I spent three nights in a hotel room this week. I slept better than I usually do and got a lot of work done, but I was ready for a day off today. After a bit of work this morning (mostly chatting with two colleagues), I headed outside and started transplanting perennials. I moved some phlox from a spot that has gotten shady over the years. But I also just relocated some plants and even worked on the herb garden, which had been worked over by the chickens before we fenced them out. I earned somewhere between 12 and 16 exercise points for WW so I am having two glasses of wine. And, dinner will be pretty healthy: skinless chicken breasts in Trader Joe’s curry sauce and rice and a salad.<\/p>\n
My husband is the real gardener is the family and is considering signing up for the master gardener program in our town. But I like digging in the dirt, too, and am generally in charge of the flower beds, of which we have 4 major areas. I’ve been working on them slowly over the past several years, moving things, dividing things, and I think this will be the best year ever. I’m going to buy a few herbs tomorrow: basil and basil seeds, thyme, and a pineapple sage. I’ll get just a few annuals for the barrels in the front.<\/p>\n
The only thing I haven’t accounted for is zinnias. I used to do them in the garden beside the front path but I’ve made that almost completely perennials and is a more “controlled” atmosphere. Maybe I can get my husband to dig up a plot in the front yard, where we are trying to reduce the amount of grass. I could just sow a swatch of them. I’ve got a big bag of seeds from last year and may get a few more tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Aah…my window is open and I’m looking out on the back yard as usual. There are still chores to be done. The birds need fed after four days, and I should make hummingbird food and put those feeders out. But I think that shall be tomorrow’s job. A very small chickadee just stopped at the feeder for a sunflower seed then headed off to eat it. Simple but elegant and always exciting to have birds just a foot or so away.<\/p>\n
I drank my first glass of wine sitting in the backyard reading Sharon Kay Penman’s Falls the Shadow<\/em>, the second in a series of books about the relationship of England and Wales.\u00a0 I’m going to both those places in October and have a pile to read, including The Other Boleyn Girl<\/em> on my Kindle.<\/p>\n I’m on my second glass of wine. I can hear a dove cooing in the woods. There’s that chickadee again and then the flutter of his wings as he heads off with his seed. I know I’ll have to work tomorrow, mostly on research stuff, but today was indeed a glorious day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I spent three nights in a hotel room this week. I slept better than I usually do and got a lot of work done, but I was ready for a day off today. After a bit of work this morning (mostly chatting with two colleagues), I headed outside and started \u2026 Continue reading