May 18, 2008: Do you ever get the feeling that time is moving quickly in your life? I do. Here it is May 18, and June is just around the corner and summer will be here. What is one to think?8-))) I believe that we should live every day for what it is, as time moves quickly! Summer here on the Gold Coast is wonderful with many summer days and lots of outdoor time. It is a great time to be in the garden. I have mentioned my terraces and promised to photo them and I have. You can take a look at them if you click here. I like the terraces very much. They are made of sturdy wire covered with vinyl, and really are nice. Each straight section is 39 inches long, and 3 shelves make up one section. I probably have about 40-50 geraniums on each complete terrace, and as you will see they tend to grow together with their foliage overlapping. For me they are an ideal way to grow and show and enjoy my geraniums. I really seem to be out of space, but there is always room for a few more. 8-)))))))))))))))) My wife loves to count them and tell me how many I have!! Our heat spell continues and there is hope on the horizon that by Wednesday of next week, the cool air might just come in from the sea(an onshore breeze). I sure hope so, I am not a fan of really hot weather. When I went to College, I did a summer school session in one of the southwestern states, and wow was it a hot one!!!! The Tomato garden is getting lots of attention with the drip system this week. The plants are growing and have come through the heat just fine. I like the drip system, and my geraniums on Terrace 2 and the hanging baskets in the front are all on drip, and it sure is convenient. I hope you had a good weekend. We did. The Iceberg roses have come through the heat well, and it is time to trim some of the brown blossoms off the bush. They were spectacular in their full blooming this spring. Take a look at the terraces and see how you like them. Enjoy and have a great week. Be sure and read the quotation by Marcel Proust below--food for thought about this thing called life and making new discoveries with your eyes and your mind!!-BT, May 18, 2008.

May 15, 2008: It is warm today and really summer-like! I like the weather. The plants like the weather. You can almost see the tomato plants growing today. They are doing well and got a dose of drip irrigation this a.m. as did the geraniums. I have some new photos for you on the web site today. The Mother's Day flowers sent by our daughter in Ireland are listed in the links towards the bottom of the opening page under the link: Mothers Day. Also the rose buds that my Wife has received on Mother's Day at our favorite restaurant are listed under: Mothers Day Rose. I hope you enjoy viewing them. My wife sure enjoyed receiving them. I fertilized all the geraniums with liquid fertilizer today as they are really blooming and in growing mode. They will like the fertilizer and produce many wonderful blooms of multi-colors. I photographed the terraces on the back patio today for you to see. The flower colors are spectacular in my view. I will post them today or tomorrow with a link for you to see them. I hope you day goes well. Being retired is really a fun time. We read books--it seems when we worked we almost never had the time to do so. It is nice, and keeps the mind healthy. We are mystery fans and enjoy such authors as Deborah Crombie, Colin Dexter, Daniel Silva, Elizabeth George, Brad Thor and Sister Carol Anne O'Marie and others. The young Anna's Hummingbirds have been at the Mexican Sage near the front door all week. I like to photograph them from the kitchen using my telephoto lens on the cam. I have one for you today that I just took a few minutes ago. Aren't we lucky to live with nature? To be able to see the delicate Hummingbird so close is pristine and so enjoyable. The photo from today is below. I hope you enjoy it! I love photographing the hummingbirds. They are so beautiful and interesting. Enjoy the day!!--BT, May 15, 2008.

