What a Day

 I arrived at the greenhouse today to see this scene....

The parking lot was full and they were parking down the driveway.

I got the riding mower out and filled it with gas, but then noticed that there was a traffic jam down the driveway.  So I became traffic cop/parking lot attendant!  What a zoo!

Watched for empty spaces and directed incoming cars to them.  It got to the point that I was letting them park in the driveway and then directing alternating one way traffic.  Kept at it because if the driveway had been left full people would have just turned away.

You'd think it was Mother's Day coming!  

Had fun chatting up some customers while we waited for spaces to clear.  Despite the congestion, no bad tempers showing, and lots of hand waves and thank yous.    A satisfying day!

But I didn't get any grass cut.  Put the lawn mower away with about two minutes total on the mower clock.

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And I found another business that was benefitting from the pandemic.  

Retrieved the repaired TV today and the owner of A-1 TV Repair told me that he can't keep up.  People are watching TV all day and the TV sets can't cope.  They're breaking down and it's hard to shop for new ones, so he's run off his feet.

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Blue Jays won tonight.  Great game.

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Be nice to your lady tomorrow (and every other day too).  Stay well.

HELP!

 My luck at cards has taken a turn for the better.  I have won the last two games and have a big lead in the game currently under way.

As a result, Mardi has threatened, if this continues, "I'll have you put down".  So, this blog is an appeal to my friends to watch out for me.  If I should mysteriously disappear please send out a search party!  Or, better yet, have a party in my memory👻.

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The weather was a bit chilly for outside work today so I joined Mardi and deadheaded some geraniums.  The greenhouse is a bit of a zoo.  David is loading and delivering, outside trucks are coming in to pickup plants, and Sean and the rest of the staff are trying to prepare loads and keep up with all the other demands.  Fun to watch if you are a bit of a sadist!

The lady from Forest dropped in yesterday after I left, looking for more Boston Ferns.  She has sold her 450 and was, fruitlessly, looking for more.  On the ferns that David delivered, she made more money on those plants in 10 hours than he made after the 10 months it took to grow them.  I never did understand economics!

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On a separate thread, my golf buddies have been reminiscing about the early TV shows and the radio shows that preceded them.  Lots of fun.  This virus thing has done one good thing - it's made us look back and value the times we have lived through.

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Jays lost to Houston tonight.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Stay well.

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Life

 As a follow-up to yesterday's blog, today I was cleaning up the front garden that includes the cactus.  One of the "branches" was growing toward the border of the garden so I removed it and stuck it in a pot.  Ignore the broken pot - it is just a vehicle to the next destination for the cactus and I didn't want to waste one of David's good pots.  I plan to eventually put the cactus in it's own feature garden (location unknown at this point).

I also got a reminder that the spines (actually very tiny hairs) can penetrate gloves.  Don't know how they do that, but it sure hurts.

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Yesterday's Blue Jays game was a real treat.  They had a five run inning that only had three hits.  A walk, a bunt, wild pitch - lots of excitement.  Final score 9-4 in favour of the Jays.

This afternoon's game was more of the same, plus homers, for a 10-4 victory.  They're back to two games over .500 and fun to watch.

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If you get the Spec and saw the front page yesterday, the man who has been in a covid coma for some time is Steve and Bonnie's nephew.  Sad and scary.   Hopefully, there will be a happy ending.

On that note, take care of yourselves.  Life is sometimes fragile.  Stay well.

Fern Stampede

 David sent me the following email this morning.

"Just delivered 450 Fern baskets to Main Street variety in Forest. Half the town was waiting for me, not me the ferns to arrive. She had 100 of them sold before I got back in the truck. She must want me to come back next year because I got a coffee lunch and snacks for the trip home."

Apparently, the lady put it on Facebook that the ferns were coming and people who bought David's amazing ferns from her last year were anxious for a repeat.

For several years we headed to Forest for a golf weekend, and Mardi's friend Sandy lives there.  We'll let her know the ferns are in.

Mark and Doc live in that geographic quadrant of the province but it may be a bit of a drive for them.

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It's good that stuff is shipping out, because new arrivals are coming in fast and furious.

