The Ginkgo (corrected the spelling - thanks, Sam!!) is planted - the first thing I did today AFTER coffee run with the Dogz and breakfast .

Also [thanks to Sam!!], I read that Wiki article about Ginkgo Biloba trees (had me worried about the female & stinky fruit for a minute), and saw that the “Autumn Gold” cultivar (which is what this one is) is a *cloned* (grafted) male. WHEW!!!

I would really hate to have my neighbors complaining about my smelly tree . . . which it won’t be .

I bought two trees today! Pictured above is the “Planetree, London, Bloodgood”, the much-bigger of the two (for now ). The other will be planted in the morning. That one is a Ginkgo! It helps, too, that Bordine’s had a 30% discount going for all their potted deciduous trees! (yeah, interesting that the Ginkgo was included in that, as I believe it is not a “true” deciduous…). I’m drawn to the gingko because it’s *prehistoric* and has the neatest-shaped “needles” out there!!! The planetree is one of those where I’ve heard the name for years, reading it in novels and short stories, but never really knew what one was. Now, I’ve figured out that a “plane tree” is basically a “sycamore” - the humonguous leaves, the funky-looking seeds, and the peeling bark. It’s another tree that has intrigued me for ages.

Ernie loves the new tree! He took possession of the shade as soon as I got the tree *mostly* filled into the hole!

I have a couple more pix to upload, but the server is being persnickety. So, “manana”!!!

Another kickin’ video!

“British way to marshall jets”, click here!

and in a way you would never imagine… so beautiful, so … well .. INCREDIBLE!!!

Click here to view.

[Froggy, I thought of you at the beginning of this, too ]

Started walk with Dogz this evening (later than usual - big storm, then run to grocery store after supper), made it to the top of my street, and…. ambulance & paramedic at one of the houses… sudden sense of going “out of body” and SWOOSH “back in time”… weird… I felt like I was reliving that June 26th (Jim’s ambulance ride) 3 years ago for a few moments - except as observer, not participant….

Wrenched myself back to the present by calling Nook AND observing Alfred dumping in someone’s front lawn simultaneously (yes, I always carry my plastic bag and pick up after my Guyz ).

Yeah, we’re celebrating your birthdays even though you aren’t around to join in. Nook got the day off from her job, Valdemort & I didn’t. Not only that, but I worked overtime (hey, things get busy in the afternoon, and today was crazy all the way thru!!). So, we all just kind of quietly celebrated by Remembering.

I walked Ernie & Alfred after getting home from work while waiting for a batch of Corn Chowder (one of your favorites!) to warm up, chatted with Rita and her sweet miniature poodle “Bo-sey” (feminized “Bo”, actual spelling unknown). Alf & Ernie (they are SO big! ) tend to intimidate littleteensy Bo-sey… but she still wants to be Friends!!!

Cheers, Jim!

Dunno what got into me this weekend. Maybe it has something to do with having finally adjusted to having *so much time* back in my personal life or what.

Saturday: saw Valdemort out the door (en route to Cabin with Dogz). Ran (drove) to Madison Heights to Micro Center to exchange one hard-drive enclosure for another, traversed 14-Mile to Coolidge, then north to Maple to the Whole Foods store there. Walked in for my first-ever Whole Foods visit and literally had to push my eyes back into my head. Never saw so much FRESH AND GOOD LOOKING PRODUCE in a grocery store before!

Came home, ate lunch, got Mom and we walked thru the GB Art Fair and the only thing we bought were tickets for the Annual GBEF Duck Race. Held today at 4PM. I forgot to go and cheer on my 2 ducks and Mom’s 1 duck…. wonder how they did? Got home again, put Valdemort’s hard drive named “Frumious” into the new enclosure (having discovered that the parts giving her fits were all relatively easily removed *giggle*). Tested it out with *my* ‘puter and it accesses just beautifully. Had supper (and a ‘Rita), then the day caught up with me and I napped-out for an hour or so. Restarted again and did more laundry and actually mopped part of the basement floor!!

