Green Palace

I have the sweetest husband.  He spent yesterday and today putting a nice floor in my greenhouse.  I really didn't expect him to go to so much trouble.  He had leveled off the spot and put gravel down where the greenhouse was supposed to go.  I thought that was the end of it, although I asked for a walkway so the doorway doesn't become a mud hole when the rains come.  But this morning I found him on the computer sketching out a pattern for these pavers, and by this evening . . . Voila!  What a prince.

So here's what he did:

Of course we had to haul everything back outside in order for him to do this, but I think it turned out so nice.  It's so much nicer than I had expected it to be. 

You see, I can't do this stuff for myself because I have arthritis in both hands.  If I were to attempt even such a small project, I would be in agony.  I can live with the pain--I'm used to it by now.  What I can't live with is the helplessness that ensues when both hands are worthless for anything hands are designed to do.  Because of that, I'm dependent on him for anything like this. 

Anyway, here's what it looks like now that we've put everything back.

While we were shopping for the pavers today, I found these little pretties:

If you've been reading along prior to this, then you know that the orchid is in memory of my Mom, Clarice Emily Maust Nelson, who loved orchids more than any other flower.  I so wish she could see this.

Tomorrow I'll plant the lettuce.  I've done some reading, and I'm told that now is the time to germinate the seeds.  If I wait too long, it will be too cold for them to germinate.  Apparently, once they've germinated, they can tolerate the cold better.  This is the future home of my lettuce, and you can see my tomato starts in the red cups in the background.

And this is the future home of a cherry tomato plant.  I thought I might be able to grow it in a hanging basket. 

And now it's all buttoned up for the night.  There's my sweety off to the side cleaning up.  Tomorrow he'll finish up the walkway, and I'll show it to you then. 

I have some really pretty stepping stones that I bought for another area.  All the stuff where I had them has grown up and overwhelmed them so they aren't visible any more.  They'll be nice in the walkway.  Also, I have some incredible concrete stepping stones that my daughter-in-law, Mae, made for my husband and me a couple of Christmases ago.  She picked up some little tiles on the beach while visiting the Amalfi Coast of Italy after she graduated college.  (She lived in Europe for a year.)  She said they manufacture tile in this area and that broken chips end up on the beach.  She picked them up and dragged them all over Europe.  We were among the beneficiaries of her efforts.  She is so talented and capable.  I just love her.

My husband, being an engineer is quite taken with the new wind turbine.  Just about every time I catch him while he's relaxing, he's sitting watching it spin and turn in the wind.  I like it too, but the greenhouse is my favorite thing to gaze upon--at least for now.  And it's late as I write this, so speaking of buttoning up for the night . . . I think that's just what I'll do.  See you tomorrow for Design Wall Monday.