May 14, 2008: How many Grandfathers did you have? I suppose for most, the answer is 2. I am not sure of that but assume so. Well, I had 3 Grandfathers, knew them all and had an opportunity to interact with them during their lives. They are all gone now, and all I have of them are memories of the times I visited them. One was a business man and a World War I veteran, another was an oil field foreman, and the third was an honest-to-goodness cattleman and cowboy. They were all born in the late 1800's and settled in various places in the USA. I would love to sit down with them today and talk of their memories and history. I know quite a bit about them through genealogy, but you may wonder: "Why does BT have 3 Grandfathers?" Well, of course it was because of re-marriages and the like. I was talking to my wife at lunch today and telling her about my Cowboy-Cattleman Grandfather. As a young teen, he drove cattle west with his Father who also was a Cattleman. I don't think he even had an opportunity to finish high school. Later as an adult he was a successful Cattleman and owned a ranch in the desolate desert of a western state. My family and I would go out to the ranch, mainly during the Christmas holidays, and visit him on the ranch. He was a working Cowboy. Yes, he wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. He had Hereford cattle which lived on the desert and ate among other things, cactus. I remember the old wood stove in the living room of the ranch house that we would dress around in the morning on those cold December mornings. I remember the glass butter churn with the wooden paddle contraption inside the big jar that would spin when you turned the handle, with the cream whirling around and around. I remember the huge iron black kitchen stove which was wood burning. Today's conveniences were not there! When in bed at night, if anyone got up and turned on a light switch, the old gasoline powered generator would cough out back and noisily begin running and produce electricity for the light. There was an old wooden barn, how fun for us kids! And my horse(Grandpa said it was mine......) named Chub. Chub was a "senior citizen horse" which I know Grandpa picked for me so I wouldn't fall off or be thrown. Those days on the ranch were tremendous fun! I will never forget them. On the ranch, I saw how jerky was made in the outdoors, and also the branding of the yearlings at roundup time. These memories are with me forever. I can just see him now strolling through the ranch gate, and my sister and I saying, "Grandpa will you saddle the horses....?" And we would all go to the barn, and Grandpa would bridle the horses, throw on the saddle blanket and the saddle, cinch it all up, and away we would go. What fantastic fun it was------those day of the past, which are not forgotten, and will be with us forever. I hope you remember your Grandfathers--no matter how many you had or have! And if they are still here with you, do sit down with them and ask them to tell you of their memories and lives! Enjoy the memories and make today a great time in your life. I have a photo of me on Chub to post beneath this writing. I hope you enjoy it. That was indeed a very long time ago. But oh!! What a time!!--BT, May 14, 2008

May 13, 2008: We have had the sun all day, and it is beautiful with balmy temperatures and a nice light breeze throughout the day. The young Anna's Hummingbirds have been coming everyday to the Mexican Sage in the front. It has been blooming beautifully for weeks, and the hummers love to come for nectar there. I have a photo for you today of a young Anna's hovering there in the afternoon shadows, drinking the sweet nectar from the sage. It is so nice to see them now in mid-May. I have not noted the Black-Chinned Hummingbirds yet, but they will be here soon. I hope you enjoy the hummer photo from today. I was thrilled to get it, quickly with the Digital Rebel XT cam, shooting the photo with the telephoto lense. l heard hawks calling this morning, but did not locate them for a photo. Once you have heard their call, you will always recognize it. Animals inhabiting our environment make for such a wonderful and interesting place for us to live. The warm weather is coming in probably starting tomorrow, I will check the geraniums and the tomatoes to make sure they get through this forthcoming heat spell. Enjoy your day!--BT, May 13, 2008.

May 12, 2008: It has been one of those days when you have 20 minutes of lovely sunshine and then the clouds glide in and it is overcast! The weatherman says by mid-week the heat is returning with some of the hottest places inland approaching the high 90's. Now is that tolerable!!?? 8-)))))))))))))I prefer the coastal weather, but I know those who live in hot weather seem to adjust to it. Used the drip system to water tomatoes and geraniums today. It works so well. I added drip to two additional pots, and found a sliced drip hose in another area so repaired that. If one has a garden you need to spend some time in it maintaining the plants, weeds and systems. I found the first tomato worm today, the green little guy was 1 inch long and feasting on one of the new tomato plant's leaves. I removed him to another place. That is always a chore now--finding the tomato worms and the worms that like the geranium buds and leaves. It is that time of year for sure. I get lots of fun and happiness from the garden. Mothers Day was fun. We ate out at a favorite restaurant, had cupcakes at home and gave gifts to my wife. It was a fun family time. We did a video call to our daughter in Ireland. Now that is really fun! We love doing the video calls on our iMacs. Seeing your loved ones on the screen and talking to them is wonderful. Remember:"The family is the country of the heart"-Guiseppi Mazzini. I hope your family had a good Mothers Day. We sure did. My wife received flowers from Ireland, and I will soon post them on the web page with a link for you to view them. They are beautiful and she is enjoying them very much. Fathers Day is on the way. It is June 15th! I shall honor the memory of my Father's life that day with thoughts of our times together and what I learned from him. I hope you honor your Father too. Enjoy each day and live them well. Do what you can for others and take care-BT, May 12, 2008

