Rhododendrons - they are difficult.

The Rhododendrons I planted some time ago are having difficulty growing where I planted them. From what I have read it could be that the soil they were in is not drained well enough, I could be watering them too much (unlikely), or they just all around suck. I transplanted two of them tonight to a place that is just at the top of a small slope. I am hoping the slope will encourage the water to drain downhill. A rhodos natural habitat is very rocky and non-clay soil. Where I had them planted was non-rocky soil and mostly clay! I am a jerk. The first plant looks like it may be gone and the second one is starting to show signs just like the first. I am really, really hoping that moving them will bring them back. It gives me a good feeling to see something that looks hopeless and with work and care it comes back and looks great.






Another possible issue is that these two plants were in direct sunlight pretty much all day. Initially I planted 3 rhodos. The third plant is in the shade for a good part of the day and it is really thriving. The spot these plants are in now have ample shade, so hopefully they recover. If not, I am going to throw them in the street. I may burn them. At the very least I will blow them up with dynamite.

Gardening, tomatoes, and stuff...

So, we are well into the season on growing things. Our tomato plants are growing well and so is the rest of our crap... I mean crop. It is pretty neat the way all kinds of tomatoes grow on the plants... frankly, it is surprising how much weight the stalk can hold. I am not sure if it is a stalk or a trunk... I am going to say stalk. If you don't like please exit this browser now... dick.




I think we planted to much in the space we have available. Next year we are going to move the garden to a larger location. We would like to be able to grown more variety. The cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans seem to be doing well. I am looking forward to gorging myself on fresh tomatoes.

Imgaine this goon riding his bike down the road...

So that is what I look like on most mornings and afternoons! I recently ditched the backpack as a installed a rack and bag on the bike. It is amazing what a difference it made to get the backpack off... I would sweat like crazy and the backpack just kept all the heat in. It is quite nice to ride home from work as most of the stress is expelled during my trip. In fact, on most rides I don't even think about work... I just think about riding and watching traffic and what the next crazy driver will do. The health benefits are extraordinary as well. Round trip it is about 18 miles of decent roads. Typically, I ride on the shoulder unless there is some obstruction. You are welcome to make any smart comments you like, however, bear in mind I will send a hitman after you. Should I have to send a hitman after you it will be one of these two:


Dangerous Girl.

Psycho Killer.

Fly fishing the Tye River in...

Nelson County, Virginia. Carrie and I headed out at about 3 PM in search of dinner. To make a long story short dinner came from the Kroger fish department. Carrie caught two fish and I caught 68 trout that were all over 3 feet long. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything worth keeping. I will say it was a lot of fun. This was Carrie's first time fly fishing and she caught on really quick. She looked like a natural fisher women. I would equate her to the Shooter Mcgavin of fly fishing. Anyways, here are a few photos:

Peanut Butter

Yesterday, as I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I started thinking about how much I like peanut butter. There are the typical things that I enjoy with peanut butter as I think everyone does: pb&j, peanut butter and apple slices, ants on a log (peanut butter on celery with raisins), peanut butter toast, peanut butter cookies... :) Then there are the strange things that my family and I eat peanut butter with (that I thought were completely normal until I start telling people and they give me this horrified look as they try to imagine eating it): peanut butter and scrambled eggs on toast, peanut butter and bologna sandwich, peanut butter on a BLT...
You know the saying "Everything is better with bacon?" Well, I say everything is better with peanut butter!

My pursuit of a fat chedder stack...

Since I was about 12 or 13 I have been figuring out ways to make money. I always wanted more. I remember reading a book when at about 13 years old called YBI: Young Boy, Inc. (ISBN: 1889557005) and thinking what they were doing was not that bad because people chose to buy the drugs. YBI was simply making them available... capitalism. As I grew up I realized that my perspective was incorrect. I thought that the more money I had the more happiness it would bring. As I have gotten older I am realizing that money doesn't bring happiness... sure it is nice to go on vacations, visit family, and get a gadget once in a while, but other than that it doesn't matter how much money Carrie and I have. I am more content spending time with Carrie at home on the deck watching the dogs than I am doing just about anything else. I am content spending time with friends. I don't speak from experience but it would seems that money can can divide people into groups of those that have and those that don't. There is such a disparity of wealth among people. I am all for the enterprising entrepreneur that goes out, starts a company, and does really well with it. In fact, I encourage it! I am just saying for myself I would prefer to go out and start a company, do well with it, earn enough money so Carrie can stay home with our kids, save for their college, and then give the rest of the money away to worth while causes. There are many people in this world that need financial help. I am not talking about people that choose not to work and milk the system.

