A Generous Community

We had our most successful fundraisers last Saturday night - what a generous community I live in!

Our fundraiser for student scholarships, Cellarbration!, was last Saturday night. The committee planning this event have been concerned about the outcome, due to the economy. Several local fundraisers have been cancelled. Our guest count was down over 20%, but we ended up with our most successful event ever! The live auction was one of the best I've seen, with two items sold twice. The auctioneer was 110% - I just love watching him - "Ma'am, this is just like checkers. You make a move, then wait for someone else to make a move. You have the bid". One of our auctions was for a weekend at The Inn at Abeja, which he called "The Loooove Shack". My living wreath brought $135, which tells me I cannot retire and make living wreaths for an income, as I had about $100 into making it....

My job title for the evening is "She Who Knows All", as I have to trouble shoot situations that come up during the evening. I only wish I could wear roller skates - it is a long evening of back and forth, back and forth. My feet were swollen when I got home, and I fell asleep in the bathtub.

Yesterday, Big Guy and I bought some new trees for the west side of the house - two variegated maples and a purple maple. The locusts will have to come down in the next few years - they are old and diseased, but right now the only overhead doggy kennel shade I have. The kennel has a mister, and I hope to add some overhead shade cloth soon.... so much to do! I am going to plant the lot next door in grass (low grow, drought tolerant) next month. I have to spray the weeds first, bring in some dirt to level the low spots, then hire someone to rototill and rake the whole lot. NOT something I want to try on my own, as it is about 1/3 of an acre. Most of the straggling wildflower garden will be moved, the rest left on its own - it will be interesting to see if anything continues to bloom. I only plan on mowing this portion only a few times a year..... I'm still mugging out the back bed - Marge - you should tell Casey they need to make Roundup in a granular form, I have to spray the entire bed! Boy my hand gets tired - I am going to order a battery operated sprayer. After I get rid of the weeds and hundreds of volunteer globe thistle, I am going to lay cardboard down and put straw over the top. That should help..... you would think after being here almost five years, I would have my yard done, but have I mentioned an acre is pretty darn big?

That's all for now - love to all Mo