Happy 90th Birthday!

My Aunt Catherine (Kakie to us kids) turns 90 tomorrow.  She had a birthday party today at the Senior Center where she lives, but I couldn't make it due to illness.  Going to a Senior Center when you're sick is never a good idea!  I can only imagine the staff lining up to keep me out!

The weather here today has been up and down.  It never got as warm as they predicted and now it's raining.  A blah day to match my blah disposition!

Lots going on at work.  We've been very busy for this early in the year.  Historic Virginia Garden Week is coming up next month and we have several properties on the tour.  I hope we have a good year ahead of us.

That's it for now.  Off to bed with me.  4:00AM comes very early when you don't feel well!

Spring Fever

It's cold and rainy in central Virginia today.  I spent yesterday cleaning/re-arranging the house.  My hands are itching to get into the soil, but it's still too early.  I need to clean the garage now.  There's stuff in there that's been in there ever since I moved in!  I have plant and chick orders placed and they will be arriving next month.  The plants will help boost the containers for this year and the chicks are to start replenishing the laying flock and show birds.  So much to do....next month!  I'm pretty sure I'm driving Greta (the dog) crazy with all the shuffling around of familiar objects.  She's not much into change.   

Everything Old will be New Again

It's late winter, the landscape looks dull, done and dead.  Then you see a little green bud poking out of the ground.  Your heart stirs.  You hope for warmer weather.  You watch the little green bud every day.  It gets bigger.  It forms strap like leaves.  You have a couple of warm days and you see a pale bud emerging from between the green leaves.  You get excited.  You wait.  You have a couple more warm days and the bud turns ivory colored and points toward the ground.  With each day the colors changes slightly, more yellow starts to emerge.  Then one day you go outside and marvel at the miracle before you.  A narcissus or daffodil.  After last summer's blasting heat and dryness, after last autumn's sudden and early freezing of the ground and winter's ensuing drying, desiccating winds the daffodils are back after their many months nap under the surface.  You look around and see crocus, scilla, eranthis.  You notice the brown brittle trees' and shrubs' buds are starting to swell.  Some are green like the first little bud you saw poking up.  Some are silver.  Some are red..  Some are fuzzy.  Some are shiny.  Some are so sharp feeling you think you might cut yourself on them.  You realize that the earth is awakening.  With no concern for the fall of empires, financial turmoil, the price of gas or any of the other multitude of things life has thrown at the world Nature is making her prescence and her plan for the season known to all.  Everything that looks old, tired, worn out and done is coming back.  Everything old will be new again.

Here we go again......

Well, it's been 6 months since the last post.  I'm not doing very well at this.  It was a long, hot summer, a short autumn and an early, bitter winter.  Just the kind of weather that has been known to kill gardeners.  So far the winter has been extremely cold and dry.  Not good for the plants.  We'll have to wait and see what spring brings.  We should have an early spring if the groundhogs know their business.  

The house is coming along slowly.  The roof is on (last autumn) and the gutters are next.  No progress on the yard or chicken coop yet.  More spring projects.  Oh boy.

Hope all is well with everyone and 2011 turns out to be a good year.

Back Again

It's been so long since I posted that I don't know where to begin! I have been very busy since buying the house. There are still a few repairs to be made, but the big stuff is done or scheduled to be done. We have had a great year at work. We are consistently busy when other companies in our field are going out of business. I feel really lucky that our business is doing well and hope we continue to bring in new customers.

One bit of sad news is that I lost Kintok, my male Shar Pei, this past May. He was 12 years old (pretty good for a Shar Pei) and died peacefully in his sleep in his own bed. I hope I'm that lucky when my time comes! I do miss him quite a bit, but still have Greta, the female, and she is adapting well to being the only dog in the house!

The weather here has been hot (95-100 degrees) with no rain until this past weekend. Most of the yard is just scorched earth at this point. Thank heavens I hadn't done any landscaping yet! I hope to get started with the yard this Fall.

That's it for now. It's not much, but it's a beginning. Thank you to those of you who have e-mailed to see why I hadn't posted in a while. Hopefully I can get on a regular schedule now

No, not dead yet.

I finally purchased a house of my own! It's been a long ordeal (sorry for the long silence) but I sign the papers in a few days and move in this month. This will be a big change for me and the dogs as the house is in the city and we've lived in the country for so long I don't remember what it's like to have neighbors 'close by'.

Happy Memorial Day

It's the end of May and the beginning of the summer season here in the States. I hope everyone is doing well and has great plans for the warm weather. Whether you are at the beach, the lake or in the mountains always remember your sunscreen! The day here is overcast and looks like rain, but maybe we'll get some sun before it's all over and done. Good luck with all of your backyard bar-b-ques and family get togethers!