Arrrgh!!!

Ronni is 65! How could that be? Surely it was only yesterday that we joined the workforce and claimed our positions as modern women of the world!

I want you to go read what she has to say about turning sixty-five. Personally, I'm going to book mark the page as a guideline on how to meet that momentous day and embrace the changes that may (will) come. I love her for what I see as a positive attitude and a love of live, no matter what comes.

Ronni, I hope this day is one of great joy for you! Happy Birthday!

SPRING is sneaking up on us! I got a decent night's rest last night, ran errands this morning, and I'm going to work on quilts this afternoon, but tomorrow.....
(sigh)....Tomorrow I'm going to be working outside!

It's sunny, but in the forties today, a bit on the chilly side for kneeling on the ground, trimming back plants. So, I've made the decision to wait until tomorrow to get out. It's supposed to get to the lower sixties, so I'll be more comfortable.

One of the errands I ran this morning was a stop at Home Depot. I bought trays of pansies and 8 hyacinth to plant in the front area planters. Mother was looking for color at the doorway for Easter. I purchased deep purple and yellow pansies, and johnny jump ups that are a tiny violet shaped flower that blends those two colors.

So....I'm off to play with fabric for the afternoon. I hope you're all having a GREAT spring weekend!

Well, Bogie, I have more to "brag" about.

Actually, I'm not bragging, just sharing the pleasure of being outdoors on a lovely day. I worked for an hour or so at the front door planting the pansies I picked up yesterday at Home Depot. Elegante Mother wanted some color at the front door, so I filled two large ceramic pots and two plastic window boxes with plants. I have more than I need, and I'm contemplating planting what's left on the west side of the garage. They won't last into the heat of summer, but they'll be a bit more color for early spring.

After lunch, I went out again and worked on cleaning out the iris along the front sidewalk, and the herb garden. By 3:00, I'd had enough kneeling, and called it a day. Tomorrow, or at the latest, on Tuesday, I'll have to rake up all that has been trimmed back. I pruned the clematis, the chrysanthemum, the purple coneflower, sage, lemon balm, Scottish spearmint, and part of the oregano. I still need to do the garlic chives.

Chives and fever few, and one weed I can't identify, are providing good green color in the gardens, but the only other thing in bloom at the moment are the "Ice Follies" daffodils at the front side walk. Each week I expect to see more blooms. The forsythia should be next to flower.

So....no bragging, just simple enjoyment. I can't wait to see pictures of all the bulbs planted at Bogie's last year. Crank up the camera, kiddo!

This morning, when I was so eager to get outside and play in the dirt, I had to stop to pull together information for a meeting. Dear Husband and I wrote our wills in 1992. Since then, there have been changes in the estate laws, and we have been advised to consider revocable trusts. The lawyer sent a letter with a list of the information she needs to move forward.

I was plugging away, typing out names and addresses of executors, trustees and beneficiaries, when it came to the question of specific bequests. We have three generations living here. We've combined three households, and created a "Yours, Mine, and Ours" situation. I walked to the living room to take a brief visual inventory, and realized that this was the most difficult, most personal, part of the information request. While you're talking about "assets" and "executors" it's just business, but when you have to think about where you want treasures to go, it becomes very personal.

You can't know if the person you leave the item to will love it as much as you did. It's possible that they want something of yours as a memento, but not THAT. Or, maybe they don't want anything at all. For instance, my quilting stash is becoming an amazing collection of fabric. I'm not sure that any one person in my family has room for it, or even wants it. Should my family decide they don't have room for it, I hope my bee members will offer to take it.

It made me crazy for a bit, trying to think about just what should go into that list of bequests, and I think that I need more time to make decisions. I know that the trust can be amended easily, so I'm going to go for the broadest strokes, and provide more detail later.

If you've been a visitor here, then you know that we lost Dear Husband's oldest son at the start of 2006. His passing, at 41, has made me more conscious of how fleeting life is, and the need to be prepared, so that our loved ones don't have to suffer through the legalities of probate. It's difficult, but I'll rest easier knowing that there is less for my family to do. And, hopefully, I'll get the bequests right.

I'm sorry to have gone missing again. Everything is fine. We're just in the midst of getting ready for a family dinner this Sunday. Two of my sisters and their families will be here, about 24 people, I think. I have to find a couple of table cloths in pastel colors. And I may have to reserve chairs at the local rental place.