It is the simple things in life that bring me joy... like seeing a job completed, growing a garden, eating fajitas, and riding my bicycle.

I feel like the more I change the more I stay the same... I just glean a little new knowledge from each experience. Like the time last week when I stuck my tongue in the outlet on the wall... it had two outlets, one on the top and one on the bottom. Don't put your tongue in the top outlet... it will shock you. However, the bottom one should be fine.

Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup champs!!!

So it finally happened last night... the Wings won the Cup! I watched the first period of the game at one buddies house and then went over another's house to watch the rest. My buddy Joe is a Red Wings fan... at least now anyways! It was great to watch them hoist the Cup and skate around the ice... the players were certainly on cloud nine. It made me think about some of the players that have been playing for 10 or more seasons and have never won the cup. Most notably would be Dallas Drake. He played for 15 seasons and never until last night won the Stanley Cup.


This really illustrates the way that practicing perseverance will pay off in the end. However, I guess it should be noted that with perseverance the desired outcome may not occur, but almost always some life lesson can be gleaned from the experience.

Chris Osgood is another guy I am glad to see raise the cup. He started off this season as the backup goaltender and he started the post season as the backup. Now he is the goalie in the playoffs with the most wins, best save percentage, and coolest mask. Congrats.

Red Wings.

I thought the Wings were going to win the cup last night... I guess not. I was over a friends house and we watched the game until the expiration of the second overtime period. I have come to the conclusion that games that last more than one overtime get dull really quick. The precision that is NHL hockey goes away pretty quickly when the players are dead tired. It was a lot of dump the puck, chase the puck, try to shoot the puck.... back and forth. I hope they can pull it off next game in Pittsburgh.

Pale is the new Tan...

I'm trying to start a movement of embracing your natural skin tone, of wearing SPF, of not fake n' baking... I've got a few people on board with me so far: Cheri and... ok, just Cheri so far. We're ready to brave the shores of Myrtle Beach with our SPF 45 and possibly blind those that dare to look directly at our skin!
Some beautiful fair skinned people:



Recently I found that Aveeno makes a daily body lotion with spf 15. I couldn't be happier. I hate having to worry about getting burned if I'm just driving in my car... It's great because it's moisturizing and it doesn't have a strong odor like sunblock does.

So join with us if you dare!

Carrie.

Carrie. Carrie is beautiful. Carrie is smart. Carrie is stylish. Carrie is smooth. Carrie is a firecracker. Carrie is a killer. Carrie is a tiger. Carrie is compassionate. Carrie smells good. Carrie is two persona's... morning Carrie and not morning Carrie. Jesse loves Carrie.

Shrubs... more shrubs

Recently Carrie and purchased some shrubs for the side of the house... to make a long story short I measured incorrectly and we had 8 3 gallon Nandina Gulf Stream plants left over. I have been trying to find places to plant them. However, I don't want our yard to turn into a jungle! I decided to plant four of them by the shed. There is space on either side of the ramp going up to the shed that was rather difficult to mow... bam... good place.




I like the way it looks. The space looked really bare before the landscaping. It is kind of funny, I didn't even know there was a slab of concrete there until I started cleaning out the back of our yard a couple of months ago. It is a great place for the grill - before the smoke from the grill would blow in the house when it was on the deck.


Rummy says, "WANT SOME?"

Updating the back fence.

A while back Carrie and I installed plastic border in the back of our yard. Having never installed something like this before it took a while to get the hang of it. I didn't have the correct shovel and when it was all said and done it was pretty evident. So this past Thursday my buddy and I put in new border. This time I went with professional grade instead of consumer grade. The difference is the thickness of the border... the professional is definitely worth the difference in price.

I am a Virginian.

