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April 24, 2015

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It has been a pretty quiet week around here.

We made a couple of trips into the valley this week. Dave had a doctor's appointment on Monday and then he drove his sister, Leanna into her doctor's appointment on Wednesday.

While we were in town last weekend, we got a chance to catch up with Lara's family and I got my "grandma fix" with some one-on-one time with the granddaughters. We also got a chance to see the artwork that our twelve-year old granddaughter exhibited at an art show. It is a drawing of a girl blowing a bubble. She inherited her talent from her other grandmother who is also an artist. Way to go Jadyn, we are so proud of you.

Since the weather had turned out so nice at the beginning of this week, I decided to plant some of my annuals in the pots that I had picked up. I also put in lettuce and cucumbers in the garden. Then the weather went from 80 degrees to 60 degrees overnight! I am hoping all my plantings were not in vain. The weather managed to stay half-way decent on Wednesday for our work party at the park. There were four of us that ventured out and we got a lot done. The park is really looking good. I took my spray bottle full of ammonia and water and we sprayed for slugs and snails. They are in abundance this year and are feasting on the plants in the park. I prefer to use my ammonia solution as it is not harmful to plants or pets.

Their baaack!! I spotted our first flock of Goldfinches at my feeders this week. I love those birds with their bright yellow and black and they have the sweetest chirp. We have had the rosy finches for quite awhile but it is nice to see the yellow finches too. I haven't had a chance to get a picture of this year's group, so this one is from last year. We noticed that the date on this photo was almost one year ago - to the day. I guess these guys know when they're supposed to get here!

We have had a problem with our dishwasher. Sometimes it leaks water all over the floor and sometimes it doesn't. So we called the appliance repair man to look at it. He said it needs a new "board" that controls the water intake. The part costs $250 - the dishwasher is 14 years old. I think this is a no-brainer - I will buy a new dishwasher instead of investing $250 in a old machine that may break down again next month. It's going to take another week to get it, but they'll deliver it, install it and haul the old one away, so I guess I can live with a pile of towels under the old one for that long.

I am planning to take an insect class on Saturday at the Extension Office. At the Master Gardener's Office, we get so many inquiries about insects that I need to brush up on some of them. I spotted this "Burying Beetle" on my deck this week which was pretty neat. There is also a vegetable sale at Alder Creek Farms this Saturday so I am going to try to squeeze that in before my class on bugs. I want to get a few tomato plants from the farm.

I also spent some time trying to "fine-tune" our itinerary for our time in Paris this summer. As I mentioned last week, some friends gave us some good advice about things to see and do, so I got things prioritized so we can make decisions once we get there.

I went to the City Council meeting again this week. Someone has to give them an update on the Park and Rec Committee, and since I'm the chairman, I guess I'm it for now. The meeting got pretty rowdy at one point. I didn't know whether to dive for cover or not! Things settled down though and I was able to give my report. The other councilors elected Dave to be Council President at the meeting. That caught him by surprise - he thought for sure that someone else would be selected. That means that he's next in line behind the mayor. I told him a long time ago that I didn't care if he was a councilor, but that he couldn't be mayor. This is getting too close!

I mentioned last week that we lost one of our feral cats. Tom had been gone for a couple of days at that time. It has now been another week and still no sign of him, so I guess I'm going to have to get used to the fact that he's gone.

Not much on our schedule for next week. I'll be busy helping prepare for the Master Gardener's plant sale later in the week, so if I want to get anything done around here, it will probably be early in the week.