One of those days

And yet not all bad.

It started with an early morning trip to take the dog I'm dog-sitting out for a walk. On said walk, I discovered said dog had diarrhea. Upon return to his house said dog shook big old droplets of poop all over the entry way. Which I had to sniff out and wipe up. Then I retreated, quite sure I would return to a house full of poop. Fortunately, that was not the case.

I enjoyed a pleasant trip to the farmer's market where I exercised restraint and didn't buy any more plants to add to the still unplanted primrose and oregano I purchased last week.

Once home I raced inside and quickly changed into lawn mowing clothes. I needed to take advantage of the first and last dry day for a while. But alas, bad mower karma is making the rounds and the mower would not stay running. After three unsuccessful attempts, I was out of ideas and energy. My motivation sapped, I elected to spend the next several hours basking in front of the boob tube while every single other one of my neighbors mowed their lawns to rival professional golf courses.

After another trip to let out Diarrhea Dog (who you'll be pleased to know experienced no further bowel movements, indoors or out) I decided on the spur of the moment to head out to Second Home Nature Center for short walk. Clearly, I could use some fresh air.

And somehow the stress continues

Silly me, I thought it would end with the last final. But alas, now my boyfriend is piling on the pressure for me to move out to California, or at least to establish a time line. Stress.

I found out that my host teacher who'd promised to write me a letter of recommendation back in November never did. I sent her a groveling email to which she has yet to respond. Stress.

There are virtually no teaching jobs in my field with openings in either my state or CA. Stress.

Not that I could apply for them anyway without 3 letters of rec. Stress.

OK, even I'm sick of my whining. To tell you the truth, it is the first item that is currently the biggest source of stress for me. So much so that I have gotten to the point where I'm dreading his phone calls. That's no kind of fun.

In better news, I installed my new shepherd's hook and hanging basket of candy cane striped geranium after work tonight. The shepherd's hook leans something awful. I stuck it in the ground about 47 timed and each time it looked worse than the time before. I don't get it. I used to hate geraniums because of their smell (there was one in the window behind my chair at the kitchen table as a kid). My nose lost some of its sensitivity as I aged and my love of geraniums continues to develop. I also purchased two Martha Washington geraniums at the farmer's market, which coordinate nicely with the hanging basket. Gorgeous! (See, now don't we feel better after talking about flowers?)

The Stolen Tomato

Many weeks ago I bought a patio tomato at the farmer's market. This was to be my first real attempt at growing edibles. There were two plants in the one pot, and I was advised to split them up and re-pot into two bigger containers. Since that would've required a trip to the store, I kept putting it off. Finally I noticed a tomato turning orange. I watched it carefully, checking it before and after work. This past weekend I purchased two larger plastic pots and a bag of potting soil. Now I have two tomato plants! Yesterday morning my first tomato was heading towards red, but when I checked it after work it was gone! I genuinely thought someone has stolen my tomato before I noticed it resting sadly in the dirt next to the pot. The bottom was soft and rotten. Why did my tomato go bad before it was ripe? And how do I prevent it from happening to the others?

My parents have green thumbs

These are only a fraction of the many flowering plants in my parents' yard. Every year they plant hundreds of impatiens, in addition to the multitude of perennials. I always admire their gardens but don't like to think about all the weeding they must require. I lucked out the other day when I was over there and found tons of perfectly ripe wild strawberries, including handfuls of blond ones. One more thing to add to the list of "things I want to plant in my yard."

Some of my hostas are in bud and my coral bells are always flowering. One of the geraniums that survived the winter in dormancy in the garage has sent up its first flower of the summer. My lovely farmer's market lilies from last summer are just about to pop. I need to get more of those too; they are so neat and compact, with gorgeous flowers.

FF was prodded into removing the blade from the lawn mower to take to work and sharpen. Hopefully, he can get to it tomorrow because my grass is starting to look a tad shaggy. The blade was so dull that it was pushing the grass over instead of cutting it. Must be all the stumps I've caught with it over the years. Maybe mowing will go faster with it sharpened? One can always hope...

