A Northern California Seed Catalog

What you see in the rest of this blog entry is NOT a seed catalog but actual pictures taken in our yard this afternoon. That's right, all of you who still have snow in the corners of your lot, eat your heart out. Of course, even if you have more temperate weather you might still be envious of me for having a wife like Carolyn who really has an eye for raising an absolutely fantastic flower garden. I also want to point out that you can click on each of the pictures for a larger view or to use for your computer background or screensaver.

Enough from me. You can now look at the pictures or the pictures and commentary (if I can get Carolyn to do one):


We have Calla lilies in the front flowerbed. I need to divide them so let me know if you would like a few for your garden.

This is one of several iris. They are always a surprise because someone shared bulbs with me and didn't know what they were. I'm delighted with each new color and variety.

Another peek at an Iris



This is the color I remember from my childhood. My mother had many flowers including a bed of Iris.

This is the beginning of our blue berries. I hope the fruit is as prolific as the blossoms. Notice how patriotic we are - red, white, and blue on one plant.

This is a step back from the blue berries so you can see the foliage.

These are just a few of our many roses. Our backyard currently has an arbor full of yellow blossoms.

The front flowerbed has a more sophisticated yellow rose. It isn't so rambunctious.


These are perennials that have survived from previous years. Sometimes they do much better when they have been around for several years.

This is a closeup. I don't have a lot of plan for my flowers, it is more of a 'see if they survive.' They have to cope with neglect and when there is a bare spot, something gets stuck into the ground.

The red roses have these wonderful long stems and when I take them to R.S. or work the ladies think I've purchased them from the florist instead of collected them from the garden.


This rose is a favorite. In the bud it is very red but as it opens up it becomes red and yellow and then on to white with a hit of pink. It is also very fragrant so my cubicle smells wonderful when I take these to work.

This is another view.


This is a sedate white rose in the front garden. Very prim and proper flowers. Actually they hold their color nicely and fill out bouquets.

The Pansies have been around all through the fall and winter and are putting a wonderful show before the weather gets too hot.


The snapdragons are big and boisterous. They've been in barrels with the pansies and looked lovely in the fall but now they are putting on a Spring Finale .

This bush looks pink but it is decidedly lavender in real life. It is the first rose to bloom and it does it with gusto. It will continue to bloom during the summer but the best show is the first show.


The lavender rose up close

These are more of the pansies. Notice the lady bugs on the flowers.


These are some new geraniums I have planted on the front porch.


They are in a large pot so there is plenty of room for three or four varieties

This geranium is an old timer from past years

This is one of the new geraniums. Is it cheating to photograph the blossom they came with from the nursery?


These are a new selection -- couldn't resist the pretty flowers at Costco. They are Nemesia and Bacopa. I've never tried them before but hopefully the will bloom and thrive.

These are another view of the Nemesia


Another color of Nemesia

The Pansy pot.


A not so 'purple' pansy

These are more of the snapdragons (they are so much fun to play with-want to come and sing with the snapdragons).

Just another snap


A few more pansies


Pansies trying to outdo one another

This is a very pale Iris


This is a carefully framed shot - you can't see that the arbor needs to be scraped and repainted.

The rose arbor from down under


This flower is abundant and flashy but it goes through it's cycle rather quickly.

You can almost smell this rose (careful, your nose is leaving a smudge on the computer screen).

This is another Iris surprise

Silver threads among the gold...

Trying to make pictures stay where they're supposed to in Blogger is just next to impossible. I guess one answer would be to use something like Word to place them on a page and the import that page into Blogger.


































Having finished that whine, I'll ask Carolyn to say "cheese". This is about as good a comparison as I can get for all of you regarding how Carolyn's hair looks in the distinguished silver grey compared to how it looks in the brown that we had all come to enjoy and appreciate.

Interestingly, Carolyn feels more comfortable with the short grey hair.

Oh Say Can You See...

Every once in a while someone will remark about the prominence of our flagpole in our front yard. Usually the comment is something about whether or not we take the flag down at night. When we answer No, they respond with, "You're supposed to, you know." If they are really knowledgeable they'll quote actual law as follows.

It is Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code (4 U.S.C. §1) Section 6 (a) states:

"It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness. "

Interestingly, the US Flag Code is about as binding as Miss Manners' "Book of Modern Etiquette." It was designed to give guidance. No penalties are mentioned in the code and Supreme Court rulings have generally indicated that any enforcement would probably be rejected on the basis of free speech.

But still, what's the purpose of flying the flag if you can't see it. So this past weekend we purchased and installed a solar powered flag spotlight. I've been wanting to put up a light since we put in the pole but the problem was always getting power over to where a spotlight made sense.

The light had two components: the light itself which has two superbright LED elements and the battery pack with three rechargeable batteries and a small solar to electricity converter. This light had hardware for mounting it on the pole. But since our pole is telescoping with the smaller sections going inside the larger outer sections I couldn't figure out how to pole mount it.


Fortunately, it also came with hardware for mounting on a building such as our garage. Here I am showing that I can still climb a ladder no matter how foolish that might be. Carolyn was close at hand ready to break my fall or at least call 911.


The instructions called for a distance of six feet which worked out almost perfectly from the edge of our garage to the midpoint of the flag on the pole. I sort of held my breath about whether it would really make a difference but it does. We charged it for one full day before turning it on.

