Butterfly Garden Update

My butterfly and bird garden has turned into more of a bee and chipmunk garden. It's all good, though. I'm just hoping the chipmunk doesn't get so used to me that she tries to move into the house with us. It's not exactly airtight, so it wouldn't be too hard. And I know it's a she because she's had lots of babies over the past couple of seasons.

This is great time to shop for plants. Some of the more unusual flora is gone but the remaining stock is half off or more. Gardening is such a crap shoot anyway, so why not try a couple of bargain plants? One of my favorite shrubs from a couple of years ago was reduced to 1/4 of the original price and is covered with butterflies and bees in late summer and early fall. I'll try to get some photos tomorrow. The sun is going down already and my camera battery is dead. The photo I'm using is of one of Mom's peonies.

My latest addition was something my mom insisted on buying me -- Sedum 'Angelina'. It's not something I would normally buy but she was really excited by it and it was only $4. The chipmunk seems to think digging in the middle of it is a grand idea, so we'll have to see if it makes it. The other plants from earlier this spring are doing pretty well. I didn't realize I was buying so many violet blue varieties. Next year I'll concentrate on some other colors like pink or yellow.

More HR Humor

This is a real ad from the local paper that ran sometime this Spring. A couple of us in the HR department dialed the number to try to figure out the company name. The guy answering the phone said it so fast we couldn't understand what he was saying and a reverse number look up only told us it was somewhere downtown. Shows we're not the only ones with hiring problems.

I Know, I Know...

... I haven't blogged in an eternity. So spank me. Here's a summary of things that have gone on since mid-June and some teasers for upcoming blogs.

I went to the SHRM conference in Chicago in late June. I'll post more about how folks couldn't make the connection when Doris Kearnes Goodwin spoke about Lincoln's leadership skills and the relevance to HR, Sidney Poitier, and human resources professionals being escorted out of a Lionel Richie concert. A great time.

I've been on a party bus to see Tom Petty at Deer Creek/Verizon/Whatever the Heck It's Called Music Center. More to come on the bus ride to the concert and the MASSIVE headache I got. And the three full minutes between the main set and the encore.

My father-in-law has had his second round of chemo and lots of ensuing problems. If my husband and I make it out of this with our marriage intact, I'll be shocked. Today was a bad day and I'm not sure I'll post about it. That's more of an over-dinner-with-friends kind of thing.

My oldest dog had a stroke last Saturday. It never occurred to me that dogs could have strokes. She's still with us but it was very touch-and-go for the first part of the week. We may be doing doggy-therapy in the near future, so stay tuned.