Hard to believe it, but I have some digging to do still. We didn't have a freeze last night, but the next three nights promise the real deal, and here I am, taking out my shovel again. Or, I will be taking out my shovel -- after breakfast.
(My orchid is finally in bloom!)
Millie has had an upset tummy again. The minute I finished her ten-day meds, she went straight back to having the runnies. Her mood is fabulous. Her digestion? Not so much. Something in her food is not agreeing with her. How do you figure it out with a dog? Poor girl, time to make a vet appointment.
Ed needs to pick up his car today so after I drop off the pup at day care, I pick him up and we head south. And I should then turn around and come straight home -- so much to finish up in the garden for the winter! But, he suggests lunch at Tati's and I'm not one to pass up a cup of coffee and a granola bar with him (he has a more normal lunch). I need to catch him up on all my rose stories. And then some!
Now finally I'm in the yard, digging away. I plant the two roses that arrived yesterday and I put up obelisks for both. And then I have to do it -- I have to extend the rose bed that edges the walkway. Where else do I plant the remaining roses? This is not a huge deal except 1. that still leaves for me three roses without a placement, 2. that is the absolutely worst digging job -- it's where the builders poured out unused asphalt so I have to break through it and then hit layers of construction gravel. 3. I need to move the solar lamp as well, because it has to be lighting the place where Millie and I come out at night.
(Carding Mill outlasted the others...)
I cant do it all today. By mid afternoon, I drop everything and go out to pick up Snowdrop.
I was going to then go and spend time with the two younger guys, but, there is a virus hitting the household and so instead, I go back to the bookstore with the healthy girl, where we have a beautiful hour with books. And hot chocolate.
We pick up Millie and...
... you know the routine. Drop off the girl, take Millie home, walk Millie, come inside and this feels so good! Warm house after the brisk cold air outside -- heaven.
I switch on the LIVE rose sale show at Grace Rose Farm (or as they now calls themselves -- Grace Rose Gardens). I'm not at all shopping anymore, but others, living in warmer zones are. (Though this particular nursery is of the mind that so long as you can work the earth, you can plant the roses -- I hope they are right on that one!) I've come to enjoy the whole spectacle quite a bit. People who love roses, gushing about them all evening long. I munch on bits of dark chocolate, and listen to the exchanges. Shoppers and growers comment, drool, buy, comment some more. Like so many hobbies, rose growing creates communities and sometimes this one seems almost cultish -- the growers are worshiped and when they present a rose, the starry eyed commenters flood the place with a dizzying amount of adoring notes. Why is this even appealing to watch? Well, ultimately it's about the flower itself. Inevitably you learn a lot. And I do like to get to know the growers of foods I consume, and of flowers I admire. Too, it's like going to a Beatles concert (that comment just dated me!!) -- the screams of fans gets you in the mood as well. There's nothing more fun than being around people who are having a good time.
Is it the weekend already? Millie, maybe you and I can both catch up on sleep?
(what are the chances that Millie will consider this door guard to be something other than a new toy for her? That tail will not remain upright for long!)
with so much love...
