haven't done much artwork since starting to work regularly. So when a co-worker asked me about doing a picture of her boxer, it gave me some motivation. here's the first attempt.

I was talking with friends the other day about compost. I like compost a lot, when its finished. Its such lovely stuff for growing things in. But those who rhapsodize about compost can become overly complicated and scientific about it. So although its wonderful if you have time, energy, and understanding to pamper those little bacteria with the perfect balance of "brown stuff", "green stuff", air, water (etc); its not absolutely necessary. You can just pile up leaves and grass clippings and weeds and leave it alone for a long time, and it will compost. Anyhow, I was talking to friends the other day, like I said before, and the next day I found a little pocket sized book called...Organic Gardening for Dummies. It 'splained how to make a compost container, and how to stack the ingredients up, and everything. In easy English. I gave it to my friend. Why didn't I buy me one too?
Last year my little pickup died and I bought a car, no choice really. And I did want a pickup, but got a car anyway. I haven't brought home any bovine manure in the last year either-- its hard to think about bringing manure home in that little car, even though, the garden would like it a lot.

well, in a couple of weeks i'm going to California to visit my parents. Daddy fell the Wed. before Easter, and broke his hip. They had to wait about 5 days to do surgery because he'd been on blood thinners. Then he was in a nursing home for a few weeks. Of course the medical community said it would be long term, and they couldn't see him going home, and he shouldn't put any weight on that leg for at least 8 weeks... you know how they talked. God moved, he went home at the end of about three weeks. After four weeks, his Dr, had an xray taken, looked at it, and said he could begin putting weight on it using a walker. Some friends at church had some air miles they couldn't use before they expire in a couple of months, and so, I'm going to go for a few days to visit them.

Okay! the red rose is now blooming. sorry if this is boring, but I'm still blown away at those recent "sticks" that are now over three feet high, covered with healthy, happy leaves, and FLOWERS!!! And they smell good. did you know that people have invented perfect looking roses that have no scent??!!?? Weird. So, I was further thrilled that the description of the roses I bought contained the word "FRAGRANT" . You bet. And its true, I know for sure now that they are both "FRAGRANT" And I am grateful.

the year is galloping by. how did it get to be the end of May? How is it that that tiny puppy is now ten big months old? Hey, he's slowing down. Now, he jumps up in my lap and lays his head down for 7 nanoseconds before he gets up and starts stomping around on my lap, trying to play with the dogs on the floor. Those are sweet nanoseconds believe me. Just look at him!

Wildflowers

Wildflowers, lots of them, lots of colors and kinds. Acres of them. Indian blanket, and White Barbara's Buttons and Bluettes, and , and, and,...and also the furry ones that run around panting. Almost every picture I took this morning had two or three dogs in it. As I walked on and continued to take photos, the dogs kept running in circles around me, smelling bunnies, and chasing doves and generally having a thrilling time. If you look at all the pics, and all the dogs, looks like a couple of dozen dogs--sometimes five does feel like a couple of dozen, I admit it. but I like them all.

So, now these roses are blooming. the white one profusely, the red one is working on it. Lookee. This is so amazing to me. I just planted these sticks a couple of months ago now? not sticks anymore. plants, happy, green, leafy, But they Are BLOOMING. and GROWING. !!!

life is roaring along much too quickly. yesterday was it that I was so excited about green grass? No, yesterday I mowed for the first time in five days and almost lost a cocker spaniel in the junglyness of it. or was it yesterday that the purple iris began to bloom and bloom and went on purpling up the front of my place for two weeks... and now its hot in the daytime, and "want to go outside in the dark time" already.

work, mow, sleep, walk the dogs, mow, water the garden...And then be amazed at how much something has grown. A month ago or so, I bought 2 bare root climbing roses. They were on clearance, because it was late in the season and they hadn't sold. One of them had one little clump of leaves. The other one was green, but no leaves, no little place where leaves might appear in a few days. Nada. But I planted them anyway. I watered them, and then it started to rain. And kept on raining. A couple of weeks after planting them, where there had been a small clump of leaves there was a branch about 6 inches long, and that plant had several other groups of leaves coming out. Now, it has several branches that are over a foot long, and its a good thing that I've already put fence up for it to climb on. The second plant also has several branches growing and growing. This may not seem exciting to anyone else, but I've had several roses die since I've been here. And I think that these are going to flourish. So I'm completely thrilled about every leaf and branch.

I went around my place the other day taking pictures, and thinking about how long its been since my parents were here. The trees have grown a lot since then , and of course there are a lot more trees than were here originally. This is partly because trees grow when the mower is broken, and then who mows trees down when the mower is fixed? Not me. Besides that, some trees came up close to the house and I let them grow, I figure shade is good. So I'm putting some of the pics up on flickr. And one of a friend of mine here.

since I started working at the other location, I have a lot more energy. stress levels are down. and generally everything is happier. I am still working a lot of hours, but seem to have more time to notice flowers blooming now than before. The dogs are getting used to me being gone, they're quite funny about hanging around real close to me when I'm home. They've always done that to a certain extent, but its more noticeable now. I'll be sitting somewhere, or bending over to tie a shoe, and suddenly SomeOne is in my face being happy cause we're together. They continue to be happy about it until a plurality notices that SomeOne is getting all the attention--and then they all push in to claim their share. When it gets too rowdy, I get up and walk away. I do take them for fewer walks now cause I'm tired, but when the puppy (9 months old now) starts bugging everybody I realize we need to go walking again. And of course I need all the walking I can do. sorry, not very interesting is it?