Beautiful Gardens, Planters And All

My friend has a beautiful garden, compared to mine it is an expansive space and she has, dotted around it hanging baskets and planters with the most beautiful flowering plants.
She loves nothing more than pottering about and as far as I am concerned (being a garden ignoramus) she is quite an impressario with regards to gardens, plants, shrubs, herbs and all things 'green'.
She spends a lot of her time going to different garden centers to look at window box planters and decorative planters. She not only knows what plants and flowers are best for the time of year, she also has an eye for what will look good in her garden. Her garden does not look overdone...or gaudy. It is not over whelmed with outdoor planters and garden planters or garden paraphernalia. It has a discreet beauty with little pockets of joyful color and surprise. I suppose you could say it is a sophisticated style.
I could venture to say that her skills are legendary among her friends as she has made different friends a planter brimful of delightful joyous color. A gift that is a joy to receive.
The planter she gave me she called a shimmer. It looks like a beautiful weathered terracotta wide rimmed vase ... beautiful in itself to look at, although it is actually a durable weatherproof fiberglass affair....I expected it to weigh a ton weight. The flowers were an array of reds and pinks and white with a splash of yellow ...and purple! It was an explosion of color quite joyful and cheerful and obviously lovingly prepared. I try my best to look after it but I can't say as I have much luck with plants.
I came across planterixchange.com though and forwarded her the address. It looks like the sort of site she may be interested in or may even already know.

Photobooks For Posterity

At home, growing up Photos tended to be stuffed in the bottom of drawers or posted off to relations in America or Canada never to be seen again. There was also a stack of unruly photo albums, that were often overfull, with photos often slipping out of them. A very untidy affair.

Some of the older photographs have strange unsmiling faces looking out at us. There is no longer anyone alive who remembers who these people were.

My daughters latest project is to gather all the old family photographs up and make a photobook of family memorabilia, for posterity. At the moment she is scanning all the old photographs she can find unto her computer and trying to identify some of the subjects in the more ancient photographs.

One of the major problems is identifying people and making a choice of what to keep and what not to keep for the photobook. She has found a site Photo Productions which makes photobooks up. It is apparently a very easy, Straight forward and good value service. being much older and more cynical I will tell my daughter whether it is good value when I see the finished product in my hands.

Photo Productions also does Wedding albums and graduation albums so they may very well get return business if we are pleased with this initial project. Both my daughter and myself graduated a few years ago...and yes! There are lots of photographs of the day stuffed into the bottom of the drawers.

Careers, Trades, Education How To Find Out Your Options

Life is so very different now from when I was young. When I was young you were expected to leave school and get a job - and it was easier then to get a job with a minimum amount of qualifications. Not so now. Sometimes it is the parents who spend their times worrying about their kids future careers, planning possible options, career routes. Should they go to a technical school, a trade school or university? Parents can drive themselves batty worrying and fretting about the future. I believe it is lucky that kids (for the most part) can live in the moment. Enjoy being young.
I don't underestimate the sort of pressure that kids are under these days though, I sometimes feel as though my daughter has been studying for a college place from she was about fourteen. She had a vague idea what direction she wants to go with regards to a future career, is willing to work, but has also the sense to understand the importance of relaxing and forgetting the rigours of educational demands from time to time. I am very proud of her.
She surfs sites such as career voyages to see what sort of options there are on offer.
I have always held the opinion that education is important for its own sake not just for your career's sake, so I suppose some people have viewed me as an arty farty airy fairy type. Though because I have always been interested in doing different part time courses I think now that I am in a position to start looking for work again. Looking at options of retraining are going to come easier to me.

