Rest in Peace

The killdeer eggs are gone and no sign of papa and mama bird not even a eggshell left behind. Suspicion rests with a predator, I am thinking that it was likely a raccoon since all the eggs are gone and one of our flags was missing as well. Daisy (the cat) is the main killer of small critters here but I do not think this is her work.

A small company such as mine is affected more easily and with greater impact by events beyond our control. For example inter company romance that does not work out can result in personnel turn over (happened), lame brained three wheeling on the weekend can result in busted up key employees being off for a month (happened just recently), employees of seven years get cancer and die within a matter of months (happened in08') and people have accidents. A week ago Friday one of our long term employees was in an automobile accident and had to be life flighted via helicopter to Parkview hospital in Fort Wayne he is at home now recovering but his passenger was not so lucky, she was killed. This tragedy has had a deep impact on everyone both here at Millgrove and the small community of Orland where the women lived. Our thoughts and condolences to the family.When we were not thinking or talking about the accident this week we managed to complete a couple of jobs, start a new one and even get some extra work done at the shop (I hired a new yard person). I interviewed a gentlemen who I am going to call today and offer a job, I hope he agrees to come to work tomorrow.

Peace Lutheran Church you might recall from an earlier blog entry called Holy Smoke. Fire caused by a electrical short in a neon lit huge cross on the building dropped sparks onto leaves which caught the shrubs and building on fire around Easter. The siding has been repaired, the cross rehung and the landscaping replaced by us.
About ten years ago we landscaped the first big new addition Peace put on and that landscaping has matured nicely. Since our first installation they have added a Family Center building which houses a day care operation among other things. While we were replacing the material damaged in the fire they asked that we bid on new landscaping for their addition. We got the job and installed the design this week. These photo' s show the work of the past and most recent additions. I still like the old design and think that it looks good although better maintenance through the years would have benefited the plant material. It is a bit heavy on boxwoods but they are also the shrubs that look the best. The three new pyramidal boxwoods look great under the cross and the wave of hostas is easy on the eyes. We also did some touch up on a bed the parishioners installed and transplanted two of their dwarf lilacs to a more suitable location.

Generally we do not plant flowers in stone but to cut down on weeding we ran landscape fabric (Dewitt ProV is my favorite), slipped the hosta in a pre-cut opening, ran soaker hose and top dressed with number 8 river wash stone (glacial small stone, quarried locally), looks good and easy care. This church has a lot of square footage of landscape beds and anything we can do to make it easier sure helps. We also redid the lawn around the addition, construction sure takes its toll on grass.