With apologies, I now bring you the video recording of my performance of Scorn of Buckthorn. Remember, you asked for this when I posted the lyrics alone! (Don't worry about me being fuzzy. I look better that way.)



I sang this in December at a friend's house filk party (filk assumes singing is a human right/need and people sit in a circle and take turns performing). Some University of Michigan music grad students were recording performances for a class project, and Jessica took the time to edit out my portion for you. (I also performed Planting Queen, but it wasn't recorded.)

The lyrics came to me one day in the shower after years of struggling with buckthorn removal. Click for a buckthorn fact sheet from Ann Arbor Narural Areas Preservation.

Welcome to another Willy-Nilly Wednesday. It's like Mish-Mash Monday, only mid-week.

Like many of you, I enjoyed taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count over the weekend:

Locality: 48108, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, MI
Snow Depth: 2 - 4 in (5.1 - 10.2 cm)
Habitat(s): deciduous woods, scrub, suburban, freshwater
February 14, 2010, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
    Mallard - 15
    Downy Woodpecker - 1
    Northern Flicker - 1
    Blue Jay - 1
    Black-capped Chickadee - 1
    White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
    Northern Cardinal - 2
    House Sparrow - 7
February 15, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. 15, 2010
    Mallard - 12
    Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
    Downy Woodpecker - 1
    Northern Flicker - 1
    American Crow - 1
    White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
    Dark-eyed Junco - 3
    Northern Cardinal - 3
    House Sparrow - 12

Comments: I normally also see mourning doves.
The other afternoon, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a brownish, cat-shaped movement near my bird feeders, and yet the brownish cat-shaped lifeform who lives with me was stationary by my side on the couch. My brain slowly came to terms with the idea that the groundhog may be awake form hibernation and my butt  left the sofa to check outside.

Whew! It wasn't the groundhog, it was just an opossum. Wait, what?! In the nearly 8 years I've lived in my house, I've seen an opossum only once before, by chance, at night.

Well, that didn't change the fact that this opossum was eating in broad daylight. I'm always honored when wildlife visits my yard, and I think opossums are cute. Look at its cute pink nose, hands, and toes!

Until the other day, anyway, where an intrepid pioneer found it more advantageous to simply insert most of its body directly into the feeder. It's apparently a magic squirrel with a collapsible ribcage!
While the rest of the country has more snow than it knows what to do with, we had our first real snowsotrm all season here in southeastern Michigan.

We got about 7 inches (here on my winter-sowing containers), but it has melted and compressed a lot since then.

A while back, I won a reusable grocery bag, hand-knit by Aunt Debbi! Here it is. It's hard to see the subtle color gradation, but the bottom of the bag (which you can't see at all) is primarily black with some beige, the bottom shown is more primarily beige and black, and the top is primarily white and black. Cool, huh?

As long as you're admiring the bag, feel free to also admire my cool, retro metal canister and spice rack, but please ignore the crumbs on the counter!

Thanks also to Country Mouse who recently tagged me with an Honest Scrap / 10 Things You Don't Know About Me award / meme. I've previously posted 7 Things You Don't Know About Me, so I'm going to say that's close enough for rock 'n' roll. Do stop by Country Mouse's blog, though, as Duncan, her canine companion, wrote an amusing post about himself!


Here is most of the model put together. It was really helpful being able to use all of Pete's supplies and having him on hand to answer a quazillion questions I had and share his expertise and tips. I don't think I ever would have attempted this on my own.

Here are all the first-coat painted parts. The gloss silver enamel paint didn't coat as smoothly as I would have liked. (Advanced modelers use spray paint, but I didn't fancy masking all those tiny windows!)

