Tuesday, February 28, 2017 – Transplants in Greenhouse, Shipment of Plugs, Letter from Eldon

We spent our whole work day in the greenhouses transplanting a large variety of different plants into larger pots. There is a sense of urgency to get everything done for a couple of reasons. First Richard is expecting two shipments of plugs to arrive from his suppliers this week and we need the space in the greenhouses. Second, it is already spring in Illinois, it is very warm and today’s high was 73 degrees!

Richard wasn’t expecting the first shipment of “Plugs” to arrive until tomorrow but just before we broke for lunch they arrived. This shipment was only four boxes full; about a quarter of the size of the shipment we received two weeks ago on the 15^th.

We didn’t have time today to start transplanting the plugs in today’s shipment. We will start doing that tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can get them all done quickly. Today’s shipment had 17 different kinds of plants in a wide variety of colors. Many of them are plants that Richard will try for the first time on the grounds of Old Nauvoo. This summer they are going to look great!

Today I received an interesting phone call from the mission secretary. She asked me if I had a grandson named Eldon? Well yes, as a matter of fact I do. She said the mission received a letter today addressed to the mission from Watson’s Flowers in Mesa, Arizona. Since it didn’t have a senior missionary’s name as the addressee, she opened it. Inside there was a full sheet of paper that said “I love you grandma and grandpa. From Eldon.  The mission secretary realized Sis. Johnson and I own a flower shop and the envelope was her clue who the letter was for. 

Evidently our four year old grandson, Eldon got one of his older sisters to help him address the envelope and they forgot to put our names on the front. Thank you Eldon for the letter and the picture. We love to receive letter from home.

Monday, February 27, 2017 – Transplanting, Women’s Garden, Bulbs, Deer Scram, Robins, Sun Room Propagation, Elder Lindeburg Rehearsal, Sis. Lowe & Lucy Mack Cast

It was pretty nippy this morning so we worked for a couple of hours in the propagation room transplanting more seedlings. And there were a lot, we transplanted Impatiens, Natal Grass, Digitalis (Fox Glove), and Mahogany Splendor Hibiscus. 

Later in the morning after it warmed up a bit we were in the Women’s Garden blowing leaves, fixing flower beds and spreading deer repellant. We received reports that some of the tulip bulbs were uncovered and needed to be replanted. While Sis. Johnson blew leaves I found and re-covered more than a dozen tulip bulbs that mysteriously were sitting on the surface, uncovered. Some of them had children’s foot prints in the flowerbeds so that explains how they got uncovered. 

 

The other serious problem in the tulip beds are the deer. Evidently tulip leaves and bulbs are very tasty to a deer. Again today we sprinkled “Deer Scram” on all of the tulip beds. Then just for good measure, Richard applied a liquid deer repellant with the backpack sprayer. Our bosses, Richard Hancock and Scott Higley take the deer problem very seriously.

 Last Friday I saw the first Robin of the spring season.  I hadn’t seen a Robin in Nauvoo for six months. Well today there were Robins everywhere. Spring won’t officially be here for three more weeks but the Robins think it is spring already.

After work this afternoon Sis. Johnson and I were asked by our Rendezvous director, Sis. Lowe, to rehearse “George & Agatha” with Elder Lindeburg. He will be a new Doctor in our vignette. Elder Lindeburg has his lines down and is catching on quickly to his stage presence, blocking, gestures, etc. Sis. Johnson and I enjoyed our rehearsal time with Elder Lindeburg, we really need all the rehearsal time we can get too.

This evening Sis. Johnson and I went to watch “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo” put on by the “Lucy Mack” cast. It was a real treat to watch because our director, Sis. Lowe and her husband played the part of “Thomas & Elizabeth.” At the end of their vignette they sing a duet, “Farewell Nauvoo” and they knocked it out of the park! Wow, Elder & Sis. Lowe can really sing, it was a great show all around.

Today Richard gave Sis. Johnson and I six trays of various types of seedlings to take home for planting around our house. When he plants from seed he has to assume a poor germination count. But when the germination is above 80% there are always too many seedling for him to use. So we get to take the extras home.

Saturday I set up the tables under the grow lights on our back porch. We also call it the “Sun Room” and now we can call it the “Propagation room” too.  After work today we transplanted a lot of the seedlings into larger pots. We are going to have a ton of flowers to plant in May. The only problem is storing them for the next two and a half months.

 Sunday, February 26, 2017 – Church Services, Visitor’s Center

As we went to church this morning it was cold and windy again, just like yesterday. But our Sunday services were warm with the glow of the spirit. Good meetings, good messages and with good friends.

I noticed that the tulip bed in front of the Visitor’s Center are up and progressing nicely just like the tulip in the flowerbeds around our house. Some of them are as much as six inches tall. They really look good.

Saturday, February 25, 2017 – Bank, Bald Eagle, Geese, Grow Lights, Dead Mice

This morning we woke up to snow flurries. It wasn’t much but it was cold and very windy. The temperature was 27 degrees but with a 20 mph wind it felt like 10 degrees.

Saturday is out P-day and our first stop was at the bank to cash a check. While we were there I noticed a display of antique banking machines and tools like ten key adding machines and change dispensers. Our teller gave us a tour. I liked these old machines because I actually used to use some of them way back when. 

On our way to go shopping we drove the river road again. And, as usual we saw some beautiful Bald Eagles close up. Today we only saw four Eagles on our drive toward Keokuk, Iowa. Each week for the past month we’ve seen about half as many Bald Eagles as the week before. A month ago we saw about 45 or 50, the next week we only saw 24. The next week we saw a dozen and today there were only four.

 

We also saw geese during our drive. The sky was full of geese for mile after mile flying north as we drove. There were thousands of them. It was a beautiful scene.

We went shopping at the Ace Hardware store in Keokuk for items to set up “grow lights” in our sunroom which is really our enclosed back porch. I bought some light weight chain the hang the lights with and a light timer.

After shopping I went to work on the grow lights and everything went together perfectly. The whole project turned out very well. We already have Coleus plants we will take cuttings from plus Richard Hancock said he will give us a bunch of left over seedlings because there are too many of some varieties.

They can all grow and mature under the grow lights and be ready for transplanting in our garden on May 15^th.

Back in the house I went looking in the cellar of the “Haas House” were we live for 2X4’s, bricks, or anything I could use to set up the plant tables in the sunroom. I didn’t find much but I did find 4 dead mice back in the furthest south east corner on the dirt floor. Back in December we were experiencing the distinct odor of a dead animal. We never found what caused the stink until today.