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This morning I went and did my Curves workout, and then this afternoon I had an MRI of my knee. It will be a couple of days before I hear anything. In all honesty, I don't expect anything helpful. My knee has been hurting literally for decades. The only change is that it hurts a little more with each passing year, and you'll catch me limping on it with increasing frequency. I figure one of these days someone will know something to do for it. Or not. In any case, that left me only about an hour for sewing this afternoon.
The quilt I'm making for the March Doll Quilt Swap has now moved to the border stage. It has three borders, and today I put on the first one before stopping. You only get a peek.
It was chilly when we got up this morning...just 31°F. But it warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day. Just the kind of day you want to spend in an MRI tube. Still, I did get some time to get outside for a while. Of course, busy britches tagged along.
Remember the poor Daphne I showed you a few weeks ago with such terrible frost damage?
Now it has lost almost all its leaves and is sprouting new ones. And it is covered with buds. I expect it will bloom soon.
And look at the buds on this. (I can never remember its name, but I believe it is a member of the magnolia family.)
Each of those buds will turn into one of these. It is one of my favorite garden shrubs.
Smitty is waiting for the day the fresh catnip returns. Gracie has told him all about it. For now, he nibbles at the stubble that once was green.
There are some optimistic tulips coming up...optimistic because they come up every year, and every year the deer mow them down to the ground within a few weeks. I'm amazed they continue to sprout each year.
Smitty is considering his options where the birds are concerned. He can hide under the rhododendron and sneak up on them, or he can just run after them, which is a lot more fun.
The daffodils are starting to head up.
Smitty just loves the sun.
Seeing him perched on the rock below has me considering creating a bronze casting of his likeness and putting it at the beginning of the driveway the way those housing developments do. Wouldn't he make a great welcoming statue for the Three Cats Ranch? And here's something else to ponder: Did you ever notice that those housing developments are named for the things that used to be there, but are there no longer? For example, "Aspen Ridge". A nice enough name, but to make way for the houses, they already came in and chopped down all the Aspens. Think about it.
Finally, here's how the tomatoes are doing:
With the exception of one of the 12 tomato pots, they all have their true leaves now, and so I've thinned them out. It always makes me feel like a mass murderer. The one remaining tomato pot is just now getting its true leaves, and so I'll be murdering some more tomatoes soon.
As for the dill, this is interesting. See how spindly and limp their stems are? The only thing I can figure is that we've had them under a grow lamp. I have a feeling that they grew up too fast and too tall and that their skinny little stems cannot support the weight of their leaves.
I'm going to give them a little while longer, but in the meantime, I think I will start some more and not be as generous with the light. Maybe they will do better with more darkness, which would be surprising. I've grown this dill for years, and I've never seen it do this before. Also, I've started running a fan to give the tomatoes a little bit of breeze. They need a little bit of breeziness so that their stems will develop some strength, and its still too cold to put them in the greenhouse. That might help the dill to toughen up too.
So that's Monday around here. Tomorrow I check in with my Curves coach and I have to go to the grocery store. I'm also hoping to finish the top for my doll quilt so I can get it quilted and bound and sent off to my partner in Sweden. Don't you love communicating with people from all over the world? I sure do.
How did your Monday go? Or Moan-day as we like to call it around here.
13 comments:
Oh it makes me so happy to see sprouts coming up! Even if they are all the way in Oregon, it still makes me happy :*D Love the pictures of Mr. Smitty - he is such an elegant gentleman. I think a statue of him would be an excellent addition to your driveway entrance. He will probably go down in history for something famous anyway, so you might as well go ahead and plan it. =^..^=
Smitty is just full of 'struttin his stuff' cat-itude in that first picture - he da man!! (or not?) If my tulips bloom, and yours get eaten by the deer, I'll make sure I post pictures ;p - if I could GET deer in my suburban back yard, I'd grow the tulips just FOR them!
(Lee, I'll send the four that were at my doorstep this morning down your way!)
Smitty looks totally regal in that first photo. I'm sorry your knee is getting so bothersome; no fun for sure. Hope the doctors can give you something positive in the way of diagnosis/treatment options.
Signing off now with strains of the Mamas and Papas firmly fixed in my head ... probably for the remainder of the evening ...
Mr. Smitty is such a good looking cat, he knows it too. LOL!! I have a few bulbs coming up here in So. Calif. and the plum trees are in blossom. I'm not quite ready for spring but it sure beats the 86 degrees we had on Saturday...I have a bad sunburn from sitting out watching two of my grandsons softball game. I'd like some mild temperature for awhile. I did manage to get two rag quilts made today with my dd. We pinned a twin size quilt and I cut fabric for another group i'm in. I just need to do my binding and my March doll quilt is finished and ready to mail. Guess I had a busy day.
I always enjoy seeing people's gardens. I like to try and grow things too, but the soil here is awful. I do ok with most potted plants. I love love love seeing Smitty! I wish I could let my kitties out to olay, but not here, in the most densely pooulated county in the state. You could think of the flowers that the deer eat as a gourmet dinner you created for them. :)
Moan-day here in LyndaLand-sick again with tummy. I wish I ever never had to eat at all ever. yeah, I said ever twice in one sentence. Might have to use that sucka three times in a paragraph, too. Someday soon.
Smitty's looking more and more like a big old male Tiger. I love his coloring.
Our daffodils, ok the neighbors' daffs, have been blooming for about ten days and they are the prettiest colors in the courtyard. Our Joseph's Coat rose shyly shows her buds that open into short-lived and multi-colored splashes.
Smitty would make a cute gate man to greet every one to the ranch. You are so right about the naming of subdivisions! It is sad that all the aspens had to go!
Oh yes! Smitty would look terrific in bronze!! I did think of you this morning while watching the weather report on the Today Show. Sun in the NW today - Barbara will like that!
Lovely to see your garden come back to life. Hope Smitty doesn't have to wait too long for the catnip!
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs
Love the photos of your garden. It is great to see new life springing forth. Mt Smitty is certainly master of all he surveys and knows it. We don't get deer in our garden (thankfully) but we do get marauding squirrels who dig up all the bulbs to eat. Your tomato plants are looking good. I completely forgot to plant mine.
Maybe you can use that as a threat "bring one more bird in this house and I'll bronze you".
Busy Britches is really a good nickname for Smitty! I love the the bits and pieces of Spring starting to make appearances in your neck of the woods!! I'm looking forward to doing a little kitchen garden (herbs, spices and perhaps a cherry tomato plant or two) in a shoe bag off the front porch rail. I saw the idea online somewhere and love it for our situation. Hope it works! :)
That was a busy Monday. Busy Britches is a good name for Smitty, he's becoming such a majestic looking cat that he would be a great model for a statue.
Thanks for sharing your signs of spring, it's still cold and brown here.
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