Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Time, Sacrifices... and "Field Trips" (Part 1)

Honest, I have not given up gardening, garden blogging or lost interest in catching up with Blog friends!  Right now, there simply does not seem to be enough time in the week (much less the day).

Minutes, Hours and Days - fly by in 'seconds'
(Image: from the creative minds at Microsoft Clip Art)
If you have small children and think time flies by fast, just wait until they are young adults.  Time isn't measured by school holidays - it's measured in annual milestones, or even 'life' milestones.  This is a big year in our home for milestones.  (If you see me posting a lot after August, you'll know it's gotten really quiet around the 'old hacienda'.)

I've been on many "field trips" recently and am grateful for my new(ish) smart phone.  It takes AWESOME pictures, which immediately can be emailed, posted or forwarded ... wherever and whenever.  I won't even get started on it's 'WiFi' compatibility -- yes, I'm a technology geek.

University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign:  the Alma Mater
This came in handy when I had the chance to visit my Alma Mater, the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.  It is renowned for it's agricultural studies (among many others), and now more than ever - it's known for it's environmental education & sustainable applications.  The University has a whole "sustainable" program.  Here is a quick link if you are interested:  http://sustainability.illinois.edu/    (Another reason to be a very proud 'alum'.)   As I walked up on this building (see photo below) - street side, it just had something special ... later on, from another side of the building - I saw the "money shot" view.  Here is the link to it's features:  http://sustainability.illinois.edu/greenbuilding.html

As I came up on the building from the street, I just "knew" it was something special...
A shot from my iPhone ... this building doesn't have a bad angle.
Even the 'shape' of landscaping around the campus has changed.  Dorms are being updated.  Faculty is challenging their students to design new and improved (AND native) landscapes around campus.  One more link:  http://sustainability.illinois.edu/landscapes.html  Illinois is not called the "Prairie" state for nothing.


The local community within the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana are caught up in the sustainability initiative as well.  Though I didn't take a picture of it -- Champaign's public transportation is comprised of a fleet of hybrid buses.  Even local businesses and churches have redesigned their surrounding landscaping, as seen in the attached photo:

A little 'fashion forward' coloring - along with drought-tolerant planting.
I had aspired to include photos from 2 other recent 'field trips' in this post - but I am a chatty blogger!  I've run out of time !!!   How apropos for this post ...

Garden close-up - with a little "mood" lighting
Pacim, amici ...

©  All content and photos by Shyrlene Foster @ The Bunnies Buffet (unless noted)

20 comments:

  1. Shyrlene, I understand you very well, the past three months were like a constant race! I hope the time for relax is come! Nice to go back to your school and see how great they are doing, one of my best friedns from grad school at GWU was a graduated from the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign and she was as proud as you! Enjoy the day, Lula

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    1. Lula - so glad to hear from you! I think we are all so busy these days, maybe when Summer is over things will quiet down? (Small world - with your friend going to U of I too!) :)

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  2. It must be nice to go back! My old University got bulldozed to make way for a shopping centre!

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    1. IG - WHAT?!! Bulldozed your University??? That is sacrilegious! (Thanks for swinging by for a visit!)

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  3. It's been hard for me to get it all together this summer, and blogging seems to always get pushed aside. And I don't even have children living at home anymore! I enjoyed your field trip. Nice that they are updating everything. I love the brick walkway with the drought tolerant plantings. The shot with the 'mood' lighting is fantastic!

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    1. Holley - hearing that you and other fellow bloggers are crazy-busy makes me feel better. I'm in great company. (I still try to take pictures in my travels around the yard and on vacation; I'll end up with a boat load of posts in September.)

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  4. I love your University photos! It is always hard to find time for everything. It is important to recognize the important things in life and to give them priority. As far as blogging, I am always trying to play catch up!

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    1. Deb - thanks so much! It was so great to visit UofI, and know my youngest will now be there too ('proud Mom' moment!). I am really looking forward to catching up on blog reading...

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    2. that was the bit I was looking for. Another of your little people going off to university. Then you will blog to us about the empty nest syndrome? Somehow I think you will be happily busy ;~)

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  5. Shyrlene, Thanks for posting those photos of your University. Love seeing native landscapes in public places, wish there was a lot more of that!

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    1. Paulette - it was such a pleasure to see such progressive sustainability more and more. Now I have to get more aggressive on my own gardens! :D

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  6. What a great idea to go back and photograph your university. As the years go by we look at things like that with different eyes, I can honestly say I can't remember the plants around my university, even if I used to eat my lunch in the park there every day during spring and autumn! Great post :-)

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    1. Helene - believe me, when I was a student at school, gardening & the eco-system were not on my radar. Looking at the school with a more mature viewpoint has been wonderful! Thanks for the kind feedback. :)

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  7. I went to four different colleges because I was a military wife while also a student so going back to photograph them all would be either the road trip from hell or a very pricey plane ticket. But your school looks awesome!! Excellent approach to landscaping. :o) Glad your back!!

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    1. CM - I have to be honest, the trip was for my daughter's Freshman orientation; it just happens to be at my Alma Mater (it was a great 'girls trip'). The visit had the bonus of enjoying the "Green" changes! (and thank goodness for cell phone cameras...) It is great to be back again on the Blogosphere!

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  8. thanks for stopping by the blog shyrlene. The prairie style landscaping is very neat to say the least.

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    1. Greggo - I enjoy your blog tremendously; I've been 'off the grid' again, so it feels good to get back 'online'. With the drought & heat we had this Summer - gardens look so peaked, I'll be anxious to see what come back next Spring.

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  9. There are three types of ironweed (vernonia), all of which should do well for you. I have the tall New York ironweed in a garden bed and the shorter 'Iron Butterfly' in a pot. I bought mine from Lazy S's Farm Nursery, an incredible company I shop with a lot.

    http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plants/Perennials/U-Z_files/U-Z.htm

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    1. CM - thanks for the link and recommendation. After the drought/heat 'carnage' this season, I suspect I will be replacing quite a few plants. "Ironweed" sounds like it's right up my alley.

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