Sometimes More Than Things Get Broken

She was wrecking the living room. She lifted a vase and threw it, it hit the light fitting, the chandler swung wildly and one of the glass globes smashed sending shards and splinters of glass out into the room. He instinctively put his arms up to protect his face. The vase missed him by roughly an inch and bounced of the wall. It did not break. She was pushing the chairs and furniture around and then she kicked the television, it moved but did not topple over. He was surprised at her strength. She was screaming and cursing, she seemed hysterical but nothing coherent was coming from her, just a jumble of words. Whether she thought she was saying sentences or not he didn't know. Family photographs and little ornaments were flung across the room and finally the words "Get the feck out" became clear as she repeated them over and over again with a venom in her voice he had never heard before. He wanted to go over and hold her, comfort her calm her down and tell her everything would be OK; instead, he stood where he was and watched and waited. Quiet, afraid that the alarm he was feeling was showing in his face.
She ran past him out to the patio knocking every pot over kicking the plants and soil and finally kneeling down she dug her fingers deep into the soil and then brought a handful up and started to rub it around her face as though she was washing herself.
"No! Don't that's dirty" He said moving toward her.
"That's dirty that's dirty" she repeated. "That's dirty d. i. r. t. y." She started to swear again. His face reddened, he didn't know she knew half the words that she was saying- and spelling. He didn't understand why he felt so embarrassed either. It was obvious she didn't know what she was doing, or saying.
She ran down the garden and curled up in the swing seat. The screaming and shouting had stopped but the rapid talking hadn't. "blue green orange, yellow belly one two three Ohh I have done it again I have to start again. Blue green- touch the fence Jumping up running over touch the fence. There!" She took a deep breath. Looked at him "You said five bad man bad man bad man! Ohh they won't give me peace, I am so tired and they won't leave me alone!" She started to weep. "Why are they doing this? Six eight ten three and four is seven no not no piss off GET AWAY GET AWAY
He was on the verge of tears and went over to her and took her hand. "Leave me alone" She shouted at him and then started going over colours again. She did not let go of his hand. "I am so tired" she said in the middle of it "Ohh I have to start again!" She swore and started again her voice rapid rat tat tat tat. He was not surprised she was tired. She hadn't stopped this talking for three days and had only dozed intermittedly. He was exhausted.
From a slight confusion to this, his mind felt numb, he didn't want to think. Doctors at first had said that she was exhibiting an extreme reaction to grief. They didn't seem too useful or helpful or even interested. Now though he knew help was on the way, but he felt as though he had to force the 'health proffessionals' to do something. He felt very much on his own. But finally someone had listened and help was on its way. When he had her settled in the hospital they could start doing tests to get to the bottom of this and get her well again.
He would come home and get the house cleared up and go on to shopwiki and try to replace everything she'd broken so she wouldn't know. He was hoping she wouldn't remember anything of these past few days. The things she said, the things she did! He was frightened but wanted to stay positive, believe that everything would get better, that they would find that it is only some sort of infection, something treatable. That life could get back to normal.
They normally did the online shopping together and always had a bit of fun doing it. It's funny it is always easier to recognise what you don't want more than what you do want. For a little while life with his wife had felt a little flat, a little boring but now he just wished for things to be the way they where. He didn't want the uncertainty of this. He said a quiet prayer that she'd be ok and held the tears back as again she started to swear at him.

Invesments And Online Trading

I can't say as I come from a family that are into investing or Stock Trading or any of that sort of thing. I come from the sort of family that 'get by' or make ends meet. So there was rarely any money left over to consider investing.
My generation however are a bit more financially secure and do have a bit more money to 'play with'. If that is the right sort of terminology. Some of my relations have invested money in an Online Broker firm and sometimes the conversations they have at family gatherings are nothing but gobblygook to me. For some of them it is a bit of a 'buzz' using money that they don't need for anything else and for others they are looking for somewhere to invest their money wisely to go towards things like pensions or their kids future education. I can safely say that most of the investments I have made over the years are investments of the emotional type rather than the financial type.
My cousins tell me though that Online Trading is one of the most popular ways to use any spare cash or to invest savings. They often try to give me advice on best possible options on how to use my money 'more wisely'. I am lucky to have them, for advice.

