7 Quick Takes Friday - dead things, discontinued things, and deworming things

---1---

My garden is not growing as well as I had hoped. In fact, at least half of it is dead. BUT, my one lonely tomato is hanging in there;



the broccoli and Brussels sprouts plants are still alive, even if they aren't growing (today, Thursday, I replanted one of them in an actual pot to see if that helps); and Sunday morning I discovered a new surprise to add to the success of my tomato:

(Hey - I just posted a pic of a pepper...sounds like a bit of poetry-in-the-making to me!) O.o

---2---

While tending my tomato plant today (Thursday) I discovered something interesting. It was indeed mostly dead, but the tomato was continuing to ripen, and even new branches were growing that were not dead. 

The vine itself is still vibrant. It reminded me of John 15 when Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (verse 5, NIV). I also took a hint from verse 2 and went ahead and pruned off the dead branches.

The problem - the reason the plant is in bad shape - is that I forgot to put holes in the bottom of the container I planted it in. I fixed that today, added some more potting soil and water, and here's hoping maybe I'll get more than one tomato out of it ;). If not, I'm still counting it a success!!
 



---3---

I was doing very important stuff on Pinterest this week when I came across an idea for a penny-decorated vase. Through the link I discovered that last year Canada discontinued their penny! I had no idea. I'm sure it will work out and all, but I just never expected it, so it was a little bit of a shock. Then a friend informed me the United States might follow suit! Mind blown.

So, anyway...I have collected a few coins that have come my way through the years, just because they did happen to come my way. (I doubt any of them are truly valuable; they are just fun to collect.) Also, my grandpa loved collecting things, coins among those things. I consequently received a few from him as well. And because I lived the first half of my life in northern Ohio, there are a few Canadian pieces in the mix. Here are my old Canadian pennies:

L to R: 1940, 1943, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1962, 1964, a centennial penny (1867-1967), and a 1940 nickel.

Here are the fronts of those same coins, in the same order:

L to R: first three pennies feature Georgius VI; the next 5, Elizabeth II; and the nickel, Georgius VI.

I also have a small collection of United States wheat pennies, the oldest one bearing the date of 1910. My oldest coin is a United States dime from 1899, graced by the bonnetted silhouette of a lady.

I wonder if the young ladies ever referred to George as "Gorgeous Georgius"? Or maybe he was ugly. Who knows?

---4---

Turns out, Google knows. And what do you know - old Georgie wasn't half bad-looking!



Oh ho ho HO! Upon further digging, I just discovered this is the George about whom the movie The King's Speech was made! (Good movie, I thought, by the way.)

---5---

Last week I decided to get creative and join the ranks of praxis-prone Pinteresters. That's right. A neighbor gave me a couple of framed inspirational quotes she had on her wall (she was moving). I'm not really a cutesy-picture kind of person, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. So I decided to sand them down, repaint them, and glue on some palm tree bark from a recent trip to South Padre Island, and voila! Behold my very own Pinterest-worthy project-in-the-books:

(The top photo features my niece and nephew; and the bottom, my late Ohio pastor's family,
with whom I lived for a couple of years and so they are like my own family.)

---5---

Some VERY misguided spider decided to take up residence in my mailbox last week. I noticed him after I removed the contents of the box and he was just sitting there looking at me. So he lived to be a threat another few days, until I checked my box again today (I'm not always punctual about checking my mail). And there he was again. Same spot. Challenging me to take out an envelope. Ready to leap and split my jugular with his protruding fangs.... 

But I showed him. I went upstairs and got the "Wasp and Hornet Killer." That's right. I had the advantage of space and spray. He put up a fight, and I had to spray a lot, but spray I did. And in the end, I won. Sure, I now have insecticide all over my mail, but that's way better than having a spider in my mailbox. 

---6---

I had a job interview today! It went really well. It was for a bus driving position with the local school district. I've done it before and really enjoyed it. It's only a few hours a day (though the split shift can sometimes be bothersome), and, well, driving big stuff is fun! I have to wait for a second interview now. I hope to hear back from them by the end of next week. 

I also applied for a job at a local newspaper. I do not have a journalism degree, but have been published several times and have several years' worth of professional editorial experience. I sent them some clips of my work today (including a few of my posts from this blog!). We'll see. I would love to give it a try - I think it would be a very interesting job, and I love being "in the know" about my community. 

---7---

This week I got to learn about deworming a cat. I'm hoping my dog is worm-free, but am thinking about worming him, too, just to make sure. So gross!! 

Early this morning I looked over from the bed and caught the two little boogers getting along quietly (which rarely happens). Here's a picture so you can enjoy the moment, too. :) Makes Mama proud! 

For more Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary!