[summer break in 80 days] day 14
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Breakfast: bagels for the boys, oatmeal for me.
(summer 2002, weird crop but I had to leave Duffy in)
Gardening: I attacked the ligustrum today. I bought this years ago for $250. It was 5' tall. I wanted a small shade tree to view outside the kitchen window. Ligustrum is actually a shrub which can be shaped into a tree. The nursery had begun the training and all I had to do was continue the process which meant trimming off any low branches as they sprouted. Many people prune ligustrums into a half round ball. Though I think it's kind of cool, I prefer a more natural look. Yes, I see the irony of pruning a shrub into a "natural looking" tree. The tree did well. Then came the 5 years of neglect. Last year it was really dry and my sprinklers were not working. I though we were going to lose the tree. A year later and it does look really sad. I trimmed away most of the lower branches. I couldn't find my lopping shears so I did what I could with my hand pruners. I pulled a lot of moss of the tree. Though many trees can handle some moss, weak ones will only get weaker. I thought ligustrum was drought tolerant and just read that it isn't. Oops. (I'll get some photos later of the hack job.)
Lunch: Grilled cheese for everyone. I added baby carrots & sunchips to mine. I finally had to get the individual packs of sunchips to keep me from eating half the bag. Works, but I wish they had a pack with just plain. I am not too keen on the bad breath from sour cream & onion.
Took a nap.
Worked on getting some favorite photos of the boys in Lightoom. I made 3 more templates in Photoshop and will use them to make album pages from the family. Sure beats doing 32 separate scrapbook pages.
I looked out and saw the rabbit in the yard. I have no precious plants out there so I let him have free reign. He mostly eats the weeds that pretend they are lawn. I took some shots from my bedroom so there is a window and screen blurring the image some. I even got out my longer zoom & used my tripod but the images were not much better than good.
Dinner: Chicken nuggets for the boys. Spaghetti & sauce, tomato & cucumber salad for me.
There was a lot of rumbling and lightning but little rain. It mostly passed to the west of us. But Ryan wanted to skip baths. Ryan couldn't find his cup and I let him get another one. I looked and couldn't find it either. The problem is that Ryan only drinks chocolate milk. If left too long, the milk goes sour and the cup needs to be thrown away. We switched to thermoses last year which help keep the milk colder, longer. So now instead of replaces a $4 straw cup, we have to spend $15 on a thermos. I finally checked my office and found it there.
(summer 2002, weird crop but I had to leave Duffy in)
Gardening: I attacked the ligustrum today. I bought this years ago for $250. It was 5' tall. I wanted a small shade tree to view outside the kitchen window. Ligustrum is actually a shrub which can be shaped into a tree. The nursery had begun the training and all I had to do was continue the process which meant trimming off any low branches as they sprouted. Many people prune ligustrums into a half round ball. Though I think it's kind of cool, I prefer a more natural look. Yes, I see the irony of pruning a shrub into a "natural looking" tree. The tree did well. Then came the 5 years of neglect. Last year it was really dry and my sprinklers were not working. I though we were going to lose the tree. A year later and it does look really sad. I trimmed away most of the lower branches. I couldn't find my lopping shears so I did what I could with my hand pruners. I pulled a lot of moss of the tree. Though many trees can handle some moss, weak ones will only get weaker. I thought ligustrum was drought tolerant and just read that it isn't. Oops. (I'll get some photos later of the hack job.)
Lunch: Grilled cheese for everyone. I added baby carrots & sunchips to mine. I finally had to get the individual packs of sunchips to keep me from eating half the bag. Works, but I wish they had a pack with just plain. I am not too keen on the bad breath from sour cream & onion.
Took a nap.
Worked on getting some favorite photos of the boys in Lightoom. I made 3 more templates in Photoshop and will use them to make album pages from the family. Sure beats doing 32 separate scrapbook pages.
I looked out and saw the rabbit in the yard. I have no precious plants out there so I let him have free reign. He mostly eats the weeds that pretend they are lawn. I took some shots from my bedroom so there is a window and screen blurring the image some. I even got out my longer zoom & used my tripod but the images were not much better than good.
Dinner: Chicken nuggets for the boys. Spaghetti & sauce, tomato & cucumber salad for me.
There was a lot of rumbling and lightning but little rain. It mostly passed to the west of us. But Ryan wanted to skip baths. Ryan couldn't find his cup and I let him get another one. I looked and couldn't find it either. The problem is that Ryan only drinks chocolate milk. If left too long, the milk goes sour and the cup needs to be thrown away. We switched to thermoses last year which help keep the milk colder, longer. So now instead of replaces a $4 straw cup, we have to spend $15 on a thermos. I finally checked my office and found it there.