Jay Gaulard

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A Barbados Caribbean Vacation

The other day, Laura and I were talking while we were walking. It was a full out walk and talk. I was telling her how I was looking at pictures of Naples, Florida online and how there were some pretty good looking beaches there. It’s really hard for me to tell Laura about places I look at online because she always assumes I want to move there. I suppose I have somewhat of a track record in that department.

As we continued our walk, I kept telling her how I just wanted to walk up and down a beach for a good long time and how good of exercise I though that would be. She seemed to agree, once I mentioned the sport of it. If it’s just a regular walk, it’s no good. If there’s something in it for us, I guess so.

I kept on talking about different places and their benefits when I turned to her and said, “I think I just need a vacation.” I instantly thought of Turks and Caicos. For those of you who have never heard of that, Turks and Caicos is a small cluster of islands in the Caribbean. They aren’t all smothered with resorts and hotels yet, that’s why you may not recognize the name. I have been thinking about visiting Turks and Caicos for years.

When we got back to the house, I let Laura loose on the computer. I told her to feel free to find a nice vacation for us. She came back with some options, but nothing really floored me because there weren’t many “all inclusive” options on those islands. Thinking back to Punta Cana, all there was were all inclusive resorts. The biggest resort on Turks and Caicos is Beaches Resort, and it’s all inclusive. It looks great, but it may be a little too “family friendly.” Much (or all) of their marketing is geared towards kids. I’m talking Sesame Street stuff. Although, they do have those big floating tricycles and a water park. Hmmm.

Anyway, for the past few nights, I have been trying to locate an all inclusive resort on a nice beachy island. I want some place that’s not overbuilt and preferably with white sand beaches. I want to walk out into the water really really far, so the shallower and bluer the better. I am getting a little depressed as the search goes on, because there is so much to look through and all the islands have so much to offer. Punta Cana was easy…all the resorts were all inclusive and the beaches were awesome. There was nothing to think about. Fly down, get on a bus to the resort and get drunk. Now, that’s what I’m talking about.

Okay, I’ll get to the point of this post. During my search for the ultimate Caribbean island, I have browsed through many pictures and videos. Just a few minuted ago, I came across a rather unique video offered by Best Destination Travel TV. As I watched it, I started thinking about how well the commercial (or whatever you want to call it) was written and though out. I just had to share it with you. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.

Pretty good huh? Ahh, the search goes on.


Mountain Bluet, Bailey’s Gold, A Red Rose And A Dianthus

I have a few more photos of flowers for you. I have three identified, but am having some difficulty with the fourth.

I just found a website that helped me identify the Mountain Bluet. I already knew what the Bailey’s Gold was, along with the Rose. The last one is a little troubling. I have actually never seen this flower before. I am going to write a description of it below the photo in hopes that someone with know what it is and leave a comment.

Bailey’s Gold, Sedum floriferum, Weihenstephaner Gold

Bailey’s Gold, Sedum floriferum, Weihenstephaner Gold

Red Knockout Rose

Dianthus barbatus – Pink flower with white specks and spiky green leaves

Mountain Bluet, Centaurea montana

As you can tell, it’s that last one I am having trouble with. I wrote down that it has pink flowers with white specks and spiky green leaves. It’s a pretty cool flower. I just wish I knew what it was.

UPDATE – I have learned that the last flower is a Dianthus barbatus. Thank you.


Transplanting Rose Bushes

Last Autumn, I dug up about six rose bushes from the hillside out front and transplanted them to a more reasonable area down in the front yard. I am now mowing the hillside and having those rose bushes with their sharp thorns is really a thorn in my side (haha). I get snagged all the time and I don’t enjoy it much.

Initially, I didn’t know if they were going to take, meaning survive. Well, this Spring I noticed a bunch of new growth on some of the branches, but mainly from towards the bottom of the bush. I pruned out all the dead branches and the rose bushes are beginning to look pretty good. This is surprising because I wouldn’t say I did a great job of transplanting these things. I almost just ripped them out of the ground and plopped them in a dug out hole.

