This is such a good idea! I've wondered if some of you could have been my neighbors in the various places I've lived. Anyhow it's nice to be "online" neighbors now. GW Name - luckygal What does your GW name stand for? - I don't really believe in "luck" but I feel very blessed to have survived so well this long. Real Name - Katie Age - 66 Companion - same husband for over 42 years Children? - 3 nice adult kids and 6 wonderful grandkids Pets? - 3 indoor cats, 2 we chose from the SPCA and 1 who chose us - he just wondered by one day and needed feeding, and one outdoor feral cat we feed who keeps the mice under control. We're between dogs. Where do you live or used to live? - have lived in rural BC near the middle of the province for almost 20 years, originally from the west coast of BC, have lived in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Germany Zone? - 3b (according to the Canadian Zone Map) Do you work? - yes, but since I retired I don't get paid as much for it! Have been a jill-of-many-trades and master of a few. Companion Occupation? - ex-military, retired teacher Other interests besides gardening? - various crafts, sewing, knitting, crochet, reading, computer, yard saling, repurposing yard sale finds, interior decorating (DH calls me Martha when I get too obsessed), photography, traveling now that we are retired How long have you been gardening? - 60 years at least (difficult even for me to believe) - my parents were avid gardeners and I helped from an early age. Where is your garden located and what is its size? - we have a large acreage and the garden is near the house, sort of large city lot size but could be larger. Courses in Horticulture? - no, self-taught, but with many mentors What are your specialities in gardening? - propagating houseplants but I'm no longer doing that as it tends to get out of hand (who really needs 30 diefenbachia?), I like growing perennials from seed and nurturing yard sale plant finds, I like planning my garden then deviating from the plan. My DH would say it's leaning on my shovel and telling him what to do! Favorite Flower? - delphiniums, Lady's Mantle, geranium Vancouver centennial (more for it's foliage) are a few Favorite Tree/Shrub? - dogwood altho it doesn't grow in our climate What has been the best-performing plant/plants in your gardens? - shasta daisies and feverfew which are overly prolific self-seeders, irises, delphinium, Lady's Mantle, various poppies, Autumn Joy, and lots more - I'd have to think. Most Challenging Plant? - lavender, I started with 3 plants a few years ago and have one left which seems to struggle to survive every year. I think I need to create a mini-climate which is dryer and warmer but it's easier to just visit a lavender farm and buy some dried. Favorite Gardening Quote? - "I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error." ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988 Favorite Garden Magazines? - have only ever taken Gardens West and Harrowsmith subscriptions but no longer - occasionally borrow from the library, there is much more info online Favorite Garden Books or resources? - have 4 of Lois Holes' books which I use, some old gardening books I seldom read, Richters herb catalogue which is fun to dream with, online sites and forums What is your favorite tool? - my little red wagon which I use instead of a wheelbarrow in the house yard. DH got me a second one, a green one to use out in the back-40 for picking sticks. Both yard sale finds $10 each. I also really like using our old cement mixer, it's like this huge noisy toy! We've made hypertufa pots, concrete rhubarb leaf stepping stones, and I like mixing my own garden-healthy mulch in it. What are you most comfortable in when gardening? - shorts, shell or t-shirt, flip-flops mostly or heavy workboots if I have to dig, if it's cold fleece pants and tops, same footware, cotton gloves changed frequently when muddy or rubber gloves occasionally, depending on what I'm doing. What has been your best garden project? - When we had a new water line dug they struck rock the entire way so DH hauled huge rocks in the tractor bucket and created a rockery on a slope near the house. It's become overgrown so I need to replan and replant soon but I love those huge half buried rocks. He also more recently built me a large decorative-only birdhouse out of old barnboard and it's in the garden all summer and on the verandah in the winter. Any projects in the works or planned? - started a lasagna bed this summer over part of the lawn and we're adding to it, hope it produces great veggies next year. Am thinking about a garden house, probably plan it over the winter. Would love to enlarge the garden area more but I think that might be biting off more than I can do. If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do with your gardens? - I've always wanted a bobcat to play with but with an unlimited budget I'd probably hire a landscaper and gardener also and keep them busy for awhile. Buy a hammock and watch them work! Cottage style all the way with gazebo, ponds, streams, bridges a la Monet's garden. If you could invent a plant, what would it look like? - hardy for my zone, resistant to all plant problems, long-lived perennial, very blue and it would look just like my delphiniums but smell like a spicy rose. Would that seem weird or what? Describe an experience with a garden pest that had you ready to throw in the trowel? - being "bug-phobic" I try not to think about them and the birds eat most of the bugs in the garden altho we have zillions of ants, also voracious deer, and pine, spruce and fir beetles in the forest. Plant pests are dandelions, wild yarrow, chickweed, and various pasture grasses that seed. I try to be organic but occasionally use ant dust around the perimeter of the house so they don't eat it! Otherwise it's live and let live here. Parts of the lawn are turning into yarrow groundcover which I may address, or not. Hey, it's green. What advice do you have for the novice gardener? - Join your local garden club, read everything you can about gardening - discover gardening forums and online sites, read library books, start composting, plan a bit, then just get out and do it your way and have fun. Don't waste a lot of money on expensive plants until you actually have good soil to plant them in. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes so don't be afraid to try. What is your motivation for gardening? - I'm incapable of not gardening, it's in my genes.

