Gertrude

Inspirational song: Dr Heckyll & Mr Jive (Men At Work)

Two inches of rain later, I finally had a chance to get back in my garden today. The weeds I tried to pull near the downspout were a little sticky on Friday, but absolutely gummed up today. I never realized just how much clay is in our soil. It was stuck to everything, my gloves, my tools, my jeans, and most of all, the roots of the bindweed and bellflower. I had to crawl into an awkward, tight spot to pull what I needed, and I spent an hour and a half getting it done thoroughly. It was just long enough that when I got up to stretch before digging the hole for the rose, Mr S-P came back from errands and was available to start digging for me. I still had to finesse it and pick out a thousand and one deep weed roots, but he made quick work out of what would have taken me all day.

I hope the two day delay in getting a bareroot rose in the ground wasn't fatal. It was literally just in a loose plastic bag, in a box. No wood shavings or moss to hold moisture on the roots. When I checked on it at the beginning of the all-day storm, it seemed too dry, so I spritzed it with water. Fingers crossed that was the right call.

As we predicted, once the sun came out, we were able to see an explosion of color out front. There is a profusion of purple that just didn't photograph as vividly as it appears in real life. The deep purple columbines were especially lovely, set off by irises, phlox, and candytuft. The lilacs are still going strong. I should pick a few blooms and make a simple syrup out of them again.

Before I turned out the lights last night, a livestream on YouTube caught my eye. A strong line of storms rolled through the part of Oklahoma where I grew up. Devastating tornadoes hit Sulphur (maybe half an hour to the southwest of my hometown), and Holdenville (about the same distance northeast). I heard there was some serious flooding in Ada as well. Colorado may be my forever home now, but I'll never fully stop being an Okie. My heart goes out to everyone back in the old country.

Washout

Inspirational song: The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin)

Crispy Donkey was correct in his meteorological promises. We did receive a metric boatload of rain. (I'm kind of tempted not to retell the explanation of who Crispy Donkey is.) It was dreary, cold, and sopping wet all day. Now, it is true that I love this kind of weather best of all. But it might be because it just encourages everyone to snuggle in soft blankets and nap to the blissful sound of rain. I can't think of a better way to spend a day.

We got the kids early, so naturally we made it a longer than usual shopping day. We started at Ace Hardware, where they had a BOGO sale on 4-packs of annuals. I went a little nuts there, especially for flowers I can't plant until things dry out at least a little. Then we went to Costco and loaded up on protein sources. I also got another one of those big ol' bricks of cream cheese. I came back from California with some Tate's lemon cookies, and if you know anything about gluten-free cookies, you'll know their natural state is "crumbs." I am inspired to use them to make a lemon-lime cheesecake this week, for no real reason at all, other than it sounds good.

All the dogs had been locked up in the garage since the kids were here, so tonight they were desperate for a chance to go into the backyard. I let them out, and then got distracted. They had a bit too much time to splash around outside. They were still wiggly when they came inside, and refused to listen to me cry, "get off the carpet!" So I guess I know what I'll be doing on Monday (not shampooing on Sunday, because it would be pointless so soon.)

Just a Little Bit of Ste-he-heam

Inspirational song: Charles Atlas Song (Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Now that it is raining thoroughly, and will be for the next 24 hours, I could get away with all those "whoops, sorry, I washed my car today" jokes. I won't make them. I knew it was about to rain when I went through the car wash. I mostly just needed to use their powerful vacuum. It had been too long since I pulled the car seats out of the back of my car, and it was a French fry and spilled beverages nightmare back there. I used to keep a ratty old beach towel under the seats, but for some reason I didn't put it back after the last laundering. I have regrets.

I spent hours scrubbing the interior of the car, first with a gentle all-purpose cleaner, then with the steam machine, then leather cleaner, and finally leather protector. I did the entire back seat and the front passenger, but by the time both the machine and I ran out of steam, the driver's seat was only vacuumed, nothing else. A few raindrops hit me while I was packing up, but it didn't start raining in earnest until after sundown.

I worked myself harder than I realized. I went to Walmart in the evening for one of those small plastic boot trays (for strategic gardening purposes), and just the process of walking to the back of the store, one quick lap through garden (no new acquisitions), and over to self checkout was more than I could handle. I sat in the car several minutes before I had the energy to steer myself home. I made the ultimatum that there would be no more magic window food and no more feeding kids in the car. How long do you think that will last? Will I make it just seven days? (See what I did there?)

Pale and Weedy

Inspirational song: Everything's Coming Up Roses (Ethel Merman)

What a day. I had been stressing for weeks over my real estate insurance renewal, and after Mr S-P offered the advice I wanted to hear, I started working on a plan. Today I requested a quote from a different company, for a scaled-back policy (appropriate for changing needs), and I got the perfect offer. I even paid in full, no need for the financing from last year that just tacked fees on top of fees on top of fees. Old policy expires next month, and I informed them I would not renew.

