4.20.2013

Last week when we were at Country Boys, D and I couldn't help but notice they had a few Hosta varieties out. It reminded us of a time a few years ago when we visited a local Hosta nursery, Daylilies and Hosta Garden. D offered to take me back.... I wasn't going to say No, that's for sure! Today was a beautiful day for the trip, really sunny and on the coolish side of spring.

The Hosta were so pretty and the names are always amusing to read. I was hoping to see a Marilyn Monroe, I've wanted one in my collection for a while - her ruffles are so pretty - but they didn't have one.

The last Hosta I bought from here was one of the small varieties, called Abby. I've been very pleased with how it has done. We decided to get another small variety and selected Blue Mouse Ears.

The other variety I purchased on our last visit, sieboldiana samurai, has yet to come up this year. I hope it's okay and hasn't died because I really love its color variation. Which is why I picked my second selection, June. June has all three colors in her leaves - yellow, green and 'blue'. So if Samurai has died, I will at least have a similar look. June is supposed to have a long season, she doesn't die off mid-summer, and I'm looking forward to that.

On our way home we stopped by Lowes to pick up two more bags of mulch. They had some really gorgeous flowers there - I picked up some Gerberas that were a lovely coral color and Poppies that were nearly the same shade. I have never been able to grow Poppies for very long but I just love them, they're so elegant! They will be nice color in the Winged Friends garden until the Lilies have come out.

4.16.2013

Juicing has really changed the areas of the grocery store I visit most often. I head right for the produce section - and that's a great feeling! Mangos for 99 cents - alright! But it also presents a logistical problem in where do I store the fruits and veggies until time to juice? Not all of them like to be in the fridge. And the fridge only holds so much as well...

So we were in Kohl's the other weekend (where else?), shopping a wedding registry for one of D's cousins, and I looked at the servingware in the Kitchen department. Over the next few days an idea begin to form - I could use that for fruit - that's the ticket. So I brought it up to D and we went to Kohl's again to check it out. It happened to be a Friday evening, when they mark things down, and it was reduced. I also had a 20% off coupon. So, it came home with us. I think it looks quite lovely. Very elegant. Now I need the kitchen to go with it!

4.14.2013

The Upstate was so beautiful yesterday. D and I decided to visit CountryBoys nursery - they always have such nice herb and veggie starts. We did not have a garden last year - our yard has become too shady for decent vegetables but when they cleared the lot next to us for the Habitat house, they took several trees down, so we decided to give it another go.

 

The herb garden that we installed several years ago was in sad, sad shape. The terra cotta pots were deteriorating. The lips and outside layers were falling off. Dozens of baby trees had started growing from all the acorns the squirrels had buried. And the Rosemary, which was the only herb to really thrive, was out of control - it was larger than some of our shrubbery.

We priced replacement pots at the place that usually has the cheapest terra cotta - Walmart - because terra cotta is an eco-friendly, sustainable material. However, their plastic pots were half the price and so we deferred to our wallets.

Before

After

 

This year we are growing: Rosemary (of course), Oregano, Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, Tarragon, Peppermint and Lemongrass. We chose the herbs we use most in our recipes and then mint and lemongrass for tea. It was interesting deciding which herbs went into which color pot. D took the logical route - peppermint should be in a red pot because candy cane stripes are red - of course!

In our second large bed we have tomato varieties: Goliath, Parks Whopper and Carolina Gold along with cucumber plants on the right. Tomato cages and the Cuke Trellis will come later after they've grown a bit.  We also have some cherry tomatoes  in our hanging baskets: Sweet Million and Tumbling Tom (both red and yellow).

  

We planted zucchini in one of the smaller beds. D saved the second small bed for beans - we need to get some seeds.

Next up, the "Winged Friends" garden. It's definitely overgrown and it has a monster dandelion growing in it. But not today, I am finished! The absolute best thing about working in the garden beds is the shower afterwards! Definitely.

4.13.2013

D pointed out today that I had not blogged at all in 2013. Is the blog dead? No. I just haven't felt very much like blogging. It's a habit like everything else and I've just gotten out of it.  So, back to it....

Today I was particularly pleased with myself because I drove downtown G'ville by myself. That is HUGE for me. I haven't driven many places all alone and certainly not complicated things like downtown - with all those one-way streets and bike lanes and so many pedestrians. Granted, D and I did a test run last weekend  The GPS was no help whatsoever. "She" didn't indicate the turns until I was already a block past. I don't know if the satellite was having trouble with lag or what. So D was my GPS.  We actually drove my route five or six times so I could drill it into my brain in preparation for today. I never doubt that D loves me because he does things like that and doesn't complain about it or belittle me for my lack of navigational ability. So today I was able to get to my destination and back without getting lost, hooray!

And what was I doing Downtown? I was going to have lunch with my dear friend RidgewayGirl. I have not seen her in forever. And she is moving to Germany soon, so we've been trying to fit in some outings together. During the day is best for her and I haven't been able to manage it with my work demands. RG found out that one of my favorite authors was coming to town. I've read 13 of William Kent Krueger's novels and I actually got her to read the first in the series not too long ago.

WKK was doing a lunch/signing at The Lazy Goat. I arrived nice and early, because I was so paranoid about getting lost, but RG was almost late because she was dropping off her children at friends' houses. We were the last ones to go into the restaurant. To my absolute shock, I was seated right next to WKK!

