IN Carmel

 Well, the best laid plans have gone a rye.  Or something like that. The plan was to work till noon taking the half day off.  Nope.  It didn't happen.  Almost but not quit.  I DID sit down but then I got up again.   The morning started with coffee on the patio.  Woo.  There was a second treat bigger than the coffee.  A huge bird flew from our Smoke Tree to the neighbor's tree.  What was it?  So I scrambled to see and took the following picture.                                         My best guess is a Great Horned Owl.  They are huge with ear tufts.                                                   What a blessed way to start the day. Late in the ...

 Today was another work day.  I've had a few of those lately.  It must be spring.  So, I added another one to the previous count.  The work included moving a million, not quite but it seemed like a million Lake Superior rocks from their winter nesting place.  Then making a clean edge.  Adding Preen to knock down weeds that might be lurking in the seed form and then relaying the rocks.  Lots of work but looks good when finished.  I dug out a big clump of Sea Grass in that same bed making it a contribution to the b blue containers.  That was almost as much work as the rock stuff.  The roots told me they were going to make the job as hard as possible.  Yes, they talk to me.  But I won!  The bed is ready for dahlias.  How many?  I'm not quite sure.  Maybe 8.  If all goes well it should be quite a show for late summer and fall.                  ...

  The day started with a trip  to I U North.  It's another month of living that needs bloodwork numbers to close out the last four weeks. Then onward and forward..  That happened and then I was back to the ranch for a little bit.  There were a couple of things I wanted to accomplish today.  The first one tackled was moving the gazing ball to the garden again.  I had some ideas about keeping the ball stable using natural materials.  I didn't want it to roll off the stand.  So off to H L again for some reed wreaths thinking that would work.  Well, it didn't.  The sun was out and the refraction of the light set the reed wreaths on fire along with the kitchen towel. So that didn't work at all.  The second option was to go back to last years solution and that worked. The ball is extremely heavy so a bit hard to handle but I persevered.   The second job was to get the umbrella up on the patio.  I needed a little help f...

 It's been a wonderful different unusual Sunday that comes along perhaps once in a life time.                                                Cooler weather brings long life to this blooming dogwood tree.                                                                                                 It's a beautiful sight out my kitchen window. But first...We took Noah to church.  His parents visited brother Andrew at Goshen College.  They chose to return to Carmel later this morning.  We also took Noah home again after his bell practice reh...

 Crazy, busy day.  I happy for my computer chair at 5:30.  I was out the door at 8 am on the way to church soup kitchen day.  We swapped with another group so today was our day just followed by last weeks work Saturday.  I made a stop at the neighbor's garage sale and I saved some money because what I had in mind was gone.  Then on to church arriving as usual at 8:30.                                                     A beautiful Malow plant on it's way to be even more beautiful. I worked for about 20 minutes and then Dan came and I got him started on a few things.  The rest of the crew and some new crew folks arrived and it was a full morning of work.  And once again the deadline was met.  We were busy with a crowd a bit larger than usual.  But the food held out and community fo...

 Another good night of sleep.  They do appear every so often and I'm so happy they do. The morning routine happened and I was out the door looking at the messy place I wrote about yesterday.  But before that work started I was across the street to the best garage sale ever.  The Mrs. is my size and she was almost giving away a closet size bunch of clothes with her closet still filled.  I came home with pull overs tops pants and intend to go back for another look when their garage door goes up.  The beginning of the dahlia bed is the hope for this space.  All is ready but the plants.  They will come in May. The stepping stones have found a new home. Over the years they have been many places.  Once home I started moving stone path material to another bed and raking the path area where the stone path had been.  Then new preparation began fir another stone path in the new bed.  That bed would be where the dahlias would be planted eventu...