worry about it? After all, with the memory card the thing will hold 171 pictures. Will I ever take more than 171 pictures before I have a chance to download them somewhere? Probably not. But if I do print anything I probably won't print bigger than 4x6. But then I have my pictures as my screen saver and I really like when the whole screen is filled up. But then... oh well.

I'm going to close this off. There are some things I need to finish before I leave.

Be good to yourselves and someone else today. Pray for someone, hug someone, laugh with someone.

Wayne

Twice in one day? How could we be so lucky?

2006-05-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to post for a few days, but the camera that favorite daughter Laura (yes, sending me presents will elevate you to favored status) arrived. I didn't think it was going to get here until Thursday at the earliest and was afraid it wasn't going to get here until after I left, but it came!!!

So for Susan, who asked that I post some pictures of what is blooming in my yard here we go!

An iris. This is actually a much darker purple than the picture makes it look. Don't blame the flower or the camera blame the operator.

A jackmanie clamatis. This one I like.
A Japanese maple. Yes I know that it isn't technically in bloom. But the leaves are beautiful. Prettier than the picture certainly. Again, blame the operator.

A different Japanese maple. Very finely cut leaves. This one is kind of a dwarf ever since an elm tree fell on it. After having the entire top knocked out it put out several more branches all in a whorl and hasn't grown any taller.

Well, that's all for now. Maybe I'll be able to figure out the camera and get some better shots in Texas. Have a wonderful day.

Wayne

The Shadow Knows!

2006-05-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had someone give you advice that they thought would help that was completely and utterly useless? A friend of mine was talking to me about my blog and he suggested that I start another one that was either all gardening or all rants and keep everything separate. Oh yeah, like I don't already have enough trouble keeping this thing up! All I need is to have another one of these things for Kathy to yell at me about. Maybe that's it. My friend doesn't really like me and he wants me to get in trouble! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? (And Susan thought I would have a problem digging myself out of the title!)

Well, speaking of not keeping up, I probably won't be posting for a few days (I can hear it now, "So, what else is new!). I'm going down to Ft Worth for a couple of days to visit my daughter and go to the Arboretum and zoo. Hopefully the new camera that my other daughter is sending me will get here in time that I can take it with me and when I get back I will have cool pictures of all the travels. Or more likely, I'll have blurry somethings that everybody will be saying, "What the heck is that? Is that a hippopotamus?" (No, it is a self portrait, but thank you for boosting my ego.)

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Emily did an A to Z list on her blog, and I was very impressed. So since I really had no idea on what to write today I thought I'd steal..... I mean, emulate her wonderful idea.

Accent: Pure Okie (you should here my Latin with an Okie twang)
Booze: Used to be vodka and pineapple juice (it sounds grosser than it is) or marguarita on the rocks, now it is usually a shiraz (yellowtail) or gertztraminer (yeah , the spell check is going to love that one!)
Chore I Hate: Cleaning the bathroom. Kathy would add weeding. I love to design and install, hate maintainance.
Dog or Cat: Used to have both, and when my youngest was a child, snakes, frogs, spiders, and she tried to take a bat home from Alabaster Caverns. Now I don't have a pet. But Kathy claims cleaning up after me is almost as good as having a dog.
Essential Electronics: MP3 Player. Of course I guess I have to keep the computer to load it, and once I get a digital camera that will probably take over my life too.
Favorite Cologne(s): Melaleuca made one called Mate, but they stopped. When it runs out I'll have to find a new one.
Gold or Silver: My wedding ring is silver, but I try not to wear it where it can get messed up. The only other jewelry I wear on a semi-regular basis is a steel nail cross that my daughters gave me years and years ago.
Hometown: Born in Oklahoma city. Dad was in church work so we moved all over the southern US. The bad part of that is that anytime I'm around someone from somewhere else I unconsciously pick up their accent and they think I'm making fun of them.
Insomnia: Goes in cycles. Lately, yes.
Job Title: Landscape Designer/Student/Gardener.
Kids: Two sons, four daughters, four grandsons, four granddaughters.
Living arrangements: Wife.
Most admirable trait: Funny
Least admirable trait (added): Sarcasm
Number of sexual partners: Nobody's business!
Overnight hospital stays: One, almost thirty years ago. I hate hospitals!
Phobias: Ants, high places
Quote: Nature is a green mother!
Religion: Raised Southern Baptist, now more or less Bapticostal
Siblings: Older brother, older sister, we're all adopted, so I don't know if I have any blood kin out there or not.
Time I wake up: Around 6:30 am
Unusual talent or skill: I don't think I have any. Kathy claims I know a little bit about everything but not enough to be useful.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: Brussel sprouts. Let the baby cabbages grow up for goodness sakes!Worst habit: Procrastination. And forgetting what the heck I'm supposed to be doing, a side effect of the ADD. Making lists helps.
X-rays: Oh Lord, everything. I did martial arts when I was younger and stupider and have had so many x-rays I'm surprised my kids don't glow in the dark.
Yummy foods I make: People rave about my walnut pie.
Zodiac sign: I'm a non-believing aquarius.

Well, hope y'all learned something. Probably not.

Be good to your inner child this week. Buy him a balloon.

Wayne

Monday Again???

2006-05-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how this works. Why is it that every day I get up and it seems to be Monday again? Surely I'm not missing the rest of the week? What happened to Wednesday? Usually a nice slow day but I can't remember it! Oh well, Maybe I'll take notes next Wednesday so I can figure out what the heck happened.

Last Saturday was Maddox's (otherwise known as grandchild number 7) birthday. Thousands and thousands showed up to celebrate. Well, maybe it just seemed like that many. Jill came earlier in the week and cleaned the house (probably should have made her come after instead of before) and Jeff grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time he started so neither he nor the food drowned. Everybody ate and talked and had a wonderful time (at least I hope so) and Maddox made out like a bandit. They gave Maddox his own little cake and now their is chocolate icing on the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the dog.... Wait, we don't have a dog, where the heck did he come from? Never mind, hallucination from chocolate overdose. Susan and her husband were there and she suggested I might have pics on my blog. Sorry, no. What I probably should have done is confiscate everyone's cameras until I downloaded all the shots. But by the time I thought of that everybody was gone. The good news is that our daughter Laura is sending me a camera so from now on I won't have to complain that no one has sent me pics, I'll just have to complain that I went senile and forgot to take the camera somewhere. I probably won't have any more photos on the blog, I'll just have to come up with more inventive excuses as to why they aren't there.

Well, other than that I haven't had any excitement. It is kinda sad, ain't it? The only excitement I've had was a One-year-old's birthday party. Well, besides that I finished Susan's third article, so here it is:

Landscaping Design for Vintage Homes, Romantic Style
As a landscaper and gardener, I think all gardens are romantic, but there is a separate style called romantic. It is characterized by using plants and materials that engage all five senses and embraces privacy. It is by far my favorite style to design and install, but it is also the style that takes longest in time and money to really mature.
Sight: As in any garden the first sense that is drawn in is sight. Using colors and textures the palette is of pastels, blues, purples and greens. Red is used as an accent, not a principal, color and whites are used to blend the colors in a harmonious body.
Smell: Most gardens incorporate scents in gardens, (after all, what are roses for?) but the romantic garden brings scented plants to the forefront. Sweet flowers, leaves that release their scents when brushed against, herbs that are bruised underfoot, all are used in the romantic garden.
Sound: Birds singing, the fountain bubbling, the breeze whispering through the leaves. All are used to great effect in the romantic style.
Touch: Use soft foliage, tender petals, and allow seating close to the water to dip your fingers into.
Taste: Yes, taste! Fruit trees and bushes, edible flowers, honeysuckle (the only style I even suggest this in) sweet herbs that you can break off a leaf and chew. This style is the one to use both plantings and containers to incorporate all your favorite tastes.
Privacy: Outdoor walls, hedges and screens, these are the reason that the romantic garden takes so long to mature. Plant the shrubs tight and use annual vines to cover until the perennial vines and shrubs grow tall. Place a sitting area blocked on all sides from view, close to the water and surrounded with all your favorite scents.
Now just find someone to share your Eden with.

Have a good day, find someone and make their life an Eden.

Wayne

Friday at last!

2006-04-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good." ~ Cennini.

Just a few words while I'm taking a break from getting ready for tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow is the big one-year-old birthday party for grandson Maddox. Yes, Susan, He is really going to be one. Time flies I guess whether you're having fun or not. So tomorrow is the party. According to Jill, there will be more adults than kids. And do you really think babies care about birthday parties? I remember when the kids were small they were always ready for everyone to go home as soon as they dropped off the presents. Of course, my kids were always a little anti-social. Even now when the three of them get together they won't talk to anyone else. Or maybe they just won't talk to me. No, no, I've heard other people comment on it, so it isn't just my paranoia. Well, whether Maddox cares or not, I still get to see him and Ethan and Tasha, plus a bunch of kids I don't know yet but can spoil anyway. I tell ya, if I had known how great grandkids are I would have had them first! Play with 'em, hop 'em up on sugar and chocolate, let 'em watch all the cartoons they want and then when they are about to explode, send 'em home with mom and dad. It is sooooooo cool! Plus, Maddox is starting to walk so he can get into anything now. And Ethan has decided he likes me, well, as of last weekend he liked me, that might change this weekend.

Today is also Jill's birthday. She is (mumble snort cough mumble) years old. I don't know whether she cares if people know how old she is or not, but I ain't gonna be the one to tell.

Well, April is almost gone so here are the things to do for May off the gardening calendar.

May
Insect Alert:
* Bagworms on juniper and arborvitae. (Late May)
* Elm leaf beetles and larvae on elms and zelkova. (Late
May)
* Mimosa webworms on mimosa and honeylocust.
* Lace bugs on sycamore, pyrancantha, and azalea.
Pine needle disease treatments are needed in mid-May.
Cool-season lawns can be fertilized again. If you did not
fertilize cool-season grasses in March and April, do so
now.
Warm-season lawns may be fertilized again in May.
Seeding of warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass,
buffalograss, zoysiagrass, and centipedegrass is
best performed in mid-May through the end of June. Soil
temperatures are warm enough for germination and an
adequate growing season is present to promote winter
hardiness.
Dollar spot disease of lawns can first become visible in
mid-May. Make certain fertilizer applications have been
adequate before ever applying a fungicide.
Nutsedge plants become visible during this month. Postemergent
treatments are best applied for the first time this
month. Make certain warm-season grasses
have completed green-up.
The second application of pre-emergent annual grass
herbicides can be applied in late-May or early June
depending upon timing of first application. Check label for
details.
Vegetative establishment of warm-season grasses can
continue.
Annual bedding plants can be set out for summer color.
Soak new transplants and newly planted trees unless
rainfall is abundant.

Do something just for yourself today. My suggestion? Do something for someone else. It'll make you feel good and make them feel good. Who knows? You might even get a hug out of the deal!

Wayne

There is a reason.

2006-04-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I was complaining about the weather yesterday. Moaning that Oklahoma is incomprehensible. But then this morning Kathy reminded me that there is a reason for this weather phenomenon. A perfectly predictable reason that occurs every year and screws up our weather.... Today is the first day of the Art Festival! That's right, just like the first day of the state fair, the art festival brings with it cold and wind and rain and yuk! See, Oklahoma weather is completely predictable. Just ignore those tornadoes that whapped El Reno, I think those were just there to excite the weather guys with their new brands of radar. We went to Wal-Mart last night while the whole thing was going on and just before we went in they herded everyone to the back. When we went in the parking lot was full and there was a line at every register. By the time we got our stuff there were no lines and you could park about anywhere. So here is the new plan, whenever the tornado sirens go off, let's all meet at Wal-Mart. It is about the only time I've ever seen the joint empty.

I have discovered one of the differences between men and women. Last night Kathy and I were talking about Erin having her second birthday a few days ago and while we were both tearing up she was saying that if they still lived in California we could have gone to the party. And I was thinking how awful that would be! I hate kids birthday parties because there is so much stuff going on. I like having them on non-days. You know, you go and get the kid because it's Thursday. Something like that. Well, I guess I better get over hating kids birthdays because Maddox's first is coming up and the party is over here. Well, I'll pass that when I get to it. At least I get to see the kid!

I finished the second article for Susan's Historic Homes newsletter. This one is on informal styles and the third will be on the romantic style, my favorite! Here's the second article:
Landscaping Design for Vintage Homes, Informal Styles

Landscaping for historic and vintage homes can take several forms, but there are two broad classifications that should be selected from before you start to choose your landscape. These are formal and informal. These two classifications may be mixed but only with great care, otherwise the landscape looks messy instead of planned.
The cottage garden is usually thought of when informal styles are mentioned. There are two main types, English and American. The English style is characterized by little hardscaping using reclaimed materials. Arches built of tree trimmings and reclaimed stone paths. Plants are mostly ornamentals and left looking untrimmed. The American style is a mixture of ornamentals and food plants with a dense planting style that allows different species to intermingle.
Both American and English styles typically use plants from seed and cuttings from neighbors, this is after all how they started historically, and a mixture of perennials and annuals. There should be a strong sense of companionships in planting rather than beds of varieties. And colors are not only added by what looks good on the color wheel but also by strong splashes of vibrant colors for accent. The important part to remember is that while maintenance is low, it is by no means nonexistent. Although plants are allowed to intermingle, they are not allowed to run rampant. And allowing plants to self-seed does not mean allowing them to self-seed just anywhere. Lines are curved instead of straight and allow parts of the garden to be discovered. Plants are often natives or well behaved imports and usually of the older varieties. Use repetition of colors and varieties in the garden to not only please the eye but also settle the mind. But the most important rule in informal gardens is to allow yourself to break the rules. If you have a plant or an art object or a color that doesn't really succeed, use it anyway, please yourself.

Enjoy yourself today. Go to the art festival, or better yet, make your own art. Draw, paint, sing dance. Make art for yourself and for God.

