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Thursday Writer's Workshop Prompt: Greatest Triumph

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My Greatest Triumph Many years ago, my husband and I took a 6-week beginner's course in Foil Fencing.  Now foil fencing swords are thin and straight with a protective cover on the tip. It's more of a classic dueling style of swordsmanship. Victory in foil fencing is gained by getting past your opponents sword defense to stick your sword point against their chest.  It's all about stance and form and is tends to be over fairly quickly. I believe our instructor used the 3 touch point method for a match. The fencing stance form generally taught is French: you stand in a sideways position, sword in one hand aimed at opponent while your other arm is held aloft behind you, bent at the elbow. (Think of any Three Musketeer movie you've ever seen---this is their stance.) The general over-all goal of foil fencing is to keep the body area that can be stabbed by the opponent to a minimum. However, it's important to understand, in fencing, it's not about strength but rather a
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Garden Pic Wednesday: Thriving Rose Bush!

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  Thanks to a garden club, I've learned how to better care for my rose bush and this year it's thriving! It's thick, bushy and covered in blooms! This is a Julia Child Floribunda Rose. I selected it because I wanted a smaller size rose for my front flower bed and this one grows a max of 3 feet tall and wide. I learned from the garden club the proper time to trim a rose and that's what has made it so bushy. Roses here in Northwest Florida need to be trimmed and shaped the week of Valentine's Day, Feb 14.  The right time will vary from growing zone to growing zone in different places where it's colder, but the correct time in any zone is evident when leaf buds are showing along the stems with even a few small leaves beginning to pop out. The other important thing is buying some Rose Food and fertilizing according to directions.  Tons are dark blue Bachelor Buttons are blooming adjacent to this yellow rose, so the show of blue and yellow is quite striking!  
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Thursday Writers Workshop: Worst Salesman Situation Ever

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  It was 1976. I was in the Air Force and living in a dormitory on Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. I had a room-mate who was engaged and was working on preparing for marriage by accumulating stuff for her future home. She'd decided she wanted to buy pots and pans and she'd somehow found a salesman, who sold door to door kitchenware, who was going to come to our dormitory room to show her pots and pans. She'd made an appointment for him to come around 2 pm. Then abruptly she had to leave. Maybe she got called to duty unexpectedly, but whatever the case, she couldn't be there for the salesman. Since it was the era of landlines and she couldn't call and cancel.  I happened to be not working that day. The salesman arrived on time and I explained to that my room-mate, who was interested in the kitchenware, wasn't there. I think he offered to show me his pots and pans, since he'd come all this way and was there anyway. (I wasn't savvy enough to know he was just
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Garden Pic Wednesday: Chick-a-dee Nest

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I opened my Blue Blue Nesting Box this past week to see if any Blue Birds were nesting. And I saw this, which is not a Blue Bird nest. This is a Black-Capped Chickadee nest! I was very pleased to see a pair of Chick-a-dee's make use of the space! Every bird has their own unique style of nesting building. Blue Birds, here in Northwest Florida, primarily use long pine needles, they wind round and round in the bottom of the box. Chickadee's like BIG stack of green moss bits topped with something soft for the eggs to rest in. They have a preference for shed pet fur, if they can find it.  Bird nests are amazing architectural art!  (If you brush you doggie in spring, empty the brush outside and leave for your bird friends to use for nesting!)   Next, a nice shot of sunlit Bridal Veil flowers!  (Shrub is called Spirea)
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Thursday Writers Prompt: Radio Memories

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I grew up in the late 60's and early 70's, graduating in 1975 and back then, if you wanted to listen to music, you either bought records or listened to radio. Then, radio was as vital as cellphones are today for staying in touch with news or music. Everyone had one or more at home, and, if out and about, they could carry hand-size portable radios. Of course, everyone had radio in their cars. In was around 1972 that my Dad gave me a used radio he'd repaired. (Fixing electronics was his profession.) It had a boxy shape and played AM and FM. I was coming into my teenage years and started being more interested in listening to popular radio music.  They're rock classics nowadays, but Top 40 Hits of 1972 I remember well include:  Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress by the Raspberries Knights in White Satin by The Moody Blues A Horse With No Name by America If Lovin' You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right by Puttin' Game Down American Pie
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Garden Pic Wednesday: Front Garden View!

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Here's a nice shot I took yesterday of my front bed out by the mailbox: In the foreground, is a very healthy Coneflower covered in bloom heads. The pink is it's native color and they are considered native plants. Drought tolerant and prolific. There are 2 others in this bed, one that self-seeded. In the background you see a clay container I buried to rim in the ground. The greenery you see in it is a miniature burgundy Daylily and I added  hot pink Million Bells I purchased yesterday to the other side of this same container.  The pink shamrocks on either side of the clay pot are everywhere at this time of year as they are a native wild flower here in Northwest Florida. Some moved into my yard & garden and I simply relocate their roots place to place because they naturalize nicely.  To say something "naturalizes" means it "spreads and generally fills in an area." Some plants do so slowly and some are aggressive--and that's important to consider when p
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Garden Pic Wednesday: Alyssum & Garden Art

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These white flowers are called Alyssum and the purple leaves are Purple Shamrocks.  I planted this Alyssum last spring---it wintered over, blooming like snow all winter, and now that's it's spring, it's spreading slowly.  To find things that grow well in Florida is actually amazing---so I was so pleased with this Alyssum, I bought more seed to plant! This second picture is one of my favorite Garden Art Pieces: It's 2 clay pots, a smaller one set at an angle inside a larger one, 2 Chicks and lots of Chinese Stonecrop cascading over the side! And the eye-catcher is the ceramic frog. Dollar Tree has the cutest little garden ceramics! Last year it was these frogs. (I bought 3, each in a different position.) This year, it's mushrooms. I bought 2 red ones, though the garden space I plan to put them isn't ready for decor yet.
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