Garden update sans photos

The peonies and irises are done. The flowers from the black locusts (Robinia pseudoacacia) are a thing of the past, but the catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) is in full bloom. Too bad the flowers are so high up that I don't really get to appreciate them. I can and do appreciate the sweet syringa (Philadelphus coronarius) whose flowers have just opened in the last few days. It grows beneath my bedroom window, and I like to imagine I can catch hints of it while I sleep. Actually, I swear I can smell it right now.

I can't believe June is half over. I've spent so little time working in the yard. It makes me sad, but maybe I'll have more time next summer. Sigh.

Boom!

My peonies opened yesterday. Gorgeous pale pink flowers that I never grow tired of seeing. I also have three shades of irises in full bloom.

In the wee hours of the morning I was rudely awakened by booming thunder, flashing lightening, and pounding rain. I thought for sure my peonies would be smashed to bits in the mud, but they were holding their own when I took the dogs out. Some of the irises didn't fare so well.

Nor did I, for that matter. The power went out, and I overslept by an hour. I skipped my morning tea and have had a throbbing, stabbing headache all day. No amount of drugs has helped, nor has the caffeine in the cola I had with lunch. The tea I had planned on consuming upon my arrival at work was nixed after I realized the funky smell in my office was coming from the moldy hot cocoa. The big sniff I took of the mug contents practically burned my nose hairs.

Esme will certainly not approve of my desire to lie on the couch with my eyes closed. I'm sure she'll be much more interested in chewing on my nose or chin. Why did I bother buying all those dog toys?

Sunny Saturday

Some of my poppies have popped. I think maybe if I stood next to them long enough I could catch them in the act of going from fuzzy buds to gorgeous open flowers.

The Solomon seals hide quietly in the deep shade behind my house. They do not announce their presence with the same zeal that the poppies do, but they are well worth the extra look.

The lily-of-the-valley are filling the backyard with a lovely light scent, but I was unable to capture them on film. I brought 4 flower stalks into the house for continued enjoyment of their fine scent. My grandmother had tiny vases that were perfect for a single small flower. I wish I had them now, as my lily-of-the-valley would look much better in those tiny blue and white vases than they do in the wine glass I put them in.

Generosity

One of my co-workers brought these plants in for me yesterday: a columbine (blue), two hostas, some bee balm, and a hardy mum. They were dug from her yard and her mother's yard with me in mind. I am thrilled!

I only got two of them planted last night (the two hostas) before I received a phone call from FF asking for help. The belt on his car had snapped, so I had to pick him up at the car parts store (he'd walked there from the gas station where his dead car awaited) and take him to get his tools from his work van. By the time I got back home it was dark. I guess that just gives me more time to think about proper placement. I'm prone to digging holes and plopping plants any old place. I should really consider the best place for the bee balm though because I think it spreads easily?

In my yard

Tulip & Bloodroot, taken this morning

Peony

I love everything that blooms (who doesn't?), but peonies are one of my absolute favorites. The yard at my new house came equipped with a lovely half circle of pale pick peonies. Someday in the future I'd like to plant other colors in other parts of the yard, but for now I will appreciate each of the gorgeous flowers that I have.

Every year the historical society in my village hosts a peony festival, and every year I think about going. Maybe this year?

Grammy's Snowdrops

The only thing flowering in my yard so far are a few small and mutant periwinkles, but Grammy's snowdrops are blooming in clusters in the shade by her garage door. I am tempted to dig up a cluster to bring to my new house. I know she would want me to have them to enjoy spring after spring. Once her house is sold, I will miss the peony's, clematis, columbines, and most of all the beautiful rhododendron. I can't transplant them all, but surely a small bit of snowdrops could make themselves at home somewhere in my new yard.

Freezing Rain

When I took the dogs out this morning, I discovered several periwinkle blossoms near the mailbox. The cars and sidewalk were already covered with a slick sheet of ice. The flowers were a bright spot on a grey morning.

Back inside where it's dry and more or less warm, it's time for English Breakfast tea and blogs.