Bits & Pieces of meg...

Okay~ I’m back; my battery finally ran down & I’m taking an evening off to catch up with you all. Since I don’t have a common thread (beyond it all being part of my strange & wonderful existence) let’s take a little Bullet Tour of the Garden.

ä       The House to House dinner went smoothly; I didn’t have a theme for this round, only because I only had five days notice that the dinner would be at our house & I couldn’t come up with anything original (or even unoriginal- I was more concerned with cleaning the living room.) I picked up a Spiral Cut Ham at Cost*co (don’t you just love heat & eat?), some fresh asparagus, made an Angel Food cake (boxed mix- way too simple) with fresh strawberries, & Sam made tray of veggies with dip; the others brought sweet potatoes, green beans, & a salad. After a quick tour of the last of my winter garden, everyone settled in at the table to chat, & nary a snarky remark was heard (other then the requisite “I don’t really like ham, but this is very good”) - I was even complimented on my iced tea (Casablanca Twist- green tea with peppermint- from Adagio.com- if you would like a $5.00 gift certificate, send me a message with your email & I can send you one) Guests were gone by 8:00 & we settled in to watch 2 episodes of Monarch of the Glen

H       Sunday found Sam & I in Livermore bright & early (considering the dreaded end of Daylight Savings Time, it felt like the butt crack of dawn- have I mentioned I hate the end of Daylight Savings?) as he had an Iron Body training session with a senior sensei. I don’t go in to watch- who wants to see someone pounding your kid with sandbags & said kid punch hard stuff repeatedly- so I read the paper in the car & did a little knitting. Afterward, we drove over to Ravenswood for the afternoon; fortunately, another docent volunteered to come in, so I wasn’t on my own. It was a good thing, as we were hopping for 3 hours & even Sam pitched in by entertaining people waiting on the porch for the next tour. We were so hungry by 4:00, we stopped off at the first restaurant we came to & pigged out on sushi & tempura.

*      I did get my letter done- last night. I was surprised how dependent I’ve become on my word processor; handwriting took forever, because I had to really think before I committed anything to ink & paper. If this correspondence continues, my pen pal will have to settle for a type-written epistle.

{         Today was the first Garden Club meeting of the New Year; as is our tradition, today was a field trip to a couple local nurseries to restock our gardens, followed by lunch & scheduling the programs for the year. I took a float day & came home with some veggies- lemon cucumbers, zucchini, crooked neck squash, & two tomatoes- & several new flowers for both the front bed & my hanging baskets. I also elected to do the July program this year, which will be hosted at another woman’s house; I’m thinking of a presentation on “Pets & Plants”, focusing on beneficial plants to grow for your furry companions. I’ll have to start some research soon; moreover, I’m really going to have to commit to getting the stuff in the ground ASAP, since we are leaving next Friday for Washington DC.

ö       Speaking of pets & trips, Chris really came through on his vacation assignment- finding someone to take care of the girls while we’re away. Turns out, a friend of ours from church (the wife of our board president & leader of our home fellowship group) has been doing pet sitting for a year now. She is a contractor for a national firm, which means she’s insured & bonded, but more importantly, we know her personally & are comfortable with her being in our house. She came by last night to do the paperwork & be briefed on the girls’ routine- I gave her a lesson on giving Daisy her injections & she’s meeting with our vet to get a little more practice. She lives only a few blocks from us, so coming by twice a day to feed, scoop, & generally play with the girls, won’t be a hassle.

 

Alright, I need to get back to my recliner; I have a cabled beret calling out to be completed before we leave & I’m a quarter of the way done. Ta-ta!