Saturday night

Liquidambar styraciflua, Osmanthus heterophyllus 'goshiki', Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'prostrata', Liriodendron tulipifera. No wonder Latin is a dead language. Who named these plants, and why? To punish horticulturalists? I learned his name actually(and then I forgot it).All day, at the grocery store, in the shower, at work these crazy names float around my head. Oh boy. Even on Saturday nights. What happened to going out and partying? I'm getting old. My new job is weird, but good. It was a longer week than I am used to working (about 55 hours). I think I will like it though. Monday is Halloween and the girls are excited!.....Oh, by the way,(in order) sweet gum tree, Goshiki false holly, cow tails pine, and tulip poplar tree are the common names for the plants I listed earlier. I love binomial nomenclature. Maybe next time I'll list the other 112 plants I have to memorize.......;)

Wednesday night

Short and sweet....... I'm back to work, as a landscape installation forman. Looks like I'll be working fifty or more hours a week. I have a lot to learn, but thats a good thing. This will give me a chance to learn more spanish.The girls are doing good. School is good. 138 on my last i.d. test. Visited Smith-Gilbert gardens(Amazing). Big test in Hort. science tomorrow, better studdy.

Tuesday

Wild how things can change so quickly. Two weeks ago I was so busy that I couldn't see strait. This week I have plenty of time to catch up. Its amazing how much time a job takes up, or how much time I have without one. Last Wednesday I found myself "unemployed". It was pretty inevitable, but it came sooner than expected. Oh well. It was time for a job, or even a career change. The last two years have not been that great financially. This will definitely give me a chance to go after a job in horticulture, something I had planed on anyways. It's never a good feeling to loose a job, but I feel that this will be a fairly easy transition. I just hope the money will be there......Cathrine and Anna went on a field trip yesterday with the daycare. They went to the pumpkin patch, a local farm that has a petting zoo and activities for the kids. They had a lot of fun. Anna is going to Boston with her grandparents this weekend, and Cat is going to her mothers. It will be pretty quiet around here......Thank goodness I have school to keep me occupied. I wish I was taking more classes this Quarter, but who knew. I am taking woody plant i.d. and hort science this quarter. The i.d. class is really challenging, but that's a good thing. Having to learn the full Latin name and common names is pretty rough, thank goodness I have a week between classes. It is a lot of fun though. I am glad I am going.........

Sunday evening

What a wild couple of weeks. I started college this week. I will be attending Tuesday's and Thursday's this quarter. I am taking evening classes, from five to nine p.m.. It is definitely going to be a challenge making it through this quarter. The seventeen hour days make for a pretty tired John by Friday. Oh well hopefully it will pay off...........The weather is slowly starting to change. Overcast and wet for the last three days. It just looks like winter out. The temperature was in the mid fifties Saturday morning. It won't be long until the cold temperatures start to creep in. Then it's time to try and squeeze all these plants in this house........We are facing lay-offs at work. Oh boy. Oh well, que sera, sera. I am not looking forward to finding a new job, but it might be a good time to get some experience in landscaping, or some field closer to horticulture. Whatever happens it will surely make for an eventfully winter. My fingers are crossed........No new plants lately, but there is lots of blooming going on. The bleeding heart vine is in bloom with wonderful white flowers with blood red centers. It is no wonder how this plant got it's common name. One of the first sucullent arrangements that I made contained a Tiger's jaw. It has bloomed, and it is very interesting. The cycle that happens is as follows: When the sun shines the flower opens up into a brilliant yellow flower that slightly resembles a dandelion. When the sun sets the flower closes up partially and turns a light shade of purple. This is very interesting to me. I have never seen a flower change colors before. I saw it with my own eyes though, three nights in a row. Plants never fail to be interesting.......

tuesday night

Oh my, busy,busy!! I will have more posts soon.