I was pondering flowers, and I think I'm going to do something with bunches of tulips. They don't last long once they are cut, but they carry out the pastel theme well.

I have two hams holding down a shelf in the new refrigerator. I have condiments. I'm going to make baked ziti, and a pesto-goat cheese spread, and Elegante Mother is contributing her famous brownies. We're steaming harricot verts for a green veggie. My sisters and some of their children will bring the rest of the meal. I'll post a list of the entire menu later this week if I get the time. My youngest sis, who blogs at "Just My Opinion" (see my blogroll for a link), has been missing in action in the blog world. I'll have to nag her about it while we're cooking on Sunday.

I made it to the new doctor today, and was told that the problem on my two middle fingers is fungal in nature, and that my beloved latex gloves may be the culprit. He's also advised me to leave the computer once an hour and do stretching exercises to address a problem of muscles knotting over my shoulder blade.

I got to spend several hours outside on Sunday, and can tell you about muscles I haven't felt since last year at this time. I managed to get most of the sidewalk gardens, and the herb garden cleaned up. I still need to get to the lower driveway garden. I've asked Dear Husband to bring the trailer around to hook up to the lawn mower. I can make just one run with the cuttings, rather than piling things into the wheel barrow and having to make four or five trips.

The maple DH planted in the front yard shortly after we moved here has died. I think it must have had some type of insect infestation. Part of the tree was blighted, and this winter the bark rolled off the trunk, and the top of the tree snapped off in the high winds. What a loss! It was truly beautiful, with a fiery orange-red tint to the leaves in the fall.

It's late. I need to get to bed, but I wanted you all to know that I was thinking about you, even if I haven't posted a great deal lately. I hope you're having wonderful Spring weather!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Chilled Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce
Pesto/Goat Cheese Spread, with assorted crackers
Salmon Pate and Chevre with Sesame crackers

Spiral Sliced Ham
Baked Ziti with Parmesan Cheese

Cheesy Potatoes
Steamed French Green Beans
Pickled Eggs and Beets

Cold Corn Salad
Caesar Salad

Vernice Kastman Rolls
Cornbread Squares

Olives, Sweet Gehrkins and Dill Pickles

Easter Cookies, Brownies and other assorted Desserts

Coffee, Iced and Hot tea, Soda Pop, and Wine

Easter dinner will be held here for about half of my family. At the moment we're expecting 24 people, but that number will change back and forth until we have eaten. There are always unexpected changes, and we just go with the flow. Those who can make it will be fed, and those who can't will get take home meals.

The menu is listed below. I think in honor of Dear Husband there will be Mozart playing quietly in the background during dinner. I hope to steal all the young adults and have them to myself at one table, if they'll let me. They are of an age when they might prefer to mingle with the adults.....a rite of passage in our family.

Saturday and Sunday will seem odd because Dear Husband, the person I so depend on to pull off our gatherings, will be in Florida. Our son was a part of the largest group of Bears fans to gather outside of Chicago, in the Orlando area. They are holding a golf tournament on Saturday, and it's been named in his memory. So, DH is going to fly down to play in the tournament, and will fly home Sunday morning. Luckily, my youngest sis and her family will come late Saturday evening, and my oldest sis will come early on Sunday to be sure we have things under control. *G*

Elegante Mother and I found tablecloths in pastels to cover two of the tables. I'll use antique crocheted mats on the third table, and each table will be set with a different pattern of china. I'm going to do a bouquet of tulips for one table centerpiece, and two small arrangements of spring flowers for the others.

I think I have the schedule in place to get everything done, but we'll see how it turns out. Truth be told.....I'm the only one who will notice if not everything is done to my expectations. My family tells me to relax, and I have...a little. I'm NOT going to use paper plates, though!

I know that I've rambled on about preparations, when actually, the gathering of my siblings and their families are really what's most important to me. I love having family around me, and working with them to prepare a meal. I wish it was possible to do it more often, but as the family grows, each person is pulled in two or more ways. I choose not to make the kids feel bad if they can't attend a gathering here, but that doesn't mean I don't miss them when they are away.

So, this Sunday, we will celebrate life, and family and I will tuck the memories away to savor in the future. I'm blessed, I know.

