Seedlings (Plants & Plans)

My tomato seeds are "big guys" now and I have them transplanted into quart pots. About 10 or 11 inches tall with nice thick stems. Too many. Yes, I've done it again. Raised too many tomato seedlings. And I am experimenting with my pepper plants. They will either do well or the stems will rot. One never learns anything if we don't try. My Morning Glories are twisting their tendrils around anything they can reach. The eggplant medley is slowly growing. Not enough heat.

The pupper and I are together today. Walks, gardening, and perhaps a ride in the car to the library where I will be returning books I have never had the chance to read. Up at 6 am and in bed by 10 pm. Not that I'm complaining. I feel great, full of energy. Laundry is getting done, meals are being prepared, plants are being watered.

I have some plans made for my perennial bed along the south side of the house. Originally this was a herb bed with some roses. Catmint, yarrow and false indigo. The indigo is still here but the yarrow and catmint are long gone. The roses all got "wet feet" and died. So today, and for many future days, I plan to just work from one end to the other and weed, dig and remove everything and start over. I do want to recreate the bones of this bed with double pink Knock Out Roses (hardy), yellow yarrow and catmint. My favorite bouquet is yarrow, the blue flowers of the catmint and pink roses. I also may keep ONE Lady's Mantle for the lime green feathery flower fronds. I also have Siberian Iris to plant. A lovely deep blue. So my garden will be pink, light to deep blue, yellow and lime green. No herbs. And I am determined to rid this bed of every stem of ajuga. Ugh!

My tulips are blooming in the vegetable garden. So pretty. And the deer can't reach them. I have new pots of thyme (ordinary and lemon), a new rosemary (forgot to bring it in before winter) and a spearmint which I will sink into the ground in a nice thick pot to keep it from going all over. I have oregano to transplant from the south east bed and I will see if the tarragon over wintered.

K and I could not believe Survivor last night. Erik. We were as speechless as the four women who worked him over. Innocent or stupid? The finest moment was when James chortled in pure joy that HE was no longer the "stupidest survivor ever". Ah, James, you are still MY favorite contestant. Rupert is now second. This may be the most intriguing season of Survivor with the fans of the show and veterans battling it out. No one is truly clueless (except for Erik) and we have heroic and underhanded play. Lots of lies. Blindsiding. Medical emergencies. Hard to say who is playing who right now. I hope Cerie wins. She has manipulated nearly everyone and has never won a challenge (or even come close), can't swim and is still wearing her gold watch and diamond rings. And she smiles sweetly through it all. Outwit, outplay, outlast. Go girls!

What's Good: My haircut. This maybe my favorite cut ever. Short, close to my head and the color (silver) is spectacular with the suntan I have now. Wash and comb with my fingers. I could never wear it this short when I was heavy. Sunshine (on a cloudy day). A whole day to just do or not do what I want. And the Greek lunch wagon in town is open and I think I will be getting a Greek Salad Gyro for lunch after I cash my paycheck and check out the resale store. I need some short sleeved or no sleeve tees.

FLAT

I drove home today and the "performance" tires weren't. I mentioned to G that he should check the air in my tires. Turns out. The left rear was "flat as a pancake". G has no idea how I drove it home and why I didn't destroy the tire. Still could be destroyed. Big shiny screw embedded in the tread. See?

I read the manual and G changed the tire. Of course we had to FIND the spare first. It has it's own secret compartment under the car. Full of dirt. In ten years, we have never had cause to even look at it. Let alone, use it. It has warning labels, speed labels, buttons we "must" push etc. German safety and engineering. G will be driving it to the tire dealership. Not me. The manual says there will be steering and braking "issues" such as delayed stopping. Oy.

Happy Cinco de Mayo. We are having nachos with $4.99 chips. Well worth the money. Delicioso. With homemade guacamole with jalapenos. Margaritas? Yes, please.

It's NOT Snowing

Cold, wet and cloudy. And I walked the dog twice today, twice yesterday, and twice on Friday. I had on a winter coat, wool scarf, hat and gloves. I have very little body fat left and no tolerance for cold, it seems.

This is my weekend OFF work but ON dog duty. G is having a terrible re entry to work after a week's vacation. Terrible. He is exhausted, depressed and ready to give up. Just when I was beginning to feel like things were getting better. NOT.

And I am feeling very violated. I wrote in my blog that I worked in a greenhouse. My instincts screamed "do not say anything" and my instincts were right. The person who reads my blog and made copies of entries relating to the library (and set my job loss there in motion) came to the greenhouse the day after my blog entry was made. She asked if I liked my new job. I don't remember what I replied. I felt like I was having a panic attack.

I don't feel the same about my blog anymore. I don't feel safe. I don't feel like I can be honest and free with what I write. I type and delete.


I'm very sad.

Vegetable Gardening

Today was my scheduled vegetable gardening "talk" at a local greenhouse. I had three handouts for each participant. One was a copy of the Master Gardener chapter on vegetables. In other words, more than they needed but some of everything on location, watering, soils and mulches. We also discussed moles, voles, grubs, composting, soil amendments, the size of slugs and recipes for food grown. I think every gardener is a good eater also. They took notes on the recipes.

I was hoping to have enough to say to fill a half hour. I ended up talking non stop for 2 hours. No one got up to leave. I am very proud of myself right now. They left to purchase soil, seedlings and soil test kits. As I was walking out of the classroom (the heated plastic greenhouse) I saw several groups chatting about their gardens. Information and a possible garden friend. Does it get any better?

They were even saying nice things at the cash register about the class. My boss will certainly be pleased with that--especially at the cash registers since it's a cold and rainy day today- sales are important.

I had to hurry home to walk the dog. We walked in a drizzly rain and on the last few blocks Riley carried a small sapling in his jaws, proudly, tail wagging. He's tired now and is probably chewing a hole in his bed. I caught him with a mouth full of fiber fill this morning and scolded him. I never know what he comprehends. He understands walk, lunch, dinner, drop it, ride and a few other things. We'll see if he understands no chewing.

He's in my face and wants to play. Guess I'm done blogging.