By Dan Dauw
Geneseo Current
‘Twas a good Basketball season
I thought it was a good season of NCAA and NIT basketball. I had 6 different teams and they advanced farther then I expected. Glad to see the Illinois and ISU teams did well. The UConn women’s game was a shocker! They won all their games save the last one when they ran into UCLA for the championship game. They will continue to be a power house next season. My favorite team, Notre Dame women’s team went farther then I expected. They should be good next season as senior guard, Hannah Hidalgo, will return. In short, there was a lot of entertaining basketball games to be had.
Gardening
It’s that time of year to dig out the gardening tools and trips to purchase fertilizer, bulbs, seeds, etc. We always go to Geneseo’s Farm & Fleet, Moline’s Teskes, and Kewanee’s Nature’s Creation Greenhouse & Farm(they have “the” best geraniums).
Flowers ‘n Veggies
Both of us probably go-over-the-edge on flowers both inside and outside. This spring we planted more hummingbird and butterfly plants. We have them in pots on our upper deck and close to two hummingbird feeders. We planted OT Lily Lesotho, Gladiolus and what they really like is Crocosmia Lucifers. Other new perennials we planted elsewhere was an oriental mix of Lilium, and annual Dahlia. Teskes has a large assortment of flowers, tomato plants, etc. I’ve gone there for many years for our tomato plants (too early now, but I’ll plant 25 in early May). Farm & Fleet has an excellent display of various seeds and bulbs. Just don’t wait too long on the purchase of bulbs. As to our garden, besides tomatoes, we plant Gold Rush yellow beans, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Blue Lake Pole and Bloomsdale Spinach (planted inside and they are doing well). Onion bulbs soon to be planted besides what I mentioned. We have three small flower gardens that need our attention. With poor legs and even worse sense of balance I suspect my Guardian Angel says “knock it off!” Lorna does a lot of work outside, but she has health issues, too. Thank goodness we have a neighbor who helps out. I gave him a dollar for Christmas!
Hummingbirds
In another few weeks we should see these little guys zoom in on our two Hummingbird feeders. They are fun to watch. I sometimes sit for hours watching different birds come to chow down on suet and sunflower seeds. We have an orange Baltimore Oriole feeder that contains grape jelly and part of an orange. I haven’t spotted one yet, but they will stop here for a few weeks and then off to where? You really don’t need to feed the birds, but why not?? They are some of the most beautiful creatures to dot our landscape. Enjoy their company. Squirrels and bees can be a problem, but you pretty much have to deal with them. One more thing. Keep your feeders clean and don’t use the red sugar package for hummingbirds sold in some stores. Use water mixed with regular sugar.
On PBS
I wonder if you like three TV shows on PBS that we enjoy? There is Father Brown, Death in Paradise, and Miss Fisher. We wish they would up-date those series as they keep saying they will. The re-runs are getting old and yes, we contribute $$$ to Iowa’s PBS. Overall, PBS offers a great deal of excellent programming.
Forever
It looks like my former employer is going to raise the postage for a 1 oz letter from 78 cents to 82 cents. A 4 cent raise. I’m almost 84 and I wonder if I’ll see a dollar first-class stamp?! My only complaint is most of the time it takes 3 or 4 days to receive a first class letter from point A to point B in the Quad Cities. As to the raise in postage, think how much it costs for gasoline used in their thousands of postal vehicles as they deliver to almost every house or business six days a week. Time to think about Forever stamps?
Congratulations
Goes to the space crew and the thousands of workers that made it possible for 4 astronauts a safe and important trip around the moon. Artemis II was a huge success. It was fascinating to watch both the takeoff and re-entry of Artemis II. It was really awesome.
Humor
Some Kiser humor: Why can’t you book a hotel on the moon? Ans: Because it’s full.
Why don’t ants ever get sick? Ans: They have antibodies.
Quote
“You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends.”- Joseph Conrad