Ya know.....~T~, who hosts me at RedEagleSpirit, told me recently that I had just posted my 1,000th entry! I was really surprised. Despite the doldrums this past year, I've still managed a thousand entries.

I suppose I started repeating myself around the 25th one. *G* Don't tell me....I wouldn't be able to remember it anyway.

It's good of you all to come and visit!

I LOVE entertaining my family. I really do.

BUT........there are times when I'd like to throttle them!

All through today, I was fairly confident that I could set three tables with eight place settings and have plenty of room to seat everyone. Then, my step-daughter called tonight to confirm that they would be joining us.

No problem, I'm delighted they are going to join us. I'll get to show off that adorable pixie of a grand daughter of mine!

So...back to the drawing board, counting on fingers and toes...making sure I have enough chairs and room. NO PROBLEM! I've got it covered.

A quick call to my oldest sis to talk with her about plastic Easter eggs for an indoor Easter egg hunt. In the process of the call, I confirm who is coming and I'm just about ready to hang up, when I realize that her son-in-law's brother is going to be visiting. IS HE COMING ON SUNDAY??? No...no...he'll be going home Saturday. But.......her son-in-law's MOTHER will be with us. Talk about last minute notice!

Sheesh.....back to the drawing board.....getting out the abbacus.....

Yup...we can do it. 24 adults and 2 toddlers at dinner, 2 adults joining us after dinner, and one uncertainty. I have two tables that will seat 10, and one more table that will seat eight. I have 17 chairs, and I've reserved 9 more at the rental place (more than I though I'd need....just in case), and I have three bench style seats that can be used in a pinch.

Does every hostess go through this?? I would NEVER turn a guest away from my door, but there are times it gets really crazy trying to seat everyone. I can remember the Thanksgiving I ate my dinner at the desk in the office. I shared my desk with a handsome 18 year old who was really eager to be included in the adult population, and ended up talking my leg off. I don't know how the planning went awry that time, but I think my brother slipped a couple of extra bodies in when I wasn't looking. It didn't matter....everyone got fed, and they all talked a mile a minute.

I'm planning on running my errands tomorrow, doing a little cooking, and then handing out jobs left and right on Sunday!

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and get to spend it with family.

...Of the big family gathering, and all through the house not a creature was stirring.

They're all too pooped to pop, let alone stir, but they had a GREAT DAY!

When everyone was seated, I think we had twenty-seven people to dinner. Several of those people will not have to cook for a day or two, or will have plenty of ham for ham and eggs, ham salad, ham croquettes, turkey and ham tetrazini or bean soup!

It was wonderful. Nan and her family came in last night. We rose before dawn to get ready for church, and filled one entire pew. We made it home for a little breakfast, and Dear Husband and Son #2 came in from the airport around 10:30.

We worked from 11:00 to 2:00 getting tables set, making room for desserts, cleaning shrimp, setting out appetizers, washing and tearing romaine for Caesar salad, and all the things you need to do to feed 27 people.

My sister took over the flower detail and created four beautiful bouquets for the tables, cleaned off the things on the foyer table and organized the decorations, and folded a load of clothes for me. She also found my "To-Do" list, and kept me on track. Her daughters were my slave labor, and they did a fine job of getting the tables and salad ready.

My oldest sis came in with loads of hot veggies and potatoes, and all the girls brought desserts. I have never seen such a collection of sweets, and do not expect to see such a collection ever again! It was absolutely astonishing!

Brownies, iced sugar cookies baked on lollipop sticks, standing in a"garden," a chocolate FOUNTAIN with angel food cake and strawberry dippers, cupcakes, something that looks like Snickers in bar cookie form, white chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate dipped strawberries, cream and berry pies! There was almost no end to it, and we tried to send it all home with our visitors. And we have enough candy that we could open a candy store.

The best part of the day was the chance to talk to so many of my family members, and that my sister's families got to meet my stepdaughter, her husband, and their two year old daughter. It was a long day, and it took a lot of work to pull it off, but it turned out fine.

I'm going to toddle off to bed. I'll check on all of you tomorrow.

"April showers bring May flowers..." We had absolutely gorgeous weather for the past week, and I was chained to my office desk or running errands. I desperately wanted to get out and play in the gardens, and kept promising myself that I'd get there this morning. It's chilly today, and as the sun comes up, we're between showers. There are thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon. I may still get a little time in the garden before the storms slide in. I'm glad for the rain. We've been in drought for more than a year, and were 13 inches short on precipitation by last month. You can feel the plants and shrubs and trees soaking up the rain.