If you have not had the pleasure of seeing what the roots of a rose bush look like, let me tell you that they are pretty substantial. Rose bushes grow quite a bit under the ground and I have seen roots longer than six feet. I am not saying that I have seen this in a previous life, I’m saying that I saw this yesterday. Right at the base of the bush, if it is a few years old, you’ll find a gnarly root with a bunch of finer ones all tangled up.

If I had it to do over (which I actually did today), I would first cut the rose bush down to about a foot tall and then transplant it. This way, the plant is easier to work with and I won’t get my hopes smashed as I watch all the nice green growth wilt away.

As I said above, I transplanted six more Rose bushes over the past few days and I did it just the way I said I would, by cutting it down first and then transplanting it. Rose bushes are good at growing very, very fast under the right conditions.

Garden with three transplanted Rose bushes

Closer look at Rose bush transplants

Before I started writing this post, I did a little online research on “How to transplant a Rose bush.” You would be surprised at what I found. On one website, there was about two pages of instructions. They wrote all about the classic, “dig the whole twice as wide…compost…fertilizer” blah blah blah. I read this type of stuff all over the place and really don’t know who writes it. I get the feeling that the faster and dirtier the transplant job, the better things grow. I’m talkin’ pickup truck and chain style. The minute you stop and spend all sorts of time and money transplanting bushes and shrubs, they die.

Here is my advice when transplanting a Rose bush from my own experience:

1. Cut the bush down to 12 inches
2. Dig around the bush to remove as much soil as you can
3. Push the shovel under the Rose bush as much as you can and rock it back and forth to loosen up the plant
4. When it’s nice and loose, grab the roots and pull until you rip it out

To transplant:

1. Dig a hole
2. Plop the bush in the whole and cover with dirt
3. Water a few times a day for about a week

One word of warning for when you are trying to get the Rose bush out of its originating spot – You are going to sweat, get dirty and if anyone is driving by, laughed at.


Purple and White Bearded Iris

This is becoming a little tradition for me. Every year, I take some nice photos of the first Bearded Iris to bloom.

This purple and white beauty bloomed yesterday. A few more came to life today and I expect the rest will start showing their colors tomorrow. When the entire row is bloomed, I’ll take some pictures for you.

The bearded Iris is, by far, my favorite flower. The flower stems are like small trees. They are tall and strong. Although the flower itself has a short life, it’s really good looking. The best part of all is that the Bearded Iris multiplies, so you can pretty much expand your garden as far as you would like throughout the years. I have these flowers growing all over the place here.

I took a few pictures of this bearded Iris today. I tried to get a regular shot, one from the top and another close up so you can see the pollen. Lastly, I got a photo of another plant’s bud.

Purple and white Bearded Iris

Purple and white Bearded Iris viewed from above

Up close picture of a Bearded Iris yellow pistil and pollen

Purple Bearded Iris unbloomed bud


Bird Nests With Baby Birds Under Porch

It’s that time of year again. Time to take a whole bunch of pictures of the baby birds living under the porch and see which ones come out okay.

I was wondering if these bird families were going to come back this year. Well, they are probably new families, but you get the picture. We have three nests under the porch (two are occupied) and one in the front of the house in a small pine tree. The two occupied nests under the porch have baby chicks and the nest in the front of the house has four little eggs. They are really cool.

Take a look at the photos.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) chicks in birds nest under porch

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) chicks in birds nest under porch

Empty birds nest under porch

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) eggs in birds nest in small pine tree


Some More Spring Flowers And Flower Buds

After we took some pictures of the bird nests this afternoon, I went around and got a few more photos of some flowers that already bloomed and some that are just about ready to bloom. I know I can identify one, think I can identify two and can’t identify the last. I am getting better from last year though.