Here's the almost-finished version (only missing the decals). Most of the colors are accurate--the body was most often metallic silver, the propellers were black with those yellow edges, and the navigation lights and location of numbers (next photo) are accurate. But I took some liberties, because I was doing this for fun. Hence the orange tail (though both paints are Testors' gloss enamels, though the orange has 100x better coverage and a much smoother look. I'm now wishing I'd painted the whole thing orange, and apparently some Dutch versions of the plane were entirely orange, but I wanted silver for a more retro look).

Apparently, adding the water-transfer decals is sometimes tricky, but for me that was the easiest bit. I had some awesome rabbit decals for the rudders, but they had disintegrated due to age. Fortunately, Pete had some Flying Tigers decals, which are just as cool. The rest of the decals are those from my Grandmother. 

The only one you can't see in the previous photo, on the port wing, is this one. Ignore the crappy painting job and instead marvel at the cuteness of the decal and how nicely it lays over a three-dimensional surfaces!

I enjoyed the process, overall, but don't think I'll be making any other models any time soon! (Though I am fascinated about creating landscapes for train layouts...) 

Jean recently posted some photos of very bad planting and pruning techniques. I suggested she post them to Billy Goodnick's Flickr group, Crimes Against Horticulture, which she did. That reminded me there was a house in a nearby neighborhood whose photo I was meaning to take to add to the group myself.

Not only are the Mugo pines planted too near the foundation and ridiculously in need of pruning back, that poor poor cedar was not only planted way too close to the house as well, it suffered a very very bad haircut as the "solution" to the former. Arg!

After fixing the "Read More!" that Blogger was automatically adding to all my posts, I switched to the new editor, assuming new was synonymous with improved. HA!

Where the heck did the spellchecker go, and why can I only upload one photo at a time? I used to be able to upload 5 at a time, and the spellchecker icon was obvious.

And I had this post almost completely done, when I went to hit return and somehow the whole screen went blank/all content was erased. No big deal, I hadn't saved it, so I navigated away from the window and came back... to an empty screen. Blogger had automatically saved the cleared screen, which meant I had to re-do the whole post. Where do I set the timing for autosaves?

Also line spacing seems to be randomly weird.

I can't believe I haven't already posted my parody of ABBA's Dancing Queen. I wrote it a few years ago and sang it in December at a friend's house filk party. Which is saying something. While I have no problems giving a gardening talk to 300 people (and don't even have the good grace to get nervous), singing in public is another matter entirely. I was totally nervous and shaking, waiting for my turn to come. Also, I must note I can't actually sing very well, so don't be sad you missed it!




I also performed Scorn of Buckthorn, which was video-taped, but I haven't gotten the file yet.

ABBA: The Album was the first record I ever bought, when I was 12. Even though my musical taste has greatly expanded since then, I still love them, even 32 years later.

Happy Friday, everyone, and happy birthday, Mom!

A Quick Update and Second Guest Post by The Iron Ant

Hello! It's The Iron Ant again, from the previous post! Monica wanted to participate in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but she's been a little distracted trying to ready her garden for a tour tomorrow. Not only doesn't she have recent photos to show, but she didn't even realize it was the 15th until she started seeing all the GBBD posts! Why she thought her garden would be ready for a tour, I don't know, and neither does she (I asked her).

I noticed Monica has been doing funny things lately. For example, she complains about how much there is to do outside and then spent all day yesterday volunteering at the master gardener phone help line!

On Wednesday, she found a morel mushroom in a most unusual way. She was digging out a huge clump of tansy, to make room for a chokeberry, and jumped on the shovel with both feet. Only the shovel hit a very big, thick tree root, which sent her flying, landing ungraciously on some balloon flowers, Helenium, gooseneck loosetrife, and the morel in question, which came off at the base of the stem. The other plants, and her behind, are fine.

In other news, very strong winds yesterday toppled Piney again, despite the brick recently added to the bottom of her pot, and knocked a winter-sowing tray upside down onto the ground. Fortunately, it had its lid on and the soil didn't spill too much. The cell pack containing her main seeds of concern, wild petunia from MMD, seem to be OK but it's hard to say. We'll just have to wait and see.