The herons and egrets are back. About three weeks ago, I was in the car with Nan. She was driving and I started shouting about the heron that was flying across our path. She calmly pointed out the four by the side of the road that I had missed. On Tuesday, Elegante Mother smugly announced that she had seen an egret. I was driving and couldn't stop to look, but last night I saw an egret sitting in the corn field to the east of us, and they have returned to the nesting preserve outside of Plainfield. We're relieved to see that they made it through the winter following the damage from Katrina.

Dear Husband has been varnishing. While the start of boating season in the Chicago harbors is May 13, I've become a boat widow already. There's tons of work to prepare a sailboat for the season and he works away at it every day. Weather needs to be dry to varnish, so Mother Nature hasn't been on his side this spring.

Our branch of the family which lives in Australia is returning home today. They've been visiting for about ten days, sharing Easter with us, and checking out universities. The twins will be going off to school next fall, and it's time to make the decision on where it will be. It's a great idea to see the university before you commit yourself to it.

I have a new long term quilt project started. In one of my quilt magazines, a designer did a "Hands" quilt in black and white. My oldest sister did a variation of that quilt about 25 years ago, and I have thought for some time that I wanted to update her quilt with all the new hands that had come along. Instead, I'm going to use the technique from this article to fuse amber batik hand prints onto darker batik back-rounds. So, yesterday, I collected the hand prints of the Australian family. This particular technique gives you two hand prints, the positive hand shape, and the negative (the area left when you cut the hand print out of the square). I'll have roughly 120 blocks once I have everybody's hand prints, so I'm going to make one large quilt, and then five wall hangings, one for each of my siblings. This project will go on forever, so don't be surprised to see me comment (cuss) about it, a lot more.

Wednesday morning, I went to a TOPS meeting. If you have always been slender you may not know that TOPS stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. I'm going to join this group next Wednesday. I hope not to talk a lot about weight loss as I try to do this, but there's bound to be a few posts. I can think of one I want to do today about changing eating habits. So....if that sort of stuff bores you, please just skip right on by.

Taxes are done! Personal financials for the year are done! Info for the revocable trusts has been gathered! The emergency information binder is coming along nicely! I haven't gotten to all my big projects before gardening season opened, but I've gotten the most pressing things done. There's hope that I'll see my desktop once again, and if we get rain in the summer, I'll be working in the basement. I NEED to take care of the clutter, and I NEED to start parting with things that we no longer use. I'll feel better once things are organized.

So.....I hope you are all having a wonderful spring, and that you've had the chance to either garden, or be out where plants are blooming. Enjoy the warmer weather coming our way. Open your house and let the breezes in (everyone except Bogie, that is......we don't want you to freeze, hon!).

Happy weekend!

Okay, this is going to display to everyone my total ignorance of all things computer, but what the heck!

My sister, Nan, at Just My Opinion, would like to learn how to embed pictures in her blog, and how to create links. I'm going to try to explain how to create a link, and if any of you have suggestions on ways to improve this tutorial, please share them with us in the comments.

1. In your blog, highlight the blog or text that you want to link.

2. Open a second window and go to the blog or text that you want to link.

3. At the top of the screen, in the Internet Explorer section, copy the address of the blog/text.

4. Go back to your blog, make sure the highlight is still in place, and click on the small box at the right top corner of the Entry Body that has the letters "URL."

5. A box will open with a place for an address. Click on the address line, and then right click and select "Copy." Click on OK.

6. The link is done. You can check to see if it's working by going to "Preview."

Any corrections or suggestions?? Oh, Nan, I usually save my entry in Draft mode first, and then go back to do the links before I publish. I forgot that today and had to go back to retype the entire entry. :-( And, you can highlight the address on the text and THEN highlight what you want to link....it works both ways.

Happy linking, sis!

If you've checked out the "Word of the Day" box to the right, you'll see that Google has chosen "prolix."

In reading the definition of "prolix" I suspect that many of you are thinking it applies to this blog! *G* Yeah, what can I say? I'm mired in detail, and rarely see the bigger picture.

