Shed Renovation

Marty and crew were here this morning. They completely revamped the inside of my shed. I should have taken a 'before' picture, but it was such a mess.
They pulled everything out, made shelves in the back and one side. The opposite side has an old work bench.
Now there is room to put everything back with space for more!!
I really like it. They made a special area for all the garden tools. I'll have to get the hoe out right away as you can see in the next picture.
The Irises are doing good. I did give them a little liquid Miracle Grow the other day. Gotta remember I now have the Atwater sand to grow plants in. Sure is different than what I've been used to.
It's easier to work in, but have to remember to feed the plants and water more often.
The sidewalk that leads up to the door belongs to my neighbors. They sure have a cute place. The door goes to their utility room. (aka shed?) Like I said their place is really cute and she is lucky her husband is such a handyman!

Carol's Birthday

Carol's birthday was September 12. Her daughter and son-in-law had family over for a birthday dinner, complete with a delicious carrot cake. Mr. Opportunity from Honda was there and I took a picture of him and Carol. They look pretty chummy.
Carol's great-grandkids were so cute, playing together.
I've been looking for my favorite Butterfly bushes, but was surprised I couldn't find them, not even in Turlock. They won't be getting any more in until late spring. Now I wish I had taken cuttings from them before I moved. I thought it would be no problem to find Blue Chip and Adonis Blue or even Black Knight. They seemed so easy to find the first time around. Oh well. Maybe later.
I did get the fruit trees ordered. They won't be here until late January.
The Winton Old Timers reunion will be here before you know it. I have pictures I want to scan so I can return them before then. Then, there are more recipes to type for the Winton Centennial Cook Book. Sometimes when there is so much to do, I don't know what to do first.

9/11

Where were you on 9/11?
I was still in bed. My husband was up. The phone rang. It was our daughter in Switzerland, asking if we were watching TV. She said the U.S. was being attacked.
John turned the TV on and came in to tell me. I was confused about the news. What did he say? What did he mean?
Watching it on TV was so unreal. When it finally sunk in that this was really happening, I called my sister-in-law who was just as shocked as we were.
Watching the planes fly into the tall towers gave me a sick feeling. I'm sure it was the same feeling that a lot of people had.
My husband and I had just flown to Switzerland that spring to visit our daughter. It was my first ride in a large airplane. I would never have gone on that plane if the attack had happened before then.

August Wrap-up

It's been a long time since I wrote anything on my blog. What did I do? Let's see if I can remember. lol
Mrs. Dibble invited me to go to Nagame's restaurant for lunch. Pictured is Mary, owner of Nagame's (along with her husband) and Mary's mother, Mrs. Dibble. Mrs. Dibble is amazing, she and her husband live here in the park and every morning she is out there walking. She even picks up my newspaper and puts it by my door. So then I don't even have to get dressed, but just take a couple of steps outside to retrieve my newspaper. Mrs. Dibble is definitely spoiling me.
My husband and I used to go to Nagame's for dinner all the time. Every birthday, anniversary or "just because" would find us there to sip the hot Sake and have a delicious dinner.
The next picture is "our" table on Bingo nights. From the left is Joan, Yvonne, Barbara, Carolyn and Betty. The empty chair is where I sit. I'm the "Johnny-come-lately" but they made room for me at their #1 table. lol It's a good group of friendly women. Behind Barbara is an old upright piano. Too bad it's not a player. I still haven't decided what I will do with my 200+ player piano rolls. Maybe the fact that I am so reluctant to sell them means that someday I will still get another player piano. haha.
Today my sisters and I had a late lunch at Sizzler's. Sunday is Carolyn's birthday, so she had her choice of where to go. We decided we will go to lunch once a month. Guess we'll take turns deciding where to go.
Monday Carolyn and I have appointments with Miguel Gallegos in Turlock. During the time I was moving we missed going one month. I sure didn't like missing my reflexology treatment. I was hurting. My knees, hips, you name it. I'm glad to be back on schedule. After our treatment we usually go to The Greenery on Olive Avenue.
It's a very nice nursery in Turlock and you can find plants there that you never see in Merced. It's a straight shot from Miguel's office on Lander Avenue, just head East on Lander and it turns into Olive. How easy is that?
Anyway, I'm really excited about going there this Monday because I am going to special order some dwarf fruit trees. I can get dwarf Stella, Bing and Rainier cherry trees there. They get their fruit trees from Dave Wilson. The fruit trees we had in Merced also came from the Dave Wilson wholesale nursery. I found the same varieties we had before; Flavorcrest and Suncrest peaches; Fantasia nectarine and the Tilton apricot. Those are available in the semi-dwarf. Their usual size is a little bigger than I want, but I found a wonderful article on pruning fruit trees from UC Davis. I am determined to learn how to prune them myself to keep them within the acceptable size. You have to prune them in the summer as well as the winter. The manager is concerned about how tall the trees will get and I am too. I'd like to be able to pick the fruit without getting on a ladder.
The Dave Wilson website has lots of good information on trees. One is especially interesting to me on homegrown fruit trees.