Memories: Going To Europe With Dad. Dad always wanted to travel, but Mom did not care for boats or airplanes. Finally, we had an opportunity as Uncle Check was stationed in Italy. Dad got the tickets to sail from New York to Verona, Italy, on the SS Vulcania steamship.
Dad did not know what third class was, but we got those tickets and ended up in the ship’s bowels with the restroom down the hall. This would not work, so Dad upgraded to Cabin Class; we had a view of the ocean and our private facilities.
The trip was amazing; I got to spend a lot of time with Dad and, of course, had a ship-board love affair. I remember one night out on the deck, the girl and I watched the stars (I forgot her name). Every 30 minutes, the smoke stack would erupt with a million stars. It was beautiful.
Well, the following day, I was putting on my white dress shirt for breakfast and noticed it had hundreds of burn holes all over! What was happening?
It seems as though oil-burning ships created a lot of soot in the funnel, and once every 30 minutes, the crew would dump a load of sand in the exhaust. The sand would heat up red hot and scrape the soot off the side of the exhaust. We were getting hit by heated sand particles. We did not notice it on our skin, but the clothes were burnt to a crisp!
We were up at 6:00 am, ready to attack the day. When we looked out the window, there was no day! There was no mountain! The fog was heavy, and the temperature was cool. We lit off the firepit and walked in the garden, deciding what we would accomplish today.
Of all the chores I did as a kid, I always took out the trash before anyone asked…
I guess you could say I was pre-disposed.
It was very froggy out this morning!
My iPhone buzzed, and I got a new “movie” from Google; this one deals with “Dining With Mary.” Amazingly, Google can go through the photos, find someone dining, and create a movie about the events.
Scout was on patrol well away from the firepit. He almost got his tail in the flames yesterday, so he is being cautious!
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
The doggy likes the fire at a distance!
We popped in the Grey Ghost at 8:30 am and headed to PT; Mary’s arm is getting better all the time. We took the van to stop at Home Depot as we needed amendments, soaker hoses, and curled parsley, and Mary picked out some flowers. We also needed a bag of pea gravel for the new drain on the side of the house and two bags of brown mulch for the backyard flower beds.
Thank goodness we brought the van!
Returning home, we observed that the Easter flowers were still going strong! We must find a place to plant this little guy and see if he will last all summer.
The Easter flowers are still going strong.
The sun was out and caught a picture of Mr. Lincoln; he is doing well! Mary fed these little guys with systemic foods that are supposed to get rid of powdery mildew.
Mr. Lincoln!
We worked hard all afternoon. We mulched the herb garden, spread the pea gravel, and planted the new parsley and flowers.
Mary planted the mammoth sunflowers in the front yard. Tall sunflowers are generally yellow and durable. Most of these sunflowers reach 12 to 16 feet tall and even higher in special circumstances. Types of tall sunflowers include Skyscrapers, Sunforest Mix, and Russian Mammoth. Most of these sunflowers are enjoyed by birds for their height and abundance of seeds.
We worked until 6:00 pm and then headed to the swim spa for an hour of soaking in the warm waters! We had dinner at 7:00 pm and then hit the sack for tomorrow will be more gardening.
