Springing in 2011

This afternoon, before planting some new goodies, the boys asked for some slushies.  Our ice shaver is missing one small plastic part that keeps it from working (figures) so I was going to get crushed ice from the fridge.  The ice machine in the fridge was clogged up.  I had to do major battle to get that sucker working.  Sent the boys out of the kitchen so I could curse properly while dealing with the cold, wet, stubborn ice.  I had to remove the ice holder and empty it out in the sink to get it put back in place.  Instead of wasting all that ice, I decided to put it to good use.

I made sure that the ice didn't come into direct contact with the plants.  At least it wasn't a total bust.  And to top it all off, when I finally got some crushed ice in glasses, I opened the fridge to see that we were out of slushie syrup.  Thankfully, I had some grape juice and they didn't balk too much.

Today, we did school, taught a clarinet lesson and had lunch at Sierra's.  On the way home, we stopped by the flower shop and bought some plants to put in the hillside garden.  Did a little laundry and then made the afternoon school run.  The boys wanted to go to the park, so we headed there.  I was in shorts and got a little cold in the brisk wind.  Got home and got the boys going with a snack so I could dart outside and get rid of the evidence.  Got everything planted and got back inside to do a little more around the house before the news came on.  I planted three blue/gold spiderworts, three May Night sage plants and two citronella geraniums.  I also planted a big bush known as Mexican petunia.  It is supposed to grow easily and put off new shoots.  We'll see.  It is at the top of the hill.  The citronella plants are in pots on the table - hopefully it will keep mosquitoes at bay when we are outside.

When plagued with covert gardening, it is important to put everything in the ground, place all the pots in the garage to mix in with all the other pots, and to hide the plant tags.  All your hard work will be in vain if you leave the plant tags sitting out.  And if someone looks at the garden and asks, "Where did that come from", you can answer by saying that it was there all along, or say, "Honey, you don't remember planting that for me?"  Those kinds of answers will usually stop the questioning.  Or, the old standby, "I pulled that from the other side of the yard.  Do you like it here better?"