Beautiful "Knock Out" Rose!

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to share this photo with you.  It's called a "Knockout Rose" and my friends Sherry and Drew planted it about a year ago.  Isn't it beautiful?  I love the way it's kind of "loose"; that is - not so structured.  I think our rose bush is the same kind, but don't quote me on that!  Remember - my "gardening green thumb" turns everything black and dead! Thanks to Sherry and Drew for letting me share it with you!

By the way, has anyone seen Honeysuckle for sale yet this season?  I know Home Depot sometimes carries it and I'm SO EAGER to have a pot of it outside my studio.  Nigel - on the other hand - does NOT want it.  He says it grows too wild and gets into everything, but I'm determined to have some.  My grandfather had a beautiful bush of it on their last property and I loved going over there and smelling it.  When I was a kid, we lived near some woods and it grew wild around there.  I remember one early summer day, before it started getting really hot outside, I went out and picked big bunches of the stuff.  Then I gathered up any type of bottle or glass that would hold water.  I remember using a coke bottle and a vase I'd found somewhere and - knowing me - probably some of our "drinking glasses" as well.  Anyway, I filled them with water and put the Honeysuckle in. Then I opened all the windows in the house and put the bottles and glasses of Honeysuckle on the windowsills.  Oh.....the scent that filled the house was absolutely Heavenly!!  I can still smell it all these years later, and the cool breezes coming in refreshed the whole house!

Isn't it neat - all the little things we remember?  So yes - I'm going to get some Honeysuckle - one way or another!!  But out of deference to Nigel -because he does know what he's talking about when it comes to gardening - I've decided to grow it in a large pot to keep it from spreading.  It may not work, but it's certainly worth a try!

That's it for now!  Take care and have a happy week! Jan

Exhausted!!

I have to admit, it isn't often I get home from work, ready to collapse in a heap!!  But that was certainly the case today!  So this post is dedicated to the WORKING WOMAN!! 

NO -  I do not mean only those women who have a career or a paying job "outside the home" (which sounds stupid, if you ask me, but I guess it does convey what I'm referring to).  No....I'm dedicating this post to EVERY woman who WORKS - be it at the office, the home, the field, the studio, the gym, the war zone, the ship, the you name it and she's there - working, working, working!!!

We all do it of course!  We're great masters of it - taking care of everyone ELSE instead of ourselves.  And if not taking care of, then it's doing the work of, and if it isn't that, it's probably the two combined!!  And if not that, then we're worrying ourselves to death over why we're doing it, or not doing it, or both!!

Good Heavens Ladies!  Who wants a BREAK???!!! 

Quiet, you men!  It's not your turn!!  This is for WOMEN ONLY!!!!!  So how does it feel?  We have a CLUB of our own and you CAN'T join in!! Ha Ha Ha

Whoooo  hooooo!!!!  Oh!  Now THAT felt good!

Yes, it definitely was a "day to remember".  At one point, I felt like crying.  Again - a rarity, but there nonetheless.  I thought, "If one more issue walks through that door, I'm going to SCREAM!!"  Then I decided I should probably take my lunch and go sit in the truck outside and enjoy the peaceful weather....anything to get away from this stress and relax, if only for a little while. 

Wonderful thought.  Lousy execution.  When I got out to the truck, purse in hand, carrying lunch, sunglasses in place, ready to really relax, I realized I didn't have the truck key!  Nigel had called earlier and said he was switching the vehicles out, which normally wouldn't be a problem since the truck is primarily my vehicle.  But apparently in exchanging keys lately with Laura and Nigel, I had accidentally removed my truck key from my key chain without realizing it!  Talk about being PO'd (Okay. Okay.  PISSED OFF!!!  But PO'd  sounds so much better).

Honestly, I felt like I was doomed!  Surely there was a giant cloud hovering just above me (and only over me of course, in my own little pity party world!) Furthermore, if I knew what was good for me, I'd better get back in my office, close and lock the door and ZONE OUT!!!  Which is exactly what I did.  But.....think about those poor souls who have no private office to hide away in, not even for a few minutes?

I applaud YOU especially!

So here's to all the WORKING WOMEN in the UNIVERSE         (I don't want to exclude anyone).      Please commit the following to memory:

Know that you are LOVED,
                                            APPRECIATED,
                                                                           GIFTED,
                                                                                                    FANTASTIC,
                                                                                                                             BEAUTIFUL,
GENEROUS,
                                 THOUGHTFUL,
                                                                    CONSCIENTIOUS,
                                                                                                         INTELLIGENT,
                                                                                                                                      DELIGHTFUL,
KIND,
               CARING,
                                   ANGELIC,
                                                        DEVILISH,
                                                                             LOVELY,
                                                                                                 AWE INSPIRING,
                                                                                                                                 SELF-DISCIPLINED,
STRONG,
                   HEROIC,
                                     AND ABOUT A GAZILLION OTHER POSITIVE TRAITS!!!!!!!!

Get the picture?

Here's to YOU!!!

Long may we stand!

Jan


P.S.  And no, there aren't any pictures!