Wayne

2006-04-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

It is Monday again and how often do these days come around anyway? Four or five times a week? We had Natasha and Ethan this weekend and once more I am struck with the wisdom of God. He makes sure that you get your kids early enough that you have almost enough strength to deal with them. When Abby and Dart dropped them off Saturday, D'Artagnon said, "I'm glad the boy is asleep, I might not be able to leave him." Abby immediately responded, "I could!" Apparently mommy was spending a little too much time with him. By the time they picked them up on Sunday afternoon, I was agreeing with Abby. Not that they were a lot of trouble, but you know, we've talked about the need for Sunday naps before, and those kids were seriously cutting into my nap time. Kathy had no problem. Ethan went down for a nap and Tasha was watching Blue's Clues (for the 400th time in 24 hours) and she told me it was my duty to stay up while she napped. Just because Ethan saved all the "surprise" diapers for her. Well, I have to admit it was kinda nice. Ethan decided he liked me (or he decided that I wasn't going to go away) and he let me play with him and feed him and change his clothes and diapers. Wait a minute, maybe he didn't like me after all, he just needed a slave! Oh, well. I expected cinnamon rolls for breakfast and was all ready for them and then Kathy informed me that Tasha only expected them for Saturday breakfast. Well, so what? I was expecting them for Sunday breakfast! Doesn't what I expect mean anything? Apparently not. We had cereal. We've never kept Tasha on Saturday night (and nobody had ever kept Ethan overnight before) so we ended up bailing on church. Mainly because I was chicken and tired and sore. The kids probably could have dealt with it. Ethan doesn't know me much better than he would know the nursery people and Tasha makes friends wherever she goes. But then I would have to take the kid to nursery and take the kid to children's church and how do I put up with that instead of playing with them?

Speaking of Tasha making friends wherever she goes. We went to the park behind the house yesterday morning and we were playing on the playground. Another family came in and Tasha introduced herself to Jasmine and they started playing like they had known each other for years. Of course, then in the middle of it all, Tasha had to use the restroom so she told Jasmine we'd be right back and she rushed back to the house with poor, old, tired Peepaw trailing behind. Then as we got back to the park, Jasmine and her family were leaving. Jasmine said she would be back another day, but Tasha was upset to see her go and cried. My heart was breaking and there was nothing I could say to make it alright. Sometimes children have to see friends leave, but why can't we soothe their hurts? And why can't we soothe each other's hurts? That is the homework I'm going to give you guys this week (since I'm not teaching Sunday School anymore I have to pass out the Homework to y'all instead of them) I want each of you to find one person that is hurting (How hard can it be to find one?) and help them with their pain. And remember what it took me years to learn (And I still forget) sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is just listen and agree that it is a problem, instead of giving your opinion of a fix. Ok, I'll admit that last part is directed to the guys out there. Somehow, women already know this stuff and guys only know they want to fix it. Usually with a bigger hammer.

Well, the weathermen are shouting gloom and doom again in central Oklahoma. Of course all the storms were in Kansas, but they might get here some time. It is supposed to cool off to unseasonably low temps here in OkC. Highs tomorrow in the 60's. How is that unseasonable? Oklahoma really doesn't have any established seasons. We have 90's in December. We have ice storms in October. What the heck are we supposed to expect? Oh well, if you have taken your tropical plants outside already be sure to water them well and put them in a protected place tonight and tomorrow night. It is supposed to dip below 50. Of course that means it will be 85 for a low both nights, or it will be 42 below zero for both nights, or one night hot and one night cold. I don't know, the only comfort I have is neither do the weathermen.

Give yourself a break today.

Wayne

A Retraction

2006-04-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Apparently when I said the other day that I could do simple addition and subtraction I was overstating my talents. Today is the 36th Anniversary of Earth Day, not the 26th. Hopefully I didn't confuse too many of the younger ones out there. And those of you that are my age, hey, at least we thought for a while that we were ten years younger than we are!

Wayne

Happy Earth Day

2006-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is the 26th anniversary of Earth Day. A lot of progress has been made but ever so much has been lost.

To celebrate Earth Day I moved dirt! For those of you who are purists, you will be happy to know that no fossil fuels were expended (other than those which were used to make the shovel and wheelbarrow) in my dirt moving project. The dirt came from two years ago when I built the patio for Jill's wedding and has been sitting hiding behind a fence and to day I moved dirt and leveled it out and tamped it and watered it down to cover the edge of the patio so we can have Maddox's birthday over here next weekend. Hopefully I can get all of it done and get rested up so I can enjoy the party! While I was moving dirt, Kathy was cleaning off the front porch. Man, the winter can add up some dirt and soot, can't it? She got it all cleaned up and then told me I had to clean the windows some time this week because "you get them so much cleaner than I can!" I am so being played! Well, luckily, cleaning the porch wore her out because moving dirt has worn me out, so we pretty much won't get anything else done today. Which is a good thing because Natasha and Ethan are coming over to spend the night with us. A little intimidating. Natasha is no trouble at all. She is almost 5 and is going on like 25. She gets herself ready for bed and helps with her little brother and as long as you promise her cinnamon rolls for breakfast in the morning she is an angel. Ethan, on the other hand, is a little high maintenance. He really likes to be held. This will be the first time we have ever had him all night. Luckily I am a heavy sleeper, so it is pretty much up to Kathy to take care of him in the middle of the night. Which is ok, because he likes her better anyway! Rotten kid!

Susan has suggested that I post pictures of my yard because there is so much in bloom. Great idea but you'll have to bring over your camera because I am still in the Middle Ages (that's middle ages not middle aged) and still don't have a digital camera. But if Susan or one of my kids will bring over a camera I will be happy to post some. Though there isn't really that much in bloom. We have a couple of irises, dark purple, that are out. About three weeks early. And the peonies are blooming, the whites seem to have taken over the pinks. I will probably have to dig them out this fall and split them and add some reds and pinks. The May Night salvia is beautiful. It doesn't seem to spread very much. This is the third year and it is still pretty small and staying where it was put. Amazingly well-behaved for salvia. The false dragon's head on the other hand is about to take over.... AGAIN! If anybody has a few acres of slope that you want to cover up with a herbacious perennial, let me know. This stuff will cover in about two years. A while ago I gave some to a lady at my church, after telling her that it was invasive, she still yells at me. Apparently I didn't stress enough how invasive it was. Think bamboo, only short and with an attitude. There's not really anything else in bloom. The weigelia has finished blooming, it is almost completely spent. Doesn't seem to have taken very long this year for them to blow. The hardy hibiscus is about 6-12 inches out of the soil. Everything is proving that God has brought us Spring again, even if it does feel like Summer.

Be good to yourselves. This is the time of year to let your inner child out and let 'em run barefoot. But make 'em watch out for stickers!

Wayne

Busier than a One-armed Paperhanger.

2006-04-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

To those of you who have wondered if something was wrong and e-mailed, called, sent out esp messages and generally worried and/or threatened me, nothing has been wrong, I've just been busier than a one-armed paperhanger. What does that mean, anyway? How could someone with one arm hang wallpaper? Heck, I have two arms and still can't hang wallpaper. I think maybe if they grafted two more arms on I could hang wallpaper. No probably not, I think it is more of an eye-hand coordination thing. Basically I'm a klutz.

Anyway, I've been very busy, though if you asked me what I had gotten accomplished I'm not sure I could tell you. It seems like everything I need to get done has to have twenty things done to prepare for it. I start out with good intentions but we all know how those go.

One of the things I haven't gotten accomplished. Kathy and I went to Hobby Lobby the other day. She doesn't allow me to go in by myself. They had presentation cases on sale. Of course, they were on sale for 1/3 off and every week you can get a coupon for 40% off on anything not on sale, but anyway, We went back to look at them because I have been hauling my designs around in a mailing tube to interviews. Keeps them protected, but doesn't look very professional. So, being used to work in 24x36 format, I started out looking for 24x36 cases. They don't have those. They have portfolios, but then you have to tie the pieces of paper down and they get all wrinkled and look nasty. So I kept looking and the largest they had was 14x17. Ok, so almost everybody works in quarter sheets any way. And although I would have to redo all my designs to get them to quarter sheets, I can do that. They'll look more professional and keep better protected and everything. Then I started doing some simple math (yes, I almost flunked out of algebra, but I can do subtracting and dividing... Well, I can if I take off my shoes and socks) a quarter sheet isn't 14x17. A quarter sheet is 12x18! Nobody even carries vellum in 14x17, or even 11x17 (the ISO standard quarter sheet). Everybody carries vellum in 12x18. I can get all I want at Michaels, Hobby Lobby or Triangle A&E. But if I want 14x17 or 11x17 I have to go to Triangle A&E and buy half sheets (at almost twice the price of quarter sheets) and have them cut down (yep, that's another charge). Anyway, my plan now is to call Triangle A&E and find out if they have presentation cases in 12x18. I would have asked them when I called about the paper but I got sidetracked by learning that they would charge by the sheet to cut the things down! Don't they have one of those big guillotine looking cutters that can cut ten or fifteen sheets at a time? Why would they have a cut charge for every sheet? Because like the rest of the world they are out to get me. Remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out after you.

So, rather than get anything done, I have been dithering around worrying about paper sizes. Last night in class we were talking about plotting our designs and Tom the instructor asked me what I usually worked in. But talk about too much information! I think he tuned me out about a third of the way through the rant. Of course, some of you tuned me out a lot sooner than that.

Well, I have to go pick Kathy up from work. She is working downtown now. I hate downtown. I hate traffic. I hate cars. I'm gonna get a horse!

Take care of yourselves.

Wayne

Happy Śmigus-dyngus (Wet Monday)

2006-04-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

It is the day after Easter and I think we need to remember the message of Resurrection Sunday throughout the year. It is easy to get sidetracked and go all secular, even for those in the clergy when we come off the high of the celebration and end up in the day to day business of running our lives. Make your prayer today and every day for Jesus to remind you of what he did for you.

Well, today is Smigus-dyndus if you are Polish or Chech or Slovack. What is Wet Monday, you may ask? You weren't going to ask? You don't really care? Well, when has that stopped me before? Smigus-dyngus is the day that all the boys and girls in Poland run around throwing water on each other and giving each other elaborately decorated eggs. It started out that the unmarried boys would sneak into an unmarried girls bedroom that he fancied and douse her with several buckets of water (actually, it started out as sprinkling her with holy water, but where's the fun in that?), this happens, of course, with the full cooperation of the girls mother, who is after all, trying to get the girl married off anyway. As a matter of fact, any girl who didn't get drenched several times during the day was considered beznadziejna or hopeless. Actually, that is just the dyngus part. The smigus (or "whoosh") is the act of whipping the girls legs (I'm assuming lightly) with willow or birch branches. Ok, I never said that the tradition made all that much sense. Apparently, it all has something to do with fertility and the church incorporated the pagan rites to make Christianity more palatable to the populace. I guess no one ever asked the girls what they thought or maybe the boys would be the ones getting whipped. No, considering how blood-thirsty some women can be you'd end up with a bunch of crippled boys and how are they going to work in the fields?

Ok, now that you've had more information on Polish fertility rites than you ever wanted. I just want everyone to remember to send in your Income Tax forms (yes, I know I'm a little late, but if you read this within a few minutes after I post this then you'll have time. Hey, if you haven't finished your taxes yet, what the heck are you reading this for? Get busy!) Tonight at midnight is the deadline. And here is my free tax advice for the season, if you are sending in an extension and you owe taxes, they will hit you with a penalty if you don't go ahead and send in as much as you owe. And is you are getting a big refund, shame on you, don't let the government play with your money all year for free! Change your records at work so you get a small refund or owe the IRS a small amount. That way you get to play with your money all year and they only get what you owe them. And we do owe them, you know. Not any more than you owe, but what you owe. TANSTAAFL!

After you pray for Jesus to show you what he's done for you, pray for a friend, a neighbor, and enemy. That's our job, you know. And if you can't think of anybody else to pray for, what the heck, pray for me, I can use all the help I can get!

Love yourself and someone else today.

Wayne

He is risen indeed!

2006-04-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everybody. It has been a beautiful day. I got up to a glorious morning, sun shining, birds singing, Kathy and Keith grumbling (Keith isn't really a morning person). All three of us went to church at Our Lord's (it was a wonderful service, Pastor Robert gave an almost normal sermon {I was disappointed actually, usually he has some of the most skewed outlooks that shows me something I've never seen before} the music was fantastic, there was a dancer {I love holy dance, and it is something I haven't seen enough of growing up in the Baptist church} and the people are so warm and loving). The only problem with Our Lord's is that God hasn't made it clear that that is where he wants us. From the very first Sunday we went to Trinity we felt the peace of knowing that is where we belonged. We fought against it a while, after all, no one really wants to go to a small, inner-city, struggling, not enough workers, and let's face it, slightly weird church. But we knew that was where we were supposed to be at that time. Now even though we love Our Lord's and Council Road we just don't feel that either one of them are the place. Yes I know, the walk isn't about feeling, but our feelings are one of the ways that God tells us where we belong. Oh well, He has a place for us and he will show us that place. One of the problems that I have is that God spoiled me for most churches. Billy Graham (I think it was Billy Graham) once said that the most segregated hour in the United States was Sunday from 11:00 to 12:00. At Trinity there were anglos, latinos, African-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Laotian-Americans, people from Ghana, people from Kenya, people from Ethiopia, people from Russia, Estonia, Belarus, all together, all loving God, all loving each other. You just don't get that too many places. A lot of places we've visited, I look around and it is so WHITE. I'm just not that comfortable with anglos anymore.

After church we went over to Jill and Jeff's, oh let's face it, we over to Maddox's house. The only thing Jill and Jeff are there for is to pay the bills and keep the kid fed. Jill made a wonderful dinner, ok, maybe not so traditional, it was lasagne and salad with chocolate silk pie for dessert, it was delicious! Then we watched Maddox and Sammie (the daughter of an old friend of Jill's) hunt Easter eggs, and then we sat and played and talked until it was time to take Keith to the airport. We dropped Keith off at the airport, it is harder and easier at the same time isn't it? We used to take family to the airport and go in with them and wait and cry and follow them back to the gate and watch them walk down the jetway. Now you drop them off at the front door. There isn't any reason to go in, you can't go past the front room anyway, the airlines want you to drop the luggage outside so they can go over all of it out there. Security would just as soon you not even be on the property. MAN, with my rampant paranoia, airports aren't really the place for me at all.

So we got home after dropping Keith and we pretty much passed out for our Sunday nap. I don't know what it is. Emily talked about it a while ago, on Sunday you pretty much have to take a nap. Monday through Saturday, unless I haven't gotten to sleep or worked myself to death or the kids are here and wear me out, I don't need a nap. I usually can't even take a nap without feeling awful, but Sunday afternoon comes and if I don't lay down for a nap, I fall down and take a nap anyway.

Well, that was our Easter. And the theme I hear over and over is, "The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!" God bless each of us and may he remind us that of all the gifts he gives us, the greatest gift was his Son.

Wayne

The kid's asleep.