May 8, 2008: What a beautiful and very sunny day here on the Gold Coast! We love this kind of Spring-Summer-ish weather, and the plants do too!! There is a new cat in the neighborhood, and he/she has discovered our privet hedge and the nice napping places that exist for cats under the leaves of the privets. We call the new cat Tabby. How beautiful he/she is! The cat is kind of a dark tiger cat and is very shy. I do not have a photo as of yet, but will soon. And of course will post for you as soon as I get one under "Cats I Have Known". How fun it is to observe the cats. They are indeed a beautiful animal and so independent. I installed a new blind in the patio area as the winds of night before last did in the old one that was there. I also noticed this a.m. a small hummer in at the front door sage feeding early this a.m. If it is like last year we will have plenty of hummers as we near summer coming for a bit of sugar water at the feeder and nectar at the plants and flowers. Last night the wind blew one of the older Christmas cactus over and broke it off at the stem. I saved some of the branches for starts. Speaking of Christmas cactus starts, several of the ones I recently planted are really taking off and are growing and putting on new leaves. I like seeing that. I will have more blooming cacti soon for sure. I have a photo taken this week of a Scrub Jay. They are really beautiful with their lovely bright blue color. It is a rather noisy and conspicous bird and likes to hop through our bark beds in front looking for something to eat. A nearby neighbor puts peanuts in the shell out for them, and they often hide them in the bark and return in awhile to retrieve them. They are very entertaining. If you would like to view my Scrub Jay, click here. I have been further developing my drip system to cover more and more potted plants and some in the ground. In this water short year, I think the drip system is the way to go to irrigate your plants. Have you ever tried to install drip? I find it very easy and much fun. I have posted a new Salmon Queen geranium on the opening web page for you. As my regular readers know, I really like the Salmon Queen. The color is incomparable and wonderful!! It will always be one of my favorites in the geranium world. I have been looking into the Martha Washington geraniums, and really like their hues and blossom shape. All you need to do is Google 'Martha Washington geraniums' and you will see what I mean. I hope your day is a good one. Do something nice for someone today, perhaps you already have. I hope so. We are the ones who can help and support one another. If you have read the quotations above under the title graphic you have read Einstein's, "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." Think about it. It is true. I leave you today with the below quotation. Enjoy the day. --- BT, May 8, 2008.

May 5, 2008: I heard him before I saw him. The Mockingbird was over next door on the neighbor's roof, raising a big ruckus! You know the Mockingbird. He is one of the most common of the neighborhood birds and loves to sing in his many, many voices, even at night. Well, this one was really on the move. I got the Digital Rebel XT with the telephoto lens and rushed out to the patio. And there a photographer's dream! He was displaying and singing to his mate that was out of sight. But I was able to get a photo of the action. If you would like to view Mr. Mockie, click here. I especially love the white wing stripes on the inside of the wings. Beautiful! I have always liked to photograph birds. They are so graceful, beautiful and interesting. My Dad always had several cameras around. He loved photography too. One of his favorites was his Argus C3-35mm camera that I took to Europe in the 60's when a group of us teachers toured foreign schools for the summer. I still have the camera, and it works perfectly today. Of course it has to have film, and you have to hand set all the settings. The Digitals of today are a miracle. I am not sure one can take a poor photo with a Digital camera! 8-))))) That is all we use today--Digital. We load them from the camera right into our iMacs, into iPhoto and edit them and use them in whatever way we choose. Photography has come a long way, for sure. I put up tomato stakes today around the new plants. They are growing and coming along fine. Also fine tuned the drip system in the east garden. Fun! All is well, the marine influence from the sea remains. That is good for the tomatoes as they get accostomed to their new setting in the garden. Take care, and Enjoy the day!! BT-May 5, 2008. A thought for today follows:

May 4, 2008: The onshore flow of air from the sea has moved in, and it is very nice--a bit cooler today and I like it. I worked yesterday on relocating a part of the drip system to one of the terraces on the back patio. It is much more efficient and waters the plants more effectively! I am glad I did it. I had been planning the project for several days in my mind, often in bed before sleep overcame! 8-)))))) The new tomato plants are also on drip and doing well. I like the drip systems, especially when the long arid summer is near. It will come in very handy in the next few months. Yesterday, I potted several geraniums, especially the new ones from the nursery. They make a fine addition to my garden. We have a new 3rd Iceberg Rose bush to replace one that did not make it. The Icebergs are wonderful and very beautiful with their thousands(it seems like thousands) of blossoms. We enjoy the color. We have some space in the garden and are contemplating 2 or 3 dwarf alstromeria or sage or some kind of lavender to plant in the spaces. We love the garden, and it truly brings peace to one when working there. I have a couple of quotes for you today just about that very subject: peace in the garden! Of course you knew I would!! 8-))))) Oh, did you like my new Martha Washington Geranium? I sure do, the dark maroon brings to me a bit of mystery in my mind when I admire it. Why? Who knows why we react to a flower in a certain way, but I love the color. Check out the 2 quotations below and see how you feel about them. I like them a lot. Take care, I am headed for the garden this afternoon to shape up one of the Alstromeria, it is partially collapsing due to the weight of the branches! And we can't have that from an Alstromeria in bloom!!! 8-))) Enjoy the day.--BT, May 4, 2008

May 1, 2008: What a beautiful day today! The wind is down and the sun is out and not too warm. I went to the nursery the other day with my wife, and we came home with 4 new geranium plants. 2 of them, you will find on the web page: El Paso and the Martha Washington. I really like the Martha Washington as I so like the dark maroon colors of Arctic Red, Black Magic and the like. The man at the nursery who helped us told us that the maroon ones are the ones left over--that no one buys. They are beautiful in my mind! Well anyway a potting job awaits me tomorrow a.m. How fun! I am redoing a bit, my drip irrigation system, to one of the terraces on the back patio. It needs an overhauling, and this will be a fun job. We are watching the dwarf alstromeria in the east garden, one of the Princess Lillies: Zsa-Zsa. It is starting to bud, and soon will blossom. That will be fun to see. Yesterday my wife and I planted our annual tomato garden. We planted Better Boys, Sweet 100's and Cherry tomatoes, and in 2-3 months we will be eating fresh tomatoes from the garden. I have planted them for years in the same location after a good winter mulching of manure, grass clippings and various fertilizers. The whole process works very well for us! I can feel summer coming. That probably sounds strange to you, I am no psychic, but one can feel it in the air this balmy day. After all it is May 1! 8-))) Mother's Day is on the horizon in about 10 days. It is Sunday, May 11, and I hope you are thinking of your dear Mother now. My Mother came from a ranching family, and met my Father in the University. They lived through the great depression, and they worked hard and earned everything they ever had. They are both gone now, in heaven, and I think of them often! They were dear and caring and loving parents and I learned so much from them in growing up as a boy. So do think of your Mother this month, and if you are lucky enough to have her with you here on earth, call her. Send her a gift, and give thanks for all she has done to make you what you are! Take care and enjoy! I hope you see summer coming too. --BT, May 1, 2008.

April 27, 2008: Warm here again -- my desktop weather icon says 90° for us here. Now that is hot. I mean hot! For us anyway!! I posted the photos from Ireland that I indicated I would post to the April 2008 page. I always take a camera to Ireland. There are so many opportunities there for wonderful photographs. In this case, it was my Canon PowerShot S50, 5 megapixels. I really like it for travel. It is small and has several very useful features. The most important is that it takes up very little room in my carry-on for the flights to Ireland. 8-)) I always take an extra battery and charger and flashcard. Although this trip I ran out of space on my flash cards so had to buy an extra 1Gb card in a photo shop in a small village in Southern Ireland to get through the trip. I love to photograph in Ireland and of course that includes our grandsons and family. This year they have a trampoline on which they play and are they ever good at it!! I hope you enjoy the flowers from Ireland. I enjoyed editing them and posting them for you. If you are in hot weather, do keep cool. And if in the snow and/or rain, do keep snug and dry. Have a great Sunday. Enjoy--BT-April 27, 2008.

