2011 Garden Under Way

We skipped having a garden in 2010 due to our summer travels out west. So, the weeds and grass were doubly hard to remove since they had had two years to get out of control.

To begin clean-up, I first used the Kubota with the Bush Hog. Afterwards, I used the Troybilt industrial mower--running it across the garden several times--lowering the mowing deck each time.

Finally, I cleared the rows with a rake and then used the Husquvarna Tiller--making several passes each time and removing additional weeds and grass. My garden has always had 6 rows, this year I decided to add a seventh.

The photos below show the final tilled rows. In the next couple of days, I will till in 10-10-10 fertilizer and then be ready to plant after Easter.

Men's Cologne from the Past

Back in the 80's, it was very common for men to wear cologne. At the office, church, on dates, even a quick trip to the grocery store. It was simply expected. The large cologne manufacturers loved the income. To sweeten the deal, a lot of retailers would offer special promotions--usually a handbag in the same color canvas as their product and would include their logo embedded on the side. Good marketing and free advertising.

Here is the collection I gathered together over a few years. My favorite was Polo--the green bottle. If you look closely, you might notice it is almost empty. On trips to Europe I would buy several "foreign" colognes--while they were good, I brought them mostly for the novelty of a foreign made product. Wearing cologne was the thing to do--or the IN thing.

Enter 2002. All that changed. June 18th I had a 4 hour lower back surgery. After 6 days of hospital recovery, I came home. Upon entering the front door, I realized my nose was more sensitive than ever. So sensitive in fact, I had all the clothes washing detergent removed and started with some that was scent free. From that day forward, I have a major aversion to overwhelming smells--particularly colognes. I have not worn a cologne since. Even my body deodorant is scent free. It is so bad, that if someone in a restaurant has cologne on, I must move away. If a person enters the elevator I am on with cologne, i will get off the next first floor.

So, there you have it. A beautiful (and at the time very expensive) collection of cologne that I can not use. Check back with me 20 years from now and I bet the bottles will have the same amount as they do today!!

Shooting and St Pattys

What does shooting and St Patty's have in common? Absolutely nothing! Just not much to write about so I decided to add these two short events together on the same thread.

Our massage therapist purchased a Ruger snub nose 38 revolver recently. Having never shot it, I invited her out early during our normal bi-weekly massage, and we would head down toward the creek and "break it in"! Tiffany arrived an hour early last Monday on a very nice, mild, and sunny day. Carol took a few photos and off we went. The gun shot well for it's intended use--to be a defense weapon at close range. We shot some of my reloads and factory loads. She is now more familiar with it's action, how to load and unload, and what sort of report and recoil to expect when firing.

As to St Patty's--here we are at our favorite Mexican Restaurant--Pachos in Madison. We had our usual lunch--Carol always orders the chicken enchilada with rice and I have the mini-chicken Taco salad with rice. We asked our waitress to take the photo. Note we both are wearing green and Carol has her special St Patty's lapel pin. Great day!

At Pacho's.

Tiffany McMichael and her 38 Special.