This is how it looked last night:

The picture is a little blurry because the flag was moving in the breeze.

Sunday with family

One of the more pleasant traditions that we've formed in the last 5 years (ever since Ed and family moved to Sacramento) is to spend some time together almost every weekend. Sometimes it really is just dropping in and saying Hi and other times we'll try to celebrate a happy occasion. This weekend it was a combined Easter and Carolyn's birthday celebration.

We missed the egg coloring activity but did enjoy eating the deviled eggs that Tiffany made from all the colored eggs. I'm not sure we enjoyed them as much as Camdan did.


We found out that Jake is loving (and using) the children's digital camera that we got him for his birthday a couple of weeks ago. In fact he was so aggressive with his camera that it was sometimes difficult to get a picture without him and his camera in the frame.


Carolyn "came out" yesterday at meetings and, of course, with the family regarding her actual hair color. She says she's ready to chuck the wigs as her hair is long enough to go without. The only question was whether she should dye it or opt for natural. It will be dyed.


Even so, I think she looks pretty sharp for a woman of 62 who has gone through all the trials this year that she's weathered.

And a little more for doing nothing!

Among the quarterly statements we recently received was one from Allied Healthcare Credit Union in Long Beach California. Now I have a special place in my heart for Allied since I spent a number of years on their board of directors. One of the things that I didn't like and complained about regularly was the practice of assessing fees for everything. There was a fee for talking to a teller, a fee for getting a cashier's check, a fee for opening an account, a fee for closing an account, etc. I wasn't successful in my complaints then. It really does seem to be standard practice.

Still, I was a little upset to see a $15 charge on my quarter Allied CU statement with no explanation. I suspected it was because my balance was only $1,000.. I called and was told their customer service representatives were all busy. Rather than place me in a holding pattern like most companies, they asked me to leave a message and they'd call back.

Less than two hours later they did call back. A polite gentleman explained that the fee was for "inactivity"! I was incredulous. Really, I asked him, you really charge $15 for doing nothing? He explained that mine was an "inactive account" and thereby incurs a $15 per year charge. I could avoid the charge by having at least one transaction per year. A simple deposit or withdrawal would do.

He then went on to explain that since I had three IRA CD's with the credit union he would write-off the charge this time but he hoped I would make a small deposit this year so that my account would not be inactive this time next year. Very nice of him.

Happy Birthday, Carolyn!

Camdan contemplating his cheesy toast

We started celebrating Carolyn's birthday yesterday evening with dinner at Sizzler's. Ed, Tiffany, and their boys were there to help celebrate. Everyone was on their good behavior except Grandpa who insisted on sharing his Jello, cottage cheese, and cheesy toast with Camdan. Sitting across the table, Grandma Carolyn got a couple of good pictures.

Although not quite 11 months, Camdan is ready to join the rest of the world in eating grown-up food, especially from Sizzler.

Camdan putting the touch on Grandpa for a mouthful of Jello

Refinance NOW

Is everybody jumping on the refinance bandwagon? I read a headline recently which read "Obama Says Refinance Now". I find it amazing that the POTUS is now acting like a bank president. He fired the head of GM but with the banks he's just going to assume the job responsibilities.

But it did get me thinking...maybe this is the time, if a bank will refinance a loan to two old fogies like us. I thought our mortgage at 5.625% fixed for 22.5 years was pretty good but rates really have dropped. With no shopping around at all, I've found rates as low as 4.25% fixed rate for 30 years 285 points and closing costs of $5,238. Let's see, if I save $150 a month on house payments, I'll break even in 4.5 years!

Other combinations are available, of course, and we might eventually refinance. But what I'm trying to say is that it is no slam dunk. And just because the POTUS is encouraging it, doesn't necessarily make it a good deal.

Meals on Wheels, the next generation

It is strictly against the rules for me to have other family members with me in the car while I'm delivering Meals on Wheels. I know there are reasons for the rules but I think it's a situation where only one side is considered when the rules are made. I'm sure the side that won was worried about liability and risk prevention (the more people involved with the delivering, the more chance for someone to break an arm or a leg. They worried about patient confidentiality (the family members weren't sworn to patient records confidential like the rest of us did.)

But there are so many positive reasons for having family members tag along. Because they are out on Spring Break this week grandsons Tim ( 9) and Jake went with me on the Meals on Wheels route. Tim remembers the prior experience favorably and was able to talk Jake into actively participating. In filling out our route report, Tim was able to see how important math is in everyday life. Several of the clients, when they saw the two boys bringing in the the packaged meal, brightened perceptibly and started to ask them questions and remark about how handsome they were. But probably the biggest reason for having the kids come along is to teach by doing.

There is simply no substitute for hands on emulation. I was able to take my oldest son to work in the church's orange orchards until the rule was made to prohibit anyone younger than 16 (or was it 18?) from working in the orchards. I think many of them went but as adults rather than as "my kids".

Conversing with your kids is better after such shared experiences as they know what you're talking about. I remember as a child neighbors and even my parents going to the temple to do "ceilings" and wondering why they never did walls or floors.

So I'm preaching the gospel of shared experiences with your children if you can, otherwise with your grandchildren.