A darn good day

Yesterday went really well.  I awoke before 6:00 and looked out my bedroom window.  There was Jupiter, Mars and Venus trailing beneath a crescent moon.  Just beautiful.  I even saw a shooting star.  What a way to wake up!

I eased into the day sitting on the deck just as the sun was coming up.  I sorted out my head for a good 90 minutes with 2 cups of tea and a savory oatmeal wedge.  

I realized early on that the 7.5' tall zins off the deck were blocking my view of the laden crapapple trees so I trimmed them back a bit and the cutting made a fine bouquet for the table.

Then I washed dishes, changed clothes and did a slew of errands. I hate shopping, but needs be done and fortunately I found everything on my list.  Home by 11:15.  

The zinnia in the driveway pot was really ratty so ran over to my favorite nursery who still had some mums.  So glad I did. The owner told me the nursery is closing for the season this weekend she and I wandered around for 30 minutes, chatting and catching up.  I came home with 2 mums and couldn't wait to put them in pots (one along the driveway and one back in the arbor).

Planted, watered and mulched with golf balls to keep out squirrels (they are burying nuts everywhere right now), time for lunch.  It was near 70 and pleasant so a nice cold salad and chips.

It's amazing how clipping something blocking a view and then getting rid of something ratty and replacing it with something pretty brightens up a whole acre of gardens.  (Getting rid of the flu and feeling human again is also good thing - I was so weak and tired and overwhelmed with even the slightest little chore last week.)

The day progressed.  I cleaned up in front of the fence - put all the stakes, nets, trellises, cages, etc in the shed and rolled the water barrel back there too.  Nice and tidy now.

Then another llittle sitdown with an iced lemon tea and had a think what's next.  Time to start getting some potted material into the ground for winter.  So for the next few hours the arbor bed got some attention: I planted a spirea, dug up/divided/spread out a big clot of coneflowers and transplanted in a peony from the swing bed.  I found an overlooked pink perennial salvia and transplanted that next to the swing.

Digging was easy.  Even though we've had 2" of rain within a week, the soil is still very dry and crumbly.  Then I moved 2 small hostas from the middle of the crab bed to the fore where they would show better.

Next I wandered around and collected over a dozen volunteer Sweet Joe Pye seedlings and put them in a pot.  I added a good dose of seeds in the pot too.  I'll keep the pot for a couple weeks until the roots grab hold of the soil and then it will get planted in the arbor bed near the new caryopteris.  It will grow tall and fill in the big space that the honeycomb butterfly bush used to fill before it died.

A simple supper on the deck (honestly I don't know why people even go inside on days like this) and I thought I'd settle down, but know.  I'm antsy when I feel good, always walking around with my mug instead of sitting and sipping.  I'll clip something.  Deadhead something else. Move something.  Water something.  It takes for.ev.er to wind down and it wasn't until after 6:00 pm that I settle.  Finally, as the sun went down and the security lamp came on that the day was done.  

Twelve hours.  Tea on deck before dawn.  No mishaps.  No injuries.  No stress.  A lot done.  Tea on deck till after sunset.  I savored every moment.

Yep.  Just a darn good day.