~The Iron Ant

Paul is on the left. I'm the grinning pale blob to the right!
I am not a fan. I don't follow sports teams. I don't have a favorite actor, musician, or celebrity. There are many people I admire or respect, but I am definitely not crazy wild to meet them.

And then there's Paul James, host of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard. Here's a guy making his living doing what I do as an amateur. Here's a guy who clearly loves plants and is knowledgeable, funny, down to earth, and a bit irreverent. And occasionally downright goofy. What's not to like? I admit that the more I learned about him through watching his show over the years, the more I thought he seems like a decent human being, not just a cool TV host.

So when I discovered he would be making an appearance at Goldner Walsh nursery in my metro area, I figured, why not go? As the time to leave drew nearer, I admit I was getting a bit giddy (or as my friend Pete calls it "squeeing fan girlish"). I wondered whether he would be like he seems on TV. I was hoping to say a few words to him and, best case scenario, press Fun with Winter Seed Sowing into his hands if it seemed in any way appropriate. I really wanted to stay this side of respectful admirer without crossing into crazed fan who pounces on him like an exuberant puppy whose owner just came home. You know.

The drive took just over an hour in much heavier traffic than my brain or eyeballs are used to, and I arrived a little early. I was perusing the greenhouses when I saw someone I thought I knew in the next aisle, only to slowly realize it was in fact Paul James! I ducked behind a plant because, well, um, I just did, OK?

Just as I settled my nerves, I saw someone in the aisle in another direction who said "I know you!" I turned around to see if Paul was behind me, but he wasn't. It turns out the woman, Diane, was in fact addressing me. She had attended my session this past Saturday at the Wayne County Master Gardener Conference and had also purchased my book! We chatted.

On my way to the main event, I saw Paul standing in a hallway. I did not hide this time but kept walking. As I got near him he said to no one in particular "I lost my guide." Without missing a beat, I said "You must be your own guide." Partially because I've been reading a lot of inspiring Dove Promises messages* lately, and partially because, well, who the heck knows. I like to think he found this insightful and inspirational (HA!), and I felt a bit calmed that I responded to him as I would have to anyone else in that situation. Sure, I may have sounded like an idiot, but this was me being myself, not me jumbling my words as a squeeing fan girl. Victory!

I found my way to the main room where the presentation would be and chatted with a few other people. I also entered my name for a door prize, which is pretty much an exercise in practicing cursive since I never win door prizes. Ask anyone I attend conferences with! Seriously.

So, Tim Travis, the owner of Goldner Walsh spoke, as did a local organic farmer, as did the chef who created yummy treats from said farmer's produce, and then Paul James answered questions. He was just like on TV: funny, down to earth, and full of practical knowledge. He said HGTV had not renewed his contract as they felt he was too old and gardeners were too old and they're really wanting to cater to an under-35 demographic. (I have a whole rant about this but I'll save that for another day.) Someone asked if he was going to write a book. He said he had many publishers asking him but he was afraid anything he'd write would piss some people off. Plus he said he thought most gardening books were beautiful and slick, but contained very little hands-on or new information. This made me beam to myself as, in my very tote bag, was my book which a) is not at all slick; in fact, obviously self published and put together by hand (with a GBC-bound spine), which I admit sometimes makes me feel like a "fake" author and b) actually contains hands-on practical information! Hence, a segue to use to feel less awkward pushing it on him. Hooray!

Then they did the drawings: two prizes of a cookbook and a pot of various perennials. Tim told the first winner that one of Paul's recipes was in the book and she should see him afterward to have him sign the cookbook. Then they called the second winner, one Monica Milla of Ann Arbor. I was just about to curse this lucky winner when it dawned on me--um, wait what? Did he say Monica Milla of Ann Arbor? Hey, I know her! Hey, that's me! And Tim recognized my name as we'd been emailing about an article I'm planning for my MLive blog about his nursery's new plant pot recycling program, which he announced to the crowd!

