I survived Lessons 9 to 11!

The idea of creating images on line will be useful.  The Master Gardeners are offering free tomato cage repair at the Halifax Farmers Market on May 11^th.  This will require use of a welding machine.  The Warning Sign Generator will be just the ticket to make a special danger sign.  Of course this will be a kid magnet for sure!

            I’m trying the Warholizer again.  Got the third step but didn’t get any results the first time.  But it is rainy and cloudy and the satellite isn’t at its best on those kinds of days.  Taking a very long time though.  I liked the idea of adding a quote but would have liked it more if it could have been an original quote.  I think I have time to fold clothes as slow as Warholizer is working! 

            I’m back from folding laundry and still Warholizer is working.  I could have done the same thing in Photoshop in a minute or so.  Can’t believe the results will justify the wait.  Will see if three is a charm. 

                        Wordle was cool and I got a great bunch of words Kathy'sGarden,  Goodforbodyandsoul, Bees, Birds, Butterflies, Natural, Colorful, Soothing, Sustainable but I could not figure out how to download as a JPG or in any other way that would allow me to post it on my blog.  Unfortunately I don’t have any 12 year olds available to ask. 

            I have used Pinterest since taking this course.  Went to discover Delicious but there wasn’t anything to discover but a blank screen.  StumbleUpon is a great name for that website because the experience was just like stumbling through a path and not learning anything during the stumble.  Was hoping that I might trip on a great gardening site I didn’t know about but that didn’t happen.  I do use Snopes a lot because I get so many bashing e-mails that are so ridiculous I can’t believe anyone would even pass them on.  Snopes generally validates with the absurdity of most of them.  PolitiFact was interesting and I will probably return to check out an e-mail claim.

            Checked out Lifehacker and well I guess my old eyes just couldn’t’ find the tags.  I have seen them on other websites and will check out further.  Can’t wait to see what next week’s exercises are and how stupid they will make me feel once again!  Thank goodness for the other things in my life that remind me I do have some useful skills.

6-7-8 Oh Yeah

If I get nothing out of 23 things these lessons were worth it and I didn’t even feel stupid!

I loved Goodreads.  I clicked on my favorite types of books and back came of list of which I’d read about half and the other half were things that I would probably like or were already on my Book List.  I selected 23 books that I liked and was looking for feedback but it was taking too long and I had to run to give a talk about Using Native Wildflowers in the Landscape.  But I will try again.  And hope that some of these books will be available at the library.  I would like to comment on “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”.  I’ve known about this issue for a long time.  I grew up in Dundalk which included Turner Station where Henrietta and her husband lived after they moved from Clover.  The local paper “The Dundalk Eagle” published an article about the use of her cells back in the 70’s.  I knew every place mentioned on both ends of the book.  I was sorry that my Dad had passed before the book was published.  He would have enjoyed the book as much as my sister and I have.  If you haven’t read it, check it out. Very informative and poses some ethical questions.  One of the books that came up through Goodreads was “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present”.  Joe will have created a monster if I ever find out how to get to these books!

            Library Thing didn’t do it for me.  Couldn’t figure out how to get started and Goodreads was easy and full of good suggestions so why bother.

            My Literati was useful.  I searched for Soils, a topic I speak about often.  Information was reliable and I easily downloaded an article.  There was a list of items for recommended reading on the subject and one was "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men:  The Ideology of the Republic Party Before the Civil War”.  Well I thought that sounded interesting so I reserved it and well it is waiting for me at a circulation desk at some unknown place – it could be cyberspace or a physical location.  I have no clue.  Hope Joe gives me some direction because I would like to read it.

            The free online courses were good to know about.  edX and udacity were very technical and I didn’t see anything that hit me.  However on coursera there were some that I found intriguing especially Introduction to Sustainability.  No date set for this but I have signed up.  I am very concerned about the future of the earth especially water.  Here we take fresh clean water for granted and at the rate we are mining our aquifers, this may not even last my lifetime.  I love doing things online since it is a haul to go to any of the local community colleges.

Well I Flickred

Rainbow at Tracy Arm, Alaska

One of the pictures I posted on Flickr

Got some pictures posted on Flickr but could not figure out how to attach my blog.  Interesting about the tags.  Now I understand why when I Google images of Rosemary I get drag queens and babies.  I looked at the websites for the Cloud.  Wasn’t sure if the App would work on my old operating system.  Back in the day when I worked I could see that kind of storage would have been wonderful.  Make a presentation, store it in the cloud and then download with your smart phone and print out at the presentation site.  However, we didn’t even have cell phones back then.  Here at the farm we make smart phones look dumb since there is no service.  I think I am looking forward to this week’s assignment but then again it just might make me feel dumb once more by reminding me how out of touch I am with networking.

St. Patrick's Day

Temple Connor at Clanmacnoise in Ireland

Top'o the mornin to ye.  Since I have Irish roots St. Pat's Day has always been special to me.  Baltimore was full of taverns with 17 cent green beer and Irish music and parades.  How I miss that.  I went to a luncheon yesterday and wore my green St. Patrick's Day t-shirt with about 20 green strings of beads from New Orleans.  Had to stop at the post office on the way.  I think the postmaster recognized an alien.  I was lucky enough to visit Ireland in celebration of my 60th birthday.  It was wonderful and I recalled the words in the Judy Collins song "Drink a round to Ireland son, I'm home again".  Visiting there felt just like going home.  Did I mention the beer was wonderful!

Picture of a bromeliad that graced us with its beauty last month

I am struggling with a blog.  It is not something I feel the need to do.  However, I am going on a trip of a lifetime this summer and would like to share some of our experiences with other interested Master Gardeners.  I also want to learn how to use social media to enhance our Master Gardener communication.  Need to finish all assignments up to now before lunch so I can finish weeding the wiregrass out of my asparagus bed before those slender tender green shoots start sprouting out!