RANT: Designer Fashions

i have always been a non conformist; first, when i was quite young, because i wasn't "cool", then because i decided that was the way i wanted it. If i didn't fit in, then i would strive NOT to fit in! Nowadays it's more acceptable, but not in the 70's when i was becoming a separate entity from my parents. It is still too prevalent in our society. If everyone would follow their hearts and brains and not do what everyone else is doing, we would all be nonconformists and diversified.

Plus a lot fewer young people would smoke ( because they would only do it if it helped them in some way or felt good; and, face it, the first time you smoke a cigarette, it does neither!)

We would also not have designer fashions.

Case in point : i just got a new pair of glasses. They are "designer" frames. i picked them out because they were the best looking on me, and also fairly inexpensive (obviously a less "current" style!), not because of the name! Of course, they have the designer's name stuck on them where it can be seen, even though i think the frames would look better without printing on them! (Sometimes i have to conform against my will - or create my own frames, which would be kind of a stretch for my income bracket)!

...But why would anyone want the same things everyone else has? ( By the way, have i mentioned lately that MY artwork is one of a kind?...) Why follow fashion trends? i shop at thrift stores (reduce, reuse, recycle:o)!), so i do own several designer items through that avenue, and i have discovered that they are not any more well constructed than anything else i own. How about those handbags with the ugly patterns on them that everyone wants just because they look like the designer's logo? I have better things to worry about than following the rest of the salmon up the river. Life's WAY too short....

Beware Of Innocent - Looking Plant Tags

i acquired this 'Hakuro Nishiki' willow (Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki') several years ago. It was a real find at the time - beautiful pink, green and white leaves, supposed to get about 4-5 feet tall, according to the info on the plant tag, so i found an appropriate spot to plant it (for a medium/small shrub).

Well, i think you can see by the photo that it did NOT stay quite that small! That is a 6 foot fence behind it! i'm tired of DH always asking me "Why did you plant such a large plant in such a small space?" "Well, DEAR, because it was not SUPPOSED to get that big!" That happens to me a lot - it's not that i don't read the tags or that i give my plants a lot of fertilizer - they just get big!

i do have it trained as a standard; however, it sprouts constantly from the trunk. This was taken 2 months ago, and is even larger now! At the Farmers Market this Spring, a nursery was selling tons of these cultivars, trained as petite, well behaved looking ( about a foot in diameter - HA!) standards, and i took it as my own personal responsibility to follow each person who purchased one and WARN them of the monster it may become! So if you run across one of these, i would not tell you to pass it up - it IS beautiful, after all - just make sure you can give it enough room (and don't believe the tag)!

What The Heck IS It? (part 2)

This plant came up by the watergarden last year and is back - looks like a tree, but i have NEVER seen leaves shaped like that! i will probably not use these leaves for sandcasting-no one will believe that i did not "trim" the leaves myself!

Anyone know what this is? Since this pic was taken, it has probably grown another foot, i'll have to move it soon if it IS a tree...

Summer Babies

...The Robin's chicks are getting big fast! The nest is almost eye level, very close to my workspace. We are pretty used to each other by now, i have even softly touched their feathers a little bit, and Mom didn't even yell at me, just watched nearby. She does fuss a lot when my cats are close, though! Don't worry, i keep an eye on them, but for the most part, they don't realize the nest is up there. When the chicks fledge and leave the nest, the cats will be "grounded" to the house!

Am i this excited about ALL baby birds? i have to admit that i am - i know this happens millions of times, but i love it. (Well, baby HUMANS are born almost as often, and everyone's always excited about THAT - hey, babies is babies!)


The bunnies are a little different story - I have been alarmed by the screaming of a bunlet ( not sure what baby rabbits are called!) when Skeeter finds the den! Yes, the rabbits cause some plant damage, i should let the cats do what instinct tells them to do, but i cannot hurt any babies!
Anyway, Skeeter, being an indoor cat, doesn't quite know what to do with them - at least long enough to give me time to rescue them! So the babes are safe for now!

Gardens and Gunpowder

Wouldn't know there was anything wrong with our economy tonight! A lot of our neighbors seemed

to have a huge amount of fireworks - DH and i stood outside, took pics, and could barely see the house across the street, there was so much smoke! Yes, the gunpowder and flower scents together were a little strange - don 't smell THAT every day!

Anyway, i hope everyone has a safe and peaceful Fourth of July!!!