Late Pruning

Posted on February 6, 2018 by vanbraman

This year I am a bit late with pruning my roses. They were already starting to renew their growth and I just had to get them pruned today.

Pruning roses, rose bushes, pruningIt is really hard for me to prune back roses that are full of leaves and buds, but I know that it has to be done each year. Here you can see that I have started pruning back my bushiest rose bush which is a yellow floribunda. It is always full of roses and still had a few blooms left.

dried rose blossom, Mister Lincoln Rose Bush, Beauty and the BeastMy Mister Lincoln rose bush had a few dried out blooms on it, but just a few days ago had some beautiful big blooms. This rose makes me think of the rose in Beauty and the Beast as it slowly dries out and loses petals.

Rose Blooms, February Roses, February PruningHere you can see that I am saving some of the rose blooms. It was so hard to just throw them in the yard waste container.

Roses in vase, red and yellow rosesI usually do not bring any roses into the house, but I decided that I needed to save these last few roses. I used a nice green vase that has been in our family for a long time.  I did move them to the living room, so they are where I can see them while reading or watching the Olympics later this week.

pruned rose bushes, pruning, spring pruningI still need to do a bit of close trimming, but my front yard looks so bare with the huge rose bushes pruned back. I am still trying to decide whether to get rid of the green bush. It is almost 20 years old and doesn’t flower like it used to. Hmm…..

Now for some rest. It has been a long day with over 10 miles of walking.

Steven

 

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Ready for the Winter Olympics

Posted on February 5, 2018 by vanbraman

I am ready for the Winter Olympics to start. For this Olympiad they are at PyeongChang, South Korea.

Winter Olympics, South Korea, PyeongchangPyeongChang is in an area of South Korea that I haven’t visited. I have been in many of the major cities of South Korea but have not been in the Northeast part of the country. During one of my trips I made a tour of hospitals in Seoul, Daejeo, Gwangju, Busan and Daegu. I have also been at the airport in Incheon many times, sometimes while just making connections on the way to Singapore or Thailand.

Pyeongchang County, South Korea, Olympics, Winter OlympicsPyeongChang is a county in Ganwong Province. The population of the entire county is only about 45,000. This would be like having the Winter Olympics in Twin Falls, Idaho which has about the same population. However, the ice events will be held in Gangneung which has a population of about 215,000. This is about the same population as Boise, Idaho.

Curling, Canada, Canadian Sports, TravelI am glad to be home this year during the Winter Olympics. I will hopefully be able to watch some of my favorite events like Curling. There are many winter events that we only see when the Olympics roll around, but some like Curling are starting to be shown on TV more often.

Others like biathlon, speed skating and ski jumping are rarely seen in the US.

I have not been home for a full Winter Olympics for quite some time. See: Winter Olympic Thoughts

Sydney Harbour - February 2014 - Winter Olympics Sochi - Winter Olympics in SummerIn 2014 I was in Sydney, Australia teaching a course while the Olympics were being contested in Sochi.

Antarctia, Paradise BayIn 2010 when the Winter Olympics were in Vancouver I was cruising in Antarctica.

2006 Winter Olympics - Turino - Italy - Milan Italy 2006 OlympicsIn 2006 I was very close to where the Winter Olympics were being held in Turin. I was in Milan teaching a course and saw some of the athletes who had come for some sightseeing.

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and Tabernacle - Baroque Architecture - Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución)In 2002 when the Winter Olympics were in Salt Lake City I was down in Mexico City teaching a class.

In 1998 when the Winter Olympics were in Nagano, Japan I was actually home in the Midwest. I was just then starting to transition from field service to training and would have only been traveling close to home.

I need to look at a schedule to see when my favorite events will be contested. Then I can plan my viewing 🙂

I will probably be thinking of some of my trips to South Korea during the next weeks so don’t be surprised if you see some posts about South Korea.

What are some of your favorite Winter Olympic sports?

Steven

 

Posted in Culture, Korea, Memories, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments