Bogieblog

5 Months Into the Year

In January, I posted a "Not Resolutions, but things I want to accomplish this year" list. 5 full months into the year, let's revisit and see how I've done:

• Take another class on gun handling (we both signed up for a class yesterday, so hopefully no ice storms take this one out)  - DONE
• Rent some other firearms to get an idea what they are like ALTERNATE ROUTE (alright, I haven't actually rented anything, but have tried out several handguns, rifles and one shot gun that other people have provided)
• Practice at the range on a regular basis IN PROGRESS (probably average every 3 weeks - just went a couple of days ago with WS)
• Take a class related to work (hopefully taking a Quality Control class this coming semester) DONE
• Ride my bike to work more often than last year IN PROGRESS (I've ridden 2-3 times per week for the last month)
• Practice more skills on the bike IN PROGRESS
• Take an advanced riders course (although I will have to evaluate my skills before deciding completely on this one)
• Grow from seed things other than the standard veggies and herbs (try some of the perennials that I saved seeds from as well as other things) DONE (grew some gayfeather and penstemmon from seed)
• Re-do the flower garden at the corner of the driveway
• Refinish some of the cabinets in the kitchen (those by the sink are very rough after 19 years)
• Replace the countertops (see previous bullet point)

Out of 11 listed items, 3 are completed, 3 are in progress (and well underway), 1 I took an alternate route to accomplish the same thing and 4 I have not started. I'm thinking the last 2 items will have to wait another year (or two) as WS has other ideas on what is most needed for the house.

Now that over half of the list is accomplished (or well on its way) I would like to add the following items:

• Witness a competition shooting match
• Take a more advanced handgun class
• Figure out how to do those darn "Figure 8's" (see lesson 4) on the bike (I couldn't even do them on the smaller bikes at the class - nope, that is incorrect, I could do them, just not in the alloted space.
• Get all potted plantes from last year into their final growing spots.

So there you have it, more Non Resolutions for me to work on this year.

It's Time

This is what I've been striving for the last couple of months. This is why I've poured over books and informative magazines. This is why I've put in extra time and labor. This is why I've fussed over the small things. It all came down to this weekend.

New Rose Round Up

Last spring and fall I got several own root roses, from a couple of iternet nurseries. I potted them up and then late in the fall I sunk the pots into the ground in the vegetable garden to overwinter. This spring, once the ground thawed (early to mid April), I pulled the potted roses up and set them on the deck until I was ready to plant them.

Many of them did well, although a couple were unimpressive. Here is a list and how they fared thru the winter

• Portlandia - a climber, rated good
• Westerland - a climber, rated good
• Robert Clements  - rated acceptable
• Louise Clements  - rated good
• Distant Drums - rated great (and is newly planted by the porch)
• Fragrant Masterpiece - poor, there has been no sign of life even at this point (5/26/09)
• Star of the Nile - rated great. This one was good to zone 6, or zone 5 with protection. Obviously it liked the straw I used to buffer it from the elements.
• Dupuy Jamain - a thornless rose, rated good
• Barn Dance - which has sparse thorns, rated acceptable, turned crispy and seems to be dying at this point (5/26/09) 
• Blush Hip - an Alba, rated as excellent (newly planted)
• Excellenz Von Shubert - a climber, rated at great (newly planted)
• Mary Rose  - An Austin rose that is shade tolerant, rated as excellant (newly planted)
• Yolanda d'Aragon - Old Garden Rose (OGR) rated as excellant (newly planted)
• Lady of the Mist - rated as great
• Foolish Pleasure - a large mini, rated as acceptable but has since put on an energetic burst of growth that is truly amazing and makes me think more highly of it.
• Pearlie Mae - rated as great (newly planted)
• The Impressionist - a climber, rated at great
• Jeri Jennings - named after a highly regarded rosarian, is shade tolerant and rated as excellant (newly planted)
• Autumn Sunset - rated as acceptable,
• Oshun - rated as poor and there is no sign of life at this point (5/26/09). The website did say zone 6 or 5 with protection. I figured being covered with straw would protect it enough - guess not.

Keep in mind that I bought all on the information that they were at least good for zone 5 and were considered very hardy. The rating system is completely subjective and the ratings given when I pulled the pots from the ground. Any that have since seemed to change (either for the good or the bad), have been noted. Here are the rating definitions:

• Poor - No sign of growth or leaves at all
• Acceptable - some signs of growth, with only a couple of leaves
• Good - a good candidate for survival, will need a couple more weeks in the pot before transplanting
• Great - Very strong growth; lots of new leaves and would have no hesitation in transplanting at that time.
• Excellant - Very strong growth; lots of new leaves, new shoots and tip growth. Probably could have been transplanted weeks ago.

It seems that I may have 2-3 casualties but it could be worse, almost all grafted roses that I have planted or kept potted have given up the ghost (silly me, tried to beat the odds).

Memorial Day 2009

This Memorial Day, WS and I honor the fallen soldiers and all those who currently serve to keep our country free and safe.

 

To all those unknown soldiers, we thank you.

BD Present

Just thought I would share pictures of my BD present from Cop Car and HH. Not that they knew what they were getting me at the time, but it worked out very well:

 

No Sillies, they didn't get me a bike, they got me the windshield on the bike (actually, the got the windshield and WS put it on the bike). It is a small windshield that keeps the wind off my chest and most of the bugs out of my face. On two of the mornings that I rode in last week, the windshield and my chaps were completely covered in bugs by the time I got to work (warmish temps but the swamps make for very large bug clouds to go thru). I had previously liked my new windshield, but at that point I fell in love with it!