It strikes me that if ALL of us were to be focused on the "bigger picture," there would be no one to handle the details, right? I'm content to be a bean counter, and a tiny detail person, as long as I can quilt, too. Take away my quilting and I'd have to get involved in the "bigger picture."

I'd be focused on improving the quality of education in my school district, while cutting the budget.

I'd be removing fast food and vending machines from the cafeterias at school, and requiring the students to eat a healthy breakfast prior to class.

I'd be gathering votes to push our representatives and senators into participating in the Social Security system, rather than paying them a lifetime salary after retirement.

I'd be campaigning to limit the benefits of our welfare system. (I believe in giving a helping hand....but not a welfare lifestyle.)

I'd be pushing for increased research on alternate forms of energy.

I'd be focused on finding ways to check every cargo container that comes into the United States, for drugs, disease and weapons of mass destruction.

And more....I know there's more that I worry about out there.

I'm going to have to add a "Wine of the Week" category.

My sis brought a bottle of wine for us to enjoy when she was visiting, and so we did!

Rosemount Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Coonawarra, Show Reserve.

Very nice!

I have come to the point in my life where the product in gardening is more interesting than the process. I love having my gardens look manicured and eye-catching, but the work to do it is no longer what I'd call fun.

I spent three hours working outside today and accomplished perhaps 1% of what needs to be done. I need a CREW of able bodied young people who know a weed from a flower who can make and spread mulch and compost, use a weed eater, cut down volunteer trees, water, and plant shrubs. I also need someone to help weed, and plant, and mow. I have a spare bedroom, if you know of anyone who is willing to work for room and board.

I spent two of the hours on my hand and knees, cutting back the lavender, trimming back a shrub and a sage bush, and weeding one small area of the front garden. I hope to get an earlier start tomorrow morning. If the weather is good, I may try to get to the nursery for the first round of plant buying. If not, I'll have to squeeze that visit in soon.

The pear trees are in full bloom. We've had a week of warmer than normal weather, so the daffodils have almost run their course. Usually we would have their blooms into May. The forsythia is shifting from bloom to green, and the star magnolia blooms are gone.

Most of the plants that I moved into the garage for the winter have made it. I thought the shrub rose had died, but it finally began to leaf out this week. The Peace Rose, in the ground, made it through the winter, despite the fact that I didn't give it the traditional protection for our winters.

The Darwin tulips have come and gone. The yellow Appledorns decided it was too hot to stick around. I have six or eight pods of tulips that I planted a year and a half ago. I was surprised to see that the chipmunks hadn't gotten to them yet. One that has opened reminds me of a pink Oriental poppy. It has pink petals with black inside at the base of the flower.

I need to renovate the garden across the east face of the house. Dear Husband cut down the viburnum that used to spread over half the wall. Elegante Mother was complaining that she couldn't see out the windows any longer, but the kicker was that the raccoons were using the viburnum as a ladder to the roof.

I will either have to have someone come and professionally remove the stump, or we will have to work around it. I want to plant a specimen tree forward from the stump about six feet, and then fill in behind and to the sides with perennials.
I want to look at weeping cherries, or something that has a weeping shape, so that we don't risk offering the raccoons another ladder.

I have to dig up the Japanese Iris and replant them. There's a ring of green leaves, and a bare center, where the plant has died out. Poison ivy is trying to encroach, so I sprayed it today. There's a Lady's Mantle that will miss the shade of the Viburnum. The face of the house, and Elegante Mother's rooms will be warmer this summer without it's shade.

The viburnum at the end of the driveway is in bloom. It has a lovely pale pink blossom with darker pink buds, and a lovely scent. Between the hyacinths, the pear tree and the viburnum, the air is fragrant.

I sprinkled cinnamon around the roses today. A friend on the herb list told me that cinnamon is an anti-fungal and will help keep black spot at bay. I figured it was worth a try, and have started early enough this season to give it a chance to work.

I pruned back the winter savory today, and discovered that a sage plant in a wonderful terracotta planter made it though the winter. I'll have to put it on my list for regular watering. The rosemary in that same pot died, but that didn't surprise me. I have dreadful luck wintering over rosemary.

This week, I plan to cut back a tree and some honeysuckle that has encroached on my raised vegetable beds. I want spinach and lettuce and more room for tomatoes!

Now, do you see why the gardens are getting to be a bit much??