Mardi was there once again to deadhead geraniums.  I stuck to grass cutting.

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Saw Kathryn today.  Her Kia was in for some warranty work so I picked her up there this morning (we're both vaccinated) and we went to McDonald's drive through for coffee before I took her home.

A nice visit.  And just prior to me seeing her, she had been to an interview that led to a job offer.  A good day for Kathryn!

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Blue Jays lost again last night.  Hope for better tonight.

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Tomorrow it's gardening.

Stay positive (not for covid - for life's experiences).  Stay well.

Deadheads

 Blue Jays lost by a run last night in Oakland.  But, while I was watching the game I was reminiscing about watching the Jays in Oakland six years ago, while we were on our West Coast swing with Reggie and Sarah-Jean.  Fond memories!

I've been in four big league parks - in Detroit when I went to a game with my dad and his friends (probably 8 or 9 years old), Exhibition Stadium and the Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Oakland.

No desire to do any more parks, but I do have good memories about the above events.

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I spent another two hours in the drizzle today cutting grass, and raking and dumping two wagon loads of grass cuttings on the compost pile.  While I was doing that, Mardi continued to deadhead geranium baskets.

These basket are for an order that is to ship in a couple of weeks.  By then, the flowers that are blooming will be dead, so the baskets are brought down, anything that has opened up is taken off (Mardi says taking off the beautiful flowers feels like performing an abortion).

The baskets are then rehung.

Growing plants is at times complicated and the work that has to go into them isn't always apparent.

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Tomorrow, Mardi and I will be back at the greenhouse.  See you then.

Stay well.

A Greenhouse Day

 Did anyone else watch United Shades of America on CNN at 10 p.m. last night?  It was sobering and somewhat depressing, but important to watch so that we can better understand the violent news cycle that surrounds the police actions in the U.S. and to a lesser degree in Canada.

Next episode Sunday at 10 again.

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David tells me that I shortchanged him with my hours estimate for last week.  It was apparently closer to 75.  Thank goodness he's semi-retired!  

Before he stepped back, he often blew past 100 hours in a week and when he first opened the garden centre, and I was running it for him, I was hitting 70 per week.  In stark contrast, today I cut the grass in the drizzle for two hours and then called it quits.

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The greenhouse is really full right now, and activity is at a high.

That's my lovely wife and beautiful granddaughter on the right, deadheading geranium baskets.

The cutting benches are full as well.

But, as this month progresses, things will rapidly get cleaned out.

There are thousands of Boston Ferns hanging and on the floor, but they are a mirage.  The wholesale component has been presold and the Korean convenience store folk who didn't preorder are being turned down right now.  But, historically, they don't take "NO" for an answer and soon they'll be back, willing to pay retail price and clean the place out.  So, if you want Boston Ferns................just sayin'.

As you can see from the picture above, the garden centre is well stocked and it's been very busy so far.  Shaping up to be another good year.

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The Blue Jays are in Oakland for four games and then Houston for three.  Late starts for us in the east so I will be reporting day after for most of the week.  I know you care.

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Take care.  Stay well. 

Happy Birthday David

 Today was David's birthday, so I took the day off.  That's how it works isn't it?

David on the other hand, who claims to be "semi-retired", hung about 400 baskets in the greenhouse on his birthday.  As a semi-retiree he now only works about 60 hours a week!  Apparently, even at age 61, my boy still has things to learn!  Or, maybe I've been a poor role model!

But he's having a good start to his garden centre year, so go with it David!  The pandemic dealt him a severe blow last Easter, but it was also a positive factor.  People are staying home and working on their gardens, and his Easter giveaway last year bought a lot of loyalty.

Happy birthday David!  We'll be able to hug soon (David and Sue got their vaccine shots two days ago).

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We've been subject to a lot of nasty noise as they remove the balcony railings.  The railing removal on the section below has been completed.  Looks a bit scary!

That section is on the opposite corner from our unit, but the noise sounds like it's right next door.  According to the schedule, work on our unit will start in August and the total project won't be completed until at least October.  It's going to be a long summer!

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Blue Jays won again today, completing a three game sweep of their series with the Atlanta Braves.  Fun to watch!

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Stay well.