Hold on and pretend it's a plan

When several inches of snow fell Friday night and Saturday, I figured that was the end for the daffodil buds. But, by Monday morning the snow was gone. And by Monday afternoon the buds were noticeably bigger. They're a bit bedraggled, but they did bloom.


( Yay, flowers )


Then, I had the iPhone and I had the dog, so I figured I might as well take a couple of pictures of him too.

( Why, no, I'm not really interested in looking at that rectangular box-thing you've got in your hand. )



( Mom, would ya just give me the treat already? )
"Mom, would ya just give me the treat already?"

I decided to try something different with my Saturday this weekend. Lately my Saturday activities have consisted of maybe doing a load of laundry and taking a nap between dog walks.

Today, I did a load of laundry. Then I dropped Tom off at doggie day care so he could have fun while I turned my attention to various chores.

I stopped at my parents' house to water the plants (they're out of town). And borrowed a handsaw.

I stopped by Earl May's and picked up a rose shrub, cedar mulch, and topsoil.

When I got home, I cut down and dug up the rose bush in my garden. I do feel a little guilty about digging up a healthy plant. But my garden isn't all that big and rose plant was starting to dominate. Gardening gets pretty uncomfortable when you have to keep dodging thorns and/or disentangle items of clothing from thorns. I pulled weeds--which hadn't been done in far too long. Then I planted the rose shrub that I picked up in the same spot that used to have the rose bush. The shrub's going to be smaller than the other. I think it'll work pretty well. I'm glad I listened to the voice that told me to buy the bag of topsoil. As it turned out, I didn't dig the hole quite as deep as I though. The topsoil came in handy to put around the plant. (It's like when I wrap gifts. Half the time I have about an inch less paper than I need for the package.) Then I laid down the cedar mulch and now the garden looks fairly nice and tidy. I repeat the thing I've said so many times already: I didn't know how much I liked gardening until I had a garden of my own.

I also cleared up the coffee table. This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, but there was a crapload of stuff that had piled up. It's looking a little better now. I vacuumed. I got a couple of lines written in the ficlet that I'm working on. (Though I imagine they'll be reworked before all is done.) I thought about doing the dishes, but decided I didn't want to.

Then I picked up Tom just before closing time. The attendant--laughing--told me a story about how Tom figured out how to get through a barrier between the smaller dog room and the big dog room. She looked up and all the sudden he was running around with all the big dogs. She decided to leave him there because he was doing well and the smaller dogs that were in for the day weren't as active. She figured he was having more fun with the big boys. And now he's sacked out on the living room floor. :) Tomorrow afternoon he has a playdate with a couple of Australian Shepherds that we've gotten to know on our walks. That should be fun.