FROST WARNING for tonight. Anyone in the Chicago area who was foolish enough to plant tender annuals or half-hard perennials before May 15th needs to go out and cover them up!

We've had the heat on today. Chilly weather moved in with the rain last night. We need the precipitation, so we're not grousing about the rain, but it would be nice to be just a bit warmer. Thankfully, the temperature will rise to the sixties for the coming week.....just about where it should be at the end of April.

I told you that the egrets have returned, didn't I?? I think I did. This is the time of year when I have trouble staying in my own lane because I'm busy watching for the egrets in the marshes and ponds. I need a warning sign for the motorists behind me.

We may have had the last of the dinners with my niece and her sons. There are just too many things on their calendar for us to stick to the same night of each week, band concerts, baseball practice and such. I'm going to miss those dinners. It will end for sure in June, when she moves south about an hour.

I need to call the Geek Squad. I think I need to have both the CD player and the CD burner replaced on the computer in the office, OR, I need to uninstall the software for making CDs and reinstall it. The darned thing wouldn't let me close a newly burned CD, then wouldn't let me take it out of the burner, and THEN told me that I couldn't turn my computer off because Windows was communicating with a program, when nothing showed up on the task manager. (muttering) Time to do something about it!

I have to apologize for all the whining lately. I had a much better day, today, despite the rain. I don't deal well with mess, or with dozens of unfinished projects hanging over my head. The CPA's assistant came this morning, and to be ready for her, I had to clean off my desk (and clean the desk), and make odds and ends of entries. That simple act of making things tidy lifted my spirits, and made it easier to get things done. I worked on my side of the desk while she worked at the computer, and between us, we got loads of stuff done! Who knew that being tidy was such a good thing!

We have birthdays to celebrate! Two today, one tomorrow, Nan's birthday is April 27th, and my brother's birthday is the 30th. We plan to celebrate without him. And there are easily 8 more coming in May, I think. My granddaughter will be two soon! If you have a moment, visit Just My Opinion and wish my little sis Happy Birthday, won't you?

It was gorgeous today!

Last night we had frost warnings for new plants, and today the temps slowly raised into the lower sixties. We were away from home all morning, so I headed out to the driveway garden in the afternoon. You can walk past a garden and make note of changes that need to be made, but you don't realize the depth of the work until you get down and begin working the soil.

The driveway garden has never been edged, so I've had a constant battle with grass trying to creep into the bed. Beyond that, when I first planted the garden, I thought something called "Bouncing Bet" or "Soapwort" sounded like a lovely plant to add to my collection. If someone tries to sell you one of those plants, RUN THE OTHER WAY! It's one of the most invasive species I've ever planted. I find it creeping through out the lawn, and making its way up the driveway!

I am a bear of little brain, and a creature of habit. Each year I have walked down to that garden, and started at the northern-most end of the bed, on the driveway side. And, each year, I have run out of cool weather and steam while still on the driveway side. THIS year, I've managed to get work done on the west side of that bed, and I've done it while the soil is still damp enough to work. There is NOTHING harder to do than pull grass from dry clay.

I sprayed several patches of soapwort with Round-up. I tend to be an organic gardener, but I'm going to kill off that damned stuff yet! I used a spade to begin loosening patches of grass, and I pulled down dead stalks from last year's flowers, and deadheaded daffodils.

I dragged Dear Husband out with me for another half an hour of work after dinner. He collected branches from the lawn and took them to the mulch pile. We have a chipper shredder, and I'll have to get busy soon to make the mulch that will cover this bed. Beyond that, if we didn't pick up the twigs and branches, he'd mow over them and dull the mower blades. While he collected branches, I raked the southern end of the bed, and collected all the weeds and grass that I pulled out this morning.

I have some serious renovation to do on this bed. The center section is ready to replant. This time I plan to plant masses of Perovskia (Russian Sage), and Rudbekia. I'm debating whether I want to put something slightly taller in the center of the bed as a focal point. Today, I realized that I'll need to rework the southern end of the bed, too. Purple coneflower spread and edged out the Obedient Plant, and now weeds have edged out the coneflower, except along the edges of the bed. Dear husband will have to help me remove some volunteer shrubs, and then I'll divide and replant the Hostas near the Bleeding Heart that caught my eye today.

