Apropos of Nothing v.15

Yikes.

Thanks, Kymmco. :) It was a lot of ink, and a lot of OW. hehe. But I'm so happy. This was a cover-up that was long overdue.

If anyone wants to see what an amazing cover-up job this really was, I have a little Flickr set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the1pony/sets/72157624124835003/detail/

Wow, that's pretty amazing how he covered up the old one! The dahlia is quite nice.

I loved Tracy's comment that you posted on FB - hilarious!

I almost choked to death on a mexi-fry when he said that... LOL!

'Welcome to my world.' ROFLOL! Better you than me, Pony, but that's really a nice piece of artwork you have on your chest there.

Greenhouse_gal, I will definitely look for that book. It sounds great!
Claire took French for 4 years in highschool, but she learned the language when she lived in Paris for a semester. She first went over with her French class the day after her highschool graduation. She came back from that trip speaking well enough that the people there understood her. She was so excited and I'll never forget how she said, "I just decided that I would not worry about conjugating my verbs and they understood me perfectly! Plus, I could speak really fast if I just ignored the whole verb conjugation thing!". I believe she learned 'the whole conjugation thing' on her second trip. She is not in practice, but languages come easily to her so it wouldn't take her long.

Andrew has had 3 years of highschool French and one trip to France and he likely doesn't speak a word of French. Enough said about that. I love him for himself.


'Spending money without hogging a job' is pretty much what I figured. I didn't realize that the socialized healthcare system applied to foreigners who live there, though. Although I know when we took a trip to Australia I had to go to the doctor while I was there and it didn't cost me a thing.

I wish I had lots of friends in France. Or maybe it's my kids who need lots of friends in France. At this point I feel compelled to have my son just go on to college and then plan a semester or year in France from there. Then he can make connections and figure out if he wants to stay. I know he wants to learn the language, and he'll need an immersion program for that to happen.

Gosh. I step away for what I am sure was just a few short days and then had to find you all in a new thread!
Missed all the camaraderie!

Question: my son and his family are seriously contemplating a move to Portland or Tacoma this year. Any neighborhoods they should avoid? Good schools? Affordable housing (they would rent first)?

Be still my heart..I would be soooo happy for them to be so close to me! They are in Virginia right now!

Thanks!

Pony, I'm not sure about the colour, do you think Boris could just...... JUST KIDDING!! I'm not sure how to respond to this tattoo other than, ummm, wow. AND, I'm not sure that is in response to JUST the tattoo - as someone who is less than well-endowed, which I have to say is an advantage when you think of how much time we spend folded over in the head-lower-than bottom-weeding position, I do have to say WOW. I wish you would come join me on Walk the Walk one year - you would definately NOT have to decorate your bra to make an impression. WOW! I just don't have that kind of space - a viola might work, if I let him use a bit of the underarm area!

Laurie, ROFLOL! Pony, better tell your DH that Laurie is staring at his world!

Ladyfiresign, that's great! A lot closer than Virginia, to be sure. I cannot speak to the schools, etc in Portland. I'm well familiar with Tacoma, though. Not a lot to choose from in terms of good schools in this area, to be frank. My kids both went to private schools because of that. There are certain areas of Tacoma that have nice little elementary schools, but you have to be picky. There are no middle schools or highschools that I can recommend in Tacoma. There are some in surrounding areas that are not too bad. Same with neighborhoods. There are some very nice neighborhoods in Tacoma, mostly toward the north end of town. That's where most of the nice elementary schools are, too. Gig Harbor has pretty nice schools and is generally a nice area. When they get closer to moving, dmail me and I can give you more info. One thing they need to be aware of is traffic patterns in this area. One highway and hundreds of thousands of people on it every day. I've lived here for 24 years and know this area very well. Lakewood used to be a suburb of Tacoma until they formed their own city so they could collect more taxes.

That is certainly a ... tattoo. This is definitely tattoo world, this Oregon.

One of the kids I work with is expecting his 2nd or 3rd child with a woman whose hubby has custody of her 2 kids. He is scrounging for shifts because they are so broke -- yet he has the money to have a huge "Wisdom" tattooed on his left forearm. That is the name of his child or his unborn child, I forget which. The one who probably will never have a college fund, but he is already planning his next tattoo.

If it didn't make my head hurt so much, maybe I could scrounge up the brain cells to find some irony in there somewhere.

Pony, that is sure SOME dahlia! It hurts just to look at it! And I echo Laurie's sentiments!

Pixy, when we went to France the first time, in 2006, I was reading one night and noticed some flashes of light in my peripheral vision. I was worried about a possible detached retina, so my friends gave me the number of a couple of ophthalmologists and I called the next morning for an appointment. I got some sort of answering service, and the woman fit me in that morning when I explained what I was concerned about. When we got there (try writing down and then following directions to a strange place given in French!) there was one other person in the waiting room and no staff. The doctor came out and ushered me in, dilated my pupil and did a very thorough examination, and when I asked him for a written diagnosis for my insurance company, he typed it out himself with two fingers. The bill was 50 euros - equivalent to $66 on that date. Of course my insurance wouldn't reimburse me, even after I jumped through all their hoops, got the diagnosis translated by my optometrist (with a lot of help from me!) and gave them the exchange rate on the relevant date. But it left me really impressed with the quality of care and the streamlined service. No paperwork, no receptionist, just good medical care!

Oh, lordy... ROFL! Um... thanks...? *red face*

Beautiful tattoo, Pony. I'm amazed that you were able to sit through the whole thing, but the final product is absolutely beautiful. Boris is a fantastic artist. And it must be great to get your first husband's name off your chest.