The process of morphing from a Michigander to Virginian took place over several years. Carrie and I were married in June of '04 and moved to Virginia in August of '04. We moved to Virginia having no friends or family... just one another. It was difficult but we were able to make it happen. During the early months of living here we spent a lot of time together. Carrie didn't have a job and usually slept in till about 10:30AM... one may think that would be enjoyable. Not so, people are meant to work and when we don't it is easy to feel useless and depressed. This was the case with Carrie. So, it was a great blessing when Carrie found a job. One of the first things we did here was try to find a community of Christ followers. I guess we looked around for a couple of months before eventually finding Brentwood Church. At Brentwood we were able to make some friends. We lived in an apartment for several almost three years... it was difficult for me to feel at home in an apartment. During the third year of living in the apartment we started thinking about buying a house. This was a major thing for us as it would indicate we are making a longterm commitment to Lynchburg. Eventually, we found a house and plant more substantial roots. At this point Virginia started to feel like home. In fact, it started to feel like when I would go to Michigan to visit that it was just that... a visit. After a few days or so I would want to come back home to Virginia. Don't get me wrong I still like going to Michigan and seeing friends and family, but it certainly does not feel like a vacation. We drive all over the place visiting people... kind of tiring. I much prefer people coming to see us. There is no extended family to see and we have more time with the visitor exclusively. Given the opportunity I would not move back to Michigan... I am a Virginian.

I guess I should add that I will ALWAYS be a Detroit sports fan!

Carrie.

Carrie has expressed an interest in posting her ramblings on onefamilyonecar.com. After much consideration and a lengthy interview process I have agreed to allow her a probationary posting period. The period is 10 years, so, if she says something that is out of line please let me know and I will deal with it and her. I drop the hammer.

This photo was taken during the ninth interview and fourth written test. I think she was having difficulty answering a question... I was reading.

Carrie and Cherries...

Carrie took the plunge into canning this past week. We picked a bunch of cherries from the trees in our backyard. There was no way we were going to be able to consume what we picked by simply eating handfuls. So, Carrie decided to make some cherry preserves. The recipe called for 3 pounds of pitted cherries... we had about 10 times that amount! Want to buy some? It is awesome to pick a fruit or vegetable and be able to sustain ones self for a period of time with something God prepared. Watching all the birds that are eating these cherries makes me think of the verse in the bible, "Look at the birds. They don't plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them..." Matthew 6:26. It is easy to take comfort from this thinking how much more I mean to God than a bird does. I look back time and time again and I can see that I was being led by God. Anyways, here are some photos of Carrie making it happen with cherries. FYI... there was no rudeness with food, especially with any other dudes.










Thanks for looking.

Side yard.

This past Friday night I was able to knock out the small side yard that was pretty bare. My cousin Scott and I worked on it from about 8:30PM to 12:00AM. It is funny to think that on a Friday night I am working on landscaping when in the past I would have been out with friends. Funny the way things and interests change. I am pleased with the way the space turned out. I really like the way the bed looks like it is a continuation of the bed I finished last weekend.

1 - Camellia Japonica Greensboro Red
2 - Spirea Japonica Goldmound
1 - Spirea Japonica Little Priness
2 - Dwarf Azalea Gumbo Pink
3 - Dwarf Azalea Gumbo White

What do you think of the turnout?







You may think Rummy is smiling at you... he's not, in fact, he is laughing at you... not with you. He just wanted me to let you know.

Cherries!!!

So the cherries are ripe! It is amazing how in a matter of a couple of days they went from almost ripe to great! We picked a lot of cherries. I would guess that it was in the neighborhood of about 30 pounds. I never expected it to be that much but Carrie and I weighted what we have and it is around 18 pounds... and our small group from church took home a bunch. Carrie and I are going to try our hand at canning some, making preserves, and a cobbler or two or twenty! The idea of having a tree in my yard that produces something that I can eat and enjoy is really awesome. It is just one of the ways God provides for me.


Our friends from church. Tim, Colleen, Deb, Carrie, and I. Jordan is behind the lense and Joe & Jessica were unable to make it. I think they hate cherries and anything to do with them for that matter. In fact, I think they hate people that like cherries. I haven't spoke to them since I told them we were picking cherries.


Working hard to get those cherries. Carrie is my cherry pie!


Carrie doing what she does best... hanging around with a weird look on her face.


Even my watch likes cherries. You may or may not know but I really enjoy mechanical watches. Their craftsmanship is outstanding and they love cherries. So I took a photo of my watch with my cherries.