Not only was it cool to actually win something, but I now had a shy person's excuse to ask for his autograph as well as the aforementioned book segue. For once in my life, it seemed like the universe was aligned with me, not against me (which it often seems like at my day job).

After the talk, many people crowded around Paul while I chatted to Tim briefly, getting a few more details for my blog entry. I then walked around the nursery a bit. When I returned to the room, Tim was taking a photo of a couple with Paul, and they were the only people left in the room. I had taken my camera though I hadn't expected any opportunity to use it to arise, but I rode the momentum and asked Tim if he'd take a photo of Paul and me. Paul motioned me to stand on his non-injured arm side, which I would have done anyway, and then he put his arm around my shoulder. For a split second this freaked me out; not only because I have a fairly strong personal space bubble unless I know someone quite well, but also because I was overly conscious of not crowding him and trying to give him his space. But, hey, I'm nothing if not adaptable, so I put my arm around his shoulder as well. Purely to be polite, you understand. I mean, I'd hate to appear rude! (Quiet, you in the back!) Of course, this made me feel a little giddy again, hence the huge smile on my face in the photo!

I then had him sign the cookbook and I said I knew just what he meant about glossy impressive books that may lack in hands-on tips, so I hope he'd enjoy this book which was the opposite. He said "Ah, winter seed sowing" and asked if I was Monica, the author. I said I was. I said something else about liking his style and using humor in my own presentations and then it dawned on me there was no one else left in the room and he probably wanted to move it along to the food section, so I bid him farewell, a happy flight home, and a quick recovery from his arm injury.

At least that's how I think our exchange went. Even though a strange calm came over me when we were talking (similar to what happens when I speak in public), afterward I was admittedly a little star-struck (in fact I did actually squee at the photo preview later alone in the hall), while trying to act like it was the most natural thing in the world for me, the small potato garden faerie, to chat with Paul James, the Gardener Guy. So, in retrospect, it was all a bit of a blur.

I look forward to finding out what endeavors Paul undertakes in the future, especially at a time where I'm on the brink of some unknown future undertakings as well.

*Dove Promises are yummy chocolate pieces that come in wrappers with printed messages. My favorites are "Be your own Valentine," "Keep the promises you make to yourself," "Test your own limits and keep going," and "Go to your special place."

If you know anything at all about me, you know I'm cheap! (Lots of earlier posts mention this in passing, but this one's fairly amusing.) I even made up "Cheap!" buttons to hand out when I teach. (Only making them ended up being too costly!)

It's not that I'll never spend money. I happen to like Clarks shoes (which is a huge thing for me to admit publicly as I hate shopping and am hugely brand unaware and fashion oblivious (perhaps in fact an ideal candidate for What Not to Wear—Stacy? Clinton? Helllllo?)). I'm hard on my shoes, I like walking, and most shoes make my feet hurt. I found that Clarks (at least the old-school ones) are comfortable. They're also expensive. But the value to me is worth the price--or it would be, if I couldn't get them loads cheaper on eBay, which I can.

But there are lots of things I won't spend money on, like rain barrels (which run $80 to $200, and which I made myself using a free 35-gallon barrel from Ann Arbor's water processing plant, instructions from Garden Gate magazine, and $20 in hardware. I built a compost bin out of wooden pallets that happened to be in my basement. I like trying to make things, so any time investment wasn't "lost," but fun.

Sometimes, projects don't seem fun or they are way out of my league--when my sump pump broke last January and water was inching up in my basement, I called a plumber. When I needed ceiling fans installed, a called an electrician. Little projects I can tackle--I've figured out how to fix a toilet, unclog a sink drain by removing that pipe section thingie, and fixing the garbage disposal with my bare hands and a cool Allen-wrench type object. I wear almost entirely second-hand clothes. I'm an avid garage saler. I have awesome Danish modern furniture I bought at reasonable prices second hand. I love the modern, clean lines and practical, space saving design. And I love the idea that they have a history. I love craigslist. I didn't buy as much house as my banker wanted me to mortgage. My 2001 Ford Focus is still new to me, and I plan to drive her many years yet (highly, highly unusual in the Detroit area, I can assure you!).

In the garden, I host an annual plant swap (May 17 for locals) and otherwise get plants from cuttings, friends, and of course through winter seed sowing. But I'll buy the occasional shrub (this year it's a witch hazel) because I can't propagate those and even if I could, I'm not that patient. In the fall I curbside shop for bagged leaves (the leaves go onto my beds as mulch or are shredded--with my mower--and added to my compost bin) and reuse the paper bags in spring.

My point being, I weigh each possible expense and ponder its financial and time consequences and then decide what path to take. I don't immediately run to the store for everything I need. But I will pay for an experience--like travel (although even that can be done cheaply) and admissions to museums and botanical gardens. (When I'm in Victoria this fall, I will gladly pay my $28 to enter Butchart Gardens, who aren't on the AHS reciprocal garden list, thankyouverymuch.) I also enjoy both volunteering time and donating money to nature organizations.

So, I don't recall how I found out about The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager, but was glad when my name came up on the hold list for the Ann Arbor Library's copy (you didn't think I'd pay for a copy, did you?!). It's a fun book, easy and quick to read. Jeff points out how everyone knows the saying time is money, but that it's also important to realize that money is time. The more time you spend in the pursuit of money, the less time you have to enjoy other things in life. He also advocates skipping what he calls "the money step," which is essentially what I talked about above--figuring out alternative ways to get what you need and thinking about whether you in fact really need the whatsit after all. He also suggests ending up in the house you start out in, instead of continually jumping to newer and fancier homes. There was a lot of other practical advice. Some of it may seem radical to people who enjoy shopping, but it fit really well with how I already live my life. Another big point of his, and mine, is that spending less isn't about depriving yourself. It's about prioritizing what you want and how much you're willing to do/work to achieve it. I know I've never felt deprived; in fact I feel proud of my home and garden and what I've been able to make of them even given my modest income. The only thing I've ever resented is having to work a job I don't enjoy.

Anyway, I found out Jeff was doing a book tour, on bicycle, through Ohio. His first stop was on Sunday at the Wood County Library in Bowling Green, Ohio. So my friend Pete and I drove the 70 miles to hear him speak. (Yes, gas is expensive, but there was no other way to get there and I really wanted the experience.)

He was just like you would have guessed from reading his book: down to earth, funny, interesting, and informative. After the talk, I stood in line to have him sign my library copy of his book--which I knew he'd appreciate. I also had a copy of Fun with Winter Seed Sowing on hand and gave it to him "in compensation for the fact that I didn't buy his book." Now, I knew he had an interest in gardening, and winter seed sowing is certainly a frugal way to get more plants, so that was in line. I contemplated a long time whether pushing my book onto him would be seen as stalkerish or wannabe-ish, or if it would be a welcome gesture from a fellow frugal writer. I decided to go for it at the last minute. He actually seemed pleased to take the book, saying he liked gardening, and asking me to sign it.

So that went really well and was worth the cost of gas!

Update: First in a series on ABC News, Cramming the Most Into Time, about a poll that shows Americans would rather have more time than more money.

This post covers so much, it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Home Exchange/Home Share for Gardeners
I've been thinking how great it would be to have a home exchange website for gardeners who like to travel but are on a limited budget (such as... looks around, whistles nonchalantly, drums fingers... say, me). I've even offered a bedroom in my modest home for anyone visiting Ann Arbor (see earlier post) who doesn't want to shell out for a hotel room. Plus, local gardeners could show visiting gardeners around, give them a tour of their own garden, and chat about all the things we blog about! As a single traveler, I'm especially open to this idea. I've checked out a ton of home exchange sites, but they all seem to be people with jet-set lifestyles and amenities. Finally I came across the Couch Surfing Project, which is more my speed.



