When did you start planning retirement?
Annegriet
5 years ago
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When did you start gardening?
Comments (38)This is such a great thread. The stories have been so wonderful to read. GP your great grandmother is such a beautiful, strong woman. That photo is fantastic. I grew up in suburbia on Long Island and my parents had a beautiful yard.....although I never appreciated it. I would have to pull weeds from rocks, which I abhorred, spread manure in the veggie garden (gross), and I was sooooo bored when my mom would drag my twin brother and I as young children to the nurseries where she picked out plants. All I wanted to do as a kid was swim in our pool and play with friends. Fast forward to the building of our first house. I started to really get into gardening. Fortunately, both my mom and my MIL were avid gardeners, along with my sister and my DH's uncle. I had a lot of people to draw info from as well as lots of books. I also happened to move to a town with an amazing nursery where I perused plants. I realized that I really DO like gardening! My mom was shocked. She never thought I would be interested. After gardening for a number of years I asked my parents about the property where we grew up. I thought back and they really did do such a great job with the placement of trees, slate patio, shrubs and the pool. There were also lots of interesting trees and shrubs as opposed to the lollipops and azaleas that were so ubiquitous where we lived. I told my parents that I really admired the entire landscape both for layout and plant material choices and were giving them kudos on how great a job they did. My mom then rather nonchalantly said "oh, we didn't do that.....we purchased the landscape plan with the house plans." WHAT?!?! And here I thought my parents were true garden geniuses! LOL! Well, my parents are garden geniuses and have a gorgeous, natural garden in NC and I've learned so much from them. My mom and I go on garden jaunts all over and it's so much fun to share that with her. My grandfather also had a beautiful, well-kept yard not far from us on LI which I also never appreciated growing up. When he moved down to NC to be closer to my parents in his older years he moved into a little horseshoe of cottages. There wasn't a single potted plant anywhere to be seen. He was in his late eighties when he changed that. He planted roses and vegetables and other shrubs and plants in his little area. Well, it started a trend with everyone who lived in the cottages (all elderly) and they all started getting potted plants, some planted in the ground, etc. Looking back it is so nice to have that memory of grandpa starting a gardening trend in his little community and to see the little horseshoe of cottages transform to a colorful lively place. So, I guess gardening had always been in my genes, it just took until my 20s for the gene to be flipped on. I'm so glad it was!...See Morehow many did you kill when starting oculating, and some details?
Comments (2)Fall planting is risky in places where there is a long hard winter. The roses do not have enough time to really settle in and root well before hard freeze comes on. And if there is a few more weeks of warm enough weather they will probably try to leaf out and grow using up all the stored energy in the canes. I think that's why they suggested just burying them for the winter. They will remain dormant and well protected until next spring when they will have a better chance of survival. Enjoy your Mr. Lincoln!...See MoreWhen did you start going out again (with baby)?
Comments (16)I agree, it is definitely easier at this age than, say, 18 mos. At least they don't have tantrums! I'd rather take a baby out than my 2 year old. So, I took them out early, earlier with each one because life just demands it. I had #3 at a school play for #1 they day after we came home from the hospital -3 days old. What am I gonna do, not go to DS's things? I found they slept pretty well when we went out. A lot of restuarants have special seats to put the carrier in. The constant hum of a crowded place would put mine to sleep every time. Though I got pretty good with the sling, too, eating over the baby. Sometimes the carrier is just in the way. Trade of holding her, do your best. Go at off peak times, so you don't have to wait, or call ahead for a table if you can. We very rarely managed dessert -unless we took it to go. Start out by going where you are familiar with the menu and so you can order as soon as you are seated. I really had no problems with movies, either. They slept, and there is no better place for discreet breastfeeding than a dark movie theatre (even the slurping sounds can't be heard :o)). It happened a couple times things didn't work out. But, you go with the flow. We asked for take out boxes for out meals. We left a theatre once when it wasn't working out, the manager saw us, thanked us for our consideration, and gave us passes to come back another time! You don't know until you try, and it's worth it to get out. If you start taking them young, it becomes familiar to them and they go along with it just fine. Go out this weekend and let us know how it goes!...See MoreWhen did you start preparing to move?
Comments (15)We commenced a month ago in preparation for an across the country move in April/May this year. At least a quarter of my beautiful basement floor is currently occupied with large bags my wife marked for charity; they will surely be bringing a large truck. As I stated in another thread, this is doing little to reduce my move volume and weight (34K+ lbs), of all the 'must-have'/'must-move' pieces here. Similar to cz_crap, we will rent a large home (I'm going to hate it) while we build the new home over 18 months. I am grouping and placing items in categories, many in open boxes, for movers to pack and mark them accordingly. I did a similar and successful move several years ago from UK to USA whence 90% of my home was in storage in the UK for a year and shipped days before and arrived precisely on the day I closed on the new house just built; while I was signing title documents at the title company, the 40' container truck arrived from NYC port, at the new home, where my daughter was waiting; truckers only had to wait less than ten minutes before before we were permited to move contents to the new property. This time it will be different, since I'm my own GC and intend to build enough to get a CO; the county is fine with that so long as the area is sealed off from the remaining constrution zone. It will be harder to get a CO from my wife who does not want to move into a 'construction zone' again. She suffered for six months while I finished my basement (6hrs/day and weekends), when I moved it's entire (1000sf of 1500sf) to the home above. I'm not dreading the move but it will surely be challenging, very expensive for home and three vehicles....See MoreElmer J Fudd
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoElmer J Fudd
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