I felt so relieved that I went out and did things just for me. I put on clothes I could get grubby in, and plopped myself down on the ground to pull weeds. I had the big pop-up can so I make fewer trips to the compost bin, and I remembered to bring a cane so I could get myself off the ground once my hip was too sore to be there anymore. I mostly worked thistles, dandelions, and grasses out of the mulch along the pathway, and at the end I tried getting into the areas that hadn't gotten mulch at all yet. They were much thicker with weeds, and harder to pull. The ground was sopping wet, and the soil had far more clay than I remembered. My progress halted soon after I switched directions. But for all the effort, it was sure nice sitting under several blooming lilacs. The smell was heavenly.

I gave up around 1:30 in the afternoon, and came in to cool off and have lunch. I stared out the window the whole time I ate, waiting for the FedEx truck. I ordered a Gertrude Jekyll climbing rose in early March, and I had to wait until it was time to plant in my zone before they would send it. Today it arrived, in its bareroot splendor. I just wish I'd gotten its spot free of weeds. That's tomorrow's job.

Diss Tracks

Inspirational song: We Didn't Start the Fire (Billy Joel)

We have been waiting for the entire group to be present (minus those who quit) before we played the next encounter in our D&D campaign. We finally played tonight, and the assembled crew was on fire...and so were some of the non-player characters. The smart-alecky repartee was snappy. The game play was moving quickly. So much fun.

We had a lot of arguing with the DM over the course of the evening. You're really not supposed to do that. During one rules-weasel type line of questioning, Mr S-P was described as generally playing fast and loose with the rule books, which he considers a jumping off point. When the player across from me accused him of being "a hop, skip, and a book away from the rules," I warned her I was making a note of it to repeat here.

It got better when the fires started. One player started a bonfire suddenly that was five feet wide (a combat spell). It set three enemies ablaze, and there was a bit of panicked confusion following. Another player had cast a magical darkness inside the gated cavern we were trying to get into, so a poor little creature went running into a black cave that not even his burning clothing could illuminate, and he ran smack into the closed side of the gate with a clang and a curse. 

One player is "dragon-born," and can make little globs of fire that she can toss. It's not the powerful fireball spell that can clear a whole room of friends and foe alike. This is more the equivalent of lighting wadded up paper towels and throwing them. When she started the action, the whole room picked on her. My favorite diss was describing it as, "We have fireball at home."

It will be a few weeks before we can play again. Three of the four people who live here have end of semester assignments and college finals over the next two weeks. I hope we get a chance to have a celebration when they're all done.

Also, the tree growing over Rabbit's grave is blooming for the first time ever. I needed this.

Alfred Feels Better

Inspirational song: Perceptions of Johnny Punter (Fish)

Weeks of stress may finally be rounding a corner and letting me breathe again. I went to bed last night thinking that the last words I spoke to Alfred before falling asleep could be the last I told him ever. This morning at dawn, he hopped up on the bed and settled next to my knees like nothing had happened at all this week. We decided to cancel his follow-up x-ray, and fed him breakfast as usual. He has eaten enthusiastically all day. I'm still giving him the prescription GI diet food to be sure his stomach can handle it, but it looks like we may be in the clear. I'd like to see him regain a pound or two though.

I'd been stressing like crazy over my insurance premium renewal, and with assistance from a husband with a calmer perspective, I'm seeing the way through there as well. I just made a phone call this afternoon to a different company, and this also may swing to my benefit. I still have to fill out their online request for a quote, but I'm far less freaked out about cost than I was a month ago. More on that in weeks to come.

Not everything is perfect. In fact, there are a few piles of hot garbage still getting on my nerves. It's nice getting a few of them tossed in the dumpster, whenever I can. I'm gonna focus on what I can change for now.

Looks Like Fluff

Inspirational song: If You Could Only See (Tonic)

Got a peek under the hood with Alfred today. We took him back to the vet this morning, and I was able to view his x-rays when I went back in the afternoon as the chauffeur for my daughter and her cat Moose (annual checkup for her oldest cat). Alfred had spent the day stinking up the back room, but at least they didn't have to work hard for a sample to test for parasites. His images show something in his stomach that looks like it's just undigested kibble, but he would have to be eating for that to be true.

We tried another round of anti-nausea and B-12 shots, this time adding an appetite stimulant gel inside his ear. Still couldn't get him to eat. (They told me to be careful when I apply tomorrow's dose, to wear gloves so I don't get the effect too. I must have touched him just enough, because I was ravenous even after dinner. Housemate threw a handful of Reese's at me to calm me.) Alfred has another appointment in the morning for a second x-ray. I don't know what we can accomplish from here, but we haven't given up yet.

This is about all I can process right now. I have important things I need to be working on, and I don't have the mental flexibility. Can't it just be one issue at a time?