Janet's Blog

There is nothing quite like a tree. I love the sight and smells of all flowering trees, but especially the pink crabapple trees that bloom so beautifully most springs--except, sadly, not for this year's too-cold spring. The majestic oak trees, with their acorns, have always fascinated me, and the vibrant, orange, sugar maples in Michigan are without comparison in the fall. But here in Nebraska, nothing can compare to our state tree, the mighty Cottonwood. One of many Cottonwoods at Scottsbluff's Riverside Park. I'm not talking about the newer, cottonless, ornamental trees, erroneously called Cottonwoods in spite of their relatively wimpy appearance and inherent lack of cotton. The trees I love the most are decades old, or even a century or more in age, stretching their branches heavenward, with trunks that can only be encircled by several people clasping hands around a tree.  Shimmering leaves. The shade of a magnificent Cottonwood provides a refreshingly cool sanctuary on ...

I was working in the yard about three weeks ago, moving some mulch, when I got a sliver under my fingernail. It hurt like the dickens, and was visible, a black line just beneath the nail, where it extended nearly three quarters of the way up. None of the sliver was reachable with a tweezers, a needle, or anything else. It didn't help that this particular nail has a ridge that dips down, right along the path of the sliver, making it that much harder to see the end of the sliver under the nail, let alone get ahold of it.  As soon as I came into the house, I washed my hands with soap and doused the offending finger with hydrogen peroxide, which bubbled up just like it was supposed to, killing any bacteria that dared to accompany the sliver. When Bill got home, he tried to remove it, with no success, and with much pain on my part, so he gave up because he didn't want to hurt me. I googled how to remove a sliver from under a nail, and tried soaking my finger in a solution of baking ...

When Meagan asked if she could bring the grandkids to play in our yard yesterday afternoon, I was excited to have them visit, even though we had to practice some social distancing. We have a big backyard, with plenty of activities to keep the kids busy, so I didn't need to plan any particular projects for them to do. But, I did remember that the calendar had changed; it was the first day of May--May Day--so I decided to put together some May baskets for them. I had to make a quick trip to Dollar General to pick up a few necessities anyway, but when I checked the shelves for some M&Ms, I had to make do with peanut butter ones, because the plain M&Ms were all gone. I guess M&Ms must be a universal May Day tradition. Later, when I checked on FaceBook, I noticed several people mentioning May Baskets this year. Since everyone is mostly at home, more people have time to celebrate the old May Day tradition, some for the very first time. And besides, delivering May baskets...