BTW

There are new pics on the Baby Blog---------->

Wow!

LOL...I've been at THE STORE for less than a week, and already feel very welcome and useful. I'm tickled by the great people there, and the team effort involved in getting ready for May. On Friday night, I left to get some supper before the truckload of plants arrived, and accidentally took a walkie-talkie with me. We found that I can use it from my kitchen!

There's lots to be done outside yet, but it's been raining since Friday. (Large jardinieres are slippery when they're wet!) Still, we'll get out there today again--clearing some benches and merchandising others...and guess what? I GET TO LEARN HOW TO DRIVE A BOBCAT!!! (Talk about long-term ambitions being realized, huh? I can feel the waves of envy from Chicago and Winona...lol)

I took pictures in the annuals house yesterday, and then slipped the camera into my raincoat pocket and forgot it....did you know damp cameras aren't happy cameras? If and when it dries out, I'll post pics for you, promise.

.........................................................
LATER:
Hooray: with fresh batteries and a day to dry out, the camera is working again...lucky, lucky YOU:

Saturday morning, we started working on displaying the annuals in the greenhouse.
(We unloaded Friday night in 45 minutes, so pansies and cabbage ended up next to each other on the shelves...) Here, we've started to group by color.




Along the left side of the greenhouse, we placed fuchsia, purple, white, red, burgandy and bright yellow--it's absolutely breathtaking!





Along the right, we started with light red, then salmon, soft yellows, soft blues and lavendars and then about 20 shades of pink...









Ok, here's the BRIGHT side again, but looking toward the entrance: yellow, burgandy, red, white, purple, fuchsia...Cool, huh?










Ahh, I can HEAR you inquire: "So, umm, what did you put down the middle, then?"
Ha! That's where all the green plants are hanging, and the mixed-color flats are on the shelves. Stop in and see!

The Red Wheelbarrow

(Daud's favorite springtime poem)
by William Carlos Williams

so much depends upon
a red wheelbarrow
glazed with rainwater
beside the white chickens.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I've always taken for granted that things'll fall into place at the right time in my life. When I'm "daunted" in one direction and feel forced to change, I always look back and see that it was actually not a roadblock but just what I needed.

I tried to be a salesperson--I was ok at it, but there was no joy involved. I know there are people who thrive on sales, but to me, it seemed like an endless road with no destination, only constant plodding.

Now I see that maybe I just needed to mark time for a month, until this better job ** could be posted!
(For someone who stuck to the same job for 38 years, lasting only a month seemed flippant. But I'm even more amazed that I have NO regrets about leaving.)

When I left the flower shop, I started looking for a new job "related to floral". I thought it might be as a company rep for silks or paint...extending something I know into something more. When the BFW job came along, I saw "design consultant" as just that...using what I already know in a different way. But design turned out to be an insignificant part of the job, though the people were wonderful....so I moved on. It's as simple as that.


LOL...both of you already know about the new job, but for that one person who came here for the poem and just kept reading: I get to keep Ephemeral Florist legitimately...I'll be working for a landscape company less than a mile from here. They want to increase retail sales, along with what they already offer in landscaping and service. It's a small enthusiastic company of very cool people, and I start tomorrow morning! Hooray!

Singing bunnies

Some would say it doesn't take much to entertain me, and Some would probably be right.
SEE WHAT YOU THINK
;^)

Mmmmm!

In my frontyard flowerbed, I have thousands of volunteer 'garlic chive' plants, self-seeded from the big clump across the driveway:











(At least, that's what I call 'em--flat glossy leaves, lavender blossoms, tastes like garlic if you think "garlic"-- otherwise, typical oniony flavor).

Anyway, I found a gardening blog today, with a recipe for pasta and green garlic, which is just new garlic shoots, like green onions, ya know? So, since I didn't have the foresight to plant garlic last fall, I used those chive shoots! Hot damn, what a great taste, and the house smells WONDERFUL...

(ahem...it's 5 hours later and I can STILL taste those chives. Ok, so maybe I used too many?...lol)

Son as a Daddy

KQ is smiling these days, and particularly at her Mom and Dad who both have infectious smiles--the kid has no choice...lol

Evening in Paris

When I was a kid and somehow came into Big Bucks (allowance was a dime a week in 1956), we'd walk three blocks to Latzka's Variety and buy treasures, like weirdly realistic baby ducks, or caps for the cap gun, or toy watches....and once in awhile, a tiny cobalt blue bottle of Evening in Paris Cologne.
Back then, it was a quarter.
Over the years, I've been reminded ocassionally of that sweet smell....and wondered if it was still available?
YES, IT IS, but at a considerably higher price.

Hmph. I didn't like it THAT much.

Odd things

This morning, I noticed something strange here in my office. I know how much you like diagrams, so here's an illustration of the phenonemon, ok?




(Click for full impact...lol)

I always expect that the radio cord acts as a sort of antenna for the radio, right?
Well, when I'm charging my cel phone, the radio reception is just fine--no static--in the position shown above. (Honest, my life IS interesting, really!)









BUT....when I'm NOT charging the cel (see above), the radio reception sucks. Pretty amazing, huh?Don't you just love the pecularities of our world?

Six weeks old already

Here's a teaser picture from today...see more on the Baby Blog----->

Smileys gettin' to ya?

;^) ? Here's a site that explains all those cute icons you can type--with PICTURES that translate for you...lol

BTW, I'm going to see the baby later...stay tuned for new pictures, ok?

Fascinating

Wow--here's a VERY INTERESTING website, described as a "Color Portrait of the English Language". Click on the words and see what happens.
COOL, huh?

How cool is this, huh?

Timely news:

This will happen only once: On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after one in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
This will happen only twice: On Tuesday, June 6th your clock may display something like this: 06:06 06/06/06.

(Lifted whole from J-Walk Blog)

A bit of nostalgia

Here's a page of ADVERTISING JINGLES from your youth. It's amazing that something so trivial is collected by someone AND that we can access it on the web and sing along....lol