Newer technology

Ah, the first blog on my new computer. I have finally set everything up and taken all the junk programs off that came installed on the computer. I love the convenience of getting a decent computer from dell, but I do not appreciate having all the resource hogging applications installed on it. It literally took four hours to un-install all the programs that just take up space. Oh well. The new computer is nice, and about twice as fast as my old laptop. The battery was giving up on my old laptop, running only about 20 minutes without power. I also installed a new wireless router. Finally. I had been putting it off for about a year, in part because the router still worked. It was just so old that I was not getting the 5 Meg that I pay for each month. So now are wireless connection went from about 1.5 megs to 3.5 megs per second. More than double the speed, a very good thing. I know this all sounds pretty dorky, but I love quicker. Faster computer, faster internet. I have realized that my knowledge of computer technology is quickly becoming outdated. I am out of date and am not even familiar with the latest processors. It is impossible to keep up with, it changes so quickly. I give myself three more years. I still understand the basics, but soon I will be like an old man trying to set the time on a v.c.r. , or d.v.d, or blu-ray disk player, whatever is around in three years. Whatever, I don't have the time I once did to keep up with computers. There are to many plants that need to be planted......I am on vacation this week. That is really cool, usually about this time on Sunday I am already gearing down to get back into work mode. I have a lot lined up for the upcoming week. We are going to take the girls to the aquarium, and to ride the marry-go-round. I am forcing myself to take at least two days off to spend with the family. It is not that I do not want to spend time with them, It is the fact that I have lined up so much side work that I need to get a lot of it finished up............Started the fall quarter at school this week. I really enjoyed the schedule, and the classes are enjoyable. Both of them deal with greenhouses. We will be taking "field trips" to the Atlanta area nurseries and greenhouses. I will be able to see how a real greenhouse runs. Fully automated, climate controlled, all that good stuff. I am sure it will not be anything compared to that massive mess of a greenhouse we own. Ha. Oh yeah lost about thirty more percent of the pansy's. That was good news. Temps were in the nineties on Wednesday. And for anyone that was wondering, pansy's don't grow to well when the greenhouse gets to 110+. In case anyone did not know that..... I will have pics of the aquarium visit shortly.

I have a second, better write something....

To say I have been busy would be an understatement. It has been a good kind of busy. Lots of things going on. The greenhouse is going good. I have started all kinds of annuals, and the first crops are ready. Well almost. I have learned that growing pansies in Georgia in the summertime is no easy feat. They are by far the most challenging annual I have grown so far. Not in the fact of getting them to germinate, but keeping them growing. Fluctuating temperatures, and therefore water usage make it hard to keep them growing happy. I have had about a fifty of sixty percent success rate. Not to bad overall, we will still have enough to be profitable. Live(or grow) and learn. We will end up with about 20 or so flats. Lost about 10. All of the other plants are doing well though. We finally have set up a wholesale account, which will allow us to buy seed and supplies for a fraction of the cost that we had previously paid. That is a good thing. It has been a good year at the greenhouse. We have decided(or have been forced to realize) that we will not have heat in the greenhouse this year. Not a big deal, as I don't know if I feel like babysitting it all winter. I have decided at least for now to shift my attention to growing perennials and landscape plants. No heat required.........Lots of work after work. Side jobs gallore. That is a great thing for now though. Who needs weekends off anyway? I have did a couple grading jobs, and I have a couple big beds and a complete front yard coming up. We spent Saturday, four of us, laying sixteen pallets of sod. That was a lot of work, and we are all sore today. Oh well. Good hard work. We still have four more to go. I will be glad to get it over with, then it is over to the neighbor's yard. I love word of mouth advertising. I just hope I can balance the day job, my work, and school. We will see. For know it is working out. I start school this Wednesday, and I am looking forward to it. It seems like I took half a year off. I have fourteen or fifteen more classes to take to get my degree, after this quarter. That seems like a long time. Seven more quarters if I only take two classes a quarter. Four if I take three classes per quarter. I am sure it will be over before I know it. I enjoy school, but I want to get it over with one of these years..........I am on vacation the week of the 9th, and I am looking forward to it. To say the least. It was a long summer at work, and it is time to have a week off. I am going to make myself have at least two days where I do nothing. The rest of my vacation I am sure will be spent working on the side jobs......That's about it. The girls had a fun weekend. They went to the local festival and watched the parade Saturday, and Cat got to watch the fireworks last night. They both had a lot of fun. Everyone is good. We all had our first round of sickness over the last two weeks, but everyone is better now. Between school and daycare the girls have managed to bring home some funky viruses......I will have some pictures next time. I have plenty to photograph, but always forget to bring the camera...........

