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 day week 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.
We are all too old and particular to need or want other people to do our shopping. But, Xmas still kind of demands some kind of gift exchange. We can’t help ourselves. It’s pretty hilarious when a bunch of adults are trying to sneak around and put things in multiple stockings without being seen.
Our other way of gift giving has become playing Dirty Santa. After an unfortunate round with his own family, my BIL has instituted a one-steal-only rule and, with 12 or 13 participants, it keeps us from going into the next day.
If you don’t know the game, here are the rules:
Everyone brings a single gift that should be fun for at least one (preferably more) other member of the group. Not something like “Sis wants this particular pair of earrings”. More like “I really love this book and I think at least 3 of my family might like to read it.”
We set a maximum price at $50. It doesn’t have to be that much. But, that’s to keep stuff from getting out of hand and anyone from feeling stressed about extravagant expectations. A $5 joke gift that cracks us all up is perfectly acceptable.
All gifts are wrapped with no name on the label.
Gifts go in a big pile.
Everyone draws a number.
Person 1 picks a gift and opens it. Everyone expresses delight or makes a joke or whatever.
Person 2 either picks a gift or takes the gift Person 1 has already unwrapped and Person 1 opens another package. In my family, if their first gift was taken, Person 1 is now safe from stealing.
Person 3 either picks an unopened gift or takes a previously opened gift and that person opens another package.
Continue until everything is unwrapped.
You only have to give up a gift once. If your first gift is taken, your second gift is safe.
A single gift may be taken by multiple people. But, no one ends up being the solitary unwrapper. At most, some of us open 2 gifts. And some of us never actually open one. But, those people knew what we were choosing.
One year, an excellent travel bag and a bottle of bourbon were each “stolen” 3 or 4 times.
This year, my sister has requested that those of us who are creative contribute something we’ve made. So, Chuck is bringing a framed photo. My BIL, who is a woodworker, is making something (probably a mirror in a frame of especially lovely wood). I think my nephew’s GF is knitting something. I was given a significant look when I was seen crocheting an infinity scarf for a friend and made to know that I am included in that group.
I found some unplyed felted Peruvian merino wool yarn at the the Hillsborough Yarn Store that’s gorgeous and cost me $25. But, there was only 1 skein in that particular color combinaton and I have never worked with this stuff before. Even if there had been a second skein, I have no clue how to join them gracefully.
There’s not enough for an infinity scarf. And my count was off a couple of times so it became a trapezoid. I thought a cowl might work. But, the pattern that I tried flipped both times I started it, turning into a Möbius strip. I think I’ve ripped it and started over 7 times.
I finally made a muffler that will cross their chest and go down into their coat. It won’t wrap around their neck without a pin to hold it.
My BIL was asking his wife about price vs value and talking about how much more expensive his gift would be than $50 if you count his time, etc. He was mostly bitching about having a limit on generosity. But, if he brings it up on Xmas day, I’m going to tell him that’s a $600 dollar muffler and he needs to shut up.
I think people have always been judged by their appearance. “He has such big muscles, he must be stupid.” “She’s so beautiful, she can’t be smart.” “They’re wearing glasses, they must be smart.” “They like to wear black, they must be weird in a particular way.” Brunettes are smarter than blondes and redheads have nasty tempers. That list could go on all afternoon.
I suspect every single human feels that there is some way that they have been unfairly judged based on their appearance, including all the Beautiful People. And I think we have all taken in societal expectations so much that we are our own worst critics.
I am hoping that talking about what those expectations are and how ridiculous most of them are is helping us to do 2 things that are sides of a coin. One is to quit being critical of ourselves and the other is to look at each other without looking for norms. But, instead to see the fabulousness that abounds.
Public conversation about it has helped me unlearn a lot of expectations. In particular, who gets to wear what. I wish the “why did I buy into that?” moments had come sooner. But, they didn’t.
This gave me joy. So many people, so many ways to decorate their bodies.
When Chuck first started sharing his work, he made zines. He gave them / sent them, free of charge, to anyone he knew that was interested in having them. After he had done several, a friend suggested that he get a space at a zinefest at The Fruit in Durham. So, he did.
We tend to share access to stuff. Like, he uses my phone number to get the discounts at groceries. And we both use the same login to Duke Power and our credit union.
When it was time to pay for his table, they were taking PayPal for the fee and I am the one with a PayPal account. I hate PayPal. When I had occasion to change my name, they thought they should be given copies of paperwork that I thought (and still think) isn’t their business. If I want to call myself Murgatroyd von Pussylips, it is not their business to get documentation as long as the info connected to the bank is valid. And I wanted to change my usename. Nothing else. I did not think it was their business to see my marriage license to justify changing that.
So, I try not to use them. I don’t want to give them money.
BUT, I still have that account and Chuck needed to send money. So, it was used.
When it was time to load in, it took a few minutes to locate. Because, in spite of the form he filled out to register the space, this was what we finally found.
I am the Audience 