Hey, Mom...

Look what followed me home from the nursery yesterday; can I keep him?

I took a vacation day (yes, officially- with full knowledge of my activities by my boss) to attend the first Garden Club meeting of the year, which was a field trip to replace plants lost in the freeze this winter. It was such a lovely day; the temperature hovered around 78˚ all day, clear & sunny, with just enough of a breeze to be comfortable.

I went looking for new plants for my planters on the front porch, which is deeply shaded but subject to the notorious Tracy winds. I picked up two varieties of Coleus in red & light green; Lysimachia- light green trailing plant; Variegated Ground Ivy; white Sweet Alyssum; white Lobelia; German Chamomile; & a great looking Geranium with variegated leaves & red blooms.  

While wandering through the lawn ornaments, this charming fellow peeked out at me from under some ferns. I couldn’t resist & practically snatched him up unto my wagon; all the ladies were jealously admiring him, but I found the only one that day.

After we stopped for a late lunch & returned back to town, I dropped off my purchases at the house; the girls were quite funny to watch, as they circled, sniffed, & examined our statue friend.  Dahlia went as far as to take submissive posture in front of him, reaching out tentatively to touch his paw.

 

I then headed out to find a washer & dryer set. Have you ever gone out, with the express purpose of spending money, & couldn’t find anyone that would take it? I went to four stores, talked to five salesmen, before I found one who would sell me what I wanted & could deliver before April 1st. Surprisingly, it was a little independent appliance store that I went into on a whim; it had just opened a couple of weeks ago & I didn’t figure they would have anything in my price range. Lesson learned: never assume; not only did they have a set in my budget, with the features I wanted, but they could deliver as soon as Friday! Of course, I couldn’t take off more time this week without having to work on the weekend, so they are scheduled to install the set Saturday afternoon.

The only side effect of my day off was a rather concerned phone call from my credit card company. You see, I normally only charge around $75 a month & pay it off within two weeks; in one day, I was in three different cities, five different businesses, & spent over $1000- they called to make sure my card hadn’t been stolen! I had to sheepishly admit, no- those were all my charges, but thanks for your concern. When I talked to Chris last night & told him about the spending spree, his only question was, “How many hours of over-time am I going to have to work to pay it off?” That’s my guy, ever the pragmatist.