crunch

Millie and I are stepping into a period of a great big crunch. (Which is different than cringe -- a term that a certain granddaughter used recently when I tried to sound current in my use of slang.) I get up early not because Millie asked me to, and not because I had enough sleep (certainly not that!), but because I wake up remembering yet another thing that must be done today.

It's a lovely day once again, but I don't know how to organize it best. Should I take Millie to doggie daycare so that I can do my weekly grocery run? Or should I leave her at home for it, and come back straight away with my groceries? Except that I need a trip, too, to the Hardware store, and the UPS returns have been sitting in the car for several days now. I could take Millie along for that. But should I? Do hardware stores allow dogs? 

I bring my computer to breakfast, which is sheer blasphemy. My sacred reading time over my morning meal, outside... But who am I kidding? I don't have time to read.

Ed comes over in the late morning. I told him I need help with the hose reel. 

The what? Hose reel? You bought a hose reel? Whatever for?

It's for Steffi's House. I will be watering the new flower beds every couple of days in this weather, starting tomorrow, and I need a hose on each side of the building.

Why dont you get a standing metal hose hook? 

They're flimsy. This reel is solid! Here, look!

Unbelievable! Do you know what mechanical work went into designing this thing? It must have cost you a bit of money!

It was on a Memorial Day sale, and Wirecutter said... (Wirecutter is a NYTimes rating service of consumer goods. Of their choosing.)

You cannot take Wirecutter seriously! (Ed is not a fan of a place that urges you to spend more money on so called "better" goods.)

But they're right: if you don't buy a solid reel, the thing will tip over!

That's why you should just get a standing iron holder that you put straight into the ground and that costs one tenth the amount of a reel.

It's rare that I am convinced by Ed's opposition to a purchase I make, or want to make, but this time he is correct. A reel is unnecessary and expensive.

But I already unboxed it and it comes with all these variously shaped metal pieces... Which is why I needed your help in putting it together.

Let's go have lunch at Tati's and you can think about it.

 

 

 

Millie gets a pup cup. Pure happiness.

 

 

 

Home again. It's such a pain to rebox the reel. An incredible pain. But Ed is patient and we sit down on the floor and put this heavy duty puzzle (because it is a puzzle!)  back together again. An hour of work. And I tell him -- I'm remembering how fun it is to work on something with you. His calm becomes my calm. There is laughter. We have to redo it from the beginning about a dozen times. I vaguely recall that I have a huge list for this day. Millie is mystified by the boxes, the tubes, the wheels. But we persevere and finally it is boxed and ready to join my pile of stuff needing to go to the UPS store.

In the meantime, a couple more roses show up. Jackson & Perkins (the leading rose shop online) tells you not to plant them in the ground until Fall (but yes, put them for the time being in a pot, hence the need to go to a hardware store - they have cheap plastic pots). Spring or Fall, Not summer. By their estimation we are in full blown summer. Judging by the weather this week, I'd say they're correct. Other places say keep them covered up to two weeks but do plant them as soon as you can. So where did today's prickly bareroot  rose  come from? I do not remember. And which ones are supposed to be planted tomorrow and which ones are to wait until the back yard is ready for them? I don't remember. Give me a break, I have dug up or otherwise acquired close to 100 plants. I know where most are to go, but on the roses -- well, it's a puzzler.

I order groceries online. No time to go to the store.

And the trip plan I was working on for the past days? I've thought of changes I have to make. And wasn't I to decide on the menu for the dinner party I'm hosting 12 days from now?  

Oh! It's time to pick up Snowdrop at school. Millie, crate time.

 

My granddaughter is great at helping with the pup. She walks her...

... while I finally get organized: I drive Snowdrop to her activity downtown and from there go back to Steffi's House. The landscaping person asked me to soak the places we'll be digging up tomorrow because it's been so damn hot and dry that it's difficult to rip out sod and plant stuff. 

And in taking my hose to do this job, I see that it's not long enough. Darn. I order a new one. Meantime, this one will do. Just barely. 

Do I have time to dump the compost bucket scraps at the farmette? I do not. It's close to 7, Millie hasn't been fed, I haven't been fed, and there are these roses that maybe need to be soaked or maybe just wrapped up and left alone.

I dump the compost anyway. Oh, it's pretty here right now!

Supper? At home: a box of wheat crackers and an egg. Can't be bothered with reheating soup.

Tomorrow is the big day for my new flower fields. I've been anxiously looking forward to it for many weeks. I'll be working all day outside. And Millie? I rejected the Rover sitter in the end (when she said "please do bring the crate in case I have to pop out for a few minutes..." How do I know she wont keep my pup locked in the crate for most of the day? It's not as if I have a spy camera into her house! I also cancelled the new doggie daycare that is in fact open Saturdays (her current one is not), because they asked to keep her the full day, starting at 7 a.m. for observation. Millie has never been in doggie daycare for more than 3-4 hours and this is a brand new one. No way will I hand her over for the day! In trecounting my woes to one of the trainers at Millie's current doggie day care, I was stunned to hear her say -- oh, I'll take her for the day for you! Such good people! But this means I have to drive Millie to the small town north of us where she lives. Early tomorrow. And yet, here I am, thinking about the writing I still have to do tonight.

Okay, have I convinced you yet? I'm in a crunch. A happy one, but still, a time crunch.

with lots of love...