Boris did an amazing job. That is a beautiful dahlia. Laurie, a viola - too funny. I think a droopy daisy would fit here.

Lovely tat Pony! :)

I'm with you, Laurie & Jan! I probably have the pain threshold & chestal area for a tattoo of a fern spore.

Could do that myself with a sharp pencil, right?

Probably will someday by accident.

Thanks, all. :) I will confess I was about ready to climb out of my skin by the end- that was a lot of ow. All the guys at the shop were amazed I made it through the whole thing in one sitting. *flex* ;p

LOL @Summer! A fern spore... *giggle*

Gwen, good luck with the game project. I won't be much help, but I know that you will come up with something wonderful!

Pony, your new tat is great, as are the comments that followed that have me still giggling! I can imagine how much better you must feel without the *wrong* name reflecting back at you from the mirror! I love DH to death, but still only did first initials on join my ankle bracelet.... you just never know!

Laurie and Summer - LOL at your replies re Pony's tattoo.

And aren't his initials DG? So if it ever comes down to it, you can always say it's for your favorite gardening group! :)

Gwen, LOL! Actually, my anklet is joined by our first initials..D and J... it was designed to be the "clasp". It would be pretty easy to change the J to a G though, and as the rest of the tat is vines and a fairy, DG would fit right in!

Ladyfiresign, forgot to say how happy I am for you that you might have your Son and his family closer! How exciting that must be. Lots of people have been giving recommendations about the area on another thread here... it might be of some help to you.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1068460/

That's a pretty anklet! :)

Thanks Pony ^_^. That is the plain side.... this is the pretty part. It took me forever to find an artist who could do a nice fairy AND grasp the concept of the vine anklet that I wanted her to sit on. Matt did a fabulous job, but when I went to have him add a bit of accent to the clasp, he wasn't there any more :{ . I finally tracked him down, but just haven't been all gung ho to go down to Tacoma to have the tiny work done. Maybe when I decide to get another one...

Oooh she's sweet! I adore the little vine- I thought about something similar for a bracelet but I don't think delicate stuff looks right on me. I'm big and chunky, so my tattoos need to be too. LOL!

Love your new "flower power" pony.

Pony, your dahlia is gorgeous.

Sure miss Bea's froggie pictures, but had to share a pleasant surprise in my greenhouse this week. Have never seen a frog with this coloration before. It almost reminds me of the ones that are poisonous.

What a cute little tree frog! It's like his little black spots got reeeally ambitious. hehe.

I've only heard one frog singing here. The pond is all fixed up and ready for them, but if I only have one, I guess I'm out of luck for tadpoles. :(

WooHoo! My first Asiatic lily of the year! :D

This is Commander in Chief:

Pony, I haven't even been out to look at my pond in the last two weeks, but if I have taddies and they haven't all swam through my lawn and down the hill, we could always hook up for the Great Tadpole Caper round 2. We would probably have to come up with cool nicknames this time though.... too bad Kathy has already taken Agent 59!

We crossed.... pretty lily! Can't wait to walk the yard in the dry tomorrow and see what has survived the slug invasion.

LOL! That would be fun- I could wear my leather trenchcoat and super dark shades to look more mysterious. ;D

Codes names... that's tricky. maybe I could be Agent Coonkiller. :D

I like it! I have the perfect duster and hat too....guys at work would probably look at me a little funny though! I will have to think a bit on the name thing though... don't think well on my feet, but have FAB ideas in the middle of the night. If I could actually score "the goods", I think that Pixy might have wanted a cut as well...

Here's somebody who's having great success with the egg shell method of slug prevention. I like that they're not a pesticide . . . http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1099450/

Interesting. I wasn't seeing many slugs until a couple weeks ago- now they're chowing tons of plants right down to nothing. The Sluggo hasn't been working at all. :( I went out and plucked an insane number of little tiny ones out of the front beds the other night- I had a soup can with a bunch of salt in the bottom. I just dropped them in, shook it every so often, then dropped the whole mess in the trash. Hmph. Stupid slugs.

We don't use many eggs- it would take me forever to get enough shells to cover one bed. :-/

I think the little ones must hatch on the plant you're finding them on - so they don't go across the ground.

Figures. I haven't tried the ammonia and water thing yet- does it really work? Do I just douse the plants with it, or does it need to be sprayed right on the slugs? They've decimated several of my dahlias, and my poor Echinacea are barely hanging on by a thread.

Pony, I carry a spray bottle with the ammonia/water solution any time I am in the garden. It slows the monster slugs down, but doesn't kill them. The little ones however, melt into ooze. I spray directly on the slugs when I see them, but I also have been spraying any heavily chewed daylilies and letting the solution go down into the crown area to melt any that are hiding there, as well as the dirt around them. It helps a lot, especially for those of us with bad backs or huge yards that have a hard time stooping down pick each and every one of the little buggers.

Okay. I'll pick up a spray bottle and some ammonia tomorrow. Those little slimeballs are just waaay outta control. Thanks for the info! :)

I had to pick a bunch of itsy-bitsy slugs off a little rhodie just the other day, I'm sure they hatched on it...

For a few heavily-attacked echinaceas I'm going to try the egg shell idea or maybe some oyster shell...

Make sure it's not too strong, though. On the Hosta forum they recommend no stronger than 10 parts water to one part ammonia so that you don't harm your plant. Maybe better to start cautiously and then increase if necessary. I think that some sun will help a lot - you can keep a piece of carboard on the ground in the garden and the slugs will head there midday to wait - turn that over and capture them.

Yeah, that would kind of suck, spraying your plants to kill slugs and melting the plants as well... eek.