It's hard to see, but our place names are next to each other.

 He greeted me and shook my hand. I said "I never expected to be seated next to you!" And he said, "Well, we have something in common,  because I didn't know I was going to sit next to you either!"
I was pleased to see how genuinely warm and down-to-earth he was. He said this was the farthest south he had ever done an event and he was beginning to see what the fuss about Southern hospitality was all about. We had the most gorgeous weather - downtown was really resplendent in all it's glory and I was so glad he got to see it on such a pretty day.

Then he signed books. I brought two - his debut novel Iron Lake and then my next favorite, Mercy Falls.  He inscribed both to me in Ojibwe!

Migwech means Thank You and Boozhoo is a greeting.

We were the last in line so he had time for a photo, which his wife took for us. They were such a cute couple and he obviously doted on her.

So nice to be seeing authors again. I told D he had to pick the next one!

12.30.2012

The Consumer and Government Sales Reps (the two divisions I support at work) went in together and got me a beautiful Pashmina scarf for Christmas. I've always admired scarves but haven't worn them very often because I think my neck is too short. However, winter weather makes me set aside my inhibition. I thought I would wear it today to church - it's always cold in our sanctuary anyway!

12.29.2012

We drove into G'ville today to go to the Chevy dealership. Baby has a special chip in her key so we had to have the duplicate made there. The Parts guy was very accommodating. I asked about one of the push buttons on my fob. The icons on two of the buttons are worn off and nothing had ever happened when I pressed the top one. He got out a replacement fob and said it was the Remote Start. What? He gave us our new key and told us to drive Baby over to Service and they would show us how to work it. And they did! So I can crank Baby up on those cold mornings while eating breakfast at the kitchen table! She has to be locked in order to engage the feature, so there's no worry someone will drive off with her. So, lesson learned - even if you buy a used car, a trip to the dealer can be beneficial!

12.23.2012

Baby's got bling!

I've actually had this auto decal for over year. I couldn't resist when I saw it in the SC store in the mall. Anything Starry Night and I plunk down my nickel. I never thought it looked right on the Kia but it looks great on the Chevy. All that black shiny paint just makes it pop.

12.21.2012

It all started as an innocent Christmas gift from a co-worker. A beautiful book.... of Sudoku puzzles.  I've never played Sudoku. I hate math, I flee from numbers. Why would MM ever give me something like this? But determined to be grateful - I read the how-to instructions and worked the first one. Then the second, third and fourth in quick succession. Now I am totally addicted.  I've even downloaded an app for my phone. I feel smart and clever - I'm working number puzzles. It's a new world!

12.16.2012

When D and I were informed back in January that our plant was closing, we knew that meant that we would have to have a second vehicle. We had been blessed with having just one car payment, one insurance payment and buying gas just for one car, but those days were coming to an end. We just hoped that we could get new jobs soon enough that we could use our severance monies to make the purchase. We didn't want to take on another car payment.

We checked out a few websites and classifieds but we were really disappointed with the prices in G'ville. We liked the looks of a Passat we found here in FI and D thought it drove well. When I test drove it several days later though, the 'check engine' light came on and shook our confidence in it.  Knowing that D starts work on Monday really lit a fire under us - getting a second car became a priority - the very top of the To Do list! Yesterday we went out to S'burg to see some cars we found online. We drove a Sunfire only for a tire to go flat on us. We thought, Lord are you giving us signs here, or what?

Then we looked at the 2007 Impala. It was at the very top of the budget we had set - but it has decent mileage for its age (84,000) and it is in good condition. We had to wait awhile before the salesguy gave us the key - for some reason he thought he had already given it to us. But that was fine, it was a  nice day to be out. We had a good test drive. I can see well out of its rear view which, being so short, isn't always the case in late model cars. So we decided it was The One.

We went back to the car lot and the sales guy mentioned he was actually selling it less than the sticker price and he would even take a little more off since he had made us wait.  He said we looked really familiar to him and mentioned that he used to sell cars at Kia of Greer. We said we bought an '04 Optima from there and it turns out he worked there at that same time. It's a small world!

The salesman mentioned that the police fleet uses Impalas now instead of Crown Vics. He warned us that we might notice cars slowing down around us. I certainly don't mind other drivers driving more carefully around us! A good friend at church, a car guy, said it should be a solid vehicle for us. He knows the manager and a few service mechanics at the local Chevy dealership so he gave us their names and encouraged us to drop his name if we ever need anything there. 

I laughed so hard when we decided to purchase the Impala because D and I watch the TV show Supernatural, which features a 1967 black Impala.

Baby, as she is affectionately called, is showcased prominently in the show, nearly a character itself. Fans have composed numerous videos in homage to her. I've begun calling our Impala Baby as well, but D's not so sure that's going to stick...

10.15.2012

I've been a "real" employee for almost a month now - it's starting to sink in. Today they swapped my paper nameplate for an engraved one (my first ever).

My mentor gave me a drink cup with "Consumer Island" on it. That's what we call ourselves, since Consumer is the smallest division and our four-block of cubicles is off by itself. And as my cubicle is Florida-themed, the cup looks fantastic!

 

And my fellow Islanders gave me a lucky bamboo. It's the traditional gift around the Center. Nearly every desk has a bamboo on it, I kid you not. So, the bamboo meant that I had truly arrived.

I was just thankful to get a paycheck and benefits, but the little things mean a lot too.