The Swiss do more of something like I think the founders imagined. Every male who is mentally and physically fit for military service gets called up for training upon turning 18. Not sure how long it lasts, maybe 6-12 months, and then they get issued a gun which they would then bring with them if they were called to defend the country. Not sure about the ammo. But anyway, you can buy a gun and ammo in most of Europe, but the restrictions are a bit tighter, not sure if they have the gun show loopholes like we do. I think Europeans are not as bothered by this because they don't have this really strong fascination with guns. Some people are big into shooting sports just like here, but I dunno, Europeans are just more world weary, war weary maybe, I mean they've been having violent uprisings for way longer than us. I met a Swiss man once who talked quite a bit about Europeans attitude towards guns and he felt Americans were immature about it. He felt the Swiss had a better attitude because they got training in responsible gun use from their military training. Of course he was a real Teutonic type of a guy, not at all loosey goosey, very formal in his manners. He found a lot of American behavior unruly, lol! The Constitution is built upon "natural" principles which means they are build upon reason which we finally agreed applied to all humans. What could we reasonably expect a reasonable person to want to do. Yes, the founders wanted citizens to have the right to bear arms. But they were also educated men and lovers of reason, so I would like to see some of that come into the current gun debate. I don't know what to do about this violent culture that is escalating here in the US, but I do think as smart and reasonable citizens we can come up with some solutions. If we are at least allowed to research and talk about it and discuss it without absurd and untrue slogans being substituted for sincere efforts to learn about the causes and get something done. I'm like most posters here, I'm getting sick and tired of this being business as usual and acceptable. Some modest reforms might help, but so will addressing many aspects of this problem. There are clearly lots of alienated people here and abroad and we've got to figure out ways to make ourselves less vulnerable to the negative gang mentality that people get swept up in. We've chipped away at a lot of problems here in this country and made progress so it can be done. I know that young men in violent and unstable situations are very vulnerable to lashing out. Here in the US they join gangs of various ilks. But then again, Mateen had every chance to settle down and become a solid citizen (education, jobs, marriage, etc.) and he just couldn't do it. Lots of cases like this, then add this inflammatory rhetoric that is so easily accessible . . .

Here's the thing about foreign aid - it's not a charity. It's an investment in the US. People seem to think we spend an immense amount on foreign aid, but we really spend less than 1% of the Federal budget. Beyond genuinely helping people and saving lives, foreign aid directly benefits US security and the economy. Helping to eradicate deadly diseases helps everyone, including US citizens. Helping to stabilize areas helps our own national security, as terrorists thrive in unstable areas. Taking preventative measures can help avoid war and limit the number of refugees. Economically, helping other countries can lead to beneficial trade opportunities. Aiding other countries allows them to grow, become healthier and wealthier, which in turn allows them to become better contributors to the global economy and directly helping us through increased demand for US products. There are many, many benefits. It's a great investment. Some interesting articles: https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/20/opinions/value-of-foreign-aid-to-the-us-chang/index.html https://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Foreign-Aid-Helps-Americas-Economy https://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Foreign-Aid-Keeps-Americans-Safe

Both my husband served. My first husband got his "greetings" in late 1964, and chose to enlist for 3 years and have a choice of what he would do. He did, and was in Army Intelligence (yes, people have often said that's an oxymoron), enlisted, and after his training, spent a bit more than 2 years working in Washington DC. We went to the March on the Pentagon, but only to observe - we were not demonstrators. Our time in Washington was "eventful", to say the least. We saw the March, the riots after Martin Luther King's assassination, Resurrection City, and RKF's funeral parade. Those are what quickly come to mind. My husband was never spat on but then he wore civilian clothes to work. I worked at the National War College at that time - it was the command post during the riots - at least I felt safe working there. Hubert Humphrey lived in our apartment complex (VP's were not provided with housing in those days), so we were safe there as well. My 2nd husband knew he was going to be drafted and applied for Naval OTC, attended it, was assigned to Naval Intelligence and worked first at NSA at Fort Meade, and then spent 4 years in Japan, doing air reconnoissance over Vietnam. He was never spat on, nor bothered in any way when he returned. He went on to spend 14 more in the Naval Reserves. I'm very grateful for this as I am eligible for USAA, TricareForLife and a pension. My DD went to her Ivy university on an Army ROTC scholarship. She could never have gone there without that scholarship which paid 80% of her tuition/room&board. She did her 6 years of Reserve duty and was discharged. No one ever gave her any grief over her service, even at her very liberal university. In fact, many of her teachers were very supportive of her and even came to her commissioning ceremony at graduation time. My father was "too young for WWI and too old for WWII" but wished he could have served. His older brother was a career Army officer, and was a Brig General when he was severely wounded at Kasserine Pass in N Africa. Both of my father's grandfathers served during the Civil War, one for the South, one for the North - it was Missouri. So, I guess you could say we are a family with a strong military background. Most of the people I know (my age and older) find the "Thank you for your service" to be quite shallow. They feel this way as today, the public is delighted to say "thanks" but rarely willing to serve themselves.