BOOK REVIEW OF THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BY EILEEN FLANAGAN

Eileen Flanagan is a Quaker that tries to live her religion. This book is for the religious person, as well as, the not so religious person like me. I never felt as if she was trying to judge me or make me follow her religion. She's truly written for everyone. For me it was a slow read only because it provoked me to really contemplate what she was writing. Every time I sat down to read I came away with a good feeling about life. It seemed as if each paragraph was filled with things that made me really think! A feel good book!

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ALWAYS MORE GARDENING TALK

It seems that I never tire of gardening talk. Last weekend I managed to prepare the area where I wanted to plant my peas. Then I gave it a heavy dose of fertilizer. On Monday I was able to spend an hour planting the seeds just before it started to rain. I was so happy all week because I had been able to complete my goal! I think they will be slow to germinate because it's been somewhat cold ever since.

Yesterday I went to the store and bought a 3.8 cubic foot bag of peat moss, a 40 lb bag of pellet lime and ten 40 lb bags of cow manure. By the time I loaded it all onto my cart, I was huffing and puffing. I was sort of hoping that someone would take pity on me and help. I didn't feel like searching someone out to ask them for help. It all weight well over 500 lbs. I could barely push the cart up to the register. Again, I didn't fell like asking for help, I just hoped it would come my way. Nope. I pushed it out to the truck and loaded it in. One time my husband was loading stuff into the truck and two young guys thought they'd help the "old" guy with gray hair. Apparently, everyone figured I was young, healthy and rugged. I surprised myself when I was able to heft the bag of peat moss into the truck. Not only is it bulky, but I think it probably weighs 50 lbs. After driving home, the only thing I unloaded was the pellet lime in case it rained. Everything else is still out there waiting to be unloaded and carted up to the garden. On the way home I stopped at the local yard where you can buy wood chips, decorative rocks, topsoil, etc. I asked about the price for getting a half load of top soil in our truck and was told $15 so we will probably be getting two or three loads this year. As always we will also be buying at least a couple of full loads of wood chips for $25 each.

The green beans that I planted inside are doing great. They have a lot of 1 and 2 inch skinny little beans growing. It's so exciting but I will be happy when they are done. They have tons of little fruit flies or something similar flocking around them. I blame this on the fact that it was dirt that I had left in the pots out on the porch for months last summer/fall. They must have laid eggs in the soil and hatched out once they were inside. Now they are on their second hatching and it's just worse! Well, hopefully it will end up being worth it! Even if I don't get enough beans for a meal, the kids like to eat them raw.

It's much colder this weekend than last but hopefully I will still get out in the garden and get my hands dirty!

GEESE AND MORE GEESE

Last spring I noted that I hardly heard or saw any Canadian Geese flying north for the summer. I wondered where they all were. This year I realized I just wasn't in the right place at the right time. On March 15th I was driving towards Scranton when I saw some geese over head. THOUSANDS OF GEESE!! First I saw one huge flock, then another and another until I realized that the flocks stretched for farther than the eye could see! I only had a chance to look south and not north because I couldn't believe my eyes! Finally all I could make out were tiny black dots in the telltale V format. I'm sure if I had turned and looked north I would have seen the same. As Sarah always says "I love nature!" and "I love living in Pennsylvania!"

SUCH A GOOD DRIVER

Thursday we reached a new milestone. Thomas got his license! He passed with flying colors. Thomas like all teenagers was quite nervous. I hadn't been worried until I got out of the car and the tester got in. Thomas went to drive off and forgot to put it in drive. ROOOAAARRR! The tester's window was open so I tried not to laugh or say out loud "LORDY, this is NOT going to go well!" Thomas told me that he let out a "PHEW!" and calmed himself down and after that everything was perfect. He had been practicing parallel parking in a 22 foot space so he easily pulled into the 24 foot space they provided. I guess once he got it out of park the tester was impressed enough to tell me that Thomas seems to have a good head on his shoulders. The tester said he didn't even mark Thomas off for that his little mistake at the beginning.

So as for Thomas, he now can go anywhere he wants...if it wasn't for the fact that he'd rather stay home. As for me, in June Erin gets her permit and I will have to start all over again. Oh yeah, and soon I will be teaching Thomas to drive a stick shift since we plan to let him drive our pick up to school next year.