pics of my workplace

These are some pics of the sales area, the tacky little sign I made for the "special plant" area and the orchids I take care of. One day I'll buy a real digital camera for better pictures. Right after I buy a real computer to process them on.
All I have left to finish is putting out all the price signs, which should take the whole damn day. Then, I'm going to get wild anf funky this weekend. Well, after I go to my nephew's fiancees bridal shower,zzzzzz.

warning-boring post

Well, after the walk on the wild side things have calmed down a bit. My week so far in a nutshell...
Sunday night - karaoke
Monday night -stayed home and made haloes, got all of 8 made
Tuesday - went out to my truck to leave for work to discover the "midnight rambler" had left the sunroof open all night and consequently my driver's seat and the entire floor had an inch of water on them. Left car windows open all day to air dry. Nothing like that "rain-fresh" scent. Took Rosie for a 2 mile walk, then came back and took Roxie for a mile walk.
Wednesday - spent the day creatively making a sow's ear of a nursery into a silk purse of a garden center. If I can remember to take my little cheap 1mg camera to work tomorrow, I'll try to snap some pics. Tonight I have no clue if I feel like going out or not, but it is hair washing night. (Some people freak that I only wash it once a week, but these are the sdame folks that say they are jealous of my thick, strong hair. Hard to tell them that while cleanliness may be next to Godliness, overwashing just strips the natural oils right out.)

Okay, THAT was stupid

So let me lay down the background to today's adventure.....

Ten years or so ago, the nursery used to encompass 50 acres. It has a couple of ponds and there were trails that ran all through it. I lived in the house that used to be there and was a caretaker for the greenhouses. I was comfortable there and never felt unsafe walking through the back 40 day or night. (Though at night I usually had Big dog with me.)

I had to move for political reasons, and the back 40 was sold to the township government with the intent they would make it a park. However, the 10 million the township needs to do such is not forthcoming anytime soon, so the old nursery has become overgrown and kinda creepy.

Forward to present.....
The next floral display is going to have a "water" theme, with ponds and bogs and muck. This is the first time we have tried anything like this, so it's a learning experience. The duckweed we ordered from the supplier was mostly dead,stinky and unusable. I remembered the old ponds used to be covered with it in the summer, so after lunch I took a hike through the old nursery.
( I should mention here that it was very hot today and I decided I would wear shorts to work. I rarely, if ever wear shorts to work,but I did today)
I had no trouble getting back to the ponds, and happily discovered the smaller one covered with the duckweed I needed. Carefully picking my way through the poison ivy covered bank, I crept down towards the water between a small group of shrubs. I was examining the aforementioned aquatic flora, when I heard a noise. I looked up and saw a very creepy looking 17-18 year guy riding through on his bike. Luckily he didn't see me.
I don't know why, but something inside me screamed "danger,hide-sneak back to the nursery stay off the old road" I think because the back 40 isn't really the best route for someone riding a bike to get from point A to point B and the fact that he was creepy looking.
Anyhoo- like I said, I used to live there and knew all the side paths that cut through the old tree plots. I felt I could make it back to the greenhouses without being seen. I knew it would probably be a bit hard to weave through the poison ivy, but I weighed the consequence of ending up itching versus ending up mugged or worse. The ivy won, and I started trekking.
The damn township hasn't cut any grass in the back field for years. When the city had it the neighbor's would call and complain if it got above a foot, but now that it's their taxes paying to mow it, they've kinda shut up, and it has grown chest high.
As I plodded along, burrs stuck to my socks. But the worst was the blackberry brambles that haven't really taken hold yet, but are high enough to reach my bared thighs.
I got back to the greenhouses safely. Luckily I keep a spare set of clothes in my locker, so I washed down with TechNu and put on my poison ivyless clothes. About an hour later I looked down at my legs to discover they are covered in scratches and stinging nettle rash.

The show opens in a few days,and I still need to get duckweed. But next time I'm taking my dogs with me......and wearing jeans.

thank God it's Monday

What a weekend, glad it's over so I can go back to work and slow down.

Friday - went to funeral service for former co-worker who passed away from cancer. She was my "work Mom". Always gave me advice, whether I wanted it or not. Usually, it was good.
It was nice to see almost 200 people there. I had no idea this woman touched so many lives, but I should have known.

Late Friday - went to karaoke and had a blast.

Saturday - not much during the day, laundry,mowing etc. Nighttime went to a party at my boss's house and got p-lastered. Hubby even went with me. Stayed until 2 a.m.

Sunday - woke up with hangover, but no headache until Hubby told me he "might have backed into someone's car leaving" Spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching tv.

Monday morning- got phone call from boss. Yup, her son's girlfriend's car was the victim. Front end damage from Hubby's huge pick'em up's tow hitch. He didn't even see her little black Honda de soliel, thought he hit a curb. Apologized to boss profusely who said "Shit happens, that's why we pay for insurance." I like my boss, she's so cool.