2006-04-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

It is 8:30 and Maddox has passed out on me. It was fairly easy. First I play with him til he's exhausted, then I keep him up past his bedtime, then I give him a bottle while I hold him and we watch baby mozart and I don't let him get down and by the time baby mozart is over he is willing to climb the stairs and put himself to bed! Any way.

They all went to the Hornets game about 6:00. My other daughter's Alison and Abby and of course Ethan came over before they left and stayed about 30 or 45 minutes after before they had to leave. So Maddox and I only really got about 2 hours by ourselves. Grandkids are much easier. Especially when they are babies. They think you are wonderful because you spoil them rotten, you can give them anything, because after all, what are your kids going to do for baby sitting? And then when you are exhausted and can't take them any more, you call the mom and say, "I think he might be running a low fever." And every speed limit between their house and yours is broken. Warning, this only works on first kids and sometimes second kids. By the time your kids have three of their own, they don't care if the kid has typhoid, you said you're take care of them and they aren't coming over til either you or the kid are dead!

Oh well, I had a wonderful time. For a little while I had both boys here and could watch them interact and then I had Maddox and we played and cuddled all night.

Thank you God for my grandchildren. And thank you for keeping me from killing their parents long enough to have them.

Tell someone that you love them. Better yet, show them.

Wayne

2006-04-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all, it is Good Friday and waiting breathlessly for Easter. Kathy took the day off, our son Keith flew in last night from St Louis and we are spending the day with him and our daughter Jill and son-in-law Jeff and of course Maddox! But Maddox is taking a nap so who really cares about the rest of them? Everybody but me is going off tonight to the basketball game and I get to take care of Maddox. I think we're going to the pha house tonight for supper (Maddox and I) the boy loves the noodles! And of course, Papi will do anything to make him happy, no, really, it has nothing to do with the fact that I love the pha shops and Kathy won't go with me, I'm doing it for the kid, honest!

Class last night was interesting. We finally moved on from widgets and started working on blocks. Blocks are what makes cadd so great. You draw something once and save it as a block and it is always ready for you to put into any drawing. Ok, maybe I'm too interested in this stuff (Kathy thinks so) but to me this stuff is so cool. Of course it takes me forever to draw a design (just ask Susan), I usually have the design in my head and then it takes me so much time to put it on paper! Of course, part of the problem is that I have to spend twenty minutes getting everything ready to draw and by the time I'm ready, I'm out of the mood. ADD raises it's..........

I'm back. Actually it wasn't ADD this time. It was the air conditioner. Kathy and Jill wanted it on so I had to run up to Home Depot to get some filters. Change of plans. Maddox and I don't get to go to the pha shop. Kathy called for a pizza because Jeff went back to Mustang to pick up someone that is going to the game with them so they aren't going out to eat. They will sometime leave us alone, maybe, Jill keeps telling me my options, apparently three kids wasn't enough training. When Ryan was born, Laura was making her mother nuts. She would read something in the books or someone would tell her something and she would take it as gospel and then her mother would yell, "We told you that a month ago!" The second kid mellows them, doesn't it?

Well, they all left me and Maddox wants the keyboard so I'm going to cut this off.

God bless you all, Wayne

Seder tonight and Easter almost here.

2006-04-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I was looking over my last post, I don't usually reread things (if I make a goof, I make a goof), but I got comments and a couple of e-mails and dang it was a downer! I didn't quite make it to suicidal, but it didn't seem far off. Well, blame it on the housecleaning. Dusting always depresses me ever since I saw that commercial with the magnified dust mites. Those things give me the creeps.

Well, I took Kathy to the doctor yesterday and he says that it is the arthritis in her knee aggravated by walking on the treadmill. A shot of cortisone and by yesterday evening she was walking much better. He told her to lay off the treadmill and go to water aerobics or something less impacting on her knees. So now I have to walk on the treadmill so it doesn't go to waste. It's either that or haul the thing upstairs to use it as a clothesrack, and I'm not carrying that sucker up the stairs! Thank you for all who were thinking and praying for her.

I had CADD class last night. Some times I think we make the poor instructor's head hurt. There are eight people in the class (started with twelve) including one girl that comes about every other time and a guy that has missed two classes for hockey games. We've been drawing widgets (small instruments or tools with lots of angles and surfaces that don't really do anything but make you draw them to scale) and it seems to be taking longer than the instructor thought it would. He keeps saying that next class period we're going to move on, but the next class period comes and we're back on our widgets. Personally, I'm getting a little tired of them, I've drawn three so far and since I just want to use it for landscape design, I don't need to worry a lot about angles and planes anyway. Well, sooner or later we'll get to something else and then I'll complain about that.

Tonight Kathy and I are going with Jim and Susan to Seder dinner at Our Lord's Community church. I haven't been to a Seder in years but it still amazes me the way God can use something as wonderful as a family meal to explain about the coming Christ. I would also say that it amazes me that the Israelites couldn't understand the parallels between Seder and Jesus, but since I have been so hard headed on my walk, I'm not going to jeer at anyone else. Some other friends of ours have semi-invited us to Seder at Council Road Baptist for Friday night but I don't know if we'll go to that or not. First of all, two Seders in one year seems a little strange, and a Baptist Seder seems even stranger. After all, I grew up in a church where the Youth Minister was asked to leave because he would have communion every time he had any of the kids over for a meal or party. Something about it would take away the specialness for us, after all, we don't want kids thinking that Jesus was a party animal, now do we? You have to remember that the Baptists are the ones who have been trying to convince people for years that the wine in Jesus' first miracle was really just grape juice. And that women aren't allowed to do anything in the church because of one verse of Paul's, of course, that goes out the window if they can't get anything done. And now most Baptist churches are allowing divorced me to be deacons because they can't get enough undivorced men to serve, if they can find any undivorced men at all. I thought I said I wasn't going to rag on anybody else's conceptions of the Bible, there goes another resolution.

After Seder comes Easter. This Sunday is Easter and we haven't decided where to go to church. I really hate going to Easter service when I don't have a home church. You never know what to expect and you can't really use that to decide if that is the right church for you because Easter is usually nothing like the regular services. Maybe we should try Emily's church, after all, any church where they can get the priest to climb on a donkey can't be all bad! In her blog Emily titled it "Other tasks as assigned." I think my dad could have related to that. It always amazed me that the church could come up with so many things that weren't in his job description that he had to do just so they'd get done. But I don't think I ever remember him riding a donkey on Palm Sunday, Leading one in the Christmas pageant, yes, but not riding it.

My goal when we do find a church (and it still depresses me on how long it takes) is to not teach a Sunday School class or serve on a council or committee for at least a year. I think the only way I can do that is to tell them they'll have to ask Kathy. Nah, she'll probably wimp out on me and say yes. I'll have to come up with another way. My friend Pastor Mark (Trinity International Baptist {the most un-Baptist Baptist church ever}) gave me a long list of stuff to think and pray about before we settled on a church. At the top of the list was find a church that isn't struggling financially. That lets out about all the inner city churches. Another friend of mine said not to choose a church socially. I agree that socialablity shouldn't be first on the list, but that is where I want to choose my friends from. After all, you become the people you hang out with (something I denied vehemently when I was young) so I want to hang out with holy, Godly people. Makes sense to me anyway.

By the way, for all you birders out there (if there are any) I have a couple of ID questions for you. As someone who can barely tell a cardinal from a blue jay, there are a couple of birds that have been hanging around my front yard. One is a little smaller than a jay and is mainly grayish-brown with white bars on his wings and two white bars from the base to the end of his tail, the other in very small, barely bigger than a hummingbird, that is gray with the most amazing reddish-pink throat and face, What the heck are these birds. Inquiring minds want to know. Speaking of hummers, for the last three years we have had the ugliest creature in the world sipping from our hardy hibiscus. It is cream colored with black bars all over. I swear the first time I saw it I thought it was a cottonwood borer! It was a little late last year and I actually missed it. But then it showed up and I couldn't believe I was waiting so anxiously for something so ugly. I am always amazed at God's creation, but never more so than in the Spring.

Take time to thank God for something today. If nothing else, He let you breathe.

God bless,

Wayne

Constant friends are better!

2006-04-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I spent most of the day cleaning up the house (yes, we're already discussed the fact that I'm slow) because we had some old friends that we haven't seen for years coming over for dinner. We used to go to church with this couple when we went to PCBC, and when we moved to Trinity we kind of lost touch and then they moved to Tulsa for a while and now they're back and we saw them a couple of weeks ago when we visited Council Road. So last week Kathy wanted me to invite them over for supper and then he didn't get back to me for a couple of days and I figured that they didn't really want to get together and then he called and invited us for supper and then Kathy explained we were going to have them for supper since they had never been to our house and I told her you never argue when someone is going to feed you a free meal but they were going to come over here and so I had to clean and then Kathy (who has been having some trouble with her knee) moved wrong or something and anyway, she hurts too much and so I had to call and cancel but at least I got the house clean, which I'm wondering if that wasn't Kathy's plan all along. Whatever, I've decided I like constant friends better. Susan and Jim have been over to our house so many times that Kathy doesn't worry about the place being spotless. Susan knows how hard Kathy works and knows how worthless I am around the house, and let's face it, Jim's a guy and unless the mold is crawling up his leg on the couch he probably wouldn't notice whether the house is clean or not. Actually, as long as Susan has a flat spot to sit and knit, she probably wouldn't notice either. So my question is, why do we do this to ourselves? Do we really care about these people's opinion? If someone is more worried about how clean your house is (let me stress here that our house isn't like a toxic waste dump or anything. After all, the grandkids are crawling all around the place so Kathy makes me sweep and mop fairly regularly) than spending time with you, do you really want to hang out with them anyway? And if they aren't that worried about how clean everything is, why the heck did I spend all day cleaning?

Do you ever wonder what makes a friend anyway? I saw a guy in 7-11 the other day over by my mom's house. He kinda looked familiar to me and he said I looked familiar, but we couldn't figure out from where. Nobody's name sounded right and he didn't go where I went to church or school, and let's face it, if I don't know you from church or school I probably don't know you because I don't really go anywhere else (kinda sad, that). Anyway, between that and canceling today, it just got me thinking about old friends. I don't really have any old friends. Not people I've hung out with all my life or anything. Most of the friends I've had just kind of fell off the radar, you know what I mean? I lot of my friends that I had in my twenties were friends of me and my ex-wife, so during the divorce they felt like they had to take sides and weren't really willing to. Or they were her family, (one of my best friends ever was my ex-father-in-law, he really didn't know how to handle the divorce) and kinda had to take her side. Then in my thirties most of my friends (and I really use that term loosely) were somehow affiliated with whoever I was dating at the time. So when I broke up with Ms. X (usually because whoever she was marrying didn't see why I was hanging around) they kinda fell by the wayside. Whenever you make friends at church, well, maybe I should say whenever I make friends at church, if you change churches they kind of fade away. That's probably my fault, but it always seems to happen. The people I go to school with, I don't really socialize with because, after all, most of them are my children's age and I don't socialize with my kids that much either. They're only there to deliver the grandkids anyway. Kathy says that the reason I don't have many friends si because I tend to hold people at a distance, and that's true. But sometimes I think that people want to be held at a distance. Several years ago I went to Promise Keepers with a large group of men and when Kathy asked about them I could tell her about their whole lives (except what they didn't want people to know, I don't tell secrets) but they didn't know anything about me. I'm a great listener and a great talker. Not so good on the sharing part though. The guy that probably knows the most in the world about me, we only talk about once a year. He lives maybe 5 miles from me and we love each other, we just don't spend much time together. My brother probably can't remember my wife's name (his wife's name is Linda, but that's kinda cheating. After his first wife Kay, every woman he's been involved with is named Linda, he claim it keeps him out of trouble) and my sister probably doesn't want to remember my name. I have plenty of cousins, but they're all kinda weird and they think the same thing about me.

Oh well, getting back to constant friends. Mainly because I was starting to depress myself. Constant friends are better. Susan and Jim and Kathy and I eat together on all the weird holidays. Ok, sure, they had thanksgiving with us but that was really a fluke. We're more the Flag Day celebration types. Besides there are more weird holidays, so we get to eat together more. After all, Christmas and Thanksgiving are just two days and they're jammed together anyway. When you get together on Flag Day and Arbor Day and St Patricks Day and times like those, you get together a lot more times. My other friend Jim can fix anything. So I call him fairly often for dinner or just to hang out, that way he doesn't feel like I'm only calling him when I need something fixed. Not that that would matter. He would drop whatever he was doing and come help me fix whatever it was anyway. My friend Alice sends me e-mails and e-cards and pictures of her kids and grandkids even when I sometimes get behind and forget to respond to her. She just keeps plugging away at me, and there are times when the e-card she sends keeps me from sliding into a black hole. My son-in-law D'Artagnon is willing to do anything for me. He has helped me cut down trees and pull up stumps and build a deck and even was willing to climb in the crawl space and fix a broken pipe, although he couldn't fit in the crawl space and had never soldered a pipe before (Jim to the rescue again, not only can he solder, he's so skinny, he could fit in the crawl space with room to spare.) My son-in-law Jeff has helped me so many times it is amazing. He even helped me build the flagstone patio before he was my son-in-law. But it was for their wedding reception.

You know, I do have friends. Thank you Lord, for the consistency of my friends even when I am inconsistent.

Treat yourself and your friends well today.

Wayne

A clarification (for Susan)

2006-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, when I said that the golden jubilee hyssop was a yellow plant with chartreuse foliage I did not mean that it was somehow a coward or even less manly than other types of hyssop. Being basically a guy I see all chartreuse plants as yellowish. So I just meant I don't particularly like chartreuse plants, that's all. Actually, I have a confession. I know all the colors, but when you throw around words like chartreuse and puce, people look at you funny. And they already look at me funny because I play with plants for a living.

Be good to yourself,

Wayne

2006-04-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. It's a beautiful day for a neighbor (come on, come on, sing along with me). Ok, enough silliness. Oh, who am I kidding, it can go on for a lot longer than that.

Well, I went out to lunch with my mom and my daughter Jill, with of course, Maddox. I went along because Jill doesn't think she can handle mom and Maddox at the same time. And we went cause mom wanted to take Jill out for her birthday. Yes I know, Jill's birthday is at the end of the month, but mom has got it in her head that it is the first of the month and since she gives cash for presents, Jill just lets her think that. Of course, if it were me I'd take the early present and then remind her later that my birthday was coming up and she if she would forget and give me more. Well, Jill's nicer than me. After lunch we went to Lowe's and found the swing mom wanted. Jill had her truck so it was easy to get the thing home. Of course, mom was shopping for kids shoes all morning (well, as early as my sister can make it anyway) and then we went to Lowe's and Sunday and Monday and Tuesday she was shopping all day, and she refuses to take her wheelchair because it's embarrassing, so she's having trouble with her balance, which embarrasses her, but I guess not as much as the wheelchair, AAAARRRRGGGGG. I think kids were easier, especially when my kids were small and you could beat them in public.

