Charlottesville trip

Today I attended a seminar in Charlottesville, VA, which focused on landscapes. The Piedmont Landscape Association sponsored it, of which I am a member. There was a dusting of snow when I left at 6:15 this morning, but the roads were okay. I was to meet my friend Susan, near Lovingston, and we would ride together. I love plants and have some design background, so I was looking forward to the day. Great speakers, new ideas, sustainable is the new buzz word. We've tried to do that since moving to VA. However it is not a very hospitable place to grow things: clay soil, lots of sucking and chewing insects, below average rainfall; its been a challenge. It's gotten better by adding manure and compost into the ground, using drip irrigation for cut flower production, and growing plants that can handle these situations. I've always envied gardeners in the Northwest-it appears so much easier. Anyway, enjoyed the conference, plus had a great lunch at Mono Loco ( I think), and afterwards bought a dijjeredoo, because you never know when you'll need a different sound. I had a great time visiting the big city.

Music and Manure Don't Mix

Last night we were performing in Farmville at Buffalo Creek Music. Ken and I play in a band, DejaMoo, with 3 friends of ours. It was Friday and school was over (I teach elementary kids), but I had a class for recertification to attend at 4:00. Stayed until 6 and drove home, so we could leave by 6:30 to go to Farmville. Anyway, the animals still needed to be taken care of, and the boys were at their grandmother's, so I couldn't ask them, so I tromped out there in my "going out clothes". Advice: Always take the time to change your shoes when you go to the barn. You probably know where this is going......Well, I finished with the goats and chickens, jumped into the car, and within minutes an incredible funk (damn chickens!) filled the air. Right then we should've turned around for a different pair of shoes, but rationality was not to be. We continued on our way with the windows cracked. I didn't want to spread the funk all over the place, plus the other band members were complaining. So what could I do; I played shoeless and left the offensive pair out by the car. Much to my surprise, nobody commented on my lack of footwear.