Mulch

Finished spreading the 5 yards of mulch delivered yesterday at Edgewater. Trimmed the bushes and raked under the holly tree, brought clippings, recycling and trash to the transfer station.

Picked up another rhodie for us at the wholesale plant place, 30% off. Thinking about getting some shade-tolerant Leylands.

Gardener’s Diary: What’s Happening to June?

Next week are the longest days of the year, and we go to pot after that. I can’t believe it’s so soon.

I changed the sheets, did laundry and made some calls, then went with Ron for his 3-week checkup at Dimond’s office. I dropped off Ron’s California return at the Post Office and the braided rug at Capeway Cleaners.

We had a great lunch at Captain Scott’s (half price Tuesday) and stopped at Edgewater to do yard cleanup and pick up the screen door insert, which we dropped off at Botello.

I cleaned up the right side of the front yard at Edgewater in preparation for new mulch. Did some minor cleanup in the rock garden so it looks quite pretty now.

Came home so Ron could ice his knee and so I could transplant a grass and its “child” grasses into our cutting garden. It had been crushed by the beach rose but managed to thrive anyway. I moved the big Rudbeckia to the back.

We drove to Stop & Shop for a slew of meds for Ron and some groceries for the kids, which we dropped off.

Busy and productive day.

Good Stuff Sometimes Happens

Today was a good one.

Ron took a shower, his first with the new tub seat, and loved it.

One of the three scratch tickets we gave Cathy had a $100 winner, and she was thrilled.

My friend Lori and her husband Donald were very pleased with the color photo from last week’s local paper of their oldest son receiving his scholarships.

I did the transfer station run and picked up a couple of on-sale perennials.

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Well.

Eleanor Roosevelt recommended doing one thing a day that scares you. I do at least one thing every day that I’d rather not.

Sometimes it’s laundry, sometimes it’s a phonecall. Today I did four things that I would have rather not: washed Fluffles’ litter box; went food shopping; did some banking; and mowed the front lawn. I also dead-headed the roses.

Rockland now has the new ATMs, which made the banking part of the day much less onerous.

I usually don’t mind mowing the lawn, and it was a gorgeous day to be outside, perfect for the Mashpee High School graduation, which happened this morning. It was just hot enough, though, to be a little uncomfortable.

Ron tried to change the head on the trimmer but that didn’t work. At least, he got it running. I need to ask the repair people at Botello for help. They did a superb job on the lawn mower.

I need to do the transfer station run tomorrow, drop off a graduation gift, see a friend’s garden (I hope) and then meet “the girls” for Cathy’s birthday brunch. I’m looking forward to everything but the dump run. That’ll be my “rather not” for tomorrow.

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Truck passed inspection today. Had oil change at Cormier’s.

Light rain this morning.

Looks like the Jasmine may have buds? Buds on the Wisteria as well? Flowers on the beans and one of the tomato plants from the sale at Roche. Have been picking strawberries, at least a handful a day. Lettuce, too. The beans are growing like mad. The transplanted astilbe seem to be doing great.

Good Day

Yes, the sun was out. I got the transfer station run done. I insisted that Peter stay put to take care of his broken toe. The evil vacuum cleaner has been consigned to an ignominious end in the used furniture section.

Got to Spaulding as Ron was starting his PT session. It was great to have an opportunity to talk with his therapist. He’s doing extremely well; he achieved 100 degrees of knee flexion. He said it felt amazing to be able to bend his knee, something he hasn’t been able to do for a long time.

Tied up the rest of the roses this morning. Went to Home Depot and Scenic Roots.

Made a really nice pizza for supper. Listened to Jorge Calandrelli’s gorgeous arrangements in Tony Bennett’s Duets II.

Girl Scouts, Rain

We’ve received an inch of rain, a lot of which came as a deluge. Great for the gardens but lousy for the 2,000 Girl Scouts and their intrepid leaders who camped out this weekend at the Fairgrounds.

I went over last night to volunteer and helped out with the carnival. I was responsible for the duck pond and gave away as many tickets (to be redeemed for prizes) as I could. As one of the other volunteers said, the girls were really good sports in spite of the weather, and the whole point was to help them have fun.

I stopped off at the DJ event afterwards. I was amazed at the kids and their joie de vivre. What a great bunch! Makes me wish Ron and I had given Peter a sister. Too bad I didn’t track him down when it might have been possible to do that. Oh, well.

Gardener’s Diary

Planted the morning glories yesterday. Have been harvesting lettuce and strawberries. It’s raining, thank goodness. What a great feeling.

Transplanted the last astilbe. Mowed the back and side yards last evening. Flipped the chairs in the living room so mine is now closer to the a/c.

Ron may be discharged on Tuesday. He’s working very hard on his PT. A woman from Post O’Connor called yesterday, giving “manic” a new dimension.

I met with a new counselor yesterday. I think she’s the right ticket. I’ve felt so much pressure, to fulfill expectations. It’ll be a relief to adjust them downward.