Well, anyway, when we got the swing to mom's house and I got it unloaded, then I was going to put it together (well, after Jill and Maddox left, Gotta have my Maddox time) but mom didn't want it put together today because it might rain so I can't hang it up and it will get wet if it rains even under the patio cover and if I put it in the garage it will be hard to get out and I don't know what the heck we're going to do with the thing whenever we do hang it. I guess we'll be babying the thing forever.

I was going to talk about the Oklahoma Proven plants for 2006, with pictures and everything but the pics I've been able to get are tiff documents (who knew tiff came in documents, I thought it was just grass) and apparently Blogger doesn't like tiffs. So I'll just write about them and give you the website so you can look at the pics if you want to.

First off let me tell you a little about the Oklahoma Proven label. There are several places in Oklahoma (OSU/OKC among them) that take new plants and plant them and pretty much take minimal care of them, OSU/OKC has students taking care of theirs, for heaven's sake. If the plants not only;y survive but thrive, they get the Oklahoma Proven label. These are some tough, beautiful plants. The first is the Prairiefire crabapple. Crabapples are beautiful but they have a lot of disease and pest problems, not to mention Oklahoma heat knocked some of the older varieties for a loop. Prairiefire is supposed to have solved all those problems. It is a beautiful small tree and when in bloom will take your breath away. Diabolo ninebark is the shrub selection for this year. Ninebark has always been a tough shrub but diabolo is also beautiful. Dark foliage, white flowers and red fruit in the fall, makes a really distinctive planting. The perennial choice for this year, is the golden jubilee hyssop. I've always loved anise hyssop. The foliage has a great scent (hence the common name 'anise' hyssop). It takes heat and is rarely seriously damaged by Oklahoma winters. The selling point for the golden jubilee is the chartreuse foliage. And not being a big fan of yellow plants, I'm not going to say any more. The annual choice is wishbone flowers of the Summer Wave series. As far as annuals go, several years ago they came out with wave petunias and they come in more than just blue shades. Ok, so I don't think ALL the Oklahoma Provens are great. I promise you, there is someone out there that will call me a liar and say these are the best crop of OP's ever released. The good thing about OP's is that they are tested and proven in Oklahoma and will stand up to our Summers. No small feat when you consider how weird this place is. Ok, the Oklahoma Proven website where you can find this year's choices as well as past years with pictures and more information go to http://okplanttrees.okstate.edu/images/2006press.pdf.

Shelly wanted to know what color the caladiums were and I realized I didn't give a whole lot of info in the last post. The caladiums are green with red centers and according to the picture is wonderful. Of course Shelly doesn't think that Susan would run me over either. Well, maybe not, but she would have to think about it long and hard, I tease her a lot you know.

We got the tropicals out on the front porch last Saturday. A little early, but once Kathy gets tired of them it is time for them to move! I like it because you can sit out on the porch and feel like you're in a jungle. We will probably end up getting a few more. Every year I tell myself that we don't need any more, and every year we find some we just can't do without. No, that isn't a royal we, Kathy is as bad as I am.

Well, speaking of the front porch, I think I'm going to go sit on it and watch the people walk by.

Find someone today that you can honestly tell them you love them, and then don't forget to tell them!

Wayne

Monday Again?

2006-04-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that the weeks keep rolling by. How do you get these things to slow down. I don't want them to stop, but it would be nice to get last weeks stuff done before this week starts.

You know what? Shopping for other people is more expensive than shopping for myself! I had to look for a porch swing for my mother last week, she wants it before Easter, of course. So while I was out trying to find out what was out there, Kathy hunted me down at Lowes. We just happened to stop by the plants to see if they had anything to put in the concrete planter (in the sun, and I forget to water the thing half the time, so it has to be tough). We didn't find anything for the planter, but lo and behold, we found a red-twig dogwood that Kathy has been wanting forever, and a pink pussywillow. So we hauled those home and I was finding places to put them on Saturday morning. It is a good thing I hate grass. Our yard in miniscule, but our flower beds take up a lot of room. Ok, so far this year we have planted two black lace elderberries and a red-twig and a pussywillow and my friend brought over some datura (can't waste free plants!) so I had to find a place for those, and for Father's day last year my daughter gave me a bunch of seeds from Hawaii (thank goodness my kids have figured out I don't wear ties, now if I could just get my mother to admit it) so I have to put those in pots before it gets too much later. And when Kathy and I went to Sam's yesterday, we picked up a box of 60 caladiums. Where the heck am I going to put 60 caladiums? There isn't that much shade in the entire state of Oklahoma! Oh, well, I'll figure out something.

Shelly reminded me that plants are not the only unfriendly aliens that we have imported to the States. Think med fly, fire ants, that carp that is eating everything in the Great Lakes, and who could forget killer bees! I do tend to get tunnel vision on plants. Occupational hazard. But let's face it, we tend to act without thinking of all the ramifications. I don't have any advice on the regular screw-ups in your lives, the Lord knows I've made too many myself to try to figure out anybody else's, but as far as plants are concerned, do a little bit of research before you plant something that is going to bite you.

My oldest daughter came up from Ft.Worth so Kathy could help her with her taxes. She got here about eleven and left about eleven Saturday night. Of course she left right after our power got knocked out. Why is it my children always desert me when the lights are out? Good thing I'm not afraid of the dark any more.

Yes, when the storm came through Saturday night we were one of those houses without power. It was out for about 6 hours. Of course, we still managed to get up in time for church, time change and all. But then when I asked Kathy where she wanted to go she told me the zoo. Naturally while she was taking a shower, I put on shorts and was rarin' to go. Then she couldn't figure out why I was in shorts because she was just funnin'. Needless to say, I still haven't gotten to go to the zoo. Anyway, we went to Our Lord's again. We really like the pastor there. He looks at things just slightly skewed. For instance, his text was the first chapter of John's gospel on Sunday, and he mentioned that the LDS and JWs added an "a" in the verse about Jesus being God. I knew that the a had been added but never really thought about why John left out any explanations to that statement. We are still hunting for where God wants us to be, but I think Our Lord's in definitely in the running. We saw Susan and Jim leaving the church and tried to catch up with them, man, Susan can really move when it's time for lunch! Anyway, we finally caught up with them in the parking lot (of course, Kathy had to stand in the roadway and flag them down, if it had been me standing in the roadway, Susan would have been yelling "faster, faster", but I don't think Jim would have run me down) and were able to have lunch with them and spend a little time talking. Susan is looking a lot better and Jim is much more relaxed. You can check Susan's blog for an update on her health. I can tell you, she looks great, except for still a slight resemblance to Chip and Dale.

Well, I'm going to close this thing out for now and try to figure out what the heck to do with all those caladiums. Be good to yourself today, give your inner child a cookie, and if you have any to spare, give my inner child one too.

God bless,
Wayne

Mother Nature is Mad!

2006-03-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, today I decided a rant was in order. I haven't had a good spleen venting in years, ok, since yesterday. What am I so upset about? People who aren't thinking about what they are doing to the environment! I'm not going to complain about the everyday homeowner (who by the way uses an average of 25 times the fertilizer used on the most successful farms. Face it people, if the bag says covers 5000 sq ft, don't put it all on a 1000 sq ft yard.) No, today I'm going to rant about those of us who should know better.

A few years ago there was a movie called the Orchid Thief. People thought it was a great movie but they thought that the author was exaggerating when he wrote the scene about the orchid hunter burning off several thousand acres of wetlands so no one else could find the rare orchid that he had discovered. It really happens! Most of the North American wild flowers that are on the endangered species list (yes, they have one for plants too) were harvested in the wild because they are hard to grow from seed, or someone found one that no one had ever seen before, or it is just easier to dig up a mature plant and get it to market than to take the trouble to cultivate it. Several varieties of trillium, woads, toad lilies, and native sumacs are completely lost because of harvesters that steal from the wild. No big deal, right? These are plants that your children will never see because they are no longer around. These are plants that species of butterflies, newts, frogs and beetles depend on and these species may not be able to make the switch to another food plant. The ripple effect can be much farther reaching than we can even imagine. There are cacti from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts that have been completely wiped out because they don't handle cultivation well. If you take them from their native habitats they die plain and simple.

Ok, so maybe you don't know anybody that harvests plants from the wild. Have you ever met anybody that had water lilies in their garden pond and when they threw them out they just pitched 'em out in a bar ditch somewhere? There is a group of plants that are being known as "noxious aliens". Several water plant species are on this list, there are some garden plants that have escaped the confines of home gardens that have made it, there are even some plants that were imported by our "benevolent" government that have kinda slipped their leash. No big deal, Right? Well, ask the state governments of Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana how much they are enjoying the kudzu. The last figures I heard, each of those states are spending several billions of dollars per year, each and every year, to try and eliminate kudzu. The joke going around the chemical industry is that if you can find a cure for kudzu, several governors will give you their daughters in marriage and make polygamy legal in their state just for you!

There are several "holy grail" plants that are being searched for. Some are being searched for in the wild, some are being crossbred for in the greenhouses. The greenhouses are our best hope. Please, please, if you see a beautiful flower or plant by the side of the road, don't dig it up, take a picture and take it to your local garden center or state extension office and see if it is in cultivation. If you know anybody who harvests for the trade or even for their own gardens, explain to them what they are doing and then turn them in if you have to. Even if you don't stop my next rant (let's face it, I'm fickle, I'll be on something else by tomorrow) you might at least save something for your grandchildren to see.

Please be good to yourself today. And give someone else a smile. Even if you don't make them smile, at least they'll be worried about what you have planned.

God bless you all,

Wayne

Landscaping Design for Vintage Homes, Formal Styles

2006-03-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

This is an article that I wrote for Susan's Vintage Homes newsletter. I haven't gotten any feedback from her so I don't know if this is going to be fairly heavily edited or go out as written.

Landscaping Design for Vintage Homes, Formal Styles

Landscaping for historic and vintage homes can take several forms, but there are two broad classifications that should be selected from before you start to choose your landscape. These are formal and informal. These two classifications may be mixed but only with great care, otherwise the landscape looks messy instead of planned.
Part of the decision between formal and informal can be made on the style of your home. Georgian and Federalist style homes look natural with a formal landscape style.
After you decide on formal or informal, then you can choose on what style of landscaping that you want. The most used formal styles are French, Italianate or Mediterranean. All the formal styles are known for long axial views with a symmetrical layout using straight lines and severe angles. Formal water features and evergreen hedges are also hallmarks for these styles. Box or yew hedges are slow growing and can be kept clipped in the formal styles easily. Focal points are usually formal urns or statuary. The formal styles convey power and control over nature.
In French gardens the only freedom of expression is usually a water feature and even it is kept fairly under control. Roses are kept in discrete beds and are kept clipped and under control. Knot gardens were invented in French gardens and are still used today. Very tight, intricate patterns are fundamental for French knot gardens.
In Italianate gardens, framing is the rule. Long straight walks with tall columnar cypress lining the paths. Italianate gardens are where statuary comes into its own. Formal statuary, especially those which invoke the history of Italy and Rome. Gods and goddesses, heroes and beasts are all used as focal points in Italianate gardens.
Mediterranean gardens are the least formal of the formal styles. Using sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants these can also be the most successful for Oklahoma. Incorporate a lot of sand and fine gravel in the beds to help drainage. Rosemary and lavender are the choice for hedges. Vines over pergolas and lattices are used extensively.
As with any style of garden, create a sense of unity. Repeating plants and colors also help to create your theme.

Ranting and raving

2006-03-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate job interviews? I had my second interview this morning with Kristie at Satterlee's. We went through my drawings and talked about plant knowledge and the plants that I use and went on and on forever. At the end she said, "This has been very helpful, I'll let you know when I make my decision." Helpful how? Helpful to knock me out? Helpful to assure me the job? AAARRRRGGGGG! Sometimes I think that I wish that interviewers weren't so inscrutable. I would rather know right off that someone hates me than to spend time wondering what the heck happened in the interview.

Ok, so let me apologize that I have been so lax in my blog. Friday I was just lazy, Saturday we had Abby and D'art and the kids come over and help me in the garden and eat dinner, and Sunday we went to church, went out to dinner with some old friends and went over to their house for coffee and came home and had a Sunday afternoon nap, and then Monday, well, let's face it, I was just lazy again. No, no, I remember, Kathy was doing taxes on the computer. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Saturday was fun. We worked out in the front beds. Tried to get the lilac out and did, tried to get the holly stumps out and gave up. Those things are in there! I'm just going to drill holes in the stumps and let them rot. I planted one of the black lace elderberries in front of the stumps so hopefully they'll be hidden soon. The kids were here so that makes everything more fun. Natasha and Ethan are a joy to be around. And they let everyone know it too. Sometimes when Ethan smiles at me I just melt. Everytime Natasha smiles at me I melt. And they both know it too. Let's face it, their peepaw is putty in their hands.

Everything is coming up in the flower beds. I love the Spring. Things just peek out their heads and look around and decide to start growing. Wonderful! I cleaned up the peonies Saturday, they were just starting to put out new growth and they have grown a good two or three inches today. The clematis are to the second line on the trellis, two weeks ago they were barely out of the ground. Then, of course, are things like the jasmine and the hibiscus. Kathy asks me twenty or thirty times a year whether they're dead because they are late coming out, and every year you can't see the street from the porch because they cover up the view.

Tonight is CADD class again. I love this program! It will even measure your drawings for you. And you can change your drawings all over by changing one measurement. So much fun. I think that I have decided this is the way to draw, but then I pick up a pencil and fall in love with paper again. I'm so confused.

It's hard to believe it is almost April. Maybe I am getting old. The year seems to be going by so fast. When we were at church Sunday the pastor reminded people that the second was time change Sunday and for a while I was trying to figure out why he was mentioning it so early. Then I remembered that it is next Sunday! Oh well, time flies when you're having fun, or if you're not having fun for that matter. Let's face it, time flies, so be nice to yourself and someone else today.

