soil

 Despite the awesome weather (an early taste of summer), I’ve been dragging myself around and my head is full of cotton wool. The stodge is hampering my writing but is not totally obliterating the joy.

Yesterday morning I was up early (two hours early!), too excited to sleep… it was planting day! I didn’t even finish my coffee before heading out onto the deck to get busy. I’ll just seque here to mention our friends Trudie and Leo who take 3 (yes three) WHOLE days to plant! My measly garden doesn’t compare but I’m excited nonetheless. The barrels got cherry tomatoes, herbs, and marigolds. I packed some of the excess herbs into pots and distributed the Italian parsley everywhere (one flat had probably 10 plants!). The petunias were put into the pots with the cedars (and parsley too). I transplanted several spider plant babies and hung the mothers on the pergola. I think I need a hanging flower pot as well.

After the hot work we jumped into the refreshing waters of the pool… I think it got up to 22C by the end of the day but in the morning it was hovering around 20C. Cold! But so lovely :-)

And we swam again. And Carm swam again late in the day.

It’s rare that I have an afternoon nap but yesterday I felt sick I was so tired… after a visit with Olaf & Stephanie I went to bed early. You’d think with all that extra sleep my brain would be clear and laser focused… I’m not so lucky.

But it’s another beautiful day. The plants are watered and we’ve been for a swim, all before 11am. Life really couldn’t be much better.

Yesterday, as if on cue, the apple trees dropped their petals. Poof. Gone. But the lilacs have taken their place. Stepping out the front door is the heady scent of lilac and honeysuckle. Oh, heaven.

Adia had her annual check-up this afternoon - it’s a drop off sort of affair where she is collected from the car and then the vet calls to discuss. She got a glowing report! I’ll count that as an awesome as the vet said over and over again what great condition she is in. And she was a cooperative patient. 

Meanwhile, back home, Spike had an accident on the carpet :-( I thought he had gone before we left but didn’t keep my eye on him so I take full blame. The car was parked weirdly in the laneway too which might have confused him.

While in the car we got to hear a summary of the changes to the restrictions. Carm thinks it’s awesome that he’ll be able to golf, while I had a thrill of excitement with the news that outdoor gatherings with up to 5 people are allowed!

Awesome!

“hummingbirds feeding on the lilac that I can see from my indent on the sofa, their tiny bodies darting among the flowers.”

“Baltimore orioles! A male and a female. She was in the same lilac. And again in the Manitoba maple right off the deck”

“a fox in the backyard”

“tucking plants into the soil”

“the metallic blue bodies of the swallows glimpsed as they rest for a short moment”

“icy cold water on my hot skin”