KeyWee's Blog

Conflict?  What conflict??  We ain't got no steeeenkin' conflict!!!   Then why-o-why were we subjected to an hour-long lecture on how to deal with conflict in human relations?  Gardening and WHAT?? 

Now I realize that the program is new in our area, but I am still puzzling over what gardening and conflict have in common.  My only issues are with weeds and grass, oh ~ and Japanese beetles ~ now THAT'S conflict.  So what did I learn?  How to deal with an angry Master Gardener who got left off of the tour bus.  

Well, here I go sounding negative again, and that is entirely NOT my intent.  I am really meaning to be funny and I always love to look at the humorous side of things.  Sometimes that involves making presentations appear silly, but in truth, the talk was very informative and reminded me a lot of real life.  Although I have little to no conflict in my life (not because I strive to avoid it, but simply because I don't care what people do) the whole speech made me feel sorry for people who have to deal with it on a daily basis.  My hat is off to those of you conflict-dealers and I hope digging in the dirt soothes your soul.

Speaking of presentations, today was the day.  We each had to give a five-minute talk on a topic inspired by an extension office brochure.  I chose hummingbirds.  Since my nickname is "Machine-Gun Kelly"  (for my 90mph speech pattern), I couldn't figure out how for the life of me I was going to fill up five whole minutes.  In seventh grade, I was required to repeat an entire speech (tres humiliation) because the teacher said I spoke so fast, no one got a word out of it.  With this ages-old lesson in mind, I made an attempt to s-p-e-a-k  v-e-r-y  s-l-o-w-l-y and DING ~ the bell went off before I even finished my thoughts.  Whew ~ glad that's over with because it was a mandatory part of the course. 

In other news ~ it's COLD!!  Nights are heading into the 40's and days are still in the 70's.  Great fall clean up weather.  The hummers are gone for the year (sob) so feeders are down, cleaned and stored.  Time for the Canfield Experimental Garden site preparation.  Every fall, I prepare a new bed and plant ALL the seeds that I have received in swaps with you-all and others.  Seeds that I want to overwinter outdoors are planted and labelled, and in the spring ............ can't wait!!!