10 Universal Truths

The beautiful thing about blogging is that you can say whatever you want, and people can choose to read it or not. Today I thought I should share with you, my dedicated readers, ten universal truths that I live by, or some advice, if I may. I really hope this aren't too harsh, but then again, you are under no obligation to care about them anyway.

1. There is zero point in drinking empty calories. Zero. Things like sugared soda, "juice" that isn't juice like Tang, and Kool Aid. All useless. I won't even get into why they're not only useless, but extremely counter productive. I'm sure we all know why.

2. You never put hand soap that smells like food in your bathroom. Why should your bathroom smell like a latte? Seriously.

3. You should never, EVER cut off or pull out in front of a driver that clearly has somewhere to be if you do not. Nothing is more infuriating than getting cut off by someone who plans on driving very slowly in front of you.

4. Never choose fake entertainment over real entertainment. I'm saying this, and I don't even think I'm that great with people, and would often choose to be alone over socializing. If someone asks you to go for coffee, but you're hesitating because you'll miss a favourite television show, get real. Don't be an arse, go for coffee, even if you don't want to. What if you never get the chance to go with that person ever again? Will that episode of The Bachelorette have been worth it?

5. Every single one of your favourite foods can be made into a salad, a healthier alternative. Think about it.

6. Never let meat go to waste. Something had to DIE for that, you know. Honour that animal by using it's life to do good for your life.

7. Don't buy things you know you'll never consume or use. We all have that internal dialogue with ourselves when we reach for that grocery item on the shelf, or go to the cash to pay for a shirt. You KNOW whether or not you're wasting money right at that moment, don't you? Why are you buying things wastefully? Why do we take free samples we have no intention of using?

8. Go to your library. Libraries may not be around forever, and they're such a wonderful resource. And free. Something fabulous and free.

9. Supporting local endeavours is always good. We plant a garden every year, and it is really hard work. Farmers work very hard to produce what they do, so we shouldn't take that for granted. If you get a chance, visit a local farm, or plant a small garden, and you'll see what I mean. The good news for farmers is that I'm sure they get a lot of satisfaction from doing what they do. It's pretty amazing stuff. I know there's nothing like the feeling we get from using our own produce in the kitchen. That's pretty cool.

10. Try to believe that there is more good in the world than bad. There is. Give people the benefit of the doubt when you might not normally do that. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Wake up and smell the roses

Ah, the smell of the roses... I can't wait! Yesterday was a great gardening day, so we took full advantage of it.

I've decided to plant a hedge of roses and other lower lying white flowers along the driveway. We filled it in with natural mulch. It will look like the following:

OK, I can't get my diagram to post properly. How's about I just post pictures later? :-)

Anyway, the roses I chose (from left to right):
- Mellow Yellow, a light yellow hybrid tea
- Toro, a dark red hybrid tea
- Marina, a yellow-orange blend floribunda
- Iceberg, a white floribunda
- Intrigue, a mauve floribunda
- Chicago Peace, a yellow-pink blend hybrid tea
- another red one whose name escapes me right now

The smaller, shorter white flowers that will make up the background of the bed are called campanula white clips (or bellflower). I cannot wait until all of them start blooming!

I also potted all of my herbs yesterday. So far I have lemon balm, basil, cilantro, parsley, chamomile, thyme, and rosemary in pots, as well as chives, garlic chives, lavender, and chocolate mint planted in the ground from last year.

I love gardening season!

And we haven't even touched the veggie garden yet! EEK!