I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Grandchildren Megan and Nicholas have always helped with garden art for our gardens in previous years during spring breaks or Easter vacation. This year with the super late cold spring I may have to write a job description for hubby Dennis to help out. The potting shed is so ready to be emptied of its treasures.
. . . I couldn’t. Just a week ago today we mowed our yards for the first time. Today the sun came out and we decided to do the yards before we got more rain. I use my push mower for our original lot (50′ x 260′). By the time the area of the house, garage, patios and gardens come out of that area it is very doable. Today, I could not push my mower through the thick tall grass in the front yard. I tried a half swat and still the mower bogged down and my heels were dug in and my butt cheeks were taut. Dennis came from the backyards with the rider and mowed the front lawn and I proceeded to rake it afterwards. This is what four inches of rain will do with cool weather. Gee, I hate to see what temps in the 60 degree range will bring about for mowing. Dennis said even in the backyards with the multi-blade rider it was impossible to take a full swat.
Spring always feels good when you
can get your fingernails dirty.
With additional rain this weekend that is now measuring more than 4 inches over the last week, planting can no longer wait. I so rely on the perennials to fill in areas in the gardens, but nothing beats annuals for color that continues all season.
In time past Johnny Hill’s Standard Gas Station on Highways 212 and 4 in Hector always had garden art items for sale. I had seen planters when Dennis and I were traveling through Pella, Iowa, in residential yards that really struck my fancy. They gave lot of color in a concentrated. Lo and behold Johnny carried the planters.
When we decided to have a patio poured, the base of the Johnny Hill planter was worked into the original pour. We started out with Geraniums and as time went on if you did not pluck each and every spent bloom they would stop blooming. Actually, sometimes they took a break from blooming whenever they felt like it. At $3.99 to $4.99 per Geranium — and we needed thirteen pots for the planter — Dennis and I started looking for different plants. We took a chance on wax begonias that had the red leaves. 
“No, no, they don’t like full sun.” Ha! They loved the full sun and we have stuck with them each year thereafter. They are reasonably priced. For approximately $2.00 a pot we have a full season of blooms. They may start out as plants that barely come to the top of the pot, but as time goes on it becomes a tower of beauty. My choice of potting soil is the Miracle Grow that has the moisture granules mixed in with the potting soil.
The temps have been really cool for this time in the planting year, but today I had to get the pots started so they would be able to rest a bit before being plunked into the stand. By the time I was done with the 13 pots the temps had dropped even lower and I could see my breath. The pots will definitely stay in the garage for several days as the night temps are just not worth taking the chance of setting the plants back to the degree that it would take a long time for them to recover. It felt great to get the work area cleaned up and warm the hands. Now it is “hurry up and wait” for the plants to get some warm sun on them so they can grow and fill in the pots with blooms. Oh yes, I am happy, happy, happy.
Officially it was Mother’s Day today the 11th of May 2014. Every day is Mother’s Day in my world. It’s not possible for me to go through any portion of any day and not have my children in my thoughts and prayers. It’s a great investment of my time.
Over these last several weeks I had been ask to several events where bringing gifts was implied. At the bridal shower there were gifts of candles, fancy serving dishes and gift cards. My gift was a set of crocheted pot holders, a crocheted scrubby, several hand towels that could be buttoned onto a drawer pull and an embroidered dish towel. At the great grandson’s first birthday today there were a bazillion toys requiring batteries and toys to push and toys to pull. My gift was a large bath towel that I had sewn into a hooded bath towel using a wash cloth sewn into one of the corners.
Traditionalist or fuddy duddy? Perhaps neither. I fancy giving gifts of utility.
Huddle time in the cold Koi pond. Dennis has numbers under his plastic ducks. When Megan and Nicholas are here for a visit they pick a duck for a specific treat. Hey, it works at local fairs.
A friend came over for tea this afternoon. I didn’t have much of variety on hand but we made do. The friend has a fourteen year old daughter. As we were visiting I couldn’t help but think that in three and a half years granddaughter Megan may be experiencing some of the same things that my friend’s daughter is experiencing or is exposed to. Wonder of wonder.
In times past our family took care of the South Branch Lutheran Church grounds including the cemetery. During the May Memorial season I empathize with all caretakers of cemeteries for the amount of items put on graves with little thought about whether they will stay where they were put or taking for granted the caretaker will move the memorials – mow the grass and then replace items that are out beyond the base of the stone. It does become a challenge when the appearance of the cemetery reflects upon the caretaker.
It was time to get re-acquainted with Lorraine. Lorraine worked for me in the mid 1980s as an assessment clerk in the Watonwan County Assessor’s office. She left employment to be a stay-at-home mom in 1990. We totally lost touch.
We both are now grandmothers and Lorraine is a widow. I had picked up on a random Facebook post of a friend of a friend that it was her birthday last week and decided to pick up the phone and bring the west side of town occupant to our home on the east side of town. Plans to have coffee on the patio went by the way side when the winds picked up and the mid 50 degree temps felt cool.
Lots of chit chat and a pot of coffee brought us up to date with each other. It came about from acting on a thought. Priceless.
Lush and heavy and it warranted raking.
The mowing season for 2014 is on.