Passion Flower

Passion Flower, originally uploaded by Mark Andrew Photos.

Is this a cool flower or what??? I have it growing up a trellis at a
customer's house. Needless to say, my customer loves it, too.

Passion Flower

Passion Flower, originally uploaded by Mark Andrew Photos.

Is this a cool flower or what??? I have it growing up a trellis at a
customer's house. Needless to say, my customer loves it, too.

It's that time of year again

It's that time of year again...

DEADHEADING

Each and every day I will be deadheading annuals and perennials from now through... hmmm... it depends, but probably into November sometime? It's not a fun job, but it is a necessary for plants to produce strong and abundant flowers. It's time consuming, monotonous, boring, back-aching, knee-hurting, thumb & index finger-bruising (yes, the tip of my right thumb and first joint of my right index finger can actually become bruised)... but, the results of it are priceless.

WEEDING

Yes... the endless and frustrating task of weeding. Above I am carefully applying RoundUp (straight concentrate) to thistles that grow in great abundance in the beds of one of my customers. If we could only discover a way to harvest the thistles and turn them into oil!! Though, I'd just be happy if the rabbits would start eating the thistles rather than her perennials!!

So, yes... I went thistle by thistle (listerally hundreds upon hudreds of them) applying concentrate RoundUp to each one with a paint brush. There are too many annuals and perennials to spray and pulling the thistles only gets them more angry causing them to return with thicker stems and pointier pricklies. So... Grab the RoundUp, I say!!!

We'll see what happens... I'll be checking the beds tomorrow and hopefully the little suckers are dying. I'm sure there will be many more to come, though.

I guess you could say deadheading and weeding gives me some job security, huh? :)

Lost Cat!

Lost Cat!, originally uploaded by photobycurtis.

I ran into this picture on a photography forum I belong to... HOW FUNNY!!!!

Timing is everything

Andrew HATES having his picture taken. Wait, let me state that again... Andrew HATES posing for a picture. So, I have to try and catch him at just the right moment... it almost becomes a game between us.

Savannah, though... she LOVES to pose for pictures. But, I still like to try and "capture the moment" without her knowing...

Cute kids :)

Too busy and tired to...

To say the least, it's been an interesting last 2-3 weeks for me. I'm trying to "keep smiling" but... it's been hard. I'm pretty much caught up on planting annuals/tropical plants, but by now I'm usually more concerned with heavy maintenance, weeding, deadheading, perennial installation/replacement, hardscape work (light work... I usually don't do too much with stone... I'm a wimp). But, I'm usually NOT still concerned about planting annuals/tropicals by the last of June.

But, what's probably more frustrating than anything is how tired I've been. I have very little energy during the day. I can't really blame it on the heat, because we haven't really had that much of it. Take this week for example... the weather is pretty much PERFECT: high 70's - low 80's, sunny, light wind. But, by early afternoon I'm completely drained and out of energy. That's not me, especially this time of year and in this type of weather. I usually have no problem working until close to sunset mid-May to mid-June. But, I'm just not able to do it this year (which is nice, because I'm seeing the kids much more in the evening than prior years).

Also, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO sore. EVERY joint and muscle. Being on my hands and knees today was very difficult. I keep telling myself, "I'm ONLY 42, I can't feel like this."

Lastly... a lot of anxiety lately. Not necessarily feeling depressed, but anxiety and blah (it's hard to explain the difference). But, I'm not sure about what. I'm pretty sure it's business related, though. I think it's just a variety of things with my business this year... being behind with my palnting, getting business bookwork done, finances, unsure about the future (yes, I'm very unsure about continuing).

I was going to continue that last comment, but... I'm not sure really what to say. It's at the forefront of my mind much of the time, though. I seriously thought about it a couple of years ago (2006 being my last year), but... I kept going. 2007 went ok; I worked through some frustrations. I had an AWESOME winter and felt like I was REALLY ready for an excellent year this year. But, I'm not sure what happened... over the past month it all just seemed to fall apart.

But, the age old question is asked... "What else would I do?" Too far removed from banking to go back to that (not sure I'd want to anyway). Being away from it since 2002 has decreased my "value" significantly. The problem is... I don't feel like I have any time to really think it all thru. You'd think while I'm weeding, planting, watering, etc. that I'd have PLENTY of time to think. But... lately it's not constructive thinking.

Ok, it's late and I need to get to bed. I've taken my Aleve and hopefully it's going to kick in soon for a nice night's sleep.

Jasmine

Nothing like sitting on my front porch in the morning with a cup of coffee smelling noseful after noseful of jasmine. Hmmm - Intoxicating :)

Mister Tumnus visits the ER

Ball toy: $2
Removing the ball toy from Tumnus' bottom jaw: $50
Endless laughs about the ordeal: priceless
:)

Savannah's Dance Recital

Savannah's Dance Recital, originally uploaded by Mark Andrew Photos.

Here are a few pictures from Savannah's spring dance recital. Her group did an AWESOME job dancing to "Life Could Be.

To view the pictures, click on the photo above and it will take you to the photos at Flickr.

Savannah Post Dance Recital - B&W

Savannah Post Dance Recital - B&W, originally uploaded by Mark Andrew Photos.

Here's a cute picture of Savannah after her dance recital the other evening. I'll try to post some pictures of her dancing at her recital soon.