God bless you all,

Wayne

2006-03-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not sure what the heck that white stuff is out there but it is thick and sticky. We managed to get about two or three inches of snow here in uptown. And of course this morning there were wrecks everywhere. Why is it that Oklahomans try to drive in wet conditions the same way they do in dry conditions? I was going to an appointment this morning and everybody in town was passing me. I didn't think I was going that slow, but then I never do. Apparently the speed limit signs (and line markings, and stop signs and lights and the rest of the road rules) are just a suggestion nowadays. My poor plants are so confused. I have a couple of clematis that were about to start climbing on the trellis that are now covered with snow, my plum tree had just finished blooming and was putting on leaves, it has probably changed its mind now. Of course, the temps are going to be in the 40's today and the 50's tomorrow so the snow will be gone by this afternoon.

I was out this morning driving to a job interview at Satterlee's nursery. They need a designer and I need a job. So all of you keep the prayers going and if you're on my reference list (Susan!) answer your phone and tell them how wonderful I am. Lie if you have to. Actually it was kind of funny. Out of the 13 people on my reference list they knew about half of them. Hopefully Saterlee's and I will make a good fit. I know I would like to work somewhere that has the kind of reputation that they have. Plus they are small enough that I can really get to know the people that I would be working with and they have a reputation of being fair and loyal to their employees, something you don't find everywhere these days.

In case you haven't heard the brou-ha-ha, or if you have but haven't seen what it's all about this is the link to the new ad for the Australian Board of Tourism. England tried to keep it off their tv stations (because "bloody" is risque in Great Britain, the same people that gave us Benny Hill and Monty Python) and now Canada is trying to keep it off the airwaves because it promotes drinking (one of the scenes is in a bar talking about beer). I can't quite figure that out. I have known a few Canadians and none of them had a problem with drinking. I personally think the commercial is a hoot. Anyway, the link to the commercial is http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com/. Makes me want to go there, of course, I've always wanted to go there.

I have my CADD class tonight. This is the most amazing program. Sometimes I wish I understood what I was doing. Of course, I wish that about most of the things in my life.

Speaking of understanding, this blog thing is rather bazaar. So far besides the nice comments I get from Susan and Shelly and the helpful comments on my computer illiteracy that I get from Kay and Shelly and Jim, and of course Susan, I've gotten comments from people in Singapore and Germany. I'm not sure why anybody reads this. I do give good plant advice, you just have to sift through so much other stuff to get it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my ramblings and if you do have any plant questions, ask them and I'll try to give a coherent answer.

Speaking of trying to help with plant problems, here is the maintenance schedule for April.

April
Control cedar-apple rust. When the orange jelly galls are
visible on juniper (cedar), begin treating apple and
crabapple trees with a fungicide. Treat hawthorns accordingly.
Fire blight bacterial disease can be controlled at this time.
Plant disease-resistant varieties to avoid diseases.
Diplodia tip blight fungicide applications at bud break.
Control of powdery mildew disease can be done with
early detection and regular treatment. Many new plant
cultivars are resistant.
Most bedding plants, summer flowering bulbs, and annual
flower seeds can be planted after danger of frost.
This happens around mid-April in most of Oklahoma.
Let spring flowering bulb (daffodil, tulip, etc.) foliage
remain as long as possible before removing it.
Fungicides for leaf spot diseases can be applied.
Warm-season grass lawns can be established beginning
in late April from sprigs, plugs, or sod.
Warm-season grasses can be fertilized three to five times
per season using one pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000
sq. ft. in each application. Apply one pound in April, May,
June, August and September for a high quality lawn.
Water in nitrate fertilizers.
Mowing of warm-season lawns can begin now. Cutting
height for bermuda and zoysia should be 1 to 1 1/2 inches
high. Mow buffalo at 3 inches high.
Damage from Spring Dead Spot Disease (SDS) becomes
visible in bermudagrass. Perform practices that
promote grass recovery. Do not spray fungicides at this
time for SDS control.
Be alert for both insect pests and predators. Some pests
can be hand picked without using a pesticide. Do not
spray if predators such as lady beetles are present. Spray
only when there are too few predators to be effective.
Remove any winter-damaged branches or plants that
have not begun to grow by late April.
Clean out water garden and prepare for season. Divide
and repot water garden plants.
Begin feeding fish when water temperatures are over
50 degreeso F.

I'm still exhausted!

2006-03-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that a small child can wreak havoc on a household? I have figured out why God gave me my children when I was too young to know better. Last Friday I spent the whole day cleaning house (yes, I know I'm slow, but in my defense I did a good job) because Maddox was coming over on Saturday, and he spends all his time on the floor trying to find something to get into. So I swept and mopped and dusted and vacuumed and then we thought that Maddox might not come because it was raining and cold and the only reason we were going to get him is because his parents were going out and we figured that they would decide not to go. But hurrah and hurray, they went out anyway, so we got him. Well, the house now looks like a hurricane went through it. A ten-month-old can get into more stuff that you would never think he'd be interested in! You can't have wine glasses on the rack below the island with a crawler around. Put the heavy glass bowls on a higher shelf because he's going to pull them down on his foot. Don't worry about the electric plugs, he won't bother them (unless, of course, you pull those little plastic things out) but watch the cord going to the floor lamp. Man, I'm too old to chase this kid around. He is fun though. But stubborn! My new game with him is to pull him back from where he wants to go and then watch him head for it again. He never gets mad, but he never gives up either. Sunday afternoon when we took him home and after his mother fed us (really good chili, hey we have to get something out of watching him or his mother will think we're just doing it because it's fun) he wanted to climb up on the dishwasher door while Jill was loading it. So I'd pick him up and take him into the living room and put him on the floor and he'd start crawling to the kitchen and when he got to the dishwasher I'd pick him up and take him into the living room and put him on the floor and off he'd go again, zoom! It never bothered him that he didn't get into the dishwasher but he didn't give up until his mom shut the dishwasher door either.

Well, according to the UPS website my black lace elderberries are supposed to arrive today. But is the ground ready for them? Nooooooo. About the time I got everything else ready so I could pull out the lilac and the holly roots it turned cold and rainy so I still haven't gotten the spaces ready. Hopefully I'll get to it on Thursday or Friday. I'd really rather have them in the ground than in the shipping pots, but on the other hand, if the weathermen are correct (that'll be a first) I don't want to put them in the ground just to have it freeze the next night.

And besides the elderberries, I still want to put the tropical plants out because Kathy keeps noticing that they're still in the house. And my daughter, Alison gave me some seeds from Hawaii last Father's day that I want to put in pots. Especially the Kona coffee. I don't know if it will really do anything in a pot in Oklahoma but I really want to find out. Alison is now in Ft. Worth at Southwestern Seminary after about five years teaching school in Honolulu. I'm still trying to get her to become something other than a Southern Baptist (yes, I was raised in the Southern Baptist church and I still agree with most of their beliefs, but one belief that I never agreed with was the hangup about women preachers. It seems to me that if God calls someone to do something it is not my place to question the call.) well, when she gets out of seminary with an MDiv maybe she'll find out what it is that God has planned for her.

Have you ever noticed that I ramble? Kathy sometimes thinks I spend more time on this thing than I do, but if I spent as much time as she thought I did maybe it would make more sense.

Well, I have CADD class tonight. Hopefully I can remember something from week before last. I'm going to try to get something done before I have to go to class.

Call someone you haven't talked to for a while. A friend of ours called the other day that we had lost touch with and now we're trying to find time to get together. It's like finding a new friend that already knows everything about you.

Wayne

A retraction, (ok, ok one little mistake)

2006-03-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, first a retraction. As Kathy says I tend to write in absolutes and hyperbole (hey, I didn't know what it meant either. Go look it up, why did we spend all that money on dictionaries and encyclopedias if you aren't going to use them? Do you think money grows on trees? When I was a kid I had to walk to school fifteen miles, uphill both ways in waist deep snow in August. You kids just don't know how easy you have it.) Sorry, channeling my father there.

Anyway, yes, you can be allergic to non-wind-borne pollen. But that isn't what is making you sneeze when the elm trees are in bloom. That's what happens when your spouse, or significant other, or whatever they're calling it now, brings you roses when they know you're allergic to them. Maybe you have bigger problems than sticking bees up your nose.

I'll write more later. I'm going to take my own advice and have a cookie for breakfast.

Wayne

Seeds of Wisdom (well, seeds anyway)

2006-03-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting with bated breath for the news about my MP3 player, I can now announce (drum roll please), are you ready...... are you sure you're ready?..... IT WORKS!!!! I'm happy anyway.

A friend of mine was asking me the other day about the meaning of my heading. He doesn't think that seeds are all that remarkable. I've noticed that not very many people are all that het up on seeds but I've always been fascinated with them. There is just something about a piece of matter weighing a few grams turning into a tree that can weigh tons.

First some of my personal belief background. I believe in a Creator. To me it only makes sense. Charles Darwin found several species of finch on his famous voyage, all of which had "evolved" different beaks depending on the major food supply. But you know what? They were all finches. Not a single one of them evolved into a vulture. Now, do I believe in natural selection? Of course. The famous English moth thing shows natural selection. But when all of England was burning coal and white moths showed up so well, there were still white moths among the dark. And when England stopped burning coal as the major fuel, there were still dark moths among the white. Neither group ever died out, some of them were able to live to breeding age, that's all. And even if I believed in evolution, I'm not sure I could believe that man descended from apes. Actually, if I believed in evolution, I'd probably argue that apes descended from man. After all, they are stronger, use tools without tearing up the environment and are much better suited to their environment than man is. They're not the ones spending hundreds of dollars on clothes and spending hours in traffic driving to a job they don't want to go to. Well, enough about that, except to say that I am a creationist not a believer in intelligent design. My Creator made me and He watches over me because He cares. He didn't design me and then stand back to see if I'll make it.

Back to seeds. Think about this for a minute. Two genetically haploid things get together and join to make a diploid set of cells that keep on splitting and differentiating to become this huge plant. Yes, I know that animals do the same thing, but not quite. First of all, people and animals don't have cells that join together and then sit around for days, weeks, months, sometimes centuries before they get on with what they were doing. (Yes centuries. A couple of years ago some botanists (probably on a government grant) germinated wheat seeds that were an estimated 20,000 years. BTW, guess what came up? Wheat!) Anyway, people and animals join cells and start things right off. Another things that nothing but flowering plants (as opposed to fern, molds, and gymnosperms like pines, not to mention all the other phyla) have that nothing else in the world has is a genetically triploid group of cells! The triploid cells make up the endosperm that the plant uses to nourish the seed and baby plant.

A long time ago, my sister had one of those mustard seed necklaces that someone gave her. She didn't wear it that often, but that thing just fascinated me. The seed was so small. you could have closed a thousand of them in your hand and not had any slip out. But then I found out that the plant that comes from this small seed, Brassica nigra, grows into a shrub, 3 to 5 feet tall, and larger across. That once fully grown it is almost impossible to kill. This small, almost infinitesimal, seed, becomes a plant that can last a hundred years or more.

It amazes me. Out of the thousands of species of grasses; most of which bloom at the same time, and all of which are wind-bourne pollinated, each plant will almost always accept its own species of pollen. Yes, there is rarely a cross breed in nature, about one in a several billion, and there have been man-made cross breeds (which take so much work that if you come up with a viable grass, about 999 out of 1000 times you have to produce it vegetatively because it will not breed true, but if you can get one that breeds true, patent that sucker because it is worth millions!)

Speaking of pollen, if you have pollen allergies and you are taking bee pollen to reduce the effects, don't bother. Nobody in the world has respiratory allergies to bee pollinated plants, because the only way you can get the pollen into your respiratory system is to stick a bee up your nose, and if you are doing that, you have bigger problems than allergies. But if you are taking bee pollen don't stop, because it is one of the best sources of easily digested protein in the world, it just won't stop your sneezing. Most pollen allergies are to grasses, trees (especially pines trees, even if you aren't allergic, get down wind of a pine in pollination and that little yellow stuff will make you sneeze), and amazingly enough, molds (which strictly speaking isn't a pollen allergy but tends to hit at about the same time). I never thought I was allergic to anything until we moved to the uptown area where there are still elms. Now when the American elms are in bloom, I'm stuffed up, when any of the other elms are in bloom, nothing, go figure.

Back to seeds. Not only does each seed have to be made with its own ovule and pollen, but each is germinated in its own way! There are seeds that have to pass through the digestive system of a bird or animal so the stomach acids can eat through the tough seed coat so the seed can sprout. This also has the added benefit of starting out with its own little fertilizer supply. Some seeds have to be subjected to fire which heats the water inside the seed, expanding it, breaking the seed coat and allowing the seed to send up a sprout. There is some question in the ecological community whether sequioahs are going to die out because the forests are not having any fires anymore (because man immediately come around and try to put them out). Some seeds fall on the beach and get swept up in the tide and float for hundreds of miles and land on the beach of an island that a volcano just thrust out of the sea, and in a little while, a coconut palm starts to break down the solid rock into volcanic sand.

I don't know, but the more I learn and the more I study science, especially botany, the more I am convinced. God made each seed to become each plant. God made each bug to become that bug. And God made me.

Technophobia Part Two

2006-03-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I bit the bullet and erased my MP3 player. Now I'm reloading it to see if Window's media can do it. If it won't I'm not sure what I'll do. And why did I take the chance and erase the stupid thing you ask? Because I get bored. The thing only holds about 1200 songs, and I listen to it almost every day. I have a little doober in the car that plays it through the radio (if I'm not too close to whatever station plays close to that spot on the dial) and I play it when I'm doing yard work and I play it when I'm not on the computer (where I usually listen to Yahoo's Martini Lounge) and sometimes I play it out on the porch when I'm having my last cigarette of the day to try to run it out of power so I can recharge it overnight. Sometimes I just play it while the earbuds are out of my ears and I'm talking to Kathy (she hates when I just take one earbud out). Anyway, I guess I'll find out whether or not it worked a little bit later.

So what do I put on it (I'm really stretching for something to put on this thing aren't I?) Well, there's Peggy Lee, of course. I'm really happy with some of the Tony Bennett music I've got. I put Billie Holliday on there and Lena Horne. Believe it or not I found some Vic Damone and Eddie Fisher. Bette Midler has jumped on the bandwagon and made two albums lately of Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee songs and then like I said I've got Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney (maybe that's why I get bored, I only have about 20 different songs but their all done by 72 artists apiece). I'm kinda glad that all the new artists decided to record the old songs (is rod Stewart and Bette Midler really new) because they are popular all the old stuff is being re-released. That way I can actually hear the original artists doing it. Because of yahoo music I have discovered some new artists, new to me at least. Les Nubians has some really good rhythms and Basia has the voice of an angel. I listen to a lot of Diana Krall and have decided I like the way Steve Tyrell sings the old standards. Frank and Dean are on there of course and a little bit of Sammy Davis Jr. I've got as much Etta James as I have been able to find and because Kathy and I got hooked on that Dancing with the Stars show I discovered Michael Bulbe. Dinah Washington is on there tons of Bobby Darin. I guess like a friend of mine says if it was written 50 years ago I probably have it on the MP3.