Anyway, Jo gets back from her mini-vacation, so I won't be the Lone Ranger like I have been the past week. But it is show change time once again. Add to that our annual, super nursery open only one day a year to the public sale - and I am gonna be one worn out puppy for the next few weeks. So if I don't get in here too much, forgive me.

third time's a charm?

This morning's adventure in coffee making...(and I haven't even really started the day yet)

Making coffee is an easy 4 step process right?
1) Pour water into resevoir
2) add desired amount of coffee to filter basket
3) press "on" button and wait 5-10 minutes
4) enjoy fresh,hot coffee

Round 1
Omitted step 2, came downstairs from shower to nice pot of freshly brewed hot water.
Dumped hot water, added new cold water to resevoir and coffee to filter basket. Pressed "on" went to computer to read news.

Round 2
Hear slight dripping noise eminating from kitchen, walk in kitchen to find freshly washed floor enjoying 2 cups of nice hot coffee.
Repeat steps 1-3 again.

Round 3
Finally get to enjoy my coffee out of a mug.

Hope this isn't a sign of how my day is going to be.

What a Girl Wants,What a Girl Needs

Finally, the next generation of my family is growing into adulthood. My oldest nephew is getting married in September to a girl I've only met once in the 6 years they've been dating. She lives in Chicago, so I really don't know that much about her and my nephew's living arrangements- which makes shopping for gifts that much harder. Her bridal shower is July 1, so I went to Target, the only place I could find them registered, and started choosing gifts. As I picked through the kitchen items she wanted (pizza wheel,ice cream scoop, measuring spoons and cups) it set me thinking about the items I use almost everyday versus what my dreamy,bride brain thought I needed back then. I don't know if she has these items already and that's why they aren't listed, or what -so I just stuck to her list. But here is mine...

potato peeler- you can only eat instant mashed potatoes so much
garlic press - everything needs garlic! and it's good for you.
slotted spoon - great for digging the veggies out of the pot or for getting all the goodies out of the spaghetti sauce
pasta server - so much easier to grab slippery noodles out the strainer with than a pair of tongs
faucet mount water filter - gets all the icky metal taste out of tea and coffee
and lastly...a permanent coffee filter, dump, rinse reuse. never be without fresh coffe because you ran out of paper filters.

So what do you use everyday that you would rather not live without?

oh well

Really, I got up with good intentions for the day. Laundry, grocery store, yardwork and maybe even sneak in some private time with the hubby. But hey 2 out of 4 ain't bad. The poor maters finally got planted - a month later than they should have been. I did washed my comforter, but I'm afraid I'll be scavaging for socks tomorrow. I blame it on the new Super Wal-Mart they built.
Having never been in a "Super" Wally world, I figured I would get some groceries and pick up some tent pegs to nail the fence down so the neighbor's dog quits banging on my back door.
An hour? Two hours? Nooo three and a half hours I wondered around that cavernous store.
I picked up a froggy dog toy and a sun tea jug, but put them back. The last thing Rosie needs is another noisy toy. Then I wandered over sporting goods and got the tent pegs, but spied a folding skillet just perfect for my hubby's backpack. Rounding the corner I spied the shoe department and thought how much I hated the uncomfortable flip flops I had on. So down the sandal aisle where I found a simple pair of flat leather thongs that once I tried them on, I wanted to wear them while I shopped.I finished the trip by picking up some camping type food for the old man, who is going away for a few days to fish and came home.
Now I'm too worn out to do laundry today, but there's always tomorrow. Yeah I know this was a boring uninspired post, but this is my only day off this week and I'm too damn lazy to be creative. Thanks for reading this far.

How do you keep a moron busy?

