My Garden Presents and More

Birds in the Morning

As I was on my computer this morning I heard some loud chirping really close to my window. Usually I only hear chirping far way. Birds rarely come to my balcony. The birds like to be on the ground picking at things or on the roof tops. When I looked out I saw this guy but he wasn't chirping. There were 4 on my balcony chirping away at each other and looking like they were having a brawl. It was fun to watch them interacting on my balcony. Yet again by the time I got my camera and started to move to the other window closer to them they were all gone. I'm not good at identifing birds so have no idea what they where. They were little and black/brown and white. The picture above you can't really tell but that was the only pic I was able to get through my grimy window.


Flash Cards for my test today.

Even though yesterday was my birthday I still had to study for my test today. I only studied half of my material though so I'm very worried. Normally I remember things very well but I just can't for these. Yesterday I studied the wildflowers and bushes and vines. Today I have to study the salvias, sages, lantana, and a few others. I'm not good at remember the salvias and sages since they look very similar. So far we have had two tests. The first I got an 100 but it was so easy I was surprised that not everyone got an 100. The last one I got a 96 and got 2 questions wrong. Really I only got one question wrong but the professor decided to mark one wrong that really shouldn't have been. I'm not joking here because he asked what is one of the many things wrong with this picture. It showed a bed of sparse pansies. The question says one of the many things wrong not the main thing wrong. I put down there should be more height variance like snapdragons. He marked it wrong and corrected it with more plants. I'm not one to dispute my answers so I accepted it. Anyways that test was a bit harder because I thought it would be like the first test where he didn't ask much about the plants at all besides appearance. Instead for the last test he threw in questions about which do well in shade and sun. Well I didn't study that. I knew some of them from just my personal experience reading on my own time. Now I'm worried he'll ask even more. This time I'm trying to study all I can about each plant in case something comes up about drought tolerance, birds and butterflies, naturalizing, and whatever else.


My necklace got fixed!

Now on to a better subject, presents! Of course I got presents yesterday. I know my husband will always get me something. He normally asks me what I want and gets that. Well he did ask me what I wanted and I said plant books. He did surprise me this time and fixed my necklace. My husband gave me this necklace about 2-3 years ago. Last year a few months after we got our dog kasha it broke. When I was taking her out of her cage she put her paw down on my necklace full force and it broke. I cried when that happened because I hate breaking or ruining anything. Finally now it's fixed and I can wear it. All that was needed was to solder the links together. Sure it doesn't look like it used to because I can see the soldered chains. But it's fixed and I don't care if it has that little imperfection now. I'm hoping that the soldered section is strong and not going to be a weak spot.




Books from Half Price Books

I got the books I asked for. We went over to Half Price Books my favorite store. I got a $5 off coupon and headed over there. The moment I walked up to the gardening section I picked out the Trees and Shrubs and the Annuals and Perennial books right away. I needed some good comprehensive books with all the plant names and some brief descriptions. Then my husband picked out the Complete Guide to Houseplants book. He wants more houseplants besides ivies. I like my ivies thank you very much. He doesn't really want houseplants that flower but ones that clean the air. So it looks like I'll be on the hunt for some aloe soon to clean the air. I had to ask him what the budget was because there were many books I wanted. There was also books on orchids and roses just like the annual perennials trees and shrubs book. First he said $50 but then added that I shouldn't try to get close to that. Well then I said give me a real budget of what you want to me to spend. then he said $30. I aimed for $30 but came went over my $2.

And not surprisingly I could have gotten these books for cheaper on Amazon. But who wants to wait for presents to come when their birthday is now. Next time when it's my money I'm spending I'll check Amazon first for better deals. So if you want these go to amazon and get them from the sellers that sell on there. The Annuals and Perennials books is a low of just under $2 and then of course the 3.99 or so for shipping, that's still cheap.

Botanica's Annuals & Perennials: Over 1000 Pages & over 2000 Plants Listed
Botanica's Trees & Shrubs: Over 1000 Pages & over 2000 Plants Listed
The Complete Guide to Houseplants: The Easy Way to Choose and Grow Healthy, Happy Houseplants