Tonight Kathy and I are going to Pizza Inn and meet my youngest daughter and son-in-law and two of the grandkids (Natasha and Ethan) notice that the kids are the only ones who get mentioned by name. Guess that shows where my priorities lie. It's like my dad always said, "grandchildren are the reward God gives you for not killing your kids when they are teenagers."

And tomorrow we get Maddox for the afternoon and night because the kids are going out. Grandchildren are fun! Glad I didn't strangle Jill for sure, though it came close at times I promise. Even she is surprised sometimes that she made it out of her teens.

Well, I've blown enough time on this thing, I think I'll check out Wonderland Knitter (not all about knitting) and Hazelnut Reflections (amazingly not about hazelnuts).

Play, there is time enough for work.

Wayne

My computer is conspiring against me.

2006-03-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think that computers are out to take over the world. Or maybe it's just mine. Have you ever noticed it is the people who are slightly techno phobic that have the most tech problems? I don't quite understand how it works. Why is it that even though I don't care much for technology; I prefer to read books over computer screens, I was perfectly happy with cassette tapes, heck, I was happy with LPs, I even like getting and sending real letters! But nooooo, I have a computer where most of my correspondence is by e-mail, I have to listen to CDs and my mp3 player, and even the library is talking about sending books out over the net.

Well, the ITunes thing finally stopped converting all my music over to something it could read sometime after 9:30 last night (from about 11:30 am), and lo and behold when I got up this morning the Windows media player could still figure out what the file is. Will wonders never cease. Of course, I haven't tried to reload my mp3 player yet. I'll probably end up with the thing channeling KISS or something. Of course, Kathy might like that better. I don't think she knows any KISS songs. The ones I have on my player are familiar to her, except when I'm mumbling them under my breath, then she can't figure out what the heck I'm singing, especially when I get lost in the middle of a song and I have to sing ninety miles an hour to catch up, heaven forbid that I should leave any words out.

I'm not sure exactly why my computer is trying to take over my life, it isn't that exciting of a life, after all. A friend of mine keeps wanting me to tidy up my desktop. He says I shouldn't have anything on there that I don't use fairly often. But I'm a packrat in everything. As soon as I take it off my desktop I know I'll need it. I know, I know, just because I take it off the desk top doesn't mean it's gone, but how will I know I need it if I have to go to the start menu to get it? Of course, maybe I'm a little obsessive. After all, I have Musicmatch Jukebox, Realplayer, RecordNow, Windows Media Player, and now ITunes and Quicktime Player. For pictures I've got Adobe Photoshop, HP ImageZone, HP Memories Disc Creator, PC Cam Center, ULead Photo Explorer 4.0 and 8.0, and of course, the shortcut to My Pictures. Ok, so I need to clear some of this stuff. But how do you decide what to kill? I guess I could get rid of the Easy Internet Signup icon since we already have SBC Yahoo and are reasonably happy. And do I really need the Adobe Reader icon on my desktop? After all, I don't think I ever do anything in it. For that matter, I guess I could wipe off some of the 6 internet connection icons I have on there. But I always use the SBC icon and the lady at tech support told me to use the bit E internet explorer icon if the SBC icon gave me anymore trouble, but I guess I don't really need the yahoo mail icon or the yahoo music icon and I definitely don't need the MSN icon since it signs on automatically and our daughter Laura doesn't even use that anymore which is why we got it. And do I really need two Yahoo site builder icons since I don't even have a Yahoo website? But if I get rid of those then sure enough Susan will want me to get one of those and we know how she gets when she is thwarted. She'll get those pointy sticks after me (told you I could get those comments back in! Ha!) But if I did clean up the desk top a little then you could see the wallpaper better. Right now I have a picture of the Muir forest that Kathy took the last time she went to San Francisco. I usually like to have a picture of her up there but then she gets shy on me and wants me to take it off. I'll fix her. I'll get a Jessica Simpson wallpaper and put that up there. Naw, with my luck and computer savvy I'd hit the wrong button and end up with Lisa Simpson.

Well, I started this so I could take a break from dusting, I was starting to sneeze. But I've blown about as much time as I can get away with.

Find your inner child today and give him or her a cookie.

Wayne

Late night post (well not late for everybody)

2006-03-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

In case you're wondering why it took me so long to post today (let's not talk about yesterday, I was just lazy) our daughter Laura posted a video on her blog and when Kathy tried to open it, it said that you needed apple quickplay or whatever. So she had me download the program (talk about the blind leading the blind) and when I tried to watch it after I downloaded the program nothing happened so I opened the apple program and tried again. Well, windows media player opened up the video and ITunes started converting the entire file of my music to something it could read. Anyway, it is using about 90 to 98% of the CPU (no exaggeration!) and if the bloody thing screwed up the file for media player (which is where I load my mp3 player from, and we know how I feel about that) I will just scream and cry!

Ok, so the rant is over. Unless of course my music files are screwed up and then I will really start a rant.

Enjoy your life, it is the one God gives us.

Wayne

Favorite houseplants sooner or later

2006-03-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

To everyone who commented about my beautiful grandson, thank you. It is wonderful to find so many insightful, intelligent, clever people. Actually, I have 8 beautiful grandchildren, four grandsons and four granddaughters. The next kid to have a kid is going to screw up the balance (unless they have fraternal twins, a boy and a girl...hmmmm).

Natasha with her cousins Bekka, Sebastian, and Nadia

Ryan and his sister Erin

Natasha again with her baby brother Ethan

Maddox

Anyway, they all fill me with joy!

Now, about house plants. A great one has to be Agaves, I love them all but especially Agave parviflora. Not for homes with small children, but a fantastic textural plant.

There is also any bougainvillea. A wonderful flowering vine. These things look fantastic, almost unreal. I have had friends and clients think they were silk because of the flower color and texture. But with most of them when you get close enough to get bit by the spines you believe they are real.

Any of the Begonia rex species are a must have. Most begonias put me to sleep because their flowers to me are just so-so (I'm gonna get comments about that). But the rex are grown for the foliage and it is beautiful!

As far as flowers go, you cannot beat the gardenia. Sometimes a little temperamental in Oklahoma, they are actually grown as a field crop in the southeast part of the state and can be kept alive in Oklahoma City in the ground, but make it easy on yourself and grow them in pots. The flower is one of the most fragrant and tantalizing there is.

I also love the guzmanias, One of the bromiliad species they are easy to grow, interesting and come in some of the most wild color combinations you will ever see.

And speaking of flowers, (was someone talking about flowers?) you almost have to have both fucshia and passionflower. Fucshia needs high humidity so if you have a misting system it is a good idea to keep it going during the heat of the day in the summer. And after having passionflower on my trellis (and in my flower beds, and growing in my yard, and coming up in the cracks in the street, yes, it's a little invasive) I've decided it is better in a container. Besides you can get cooler colors than the regular old native maypop.

Some people think I'm crazy, but one of my all-time favorites is the mother-in-law's tongue. This is a tough plant, it can take almost everything you throw at it. I've had them break containers, go without water for months at a time and like I said, my uncle used one for an ash tray. They are a striking architectural plant and I think the different foliages are beautiful.

For a ground cover, a hanging basket, or even just for added color on the window sill, you can't really beat purple heart (Tradescantia purpurea). About three years ago I got three sprigs of this from school. I have it in almost every pot I own as ground cover, I've got a hanging basket of it, I have some that comes up volunteer every year in my side bed (yes, it's a tropical, but it is also tenacious) I've given pounds of it away, and thrown even more out. This is a very thrifty plant. I even took some out of a pot last fall and tossed it to the side, planning to offer it to my neighbor and then three weeks later planted the shoots in a hanging basket that looks beautiful thank you very much. I think you can kill this plant but I'm pretty sure it would take napalm.

Ok, from the toughest to the gentlest. While it doesn't look that picky, bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae) needs fairly constant moisture, but not too much; fairly constant watering, but not too much; fairly even temperatures, but needs a 15 to 20 degree difference day to night; lots of light, but no direct Oklahoma afternoon sun. Now you ask why I would even think about this plant as lazy as I am? When you can get it to bloom, it looks like this.

As long as we're talking about picky plants, lets talk about Lady Jane anthurium. It isn't as mean to you as bird-of-paradise, but sometimes it can be rather stubborn about blooms. But it gives you such a tropical feeling, it can make it all worthwhile. Plus the flowers are so striking that everyone will be asking you what it is.

Last but not least, false aralia (Schefflera elegantissima). This poor baby has been renamed probably more than any plant in production. I talked to a producer several years ago that said he was leaving it as a Balfourisima until he was sure they had quit messing around with the nomenclature. I love this plant, and not just because it looks like cannabis. It is one of the most fine-textured plants in production. It is easy to grow, it has very few pests, and it is just plain beautiful.

Ok, I know I have left out some of ya'lls favorites, heck, I left out some of my favorites. But I will take any suggestions or arguments and I will probably being adding to this list as I remember oldies and fall in love with new ones. Until then, I'm going to close this out.

Be good to yourself and someone you love today.

Wayne

I hate computers!

2006-03-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

So first, I was working out in my gardens so I couldn't do the blog on Saturday. Then I couldn't get blogger to let me load the pictures half of Sunday. Then when I finally got the pics loaded and took a break blogger wouldn't let me back on because it said my computer wouldn't accept cookies (I would have accepted a cookie, especially peanut butter). So this morning (Monday) I finally got yesterday's blog posted and this afternoon I was going to write some more on my favorite tropicals but now I'm going over to see my grandson Maddox and he takes precedence over all! See why?

See you later. Wayne

Favorite Tropicals

2006-03-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to give you my favorite tropical plants yesterday but Kathy and I decided to clean out the planting beds in the front yard instead. You have to understand that although we live on a small city lot out front yard is about 90% flower beds because I hate grass! Needless to say it was an all day job that filled both of our dumpsters and 13 trash bags besides. Glad that is over. Now Kathy is just after me to put the tropicals out on the front porch. She saw on the news this morning that there was going to be a night when it got down to 32 degrees so maybe she'll let me hold off for a couple more weeks anyway. This is the tussle we have every year. By March 1st she is tired of having potted plants everywhere and I'm worried that they will freeze if we put them out and want to wait till the middle of April. We usually compromise and put the out the end of March and I spent a few hours covering them up and moving them close to the house a few nights. This year shouldn't be so bad since I got rid of about 25 potted plants so we only have about 20 lest. That won't last long though. We tend to find quite a few that we both agree we just have to have every year.

Most of the plants I really like are large, colorful , interesting shapes or foliage shapes or spined, or all of the above! Ok, so my favorites.

The first one has to be the split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa) also called the breadfruit vine, because that is what it is. Breadfruit is a culinary staple of the Polynesians and it flowers and fruits fairly readily. Most of the time I don't want fruit because it pulls a lot of strength from the plant and you don't get the lush vegetative growth. This is one that makes you feel like you are in the tropics!

My next one has to be the Philodendron 'Black Cardinal'. I love this thing. The picture doesn't really do it justice and you need some room for it (and for most of the plants I like) but it is well worth it. The foliage is so dark and full, the leaves can be up to 2 or 3 feet long. It has very few pests and really sets the stage for smaller lighter-colored plants in front.

Burgundy rubber plant (Ficus elastica 'Burgundy') is another favorite. The dark reddish foliage and the wide thick leaves and wonderful and it can either be trained to be a shrub or limbed up as a tree (not a style I particularly like for rubber plants but some folks swear by it).

Another of my favorites are the Calathea species. The leaves has dark red or maroon backs and green fronts with bars or spots. Many different sizes, color combinations, beautiful plants.

I also absolutely love the fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata). This is a huge plant and needs room to spread out. Actually, if you have a sunroom, Florida room, etc, somewhere it can stay year round and not have to be moved, this will grow into a large tree. The largest I've seen was about 25 feet tall and 15 wide, but I've heard of trees 35 to 40 feet tall. Wonderful.

The Madagascar palm (Pachypodium lamerei) , which isn't a palm or from Madagascar, is another great plant but not for homes with children or where you can't put it to the side somewhere. Kathy was walking around our big Madagascar (about 7 feet pot and all) last summer when it was out and slipped in some mud. Out of reflex she grabbed for the palm but let go in a hurry. Her hand was sore and throbbing until she got each of the tiny spine ends out of her skin. A beautiful plant but somewhat dangerous.

Well, this is later than I was planning on working on this. The problem is I have too many favorites that it is hard to narrow it down. I'll do some more on this tomorrow.

Yay, it's Friday

2006-03-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I have gotten some questions about container gardening so I thought I would pontificate some on that. Yes, as a matter of fact, I do take requests. Once I sang "melancholy Baby" seventeen times by request. Of course, I had been drinking and the guy that kept requesting it was doing it as a joke, but that is beside the point.

Ok, container gardening. Almost any plant can be used in container, but some do better than others. Most of the plants that we think of as "houseplants" are native to the tropical forest understory. The good thing about that is that they are most comfortable in the approximate temperature levels that people use inside their offices and homes. The problem is that the light levels are usually woefully inadequate and let's not even talk about the humidity levels. Well, maybe we better to give you some understanding. Architects like to plan for humidity of 35% to 60%, Sometimes in the winter heating systems dry the levels out to as low as 20%, which is almost unbearable for people (hence the itchy skin, etc). The humidity levels for the rainforest however is 85% to 90%. Quite a bit of difference. On top of this, most plants used indoors need much higher light levels. Most plants used in interiors are at or below the Light Compensation Point. The LCP is just a fancy way of saying that the plant is producing (remember, plants produce their on food, the fertilizers we use, so called plant "foods" only give them the chemical and minerals they need to do this) just as much food as it is using in respiration. There is no new growth, there is no replacement growth and the plant doesn't have any starch reserves to fight off pests or injury. Given these facts, now you don't feel so bad about killing all those house plants over the years, now do you? Actually, with all the stress we put them under, all the mistakes we make, all the downright abuse (my aunt used to have a sanservia that my uncle hated. He would use the pot as an ash tray for his cigars) most house plants are killed from...... Are you ready?????? OVERWATERING. This amazes me (mainly because I am too lazy to water most of the time) Most house plants prefer to be a little dry, not to say you can get away with not watering them at all, and remembering their are species that come from the swamps, but most of our plants we just plain overwater.

Ok, with all the doom and gloom out of the way. What the heck do we have to know to grow wonderful, beautiful, happy houseplants? Not really that much, actually. First is selection. If you are going to a mega-store make sure it is one that uses plant markers with at least some information on them. I like more info than most people care about, at least the real botanical name so I don't have to work so hard on research (that laziness thing, ya know?) I can't really make sense of bright, medium and low light levels myself. The human eye sees levels as glaring that to a plant isn't high enough, so no help there. Most people over compensate when the marker gives a watering guide too, so that really isn't much help either. So what do we do? Experiment! Try your plant in one spot and watch it, if it doesn't like it there, move it someplace else. If you are watering on the dry side and the plants seems to droop too quickly, water a little more, a little!!! Ok, so you see a plant that you can't live without, you'd be surprised at how many times this happens to me, although when my wife says I can't have it, I seem to survive all right, so you see a plant. Pick it up. Look at it. Check it for pests. See if the leaves are turgid and healthy looking. Take the root ball out of the pot, if the plant center doesn't want you doing this, find another plant center (So I sez to 'em, I sez, Hey, I been thrown out of better nurseries than this joint!). Look at the roots, is the plant root bound? (The roots running around in a circle and not much dirt to them.) This isn't an insurmountable problem but it will take a little extra care.

If you're going to repot the plant (those black plastic ones are so decorative aren't they?) pick a pot that is no more than one or two steps bigger than the pot it is in, and make sure the new pot has a drain hole. Put something over the drain to keep potting mix from flowing out, I usually use landscape fabric or window screen, and put enough mix in to set the root ball so the crowrn of the plant is at the dirt level in the new pot. Firm the mix down, place the plant and fill the pot, firming as you go. If you want to use a slow release pelleted fertilizer, scatter it at the root level. Use a good quality soilless potting mix. Please don't use garden soil! I could go into perched water tables and crown rot and a whole lot of scientific reasons but I don't want to. Just trust me, soilless mix.

When you are choosing your plants remember that variegated leaves tend to need more light than green leaves, and flowering plants want even more. Tomorrow I'll go into some of my favorite tropicals and I'll warn you now, I like the weird ones.

Traffic in Edmond

2006-03-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got back from a job interview in Edmond. Boy, if any of ya'll live up there, I don't know how you do it every day! The traffic is enough to make you crazy! I can't believe there are that many people in that many cars on that few streets. For those of you that live and drive in Edmond everyday, my hat is off to you, but I don't think I want to spend much time with you, at least not until after you've decompressed from traffic.

If you have seen my site before you may have noticed that I added some more links (yes, Susan, it was just as easy as you said). You might wonder about the Oklahoma City Zoo being under garden sites. Almost everybody in the country knows that OKC has one of the top five zoos in America because they advertise the heck out of that. What you may not know is that the official name contains Botanical Garden. It is also one of the top ten rated public gardens in the U.S. I've always loved zoos, but in the spring I have trouble keeping my eyes on the animals because everything is coming out and they have some plants that you'll find no where else in town. Anyway, the garden sites contain some of my favorite public gardens. Trust me, that list is in no way exhaustive.

I'm sitting at my computer and listening to Bette Midler singing the Peggy Lee songbook. According to the net it is disc 1 but doesn't say out of how many. Sometimes you wonder how the artist picks what songs go on the album. It has "Fever" and "Big Spender" which Peggy did better than anyone else, but it also has "The Folks Who Live On the Hill" and no offense to the wonderful Miss Lee, but a lot of people did that one better. And it doesn't have "I Don't Know Enough About You" (one of my favorites by Peggy Lee) or "Why Don't You Do Right" (one of my favorite songs period, I even loved it when Kathleen Turner did it in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Also has one of the best lines of any movie of all time "I'm not bad, Mr. Valiant, I'm just drawn that way.") Do you ever wonder how I get off on these rabbit trails? I used to blame my Sunday School class for getting me off track, but now that I'm not teaching the class anymore I don't think I can do that.

Well, we got a little rain last night but no where near enough. My suggestion is to not depend on the rain clouds. If your gardens need water, water 'em. On the other hand, my almond bush looks wonderful. Little pink double flowers all over the thing. Beautiful! The blooms on the plum tree are a little erratic, I'll be able to tell in a few days if it is going to bloom out all over. Speaking of erratic the Bradford pear trees all over town are looking weird. Some of them are in bloom, others have more leaves than flowers, and still others haven't started really doing anything yet. Bradfords aren't really one of my favorites, they have oh so many things wrong with them, but they do usually give a better show than what we're getting this year.

Speaking of favorites and non-favorites. I have been called to task on my list of favorite trees and shrubs. A friend of mine reminded me that it wasn't the same list from a few years ago, what can I say, I'm fickle. Another friend of mine couldn't believe I would leave Japanese maple off the list, especially since I have 3 of them in a small yard. Well, it isn't my fault! When I said I would do the article for Susan she had size constraints. Just because she didn't want the next 20 years of her newsletters to contain nothing but my favorite plants, you can't really blame her. No matter what all my gardening friends say. One thing I've learned about plant people, they are opinionated. Sometimes just to be mean I'll throw out some off-hand comment like "annuals really have no place in serious gardens," and then sit back and listen to it fly. You can get four gardeners together and get five opinions on anything! It is so much fun!

Well, after being cloudy, chilly and windy all day, the sun is out, so I'm going to go outside and enjoy it for a little while before class.

Be good to yourself and those you love,

Wayne

Rain or no rain

2006-03-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

You know, the people in cyberspace are so nice. Susan came over yesterday to help me with my blog even though she really didn't feel like it. Jim helped me set up so I could tell whether I had comments or not. Shelly, the prayerful knitter told me all about an site I could get a counter on to see if anybody is really reading this thing. And Kay told me about spambots. Well, here I was getting a little vain about all the hot girls reading my profile and falling in love with me immediately and it turns out that it's just a computer somewhere falling in love with me. Of course Kay also suggested I start up a nuclear needle buildup against Susan. If I do that I know what will happen, I'll lose. First of all, the Knitters outnumber me by millions to one, even my wife for heaven's sake. And second, I'm a little worried about Susan on the roids, ya know? Sometimes she's mean to me just because, if I ever really ticked her off, watch out! You know how those pointy stick people get.

Well, my CADD class started last night, finally. Yes, I know, I'm computer semi-illiterate and I'm taking a computer aided design class. Well, everybody else is doing it. And besides my wife is starting to get worried with me home every night. Ever since I started back to school (3 years ago) I've been gone 3 or 4 nights a week. She's used to that. Not that I'm boring or anything, as a matter of fact she tells me that all the time, "Oh no dear, you're not boring." she says. Sometimes she says that when I don't even ask. Sometimes just out of the blue she says, "Oh no dear, you're not boring." Hmmmmm.... I wonder why she keeps saying that? Speaking of that, we were watching Family Feud the other night and one of the questions was how many times a wife hears her husband's gfavorite joke in a year. One of the women answered something like 30 and she said, "Way too low." Ok, maybe I do need to get a new joke book.

You know, after proofreading that last paragraph I realize what people are saying about the stream of consciousness thing. I would take it out, but it takes me so long to type and then run spell check ya'll can just suffer.

We went to Our Lord's Community church last Sunday. It was missions awareness Sunday and they had representatives from the missions they support. Amazing. The people there are friendly, almost too friendly, you know what I mean? I can shake hands and smile just so many times a day. Anyway, my friend Pastor Mark says that we should take at least six months or so to find a new church home. I don't know if I can stand it. I'm not used being in different churches anyway and doing it for six or eight months, EEEEEKKKKK! If anybody out there has any suggestions about Oklahoma City churches, Bible teaching, financially solvent, people in their 40's, 50's, and 60's, comment please. We've gone to Council Road Baptist, Northwest Baptist, and liked both of them. Yes I can hear some of you out there now, ooohhh Baptist. Well, my dad was a Baptist minister of music and I was raised in Baptist churches. I don't have to have a Baptist church but I agree with at least most of the published beliefs. Of course, as with any group of people, the published list of beliefs and the real list of beliefs aren't always the same thing.

It is supposed to rain here in OKC tonight. At least that's what they're claiming. It has been cloudy and then clear and then cloudy all day. My mom wanted me to come over and mow her lawn and then put pre-emergent weed-killer on her lawn (I know, I know, I don't believe in weed killers. Digging weeds, or even just leaving the bloody things alone is better for the environment. But my mother does believe in weed killer, and she's my mother. And I also know you aren't supposed to mow before you lay down the weed killer so it has as much leaf surface as possible to stick to. But again, my mother!) Anyway, so I went over there and mowed her lawn and then I had to rake under her magnolia and get all the seed pods up and then she decided that it was too windy to put down pre-emergent. Just as well, you're really not supposed to water or have rain right after putting down pre-emergent either, but I still can't get that through to her.

Speaking of horticulture, this blog is supposed to be at least semi-educational, that's how Susan is advertising it anyway, so here is some suggestions for March in Zone 7b, which is what Oklahoma City is in.

March
Prepare lawn mower; install clean filters.
Cultivate annual flower beds to destroy winter weeds.
Apply organic mulch to control weeds in beds. Landscape
fabric barrier can reduce the amount of mulch but
care should be taken to ensure proper water penetration
to plants roots.
Remove excessive thatch from warm season lawns.
Dethatching, if necessary, should precede crabgrass
control treatment.
March is the second best time of the year to seed coolseason
turfgrass; however, fall is the best time to plant.
Cool-season lawns such as bluegrass, fescue, and
ryegrass may be fertilized now with the first application of
the season. Usually, four applications of fertilizer are
required per year, in March, May, October, and November.
Broadleaf weeds can easily be controlled in cool-season
lawns at this time with post-emergent broadleaf herbicides.
Begin mowing cool season grasses at 1 1/2 to 3 1/2
inches high.
Chemical and physical control of galls (swellings) on
stems and foliage of trees should begin now.
Dormant oil can still be applied to control mites, galls,
overwintering aphids, etc.
The 1st generation of Nantucket Pine Tip Moth appears at
this time. Begin pesticide applications in late March
based on pheremone catches.
Anthracnose control on sycamore, maple, and oak should
begin at bud swell.
Prune roses just before growth starts and begin a regular
disease spray program as the foliage appears. Check
with garden center personnel for roses that don't require
chemical applications.
Divide and replant summer and fall blooming perennials.
Mow or cut back old liriope and other ornamental grass
foliage.

This is from a checklist I gave to my clients, a lot of whom do believe in chemical controls, some of it I wrote some I cribbed from the year checklist from the Oklahoma County Extention Office.

Hope everybody is having a good day. Be good to yourself today.

Wayne

Computers are people too

2006-03-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got off the phone with Yahoo. Apparently my computer's feelings were hurt by something I did and it was pouting. After an hour of trying to explain to the nice lady what the problem was (my fault, not hers) the fix took about two minutes. We still haven't figured out why my computer downloads pictures as bitmaps, but she e-mailed me some things that will supposedly help if I ever take the time to mess around with them. She said the problem may be spyware. Is it just me or do the computer geeks purposely make up names that sound scary? I don't want spyware! It makes me think that someone is on the other side of my screen and watching me. I'm already slightly paranoid, well, ok, more than slightly. I don't want someone staring at me if I decide to write in my blog in my pajamas! Trust me, not a pretty sight. Maybe what I should do is write in my blog in my pajamas and the spy will get disgusted and stop staring at me. It's worth a try.

Speaking of computer geeks (but only in a nice way, she still carries those pointy sticks everywhere she goes) Susan is going to try to come by and help me dress the blogger site up a little bit. I'm making her since it was her idea for me to start this thing. Anyway, If she isn't too tired (she is after all, still recovering) this thing will look much dressier this evening. But then on the other hand, maybe the only reason she is coming over is so I can put her blog on my daily reads. Nah, that's probably not it, since most of my readers come from her. Speaking of which, is there anyone out there who knows how you can set this thing to tell you when you get comments without going to the blog itself? Or for that matter, how you can tell if someone is reading the crazy if they don't leave a comment. Please don't make me ask Susan, she gets this pitying look on her face everytime I ask stupid questions.

Somebody named baby somebody-or-other just IMed me saying that she saw my yahoo profile and thought I sounded interesting and did I want to see her profile and picture. I clicked it off. I'm pretty sure she was fibbing. Mainly because my profile is as boring as they get, and I'm pretty sure my wife doesn't want me looking at any pictures of anyone named baby sophia. Just a hunch there.

I got a piece a snail mail today, yes I get mail, just not from anybody I really know. Anyway, this piece was from The National Dean's Honor List. It said someone nominated me for inclusion. The weird thing is I'm already on it this year because Dr, Vezey, my plant biology professor put me on it. If you get hit twice does that make you twice as smart? I figure it has to be Scott that nominated me, since the only other class I took last semester was internet algebra, and I don't think squeaking a D will get you on the honor role. Well, I'll find out in a couple of days when I get their begging letter. They want me to but a copy of the book. Actually, they want me to but a copy of the book with my name embossed in gold. I'm vain, but not that vain... Sorry, rocking out there, Etta James was playing on Yahoo music, I kinda have to drop everything when Etta is on.

Speaking of Etta James, I was at Wal-Mart the other day (trust me Etta has something to do with this story) getting my oil changed and you know it takes about an hour to do a ten minute job because apparently everybody sees me going up there and jumps ahead of me. So I went into McDonald's to have a coke and wait for them to finish, and like I always do when Kathy isn't around, I had my MP3 player on, I love my MP3 player, anyway, the greeter guy when I left Micky D's asked me if I was going to pay for the player before I left. This is a little red box that fits in my shirt pocket, I told him I had already paid for it (well, ok, it was a gift from my mother, he doesn't need to know all my business) and he had the manager called over of course the manager apologized when he realized the thing was loaded with all my favorite music so it probably didn't come off the shelf like that, mainly because I don't think anybody else listens to Frank, Dean, Diana Krall, etc. Ok, so what does Etta have to do with this story? My theory is that the reason he stopped me is because I didn't look like someone who was going to cut him (good thing he didn't meet me when I was crazy) and he must have noticed me because I was rocking out and singing along with Etta, cause she's one of the few I can't control myself on. Well, her and Frank and Dean, and Diana and etc, etc, etc. Ok, I'll admit it, I can't control myself on most of the songs, that's why I usually listen to it outside, where I'll disturb the fewest people. And I would have listened to it outside that day too but then you can't hear them call and tell you your car is ready. Of course, I couldn't hear them call and say my car was ready anyway because I had headphones. Oh well.

I have a couple things I have to do before Susan gets here, so I better close this out.

Do something nice for yourself and someone else today,

Wayne

Monday, Monday

2006-03-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend is over. I didn't get didley done. I had big plans, got started, got cold, did a little bit, got exhausted, quit. I hate being sick. Not the being sick part so much as the fact that I'm getting old enough for it to take a long time to get my strength back. I did cut down last years clematis and restring the lattice and dig out (some) of the passionflower and restring the arch. You might be asking yourself why I would dig up passionflower. Last year the caterpillars liked the foliage so much I didn't even have any flowers all I had were bare vines. I like feeding the butterfly larva (even though these were just those small orange ones) but I'd rather they feed somewhere a little more out of sight. So this year I'm planting a mixture of annual vines until I decide what I want to replace the passionflower with.

I also planned on getting some other stuff dug out this weekend. The lilac for Jill, the chaste tree for Susan. I've got to get both of them done soon!!! My buds on the almond are turning pink, and this morning there were half a dozen blooms on the plum tree. Stuff is starting to take off without me. I have to hurry and catch up. Speaking of which, is it just me or is this weird weather? We had snow (well, Oklahoma snow which other places call sleet) just a couple of weekends ago and yesterday it was about 80. Next week end we'll probably have another freeze. Nah, it'll wait until everything I have is in bloom, then it'll freeze. I'm having to water all the beds because we're in drought, yes I know, we're only a few inches short of rain for this year. I love the way the weathermen do that. We're only a few inches short for this year, but we ended '05 in negative rainfall and '04 and etc, etc, etc. According to the USDA website, Oklahoma has been in drought emergency for about half the counties for the last four or five years. YAY, the dustbowl is coming back. That was a real fun time in history for those in my profession.

I took Kathy to the dentist this afternoon, yecchhh. I don't know how anybody can be a dentist. I love Kathy, still don't want to spend a couple of hours with my hands in her mouth! Then we went to Target to get her scripts filled. Is it just me or do these places have a racket going? We got in there and the pharmacy was closed fro lunch, so we shopped for about thirty minutes. We turned her scripts in and then shopped for another twenty minutes or so. Two prescriptions and we spent $100, well, ok, slight exaggeration. But we bought more than we would have at the old time pharmacy where it was drugs and a lunch counter. Well, the good thing I got chocolate. It's always a good shopping day when you get chocolate.

Well, my CADD class starts tomorrow night. I was just about to call and get a refund when they called last week and told me it was on. So that's two nights a week that Kathy doesn't have to put up with me. Lucky for her, but think about the fifteen or twenty people that have to be in class with me. Now you don't think it's so funny, huh. Especially if you're one of the twenty (insert maniacal laughter here).

TTFN Wayne

Ps. Susan reminded me that there is information going around about formosan termites in mulch coming out of New Orleans. The info I have been able to get from professors at OSU/OKC is that while there is a problem it is not as big as is being reported. One of the keys is to use a mulch that termites don't like. I use either cedar or (preferred) cypress.

Article for Susan.

2006-03-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is a reprint from the other blog. I'm going to place it here because I can add the pictures into the blog itself.

This is the article I wrote for Susan's newsletter. A little long, but what the heck.

Top Twenty Trees and Shrubs
(My Article, My Choice)
Wayne Rucker
Trees and shrubs are the backbones of the residential landscape. The materials that the rest of the landscape will be designed around. So it is a good idea to put a little thought into your choices. The problem is that everyone you ask has a different opinion. So just to add to the confusion I decided to offer this list of my favorites to Susan for her newsletter.
Trees and shrubs in bareroot or balled-in-burlap should only be planted when they are in dormancy. Trees and shrubs in container can be planted any time the ground can be worked. Dig the hole three to five times the width of the root ball, and the same depth (a little more shallow in heavy clay). Place the plant in the hole and straighten it up. Replace the native soil, firming as you go, and fill to the soil line of the root ball. It is usually a good idea to stake a tree on the north and south, we live in Oklahoma, after all, and the wind is impressive. Water. Mulch the plant well. Enjoy.
Arbor day (or week) for Oklahoma is the last full week of March, the 19th through the 25th. National Arbor Day is April 28th.
Trees
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) 50 to 80 feet tall, 20 to 30 feet spread (large tree) The first year I plant these trees for a client, I can almost be sure that I'll get a call in the fall that their tree is dying. Most people assume they are evergreen, but while they are conifers, they are deciduous (lose their foliage in the fall). However, before they lose their foliage, they give a color show that has to be seen to be believed. The very fine needle like foliage turns a beautiful rust and stays for several weeks before it falls. A friend of mine in the business hates Bald Cypress because the leaves tend to form a mat on the ground under the trees, but I'm a big believer in mulch and natural nutrient replacement and Cypress are great at this. As the mat forms under the trees, (yes you may have to rake them back under there, we do live in Oklahoma, after all) it smothers any weeds that even think of sprouting, hold in the water and keep the soil warmer in the winter. Bald Cypress do need a lot of room and planted where they will receive full sun.
Caddo Maple (Acer saccharum 'Caddo') 60 to 80 ft tall, 40 to 60 ft spread (large tree) Make sure that you get a Caddo maple. Sugar maples from the northeast U.S. are very short lived in our climate but Caddos are native to the southwestern part of Oklahoma and, as you can imagine, are very drought tolerant (when established). Slow growing, but with beautiful fall color, allow it plenty of space to grow into a mature shade tree.

Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis) 30 to 40 feet tall, 25 to 35 feet spread (medium sized tree) This is one of the best trees ever planted in the state of Oklahoma or anywhere else. Highly adaptable, able to take drought (once established), tolerant of alkaline soils and watering, and beautiful fall color. This is a perfect street tree. The male cultivars are slightly less messy, though the birds are usually happy to eat the metallic red or blue berries that come from the female flowers.

Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli) 20 to 30 ft tall, 25 to 35 ft spread (medium tree) Four seasons of interest, early summer flowers becoming long lasting dark red berries that are loved by the birds, vibrant crimson fall color, a wonderful plant. One of the pluses for me are the curved thorns, 1 ½ to 3 inches long. A great plant for security planting. If you decide to use this tree in a hedgerow, be sure and plant it where no one will accidentally brush by it, people that try to get through it on their own deserve what they get.

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) 15 to 30 ft tall, 15 to 25 ft spread (medium tree) Easily established, drought tolerant (when established), lavender summer flowers, gray-green foliage, interesting bark texture. Somewhat hard to find locally, but well worth the hunt.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) 46 to 60 ft tall, 20 to 40 ft spread (large tree) Often referred to as a living fossil, ginkgo hasn't changed for 150 million years (or, it is just like God created it, my own personal opinion). The seeds of ginkgo are a delicacy in its native China but are surrounded by a rancid, strong-smelling covering that makes a slimy mess as it decomposes. Make sure you get a male cultivar, as a matter of fact in some areas, it is illegal to plant female trees, but so far that hasn't happened in Oklahoma yet. Picturesque form, bright yellow fall color, and interesting leaf shape. An altogether wonderful tree.

Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora) 40 to 60 ft tall, 40 to 60 ft spread (large tree) Another tree that needs to be placed close to enjoy. And even better if you plant a multi-trunk specimen. Needs some care to establish since pines like acid soil and Oklahoma is mostly alkaline, but well worth the trouble to start. Very drought tolerant (once established) and a very well behaved and elegant tree. The bark exfoliates to reveal a trunk made up of about a jillion shades of red to orange (yeah, I didn't realize there were that many shades until I saw my first Japanese Red Pine either).

Lacebark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) 40 to 60 ft tall, 30 to 40 ft spread (large tree) A tree that needs to be given room but also needs to be enjoyed close up. An elegant shade tree, the true glory is the exfoliating bark that begins fairly young in the tree's life and just gets better with age. The bark flakes away to reveal a rainbow of colors. Drought tolerant when established, accepting of less than ideal conditions and, so far, apparently resistant to Dutch Elm disease.

Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardi) 80 to 100 ft tall, 50 to 60 ft spread (large tree) One of the best oaks for Oklahoma. Tolerates clay soil, tolerates alkaline soil (doesn't like it, but tolerant), beautiful red-orange fall color. For all those who planted Pin oaks and are unhappy, pull them out and plant a Shumard. If you want an oak for shade and looks, plant a Shumard. Anywhere you have room, plant a Shumard!

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandifolia) 20 to 60 ft tall, to 50 ft spread (large tree) Sometimes a little hard to establish in Oklahoma, especially in newer areas, needs acidic soil and plenty of room. But the flowers make up for the trouble and the beautiful form takes me back to my childhood. Evergreen. Little Gem is a smaller and more narrow cultivar that still has the flowers and scent of the parent plant.

Shrubs
Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) 6 ft tall, 5 ft spread (medium shrub) In spring the flowers sent out a heavenly scent. In summer, the leaves are a medium green that makes a wonderful backdrop for annuals and perennials. But in the fall, after leaf drop, beautyberry comes into its name. The fruit of the beautyberry is a small metallic purple berry that covers the stems, drawing eyes and birds alike.

Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) 6 to 20 ft tall, 6 to 15 ft spread (large shrub, small tree) For some reason, I can't grow a butterfly bush, but the chaste tree is a wonderful substitute. It flowers all summer long, the flowers attract more butterflies than you can count and when you limb the plant up it adds the most interesting architectural advantage.

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) 8 inches to 25 ft tall, variable spread, (small shrub to medium tree) Everyone knows the crape myrtle. Beautiful summer flowers, interesting bark, good fall color, drought tolerant (when established), no pests. What's not to love? Now you can find all sizes and a rainbow of colors.

Redtwig dogwood (Cornus alba) 10 ft tall, 10 ft spread (medium shrub) Redtwig dogwood comes into its own in the winter. Yes the leaves are beautiful, yes the flowers are attractive, yes the berries draw birds. But in the winter you see those amazing red stems and if you are lucky enough to have a sleet storm it will have an architectural interest to beat anything else. And besides what do you have to do after a sleet storm anyway? You don't want to get out on the roads! Kesselringii cultivar has dark purple, almost black stems and red and purple fall color.

Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) 8 to 10 ft tall, 3 to 5 ft spread (medium shrub) Blooms all summer long, and you can pick your color! Reds, pinks, whites, bi-colors, close to blue and some talk of true blues coming, though I haven't seen one. Drought tolerant (once established), flower litter may be a slight problem on pavements, but all together a wonderful plant.

Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum rufidulum) 15 to 18 ft tall, 15 to 20 ft spread (large shrub, medium tree) This is one of my favorite natives. Somewhat hard to find in the trade, but one of the best viburnums you'll ever see. Good wildlife tree, fragrant flowers, blue-black berries, wine-red fall color. Tough and hardy.

Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana) 6 ft tall, 4 ft spread (medium shrub) If you have ever planted boxwood and were disappointed (because of spider mites, winter dieback, and don't get me started on that smell) sweetbox is your answer. It does well in shade, grows slowly (so plant on the close side of the spread but less maintenance) and in the early spring, the small unnoticeable flowers will release their violet scent and make you fall in love.

Trifoliate Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) 15 to 25 ft tall, 10 to 15 ft spread (large shrub, small tree) One of my particular favorites, especially the Flying Dragon cultivar, which has twisting stems. Trifoliate orange is the only citrus that is hardy in Oklahoma. The flowers in spring have the distinctive orange blossom scent and the fruit is attractive to birds and squirrels, once they figure it out. The branches are armed with very sharp spines which make this an excellent plant for security plantings. As with all spined plants, limit human contact, and believe me, you'll want to limit pruning to only the necessary.
Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) 10 ft tall, 10 ft spread (medium shrub) This is a great shrub if you have some place where it can ramble. The height and spread numbers are somewhat misleading since it colonizes and fills any available space. When I told my dean at OSU/OKC that I had winter jasmine he got excited and wanted some. I went out and dug half a dozen sprigs out of the mulch and now the greenhouse has 20 or 30 pots of it! Blooms in winter all over bare stems with the true jasmine scent, a bright yellow reminder that spring is coming sooner or later.
Witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra) 15 ft tall, 15ft spread (large shrub) Witch hazel is not often planted in this area, and I'm not sure why. Flowers in late winter (usually January in Oklahoma) and profusely, and they smell great. Sandra has new leaves in purple and in fall the leaves turn red, yellow and purple.

Susan's orders

2006-03-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

Susan wants me to post to Blogger so she can send people here. Her wish is my command, and if you know how scary Susan is you will understand why that is. If you don't know Susan, why the heck are you here this early anyway?

A little about myself. I am married with six children and eight grandchildren. I am a landscaper working mostly on residential properties for about the last eight or nine years. A few years ago, I was working on a landscape for a woman who's husband was a retired engineer. I spent more time explaining my design to him than it took me to conceptualize and draw it. That was when I decided that I needed to find out exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Since then I have been a student at Oklahoma State University/Oklahoma City and in the fall I transfer to Oklahoma State at Stillwater to complete my degree in Public Horticulture.

I've always been a plant nut. My dad had a vegetable garden when I was growing up and my mother always had flower gardens. You sometimes wonder how the heck you find your way through but let's face it, if anyone had told me when I was growing up that I would be in school and looking at several more years and with a goal of a Master's or Doctorate in poseys I would have called them crazy. Everybody would have called them crazy. Let's face it, I looked like the person who was going to not only finish school the first time but probably finish it early. Looks are deceiving. It is never too late to do what you have to do. Sounds trite, I know, but it is true.

I am a good student, partly because let's face it, I'm brilliant, but mostly because I don't try anymore to fight the facts. A student's job is to listen to the professor and give him or her back what they want. That's not to say you don't think for yourself, you have to learn how to learn. But you don't try to prove the professor wrong everytime you open your mouth either. This is partially self-defense folks, if my dream comes true I will either be working as an educator in a public garden or a university someday and I don't want everybody arguing with me.

Anyway... My plan for this thing is to post stuff about my life, my work, and my beliefs and feelings. I'll try to give ideas about plants and garden design and if anyone has ideas on what I need to talk about feel free to load it on. I will try to give factual material but let's face it, most of it is going to be my opinion. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Wayne