If you liked the previous painting by Jory Sherman, there are more treats in store. The Winnesboro today has published a Father’s day piece on him that you can view here. They even show some of his paintings.

His paintings exude vibrant colors and are a delight to the eyes. His western books also create images with words and use some clever thinking. One of his latest books, Vigilante, depicts two gunman following another horseman who doesn’t want to be followed. Jory has them using a switchback technique that is pure genius. Now for the rest of the story go to his website and purchase the book or go to Amazon where you can find his books as well.

Jory Sherman has written over 300 books, most of them westerns, but not all. Also, you can find his short stories in Amazon shorts.

Dogs on the Farm Part 1 Click here

I went back to a friend of mine who had an Australian shepherd to find out why she said she would never get another one. Come to find out that she did like hers quite all right, but it was just too intelligent.

She told me that she felt the dog understood the English language as well any human. Teaching the dog new tricks was a snap, such as roll over, play dead, etc, and it only took about 3 minutes for her Australian shepherd to get the hang of it. Of course, the dog expected the treats for its labor, and so if he felt they weren’t coming fast enough he would do a roll over, play dead, sit up and beg and etc all in 5 seconds just to get the treat to come faster. He met his obligation, right?

He would learn any game they cared to teach him. He would play fetch and catch with a ball, but you had better throw it back to him. If you started to lapse in paying attention to the catch ball game, you would get bonged between the eyes with the ball by the Australian shepherd. He never missed, neither.

He would be great to bring on a hike to the woods in say Colorado, as he would protect you against any wild animals, but forget the bike path. He might not get out of the way for the bikers, even perhaps knocking some of them down. It all has to do with perspective. He might be thinking the bikers would be coming to do his masters some kind of harm. She said they are aggressive dogs.

So, she felt that the Australian shepherd being so intelligent needed too much attention. My thought is that you need to look at the parents. If the mom and dad Australian shepherds were mellow and easy going, so would be the pups. And the opposite would be true as well. So that’s how you pick’em. I think. Since I have never had one, I welcome all comments telling me if I’m right or not.

I’m back!! I took a brief ’sabatical’ to get the house and the taxes in order. Are they? Well…not exactly, but they are a far sight closer than they were. Now on to the task at hand.

Are you concerned about Identity Theft and hence, you shred all your mail? Do you want to use these shreds as an extra precaution but don’t have a clue what to do with them? Why not get them dirty and let Mother Nature continue the job you started.

Oh yeah…so what is Sphaghetti Gardening? Think layering. It is all about layering. See if you can envision the layers as I describe them below.

You put the paper shreds down around or on your plants as mulch. Water that down to flatten it and get the air holes out. Next, sprinkle a nice layer of dirt on top of the shredding so that the soil’s microorganisms will get plenty of contact with your paper shreds. More exposure, and more decomposition, means more nutrients created. These plant nutrients will enrich the soil, thereby nurturing healthier and happier plants. If we grow and play better with vitamins and minerals, think of how it will help the plants.

Finally, put some cedar or other mulch on top of the soil. Or if you really want a ‘green’ garden scatter all those weeds you have pulled. This should fill in the ‘white’ holes that are left. By taking this layered approach you will have a nice mosaic look to your garden and as to your personal shreds on your garden, nobody is the wiser.

Spring is a good time to put shredding on the garden. The rains of the spring and the hot summer combine to make a perfect composting of your paper shreds.

Happy shredding!!!

Now. be looking for my article concerning Dave Hinde’s advice about how to prepare the soil before you plant rhododendrons or azaleas.  Dave Hinde is a long time master gardener.

Lastly, if you want a free gift that will help keep you fit, allowing you to garden to your hearts content, opt in by Clicking here.