Beginner Gardner meets a Pro

Call it what you will, luck or a gift from above, but days after I started my flower seedlings I decided that I wanted to go to Lowes and look for some more flowers along with ideas for the future and I met the nicest lady. She was an older woman in her 60s (who has been ding this for 40 plus years) and she took me around Lowes feeding me so much information I thought my head was going to explode. Lucky for me my head stayed exactly where it was and I walked away with so much more knowledge then I had half an hour before and on top of that a new friend.

The woman kindly gave me her number and offered me cuttings she had of several different plants. I thanked her and two days later, after making four planter boxes filled with fertilizer and top soil I called her and scheduled a day to go and see her. We talked for an hour over the phone like we were best friends. It was refreshing.

Quote: “Gardeners help each other out.”

Going over to her house was amazing. There were so many hidden surprises all across the yard and it wasn’t a large yard it was just tightly packed. I mean, she used anything and everything to put plants in. From wheel burrows to a swimming pool, and a dead tree to a satellite dish! It was pretty impressive and inspiring for any Gardener in the making but a little intimidating. I could see where it could get out of hand or take over someone’s life. So once we left I did have to do a little soul searching, which I am still in the process of. How much of my life do I want to dedicate to being a gardener alongside all of the other works? What should I do so that I don’t get overwhelmed? These issues are things everyone has to deal with and that’s where I am.

But getting back to her house! Ivies, roses, some trees, wildflowers, lilies, Aloe plants and a cousin plant I can’t remember, along with so many more. My head was sky high and dizzy. Thankfully my husband was with me writing down a lot of names to these plants so that I could look them up later, which I have started since I finished planting them all.

When we left there Monday, April 4th, I knew I would have a lot of work ahead of me and I would be extremely sore. And I was right. With over two dozen rose cuttings, a dozen trumpet flower cuttings, endless amount of ivies (4 different kinds), a Cannon Flower, Four O’Clocks, Purple Jews, four mystery plants (forgot what she called them), and a few other plants I have been very VERY busy. And I am Really sore. :D But super happy about what I have done.

I have also planted all of the Morning Glories against my porch because the seedlings had grown to almost 4 inches in height. When they started to come up I opened the container they were in and placed them in the shade, bringing them in at night. I did this until the sprouts were nearly four inches and then I planted them in a row about three to four inches apart. I wasn’t sure about the spacing, but this is a trial run.

Quote from my husband: “Gardening (as with life) is all about making mistakes and finding out what works best for you.”

So after two long days I got everything planted in pots and planter boxes since we are surrounded by clay. I am a little nervous but very excited. For the next several days I will be doing research about each of the plants and try to learn as much as I can about the proper way to care for them. Every plant is different. Some like full sunlight or partial sunlight, a lot of water or just enough to moisten the soil. So much to learn. . .

But I’m very happy to have met my new found Gardening friend and hope that something grows. After all of our (mum, husband, and I) hard work it would be sad to not have anything survive. So here’s to my first month of growing (raises a can of Root beer). Cheers.

I will post more about the amazing array of plants I was given in a different post.

-Bee (I am feeling very blessed)

A pause from writing is to DRAW

When I find that my mind can no longer get things in working order and a bath just wont do I put pencil to paper. I have to keep my hands moving. I need to keep everything in good shape and i find that the best way to do this is through drawing. It causes you to focus the mind. when i can't just draw from scratch I grab a manga and draw what i call is a copyart. You have to focus and be perscious. get the lines right and do the best you can to match it to the small picture before you only drawing it on an 8X10 sketch book paper. For me It turns out a little like this.

The picture to the left is from an anime series called Ah! My Goddess. It was just one of many of my sketches and i picked this as a demonstration because it was the clearest to see, but by having to draw these pictures I have to focus my mind so much that I have pulled away from what I was working on long enough to relax. It really helps to clear the head.

As my art improved, as did my writing I went from sketching to creating line arts of my works with copic makers and the wonderful paint program on the computer as you can tell by the drawing to the right. This is of two ladies that I have drawn several months ago and finally got around to inking them. They came out better then I expected.
As of recently I have pulled out all my old works and started to ink them for my final goal of adding layers and getting an end result of what you see on the left. This is a picture I had stored away of a little manga girl for some time and here she is finally completed. it came out better then i thought.

My goal is to continue to improve in drawing and maybe be able to draw the cast of characters that fill my head on a day to day bases, to not only write and bring people to life, but to draw and give you what they look like. How wonderful that would be for me and I am working hard and making that dream a reality.

Follow me on Twitter, read my writings on Smashwords, look at my art on Deviantart, or just say hi to me on Facebook. B. Franklin

Genealogy

When I married my husband I found out that he had an Uncle that was working on Genealogy, and low and behold I too had a great uncle working on Genealogy. So needless to say I started my journey looking into the family history.

I have stumbled around with Census, dug through many resource books, talked to family members, and even received a few genealogy books. There is so much to learn.

The family has almost tracked several people on my mom’s side to England. To me, that is amazing, though on my dad’s said it is a mystery. My father’s mother’s parents are from where I’ve grown up and are easy to find, but his father isn’t from Louisiana and there was so much bad blood no one really knows anything about it.

To also make is harder, one of my great grandparents I was trying to look into was from a Indiana Cherokee reservation, or so I’m told, and I haven’t been able to find any mention of even her family name. It really makes you want to pull your hair after hours of searching and finding nothing.

Now, my mother’s side of the family is littered with oddities such as, my great, great, Grandmother, Alice Cooper married her third husband Evander Skinner shortly after he spilt from his first wife, Lulu Cooper, who was the second cousin to Alice Cooper. I wonder what happened there.

I also stumbled across that Alice Cooper gave birth to Etta Cooper in 1916, the same year she passed away due to what everyone assumes to be an infection acquired from the birth of Etta. Now Etta is my Great Grandmother who was raised by a foster family.

I can only image Etta Cooper not surviving and not having all her children. I wouldn’t be here today if that had occurred. It is amazing what happened in the past that leads to our futures.

Even though the future is in front of us, by tomorrow it is the past, and I am grateful for all that has occurs today, yesterday, ten years ago, when I was born, and so on back.

B. Franklin. read on works on smashwords.com.