INVITATION

I am happy to be an average guy. "People who give up freedom for protection don't deserve either." You look after me, pay the bills, feed me and raise me, I give up some of my freedom because you protect me. But that does not mean I should give up my freedom totally. I still want my own life. You should feel lucky that I talk to you with respect. Da. Give me some slack, please. This is messy to you, but to my friends and their parents, it is perfect. Money is not everything. What is important is to have a parent who cares. I kind of feel lucky I am not spoiled. Come on. Smile. You need a hug. You are stressed out. You should relax. Go there, sit down and watch your show. Well, I stayed a bit longer so that he got some quality time with me. He is a decent person, but that does not mean he can be a good father. You want this change, right? So don't stop because you pity him. Pity is not love.

Our Beta fish Phil did eat when I fed him. In the past summers, he would wake up in the early morning when I drew open the curtains. He would swim to the surface waiting to be fed. His appetite was very good as he could eat 3 or 4 pallets. This summer, he is different. He sees the pallets, but does not bite. He simply swims away. He must be hungry because I saw him trying to take the pallets that have sunk to the bottom of the tank. Beta fish are surface eaters, not bottom ones. So this made me think that probably the pallets were no longer fresh. I bought a new bottle of Beta pallets today. When I opened the cap, I was surprised to find the pallets twice the size of the the previous brand. I dropped a few in the tank. Phil was obviously interested in the new brown food. He dashed towards one of them, opened his mouth, but the pallet was too big to fit in. At first I was not sure it was the size problem, so I fed him a few more. He seemed scared of the sight of them, and quickl...

Creating a small garden on my tiny balcony is a challenge. In the past I usually got annuals with showy flowers. As the climate here in BC is quite mild in winter, most annuals lasted until the first frost. But I want a change this year. I want to try some easy grow perennials. Although I spent hours checking balcony garden ideas, it is still hard to find all the right plants that can survive the wet and sunless winter here. The solid balcony fences also leave large area of the balcony in shade. Today I bought another container to re-pot the dianthus. I also planted a baby English lavender beside it as they both like dry soil. The dianthus somehow has grown into a strange shape, but the many red flowers prove her energy and livelihood. Spike Veronica is growing tall, but can't stay tall as it needs stakes to support the long branches. The Lamium is blooming purple flowers. Forget-me-not are also blooming pale pink flowers, hidden inside the dark green leaves, hard to see. ...

They are so cute that even since I saw them a long time ago in a neighbor's garden, I have been wondering what they were. They are the marvel of nature, a perfect presentation of symmetry and geometry. So I found them today. It took me a few hours to drill a drainage hole in my favorite flower pot, but I didn't expect to find them already so large in Garden Works. The pot turned out to be pathetically small. I need to get a larger one, and a white one to match the ruby color. I was planning to get the jade one, but made the last minute decision for the ruby one. I am very happy to get a bunch of English lavender. I will plant them beside the dianthus. She gives me beautiful scarlet flowers even in winter. It is time to reward her. I will find a larger pot and put her and the lavender in. A sunny hot day. ****** Did more gardening today: I re-arranged the hens and chicks in the green pot. While I was doing this, our Beta fish Phil watched attentively from his tank. Phi...