Things That Make you Realize You Made a Good Choice in a Mate

I ran the dishwasher night before last and didn't unload it yesterday morning because I was busy getting things together for my book group picnic at Howard Park yesterday morning.  We ate leftovers from the picnic last night and we used paper plates so I never opened the dishwasher.

This morning...I opened the dishwasher and saw that the water had never drained.  Butch had taken my Camry to the dealership for a 7 AM appointment and when he came home, I let him know we had a problem.  I became "Nurse Ratchet" for a couple of hours before I left for my Friday volunteer assignment at the library,  It was obvious that we had a major problem.

I went to the grocery store after I left the library and returned home at 2:40 PM.  My husband was still hard at it in the kitchen and had a fan blowing on him in the kitchen of our well air conditioned home.  Always a bad sign...

It is now 7:45.  I have ordered in from a local Italian restaurant and the dishwasher is still not fixed. He has narrowed it down to two expensive parts that may BOTH need to be replaced.  The kitchen is back in ordr, he has had a shower and dinner should be delivered shortly.

We;ll be shopping tomorrow.  I cannot watch him go through another day like today.

Enough is enough -- no matter what he thinks.

And the reason for this post?

During all of this, this man has not uttered the first cuss word.

He is a far better person than I.  His patience with somethings astounds me.

We're a good match because things that bother him do not bother me. And vice versa.

My Week Ahead

I just took a peek at my calendar for the coming week.....nothing scheduled until Thursday when we have the book group picnic at Howard Park.  So I thought I'd take a look at my photo files and pull some shots I have taken on other occasions at this lovely beach park.

The picnic shelters at Howard Park are a great place to meet and enjoy a nice meal while the book group includes a book discussion along with conversation about many other topics.  I love the Live Oaks at Howard Park.

Just 3/4 of a mile out the causeway is our island beach.  Convenient for walking off a full tummy.

The view below is  looking back at the shoreline across St. John's Bay. 

I took the photo below at sunset and caught the glow on the palm trees behind me.  The causeway is in the background.

I couldn't resist adding a photo from my front yard -- a bloom on our Bird of Paradise.  This plant is now over 20 years old and still going strong.

 I have really gotten off track here.

Anyway,  having nothing actually scheduled until Thursday, gives me plenty of time for my painting and paper crafts.  And, I need to write the minutes for the Garden Club meetings this past month.

Because....next week I do have some things scheduled and I need to pack for my trip with girlfriends to Perdido Key.
 

Butch and Beau will be batching it for five nights while I relax at a beach front condo.  A great way to end (almost) a busy volunteer year and look toward a quiet summer during which we will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.  I have cleared my calendar of everything except my Friends of the Library bookstore duties -- only a couple of hours on Fridays.  The rest of my weeks will be filled with my art and my family.  And, hopefully, a get-away trip for the two of us, too.

Soooo....

little tomato plants have just gone into the ground.

2 Cherokee Purple
1 Better Boy
1 Beef Master
and
1 Phoenix

What?

A PHOENIX?

What the heck is a Phoenix?

I didn't know so I looked it up.  It is a Bonnie bred plant that is supposed to be able to set fruit in 90+ degrees.  It's touted to be one of the best hot weather tomatoes.

I made sure I knew which one was the Phoenix so I can follow its progress.  It was introduced as a new variety about 5 years ago according to some sources.  They refer to it as a "red slicer."  I found a picture.

I really hope this one can make it through the summer heat.  We've had good and bad experiences with the others.  I wonder why they do well some summers and not others.

Anyway, they are in the ground with tomato cages over each of them.  When he suckers the plants, we'll end up with at least 10 more.

My New Tile

I'm not sure whether I am going to keep this one.  Kind of weird looking.  But, then, it is an abstract....

Thank you, Ace Hardware

Thank you, Ace Hardware for having the prettiest plants and for your friendly employee, Karen, who helped me pick out just the right plants for my wrought iron cook pot.  I enjoyed walking through the rows of plants and I really wanted to bring them all home.  But I settled on 5 different colors of phlox and a very pretty coral color of dianthus.

When I got home, I dug out a pair of gardening gloves and a trowel and went to work pulling the liriope, dead poinsettia, and some kind of vine out of the pot.  It was looking pretty darn pitiful.

It took me an HOUR to dig out the root-bound liriope and all the strange little roots.  I thought about putting some of it back and then thought better of it.  So I planted my six plants and watered then really well and am so pleased with the results.  The plants will spread and blend and Karen said more colors of phlox will appear.

While, I'm at it, I may as well show you my latest pictures of the avocado trees.  The tall one is over 8 feet now and growing really quickly.  The little one is still short but healthy and branching out with a good sized trunk.  Both are Hass avocado trees that I rooted from pits.  One was from the 50 ft tree that used to lean over our fence from our neighbor's backyard.  It died last summer.  The short one is from a pit of an avocado I bought at the grocery store.  Weird.

I started to close this post and then remembered that I have new pictures of the "old man" -- Mr. Beau.  He was not at all happy with my camera -- or -- he thinks he has a very noble profile.

Yes, it's almost time for Lee to pay him a visit and spiff him up a bit.

Have a lovely weekend.  And, Happy Easter to all my Greek friends!

Twins

As I wrote in my last post, my old pineapple plant has now produced "twins."

Twin "A"

 

Twin "B"

Messy foliage with Twin "A" in the background.

I'm not going to mess with the pot now, but I will after I pick these pineapples this summer.

Right now, I need to go buy some plants and freshen up my big pot.

I need to do a little research to decide what I want to plant..

Any ideas?

Remember This?

That is last year's pineapple.  And, we picked it and ate it.  It was wonderful!

Well.....

I have TWO of them growing now from the same pot and same messy foliage!

Just discovered the flowers when I walked out on the lanai to check out our plumeria trees.

Tomorrow, after Garden Club, I will take pictures of the new flowers (and messy foliage) and post them.  I was beating myself up for not pulling that stuff out and planting a new top last August.  I'm glad I didn't now since it takes 18 months to two years to grow one of these suckers.

I'm happy, happy, happy!