Thursday's Things......

You know that the winter is getting to be long when one single white begonia bloom catches my eye.

My wife made fresh bread in the machine.  They really have created a device that makes great bread with little trouble.  We need a low salt diet and homemade bread does allow you to make less salty bread.  There does have to be some salt in it or the yeast doesn't work as well.

When I planted this bonsai tray with the small green plants, I had surrounded the area with four rocks.  The rocks were neat to see.  As you can see, the plants have crowded out the rocks.  If I wait long enough I could see the plant push them right out of the planter.  I will replace these plants as someone at school is bringing me a collection of small cacti.

I am an English teacher again today as the one who taught it went home ill.  Colds with strep throat seems to be moving through the school.  This is a hazard filled job.

Thanks for stopping today.

Blue On Blue.........

Blue on blue was a song in the 60's but I couldn't remember the rest of the song.  I was unemployed today so I spent the day working in the gallery getting my wife's work ready for shipping.  She had a painting of a fox that she had done that a customer was interested in buying. Once she saw two others that were available she asked to purchase all three fox paintings.  I had to get them matted and boxed and they went out this afternoon heading to California. It was a complete sales job via the internet and it does work well for my wife in selling her artwork.

I also had some work to do getting mats on three of her portrait commissions. I will have to go back to the store to buy moulding in order to make frames for those.

We are wanting to get to Chicago to see our grandson but the weekend weather seems to be not cooperating this weekend.  We have three different versions about the weekend weather and one of them says the rain is going to turn into snow.  Maybe next weekend it will be sunny and warm.

Thanks for stopping by today.

ps.   Blue on blue, heartache on heartache
Blue on blue now that we are through
Blue on blue, heartache on heartache
And I find I can't get over losing you

Red It Is For Today......

Red is a great color.  The mood it projects is of energy, maybe strength and warmtht.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Looking For Other White Stuff......

As I looked through my files to find things that I haven't posted, I found posting more snow pictures difficult to do.  So I searched through just one of my archived picasa files and found some different kinds of white to share today.

A mild coating of ice was on things today but no new snow in our area.  It is about two counties away from us north of here and it isn't too heavy of a storm amount wise so far.  

I am back in the high school History room today and this should be my last one in here for a while.  The teacher is to fly back in this evening and if that doesn't happen, I will have to return.  I am scheduled to me a middle school math teacher tomorrow.

It seems like it was a short weekend but there will be another one coming in five days.  Take care and thanks for stopping by today.

Tom Tom.......

An archived photo of our porch cat.  He is there at the door for breakfast every morning and ready for an afternoon snack when someone notices that he is out there.  I looked at a book about cats at the bookstore yesterday.  It said that cats that are raised in the house talk to you and cats that are in the wild don't really talk with you.  I know this guy was raised in the neighbor's house as a kitten and yes he just talks to us.  I also know that they keep him inside when the weather is really bad, but in most days  he just lives outside on our porch or their porch.

Tom Tom had some soft food from the can the other day and he didn't leave the porch for two days.  He really liked that kind of food. I am sure he has never had anything but dry food most of his life.

Trying to take it easy today on Sunday.  We have another snowstorm coming our way starting tonight late.  I hope the storming part is mild and we just get the snow and we can move on with a normal day.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Restoring the collection......

I have posted a few months back about my severe loss of so many African violets.  I was really disappointed in losing so many of them.  At the time of the loss I did have many leaves, ( slips) of them in a container being used to create new starts.  This is one of those starts from over a year ago which is  doing well.  I had a November post showing these plants being small and in pathetic condition but they were alive. Now four months late, after they were placed in new larger pots, this is what I have going on now.

I had so many transplants to plant that I ran out of flower pots.  I used this bowl shaped container that with a flower shop of  plants in it and it worked out well.   When I placed them in the bowl they were small and I really didn't know if the watering of them would be successful. I thought things would either dry out too fast or I would over water them because there isn't drainage with this container.

I have kept a piece of plastic over them from an old bag cut to make a tent cover.  It lays loosely over it and it keeps all the surface area of the soil in the pot from drying out and does act like a mini greenhouse.  It would be neat to leave them all in there until they bloom but I think they will now have to be placed into individual pots. 

Click below if you want to see the second stage from leaf starts to the repotting stage from back in Novemeber.

A previous posting back in November of last year showing the starting of the repotting process.

Here I am  back at stage one when I first put the plant leaves in the soil.  I had left these starts in the container way too long as you can see in my November post. 

Here is the close up that I had shared in an earlier blog probably a year ago.  I have a new set started now but I don't have evidence of new growth right now.

My next things to plant now will be tomatoes for this summer.  I wasn't going to mess with it anymore as we had such a bad tomato crop last year but I did change my mind.  I found two packets of leftover seed one of roma tomatoes and the other a beefsteak variety. I know I can buy plants in the spring that would be bigger and stronger.  I just won't have any money to put out for them, all I have to do is plant them, water them, and then see what  happens.

It is a quiet Saturday.  We were going to go see the new grandson in Chicago today, but after talking to or son in the middle of the week we thought we should wait for another weekend.  Mom and dad and AJ made it home on Thursday and the new parents and son need to get adjusted together at home.  We are so anxious to see him but we will wait.  It will be a long distance grandchild but we will try to go and stay in the summer to get to know him better.

Thank you for your loyal visits to my post.  Have a great weekend.

Friday's Findings........

The Austrian  pines are loaded down more than usual this time.  I noticed my Japanse yews are almost flat to the ground from the heavy snow on Wednesday.

The one yew shrub shown here isn't as low as it is right now.  I was out doing the garbage detail and looked over to see it very flattened down to the ground.

A giant change in theme today is the sharing of this little whistle.  I ran across him while digging through my toy cupboard.  At one time I had a display at school next to my art room of art from around the world.  I had a lot of old things to put in the window made from many different countries.

This little guy I picked up at a shop that sells international items.  I am sure he was made in China out of redware clay but he did represent a South American style.  I had him in the display with plates from different countries and wood carvings from Africa and Madagascar. Painted glass vases from Italy and other bowls and cups from  around the world.

 I also displayed a woven hanging depicting Jesus and some sheep.  It was created in the 1920's before China turned into the Mao era.  Aunt Maime was a missionary in Madagascar back then and did some traveling to China.

This little guy has two different holes that let you change the sounds of the working whistle as you blow into it.


Whatever place in the world he was made, he still has a great folk art, South American design.

I did count fingers and they are the right number.  I like his face and the two feathers painted on his hat. I really can't tell what is at his mouth.  Maybe it is a windblown instrument.















I am gainfully employed today in the High School social studies room.  We are going to work in Sociology, Early World, U.S. History and the Modern World.  It is seven classes in all with the three of the classes being taught twice in the day.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope everyone is doing well and the weather, whatever it is, isn't getting you down.