Post by mrs.jacinthe on Jun 27, 2016 8:26:51 GMT -5
Do anything awesome?
We went on Friday night to see Kenny Rogers in concert with Crystal Gayle opening. (My dad loved Crystal Gayle. Like, I'm pretty sure he was her biggest fan.) It was an awesome night. Kenny's awesomely funny, and he was definitely in fine form.
Saturday, we hung out with @juno and her H for a while, then hit up the container store on our way home and wound up with some of the Eagle Creek packing stuff for our luggage, as well as a new shoe rack that R wants me to use downstairs so I'll stop leaving shoes everywhere. We'll see. LOL
Sunday, we were supposed to go make another attempt at an 8 mile swim, but I woke up miserably achy and it was already 85 degrees outside - at freaking 5:30 am - so we nope'd that right back to where it came from and slept in. Then we did some work around the house, I talked to mom for a bit, and we wrapped up the night by renting Deadpool, which may be R's new favorite movie.
My sister has a hookup at the Texas Rangers and we were on field for batting practice where we "casually" met David Ortiz aka Big Papi from the Red Sox and got our picture taken with him.
It's now my most favorite picture ever.
My son also got an autograph from Sam Dyson, thanks to me yelling out, "excuse me Mr. Dyson!" which almost got me kicked out. Apparently yelling at the players is not allowed after batting practice. Oops!
I did nothing H&G related except pick up some storage totes so I can put away winter bedding properly.
Post by bostonmichelle on Jun 27, 2016 9:07:14 GMT -5
Weekend was extremely busy. But I got 2 bike rides in for a total of 31 miles and 2 runs totaling 10 miles. I also read a book cover to cover for book club, attended book club, and went to a game night with friends.
We did narrow down our choices for Pergo flooring and will order tonight. DH had to measure the rooms again since our last sticky note with dimensions went MIA.
Post by nursecramer on Jun 27, 2016 10:05:49 GMT -5
I painted the basement living area. I'll post pictures once the tape is down and decor is hung. Also got DS2 out of diapers! He did such a great job and was dry all weekend, even during naps. And I submitted a manuscript that has been an albatross.
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.
I spent another dang $100 on flowers, pots and plants. ALmost all the vincas I planted by our mailbox have died, so I bought more caladiums and some begonias to put there. Hopefully they will do better.
Post by 2curlydogs on Jun 27, 2016 10:59:13 GMT -5
I'm at the hospital. Dad had a pacemaker placed today due to cardiac incidents late last week. So my weekend was pretty eventful, but not in a good way.
Post by bunnymendelbaum on Jun 27, 2016 11:17:54 GMT -5
I'm so sore! We did a ton of landscaping in the back. It still doesn't look great, but it's such a big yard. We also finished up the landscaping in the front. For fun we rode our bikes to the market and then went down by the river late Saturday night to the festival and ride rides. DDs and I had a blast!
We went to a flooring store to look at LVT for our upcoming bathroom reno and ended up getting a steal. They had four boxes left of the one we liked, so about 74 SF, and they sold it to us for $50, which is over $300 in savings. That's the extent of my excitement.
Post by treedimensional on Jun 27, 2016 13:01:46 GMT -5
2curlydogs, sorry. Hope your pop has a speedy recovery.
I drove to a master gardeners conference at Virginia Tech. First time. It was just okay... kind of a let-down from my usual Arborist conferencing. When I arrived home, the dog was ill, my spouse didn't know why, and asked me laundry questions. BASIC laundry questions. Then I scooped the (full) cat box. Later, he asked me how to make instant mashed potatoes (INSTANT!), because I had repackaged them and did NOT save the instructions. He was LOST so I had to rescue the mashed potatoes. This morning I found the t-shirt and pants my loving hubby had folded and put in my drawer, and refolded them SMOOTHLY to get the wrinkles out. This household would implode without my domestic services contribution.
I'm at the hospital. Dad had a pacemaker placed today due to cardiac incidents late last week. So my weekend was pretty eventful, but not in a good way.
I'm sorry about your dad. Hopefully he's back to full health in no time!
treedimensional That sounds so familiar it's painful. I'm going away for a week in August and he "needs" to take vacation time to cover for me at home while I'm gone. I have never ever taken time off when he goes OOT, but he does every time.
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.
I really wish we could put an end to our poison ivy problem once and for all. I keep finding little plantlets every time I go out there. The people behind us are cultivating weeds in the back yard. They mow every 3-4 weeks and we are still trying to figure out their pattern. We've started trying to see if someone is spelling "HELP" while they mow. We think we saw an "E" 2 weeks ago...maybe an "L" this weekend?
ROFL!
After my neighbor died, and it was a tense year of waiting for the sale process to play out, hoping we'd end up with nice neighbors. Well, they are nice, but trashy. The guy looks like duck dynasty. The yard looks like CRAP (which is pretty much all I cared about). The previous neighbor didn't mow and the NEW neighbors STILL DON'T MOW. This is killing me because I keep a tidy yard and it's been a HUGE battle trying to keep the weeds from coming over, under, and around the fence. Plus, they put living room furniture (sofa and upholstered chairs), and a FRIDGE, on the front porch. And there are stickers all over the fridge. I'm actually thinking about moving.
treedimensional That sounds so familiar it's painful. I'm going away for a week in August and he "needs" to take vacation time to cover for me at home while I'm gone. I have never ever taken time off when he goes OOT, but he does every time.
My spouse has been living here for 19 years, and he still doesn't know where things are in the kitchen. He can barely feed himself, and laundry is frightening. But he can operate our security system and our TV on his cell phone, from another country.