My profile is here and that's my house above with a fall garden two years back. I think it would be cool if more gardeners signed up! :) Hint hint hint. And if any of you plan to be in the Ann Arbor, contact me ahead of time to see if space is available (regardless of whether you register at couchsurfing.com)!

Froggies!
Every day last week I was serenaded by American toads living and mating in the vernal pond in the woods at the end of my backyard. Unlike spring peepers, which can be so loud one has to raise one's voice to be heard above them, even if they're in the distance, the American toads' chorus is lower pitched and a bit softer, but still perfectly audible. I very much enjoyed hearing it from my living room. (Or is it the family room? I only have one such room and I'll be darned if I know what to call it.) So much so, that I asked my friend Pete, who has some fancy electronic recording device (he's a music composer and performer, you see) to come record them for me, just so you could hear them, too. That evening, there were no calls, nor have there been since. The darn wet area mostly dried up, literally overnight! There's a creek about 20 feet away, but obviously they did not move there. Undaunted, Pete and I headed out to some other local places where we knew frogs would be calling. (The previous three years we've done a frog and toad survey for Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation, so we know where to go.) We (by which I mean Pete) got an awesome recording of chorus frogs with spring peepers in the background in a wet area of woods near Stone School and Morgan. (We do the survey purely by song, not sight, so I don't have any cute photos of the beasties in the way Wildlife Gardener does! Well, OK, I do have a cute photo of a chorus frog, completely unrelated to the official survey, SOMEwhere, but it's not digital and could be... anywhere.)

Mt. Pleasant MG Conference
A year or so back, I gave a talk on winter seed sowing for the Isabella County master gardeners in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (two hours northwest of Ann Arbor). They offered me a free vendor table at the conference this year, which I gladly accepted as a way to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at selling my book, Fun with Winter Seed Sowing, in person without also presenting. I've never been a vendor before. My table was in the same room as the speakers, not in the side room with all the real vendors. This had the advantage that I could see/hear the speakers, which the other vendors could not. But I believe more traffic existed in the actual vendor area. No matter, I met my objective of being a chatty salesperson (did I mention this was outside my comfort zone?) and sold a few books.


Imagine me sitting in the chair instead of behind the camera and you get the idea! Books in middle, signs to the right, winter-sown samples to the left.

Composting Class
Last week, I taught a composting class at Washtenaw Community College. I devised a game for the class where I divided the class into small groups. Each group had maybe 30 small cards onto which I'd written things like "coffee grounds," "rabbit doo doo," "egg shells," and "meat scraps." Based on what I had just covered, and a little extrapolation, they had to decide whether what was written on the card was green (nitrogen-heavy), brown (carbon-heavy), or not compostable and place that card into an appropriately labeled envelope. I wasn't sure if they would enjoy this, but I figured it would be fun, and based on their feedback, it was!


The Dove chocolate was meant to be an incentive but it melted in the car and was instead a blob!

Blog Excellence Award
Some time ago, Garden Girl bestowed me with a blog excellence award. Who me? Blush. I'd like to thank the academy... or at least Garden Girl! The award is technically a meme in that if you accept it, you're supposed to pass it on to/tag 10 others who need to pass it on to 10 others who... Garden Girl says she's not so into rules, and I see her point. I'm not one for pyramid schemes. I do however believe in passing on praise, so I would like to mention some blogs I enjoy reading, and to whom I would make the award. You'll excuse me in that they're not all garden-related.

I really enjoy Precarious Tomato's blog, which I came across randomly. I enjoy her offbeat sense of humor and practical life approach. She'd be able to write several paragraphs about how, say, she wore her shirt backwards (which, um, yeah, hi, I managed to do today) that would have you rolling with laughter.