April 26, 2008: The weather has turned warm here the past couple of days. That means more watering and monitoring the plants for dryness. Last night one of the heavy hanging baskets with White Blizzard ivy geranium blew down on the terrace below it, making quite a mess of the several plants below. I trimmed and "fixed the situation", and have decided the hanging plants over that particular terrace must be relocated. Our dominant winds come in usually either from the east or the west depending, and those hanging plants are right in the bullseye of Mr. Wind. Either eastwind or westwind can play havoc among the hangers in that particular location. So I have removed and relocated several of them. I have posted an April and May page. They both are empty as of today, but the April one will soon have flowers I photographed on our recent trip to Ireland. Ireland is literally covered with flowers at this time of year, not only in yards but on the roadsides and hillsides. May is empty as May is not here yet. It is that simple! 8-)))))))))) I spotted, at the nursery the other day, some wonderful Martha Washington pelargoniums and also some ivy geraniums that I must have. My wife and I shall make a trip to the nursery next week and buy some of them. There I go again------adding more geraniums to the collection!!8-)))))))))))))))))))))))) Fun!! We are to have warm weather thru the weekend. It seems the weather changes every few days, wonder what is going on with mother nature and the weather? I read of the shark attack at Solana Beach near San Diego, California this week. How tragic for the man and his family. It doesn't happen very often, but for those near the ocean it is food for thought. Do you remember Barbara Jordan, that outstanding and very dramatic legislator from Texas a number of years ago? I always thought she was inspirational. I have a quote from her today for you. I like it. Have a great weekend, and if you have wind in your part of the world, batten down the hatches. Later from the iMac, Enjoy the day.---BT, April 26, 2008.

April 22, 2008: Did you notice the new photos on the opening page of the web site? Especially French Quarter, which is one of my all-time favorites. The color is incomparable and I really enjoy it! Promise is one of those ivy geraniums that hides on the terrace and you notice the pink flowers first and think to yourself, "Now what is the name of that one?" I am in process of labeling all my geraniums by name. And for me it is a big job!! 8-))) My wife gave me a labeler for gardners for Christmas and it really is neat. It uses waterproof tape for the labels which are laminated and they don't fade. Very nice!! We have a beautiful and sunny day today. How nice it is! Spring is definitely here. I heard from Ireland and it is cold and rainy! What do you expect? It seems they are having a late winter there in the Land of the Leprachauns! We talk lots and often of our recent trip and all the fun memories we have. It is indeed a wonderful thing to travel and experience other lands and communities and people. We will continue to do so for some time. The geraniums are all shaped up after my absence, and they are putting on a very nice color show with their blossoms. I love the colors. I am posting a photo from Ireland of one of the beaches in Ireland. Water sports are popular and in the summer the beaches are very busy. What a beautiful coastline! I hope your day has gone well. Mine has. Take care until we meet again here on Minutia. Of course, a quotation for you follows. 8-)) --BT April 22, 2008

April 19, 2008: As we landed at the final airport(We land/takeoff from 4 airports to get home) the other day, ending our flights to get home(after being up for 24 hours!!!) I thought how wonderful that we can go to Ireland!! It is such a marvelous experience to go there and be with our daughter's family! We are indeed fortunate, and I also thought how important and meaningful our family is to us! I will always remember the quotation: "The family is the country of the heart----Giuseppe Mazzini. To me it brings into close perspective family values and love. Our Grandsons are growing rapidly and they are active and wonderful to be around.