Thanks everyone. He seems to be doing fine. We were all cracking jokes in the hospital, which was making him laugh. And when my brother and I were nerding out over the GoT finale, he was like "What the HELL are you two talking about?"
treedimensional - have I told the story about how my husband had to google "how to clean a bathroom"?
Post by simpsongal on Jun 28, 2016 10:02:56 GMT -5
treedimensional apologies for asking an oft repeated question but the search function isn't working. What designation should I look for in an arborist? We need trees trimmed away from our house and we don't want some fly-by-night trimmers hackings things up.
I found a website searchable by "ISA certified arborists" - is that good?
treedimensional apologies for asking an oft repeated question but the search function isn't working. What designation should I look for in an arborist? We need trees trimmed away from our house and we don't want some fly-by-night trimmers hackings things up.
I found a website searchable by "ISA certified arborists" - is that good?
The term "Certified Arborist" is always capitalized (Registered TM, ISA). Certified Arborist is a good starting point. You can pile on as many credentials as you like (Municipal Specialist, Board Certified Master Arborist, Qualified Risk Assessor, etc.) You should feel free to ask questions and interview prior to hiring one. Ask them about the last conference they attended, and what was the most exciting thing they learned there. I love that question because most of them never bother trying to learn anything new, they just do the bare minimum required to maintain the most basic certification. A real tree nerd will go on and on.
treedimensional apologies for asking an oft repeated question but the search function isn't working. What designation should I look for in an arborist? We need trees trimmed away from our house and we don't want some fly-by-night trimmers hackings things up.
I found a website searchable by "ISA certified arborists" - is that good?
The term "Certified Arborist" is always capitalized (Registered TM, ISA). Certified Arborist is a good starting point. You can pile on as many credentials as you like (Municipal Specialist, Board Certified Master Arborist, Qualified Risk Assessor, etc.) You should feel free to ask questions and interview prior to hiring one. Ask them about the last conference they attended, and what was the most exciting thing they learned there. I love that question because most of them never bother trying to learn anything new, they just do the bare minimum required to maintain the most basic certification. A real tree nerd will go on and on.
Thanks for posting this, and for asking simpsongal. I had been tarrying on getting someone out to look at our trees. I called around and found a guy who listed a bunch of different lectures and classes he's taken in the last couple years. He stopped by today and evaluated our 3 trees in about 15 minutes but we ended up chatting for nearly an hour altogether. He gave lots of suggestions for types of trees to add and, as you said, went on and on about the pros and cons of each species.
Also, he said that the mulch I added around the maple was perfect, not too deep and he was pleased to see it extend so far from the trunk. I owe you for that!
One of the trees he recommended was a zelkova. I'm in zone 5b with sandy soil, and I want some shade down by the lakeshore which gets full sun all afternoon. I've never heard of zelkova, but then again, that doesn't mean much. WDYT?
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.
Post by treedimensional on Jun 29, 2016 18:41:11 GMT -5
nursecramer, Zelkova is a tough, utilitarian tree, fast growing, and tolerant of poor conditions like heat, drought, and salt. HOWEVER, it is not particularly attractive (at any time of year) and will quickly and easily bust any sidewalk it is near. In addition, it has no habitat value. Points off your otherwise fabulous arborist for non disclosure, LOL!
nursecramer , Zelkova is a tough, utilitarian tree, fast growing, and tolerant of poor conditions like heat, drought, and salt. HOWEVER, it is not particularly attractive (at any time of year) and will quickly and easily bust any sidewalk it is near. In addition, it has no habitat value. Points off your otherwise fabulous arborist for non disclosure, LOL!
Well, I did tell him I prefer function and longevity over aesthetics. lol.
What is habitat value? Like birds don't want to live in it? What's a tree with higher habitat value?
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.
nursecramer , Zelkova is a tough, utilitarian tree, fast growing, and tolerant of poor conditions like heat, drought, and salt. HOWEVER, it is not particularly attractive (at any time of year) and will quickly and easily bust any sidewalk it is near. In addition, it has no habitat value. Points off your otherwise fabulous arborist for non disclosure, LOL!
Well, I did tell him I prefer function and longevity over aesthetics. lol.
What is habitat value? Like birds don't want to live in it? What's a tree with higher habitat value?
Habitat value is ecosystem function. No species host on Zelkova, which might be great in a small ornamental tree, where the foliage is always eye-level, but not good on a large species. No matter how you feel about insects, you absolutely MUST support them if you are using large trees, because baby birds require caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects to survive. Native songbirds have declined by lmost half in the past 40 years, because fewer trees with fewer insects.
Oak is, by far, the highest habitat value tree in north America, supporting over 500 insect species that are largely invisble to human eyes, because they live high in the canopy where you can't see them. If you have room for a big tree, it should always be oak.
Well, I did tell him I prefer function and longevity over aesthetics. lol.
What is habitat value? Like birds don't want to live in it? What's a tree with higher habitat value?
Habitat value is ecosystem function. No species host on Zelkova, which might be great in a small ornamental tree, where the foliage is always eye-level, but not good on a large species. No matter how you feel about insects, you absolutely MUST support them if you are using large trees, because baby birds require caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects to survive. Native songbirds have declined by lmost half in the past 40 years, because fewer trees with fewer insects.
Oak is, by far, the highest habitat value tree in north America, supporting over 500 insect species that are largely invisble to human eyes, because they live high in the canopy where you can't see them. If you have room for a big tree, it should always be oak.
Is the whole arborist industry as male dominated as it seems to be here? I tried finding a lady arborist nearby, but all of the ones that turned up in the directory were men. It turned out fine, but in general I prefer women because then there's no risk of the "ask your husband" treatment.
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.