Need to make this quick

This has Been for the most part a long boring summer. But the seasons are changing. I have went from a comfortable routine to a hectic schedule..finally. I have to much to do, but that is a welcome change. The weather has been great. Temperatures in the fifties at night and eighties at night. I love it. I am , however looking forward to the 50/70's. So much better than 95 with 100% humidity.......Greenhouse, greenhouse, I feel as if that is the only thing that I talk about in my posts, but it is a big part of our lives. We finally, yes finally, finished the irrigation/misting system. I(we) are happy with how it turned out. Mist for the benches and a couple of sprinklers for the rest. It was tricky to find the right equipment for such a small greenhouse, and required a fair amount of research. It will make things easier not having to water every 12 hours. As of now it is all automated. Fantastic......Lots of side work, and little time to do it. I haven't did any side work all summer(that was probably a good thing). Now, however, everybody and their brother has something for me to do. That's a good thing.....I will put some pictures up soon, as soon as I have time. Maybe by next summer....

Time to grow again

It was a good weekend. Finally the temperatures are bearable. It is even enjoyable to work in the greenhouse again. We had a chance to catch up on some things that we had been putting off. I finally managed to get the water line finished, divided some plants, and preped for the pansy and fall annuals. We had the greenhouse 1/2 filled with cactus and succulents. I had propagated so many succulents this summer, it would have been impossible to keep them all through the winter. I wish we had a heater, but the power and fuel costs are to much relative to the amount of money we make. So we needed to get rid of some, and we did. They sold like hotcakes. Now we have a lot more room...The pansy's and other stuff are growing great. It will be time to start the second batch this week. It will be the end of October before they are ready, but that's o.k......I finally sold my old truck. A guy I work with bought it. I was glad to get rid of it. I was also glad to get the much needed money. I am enjoying my new truck........ The house hunt has slowed. We haven't viewed any houses lately. There are not many houses for sale around here that are worth it, or that I (we) like. Oh well who knows............ The countdown has begun for school. Another three weeks. I am ready. Greenhouse Management, and Garden Center Management are on the schedule. I better be able to manage something after all the management classes I will be taking....That's about it. No pictures or anything..... Everybody is doing good enough. The girls are good. Anna is enjoying school, and Cathrine started a new daycare last week. Her previous daycare provider abruptly decided to quit with only a two day notice. It all worked out though. That's about it..........

Labor Day weekend

There should be more three day weekends in the year. That would be nice. This labor day was a good three day weekend. Saturday we all loaded up and took off to the cabin. It was a lot of fun, especially for the girls. The four-wheeler was there and the girls had a blast riding on it. It is nice to get away for a day or two.......The seasons will be changing soon. Oh boy. The temperatures have been bearable lately, highs only in the 80's. Soon It will be highs in the 70's, then 60's. I can't wait.........The fall annuals are growing, very slowly. I will be starting the second round of pansies next week. I have also decided to propagate some 'Nellie R. Stevens holly's, and a couple of boxwood's. I have been so lazy this year, hardly propagating any woody or perennial plants. I do however have an overwhelming collection of succulents......... School starts the first week of October, and I am taking a week of vacation the second week. I am ready for both......