Saturday, September 15, 2007

Scrambled eggs

I am taking the next week off from work! I've earned it. Besides, it was generally considered at the office that I really needed some time off since I had begun to dribble and babble. As far as I can remember they haven't had to hide any dead bodies, so I think that things will be okay when I get back into the office to face down a weeks worth of backlog.

To celebrate, I made myself scrambled eggs with chorizo and home fries. Ordinarily, breakfast tends to consist of a protein shake and a handful of vitamins. Today, I felt like I had earned a big, not necessarily that good for you, breakfast.

The day had started out rainy and chilled. Not actually a bad way to start off a vacation. I did not feel any burning need to go out and do anything. It was a perfect morning to laze around. I eventually wandered off in the direction of Starbucks to meet Wahz at his office. The nice thing about Wahz's retirement is that I know where to find him any morning of the week at 8:30. We spent and hour or so discussing such vital subjects as our season subscription for Opera Boston, our gym routines, exactly how annoying the Sox fans are and our schadenfreude over the discomfort of the yuppies of Back Bay and Beacon Hill if the plan goes ahead to pursue construction on a tunnel on Storrow Drive at night, rather than reroute it over the park land on the Esplanade.

Back home I thought about doing some long overdue housework. Then I thought about a nap and the nap won the contest. All in all it has started off as a good break from work. The weather seems like it's going to cooperate. It is suppose to be sunny and in the 60's. Perfect weather to work in the garden. I am going to go to a plant sale tomorrow with C. and all in all, I am hoping relaxation will ensue. Who knows, I might even fire off a few synapses and start posting on a regular basis again.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Never too old

I share my office with 3 other people, all of whom are considerably younger than I am. They are all nice young guys though and things actually are pretty harmonious. This morning, one of my office mates told me that he had a story that he wanted to share with me that he thought I'd appreciate.

It seems that one of his uncles has just come out to the family. The uncle, who had been married has been divorced for several years now. Not too long ago my office mate and his dad had been visiting and they had met the uncle's "friend". After the visit, office mate, hereafter referred to as OM said to his father, "Do you think Uncle M is gay?"

His father opined that he had been wondering the same thing himself.

A few months later the uncle decided to come out to the family and the news, such as it was, was broken to every one, including OM's 94 year old grandmother. Her response was to send flowers to the uncles partner with a note welcoming him into the family.

"How cool is that?", OM asked me. "I mean, she's 94 and my late grandfather was very conservative and would not have been accepting at all. And my grandmother had always been the good supportive wife who always backed up anything her husband said."

I gather that there is going to be a family reunion, and both grandma and the newest member of the family are going to be there. OM is pretty excited about all this and is looking forward to seeing the meeting of the generations. Did I mention that OM is a straight boy? Cause he is. And he's excited about all this, because as a young straight guy, he thinks this is the way the world should work.

All I have to say about OM is, "How cool is that?"

Monday, September 10, 2007

Last rose of summer






My yellow rose is making one last showing. It is getting a bit late, and really is more the season for the Sweet Autumn Clematis. I am still waiting for my Montauk Daisy to show signs that it is going to do something. It has become pretty huge this year, but so far no sign of buds! I am wondering what that is all about and if the crazy weather is the reason why it may not do anything in the lines of flowers this year.

Starting this weekend I will be out in the garden with a shovel and a wheelbarrow. The annuals are coming out paths are going to be widened and the layout and plants rethought. It should be an interesting project and I am hoping that I will have some success with a less is more approach.

I love my garden, but at this point there really is too much of a good thing. I'm hoping with a simplified design that it will be more appealing and show off some of efforts better. You will undoubtedly be bored with lots of pictures during the process.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

The winner is....

Mike and I had to get out our tiaras and sashes this weekend. It was Fensfest, the annual get together for our garden society, where they barbeque, sell hot dogs, try and raise a little cash and hand out awards for gardens.

I, slave to beauty that I am, had gone off to the gym first, so imagine my surprise when I came back to the gardens and saw this!



At the risk of sounding insincere, I think I was even more pleased when I saw this attached to Mikey's fence.



Setting aside for the moment that he is a friend and also chock full of shirtless Mikey hotness, Mike is a very good gardener and richly deserving of some recognition. He has transformed 2 neglected plots into a wonderfully well thought out garden.

I on the other hand was a bit embarrassed. I have been neglecting my garden over the past 2 or 3 weeks and it is turning into an overgrown jungle. I have justified this neglect because I am planning on some serious changes. Paths are going to be widened, and beds and plantings seriously edited and reduces in size. As it stands at the moment you need a machete to get through the overgrowth.

I will say this, it is still pretty damned colorful, and I know that it has me swearing a blue streak. It's going to be a bitch spending the rest of the summer gardening in a gown and spike heels.

The sacrifices I make for being fabulous! Well, at least I feel like I am being appreciated.