CATCHING UP

OK, it has been a while… but I have been places, done things, and finally am home. Not settled in yet, but I am working on it. We have been back from the mountains a couple of weeks, but those couple of weeks have been so jammed with things to do, and I am starting a new “adventure” (I can’t believe it) and that is taking a bit more preparation than I remembered… Yep – I am back in the classroom again – up front! Who would believe that I would be back teaching at 72? You’d think I had better sense than that, right? Apparently not.

It was great being back up in the mountains again… but it seemed so strange to have to stay in a hotel… so strange to not have a house of my own to stay in. I did get to visit a couple of my waterfalls. It took a lot of effort to get there. Hiking is no longer something I am able to enjoy.

And I got to visit with family… who knows when – or IF I will see them again. It was not the best occasion, visits to cemeteries seldom are. But we did get to celebrate Cousin Eric’s birthday together.

And I had a pleasant visit with my brother.  

Anyway, long story short… we got home from PA and the next week I took Rusty to be declawed. I really did not want to do it, but he has been sharpening his claws on the kitchen cabinets – old timey knotty pine… or on the Karastan in the living room… and then there is his habit of climbing up people like they are trees. Now that proved to be not only a bit painful, but a tad on the bloody side. Not a good way to win friends or keep them!  Soooooooooooooo… it did not leave me with a lot of choices. The return home was not a great experience, either. He refused to pee on newspaper in his litter box. He got the sofa. 2 new cushions and a mattress later, the sofa – a sleeper – is good as new, but it was a bit of work getting new cushions made and finding the proper queen-size replacement mattress. sigh. Would you believe amazon? And then lugging it in the house and fitting it in the sofa. Oye.

Meanwhile, we have not had any rain in a month until yesterday, so my mornings were spent watering and watering to keep the new lilies alive and all of last years new azaleas. I brought a  new Mountain Laurel back from PA, but it is still in the pot. Digging the hole was like digging thru cement, so I gave up before it was half the size it needed to be. I am waiting for more rain. A lot more rain.

I brought 2 old Buddhas back from up on the mountain. The last couple winters did them in… hopefully I will be able to patch them up enough to put them out in the woods here. I love the way they aged, color wise. I will work on them when it gets cooler. Still too hot for me to work outside – but soon, soon. So they can sit in their boxes on wagons until it gets cooler and the skeeters go away.

Have you ever heard of growing castor plants to keep moles away? Well, I got a couple of them, planted them near the  calla lilies and the new day lilies… I could not believe how big the one by the calla-lilies has grown. I finally got Anna to take a picture of me standing beside it… the other shots looked like they were manipulated. They weren’t – but I have never seen one this big. Ever. 

Didn’t believe me, didja? It is close to 10 feet tall. I finally had to stake it… the wind blew it over last week. Look at the size of those leaves? Oh, the moles have left this area.

Now I am struggling to get caught up with everything here, the Train Station, the other things I am part of… including catching up with you!