Welcome, Bee.

I am always glad to see bees, the great pollinators, in my yard. Without them, many plant species could perish including those we eat.

Cute Little Bugs

A colorful skipper and a shy mantis were out early this morning.

Venus Fly Trap

These are a couple of the leaves from an interesting little carnivorous plant that Rob and Susan brought to me this week. So far it hasn't caught a fly, but I think it could be useful during the kitchen renovation as the workers go in and out. Venus Fly Traps are indigenous to the small area that halfmoons around Wilmington's boggy, sandy soil, and when I was younger I saw them in an unpopulated area that over the past fifty years has become a hubbub of business and college life. It would be hard to find one there now, but apparently botanists have taken an interest and cultivated them so people can see what they are like.

Good Business

This past week I have made some big purchases that may not have been made if it weren't for some knowledgeable and helpful sales people. I had been looking for cars for a while and finally decided on a Volvo V50 or V70. One of those was sure to be the one. A couple of weeks ago when I went to the dealership, most of the salesmen were busy, and I was handed off to a young man who did not communicate well with me. I told him I wanted him to tell me about the Volvo and why I should buy one, and he was unable to do that. I was disappointed and postponed my decision. On Tuesday when I went to the VW/Audi dealership, I was impressed right off the bat with the place, and the salesman was exactly the one I needed. He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, fully answered my questions, and provided all kinds of helpful additional information. As it turned out, it was a Passat wagon I was wanting all along! Yesterday when I went looking for flooring at the last minute, a nice salesgirl named Amy patiently educated me about tile, especially the travertine that I knew nothing about except that it was lovely. This evening Amy showed up on our doorstop with the two bags of grout that were left off the tile delivery earlier in the day. What customer service! For me, both were sizable purchases, and they made me think about what is important to a customer. I don't always go into a store intending to buy something, but just being there should indicate to whoever is working that the customer has gone to the trouble of coming in and a sale is possible. Like we nurses do with our patients by establishing some sort of connection or rapport - eye contact and a supportive voice for instance - salespeople should do the same. Being available and informative, neither pushy nor indifferent, can make for good business.

First day of the kitchen renovation

There is an empty room in my house where the kitchen used to be. It seems very strange. Having a counter to make sandwiches on and a sink nearby to wash the knife are part of the basic things we take for granted. The guys started the work today. They banged and ripped, and it didn't take long before everything was off the walls. At the end of the day they hauled the old cabinets to a landfill somewhere. They moved the dishwasher, stove, sink, and countertops to the garage, and now the most used room of the house stands empty except for a few tools that await the carpenter's hands tomorrow.

The kitchen is small - I am now thinking that is a good thing - but the job is going to be bigger than I planned. I am not going to be able to get away with a simple change of cabinets. Ohh no... It is going to need to be a total redo. In its bareness, one thing I realized is that I cannot have pretty new cabinets without a pretty new floor to put them on. This evening I went out looking at possibilities and chose some beautiful eighteen inch travertine tiles. I wanted to keep running my hands across the sample and admire all of its ancient beauty marks. What a shame to have it underfoot. It will be delivered tomorrow, and I think they will be able to start to lay it in the afternoon. Because of that darned economy, these guys do not mind how much I tack on to the job. And I think I am quite lucky that I have such skilled available workers who can do anything around the house.

It will take a few weeks before the job is complete, but I don't mind. In many ways, it is nice not to have a kitchen.