Quality Questions Que Your Life

Why have I let a whole week go by without starting that important personal creative project that seemed sooo possible a week ago? Is is because I have not set a schedule to work on it for fear of setting a standard I will not attain?

Fear. F.E.A.R. False Expectations Appearing Real.

Starting is the hardest part. Do it.

Sister's call leads to better pre-emergent application

Ok, my sister read my blog about the pre-emergent application and reccommended to her friends that they read about it on my blog. (She's going to ask her gardeners to apply it.) I realized that I know all about pre-emergent, but perhaps YOU do not. So I thought I ought to give a couple of tips about the proper application of pre-emergent.

It is real simple. Prevent them before they start. But how to do it right. As with most things, if done improperly, it can be at best, ineffective and at worst, be downright dangerous. (think dead stuff you dont want dead)

Keep in mind a "professional knows dose" and as a licensed and trained professional pesticide (yes I used that terrible word) applicator, I really think the application of chemicals should be done by people who are familiar with and trained in the proper weed identification, application timing, various chemicals and application process of pre-emergents or any other chemicals.

I am going to get on my soapbox now. Just because your gardener makes his living at mowing your yard, does not a professional applicator make. If the size of your home dining table is all the people who have applied for landscape, gardening, spraying work with our company, then the number of people who actually had the skills and training to properly apply chemicals would fit on the head of a pin! One guy was even currently employed to spray and didnt even know how to figure square footage (sigh). Yeah anybody can go to Home Depot and buy stuff, but that doesn't make them a professional (or safe).

I reccommend you hire a licensed professional. The State of CA licenseses pest control applicators. You gotta know what you are doing to get a license. You test. You have to get continuing education every 2 years to renew your license. It's worth it. Check with your county agriculture department to get a reccomendation or list of applicators.

Unwanted Stimulus Package!

Hey, Its soooo nice out. I'm enjoying the sun. It's been so wet lately. We had 5 inches of rain in just 5 days last week. I KNOW that all that rain is going to stimulate all the weed seeds lurking under the soil just waiting for the opportunity to pop up and ruin your weekends this spring. It'll be really nice and warm and all those weeds will be calling your name.

Get rid of them before they start. Put down a weed preventer, called pre-emergent. It works amazingly. We put down a lot of it this time of year for our clients. Some of our clients are smart and do it every year, sometimes twice a year before the weeds show up. Others, just wait it out hoping the weeds won't show and they won't have to spend the money. Dry years the gamblers sometimes win. Wet years, not so much.

I think Benjamin Franklin said "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I think this applies here.

I just had breakfast with my Mom...

"How can that be?!" you ask, "your Mom passed away 9 years ago!" Well, I just re-lived a lovely breakfast with my Mom channeled through the most amazing sticky buns I have eaten in years!

My Mom was not a great cook. I remember lots of goulash, and samon patties with the little round bones in them. Succotash. Canned vegetables. Not much stellar food on a day-to day- basis. I mean, you gotta understand. She had 4 hungry kids. a husband with a big appetite and a limited budget. You go with bulk and economy. As an adult, I can understand this.

BUT, she did know how to bake and to make specialty items. Some of my fondest food memories come from my Mom who couldn't really cook that well. One of those was Sticky Buns. Light, delicate, airy cinnamon rolls covered in gooey carmel and pecans! Mmmm you could taste the buttery carmel since it stuck to your teeth. But you didnt want to brush your teeth and waste all that goodness.

I have found a clone of my Mom's sticky buns right here in River City, I'm telling you boys! A litte place in Hesperia called The Cinnamon Roll Lady. Its on Main Street (760) 792-8119 place your order and you too can have breakfast with my Mom.

I'd post a picture of the lovely edibles, but I ate it all. There is always tomorrow

Post Script: Quality Questions

I'm thinking about yesterday. Can't get it off my mind. I think my Quality Question of the day is:" What do I have to do to get more days like yesterday afternoon?"

Whether you want more of money, loafing, stamp collecting, golfing or whatever, you need to ask yourself a quality question: What's the question I have to ask myself to get more of what I want?"

Surprise visit makes my day!

Well, the jobs down the hill didn't have too much of a mess from the storms to clean up. Everything went well and we came in on time. The weather was really nice yesterday until the afternoon when it became quite cloudy and grey.
The best part of the day came as a surprise when I returned home to find my son-in-law Shawn and my granddaughter Kennedy visiting! Shawn had come to get some computer advice from my husband who is a computer wizard and can do anything!
Kennedy patiently watched as I carefully parked the large truck and trailer. She seemed transfixed on it. I'm not sure if she was scared or not as the truck makes a lot of noise, for a little kid. After parking, she exploded into a run towards Grandma and Grandpa had to grab her so she didn't fall on the concrete. We had a lovely time feeding her (or trying to! she is sooo picky) and later looking at a book, her favorite thing. When we came to the page with all the vehicles on it, she broke into a smile and pointed at a picture and yelled "truck!" Oh, what fun she is!

Busy Day Ahead

Well, its 4:30 am and I am getting ready to leave for down the hill today. I and my crew are going to take advantage of the few days of sun drying things out a bit and do some gardening for some clients before another round of rain comes tonight. Hope it isnt too bad. Took several days off last week cause there was no earthly reason to go out in the storms. I super enjoy tidying up the landscape. My favorite task is pruning, though not with a chain saw. That's not my forte. I prefer the less noisy pruning tasks. Let you know how it went

Remember:

"There are 3 things to a good life, learning, earning, and yearning" Christopher Morley

This day is all you got.

My last post was wishing for snow and eventually we got a little with lots of rain. I kept meaning to post. The holidays came and went. I actually had time to watch a movie and take some personal time with some of my family at Christmas. The lively conversation, scrabble, tons of food, and laughter is imprinted in my brain forever. I imagine the others will remember bits and pieces.

You get to an age where you really wonder what your purpose in life is. Have I made a difference in anybody's life? Am I just here sucking up energy? What do I have to give back? Anthony Robbins says the quality of the questions you ask yourself determine the quality of your life. I am planning to make better use of the oxygen I breathe in making a difference to others.

I am reminded of this because of the sad blog post by a fellow blogger I follow. Her blog is here: http://natandabby.blogspot.com/ Johlene has lost her grandma Mema. Johlene was blessed to be able to be with her Mema until the last. One can read her blogs and see the impact one human being has made on her whole family. I'll pray that the feelings of loss and sorrow will be overshadowed by the gifts of love Mema left for them.

Remember, you only have this day. What will you be remembered for?

California Dreamin (of Snow of course!)

Well, here in the usually sunny high desert, we finally got our first snow. A bit dissapointing with just an inch or two, not even picture worthy.

I remember the first year we moved here from "down below" in the greater LA basin where I lived most of my life and never saw it snow. Talking on the phone one day with my daughter in Boise shortly after we moved here, I peered out the window to see gigantic snow flakes coming down. They kept coming, and coming, and coming! It was fabulous! A warm fire in the fireplace and a winter wonderland all around. We got about 4-5 inches that first snow and I was hooked! So lovely, melted all away without a problem in a few days.

I came to long for the snow events. I was born in Iowa and snow is not so beloved by my family who lived their adulthoods there. As a landscaper, and a self-employed person who has to work every day want to or not, snow gives me an excuse written by Mother Nature herself! I get to take snow days and I'm not even in school.

Last year, pictured here was a different story for me. We got 2 feet of snow!! As you can see by the picture there was a lot of snow for southern California. We couldnt even get out the driveway for 5 days until a friend with a tractor came and scraped us out!

There was so much snow that our heater vent was covered and the heater wouldnt work so we (me) had to shovel our way to the firewood shed to keep us warm until enough snow melted to allow the heater to work again.

So I am looking forward to snow this year again, but I think I'll take the lighter kind somewhere inbetween a dusting and 2 feet!

I hope everyone has all their irrigation pipes insulated. Even with the insulation, we had a lot of broken pipes calls last year. We only had one client of ours that had a problem with their valve so that's a good sign.

Fall landscaping - the best time of all

Well, the relatives are on the way home from a hearty and fun Thanksgiving weekend and the "Holiday Season" has officially arrived. I like to think of the Fall and Winter months as a kick back time. As a landscaper, we get so busy from March through October, we barely have time to think. I LOVE the fall! The landscapes we install this time of year get a kick start next spring and look fabulous wayyyyy early. And this time of year, we actually have time to plan, organize and make improvements that will carry us through the next year and beyond.

Ask anyone who is responsible for the Thanksgiving or the Christmas dinner... fail to plan and you plan to fail! And just try to tackle the Black Friday sales without a plan and come up empty handed or worse, with something you have to wait in line to return. In holidays past, it sometimes took several women several hours to plan the attack on the various store sales to get just the right thing. I dont know how we did it without cell phones!

We have become an instant society and we are paying the price. In our parents day, they planned for every major purchase and most of the minor ones too. Now we are paying the price with our current economy for our desire for instant gratification to buy the biggest, best, car, house, boat, ....fill in the blank.

I get people all the time wanting to landscape their back yard right away for a big landmark birthday or anniversary party or wedding reception. Two weeks to the party they call you and want the landscaping in the next week, I mean really...you knew last year you were gonna be 40 this year didn't you?

With landscaping it is no different. Hey with a plan, there are very few surprises and things come off as expected and on budget and on time. I always say no, you dont need a landscape design to landscape unless....... you dont care if you spend too much and take too long and have to re-do something. Dont get me started on the landscape plans, bidding, scheduling and legal notices and wait times we have to do.

Here's to your christmas list! Oh, and your New Year's Resolutions. Happy Planning!