...tell her to wash the windows at a greenhouse.
Okay so I didn't actually wash the greenhouse glass, but I did make "white tornado" on the headhouse this weekend.(Head house is the area of a nursery where the office, kitchen,potting bench and bathrooms are) It was cloudy all weekend and not much needed water, I couldn't work on show orders because all the brokers are off on the weekend, so I decided to clean. And man did I clean. I filled the dumpster halfway up with crap that has been lying around unused for the past 15-20 years. Then once I finished shop-vaccing the place with a four inch wide nozzle, I decided the windows made the place look dirty, so I set to work on them. Two rolls of paper towels and 3 hours later, the place looks spiffy. Too bad it won't stay that way for more than a week. At least Jo can be surprised when she comes into work in the morning.
On the home front...
Sam (the neighbor's dog) has decided it's his perogative to sneak under the fence and come into our yard whenever he feels like it. He spent the night in our house last night- which is okay because the neighbors were gone all day and night anyway. Hubby shoved him back under the fence after I got home from work. Not an easy task with an almost full grown male Rottie. Tomorrow I am visiting Wal-Mart and getting some tent stakes to pin the fence down. My back door can't handle his big ass jumping on it much longer.
Alan has been hanging around like the stink of cooked fish too. I don't mind him coming for a few hours, but this weekend he was here 24/7. Usually I don't mind him too much, but last week while my husband took a nap, the rat-bastard looked through my kitchen until he found the bottle of Kahlua I had stashed and drank most of it. Since I like to have a K&coffee in the evening sometimes, I bought another bottle this week. This time I stashed it in an under the potholders in my kitchen drawer. Today I get home from work and the near-empty bottle is sitting on the counter. Also when I got home the house was filled with gas from the stove burner being left on-unlit. Hubby walks in the front door about an hour later and we have a little talk about his charge. Seems ol Al told hubby he was gonna walk home, so hubby walked to the store to get some smokes. In that short time, the thief found my liquor, tried to light a smoke with the stove, and since he didn't understand how an electric ignition works, left the freakin burner on.
I found Alan out in the garage, passed out in a lawn chair. I told him while I don't dislike you for being an alcoholic, I do mind you being a thief and almost blowing up my house. I told him he was no longer welcome to be inside my house when Bruce or I wasn't around. I think he got my message loud and clear.He left a few minutes ago to walk home.
Now to enjoy what's left of my Kahlua with a nice hot bath.

not much up

Not much has been happening in Fraidyville this week, work has slowed down for the moment and I don't need halos until the end of July, so I finally have time to breathe and clean the house.
I did manage to get my flowers in, in between bouts of storms. I just hope they grow. I have a tendency to kill plants that aren't on greenhouse benches.

Went to karaoke last night and had a few too many. Okay I had about 4 too many. Woke up at 5:30 with a massive hangover because I didn't eat anything, drink water or take Advil before I went to sleep.
Bleary -eyed and wanting to call in sick (but I wouldn't because I don't call being hungover a decent excuse for cutting work) I made my way downstairs for some coffee. From the kitchen I hear Hubby yell "Stay out! Go sit down and get online" Two minutes later, I have my coffee and a nice hearty breakfast served to me. How sweeeeet. Unfortunately my tummy was in no mood for so much sumptious fare. I did manage to eat the goetta and taters, but the dogs got the eggs.

I thought for sure when I got home from work there would be a hefty pile of dishes to clean, but when I entered the kitchen it was clean! He even remembered to wipe off the stove.

Sometimes he's full of nice surprises, which is one reason I love him.

A-freaking-mazing

So Friday before I left, hubby had a few things to accomplish while I was away

1) Get cat food, because with my making sure he had enough easy to cook food, I forgot it.
result- cat dined on Life cereal and chicken bones until Sunday night.

2) Mow the grass
result - "Couldn't get the mower started. Need to tear it apart"

3)Plant the tomatos
result - "Didn't want to plant them until the grass was cut,but I did water them."

4)Do your own dishes
result -I don't even want to go there

I got home around 9:30 Sunday, worked from 7 this morning until 4 this afternoon and slept from 12:30 until 5:30 a.m.
In the short amount of time I had, the cat got her food, the lawnmower got started(without tearing it apart) and the grass mowed, and the dishes washed and last week's leftovers tossed.
We women are amazing aren't we?

brought to you by the letter "F"

okay here's my ten "f"s in response to bbgirl's tag

1)F ound -as in I found my dog

2)F leas -as in my Found dog got Fleas on her journey

3)F eline - as in my feline will now more than likely get fleas

4) F ***- as in F*** I forgot to get Feline Food

5)F orgot- see above

6) F ried -as in my brain is fried

7) F riday- what tomorrow is

8) F raidy - my internet persona

9)F unny - how my husband's hair looks...he needs a haircut

10) F riends- what I call my internet buds


okay now this O-hi-ya girl needs to get crackin on some halos

My 80 pound tick

For someone who couldn't wait to escape and stay gone for 3 days, she sure has done a 180. From the moment I get home from work, to the moment I leave the next morning, Rosie never takes her eyes off of me. It's like having an 80 pound tick stuck to my knee. I go to the bathroom, she's there. Downstairs to do wash, I'm tripping over her on the stairs. Get into to bed, kerplunk right next to me all night. Geeeeesh. I love it :)
Leaving to set up the booth at the Troy Strawberry Festival Friday morning. I know I didn't make enough halos this week. Too bad I can't figure a way to take some of my supplies with me, but Holly's van is already filled to the gills with jewelry selling stuff, and it is her business, not mine. The weather is supposed to be great. Thank God, I've had enough of the nineties for a while.
Getting late, need to chug a cup and hit the door. Ricey-snara. (it's supposed to be sayanora. it's a long story. perhaps another blog entry someday)
And Jan, I'll get my F's done after work today, I promise.