SHORT AND SHORTER

First, my condolences and sympathy with the gentle people of Japan. They were never the enemy in WWII. It was their leadership. Same in Italy and Germany.

I am preparing my laptop for a visit to the HP hospital. I am pretty upset a custom designed somewhat expensive (for me) laptop has several major problems, but it is in warranty, so I better get it fixed soon.

(1) The wireless network card cuts in and out--never happens on my husband's HP desktop, so it is not our wireless router or our ISP which has been painfully verified with many calls to my Internet Service Provider.

(2) Windows 7 Back and Restore is either buggy, or the expensive Blu-Ray CD/DVD player recorder is defective. I have attempted 5 backups of 2x320 GB drives on Memorex DVD+RW disks. It takes quite a few, like over 15 and then it says the Backup failed. HP says it is the Memorex disks so I ordered VERBATIM, a very good brand. At disk 8 it failed for the 6th time.

(3) This laptop has an entertainment module built in called Media Smart. The icon for sound shows it is off all the time, although I have sound. And I so dislike Windows 7, although I seem to be the exception.

S0 I bought an external Seagate USB portable backup drive. It is still backing up over 24 hours!. However, I have tons of photos and graphics and USB powered devices are not as fast as other methods. Since I turned on verify backup it may take another day before it finished.  I see why people dislike backing up their units. It does appear to be functioning properly.

I suppose I will be writing less as I near my procedure and the 3 month healing period. I have another laptop which I may be blog cruising.

My husband's sister from North Carolina is coming to help us some. And I know I will be told to exercise, mostly walk and try to get up to 2 miles, or so I have heard from other patients. It will have to be in the gym on a treadmill, as my allergies go wild outside.

Our Babies

We just adopted five babies Tuesday -- actually 3 babies and 2 toddlers. There will be 8-9 more additions soon.

No, at 72+ years, we are not following in the footsteps of Father Abraham and wife, Sarah.

But we have baby trees and shrubs to nurture, instead of aged red oaks. I counted the rings of one red oak we lost and quit after 90. I may retry with a magnifying glass.

Here are the our new adoptions:

1. The Japanese Red Maple is nearly a new born. Its deep burgundy leaves remain the same color during the growing season.

2. Our "terrific two" twins are Crepe Myrtles. Their color is not known as their tags were missing, but it is thought to be one purple and one white; it will be a surprise when they bloom!

3. Then we have two toddlers: an Eastern Redbud, and a Red Dogwood.

4. These plant photos are non-descript, plain, even downright ugly and boring. But when they are old enough to flower, the wait and anticipation is worth it. Below are some samples of Crepe Myrtle, Red Dogwood, and Eastern Redbud .