Ireland was cold. Even our Irish friends and family said so! And believe me---it was bitterly cold! But with our Daughter and Grandsons we trooped about the country, and even did a train trip to Dublin and saw The Book of Kells. It was miraculous seeing the book of Four Gospels from The Book of Kells. The exhibit at Trinity College Library in Dublin is well worth visiting. There was snow the day before we arrived in Ireland and that made for some late flights, as airplanes had to be de-iced before taking off. Very unusual for us who live in a balmy climate, most of the time. The country-side was very green and beautiful, with the usual dairy cattle and sheep grazing in the beautifully green pastures and on the hill sides. There is much building going on in Ireland, and road repair is happening in many places. The small villages that we know so well seem to be the same mostly, with their wonderful old buildings and churches. It was so nice greeting friends that we knew from previous visits, and we had a fantastic trip. Home always looks good, doesn't it!!! We love our home! Some travel quotations for you to think about. I know some prefer not to travel, but for us it is indeed away of life, an education, an unforgettable experience.

We are very glad to be back with you on Minutia! I hope you are well. The geraniums did well while away, even though battered a bit by high winds on one or two days. They are strong and resilient! They do well and the colors are incomparable!! Take care, my friends and will post some new photographs when the jet-lag goes south! (8-)))))))))))))))))))))))))). Enjoy the day and life!!--BT, April 19, 2008

April 4, 2008: It happened again yesterday! The woman, when she noticed my name, asked, "Did you used to teach at the elementary school?" I told her I did and she said, "You were my son's teacher and he is 27 years old now!" Wow, I thought, has it been that many years? Am I that old? 8-))) This happens to me occasionally, and it really takes my mind back to those teachng days which I enjoyed very much. Working with students is challenging and fun!! My Dad was a teacher for many years also, and I remember as a boy when I would be downtown in the small town where I was raised, with him, and he would see one of his former students who was "all grown up". And of course they would say hello to him. I was so proud of my Dad! He was a teacher too! Well you know the saying: "Like Father, like son!" And it was true. Dad taught and administered for over 40 years, with a hiatus of several years during the World War 2 days, when he was a Naval officer. I taught 40 years and between the two of us we did over 80 years in the classroom/school. What an experience it was!! I look back with fond memories of all those students, and when I see one "all grown up" and they recognize this ancient retired person 8-)))))), I am happy and a bit proud that I chose to follow Dad's footsteps. By the way, he was the only one in his family who went to and completed college, and he had to borrow money on his own to do so and that was in the 1930's. Fantastic! The fog came in last night, much like Carl Sandburg's poem, "The Fog". It was cool and very nice. I expect it to do the same tonight. We like it, but the sunshine that we also like will be back soon. In case you have forgotten, I am posting below, Sandburg's poem. It is quite cold in Ireland now. But that is to be expected as it is about the same longitude/latitude as parts of Canada. We shall take warm clothes!! I will see you again soon here on Minutia! I send my best wishes to you all for a wonderful weekend and a great next week. Keep your chin up! Life is reassuring!! 8-))) Take care--BT, March 4, 2008

April 1, 2008: It has turned cool here on the coast. Feels like fall, and the weatherman is saying maybe rain tomorrow. Sure is clear and sunny today, but we could use another storm as the rainy season is coming to a close here. I posted a new pink flower for you today--Solidor, one of my very first geraniums when I started all this of the geraniums. And I am glad I did, I so enjoy gardening and working and grooming the geraniums. I moved a beautiful Dark Red Blizzard geranium just near the kitchen window so that we can enjoy its wonderful colors! Spectacular! Hummingbirds, mainly the Annas have been coming this week to the sage plants as they are blooming in their beautiful purple hues. It is great to see them in the area still. Their nesting time is near. We have not seen coyotes recently. They really are not afraid of man, and inhabit our environment without fear, sometimes crossing the road in front of our car--but not recently. We did another video chat this morning with the Grandsons. How excited they get when they see themselves on the screen!! Fun!! We will see them soon. Warm weather is coming after the rain, so they say. That will be good for gardening and planting tomatoes. We will have some delicious sandwiches and parmesan tomatoes this summer, my wife is an expert cook!! Smoky the cat came for a visit today, and his obligatory "under the chin" scratch. What a beautiful animal! We enjoy her visits very much! Time moves on, April is here now, and one can look to summer---soon to be on the horizon. I love this time of year with its cool evenings and balmy days. What more can one ask for but flowers, lovely balmy weather and the closeness of the family. Take care and enjoy the week!! --BT, April 1, 2008

