Garden Chores

Some of the bulbs I ordered came during the week so since we had a little break in the weather I decided I go out and get them in the ground. Annuals are growing where I plan to plant many of them and since they are still so pretty I decided to wait to pull them out.

Note to self: Buy more stakes and try to find more sturdy ones for next year.

I did plant my new Mum.

This is the Mum that I won at a garden club meeting last year that I planted then moved twice.

I didn't expect any blooms until next year.

This Hollyhock has buds, will they open before the first frost?

I also collected some seeds, weeded a little and cut some flowers to bring in. John cleaned out and organized the garage so I can get my car in. I just have to clean up all the gardening stuff out there!

Recap of My Week

I had an up and down week that centered around work. So it seems appropriate that I show you a picture of my current bus. Mine is on the left and it's twin is on the right. It's a 2000 Blue Bird IC. More info than most of you need but the things that happened at work this week that I would like to talk about I can't because of confidentially rules. So I will say that most of the week was great. The little ones are really learning the safety rules and I am quite proud of them. I have always said that the day I need an aide to ride with me will be the day I look for a new job. I will have another driver with me on Monday. I hope it is only for a day or two; I would hate to give up a career I love.

The weather has been a mixed bag this week. We're definately easing into fall. I need a warm jacket in the morning and only a teeshirt in the afternoon.

We moved kids night to Tuesday this week because I thought I would be working Thursday evening. It was Mike and Nikki's turn to be the cooks. The only food that all four of them will eat is chicken nuggets. With the girls allergies we have to be very careful in the kitchen!

After dinner they used dominoes for building.



After Alex was done building I showed him how to match up the dots to play dominoes. He slowly counted each dot and then matched them up. His counting has really improved. After counting and matching about eight of them he suddenly realized that the colors also matched up. You could almost see the lightbulb gleaming over his head! Watching them learn and discover things at this age is so much fun.


Wednesday we went to Mom's and got her laundry and shopping caught up. I didn't end up participating in the plant exchange at the garden club meeting. The speaker gave some good tips on bulbs and composting. She lost me when she started talking about worm composting. I will not be keeping worms in my kitchen but to each their own. Thursday was Beaver Lake and Friday I will still be dealing with on Monday.

My first box of bulbs came this week and I hope we get some breaks in the rain so I can get them planted. I'm taking the band to Oswego tonight.

Beaver Lake Nature Center

I had my first field trip of the year today. Up until yesterday I was sure I would get the VG soccer team tonight. I don't like working evenings, so I was thrilled when it worked out that I got to take a group to Beaver Lake.

There wasn't a whole lot of fall color at the park yet. The first two pictures were taken on the bog trail.

I have always liked the bog trail because of the boardwalk. Today the hard surface really bothered my foot.

This is a good representation of the amount of color change we have throughout our area. Some individual trees doing their own thing but not the mass of color that we comes and goes too quickly.

The weather forecasters here are in their glory. The weather patterns are changing and we have been getting lake effect rain. I swear the one weather guy must have said "lake effect" 40 times yesterday during the news. This picture shows one of the lake effect bands as it was starting to break up. There were a few geese on the lake but they were too far away for my camera.

It rained before we took the kids and started raining again just as they were getting back on the buses. While we were there the sun came out and the weather was almost perfect. I just liked this picture.


Lake Effect is what gives us our 150+ inches of snow a year. The winds come across Lake Ontario picking up moisture and dump it on us. The clouds set up in bands. Sometimes one wide band at the east end of the lake. More often the bands set up as narrow fingers of clouds that can extend for miles to the south east. The closer to the lake, the more snow you're likely to get. East of the lake, on the Tug Hill Plateau, they get more snow than us, down in Syracuse they get less.

Great Weather - If You're a Duck!

It's raining again but at least it's still warm out. I took this picture a couple of days ago. It's the pond in town that I pass four times a day on my elementary route. The first several days of school the kids got very excited, now they hardly notice. In years past it has not been unusual to see a pair of ducks here but this year there has been a population explosion. With all of the neighbors feeding them it will be interesting to see if they stay the winter.

I think it's time to start looking for a new (to me) digital camera!

Sunny Sunday

The weather is perfect today. The weather man blew it yesterday. The forcast of sunny and warm turned out to be grey and cool. At least we didn't get anymore rain but I was cold in my shorts! The kids had a good time at Mike's party. BJ and Angie will be eating ziti and cake for the rest of the week, just like me, they always have too much food. Sprout was my little buddy, she wanted me to pick her up as soon as she saw me. Twig wouldn't have anything to do with me, he cried everytime either John or I held him. The other four were too busy running around to spend time with me. lol. When Mike opened his present from us he had the back of the package facing him and got excited that we gave him headphones, which made me laugh. He got really excited when he realized that he also got a CD player to go with them. He'll have to use some of the money he got to go out and get some CD's that he'll like. Bean teased me about my selections. I ask you, who doesn't like Kenny Rogers?

They did say that the rest of the state cleared up much earlier than we did so I hope Kerri's daughter Kylie had a beautiful wedding day!

We had planned to go to the pool today but I think we'll end up staying home and puttering a bit. We have quite a few things to do before the bad weather sets in and I'd much rather get them done on a beautiful day.

Eight Already!

Where have the years gone? Happy Birthday Mike!

Does it Really Matter?

I found myself in a heated argument with a coworker this morning over something trivial. We each have very valid reasons for believing we are right and I do know where she is coming from. (No, this is not one of those situations where we could both be right.) I should have just let it go. It would not have cost me anything to say "OK, you must be right" and walk away. Instead I dug my heals in and wouldn't let it go. I wasn't insulting, I did not raise my voice but I may have been a little sarcastic. She got very upset and said some things that I found very insulting. If I had just walked away we could have each gone on thinking we were right and no one's feelings would have been hurt; I would not still be angry several hours later (and I'm betting she is too.)

If it turns out that I am wrong I will apologize to her. If it turns out that I am right I will just keep my mouth shut and let it die.

No matter how it turns out, I'm sure our working relationship will be strained for awhile.