Smitty's Bad Day

Good morning, my friends! Fortunately, it's Friday, although most every day is Saturday when you're retired. Sorry...don't mean to rub it in if that doesn't apply to you, but your day is coming too...sooner than you think. Mike read a joke to me from an RVers email he receives in the morning. It went like this:

They say 40 is the new 30. And 50 is the new 40. All I know is that as I get older, 9:00 p.m. is the new midnight.

Can't say it doesn't fit for this old bird. And I'm approaching another birthday in the next couple of weeks. It's nothing to fear. The alternative is far worse.

So, poor Smitty. His day started out purrfectly fine with a morning sunbath.

The next thing you know, he was scooped up and unceremoniously dumped into this stupid crate. This is never good news for kitties.

And he's seen what happens when furry mammals get scooped up and driven away. They Never. Come. Back. (This is squirrel number four. Squirrel number five followed this one by a few hours.)

Fortunately, Smitty was just going for his annual physical and immunizations. He needed rabies and FIV vaccines, and then, because he is a rodent connoisseur, he needed two kinds of worming medications. He came home with a clean bill of health. As for the squirrels, I doubt we'll see them again. We believe we've captured the squirrels that were storing their nuts in our basement ceiling, but we'll keep trapping them for a while. Reducing their numbers is a good idea.

My afternoon was spent dead-heading the hydrangeas. I didn't take any pictures. They're still pretty much sticks with a few green leaf buds. It was a surprisingly taxing job. I think it's just a difference in movement that makes it so tiring. We're substituting time on The Rack and the treadmill for gardening time right now. It's nice to be out in the sunshine.

When I finished with the hydrangeas, I took a walk around. The daphne is blooming now. I'm so happy it survived winter's assault. It was looking iffy there for a while.

This riot daffodil is open now. It's the only one I have. I'm hoping its bulbs will divide soon. I only planted it just about two years ago. There's another fancy daffodil in a different location, but it has yet to bloom.

Just before sitting down here, I ordered some more non-traditional daffodils. Since they seem to be the only bulb flower the critters don't eat, I figure I'll plant more of them.

As I walked down the driveway to dump my hydrangea clippings, I noticed the flowering plums are starting to bloom. 

This is my favorite of the blooming trees. We lined our driveway with them when we first moved up here (nearly 21 years ago). Not all survived, but enough that I get my fill of them in the spring. Ours are always about a month behind the ones in the valley. They are ornamental only...no plums come from these trees. 

Over here, however, this Italian prune plum tree is beginning to show signs of life. 

It usually blooms around the same time as the cherry trees, but it's very slow this year. We have a trip planned for mid-September. I've intentionally delayed our start date to give the fruit and vegetables time to ripen. Even with the delayed start, I'm afraid we'll miss the plums if they don't get with the program soon.

Okay, and I was tired by then. I spied our garden bench. It seemed a perfect time to grab myself a Mike's Lemonade and sit on the bench for a while. It's a favorite spot when we've been out working in the yard, and this was my first time sitting there this year.

With all that going on, it was another no sewing day. The only sewing I did was later in the afternoon when I stitched up the rest of my hoop.

Now, I've moved to the extreme left side of my piece. I expect I still have a few more days on this. All those lazy daisy stitches take a long time.

When the embroidery is finished, I'll still need to piece together a mini quilt that will hang on the clothesline. Nevertheless, it's time to start thinking about getting the next project ready for stitching.

Today I'm limiting myself to picking a bucket of weeds. (It's a big bucket, and so filling it takes some time.) When I've done that, I expect I'll have some time for sewing. Oh yes, and it's National Blueberry Pie Day. You know me. I always follow the rules, and so there's a Blueberry Pecan Streusel Pie for Two on tap for the day as well.

There's still plenty of work to do outside before the rain returns next week, but I think we'll be able to get everything finished except for planting the vegetable garden. The vegetables will have to wait a little while longer. I'm still hoping to clean up the herb garden and spread the wildflower seeds. There should be plenty of time for that in the next couple of days. 

How does your garden grow?