When it's right

Sydney went to Renaissance Festival this weekend, so it was just me and Rob and the cats and the dogs.  It's funny how Syd's dog is getting more used to her not being here as much and has started to cuddle up to Rob and me.  But, that makes my cat jealous, so one evening, I had them both all over me, competing for attention, while the cat pretended not to notice that either of us was there.  You know how cats are.  Syd got home last night and was so tired she could hardly say hello and hit the showers and the fridge and the bed.  In that order.  Not sure how much attention her dog got.

It was supposed to rain all day Saturday, so I had planned to quilt all day.  But, Friday night, they revised the forecast to scattered showers.  We didn't get any of it, so about 10 I asked Rob to take me out to run some errands, and we naturally ended up in the garden center of a couple hardware stores.  And, of course, I had to buy plants.  Because that's who I am.  And, then I had to garden.  Because that's who I am.  And, I had to work out there until I could hardly move, because that's who I am.  And, then we sat and watched Mary Poppins, which isn't a sequel as much as a remake of the original with a slightly altered plot line.  But, it was good to see Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke, still out there working. 

It didn't take long quilting the wedding quilt to know that the swirly wind pattern was perfect on those stars. 

I'm going to quilt a loose feather around the border, but at the foot, quilt in our friend's names and the date.  We're still waiting to see if they will postpone the wedding.  One of the brides lost her Mom this weekend, and that's terrible timing for planning a happy event.  So, I'm going to wait and do the date at the very end. 

This is the first bloom on the mock orange.  The mock orange will be covered in these white flowers in a few days.  I can hardly wait, so I thought I'd share the first one, just as a tease.  This is the most prolific and reliable bloomer and it's started to reproduce, so I'm starting to give babies away.  But, giving away plants has gotten like giving away kittens.  Everybody loves them, but nobody wants the work.

These are the phlox, coming up for the year.  They're so thick and periodically, I lop off the end and start a clump somewhere else in the garden.  In the heat of summer, these will give me a lavender-pink bloom here and there around the yard, with the focus here, behind a small sitting area.

I'm always talking about my path.  This is it, filled in.  I grow ajuga and violets around the stones.  And, both are starting to bloom right now.  But, I have to be careful about the ajuga.  It would take over the garden if I let it.  The black pot on the left is Syd's pomegranate.  We're going to use a q-tip to pollinate and try to get it to fruit this year.  It hasn't made fruit yet, so she's kind of lost interest.  So now, it's all me.  But, I'm sure she'll get the first ripe one. and claim it's from her tree.

The violets blooming around the stones.  I don't know where the phrase "shrinking violet" comes from.  These are hardy and stand up to being stepped on and reliably come back and reproduce like mad.  I find them everywhere.  I also put them in flower pots because they wilt when the pot is dry to alert me, but spring back up soon as I add water.

This Louisiana Iris came from my Mom's house.  I think it was four yeas ago.  I grew them in a pot for a while til I found the right spot and then put them in the ground and nursed them for a couple years, and this is the first bloom I've gotten in my yard.  But, not the last.  I saw lots of bloom scapes out there yesterday.  It's always a good feeling after something hasn't bloomed for a while to see it happy and making flowers. 
 

So, that was our weekend.  Yard work.  Quilting.  Cooking.  And, I started knitting a pair of socks.  Because I was bored with my TV watching project and a pair of socks seemed to be just the right thing to keep me busy.  Note, I did not make the second sock of the pair I already had started.  Because it was a lot more fun to start something new.  I'm sneaky like that.

Everybody have a great Monday!  I'm off to conquer the world.  The car goes in the shop tomorrow for some paint repair.  I'm going to work from home for the duration rather than rent a car.  So, who knows what trouble I'll get into during my breaks from work. 

Lane