Just had the most pleasant visit with

[timer lady]

wm ~ you heard me right....with wm. I called him yesterday & asked him to get out a pencil & paper & asked him to write out a list for me.

Of course, he wanted to know why..... I told him I was picking him up @ 11:30 & we were heading out to the nursery. I had a list of plants I wanted him to write down & that he would be in charge of choosing.

wm was wonderful ~ he took the advice of the employee at the nursery & the employee suggested Turtlehead plants instead of bleeding hearts. I asked wm what he thought. He & employee set out a grouping of how the plants might look. They sold me ~ wm beamed.

We were out in the nursery for 2 hours (I might have sold wm on gardening - we'll see) & had a great time exploring the place. As it's toward the end of the season I got something like 60% off & walked out with a huge hydranga bush & 10 perennials for under $80. I was delighted at the savings.

I was sorry that wm couldn't come over & plant but promised him pictures. I'm done buying plants for the year. Next year it's onto the back yard, especially around the patio.

AND I am very proud of my tweedle dum. by the way, he's 5 closer to 6 inches taller than me now. No meat on the boy - just tall & very skinny.

 

[crazymama30]

I am glad you had such a good visit. It was about time you had something positive occur. I love how he worked with the nursery staff to pick out the plants. I love it when our difficult child's are reasonable. Just seems to happen so rarely.

 

[Wiped Out]

Linda,
I have a huge grin on my face from your post. So glad you had a good visit with Wm. You so deserve it!!

 

[mstang67chic]

That's wonderful!!!! Even if he can't come help you plant, maybe he'll catch the bug and do some landscaping there.

I'm so glad you had a great time with him!!!

Oh and my difficult child....built the same way. He's about 6'3" and | | big around! LOL

 

[busywend]

Linda - so happy to hear you had a nice time with WM. Good memories are needed by you all. Way To Go!

 

[everywoman]

What a great update. Those tall, skinny Williams can be something (that is Tripp's legal name). I'm glad you had a good day with your son.

 

[cakewalk]

I love happy news. What a nice day for the both of you!

 

[gcvmom]

I'm so happy to read your post! What an amazing day you two had together. Hope you have more opportunities to do things like that with him, soon.

 

[PorcupineWhisperer]

TL,
Really good to hear that you and wm. were able to go out and have a really good time. I had to smile as I read your post.

I'm not sure what a hydranga bush is, but I feel like I just have to have one now for some reason...

 

[KTMom91]

Linda, I'm so happy that you and wm had a pleasant day together!

 

[Marguerite]

That sounds wonderful.

As for the hydrangea bush - I grew up with them, tey are amazing. The flowers can change colour form blue to pink depending on the pH of the soil. My mother had a row of hydrangeas in the front yard against the house, she used to bury a steel wool pad (used) under every second bush so they alternated in colour.

They also grow really well from cutting, so I suggest when it's time to prune the bushes, you take some pencil cuttings for wm and he can then try to grow them where he is.

Were they the old-fashioned sort (with the large solid flower heads) or the more modern lacy varieties from Japan? Some of the newer hybrids have more intense colours. The older varieites tend to be paler; I like the stronger colours but they all are lovely.

When I was a kid I used to take the pruned stems and let them dry. Then I would poke the pith out of the stem to make a bubble pipe, the best ones I could use because the residual pith inside would hold the bubble mix really well. Another good thing for kids!

Marg

 

[timer lady]

Marg, the hydrangea is the one that blooms all summer long; not the Japanese one. I saw that one & it's gorgeous but twice the price. This bush is blue.

Thank you all ~ it's so different to spend positive, fun time with wm. I love my son ~ he & kt are the children of my heart. The hurt & pain from these 2 have led me to stay away from both of them for a bit. I may need to do so again. I can't say.

I enjoyed watching wm working with the nursery employee & planning out this space I wanted to fill with plants. A joy to my heart.

On the way back to foster mum & dad wm asked if we could go out for an hour or two & just talk about dad. He's grieving & needs to talk ~ wants to remember the good times & the bad. I told him I'd work out a time when I'm ready. wm told me he feels "responsible" for daddy dying because of all the stress he & kt caused. I asked wm to change the subject because I was trying to drive. I think husband's death has hit wm between the eyes & he's maturing ~ learning that life doesn't always give you second chances with people.

Thank you ~ I was smiling as I left yesterday. I have wm working on another project ~ we'll see how it goes.

 

[dreamer]

I got bit by hydrangeabug 3 years ago. how I love them! mine have various shades from pink to avenderto blue right now lol all on same plant! my soil can't decide what its pH level is I guess? lol. my now 14 son has also sprouted -im 5 ft 9 inches & he just passed me!but such a thin guy. wears 27 waist jeans size 12 shoes. his middle name is william-after my brother Bill. . (his first name is after my husband father) I'm glad you had a good visit!

 

[Marguerite]

I know we're digressing on hydrangeas, but maybe you can share this info with wm, Linda.

For those who remember that pH paper (or litmus paper) turns pink in acid conditions and blue in alkaline, hydrangeas do the opposite. Acidic soils will send them blue. Alkaline soils will send them pink (even your lovely blue one, Linda).

The steel wool pads my mother buried under every second bush - iron is a metal (of course) and when it oxidises (rusts) and mixes with water, it is alkaline. It will send hydrangeas pink. You can buy crystals to send your hydrangeas blue, but have a look online, often it's something you could buy much more cheaply. Wm could also easily make his own litmus solution using red cabbage.

Because difficult child 3 is a correspondence student, the science experiments they send out to him are ones he can do in an average kitchen using what is already available. You can havea lot of fun and learn a lot. If wm is interested in gardening, he can set up experiments in what nutrients plants need. Take photos of the stages of the experiment and he should be able to earn credits (or brownie points or whatever) from his teachers.
difficult child 3 was sent some bean seeds to work with. He planted them in dry sand (we have a lot of it!). He then set up about six different pots - one was left dry, one was watered and left outside to get sunshine. One was watered but kept in the dark in the fridge. One was left dry but kept near a window indoors to get sunlight.

Another fun garden ting wm could do, is make some pots for upside down tomatoes. You can make this from a drink bottle. You cut te base off the bottle but plant the tomato in ther bottle neck. Hang the bottle upside down and water from the base. The tomato plant (or nay other plant) will develop a root system that holds it in the bottle, but it will also keep trying to grow up to the light. However, a tomator plant with tomatoes on it will hang down from the weight of the tomatoes, but not need staking (of course). It might be getting a bit late in your season to try this, unless you transplant a seedling.

There are so many fun things a kid can do (or you can do with kids) to teach as well as just enjoy.

Marg

 

[DDD]

The totally "neatest" thing about your post is that you were able to use the term "pleasant" describing the visit. Those of us will difficult child's almost always
use extreme adjectives like "wretched" "terrible" "ghastly" OR "delightful" "perfect" etc. To have a "most pleasant visit" is downright easy child talk. That's neat! DDD

 

[timer lady]

You're right triple D ~ pleasant is a term rarely used here or in my household in general.

I hope to use it again soon with wm.

 

[Christy]

Great news. You deserve a pleasant visit!

 

[Nancy]

Hi Linda, so nice to see you and hear the wonderful update. I know you have been down lately so it was nice to hear you had a good visit with wm.

What's happening with kt and the threats she was making?

Nancy