March 29, 2008: Again we are blessed with a wonderful sunny Spring day! It can't get any better. I have always thought that there is something wonderful about flowers one raises. You know, all the work you put into planting them, watering them, feeding them and the like. I feel wonderful that I have my geraniums and they seemingly are doing so well. I discovered that the Happy Thought zonal, one that is in the west garden in full sun, has of all things, put on a red blossom!! Yes, you heard it right-a red blossom and I am posting the photo here on minutia for you to see! It is not a separate plant, in fact the same stems have pink blossoms coming out! Amazing isn't it. The Happy Thought plant was given to me as a gift by my younger daugher. It holds a special place in my heart because of that. You never know, if you are a gardener, what you may find next! We had a gopher in the garden and wow, can they ever raise havoc!!! We lost a few agapanthus to him. But he is gone now, and we are planning some "rebuilding" of a couple of areas he devastated. It will be nicer in the garden without him for sure. I hope your weekend goes well. Ours is, and the weather has a lot to do with it. I heard from Ireland that it is raining this week/weekend. I wonder if we will get in that when we go on that long flight over the Atlantic soon?? I hope your garden is doing well if you have one. My Grandfather always like to grow plants and he used to give my Father the most beautiful camellias that I have ever seen, and my Father knew how to raise them. They were magnificent! Enjoy your weekend. Do something for someone. You will feel the better for it. Take care-BT, March 29, 2008.

March 26, 2008: What a beautiful day! The sun is strong and there is a light breeze tickling the trees. I really like this kind of weather. The birds are here telling us it is Spring! I photographed several for you from our garden. I know they are building nests. If you would like to view the bird photos click here. The night winds are still coming to us each evening, and I usually do clear the top shelf of one of the terraces to avoid any plants being damaged. Tomato planting time is approaching. I will plant my tomatoes in mid-April, and we will enjoy fruit through the summer. It is delicious!! The Happy Thought geranium is doing very well in the direct sun. It is still in a rather large pot and sits next to the Regal Camelot geranium. They both like the sun and do well here. I posted a new Happy Thought blossom for you today on the web page. Most schools are out now for a bit of a Spring break. I remember the teaching days when we would look forward to the holidays and a bit of a break in the routine. Ok, have a great week. I hope your weather is good. A friend in Iceland tells me Europe is snowy at this time. I know Ireland is rainy and a bit cool. But Spring is here and Summer soon upon us. Enjoy-BT-March 26, 2008

March 21, 2008: Good Friday! What a beautiful spring day! The sun is bright and the weather outside is balmy and wonderful! I see much of Spring today: the flowers, the Blue Jay, the sky, and the warm sun. How nice! We are looking for the Hooded Oriole that comes into our area about this time of year. If you would like to view some photos I took in 2007 of the orioles click here. They usually come in about this time of year and like to nest in palm trees. You can't miss them as they are brilliantly colored. The Blue Jays are back and they are noisy and raucous. We love to see them and hear their cry. They are a sure sign of Spring. We had a video chat with our daughter and grandsons in Ireland the other day, and it was so much fun. To see your loved ones on the computer screen talking to you is a thrill!! I have posted some new flower photos on the opening page of the web site today. I try to add some new photos every few days for you to see. I hope you enjoy them. What are you doing this Easter weekend? My wife tells me this is the earliest that Easter comes since 1913. Wow, it is early, isn't it!!! Also take a look at the Blue Jay on the garage that I photographed the other day. I am sure he was posing! 8-)) I want to wish you a Happy Easter, enjoy it. I worked today trimming some of the geraniums from the terrace and made some new hanging geraniums also. I like to rotate them in and out of the terraces and hanging areas. The plants have so many buds, they are producing some very beautiful blossoms. I send my best to you on this Easter weekend, take care. --BT, Good Friday, March 21, 2008.