It's a start, and a good one. Let's hope for more cool weather with occasional showers to keep the soil workable.

Those of you who read here know that my youngest sister has taken up blogging this year. You can visit her at Just My Opinion. Actually, I hope you'll go to visit, and wish her a Happy Birthday on Thursday, April 27.

We won't be together to celebrate, but I'll see her in a week, when she comes home for a family wedding. If I'm a GOOD sister.....I'll remember that I need to call to wish her a great day.

If I miss, sis.......Hippo Birdie Two Ewes!

I'm sure that I've mentioned that I have a herniated disk in my lower back. It's been on the touchy side for the past two or three months, talking to me when I rise from a chair.

The past week or so, as I've been doing more gardening, I've half expected it to flare up, and make movement difficult. But, oddly, as I'm gardening, it seems to be fine. It's when I come in for the day, and have been sitting at the computer, or in the rocker for a while, and then rise, that I have more difficulty.

When I rise at the table, I pause to be sure that none of the muscles are complaining. If something is uncomfortable, I take the time to "suck it in," and slowly stand up straight. It seems that those two things help to support the disk, and ease the discomfort.

I noticed that I have been slumping in my office chair. I talked with the doctor about it, complaining about a knot of muscles over my shoulder blade that hurt. He says that good posture is one of the ways to alleviate the pain. Another is to rise from my chair at least once an hour and do some of the same warm up stretches we do at exercise.

So, as I get more time in my gardens, I'm also working on improving my posture throughout the day. If you catch me slumping, give me what for!

...just weeding in the rain....

(sung to the music of "I'm Singing in the Rain.")

Yup....that's what I was doing earlier today. Dear Husband was going to work on the engine of his boat, but some work done at the yacht yard stymied his plans. I had finished with morning errands and chores, and was on my way down to the driveway bed when I found him collecting the dried material I had pulled from that bed last week. I had planned to hook up the John Deere mower and trailer to make short shrift of that cleanup job, but I was delighted to have the unsolicited help.

As he passed me on the way to dump the weeds and cuttings, DH said that he was going to go inside. There was a sprinkle or two of rain, and I said I'd be in in a bit. That bit lasted almost two hours before I was rained out.

DH gave me a hand marking off a line along the west side of the driveway garden. We put in two stakes and ran a line, so that I could see where I needed to spade away encroaching grass. I managed to hand weed the upper third of the west side of the garden. This next patch will be the easiest. It's part of an attempt at "lasagna gardening," which cleared an invasion of grass and soapwort out of the garden two years ago. I've left the bed lying fallow all this time, when I COULD have planted it last year. I hope to get it planted in the next two weeks with perennials, and then mulched with wood chips from our own cuttings and downed branches (another project to finish).

I was telling my sister that I'd had been thinking about how a landscaper would have done the work differently. As I was lifting out the chunks of grass and dirt, and shaking the soil from the roots, I was thinking that they would have used a shovel to lift the clumps of grass, toss them into a trailer and dispose of them. Then, they'd bring a load of compost or garden soil mixed with compost to fill in the area that had been excavated. It would have taken them a third of the time. What in the world was I doing on my hands and knees, shaking dirt out of grass roots??? I wish these epiphanies came BEFORE I started a job like this!

The gentle rain that had been expected, saved me from too much gardening the slow way. I headed in about 2:00 when the rain became cold enough to give me the chills. We're still playing catch-up on precipitation, so I won't complain, although I'd have liked to have finished the job. The rain was God's way of reminding me not to overdo!

As I type this, it's still Saturday night. I have just this entry to make before I plan to crash for the night. When I post, this will be listed as a Sunday post, so my use of "tonight/tomorrow" may be a little confusing.

My second sister is the Director of Christian Education for her church. Sunday is Women's Sunday, and she has been asked to give the sermon. It should be interesting to hear her preach. I've never heard her speak publicly.

Elegante Mother is planning on staying with my sister for a few days this week. She's packed and ready for the trip. Several family members will join us for church, and then for lunch at a local restaurant.

It will be odd without Elegante Mother filling the house this coming week, but there's a lot scheduled, and she'll be home in just a few days. Ed, our cat, is likely to miss her the most, because she caters to his coming and going, and sees to it that he has fresh food throughout the day.

Well.....it's bed time. I hope you all have a good night's sleep!