Opening A Bottle In Style

Most of my friends drink wine. Red wine, white wine, rose, whether it is pinot noir, reisling or sauvignon blanc. They are not that fussy, most of them just enjoy a glass or two or three regardless of the colour or the vintage. it doesn't matter so much to them...as long as it makes them feel good at the moment they never worry about paltry things such as hangovers.
One friend in particular fancies herself to be a bit of a connoisseur. She tends to buy it by the case, a mixture of reds, whites, and roses...with the occasional bottle of champagne for special occasions. (The rose is for friends who just don't have any taste), the whites and reds are for particular dishes. Yes, she also fancies herself as a bit of a chef. (Admittedly though, she is a rather fine cook and has a tendency to pay attention to tiny details that set a meal off).
Lyndsey is also a bit of a connoisseur about buying accouterments for her wine collection such as stemware wall racks, cork screws and wine openers.

Lately she bought herself a rogar estate wine opener. A bronze antique style table top affair, with a granite handle and stand. I must admit it is a beautiful tool, and smart to, it not only uncorks bottles but re corks them. I am though, as some people here would say a bit of a hallion and as others would say a philistine. I don't always appreciate the beautiful things in life. An average corkscrew does me as long as it gets the job done and I doubt if I would want to re cork a bottle once I open it.

Lyndsey sometimes talks about the different types of wines that there are and what foods they are best for. I generally just smile at her and nip into the kitchen to pour myself another glass.

Living, Working And Watching Telly In New York

My daughter's newest idea is to go to New York city for a year. Being young is the best time to do anything like that. I asked her. "Why New York?"
"New York is a brilliant city-so good they named it twice" She laughingly replied. I pointed out that living and working somewhere is totally different from going on vacation and if she is serious she'd need to have plenty of money saved up and a job to go to; no matter how enticing or exciting big cities are they can be hard and uncompromising places. Being young she is not always concerned with the particulars.
Her friend who has already 'lived' the New York experience advised her to look into getting a television and signing up with Direct TV for the times she would not be able to go out. At the moment though, my daughter's head is filled with dreams. She reckons she won't have much time for t.v. Her friend however pointed out that there may be times when she won't be able to afford to go out and television may be her only option for entertainment. Directv is a cheap option. It sounds to me like big cities are the same the world over. If you have plenty of money the world will always be your oyster. If at times the end of the month seems miles away perhaps being able to watch television is not such a bad option.
Her friend whose advice I think she should heed (even a little) pointed out that Direct TV in New York NY offers plenty of cheap packages. "Time fillers" as she put it, and she will be able to follow many of the shows that she already follows.
Vikki has been to New York twice as a tourist. She loves it. She loves the people, the sights, the sounds and the hustle and bustle.
It is a perfect time for her to explore beyond her Island home, being young and enthusiastic about all things. I can't help feeling a little envious that she will be able to dander through Central park in the Autumn and go ice skating. That she will be giving herself the time to get to know the city like a true New Yorker, in a sense.
Then a thought occurred to me, if she does decide to carry out this latest plan. I can always visit her in the fall. I have heard that New York is a beautiful city in the fall.

Grandma's Love...Like Gold ...Priceless

My friend recently became a proud and delighted grandmother and nothing will ( I think) be good enough for her wee grand daughter. Years ago when babies were born they were bought little commemorative bangles (keepsakes). Today they still are as far as i know, but my friend Vi also wanted to buy something that would also be an investment for the babies future. Obviously she thought of gold.

So she has been looking at the choice of gold coins and is quite surprised that there is quite a choice and that some of them are quite beautiful. An example is the 20 dollar Saint Gaudens Gold Double Eagle. There is though quite a choice to be made so she hasn't settle on her choice of gold coin yet or even if she should buy more than one.

She has also been looking at the gold bullion coins and informed me that the bullion means they are a certain weight. it sounds as though this grandma is becoming a bit of a business woman.