Purple, pink and yellow Aster or Brachycome

Yellow white flower on long twiggy stem that I can’t identify

Peonies bud

Purple flower bud – has many long thin petals – dark center

Sorry, make that two I can’t identify.


Some Late Spring Budding Plants

During our early morning lawn stroll yesterday, we noticed a whole bunch of new budding plants. The most exciting of the crew were the Iris and the rose bushes. I have to tell you, once the rose bushes start blooming, things really start to living up around here. My favorite plant of all time still remains the Iris though. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they are big, tall and keep multiplying to give me new plants every year…for free.

Here are some photos of late Spring budding plants.

Two Bearded Iris flower buds

Two pink Rhododendron flower buds ready to bloom

Red Rose bud

Hydrangea anomala – climbing hydrangea vine – late Spring flower buds

Purple Garden Columbine flower buds


Everbearing Strawberry Plants

On Saturday, while driving around Glastonbury with my parents, we accidentally came across a local farm. We love these local farms because we never know what we are going to find in them. Since we were with my parents, I decided to pull in. I thought they would get a kick out of it.

As we started walking around, I got the strange sense that I was going to have to soon pull out my wallet. It’s funny…the same thing always happens. I think we are just going to take a nice stroll through these places, but later on find myself loading up the back of the car with all different types of plants.

This time wasn’t too bad. We bought a few packets of seeds; Cucumber, Squash, Beans and Zucchini. We bought anything that can be planted in late Spring. I really wanted the Peas, but the lady told me that Peas like cool weather and that I was too late to plant this year. Yesterday, I planted what we bought in some 5-gallon buckets on the back porch.

The seeds were exciting, but the real champ of the day was our award winning Everbearing Strawberry Plants. We bought this huge hanging planter with three Everbearing Strawberry Plants planted in it. We currently have the whole thing hanging on the back porch.

Everbearing Strawberry Plants

Growing Strawberries and Strawberry flowers

From what I read about Strawberry plants, it’s good to plant three near each other. That way, they can get sufficiently pollinated.

You have to see this thing; it’s huge. There are so many flowers and Strawberries that are beginning to grow. While purchasing this plant, I asked if it was a perennial. The lady told me that it was an annual, but that it’s everbearing, meaning that it produces fruit the entire season. I found that appealing, since we really like Strawberries.


Wal-Mart Vs. Whole Foods

It has taken me forever to write this post. I don’t know why. I guess I thought it was never really all that important, but the more I think about it, the more I get bothered. Also, since when have I written about only important things?

I would say we haven’t been to Whole Foods in about two months. The last time we went there, I got extremely annoyed. Also, a few times before that, Laura got really annoyed. Both times were really annoying, but my “annoyance” meter is a little taller than Laura’s.

Let me tell you what annoyed me first. Okay, the prices at Whole Foods are high. We knew that when we started going there. I kind of let it go because I felt like I was doing something good for society, whatever that means (you know, the whole organic, green, blah blah blah). The problem is that I always felt like the store was ratcheting up the prices just enough for us not to notice the increases. That is annoying in itself.

During our last visit, we picked up a few items and put them in the cart. When we got to the produce area, I took it upon myself to go grab some asparagus. When I walked over to the asparagus section, I picked up a bunch and then looked at the price. It said $4.99 per pound. I instantly felt my face getting red. I put the asparagus down and walked over to get some “Silk” creamer. When I looked at the creamer, it said something like $3.89. This was for the tall, skinny jug. I put the creamer down and went back to Laura all ticked off. I said, “This place is a freakin’ rip off.” She didn’t dispute that. I asked her if we couldn’t get this stuff someplace else for half the price. I got especially mad at how much this store was trying to charge for a brand name item that costs so much less in other stores.

We paid for what was in the cart and haven’t been back since. I really hate the feeling of being ripped off.

