Work and Fun and Games

Clematis 'Nellie Moser'

Yes, it's been awhile since I posted here - I've gotten lots of work done, and had some fun, too!


I spent 3 days going thru my shop inventory, deleting some things, and adding a bunch of new things, while at the same time creating a database for my inventory.  The software for my website does not allow me to sort and print my inventory as I would like, so now I have it all on a thumb drive in a spreadsheet.  This will allow me to sort by distributor (I have 4 different ones), making it easier to check inventory.  Time well spent!

We have a real muddy area at the back of my side yard, and I cannot get any sort of ground cover to take root there, despite repeated attempts.


Not surprising, as the trash cans are there and we have to roll them through that area to take them to the curb every week.  So my husband suggested gravel, and it's great!  He went and got a yard of pea gravel - doesn't sound like much, I know, but when you're shoveling it into the wheelbarrow out of the trailer it turns into a whole lot.  Then of course Sam had to roll each barrow to the back and dump them, then we raked it all out into an area about 10 feet long by 6 feet wide.  The gravel is about an inch deep, and we are thinking we might do another layer in a few months, after this layer works down into the mud somewhat.  It's fantastic, and no more having to leave my shoes outside the door after I walk through there!

Sam built me a beautiful big trellis for my  'Nellie Moser' Clematis, my Great-Aunt Beth planted it when I was a teenager, so it's very special to me.  We took down the old rotting trellis and installed the new one, and I think the plant will be very happy - it's about a foot taller than the old one was, too!  I'll take a picture of it this year when it blooms.  The pic above is not mine, I copied it from the Gurney's catalog website.

Here on our street, there's great big old maple trees, and the birds just love them of course.  And we all know what birds do when they are living above your cars - we have 3 - and they were just covered.  So we spent one whole beautiful sunny afternoon washing all of them.  We have a double garage, but it houses Sam's woodworking shop and other tools, and the motorcycle, so the cars have to live on the street!

For fun, I must confess I've rediscovered an old habit, neopets.  I know it sounds foolish, a 51 year old playing children's games, but I have tons of fun there.  I actually don't play that many games, I mostly hunt for items to sell in my shop, and things for my houses.  And there's lots of adults playing there, it turns out - I'm in a huge guild which is adults only.  My name there is Pixel1959.  Now a side account, find me at Zapology.

My other long-time addiction is Pogo.   On pogo my name is Pixelated1959.  TONS of games, from Backgammon to Bingo, and lots of nice folks.  My husband Sam plays there, too!