I check in from time to time at Inhabitat, which is all about design with an eco bent. I really dig the wonderful news and photos this site's many authors convey. Admittedly, the cutting edge, extra hip feel of the site sometimes makes me feel decidedly poor and UNhip, but I do enjoy the info there.

I also stumbled upon Christine Kane's blog. She's a singer and songwriter, whose music I don't follow, but who also talks about pursuing your dreams and aligning your purpose with your life's work (which I really dig). Plus, she makes up whole life stories and scenarios for her cats, which, well, yeah, I thought I was alone in!

And now for fun garden blogs, with a huge caveat: I'm still getting used to organizing blogs in Blotanical and never seem to be able to spend as much time reading these wonderful sites as I'd like to! Plus, I'm always amazed at the quantity and quality of blog postings with such great photos and information. There's so much to read and it's quite hard to narrow down favorites.

I enjoy A Wildlife Gardener's beautiful photo essays in Our Little Corner of Paradise. I also love wildlife and I've always been a bit of an Anglophile, so this blog fits right in. I always feel like I'm transported to her backyard. Wildie, do you watch Corrie (and yes, I know Manchester isn't in Scotland!)? Americans never know what I'm on about!

Frances at Faire Garden also posts frequent and beautiful photos of wonderful blooms in her Tennessee garden, and she's been a friendly and frequent commenter in my own blog. Her garden looks so inviting!

Garden Wise Guy in Santa Barbara offers fun anecdotes, gardening and otherwise. It's also really interesting to learn about gardening in a zone so different to my own, in terms of temperature and humidity!

Golden Age Gardens posts frequent photos and info about Victorian gardens, a particular interest of mine, especially those in England, his home country. It's fun to go back in history, right from my computer chair, at his blog.

Yolanda Elizabet's Bliss is another site with lots of great photos. She's in Holland, another favorite place of mine, and she also likes cats. What more is there to say?!

Bek's Augenblicke im Garten offers a great selection of garden stories and photos, in German and English. She has a second site that compares life in the US and Austria, which is of particular interest to me, as my dad was Austrian. Plus, it's nice to learn German names of plants. I also enjoy a few other German garden bloggers, such as Sabine's Creekside Gardens and Wurzerl's Garten-Impressionen.

Finally, back to where we started, I like Garden Girl's blog, and I don't even hold the fact that she's so near the Chicago Botanic Garden against her. Much. ;-) She posts nice photos and interesting stories.

Cincy Flower Show
You're kidding right? You want to read yet more? I'm surprised you even made it down this far. Aren't you tired? I admit I am, so my photos and recap shall have to wait a bit longer. Oh, all right then. Here's one photo to tide you over.


A happy, cute, and friendly window box display. I love the colors!

My friend Carole has spent most of the month in Kentucky assisting her son and daughter-in-law with their new-born and 2-year-old sons. I've really missed her and wanted to welcome her back home on Sunday with some kind of enthusiasm.

Last night, while at my friend Pete's house, using his binding machine to make more copies of Fun with Winter Seed Sowing, it dawned on me. Pete is a composer and musician who often performs in filk circles. While he has produced traditional and epic scores, he also enjoys a good horrible song, so I knew he was just the person with whom I could create a little ditty to leave on Carole's answering machine.

Thus was born, Carole's Song.

If you have 31 seconds and a high tolerance for off-key singing (mine, not his), check it out! I always hate my voice in that it sounds high-pitched and nasal-y to me. I was glad the recorder did not capture that, only my being off-tune. What can I say--it's a gift! But I am enthusiastic! Until the recording was played back, I also didn't realize I had a southern twang, which was not intentional. Also, the final strumming of the guitar (a C-sharp, thank you very much) is me (now that sounded great!). The other instrument is Pete's banjo ukelele.

I have to say, it's quite humbling, very daunting, and a heck of a lot of fun to create music with, in fact, no actual musical ability!