-
-
I hope this doesn’t sound like damning with faint praise. It was delightful. But, I would not have made a special trip with a hotel stay to see it. The trolls are great. But, I would need to go for other stuff, too. The Arboretum is worth seeing and so is generally hanging out in Asheville, imho. We did talk to a couple who are “troll collecting.” They saw their first in Wisconsin.
There were signs near some of the trolls giving directions that encouraged engagement with the exhibition. Not all, but some.
They have QR codes for labels. But, I neglected to take pictures of all of them. Frankly, I didn’t notice them until I was 3 or 4 trolls along.
This first troll you see is Wilde. It’s by the entrance into the Visitor Center. I wasn’t sure I was going to get a picture of it without a human blocking it because so many were crowding around getting their own photos.
Wilde 
Taks The highlights in his eyes are screws. And I was amused by how the toenails are inverted. Those were features of all of the trolls.
Valle 
Bignut 
Lilnut 
Boge I absolutely could not get a picture of Boge without someone in his hands. The crowd around him was large and close in as everyone waited to take their turn to be held by a troll.
Kirse 
Poppy Nearby, there was a little story about Poppy collecting the detritus of humans kind of like little kids collect rocks.
Hasse Hasse is pretty sassy and I love his hair.
Birch 
Anja People had a lot of fun trying to build cairns on her hands with the stones in her buckets.
And I missed Larke. We were so focused on going down the hill to see Anja, we didn’t look to our right to spot her. If I get back over there to see them with my cousin, I’ll add her to the post.
-
I haven’t been using this space to share my truly absurd fascination with roadside attractions and all things ridiculous. Fortunately for me, this husband understands how much of a weirdo he married. The first 2 tried to think I was not entranced by the ridiculous and ignored my need for the absurd.
Chuck took me to see the Mothman Museum.
And the Winston-Salem Shell station.
There have been others. Not necessarily with this man. But…. I have a history. My friend, Patti, had me checking that app as we roadtripped to Nashville, IN and it was glorious.
So. I’m adding a new Category to this collection of random thoughts. Partly inspired by my friend, Sarah‘s, realizing that I have a RoadsideAmerica facination. Partly because why not?
(And, O Sweet Gzus, I just discovered the Roadside America Museum in Hillsboro, TX.)
I think I’ll go see what pictures I have to share….
-
It is 54ºF/12ºC today and I have been playing in water. (Among other things.)
The pot I had my Japanese maple twins in started falling apart last Spring and it got gradually worse over the summer. Last week, I picked it up and the bottom fell out.
Literally So, Spawn and I shopped for a new pot while we were at the Winter Expo in Kannapolis and picked out one that we both thought was attractive and not the most expensive thing in the vendors’ room.
This was originally a forest. But, one of the trio died and it became a twin. The guy that sold me the pot had some small plants available, too. So, I got another small Japanese maple that I think will have different colored leaves if it makes it to Fall.
And it’s significantly smaller than the other 2. It’s been too cold for me to do anything with it until today. And today was pushing it. But, I didn’t want it to just sit there with its rootlets hanging out indefinitely. So, I bundled up and sacrificed my manicure.
I actually have them on the marble table by the fence. But, that’s a crap location for taking a picture. The left is the Japanese quince in a pot made by my friend, Patti. The pot on the right is my little shitakusa of moss. We got the little Buddha at the Art in the Garden event ages ago. It used to be gold. But, he has lived outside and weather caused change. I have couple of chunks of rock that I tend to keep nearby. They are my discount suiseki.
-
North Carolina State University is the largest agricultural college in the state and they run the State Extension Service. Each county has an office that does all sorts of useful things for their communities. They operate using public funds supervising 4H clubs and helping anyone involved with plants, from farmers and public gardens to someone trying to keep a houseplant alive.
Each county has trained volunteers to help shoulder the load. I start training in Guilford County in January. I actually live in Orange County, but the Orange training class is already full, Greensboro isn’t far and I have a friend who was signing up there.
Orientation is January 14 and we will have class nearly every Wednesday until the beginning of May.
The star on 2/25 is because that’s not a day to miss. That’s the day we meet our mentors. We can miss a day and make it up. But, that one really needed to be on everyone’s calendar.
Application days are test days. Those aren’t days to miss either.
On the Virtual Wednesdays we have all
dayweek to watch the video on the MG intranet and there’s a little quiz afterward to prove we actually did watch all of it.The intranet is how we log our hours, too. You don’t get to just sign up and say “I paid my $120 and I’m a Master Gardener.” You are expected to seriously put in some time.
MG Interns are expected to volunteer a lot as we continue working with our mentors. Once we are actual Master Gardeners, we are expected to serve a minimum of 10 hours per year. (There’s a party in November when we have completed our training. Friends and family are invited to celebrate.)
In our first year, we are expected to put in 40 hours after we finish the class:
- 16 in demo gardens (There’s a bog in one of them.)
- 8 at the plant sale or other events.
- 12 on the Infoline. (4 times for 3 hours. A MG will be with us.)
- 4 extra hours. If I recall correctly, this is helping to man the information table at farmers’ markets.
- Continuing education is expected, too. Notice there are some optional days for that included in the training schedule.
We have a book and we’ll be expected to read before coming to class. We can buy a hardback copy if we really want to have one in our hands for $50 or $60. Or we can download it from that website for free. You can get the HB from other online stores than the NC Extension service and they can be a little less costly. But, not by much.
We’re using the second edition, originally published in 2022. They’re working on a 3rd edition. But, it is such a great book that other services want to use it and #3 is going to be for the entire Southeast, not just NC. So, they’re putting extra effort into that one and it’s not coming out soon. Taylor said that the only differences between #1 and #2 are organizational and if we find an inexpensive copy of the first edition, it will have the same info in a different arrangement.
You can know I’ll be going with free on my tablet.
I have used the Infoline a few times and I’m looking forward to doing that, kind of giving back. That training is learning where to look for answers. Complicated stuff gets passed along to the Extension Agent.
I’m really looking forward to the Raleigh field trip on 2/2. We get to see how soil is tested and see what we need to know to tell people how to collect their samples.
Well.
I’m really looking forward to all of it.
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
I am the Audience 