Here is another shot, from a different angle:

 

Naturally these picks were taken after washing all the bugs and pollen off the bike (trees are pollinating like there is no tomorrow and everything that hasn't been washed in the last 5 minutes is yellow - regardless of its original color).

Here is a self portrait :)

 

Anyway, just wanted CC and HH how much I appreciate the BD present!

Birds and Bloom

Yesterday we had a first, we saw a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. It was pounding on the stovepipe to WS's shed (he has a very small woodstove in there). We couldn't get very close, so the distant shots barely even show a bird is there. The zoom on the camera isn't any good past 3x - but here is something at a higher zoom, just enough for you to get a feel for the colors (yellow and red):

  (to enlarge, click on picture)

There were 2 male Rose-Greasted Grobeaks an the platform feeder trying to scare each other off:

 

Later, had a male and female RB Grosbeak checking out the feeders The female is on the no-no feeder, appearing headless and the male is on the caged tube feeder):

 

New Chaps from Keene Swap Meet

We went to the Keene swap meet a couple of Sundays ago. Mostly it was to wander around, check out older bikes that people had (one was from 1902). I also needed a new pair of chaps as my other chaps are too big and I don’t want to have them cut down (in case I gain weight again).

There were plenty of vendors there to try on different styles, cuts and weights. I wanted to get some Walter Dyer (they make great leathers – both WS’s and my jackets are WD), but their chap sizes were either too large or too small – no in between.

I tried several other vendors, with the same results.

Rachel Takes the 2009 Preakness

There is a reason that the owners of the boys was afreaid of the girl!

Congrats to Rachel Alexandra for winning the Preakness! (I'm not slighting Mine that Bird, who ran a great race - just not great enough).

Congrats to to her jockey, Calvin Borel, who had the faith and foresight to switch from the Kentucky Derby Winner:

 "There's also been an intriguing, unprecedented switcheroo. Jockey Calvin Borel left Mine That Bird to ride Rachel Alexandra, marking the first time a jockey surrendered a shot at the Triple Crown by switching from the Derby winner to a different horse in the Preakness.

Spring Bloomers 2009

I was out planting roses yesterday and noticed that a whole bunch of stuff is blooming now. No pictures, WS took my card reader to work and using the camera software is too much of a pain - but here is the list:

• Creeping pholox - still!

• Honeysuckle - well, its buds are thinking about opening

• Flowering Quince

• Aquilegia - heck, I didn't even know I had planted it, must have been a couple of years ago and it is small enoughthat I didn't notice it.

• Cyprus Spurge - not a good thing and was my mystery plant from this post. I'll be pulling that invasive stuff today!

• Prairie Fire Crab Apple - the poor treeI pulled and put in another place because it had broken in half and ants were eating it. Then, during the December ice storm, it got nailed by the tree that took out the power lines, so the trunk is literally split in half (lengthwise). And it is still putting out a few ragged blooms. It is pretty sad that the Prairie Fire outdid the Thunderchild crabapple which did not bloom at all this year.

• Primroses

• Lily of the Valley

• Periwinkle

• Creeping Thyme

• Lilacs (I've cut some blooms and brought them into the house)

• Bleeding Hearts (white and pink)

• Candy Tuft

• Some Daffodils and Tulips

• Wild Violets

that is the list of what is blooming here at the Bogie household - just wish I could show you pics.

Staying in Shape

So I was reading Jay's post, with which I find myself completely agreeing with (every visit to the store elicits the thought "I can't believe all the chunky kids here."). Which leads to thoughts of people I work with and friends.

I get so many comments about how "lucky" I am to have a "fast metabolism" so I can eat "anything" I want. At the same time, I get the comments, "I don't know why you keep eating salads for lunch, you don't need to," and "Oh, take a bigger piece of [pie, cake etc] you can afford it."

This leads to the following thoughts:

• I want to know when these people became doctors, when they secretly took blood samples and had test done to determine that my metabolism is so much faster than theirs (or the general populace).

• I don't see why they can't figure out that the reason II "don't need to eat salads" is because I eat salads, use sugar substitutes, don't drink sodas (or sugar laden drinks), and try to eat healthy. I "can afford to take a bigger piece of [whatever]" because I don't take a bigger piece of [whatever] or don't take any at all.

• I try to get plenty of exercise, which most people don't realize, or refuse to believe even if they have been told about it.

A gal at work just had gastric bypass surgery. She was constantly on diets (so she said), but couldn't loose weight. She told me yesterday that someone had put "dirt cake" out on the counter. Now, dirt cake is one of my favorites that I don't even try to resist (although I did tell her that I wish she hadn't told me about it). So I went out to get some and came back with a loaded bowl.

I made the comment that I would have to run stairs that night. After a couple of seconds, "Do you really do that?" She asked. I replied, "Yes, although normally I do weight training, but I'm still sore from the last couple days, so need to do something different." I explained running the stairs to the deck or using the stepper that WS got me several years ago. She asked if I did all my exercise at home and I told her about the machine WS got me for Christmas one year and all the free weights that I have.

I could tell it made her think a bit, that yes, skinny people (or in my case, normal sized people) really aren't magically that way, especially as we get older. There is some hard work involved, not just a "fast metabolism" as so many people like to believe.