Today? Ran over to Home Depot hoping to find a “Space Guard” replacement air filter … the one currently in use is past its “expiration date” from the looks of it. No go - they don’t *do* Space Guard there. But I did leave with a new replacement laundry tub and a light switch (2 projects; only the laundry tub - with more floor-cleaning - got installed. The light switch is to replace one that is going floppy in my bathroom.). More laundry, kitchen floor got washed, and I even sprayed off the bronze doggie gate this afternoon. With all this rain, will it dry before tomorrow??

BTW - the old laundry tub with the rusty legs was put out by the curb and was gone within minutes….

What’s the difference? Check Wikipedia (excerpts below, click links to go to the Wiki articles):

After the capybara and the beaver, Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents. Most porcupines are about 25–36 in (630–910 mm) long, with an 8–10 in (200–250 mm) long tail. Weighing between 12–35 lb (5.4–16 kg), they are rounded, large and slow. … Porcupines’ spiny protection resembles that of the distantly related Erinaceomorph hedgehogs and more distantly related Monotreme Echidnas. … A porcupine is any of 27 species of rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae or Hystricidae.

A Hedgehog is any of the small spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 16 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to North America; those in New Zealand are introduced.

Moles are the majority of the members of the mammal family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Although most moles burrow, some species are aquatic or semi-aquatic. Moles have cylindrical bodies covered in fur, with small or covered eyes; the ears are generally not visible. They eat small invertebrate animals living underground. Moles can be found in North America, Europe and Asia.

So, for y’all who may’ve been debating whether porkies and hedgehogs and moles are the same or not: THEY ARE DIFFERENT SPECIES!!!! For those who’ve not been debating this: THEY ARE DIFFERENT SPECIES!!!! For those who don’t care: “meh”. [Note: this post resulted from the report I’d heard about some “discussion” that took place this summer in a certain Northern location about just this subject….]

I had the beginnings of a post brewing when I took the Guyz for their post-work walk this evening, then had a LATE supper (yeah, worked until almost 6PM, didn’t get home till 6:15 or so, didn’t get to eat till after 7 (hey, our *normal* feeding time is between 5-6PM!!!). Then ran out to get the envelopes (#10 security-lined) that I’ve been otherwise consistently forgetting so that I could send out the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk donation check I have had written for nearly a week now - but couldn’t because, gee, NO ENVELOPES!!

Now that I’ve sat down with my ‘puter and have The Dogz *flat* next to me on the couch, my mind has gone blank. Excepting the overriding thought that I have to be back at work for 7:30AM meeting tomorrow.

The short of it is: they are both back in E Lansing. Both are *working* there! Both are *still* going to school there!! (OK, Valdemort’s on her 5th year and 2nd major; Nook still has at least 3 years to go - depending on the bells & whistles she chooses for her major.)

Nook is doing Desk Receptionist duty at her complex - she’s the “one-and-only” for another week, then more come in for training. Then school starts, and she (and the others) rotate based on chosen total hours per week and class schedules. At least Nook gets the benefit of learning the job *now* and not in the crush of EVERYONE moving in at once!

Valdemort is still interning with the USDA Forest Service, fighting the fact that she does NOT have “admin privileges” for her work compy and yet *needs* to install various small apps to actually DO her job…. go figger. Then the end of the week, she’s off for the Great White North - norther than the Cabin, even - to do Geology Stuff for a research project.

In between the last post and this, V’s beloved G4 iBook bit the dust (for all practical purposes). We bought a *new* MacBook (black) AND a 16GB iPod Touch to replace the poor-old-worn-out-items (yes, she still was using her original iPod, too). She is busily making both items “hers”. Short of getting the data off the old iBook’s hard drive, that is. The $10 case we bought Sunday PM didn’t have the right connectors, even though it *claimed* to be Mac-compatible. *sigh*

The trip to E L on Monday after work succeeded in the exchange of vehicles, the drop-off of the remaining dorm items for Nook, and a fruitless trip to the AT&T store to try to do some sort of transfer from our current contract to iPod-compatible carrier….guess we just have to be patient (and hope my RAZR holds out long enough) until next May. *bleah*