March 16, 2008: Easter is soon upon us. How time moves quickly!!You who regularly read these pages know my Mother always said that the older one gets the faster it seems that the days, weeks and months move past. I believe she was right. Anyway it seems that way! I photographed this a.m. the Salmon Queen and the Royal Dark Red ivy geraniums, and they both continue to be among my favorites! The colors are incomparable! The variety of colors and hues that geraniums exhibit is superb!! The wind is blowing today and it is a bit cold outside. I have taken down several of the potted geraniums from the back terrace due to the wind last night. One of the planters, a rectangular one with several starts planted in it, is even tied down to the terrace as it has blown off in prior windstorms. No use taking any chances!! Yes, I suppose I am a geranium fanatic. Anyway I have many, and my wife loves to guess how many. Is it 40, 60, or more? I will never tell! 8-)))))))))) The weather in Ireland continues to be cold and stormy off and on. We always pack clothing for any type of weather there, as you do not know for sure if it will rain or what. I remember during Christmas one year, the gales (wild, strong winds) came into the area at 90 miles per hour. Now that is a wind!! Trees, electric lines and so on certainly blew down. With Easter Sunday one week away, it might be a good time to read some Easter poetry/quotations. I will post some below for you to enjoy. My mind reels back to when our daughters were young and of coloring eggs and hiding them in the back yard and having the Easter egg hunts! How fun it was. And sometimes as events follow events in the same light, our Grandsons were here one Easter and we did the exact same activity with them in the same back yard. Fun it was!! It usually takes us 17-20 hours to fly to Ireland on 3 different flights, and we usually are awake around 23+ hours from the time we arise in the a.m. at our house. But, indeed, it is worth the trip as awaiting us at the airport in Ireland at the end of the trip are our Daughter and 2 Grandsons--a Grandparents dream! How fun it is! Take care and enjoy this beautiful Sunday. --BT, March 16, 2008.

March 13, 2008: The NE wind is blowing again this afternoon, and the temperature is like summer. I have been working on the geraniums today, repotting a couple of nice plants that had outgrown their pots in which I had started them as clippings sometime ago. It was nice being out in the garden with Smoky the cat bouncing about looking for lizards etc. We love that cat and she is so entertaining. Cats are indeed very intelligent and responsive. She always likes an "under the chin" scratch when in the mood for such. I have archived page 2 of Minutia along with page 1, and the links to view them are below at the bottom of the page. Did you like the hawk photographs from yesterday? I sure did, and my wife even commented on them. A friend I once had many years ago wanted to be a veterinarian; and he collected and cared for wild birds and loved them. His name was Jack, and he was a few years older than I was. Jack had the most beautiful Red Tail Hawk that he had tamed and trained. I would go over to his house and watch him hand feed his hawks. He was very gentle and kind to them. I shall never forget one day we went out in the country with the Red Tail to exercise and fly him. He rode on the back of Jack's seat in the car with a falcon hood over his head which calmed him. We arrived outside of town at a field in farming country, and Jack took the Hawk out of the car, removed the hood and gave him a little toss up in the air. The Hawk took off and flew so far he was only a speck way over at the far end of the field. To one who did not know, you would be sure the Hawk was gone forever. After awhile, Jack blew a whistle and started to swing a lure on the end of a rope, made of wood, a bit of soft metal, with some pieces of raw meat tied on with rawhide.Well, the beautiful Hawk flew right back to Jack, came in at full speed and landed on the lure and began to eat the meat. How spectacular he was! And what a kind person Jack was in his treatment of the bird. I often wondered if Jack ever became a veterinarian; he would have been an excellent one. That is my story for the day, and every bit is true. Have you noticed the new quotations above on this page 3 of Minutial. They say to me that our fellow man is very important in our lives and that we should support and assist where we can. I feel spring today, and even a bit of summer!8-)))))))))))What a fantastic day!!I love it! Take care and Enjoy the Day!--BT, March13, 2008