What Laura was getting angry at was the people, meaning the other shoppers. I am sure you can visualize the totally oblivious fellow shopper that walks right in front of you while you are reaching for something off the shelf. These are the same people who cut you off on the highway and when you try to chase them down to “talk about it,” they scurry off like little rats. Needless to say, we felt like the other shoppers were a tad bit on the rude side. I guess we don’t feel too bad for not shopping at Whole Foods anymore.

The other day, we had to go to Wal-Mart to get kitty litter. Wal-Mart is the only place that we have been able to find that sells the scent-free stuff. Our little kitty cat is allergic to the scented stuff.

While getting the kitty litter, we grabbed a few grocery items. When we walked up to the produce area, I saw asparagus for $1.77 per pound. I almost freaked out. Now, I’m not an idiot. I know that organic food costs more than “conventionally grown” food (as Whole Foods likes to call it). $4.99 per pound is a little much of an increase from $1.77 per pound, organic or not. I don’t care what it is, I’m certainly not a fool.

I asked Laura what would be so bad about doing our food shopping at Wal-Mart from now on, as long as it was in the morning to avoid the crowds. She couldn’t find any reason not to.

Since we stopped shopping at Whole Foods, I have gone food shopping at Wal-Mart twice. Both visits were fairly pleasant. I haven’t been annoyed by any fellow shoppers and have actually found them pretty friendly and easy to talk to. I also especially like toying around with the cashiers, something I could never do at Whole Foods because they just don’t do that.

Remember that time I told you about our first visit to Whole Foods? It was the time I walked out of the store after paying $89 for one bag of groceries. Well, I went shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday and got half a cart of groceries for $87. Now that’s amazing.

It seems like I am ripping on Whole Foods an awful lot here. It’s just that I am still annoyed at how they tried to take me for a ride with their absurd prices. I haven’t even mentioned the time that I saw a container of ice cream for $8. I mean seriously. Someone would have to be a moron to pay that much for one of those shrunken down half-gallon sized containers of ice cream. It was a regular brand name too, so you could easily compare prices with another store. I came so close to taking a picture of it with my cell phone to post here. I really should have.

When I got back from my last visit to Wal-Mart, I pulled out a half gallon container of juice. I held it up and asked Laura to guess how much I paid for it. She said $4. I said, “Wrong. One dollar.” Now that is neat.

So, what am I supposed to do? Continue shopping at Whole Foods and get ripped off or contribute to the Wal-Marting of America? I know there are stores in the middle, like Stop and Shop, but I have never really been a fan. I actually prefer Wal-Mart over them. You never know when you might want to buy a kayak and underwear while you are food shopping.

You know, I am starting to feel pretty good about going over to Wal-Mart. The people seem fun and they don’t cut you off while you are shopping.


The Cars That Flopped

Just a few minutes ago, I read an article on Yahoo! about the biggest car flops in the past 25 years. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m sure you will. Yahoo! (and everyone else these days) seems to have a little issue with rerunning old stories when the run out of current news. Actually, I think I may have written about this myself already, but I think it’s worth mentioning again.

Here is my vote for the more annoying vehicle ever created on this earth – The Chevrolet SSR. I truly apologize if you have one of these vehicles, but there is something about it that just rubs me the wrong way. I think it’s the way it looks. I really couldn’t care less about what’s under the hood or what the interior looks like because I can’t get past the exterior. I dislike this vehicle so much, I would like to opportunity to crush a few of them in a car crusher. That’s that about that.

I am a little shocked and disappointed about Yahoo!’s number one flop choice, the Vector W-2. I bet not many people have ever heard of this car, but I used to have a poster of it hanging on my wall when I was a kid. I had no idea who made it or why, but I liked the fact that it went “0-60 in 3.9 seconds.” That’s all I know. I bought it from the poster section over at Ames (when they were in business) a long, long time ago. Who knew that it would eventually become a flop in something called the “internet” many years in the future. I was so naïve.

Still, I really think someone should do something about all of the remaining Chevrolet SSRs on the road out there. While they’re at it, they may as well wipe the streets clean of the PT Cruiser as well. Yee Haw.