On Being Dated

Today, I looked up from my crafting for dogs, training dogs, and all about dogs books to find that a lot of people didn't even read books anymore. That one wasn't all that new to me. I know about all those 'e-readers'. They aren't for me, though. I need the smell, feel and sight of the printed word on real paper. My grandfather may have lost his home in the great depression of the late 30s to mid 40s, but he did not lose his printing business. I guess the real paper thing is something in my genes. 

I did learn a lot by straying from my normal obsession with dogs into the advertisements and articles of this 2012 Christmas season. There was and is still happening a winter storm this week in the midwest, wreaking havoc with Christmas shopping both in brick and mortar stores and online. Winter storms aren't that unusual at this time of year. Once upon a time, brick and mortar stores would report record sales because they got people in the Christmas giving spirit. What I learned this year, though, was that this storm may delay gifts ordered online or being mailed from homes. Really? I thought the busiest shipping day of the year was December 10th, give or take a day accounting for weekends. Apparently when I wasn't looking, the busiest shipping day has moved from December 10th to December 20th. Who knew?

Scanning the electronics sale items in my hardcopy newspaper...there are a few of them left...I saw laptop computers had plummeted from the $3,000.00 to starting at $299.00. Not only that, but we are supposed to buy gifts for our electronics. What once was a tool for communication and research now has a gift deserving essence of its own. They want wall mounts, flash drives, memory kits and mini adapters. And then there were helmet cameras. Talk about looking geeky! And on the front page of the newspaper was a picture of a six year old showing her red lipsticked face to Santa. Lipstick on a six year old? I thought it was scandalous when my 12 year old granddaughter wore eye shadow (and if you are reading this, granddaughter, you know which one you are!).

Being an eternal optimist, I am looking forward to the new year. I ordered a book this past week called Welcoming Kitchen by Kim Lutz. It is for those needing delicious allergen and gluten free vegan recipes. I am in need of none of those except maybe the vegan part. Going totally vegan is on my list of must do accomplishments for this lifetime. To go along with the book, I bought myself a vegetable slicer/dicer/shredder. If you are imagining one of those big and noisy food processors, nope, that's not it. If you are reading this, have looked at the picture of my new cherished gadget and are thinking 'that's about her speed', I'll take that as a compliment.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Power

A very long time ago, I was very active in various organizations. Hence, I participated in a lot of pot luck dinners. I always took the same thing to them...a marvelous homemade dessert. Invariably, there were always lots of requests for the recipe. I did not honor those requests, instead telling people that if I gave out the recipe it would no longer be special. 

Here I am 20odd years later and I have no idea what that recipe is. I don't even know where it is or even exactly what it was. I must have come across to others as a 'pompous jack' though, I'm sure. 
I don't think there is even one person who remembers my dessert. I did not go down in the world of 'potluckdom' as the person who made the best dessert ever. What I do know is that if I had to do it all again, I'd share the recipe. To have power, we must share power...even if it is only at a pot luck dinner.

What A Mix!

I have enjoyed a steady stream of Dahlias for my table but never did I think I would get so many variations! I'm sure if I had bought my tubors from a house that specialized in Dahlias, they would have been consistent in size and color. However, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the contrasts that have popped up this growing season.

I Have Dahlias!

Finally, after a long wait, I finally have a steady supply of fresh Dahlias for my kitchen table. As you can see, our dog Astrid is very proud of them. I think she feels that she had something to do with their success, as we made checking on them part of our morning ritual. Every morning it was turn off the alarm, go out and get the newspaper, start the coffee and finally, along with Astrid, go out to the backyard and check on the Dahlias.

I originally started with three pots of Dahlia tubor plantings but after one failed to show any signs of life, I discarded it. Now, with two healthy pots I feel I was a bit hasty about the third one. Being new to growing flowers from tubers, the hardest part was not knowing what to expect of them. My Dahlia growing experience was a lot like training Astrid. Patience and nurture yields beautiful results.

My Neighbor Blasts Her Tunes

Living in a 'cookie cutter' neighborhood of little houses (which I prefer to think of as a neighborhood of perfect little cottages), we have enough room to landscape the sides of our houses, leaving a little strip for the mowing guys to just fit the mower on the little strip of grass in between. I say this to give some idea of the proximity of the houses...um, cottages. My neighbor to the right has taken to blasting her tunes on a daily basis! If she had any idea of how that music floats into the windows of my bathroom and permeates the walls of my bedroom, she would be mortified, I'm sure. She's that type. But it isn't that loud and often offensive music that blasts from car windows or boom boxes on the beach. It is the sweet melodies of classical and often piano music. This muffled sound is not annoying. Rather, I find it rather calming, bringing back the sounds that came from the kitchen radio my mother often had on. While mom's choice of radio station was not as high brow by any stretch of the imagination, the activity of mom in the kitchen doing her 'mom stuff' while listening to WJTN 1340AM broadcasting Jim Roselle live over a half century ago were untroubled times...and my neighbor's tunes remind me of those days and return that placid feeling. May my neighbor never realize that I enjoy her daily broadcasts. 

To Grow Some Dahlias ... Maybe

It has been sometime since updating our blog on growing Dahlias. Following directions, I have placed them in a spot that receives sun up to 6 hours a day and after the greenery appears I have kept them well watered. There are two that fulfilled their promise on the package of 'guaranteed to grow'. The third just refused, even though it received the very same care, to show any signs of life whatsoever. Unfortunately, I am at a standstill when it comes to knowing what to do with them next. Observing the Dahlia sites that one of our kind readers recommended, I was lost for words at the beauty of the Dahlias...mostly growing in well manicured gardens or started by knowledgeable growers. One thing I have observed with gardening, craft and do it yourself project sites is that they assume you have some knowledge of the subject before beginning. With Dahlias, I do not. I have brought them onto the porch for their photoshoot....now I will return them to the center of the back yard where they will receive their daily dose of full sun. I hope I am a little more knowledgeable on their next update. Knowing what to expect next from them remains a mystery.

Today We Planted Our Dahlias

We'd first like to say 'thank you so much' to Mary St George. Her comment left on our first post about planting Dahlias and  the fabulous link to the Facebook page devoted to Dahlias is an amazing resource! We planted them today in our pots using the suggestions found in these links and the advice from The American Dahlia Society's website.

Our first question was 'there seems so many tubers for each plant'. We found the answer to be yes, it is okay and we can think about dividing them in the coming years. Our next question was 'they have already sprouted in the bag! Is this a good thing?' The answer to that question was that can happen, just plant them accordingly. Don't bury the sprouts when potting them. After planting them, we took them outdoors where we will move them from back of the house to the front each day, making sure they get their 8 hours of required sunshine. To water thoroughly, we followed the suggestion of using a misting bottle. This doesn't wash to the sides the soil that covers each tuber.